session of the kings of Scotland, until either the said Christierne, or his successors, should pay to king James, or his successors, the sum of fifty-thousand florins of the Rhine-which agreement was considered to be highly advantageous to the Scottish interests, in consequence of the disputes which had been so long subsisting respecting the right of possessing those isles.

In the month of November, in the year 1469, the marriage being consummated in the July preceding, the three estates were summoned at Edinburgh, where the queen was solemnly crowned, after which, as soon as the winter had passed, the royal pair commenced a progress into the north of the kingdom, and were received at all the towns along their route with the utmost demonstrations of respect and joy, so that, for awhile, none other sounds than those of feasting and revelry were heard from one end to the other of the realm.

On their return to Edinburgh, in the month of May, 1471, the king called a parliament, in which, among other things, it was decreed, that the lords, barons, and boroughs of the realm, should build ships and boats, and provide nets for fishing.

It was also enacted, that none should wear silks in doublet, gown or cloak, except knights, minstrels and heralds, unless they were worth a hundred pounds a year in lands. Pastime of football and other games were forbidden, but the exercise of shooting was universally permitted. At length, another great national, though rather tardy event, once more filled the kingdom with gladness and pleasure. This was none other than the birth of James' eldest son, afterwards James IV. which occurred on the tenth of March, 1472.

Christierne, King of Denmark, the infant's uncle, transported with delight, to commemorate the occasion, immediately gave-up in his grandson's favor, all remaining claim to the Orkney and Shetland Isles.

Queen Margaret, by no means continued to enjoy a life of undisturbed domestic felicity, being soon forced to experience the bitter truth, that connubial fidelity was not among the list of her husband's virtues: a fact which the following circumstance will serve to illustrate. The duke of Albany, finding himself not treated to his own satisfaction, retired to England, where, by his representations, he instigated king Edward IV. to invade Scotland, The English monarch favored his suit, and, accordingly, provided an army of Sixty thousand men, and a numerous fleet. The king of Scots, on his part, no sooner heard of their approach, than he raised a large force, and advanced as far as the town of Lowder. While encamped in this place, the principal nobles who commanded his troops, entered his quarters, and unceremoniously prepared against him a series of charges, which it would seem king James wanted the power or skill to refute. The nobles, who, at such a moment, thus treacherously forgot their duty as liege-subjects, were archibald, earl of Angus; George, earl of Huntly; John, earl of Lennox; James, earl of Buchanan; Andrew, lord Grey; Robert lord Lisle, and others. The accusations were of a nature sufficiently calculated to shew their consciousness of the king's helplessness, and a most unscrupulous freedom on their own part in exercising the power which they possessed. They asserted that he had done many things contrary to his honor and the commonwealth of his realm; that he listened to wicked counsels from men of ignoble birth

and character, especially from one Thomas or Robert Cochram or Cochran, whom, from being a mason he had raised to the earldom of Mar, and by whose advice he had caused certain copper money to be coined, not convenient to become the currency of any realm, which, being rejected by the people, created a famine throughout the land. They moreover alleged that he would-not permit his nobles to have free access to him, nor consult with them respecting the government of the realm; but having abondoned himself to voluptuous gratifications, had criminally neglected the queen, his lawful wife, and entertained in her place an infamous female known by the appellative of "Daisy." They also charged him with the death of his brother, the earl of Mar, and the banishment of his other brother, the duke of Albany; for all which reasons, they authoratively declared that they would no longer suffer the kingdom to be ruined by such unworthy and unqualified persons. On which, with equal disregard of all law and justice, they seized upon Thomas Cochram, earl of Mar, William Roger, and James Hommill, a tailor, and forthwith hanged them, sparing of the king's creatures, and at the king's particular and urgent entreaty, but John Romsey, a youth of eighteen years of age. This done, they returned to Edinburgh with the king, whom, even, they had dared to arrest, and kept him close prisoner in the castle under coinmand of the earl of Athol.

In this emergency, the injured and neglected Margaret gave a strong and affecting proof of her constancy and faithful attachment. It is recorded, that the duke of Albany, Andrew Stewart, lord of Avendale, and others of the refractory chiefs, went to Stirling to visit her and the prince, on which occasion the queen employed her persuasive powers with so much earnestness and effect, that the duke was prevailed-upon forthwith to repair to Edinburgh, without even the knowledge of his colleagues, when he beseiged the castle, removed the earl of Athol, and restored the king to liberty.

Different writers relate the circumstances attending this outbreak of the nobles somewhat differently. It is said by some, that news was suddenly brought to the king, that the lords were assembled early in the morning, in the church. James started-up in alarm, asking those about him, "what was best to be done?" In the mean time, he despatched Cochran to bring him more accurate information, when Douglas, perceiving his approach, seized him by a massive gold chain, which he wore about his neck, and gave him into the marshal's custody. As he and the others were about to be tried, the army gave a singular proof of animosity, by raising a general shout of "hang them,-rogues," whereupon, they were immediately hurried away, the soldiers being so intent upon their execution, that, as ropes were not at hand, they offered their bridles and baggage-horse-traces for the purpose, each emulously striving for the honor of having his own used first. But not even this circumstance seemed to remedy the great defect of James' character, nor secure the queen from renewed proofs of his infidelity.

