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dropped into the stream it took life, feathers, and wings, swam in the water, and flew in the air. But when he asked where he could see this marvellous tree, he was told that it was no longer to be found in Scotland, although it still flourished in the Orkneys. When the Italian reached the Court of James I., he proffered his request, which was acceded to. The King paid his expenses, and presented him with fifty nobles and a pair of palfreys for his journey homewards, besides a pearl which Æneas sent to his mother.1

1 See Joseph Robertson's Preface to Statuta Ecclesiæ Scotican, vol. i. p. xcii.; and l'inkerton, vol. i. pp. 149. 150,

CHAPTER XXI.

JAMES I.

'Form'd to delight at once and lash the age.'

POPE.

FROM the death of Robert III. in 1406 till the return of his son James in 1424, the regency was administered by Albany, and after his death by his son Murdac. In 1411 the earldom of Ross, which the Regent had in store for one of his own kin, became vacant, and was claimed by Donald, Lord of the Isles. The claims of Donald formed a casus belli between the Highlands and Lowlands, and they had it out in the bloody battle of Harlaw in Aberdeenshire. Fortunately, for the sake of peace and civilisation, the latter gained the mastery, and the independent semi-sovereignty of Donald, which extended over the Isles and the western mainland, received a shock. In 1416 an expedition was sent to England, so barren of results that it got the name of the Fool Raid.

In 1421 the connexion with France was strengthened by the victory of Beaugé, achieved by 7000 Scots, who, under the command of the Earl of Buchan, a younger son of Albany, were sent across the Channel to assist Charles VI. in his war with Henry v. of England. Charles in gratitude created the Earl of Buchan Constable of France. A right of common citizenship was established between the two

countries, and, after the battle of Verneuil, which was disastrous to the French, the remnants of the gallant 7000 were formed into a body-guard for the sovereign of France. This small regiment long existed as the Scots Guard. The most memorable occurrence of the regency was the foundation, in 1410, by Bishop Henry Wardlaw, of the University of St. Andrews. The difficulties that in these days preceded a university education have been already alluded to, and the object of the foundation was that those who desired instruction in theology, in canon and civil law, medicine, and the liberal arts, might do so without exposing themselves to 'the dangers by sea and land, the wars, captivities, and obstructions in passing to and from foreign universities." The city of St. Andrews was chosen for the university, 'because of the peace and quietness which flourished there, its abundant supply of victuals, and the number of its hospitii, and other conveniences for students,' etc., wherefore the pious founders express a hope that this city, 'which the divine bounty has enriched with so many gifts, may become the fountain of science, and may produce many men distinguished for knowledge and virtue,' etc. etc.2

On the morrow of the Purification, in the year 1414, Henry de Ogilvie, master of arts, arrived from Arragon with the necessary privileges granted by Pope Benedict XIII. It was an age of violence, and to many of darkness and of sore oppression, but a light breaks over our histories as they relate the splendours of the solemn services in the great cathedral, the triumphant processions through those now dull and lifeless streets, and the general outburst of enthusiasm that welcomed this victory in the cause of religion

1 Bull of the Foundation of the University of St. Andrews by Benedict XIII., A.D. 1413.

2 Ibid.

and intelligence. Forty years later, Henry Turnbull, Bishop of Glasgow, founded the University of Glasgow. The episcopate of Wardlaw is marked by two other events, which were very novel and distressing in themselves, and were the percursors of that 'mighty disturbance of the religious convictions, called the Reformation." James Resby, an English priest, and Paul Crawar, a German physician, were burned, the one at Perth, in 1406 or 1407, the other at St. Andrews, in 1433, for holding and promulgating heretical or erroneous opinions. These severe measures were in conformity with the 'vindictive and bloody legislature' of the age, but they failed to destroy the new opinions, which went on struggling perseveringly for existence. At the end of a hundred years of history the painful task awaits us of looking in the face the vast evils in the spiritual kingdom that needed reformation. In the meantime, we have to contemplate a wonderful reign. 'A monarch is to succeed whose government is to be distinguished for its novelty and vigour, and the house of Stuart is at last to know a sovereign. James had now attained his thirtieth year, and his prime of life was yet further recommended by every advantage which natural talents and a complete education could bestow. In person he was rather under the middle size, but endued with such firmness and agility as to excel in every manly exercise. In wrestling, in the management of the bow or the spear, in throwing the quoit, in running, in horsemanship, he yielded to none. But his mental abilities were yet more conspicuous. A man of science and learning, an excellent poet, a master of music, the fame of his accomplishments reflected glory even on the throne. Illustrious in every personal virtue, free from every personal vice, his

1 Origin of the Schools of Thought in the English Church, by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. The Church and the World, 1868, p. 231.

...

very amusements adorned his character; his hours of leisure being frequently dedicated to elegant writing and miniature printing, to mechanical arts, and to the cultivation of the garden and the orchard. . . . The reiterated theme of battles and negotiations may now be diversified with more interesting intelligence, and the arts of peace may afford a pleasing contrast to the devastations of war. . . It is with much complacency that this narration now proceeds with the history of peace.'1

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With this evident delight in the task before him, Pinkerton begins the history of the first James. James spent part of his early childhood with Bishop Wardlaw at St. Andrews, and here from this good and learned man he acquired that love of study which was to be such a resource to him. While the preparations were being made for his journey to France, James, who was now fourteen years old, was sent to be in readiness to start to the castle of the Bass. He set sail, and as his vessel was skirting the north coast of England we have seen that he was taken captive to the Tower of London. Excitement at the prospect of seeing the fair mysterious land, which had naturally taken the place in the boy's heart after the sorrow of leaving his father, was thus rudely interrupted. He little knew the good that was to arise out of this seeming catastrophe. The nineteen quiet years he spent in England were the happiest of his life, and when seated on his unrestful throne how often he must have looked back to them! In the grateful words of the embassy that went to bring him home, 'He had been lost, if he had not been lost.' He received the best masters in England, and with their culture his great natural talents became very fruitful. In poetry and music he was a finished genius, and

1 Pinkerton, vol. i. pp. 108, 109, 110, 117.

Hist. of the Five Jameses, Drummond of Hawthornden, p. 1.

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