JAMES I.

THIS monarch was born in 1394, for he was in his forty-fourth year when he was ſlain in 1437.^*

In 1405, when he was about eleven years of age, he was ſent to France for his education, by his father Ro⯑bert III.; but was captured by the Engliſh on his voyage;^† and remained a priſoner in England for about nineteen years.

This captivity was nevertheleſs attended with eminent advantages. Nurtured in the ſchool of adverſity, his mind eagerly imbibed the elegant arts, and uſeful ſciences: and, on the 21ſt of May 1424,^‡ he aſcended the throne of his fathers, perhaps the moſt accompliſhed ſovereign in Europe of his time.

The regencies of Robert, and Murdac, dukes of Al⯑bany, had been fertile in public abuſes: and the dilapi⯑dation of the royal lands and revenues, which they had ſhared among the nobles, in order to eſtabliſh their own power, expoſed the new ſovereign to a choice of difficulties. His reign muſt be degraded by penury; or rendered dan⯑gerous by the arduous taſk of reſuming the royal patri⯑mony. The ſpirit and genius of James preferred the latter alternative; and, after a long ſeries of national diſ⯑order, the ſword of juſtice at length filled the hand of the monarch, and flaſhed in the eyes of an uſurping ariſto⯑cracy. The moſt guilty of the public depredators fell []under the axe of the law: neither rank, nor even royal blood, could ſave them from equal juſtice. Terror for a time ſeized the peers, and eſtabliſhed tranquillity. At length a conſpiracy was formed; and James periſhed un⯑der the ſword of an aſſaſſin, on the night between the 20th and 21ſt of February, 1437.^*

In poetry, in muſic, in the learning of his age, this prince was eminently ſkilled. In the field of manly and martial exerciſe his management of the horſe, of the bow, of the ſpear, excited admiration: his domeſtic hours were dedicated to elegant writing, and miniature painting; to mechanical arts; and to the cultivation of the garden, and the orchard.^†

He was ſhort of ſtature; and towards the end of his reign became very corpulent; but his ſtrength and agi⯑lity remained unimpaired.^‡ The preſent portrait is taken, in fac-ſimile, from that in the Inſcriptiones Hiſtoricae Regum Scotorum of Jonſton, 1602, a ſeries intitled to the greateſt confidence of authenticity.^§

JAMES V.

JAMES IV married Margaret of England, daughter of Henry VII, in Auguſt 1503; but many miſcarriages and early deaths intervened before a vivacious fruit of their union appeared. James V was born on the 10th of April 1512:^* and in September 1513, when he was an in⯑fant of a year and a half, the ſceptre fell upon his cradle, after the unhappy battle of Flodden, in which his father periſhed.

John duke of Albany aſſumed the regency in May 1515; and held it, with ſome intervals of abſence in France, until July 1524; when Margaret regained the ſupreme power. In the following year ſhe was conſtrained to ſhare it with Beton the chancellor, and Angus her huſ⯑band: and, in 1526, the latter uſurped the ſole autho⯑rity.^†

In the beginning of July 1528, James burſt from the fetters of Angus, in his ſeventeenth year, and the firſt act of his power was the forfeiture and baniſhment of that peer, his brothers, friends, and adherents. After a ſhort, but active and juſt exerciſe of ſovereignty, he died on the 14th December, 1542, a victim to the embarraſſments of the time, and his own high ſpirit. His ſceptre and misfortunes paſſed to the celebrated Mary his daughter, an infant of a week old.^‡

[]James V was a prince of no mean abilities; and from the reign of James I genius and love of the arts were he⯑reditary in the houſe of Stuart. His ſubjects ſmiled at his vague amours, while they admired his perſonal courage, his ſtrict adminiſtration of juſtice.^* His perſiſtance in the religion of his anceſtors, which was then that of the majority of the nation, has excited the calumny of proteſ⯑tant hiſtorians; but time extinguiſhes party, and revives candour. The only apparent ſtain on his reign is the exe⯑cution of lady Glamis, the ſiſter of Angus: but that ſhe was actually concerned in a plot of the houſe of Douglas againſt the king's life, there is every room to believe, from original papers, which will ſoon be laid before the public. His ſternneſs to the nobles was more than compenſated by the protection, affability, and generoſity, which he diſplayed to the people; and every cottage exulted in his glorious epithet of KING OF THE POOR.^†

His perſon was of the middle ſize, elegant and majeſ⯑tic; his face was oval, his eyes blue,^‡ his hair yellow: add an aquiline noſe, and the moſt ſtriking features of the Stuarts, from the acceſſion of the family to the death of this ſoverēign, will be delineated. This portrait is from a drawing in lord Orford's poſſeſſion, taken from a contem⯑porary painting in the collection of the duke of Devon⯑ſhire.^‖

MARY OF GUISE, QUEEN OF JAMES V.

