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are the only individuals whose names have been preserved; but the influence of the leaders had raised a body of three hundred Highlanders, without whose assistance it would have been difficult Albany, to have effected their designs.

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Whilst Graham thus matured his sanguinary Robert purpose in the Highlands, the Earl of Athole and his grandson, Stewart, who was chamberlain to the with James, continued ugh not King, and a great e most favourable moation. Christmas apch determined to keep solution which the conatisfaction, as it facilitated ringing their victim to the ghlands. They accordingly re

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brows were encircled by a crown, and a singular and unexpected combination of events had undoubt edly brought him not very far from the accomplishment of the prediction. By the murder of the Duke of Rothsay, the death of Albany, and the execution of Murdoch and his sons, the whole descendants of the first marriage of Robert the Second were removed, with the exception of James the First and his son, an infant. Although nothing could be more legitimate or unquestionable than the right of the King then reigning to the throne, still we are not to wonder that Athole, whose reasonings were coloured by his ambition, easily persuaded himself there was a flaw in his title. Robert the Third, he contended, had been born out of lawful wedlock, and that no subsequent marriage could confer legitimacy upon a child so situated: the extinction of the line of Albany and Buchan therefore opened up the succession to the children of the second marriage of Robert with Euphemia Ross, and these children were himself, and David, Earl of Strathern. Shallow as were these pretences, for Athole could not be ignorant of the papal deed which destroyed all his reasonings-they appeared sufficient to his ambition, and the example of Henry the Fourth, who had expelled from the throne his hereditary sovereign, upon a claim still more unsound, held out encouragement to the Scottish conspirators. With the exception of Graham, Athole, and Stewart, the other persons engaged in the plot were few in number, and of low rank. Christopher and Thomas Chambers, who appear to have been dependants on the House of Albany, and a knight named Hall, with his brother,

are the only individuals whose names have been preserved; but the influence of the leaders had raised a body of three hundred Highlanders, without whose assistance it would have been difficult to have effected their designs.

Whilst Graham thus matured his sanguinary purpose in the Highlands, the Earl of Athole and his grandson, Stewart, who was chamberlain to the King, and a great favourite with James, continued at court eagerly watching the most favourable moment to carry it into execution. Christmas approached, and the monarch determined to keep the festival at Perth, a resolution which the conspirators heard with satisfaction, as it facilitated their designs by bringing their victim to the confines of the Highlands. They accordingly resolved that the murder should be perpetrated at this sacred season, and having completed their preparations, awaited the arrival of the King, who soon after set out on his progress to the North. As he was about to pass the Forth surrounded by his nobles, a Highland Spae Wife, or prophetess, suddenly started from the crowd, and addressing the monarch, implored him to desist from his journey, adding, that if he crossed that water, he would never return alive.' James was struck by the boldness and solemnity in the manner of the ancient sybil, and reining up his horse for a moment, commanded a knight who rode beside him to inquire into her meaning. But, whether from carelessness or treachery, the commission was hurriedly executed, the courtier pronounced her either mad or intoxicated, and the King, giving

orders to proceed, crossed the fatal river, and rode on to Perth. On his arrival there he took up his residence in the Monastery of the Dominicans, which was situated at some little distance from the town, but, from its ample dimensions, was fitted to contain the whole royal retinue. The court is said to have been unusually splendid: the days were spent in hunting, in tournaments, and martial games; the masque, the dance, the harp, and the song occupied the night: and Athole and Stewart, communicating with Graham, had matured their plans, and fixed the hour for the murder, whilst their unconscious victim believed that every discontent had been forgotten, and gave himself up to unrestrained enjoyment. It was on the night between the 20th and 21st of February that they resolved to consummate their atrocious purpose. On that evening the King had been unusually gay, and the revels were kept up to a late hour. James even jested about a prophecy which had foretold that a king should be slain that year; and being engaged in a game of chess with a young knight whom, from his singular beauty, he was accustomed to call the King of Love, warned him playfully to look well to himself, as they two were the only kings in the land.

During these pastimes, Stewart, whose office of chamberlain facilitated his treachery by giving him immediate access to the royal apartments, had removed the bolts and destroyed the locks of the King's bedchamber, and also of the outer apartment beyond it which communicated with the passage. He had likewise placed wooden boards

across the moat which surrounded the monastery over which the conspirators might pass without alarming the warder, and he anxiously awaited the moment when the King should retire to rest. At this moment, when James was still engaged at chess, Christopher Chambers, one of the con spirators, seized with a sudden fit of remorse, approached the monarch, intending to warn him of his danger; but, unable to press through the crowd which filled the presence-chamber, he was com pelled to desist. It was now past midnight, and the monarch expressed his wish that the revels should break up, a resolution which Athole heard with se cret satisfaction, for he knew that Graham was now near, and only waited for the signal that the palace was at rest. But at this moment, when James had called for the parting cup, and the company were dispersing, a last effort was made to save him. The faithful Highland Sybil, who interrupted his progress at the Forth, had followed the court to Perth, and, in an agony of grief and emotion, presented herself once more at the door of the presence-chamber, loudly demanding to see the King. James was informed of her wishes; and on the decision of the moment his fate seemed to hang. Had he admitted her, it was not yet too late to have defeated the purposes of his enemies; but, after hesitating for a moment, he bade her return and tell her errand in the morning, and she was forced to leave the monastery, observing, mournfully, that they would never meet again.

The King by this time had undressed himself, Athole and Stewart, the chamberlain, who were the last to leave the apartment, had retired,