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HAM made him the most magnificent promises; but the unjust and impolitic demands of the English king excited a strong feeling of hostility throughout Scotland, which Arran could not resist. His natural brother, the abbot of Paisley, succeeded in gaining a complete ascendancy over his irresolute mind, persuaded him to become reconciled to Cardinal Beaton, to join the French party, and ultimately, in 1543, to abjure the protestant faith, and to return to the bosom of the Romish church. The invasion of Scotland in 1544, and the merciless ravages of the English army under the earl of Hertford, completed the alienation of the regent and the Scottish people. The match was broken off; the alliance with France was renewed, and the dukedom of Chatelherault, with a considerable pension, was conferred upon Arran by the French king, in order to induce him to consent to the marriage of Queen Mary to the dauphin of France. Throughout the sanguinary war which the English carried on against the Scots, with the view of compelling them to fulfil the conditions of the marriage treaty with Henry, the regent displayed a great want of energy and activity in providing for the defence of the country; and his folly and inexperience were the main cause of the bloody defeat of the Scottish army at Pinkie, in 1547. He behaved with equal pusillanimity and fickleness in the great contest between the protestants and Roman catholics in Scotland, and in the end lost the confidence of both parties. Having thus rendered himself contemptible in the eyes of the people, his influence was completely destroyed, and at last by alternate appeals to his hopes and his fears, he was induced to abdicate the regency, 12th April, 1554, in favour of the queen-dowager, Mary of Guise. On laying down his office, he was declared by the parliament the second person in the kingdom, and nearest in succession to the crown. With his characteristic fickleness he joined the lords of the congregation in 1559 against the queen-regent; he violently opposed the marriage of Queen Mary to Darnley in 1565, and had to purchase his pardon for that offence, by consenting to surrender his castles, and to live abroad for five years. He returned to Scotland in 1569, after the deposition of the unfortunate Mary, and became the leader of the queen's party. He suffered imprisonment for some time in Edinburgh castle by an arbitrary stretch of authority on the part of Regent Moray, and after several alternations of opposition and submission to the dominant party in Scotland, he ultimately made his peace with Regent Morton in 1572, and declared his approbation of the reformed religion and of the king's authority. He died 22nd January, 1574. The dukedom of Chatelherault was resumed by the French crown, but his Scottish honours descended to his eldest son—

, third earl of Arran. He was in the castle of St. Andrews when Beaton was murdered in 1546, and was for some time detained a prisoner by the conspirators. The parliament, fearing that they might deliver up to the English the heir presumptive to the crown, passed an act declaring the governor's second son nearest heir, so long as the eldest should remain in the hands of the enemies of the realm. Arran obtained his freedom on the surrender of the castle to the French, and in 1555 visited the court of France, where he was appointed captain of the famous Scotch guard, and gained great distinction by his remarkable bravery. Having, however, been marked out as a victim by the Guises he fled to Geneva in 1559; and after travelling through Germany and Flanders, making himself acquainted with the reformed churches, he returned home by way of England, where he was cordially welcomed by Elizabeth, who spared no pains to attach him firmly to the protestant cause. In 1560 the Scottish parliament proposed the earl as a husband to the English queen. An unsuccessful attempt was made in the following year to bring about a marriage between Arran and Queen Mary, to whom he was sincerely attached. But disappointment, neglect, and annoyances caused by his father's parsimony, preyed upon a mind always excitable and impetuous, and in the end upset his reason. He was formally pronounced insane in 1562, and was placed in confinement. Notwithstanding his pitiful and hopeless condition, by a most shameful stretch of arbitrary power, he was held responsible in 1579 for the actions of his brothers; his estates were seized by the rapacious Regent Morton, and he was subjected to a rigorous imprisonment in the castle of Linlithgow. After the downfall of Morton, Captain James Stewart, the infamous favourite of James VI., obtained a grant of the Hamilton estates, and was even created Earl of Arran. But, on the overthrow of this minion in 1585, the Hamilton family regained their lands and titles. James, earl of Arran, survived till 1609. His brother—