MAGDALEN of France, the firſt wife of James V, having died in July 1537, in the ſeventh month af⯑ter the marriage, he, in the ſubſequent year, wedded Mary of Guiſe, or Lorraine. This lady was the daughter of Claude, duke of Guiſe, a branch of the houſe of Lorraine; and widow of Louis duke of Longueville. She arrived in Scotland on the 10th of June 1538; and the nuptials were immediately celebrated at St. Andrew's.^*

During the life of her huſband ſhe appears to have taken no part in the political intrigues of a buſy and important period. On his death, in Dec. 1542, ſhe was immerſed in the diſputes between cardinal Beton and Arran, con⯑cerning the regency: and after the aſſaſſination of the for⯑mer, in 1546, ſhe began to aſſume an active ſhare in the government. Inſtigated by the counſels of her brothers, the duke of Guiſe and the cardinal of Lorraine, ſhe aſ⯑pired to the regency, which ſhe at length obtained in April 1554. But, amid the vehemence of the proteſtant and catholic parties, her ſituation was expoſed to numer⯑ous difficulties; and her death on the 10th of June 1560, may be partly imputed to their preſſure.^†

An eminent hiſtorian has delineated her character with his uſual ability. He repreſents her as poſſeſſing the moſt eminent qualities, diſcernment, addreſs, intrepidity, pru⯑dence; []gentle and humane, without weakneſs; zealous for her religion, without bigotry; a lover of juſtice, without rigour. Her ſole foible was a devotion to France and the houſe of Guiſe, natural and almoſt unavoidable; but which became ruinous to her meaſures, and to her politi⯑cal reputation.^* Yet ſhe ſhewed extreme lenity to the re⯑formers; and on her death-bed expreſſed to their chiefs, with many tears, her concern for any cauſes of diſſention,^† and even condeſcended to hear the pious advices of their teachers with reverence^‡ Religious party, and bigotry, have now loſt much of their force; they periſh, but vir⯑tue is eternal: and Scotland may juſtly regard Mary of Guiſe as one of the moſt illuſtrious queens who ever ſhared the throne.

Her beauty, and the elegant gentleneſs of her manners, are mentioned in general terms:^§ but amid the ſilence of hiſtorians and writers of memoirs, her features may be beſt diſcerned from the portrait, which is contained in the ſame picture with James V, in the collection of the duke of Devonſhire.

JAMES II.

THIS monarch aſcended the Scotiſh throne in Fe⯑bruary, 1437, being only in the ſixth year of his age.

The hiſtorical materials of his reign are remarkably barren.^* His minority was chiefly rendered memorable by the conteſts between Crichton and Livingſton, and ſuc⯑ceſſive earls of Douglas. In 1449 James II eſpouſed Mary of Gelder, niece of Philip the Good, duke of Bur⯑gundy.

The execution of William, ſixth earl of Douglas, in the caſtle of Edinburgh, 1440, had not quieted the rebel⯑lious ſpirit of that great family; and in 1452 James was, in the efferveſcence of paſſion, provoked to ſtab William, the eighth earl of Douglas, with his own hand, in the caſtle of Stirling. James, the ſucceeding earl, raiſed ſome commotions, which were ſpeedily appeaſed, and the public tranquillity reſtored.

But in 1454 the grand rebellion of the houſe of Douglas commenced, which ſhook the Scotiſh throne, and was ſuppreſſed with much difficulty. In 1455 a forfeiture was led againſt the houſe of Douglas; and the four brothers, James it's chief, the earls of Moray and Ormond, and []lord Balveny, were doomed to expiate, by death or exile, the vengeance of their offended monarch and country. Yet in the courſe of a few years the branch of Angus ſuc⯑ceeded to the exorbitant power of the ſtem. Such ſtran⯑gers were the monarchs to modern theoretic ideas of a deſign to ſubvert the ariſtocracy; while, in fact, all they attempted was to withſtand its incroachments, when they became abſolutely incompatible with royalty.

