Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 2.djvu/92

 crown upon the queen's head at her coronation; which was considered a great triumph on the part of the Presbyterian church over the titular bishops. In the ensuing June, Bruce was himself married to Margaret, daughter of Douglas of Parkhead, a considerable baron, who some years after rendered himself conspicuous by assassinating James Stuart, Earl of Arran, whok had been the favourite of king James, and the arch-enemy of the Presbyterian polity. The parents of Bruce appear to have been now reconciled to him, for, on the occasion of his marriage, they gave him back his inheritance of Kinnaird.

The Protestant Church of Scotland had been so highly exasperated against the Catholics at the Reformation, and was now so imminently threatened by them, that its conduct in regard to that body at this period, bears very much the aspect of persecution. Three Catholic earls, Huntly, Angus, and Errol, had entered into the views which Spain for some years entertained against both divisions of Britain; and they were now justly liable to the extreme vengeance of their sovereign for treason. James, however, never could be brought to put the laws fully in force against them, from a fear lest the Catholic party in general might thereby be provoked to oppose his succession to Elizabeth. The backwardness of James, and the forwardness of the clergy in this cause, naturally brought them into violent collision, and as Bruce, next to Melville, was now the leader of the clergy, he became exceedingly odious to his sovereign. The following anecdote, related by an Episcopalian pamphleteer of a succeeding age, will illustrate their relative positions better than any thing else. "It is to this day remembered," says Maxwell, bishop of Ross, in the Burden of Issachar, printed 1646, "that when Master Robert Bruce came from his visitation in the east, returning to Edinburgh, and entering by the Canongate, king James, looking out at his window in the palace of Holyroodhouse, with indignation (which extorted from him an oath), said, 'Master Robert Bruce, I am sure, intends to be king', and declare himself heir to king Robert de Bruce.' At another time, wishing to recall the three banished lords, Angus, Huntly, and Errol, James attempted to gain the consent of Master Robert, who possessed more power in Edinburgh, through his command of consciences, than the sovereign himself. Being ushered into the king's bed-chamber, James opened unto him his views upon the English crown, and his fears lest the Papists in Scotland, of whom these lords were the chief, should contrive to join with their brethren in England, and raise obstacles to his succession. He continued, 'Do you not think it fit, Master Robert, that I give them a pardon, restore them to their honour and lands, and by doing so gain them, that thus I may save the effusion of Christian blood?' To this demand, so piously made, the answer was, 'Sir, you may pardon Angus and Errol, and recall them; but it is not fit, nor will you ever obtain my consent to pardon or recall Huntly.' To this the most gracious king sweetly replied, 'Master Robert, it were better for me to pardon and recall him without the other two, than the other two without him: first, because you know he hath a greater command, and is more powerful than the other two; secondly, you know I am more assured of his affection to me, for he hath married my near and dear kinswoman, the Duke of Lennox his sister.' His rejoinder was, 'Sir, I cannot agree to it.' The king desiring him to consider it, dismissed him; but when sent for once more, Mr Robert still continued inexorable: 'I agree with all my heart,' said he, 'that you recall Angus and Errol; but for Huntly it cannot be.' The king resumed, and repeated his reasons before mentioned, and added some more; but he obstinately opposed and contradicted it. *&emsp;*&emsp;* King James desired his reasons; he gave none, but spoke majestically. Then the king told him downright, 'Master Robert, I have told you my purpose; you see how nearly it concerneth me; I have given you my reasons for my resolutions; you give me your