, commendator of the rich abbey of Aberbrothwick, and hence frequently named Lord Arbroath, was the virtual head of the great house of Hamilton after the death of his father, the duke, in 1574. He professed to be a zealous partisan of Queen Mary, and received her at Hamilton after her escape from Lochleven. His brother. Lord Claude Hamilton, commanded the queen's forces at the disastrous battle of Langside. It is now known, however, that in spite of all their professed zeal, the Hamiltons were, at the time of Mary's abdication of the crown in 1567, eager that she should be put to death, and that Hamilton, archbishop of St. Andrews, in the name of his family, formally proposed this course to the barons of the king's party, as the only certain method of reconciling the hostile factions. The assassination of Regent Moray was planned by them and their associates, and executed by a member of the family—Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh; and the slaughter of the Regent Lennox in the raid of Stirling, in 1571, was instigated by Lord Claude Hamilton and Lord Huntley. Six years later, the Regent Morton confiscated the Hamilton estates and seized the strongholds of the family. Lord John fled to France, and remained in exile until 1585, when, along with other banished noblemen, he entered Scotland at the head of a powerful army, expelled the royal minion Stewart, the usurper of the Hamilton title and estates, and seized the king's person. James was fain to grant the banished nobles an ample pardon; to repeal the act of forfeiture against them; and to reinstate the Hamiltons in their possessions. Lord John continued henceforth in high favour with the king, and in 1599 was created Marquis of Hamilton. He died 12th April, 1604, in his seventy-second year. His son—

, second marquis of Hamilton, was born in 1589, succeeded his father in 1604, and his uncle, the earl of Arran, in 1609. He presided as royal commissioner at the meeting of the Scottish parliament, held in 1621, which ratified the famous "Articles of Perth," establishing the episcopal form of worship—a result which, in spite of the most determined opposition, was brought about mainly by the dexterity of Hamilton. The marquis died in 1625, in his thirty-sixth year, deeply lamented by James, who followed him to the grave in a few days.

, third marquis and first duke of Hamilton, son of the preceding, was born in 1606. When he had reached his fourteenth year, he was sent for to court, and betrothed to Margaret, daughter of the earl of Denbigh, then only seven years of age. After this ceremony, the marquis was sent to Oxford to complete his education, which had previously been carried on in Scotland. An early and close intimacy sprang up between the prince of Wales and the young marquis; and after Charles ascended the throne he induced his friend by repeated and earnest requests to quit his beautiful residence in the island of Arran, and to repair to court. On his arrival there, in the year 1628, Hamilton was appointed master of the horse, a gentleman of the bedchamber, and a privy councillor. Other high honours were subsequently heaped upon him, and he was appointed to the command of the forces sent to the assistance of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The expedition sailed on the 16th of July, 1630, and having reached the mouth of the Oder in safety, the troops were disembarked, and contributed largely to the victory which the king of Sweden gained over the imperialists at Leipsic. Hamilton then marched with his brigade into Silesia, where he distinguished himself by his courage and prudence. He was ultimately recalled in 1632; and returning to England received a cordial welcome from the king. During the succeeding six years of his life the marquis took no part in public affairs. But in 1638, when the foolish proceedings of Charles and Laud, in attempting to impose the liturgy on the Scottish people, had led to the adoption of the National Covenant and to open resistance to the royal authority, Hamilton was sent down to Scotland as royal commissioner, with instructions to endeavour to allay the agitation by the offer of certain concessions. But promises and threats proved alike unavailing to induce the people to acquiesce in the religious innovations. The marquis was three times successively sent down to Scotland with fresh instructions and enlarged powers, but with the same result. The temporizing offers of Charles, as he distinctly stated in his private letters, were intended merely to gain time until his warlike preparations were completed to reduce the