On the 3d of Auguſt, 1460, James II was accidentally ſlain by the burſting of a cannon, while he was beſieging Roxburgh.

James II was a prince of eminent ſpirit; and his mea⯑ſures were deciſive even to violence. The obſcurity at⯑tending his reign renders his private life little known. His perſon, according to a dry but veracious author, was robuſt; and a red ſtain, which covered one ſide of his countenance, gave riſe to the vulgar epithet of James with the Fiery Face.^*

This portrait is copied, in fac-ſimile, from that in the Inſcriptiones of Jonſton.^†

EDWARD BRUCE, FIRST LORD KINLOSS.

THIS ſtateſman was the ſecond ſon of Sir Edward Bruce, of Blair-hall, and the progenitor of the earls of Elgin, and Ayleſbury. He was bred to the law, and diſplayed abilities which gained him the confidence of James VI, who ſent the earl of Mar, and Bruce, to con⯑gratulate Elizabeth on the ſuppreſſion of the inſurrection by Eſſex, in 1601. The ſubſequent correſpondence, be⯑tween Bruce and Sir Robert Cecil, operated greatly towards the peaceable acceſſion of James to the Engliſh throne.

On the 22d Feb. 1603, James erected the diſſolved abbey of Kinloſs, in Moray, into a lordſhip, in favour of this able negociator.

Lord Kinloſs, attending his ſovereign into England, was further rewarded by the office of Maſter of the Rolls: The patent is dated 8th July, 1604.^* And his epitaph mentions that he died on the 14th of January, 1610, aged ſixty-two years.

This figure is delineated from his monument in the Rolls Chapel, London; and is accompanied by the fol⯑lowing inſcription.

ZACHARIAH BOYD

WAS miniſter of the Baronry church of Glaſ⯑gow, and bequeathed 20,000l. Scotiſh mo⯑ney, (about 1600l. ſterling,) to the univerſity there. In gratitude his buſt was erected in marble, with an inſcription commemorating the donation of that ſum, and of his library. He lived in the reign of Charles I.^*

His tranſlation of the ſcripture, in ſuch uncouth verſe as to amount to burleſque, has been often quot⯑ed; and the juſt fame of a benefactor to learning has been obſcured by that cloud of miſerable rimes. Candour will ſmile at the foible, but applaud the man.

ISABEL OF SCOTLAND, DUCHESS OF BRETAGNE,

WAS the daughter of JAMES I; and in July 1441, was affianced to Francis, ſon of the Duke John V.

Argentré in his Hiſtory of Bretagne, informs us that when the envoys of John returned from Scot⯑land, that Prince was eager to know their opinion of the lady. They anſwered that ſhe had beauty, health, and an elegant perſon, but was very ſilent, and apparently ſimple. To which remark the Duke returned this celebrated reply; "My dear friends, I beg you will return to Scotland and bring her to me; ſhe is juſt ſuch a wife as I deſire for my ſon. Knowledge does a woman more hurt than good; upon my ſoul, I ſhall have no other. By the body of St. Nicolas, a woman is quite wife enough, when ſhe can diſtinguiſh her huſband's ſhirt from his waiſtcoat."

The marriage was accordingly concluded, but Iſabel did not proceed to Bretagne, till November, 1442, and found her huſband in the throne of that Duchy, by the ſtyle of Francis I, his father having died in Auguſt.

In 1450 ſhe was left a widow with two daughters, Margaret who married Francis II Duke of Bretagne, and Mary afterwards wife of the Viſcount de Rohan. []After refuſing the Prince of Navarre and other offers of matrimony, Iſabel of Scotland died in an advanced age, in 1494.^*

This portrait is a copy from the engraving in Lobineau's Hiſtory of Bretagne, taken from the original painting in the Cathedral of Vannes.

ROBERT BOYD OF TROCHRIG.

