Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/88

116 father-in-law, as earl of Morton. Although one of the original lords of the congregation in 1557, he did not for some time take an active or decided part against the queen regent. He had received large favours from this lady, and, possessing all that gratitude which consists in a lively anticipation of favours to come, he feared, by casting off her cause, which he supposed would be the triumphant one, to compromise his prospect of those future advantages. This caused Sir Ralph Sadler, the English envoy, to describe him as "a simple and fearful man;" words which are certainly, in their modern sense at least, inapplicable to him. Morton was, however, a commissioner for the settlement of affairs at Upsettlington, May 31st, 1559. After the return of queen Mary, in 1561, he was sworn a privy councillor, and on the 7th of January, 1563, was appointed lord high chancellor of Scotland, By the advice of his father die earl of Lennox, Darnley consulted Morton and the earl of Crawford in preference to any other of the nobility, respecting the taking away the life of Rizzio, when his jealousy had been inflamed by the presumption of that unfortunate adventurer; and Morton became a principal actor in the tragical catastrophe that ensued. It was the opinion of these noblemen that Rizzio should be impeached before the parliament, and brought publicly to justice as an incendiary who had sown distrust and jealousy among the nobility, and had also endeavoured to subvert the ancient laws and constitution of the kingdom. This there certainly would have been little difficulty in accomplishing, but it did not suit the impatient temper of Darnley, whose revenge could not be satiated without in some degree implicating the queen; and he had determined that her favourite should suffer in her almost immediate presence. He accordingly carried a number of the conspirators from his own chamber, which was below the queen's, by a narrow staircase, of which he alone had the privilege, into hers, when she had just sat down to supper, in company with the countess of Argyle and her unfortunate secretary, the object of their hatred, whom they instantly dragged from his seat, and, ere they were well out of the queen's presence, whose table they had overturned, and whose clothes the unhappy man had almost torn while he clung to her and implored her protection, despatched him with innumerable wounds. In the meantime, Morton, chancellor of the kingdom, and the protector of its laws, kept watch in the outer gallery, and his vassals paraded in the open court, preventing all egress from or ingress to the palace. The effect of this barbarous murder was an entire change of policy on the part of the court. The protestant lords, the principal of whom had been in exile, returned to Edinburgh that same night, and all papists were, by a proclamation issued by the king, commanded to leave the city next day. The queen, though she was enraged in the highest degree, concealed her feelings till she had completely overcome the foolish Darnley, whom she persuaded in the course of a few days to fly with her to Dunbar, to abandon the noblemen to whom he had bound himself by the most solemn written obligations, and to issue a proclamation denying all participation in the murder of Rizzio, and requiring the lieges to assemble instantly, for the protection of the queen and the prosecution of the murderers. In consequence of this, the queen, with her now doubly degraded husband, returned in a few days to the capital, at the head of a formidable army; and though the exiled noblemen who had newly returned, maintained their ground, Morton and his associates wore under the necessity of making their escape out of the kingdom. Through the interest of the earl of Both well, he was pardoned shortly after; and it was attempted, at the same time, to engage him in the plot that was already formed for murdering Darnley. In this, however, he positively refused to concur ; but, practically acquainted with the childish weakness of that unfortunate young man, he dared not to inform him of the design, nor did he take any