In the year 1486, or 1487, according to some, the king summoned a parliament, which being concluded, he went to Stirling, leaving the queen and prince at Edin

burgh castle, while he gave-himself-up to the company of the basest associates and the oppressive accumulation of wealth, by even the most onerous exactions. The queen herself did not long survive this fresh proof of her royal husband's infidelity. Her death occurred in the same year, and she was buried at Cambuskenneth, on the 29th day of February.

Until her latest moments, this amiable queen continued to enjoy the reputation of singular beauty, devotedness, and virtue, whilst she herself was conscious of having used her utmost energies both to preserve and prolong her husband's life, and to moderate his vicious character. In this amiable task, she had to encounter many serious obstacles and mortifying annoyances, which, to say nothing of his inconstancy, a brief summary of James' qualities will sufficiently shew.

He is reproached with a sordid littleness of mind, which rendered him peculiarly liable to entertain a jealousy and suspicion of those who were more inclined to the martial and popular pursuits of the age. His taste for the arts, more feminine and finical than strong and manly, were said to be inconsistent with the due discharge of his duties as a sovereign. Passionately fond of music, devoted to architecture, and actuated by an usurer's avarice, he estranged himself from the generous exercises of war and arms, and regarded with abhorrence the boisterous and martial spirit of his barons.

QUEEN Margaret's life offers a rare example of great personal merit, strongly contrasted with great personal sufferings; and few families, royal, noble, or plebeian, afford better lessons of warning, and of imitation, than those taught both by the house from which she sprang, and by that to which her hard lot consigned her.

With the protection of a faithful husband, Margaret's exalted qualities would, in an age of refinement, have contributed largely to the splendor of any court, however brilliant; and the conditions attached to the settlement of her dowry, actually put an end to invasions, which had, for centuries, been most ruinous to Scotland.

But this ill-requited princess found James altogether careless of his obligations, as a husband; and, as a king, he was incapable of turning the distractions of neighbouring states, to the advantage of his own realm, as did his contemporary, Edward IV,⚫ in England.

To such a sovereign, was Margaret, the daughter of Christierne Ist, the "popular, benevolent, and humane" king of Denmark and Norway, married from her native land with extraordinary pomp: the first years of her accession to the Scottish throne, were, however, passed under fairer auspices.

James himself, young, accomplished, and even learned for his age; as well as a patron of learning, had, from the character of his mother, Mary of Gueldres, acquired from his infancy the germs of every vice. Her own delight in gross

See this Portrait, No. 136 of this Series.

pleasures, encouraged in her son a taste for dissipation, to which his easy nature was but too prone; and her love of power long excluded him from its legitimate enjoyment; so that, from the want of an early exercise of the faculties of the ruler, he was, through his whole life, incapable of discharging the ruler's duties. Hence, he became a prey to favorites, a victim to degrading superstition, and cruel to his nearest relatives.

Margaret, however, in the events of her life, did but share the melancholy fate, so remarkable in the history of many of the Scottish queens. "Of singular beauty, and worth :—and of graces thought to have sometimes moderated the king's ungovernable appetites," she, nevertheless, suffered the deepest mortification and wrong, being neglected amidst the excesses of a licentious court, and insulted with her husband's criminal indulgencies, until she sank into a premature grave.

Margaret was, however, happy in two events of her life :

She lived long enough to implant the seeds of her own virtues in the heart of her son, afterwards James IV, "under whom," says Buchanan, "the minds of all men were reconciled, and a happy peace and tranquillity did ensue.-Nay, and Fortune had permitted herself to be an handmaid to the king's virtues. There was so great an increase of grain and fruits of the earth, as if a golden spring had suddenly started-up, out of more than an iron age."

And if, to have helped to form the character of this admirable prince, her son, may properly be accounted the greatest source of happiness to queen Margaret, it may surely be considered fortunate, in scarcely a less degree, that she did-not live to witness the last stages of the king's depravity, and died unconscious of his outrages on the members of his family and household, and of the oppressions which he inflicted upon his people.

The great lesson taught by the experience of queen Margaret in her father's and her mother's time, is very striking; that upon the parents' care, and the parents' good or bad example, greatly depend the offspring's destiny. Her kindly nature was bettered by her father's instructions; her husband's crimes might have been prevented by a mother's virtues.

THE

COURT, LADY'S MAGAZINE,

MONTHLY CRITIC AND MUSEUM.

A Family Journal,

OF ORIGINAL TALES, REVIEWS OF LITERATURE, THE FINE ARTS, MUSIC, DRAMA, FASHIONS, &c. &c.

UNDER THE DISTINGUISHED PATRONAGE OF

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHESS OF KENT;

Embellished with a Beautifully-colored, full-length, authentic Portrait

OF

MARGARET OF DENMARK,

QUEEN-CONSORT OF JAMES III. KING OF SCOTLAND, (No. 144, of this series of colored, full-length, authentic, ancient portraits.)

VANDYK AND THE COUNTESS BRIGNOLE.

THE city of Genoa had risen with the sun of one of her brightest days, to be present at the marriage of the count Brignole. The gay strains of the dance were hushed; the mole opposite the fountain of St. Christopher was deserted; the galleys slumbered upon the calm and azure waters, which reflected, with a rippled outline, the peristyle of the Doria palace. All the elements of noise and motion had transferred themselves to the Via San-Lucca; the crowd that had gathered in the neighbourhood of dei Branchi was directing itself towards San Lorenzo-the cathedral-its countless numbers, like a stream, filling the narrow and tortuous streets, which almost choked up the magnificent approaches to that gothic structure, of polished black-and-white marble.

A-AUGUST 1845.