THIS learned profeſſor was the ſon of James Boyd of Trochrig in Airſhire, archbiſhop of Glaſgow, who died in 1581.^* The Boyds of Pink⯑hill, and of Trochrig, were deſcended from Adam Boyd, third ſon of Alexander the ſecond ſon of Ro⯑bert lord Boyd, the famous Chamberlain of Scotland in the minority of James III.^†

The celebrated Mark Alexander Boyd was of the family of Pinkhill, and firſt couſin to the pro⯑feſſor.^‡

Robert Boyd of Trochrig was profeſſor of divinity at Saumur in France, when he was invited by James VI to the office of principal of the univerſity of Glaſ⯑gow. But not ſupporting the king's views in promot⯑ing epiſcopacy, he reſigned, and was then called by the city of Edinburgh to the ſame ſtation in the uni⯑verſity there, and found equal oppoſition from the court. He therefore abandoned that charge, and be⯑came miniſter at Paiſley. He died in 1629.^§

He wrote a commentary on the epiſtle to the Ephe⯑ſians: and a poem called Hecatombe Chriſtiana, pre⯑ſerved in the Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum, and dedicated to his relation Andrew Boyd biſhop of Argyle, a pre⯑late eminent for his active virtues in reclaiming that barbaric ſee.

The original painting is in the univerſity of Glaſ⯑gow.

ALICIA STUART.

OF this lady, no more is known, than what her epitaph bears, that ſhe was daughter of Simeon Stewart of Lakingheth in Suffolk, and died on the 18th June 1573.

This Simeon Stewart ſeems the ſecond ſon of Thomas Stewart of Mildenhall in Suffolk, a family which diſplayed twenty quarters in their coat armorial. Stewart of Barton-mills in Suffolk was another branch. This family alſo extended to Norfolk, and Cambridge ſhire: and ſeven generations being in Elizabeth's time reckoned from their firſt anceſtor's leaving Scotland, that event muſt have happened in the Fourteenth century.^*

The portrait more properly belongs to the Engliſh ſeries; but the elegant ſimplicity, and antique taſte, of the monument were thought worthy of being bet⯑ter known: and this branch of the Stuarts deſerves commemoration in this work, as it may tend to il⯑luſtrate the genealogical hiſtory of Scotland, by pro⯑moting further enquiries.

An ingenious and reſpectable friend, who has made collections for Suffolk, ſays, "My notes for Laken⯑heath only mention an altar-tomb of grey marble for Simeon Styward, ^† who died 30th April 1568. Arms,

[]1ſt and 4th a lion rampant, over all a bend ragu⯑led, Styward.

2d quart. 1ſt and 4th, Styward.

2d and 3d quart. 1ſt and 4th, 3 boars heads cou⯑ped. 2d and 3d, a lion rampant.

3d, Styward imp. a lion rampant gardant, crowned.

Againſt the wall, an inſcription for Johanna, daughter and heir of Edward Peſtney, (qu. Reſtney,) wife of Simeon Styward: ſhe died 1583."

ROBERT II.

THIS firſt monarch of the houſe of Stuart, aſcended the throne on the 26th March, 1371, being in the fiftieth and fifth year of his age. He died on the 19th of April, 1390. His advanced years, and an inflammation in his eyes, prevented his perſonal appearance as an eminent actor in hiſtory; but his reign was diſtinguiſhed by the battle of Otterburn, and other illuſtrious incidents.

He was a juſt and beneficent Sovereign. In per⯑ſon he was tall and majeſtic, but his countenance was disfigured by the inflammation of his eyes, which, Froiſſart ſays, were diſtorted and red as ſandal wood;^* a defect which procured him the vulgar epithet of blear eye.

This portrait from the Inſcriptions of Jonſton, ſeems not much to be depended on; the eyes are in⯑deed diſtorted, but the beard worn in that age is wanting. The dreſs however accords with the coſ⯑tume. David II appears with the robe fringed on the ſhoulders, as here: and the form of the bonnet repeatedly occurs in Montfaucon's prints.^†

THIS portrait is taken from a painting at Kiel⯑berg, near Tubingen in Germany, the ſeat of the Von Lytrums.

