Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 2.djvu/293

] a strong garrison in Boulogne, raised the siege of Montreuil, and returned to England like a great conqueror, as he always did, from his distant campaigns.

If Henry's campaign in France did him little hononr, that which had been going on in Scotland under his commanders and allies, did him still less. His trusty friends, Angus, Lennox, Cassilis, and Glencairn, who had sworn in their bond to remain faithful to him till they had reduced Scotland to his yoke, in January, 1544, entered into the same compact with Arran, in order to escape a forfeiture of their estates for their repeated treasons, solemnly binding themselves, and all other their complices and partakers, to remain true, faithful, and obedient to their sovereign lady and her authority; to assist the lord-governor for defence of the realms against their old enemies of England, to support the liberties of Holy Church, and to maintain the true Christian faith." As hostages for the faithful observance of this agreement, Sir George Douglas, the brother of Angus, and the eldest son of Glencairn, the Master of Kilmaurs, were surrendered to Arran. Yet within less than two months did these infamous and doubly-perjured traitors send an earnest entreaty to the King of England to hasten his preparations for the invasion of the country, and accompanied it by a plan of operations. These were, that a strong army should proceed by land, a numerous fleet, carrying an additional force, should go by sea, and it was added, that it would act as a most useful diversion, if ten or twelve ships were sent to the western coast to act on the Earl of Argyll's country—a suggestion, no doubt, thrown in by Glencairn, Argyll's bitter enemy. A stratagem of the same kind had been successfully employed before by Glencairn's advice; and the Highland chiefs imprisoned in the castles of Edinburgh and Dunbar were liberated on condition that they should harry the lands of Argyll. The disaffected barons urged Henry to put these plans in execution before the arrival of the French army; but this advice was followed in such a loose and desultory manner, that it failed of the overwhelming effect which it must have had, if ably executed.

Henry, fuming with rage against the cardinal and the Scotch generally, exerted himself, as fast as an empty exchequer would allow, to muster the necessary army of invasion; and during the time which this occupied, he busied himself with concerting a plot of the most diabolical kind—the seizure or assassination of Beaton. Such dark transactions as this, which were only too frequent in the reigns of both Henry and Elizabeth, would not now be believed, if they did not stand in the abundant handwriting of the parties engaged in them in the State Paper Office. On the 17th of April, Crighton of Brunston, a spy of Sadler's, dispatched to the Earl of Hertford, then at Newcastle, an emissary of the name of Wishart, who made him aware of a plot for this purpose. Kirkaldy of Grange, the Master of Rothes—eldest son to the Earl of Rothes—and one John Charteris, were, he said, prepared to capture or kill the cardinal, if assured of the necessary support from England. Hertford immediately dispatched Wishart to London express, where the king, having in a private interview heard the particulars from Wishart, entered into the scheme most heartily, promising the conspirators every protection in his power if they were successful. The cardinal, however, at this time became aware of the base design, and took precautions for his safety; only, however, to defer for a time the execution of this atrocious deed by the same hands, urged on by this detestable monarch.

By the end of April, Henry was prepared to pour on Scotland the vial of his murderous wrath. A fleet of a hundred sail appeared, under the command of Lord Lisle, the High Admiral of England, suddenly in the Forth. The Scotch seem to have by no means been dreaming of such a visitant, and its appearance threw the capital into the greatest consternation. In four days, such was the absence of preparation, such the public paralysis, that Hertford was permitted to land his troops and his artillery without the sight of a single soldier. He had advanced from Granton to Leith when Arran and the cardinal threw themselves in his way with a miserable handful of followers, who were instantly dispersed and Leith given up to plunder.

The citizens of Edinburgh, finding themselves deserted by the governor, flew to arms, under the command of Otterburn of Roidhall, the provost of the city. Otterburn proceeded to the English camp, and, obtaining an interview with Lord Hertford, complained of this unlooked-for invasion, and offered to accommodate all differences. But Hertford returned a haughty answer, that he was not come to negotiate, for which he had no power, but to lay waste town and country with fire and sword unless the young queen were delivered to him. The people of Edinburgh, on hearing this insolent message, vowed to perish to a man rather than condescend to such baseness. They set about to defend their walls and sustain the attack of the enemy; but they found that Otterburn, who had tampered secretly with the English before this, had stolen unobserved away. They appointed a new provost, and manned their walls so stoutly that they compelled Hertford to fetch up his battering ordnance from Leith. Seeing very soon that it was impossible to defend their gates from this heavy ordnance, they silently collected as much of their property as they could carry, and abandoned the town. Hertford took possession of it; and then sought to reduce the castle. But finding this useless, he set fire to the city; and, reinforced by 4,000 horse, under Lord Eure, he employed himself in laying waste the surrounding country with a savage ferocity, which no doubt had been commanded by the bitter malice of the English king.

On the 13th of May, Arran, having assembled a considerable force, and liberated Angus and his brother, Sir George Douglas, in the hope of winning them over by such clemency, marched rapidly towards Edinburgh. The English, however, did not wait for his arrival. Lord Lisle embarked a portion of the troops at Leith again, and Lord Hertford led away the remainder by land. Both by land and water the English commanders continued their buccaneering outrages, doing all the mischief and inflicting all the misery they could. Lord Lisle seized the two largest Scottish vessels in the harbour of Leith, and burnt the rest; he then sailed along the coast, plundering and destroying all the villages and country within reach. Lord Hertford, on his part, laid Seaton, Haddington, Renton, and Dunbar in ashes, and returned into England, leaving behind him a trail of desolation. Such was the insane and ridiculous manner in