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 to Lord Maxwell, and before the end of the year steward of Fife and keeper of Falkland Palace. On Morton's removal from the regency in 1578, Angus stood by his uncle, who destined him to be his heir, and had a real affection for him, addressing him in correspondence as his son. He was one of the nobles who signed the discharge or indemnity to Morton. He did not attend the council until Morton's return to power, when he was appointed lieutenant-general of the king. He marched with an army from Stirling against the nobles who opposed Morton, but at his suggestion refrained from an engagement. In 1579 he took part in Morton's measures against the Hamiltons, the hereditary enemies of the Douglases, and was a member of the convention at which they were forfeited. He afterwards led the force which took the castles of Hamilton and Draffen, and was present in the convention of August and the parliament of October 1579 which ratified Morton's acts. On Morton's final fall from power in the following year, Angus was present at the privy council and refused to vote for his imprisonment. His petition to the king to make up an inventory of Morton's estate was granted, and he was exempted, at the special request of James, from the banishment from Edinburgh of the other Douglases. He even attempted to rescue Morton when sent from Edinburgh to Dumbarton, but his force was not sufficient. Lord Rothes, whose daughter he had married after the death of his first wife, tried to persuade him to submit to the king, but he declined unless hostages were given for his personal safety. He went, however, to Edinburgh and was well received by James, but deemed it prudent to remove the principal effects of his uncle from Dalkeith and Aberdour to Tantallon. Shortly after he was ordered to place himself in ward north of the Spey or at Inverness, and, not having complied, was declared guilty of treason, and ordered to deliver up Tantallon, Cockburnspath, and Douglas. He now engaged in active correspondence with Randolph, the English envoy, in a plot for the release of Morton, and would not have shrunk with this object from slaying his chief enemies, and even seizing the king's person. In February 1581 he attended, under a safe-conduct, a meeting of the estates in Edinburgh, but discovered by intercepted letters a plot, to which his wife was a party, against his own person, devised by the Earl of Montrose. Leaving Edinburgh by night he rode to Dalkeith and sent his wife home to her father. His plots with Randolph continued, and he favoured the invasion of Scotland by an English force, but their schemes were found out. Randolph left Scotland; Mar, his only ally among the nobles, became reconciled to the court; and proclamations were issued against Angus, who, however, evaded pursuit. On the execution of Morton he crossed the border from Hawick and took refuge at Carlisle. He then went to London, where he was hospitably received by Elizabeth and her ministers. Among the other exiles there were two natural sons of Morton and Hume of Godscroft, the historian of his house. He became at this time a friend of Sir Philip Sidney, who communicated to him his ‘Arcadia,’ still in manuscript. He is said to have studied the political institutions of England, but his conduct was more in accord with the less settled constitution of Scotland. When the raid of Ruthven effected a change in the administration of Scotland in August 1582, and put the Earls of Mar and Gowrie at the head of affairs, Angus came to Berwick, and, receiving a pardon in the end of September, crossed the border. He came to Edinburgh in October, was reconciled to the king, and allowed to bury the head of Morton, still fixed on the Tolbooth. His forfeiture was not, however, rescinded, which prevented him from sitting in council, but he exercised considerable influence as an intermediary between the English court and the Scottish ministry, of which Gowrie was the head. James, who had never forgiven the authors of the Ruthven raid for seizing his person, refused or delayed to call a parliament, and entered into secret negotiations with the French ambassador, Fénelon, and with the Duke of Lennox, then in France, to free himself from their control. In June 1583 he succeeded in this by the aid of Colonel Stewart, the captain of his guard, and going to St. Andrews placed himself in the hands of the Earls of Montrose, Crawford, and Huntly. Angus and Bothwell intended to intercept him, but arrived too late, and were ordered to disband their forces. Angus saw the king and attempted to effect a reconciliation, but was ordered to go to his own residence. He returned accordingly to Douglas, but in the parliament held in October the Earl of Arran was now all-powerful, and Angus, instead of being restored to favour, was directed to pass north of the Spey and remain there during the royal pleasure. He obeyed, and went to Elgin in winter, where he was well received by the gentlemen of Moray, who promised to defend him against Huntly, the king's lieutenant in the north.

The administration of Arran did not give satisfaction to any class, and specially alienated the leading presbyterians, now becoming politically influential, by requiring the general assembly to pass a resolution con-