The late learned Sir James Stuart Denham had in⯑formed Lord Buchan, that he had often ſeen at M. Von Lytrum's, a portrait full length of a Scotiſh king, in a cloſe jacket, the peaks of his ſhoes faſtened to his girdle, with chains of gold; that it was in a gallery with portraits of many other princes; that an an⯑ceſtor of M. Von Lytrum, being a great traveller, had viſited moſt courts in Europe, and obtained thoſe pictures of the reigning ſovereigns.^*

Lord Buchan in conſequence applied to M. Go⯑gnel, Chancellor to the Duke of Wirtemburg, at Mont⯑beliard, for a copy of this piece; which only came to hand half length, as here, though the remainder would have preſented an inſtance of a ſingular fa⯑ſhion, mentioned by old Engliſh writers as beginning in the reign of Richard II, but of which no other ſpecimen is known in painting or miniature.

The editor was led to ſuppoſe that this prince was James IV, becauſe the contemporary ſovereigns were of his reign, or ſoon after. But he now inclines to infer James I, from the following reaſons.

• 1. M. Gognel named it the latter.
• 2. The features cor⯑reſpond ſo much with the fine portrait of James I []in Johnſton's Inſcriptions, that the beard, and more advanced years, ſeem to form the only difference.
• 3. The crown over the arms is too ſimple for the time of James IV; that of James III having fleurons of quite a different height and richneſs.
• 4. The hat re⯑ſembles that of Charles VII of France, contemporary with James I, in Mezeray.
• 5. The jacket is not ſlaſhed. There is in Montfaucon^* a portrait of Charles duke of Burgundy, ſlain in 1477, in this very dreſs, with the chain of the golden fleece; but the jacket is ſlaſhed in ſtrait lines: and this faſhion of ſlaſhing appears in the genuine portrait of James IV.
• 6. The ſhoes, with chains, are ſo rare, that it is probable they were only known in the latter part of the reign of Richard II, and in that of Henry IV, who died in 1413, when James I was twenty years of age, and had been a captive for eight years. Long peaks are common, and appear in the ſtatutes of Ed⯑ward IV; but no mention of chains occurs after the above period. It is improbable that Von Lytrum ſhould from ſuch a diſtance viſit Scotland: but moſt likely that the portrait of James I was executed in England, during his captivity, and procured there by Von Lytrum, who not being able to get that of the reigning monarch, contented himſelf with another.

ALEXANDER ERSKINE, PLENIPOTENTIARY FOR SWEDEN AT THE TREATY OF MUNSTER.

THIS noted treaty took place in 1649; and there are fine prints of the meeting, and of the different ambaſſadors, from one of which the pre⯑ſent portrait is taken. The painter was Van Hulle.

In the military annals of Guſtaf Adolf, Erſkine was an eminent character. He was of the family of Er⯑ſkine of Kirkbuddo in Fife, ſprung from the Erſkines of Dun: and was ennobled in Sweden. Some of his deſcendants were not long ſince ſettled at Bonne in Germany.^* Further materials have not ariſen.

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND.

THIS work is rather to be regarded as an account of portraits, than of perſons; and concerning this prin⯑ceſs, in particular, ſo much has been written, that it is only neceſſary to ſtate the chief dates, in order to illuſtrate the portraits.^* She was born on the 14th of Dec. 1542; went to France in June 1548; was married to the Dauphin April 14, 1558, in her ſixteenth year: queen of France, June 1559; a widow Dec. 1560. She came to Scotland, Auguſt 1561; wedded Darnley, July 1565; a widow Feb. 1567; married Bothwell two months after; fled to Eng⯑land May 1568; beheaded 7 Feb. 1587, aged 44 years and 2 months, after a captivity of nearly nineteen years, the very term of that of James I of Scotland.

The fictitious portraits of Mary are infinite. In ſome of them ſhe is confounded with Mary of Guiſe her mother, with Mary queen of France, ſiſter of Henry VIII, and even with Mary of Medici. But any handſome woman is, with the picture dealers, Mary of Scotland. The follow⯑ing are the moſt authentic portraits.

The Scotiſh ſilver coin of 1553 gives her buſt at 11 years of age; the gold, 1555, at 13. The ſilver, 1561, ſhould be at 19. There is, it is believed, at Holyrood-houſe a portrait about 14, pale.

Cock of Antwerp in 1559 engraved a fine print, three quarters, in her ſeventeenth year. Mr. Harding's half length is faithfully copied from this print, which the editor []has ſeen in the poſſeſſion of Sir William Muſgrave. The ſmall eyes, and oval features, occur in all the genuine por⯑traits; but this has not that riſe in the middle of the noſe, which appears in the others. Perhaps the engraver was careleſs; or this feature was the product of more advanced years.^*

The portraits by Elſtrack, and a good modern profile by Stewart, may be claſſed between her twentieth and thirtieth year. The preſent undoubted portrait at Kenſington, ſeems of a later date,^† It has the marks of Charles I on the back, both when prince, and when king, with this inſcription, "Of Jennet.

Queen Marye of Scotland, appointed by his Majeſty for the cabinet roome, 1631. By Jennet."

Charles I certainly knew the picture of his grandmother. In the catalogue this piece is aſcribed to the younger Jennet, and is mentioned as a preſent of lord Danby. It is a deli⯑cate ſmall picture; the face is very pale, perhaps by the fading of the painter's carnation. Auburn hair, black eyes.

About the ſame age may be that in Johnſton's Inſcrip⯑tions; which, if the drawing were ſomewhat mended, would be a valuable portrait. It is publiſhed fifteen years after her death.

The tomb, Weſtminſter abbey, gives a fine reſemblance, between thirty and forty. Vertue's drawing in lord Orford's collection from lord Morton's picture; and his fine print, aet. 38, follow.

From the account of her execution it appears that ſhe was then fat and bloated. There is a large print of her about this time, apparently by De Leu, with latin verſes by a G. Cr. Scotus. The face the ſame as De Leu's ſmall one.

WILLIAM FORBES, FIRST BISHOP OF EDINBURGH.

WHILE the Engliſh poſſeſſed Lothian for a ſhort time, in the ſeventh century, there was a biſhopric of Abercorn. The province, expoſed to hoſtile inroads, was afterwards ruled by the me⯑tropolitan ſee of St. Andrews, which appointed an Archdeacon of Lothian, till Charles I, in 1633, created the biſhopric of Edinburgh.

William Forbes, a native of Aberdeen, and Prin⯑cipal of the Mariſhal college there, was nominated biſhop on the 26th of January 1634; but he only ſurvived his appointment about two months, dying on the 1ſt of April that year. He was ſucceeded by David Lindſay, who was expoſed to the fury of the populace on account of the new liturgy; and was depoſed in 1638.^*

Of biſhop Forbes Keith gives the following cha⯑racter. "A perſon he was endued moſt eminently with all chriſtian virtues, inſomuch that a very worthy man, Robert Burnet lord Crimond, a judge of the ſeſſion, ſaid of our prelate, that he never ſaw him but he thought his heart was in heaven; and that he was never alone with him but he felt within himſelf a commentary on thoſe words of the Apoſtle, []"Did not our hearts burn within us, while he yet talked with us, and opened to us the ſcriptures?" During the time he was principal at Aberdeen, he had interſperſed ſeveral things among his academical prelections, tending to create peace among the con⯑tending parties of chriſtianity; ſome notes whereof were publiſhed, above twenty years after his death, under the title of Conſiderationes Modeſtae et Pacifi⯑cae, &c."^*

The book forms an 8vo volume, replete with theological learning; and its intentions are the more laudable, becauſe very uncommon. But party, ever in extremes, is a ſtranger to reaſon, and to all Mo⯑deſt and Pacific Conſiderations. He who takes the mid⯑dle open ground is only expoſed to the fire of both armies. Power admits of no compromiſe: and, when overcome, receives no compromiſe: becauſe another power rules.

SIR CONRAD RUTHVEN.

OF this gentleman no memorials have yet ariſen. The portrait is given from the book mentioned below: and the only information there to be found is that Sir Conrad was a Scotiſh gentleman, and was ſurnamed the Red.^* The inſcription of the original print bears that he was a Scotiſh Knight. He ap⯑pears to have lived about 1650; and was perhaps of the Gowrie family.

JAMES IV.

THIS magnanimous prince aſcended the throne on the 24th of June, 1488, aged ſixteen, and fell in the unhappy battle of Flodden, 9th September, 1513, in the fortieth and firſt year of his age, and twenty-ſixth of his reign, which forms an epoch of the greateſt proſperity to which Scotland aſcended, while a ſeparate Power.

A complete knight of chivalry, generous, magnifi⯑cent, a patron of the arts, gentle, affable, juſt; had his prudence equalled his other qualities, he would have been one of the greateſt of monarchs. But his im⯑petuoſity of temper hurried him into two romantic and abſurd wars with England; in the latter of which himſelf and a great part of his nobility fell, and the kingdom was left a prey to anarchy.

Hiſtorians deſcribe his perſon as of the middle ſize and elegant, with a majeſtic countenance.^* Many minute anecdotes of his dreſs &c. may be found in the contemporary account of his marriage with Margaret daughter of Henry VII, publiſhed in the laſt edition of Leland's Collectanea.^†

The preſent curious and intereſting portrait is from a painting in the poſſeſſion of Mr. Batsford, at Fulham; and which appears to have belonged to king Charles I, as its former poſſeſſor aſſerted it had. In the catalogue of that king's pictures, p. 87, there is this article:

[]"Item. Beſide the door, the picture of king James IV of Scotland, with a faulcon on his fiſt, done after an ancient water-coloured piece; half a figure, ſo big as the life, in a carved frame. Length 3 f. 1. Breadth 2 f. o. Done by Daniel Mytens."^*

The picture has been put on freſh canvas, and reframed; and the ſize now is 3 feet 2 inches, by 2 feet and one quarter of an inch: a variation owing to the new frame not being ſo broad in the inner margin as the ancient. This invaluable piece is in good preſervation; and Mytens, who flouriſhed in the reign of James I of England, has ſhewn great talents in the execution. The prototype was probably a painting in diſtemper, in one of the Scotiſh palaces.

Complexion fair; eyes hazel; hair deep cheſnut. Bonnet black, ornament enchaſed gold; ſhirt collar decked with jewels, and a ſmall gold lace at the wriſt: doublet red, with leopard lapels; robe red, lined with purple, and puffed with light cloth of gold. The reſt for the falcon,^† in the right hand, is lilac with green fillets. The arch is red marble; the arms ſupported by the unicorns not diſtinguiſhable: the back ground is a clear ſky.

PATRICK SCOUGAL, BISHOP OF ABERDEEN,

WAS more memorable as the father of the author of "the Life of God in the Soul of Man," than from his own merits. He was ſon of Sir John Scougal of Scougal: and, from the parſon⯑age of Salton in Eaſt Lothian, was preferred to the ſee of Aberdeen in 1664. He was a pious and worthy man; and died 16th February 1682, aged 73. Biſhop Burnet, in the preface to his life of biſhop Bedel, gives a high character of the reſpectable prelate of Aberdeen.^*

His contemporary, Scougal the painter, was appa⯑rently of the ſame family. Betwixt Jameſon and Scougal there ſeems a break in the Scotiſh liſt of painters. Scotland indeed hardly produced a writer, or artiſt, during the commonwealth of England 1649—1660; and even its annals of that period are obſcure. The Hiſtory of Scotland under the com⯑monwealth, illuſtrated from original papers, would form a curious and intereſting work.

JOHN ERSKINE EARL OF MAR, REGENT OF SCOTLAND.

THIS truly illuſtrious character was third ſon of John twelfth lord Erſkine; and was edu⯑cated to the church: but the two elder brothers dying before their father, he became thirteenth lord Erſkine in 1552. Ten years after, he regained the title and eſtates of Mar, which had been unjuſtly wreſted from the family by James II.^*

On the birth of James VI, in 1566, the royal babe was committed to the cuſtody of the earl of Mar, then governor of the caſtle of Stirling. His candour and moderation became moſt conſpicuous in the public diſtractions that followed; and he was almoſt the only man who wiſhed to preſerve the inde⯑pendence of his country, alike unviolated either by French or Engliſh influence. On the death of Len⯑nox, the earl of Mar was choſen Regent, Sept. 6, 1571, in ſpite of the artifices of Elizabeth; but he did not hold that high office much above a year, dying on the 29th of Oct. 1572, not without ſuſpicions of poiſon, a crime of which Elizabeth and Morton were not incapable. His age is not com⯑memorated, but there is room to infer he was born about 1520.

[]His courage was conſpicuous in his ſally from Stir⯑ling caſtle at the head of thirty men, to repell the four hundred ſent by Kirkaldy, to ſurprize the peers, and by his ſucceſs in that unequal conflict. His at⯑tempts to conciliate all parties, and to maintain the independence of his country, againſt foreign influence, evince the real patriot. "He was perhaps the only perſon in the kingdom who could have enjoyed the office of Regent without envy, and have kept it with⯑out loſs of reputation. Notwithſtanding their mutual animoſities, both factions acknowledged his views to be honourable, and his integrity to be un⯑corrupted."^*

The painting, artiſt unknown, is in the poſſeſſion of James Erſkine Eſq. of Alva. Eyes dark blue, and of ſweet expreſſion: hair dark; drapery black.

SIR ALEXANDER ERSKINE OF GOGAR,

BROTHER of the celebrated Regent John earl of Mar, and anceſtor of the earl of Kelly, was a diſtinguiſhed character in the minority of James VI.^* After the death of the Regent, the care of the education of that prince fell to Sir Alexander; under whom Buchanan, and Peter Young, acted as chief preceptors. In 1578 he favoured the party which op⯑poſed the infamous Morton the Regent, who in re⯑venge perſuaded the young earl of Mar that his uncle intended to deprive him of the cuſtody of the king, and the government of Stirling caſtle. The conſe⯑quence was that Mar ſeized the command of that fortreſs, and expelled Sir Alexander.^†

He was nevertheleſs in the ſame year appointed governor of the caſtle of Edinburgh; and in 1580 vice-chamberlain of Scotland. He died before 1595, in which year his ſon Sir Thomas Erſkine of Gogar appears, he who killed Alexander Ruthven in the Gowrie conſpiracy, and was afterwards viſcount Fen⯑ton and earl of Kelly.^‡

The painting is in the poſſeſſion of James Erſkine Eſq. of Alva.

JOHN ERSKINE, EARL OF MAR, HIGH TREASURER OF SCOTLAND,

WAS the only ſon of the Regent who died in 1572. In 1595 the king James VI en⯑truſted to him the cuſtody of his ſon: and it is high⯑ly to the honour of this illuſtrious family, that the care of their minor ſovereigns had been in a manner hereditary; James V having been entruſted to lord Erſkine by his mother Margaret, and the parliament. It was ſolely a ſpecial character of probity that pro⯑duced thoſe ſucceſſive teſtimonies of high approba⯑tion.

This earl was joined with Bruce of Kinloſs, in con⯑certing with Cecil the means of ſecuring to James VI the acceſſion to the Engliſh throne: and he diſplayed much prudence in that grand tranſaction. In 1603 he was made a knight of the garter. On the death of prince Henry, whoſe education he ſuperintended, he returned to Scotland. In 1615 he was appointed lord High Treaſurer of that kingdom; an office which he reſigned three years before his death, which happened in 1634.^*

By his firſt wife, daughter of lord Drummond, he left only one ſon, John the ſtock of the family of Mar. But his ſecond wife, lady Mary Stuart daugh⯑ter []of Eſme duke of Lennox, bore him ſeven ſons, and four daughters. The ſecond of theſe ſons is the anceſtor of the Erſkines, earls of Buchan; one of the others of the Erſkines of Alva; beſides other il⯑luſtrious deſcendants.^* Nor has the family degene⯑rated in hereditary probity, and ability.

The picture, by Paul Vanſomer, is in the poſſeſ⯑ſion of James Erſkine Eſq. of Alva. Eyes dark blue; hair ſilver-grey: complexion healthy. Dra⯑pery black; blue ribbon, and george ſuſpended.

GEORGE JAMESON,

THE Vandyke of Scotland, was ſon of Andrew Jameſon, a builder, and was born at Aberdeen in 1586. The portraits by him at Taymouth are ſaid to have been executed before he ſtudied in Flanders;^* and as one piece there is dated 1635, it would appear that he was advanced in years before he viſited Ru⯑bens. He died at Edinburgh in 1644, aged 58; and was buried in the Gray-Friars churchyard.

For ſome account of his works the reader may con⯑ſult the valuable "Anecdotes of Painting in England;" nor is much additional information to be procured. Dr. Arthur Johnſton, in his Parerga, Aberdeen, 1637, addreſſes a ſmall poem to Jameſon, inſtructing him how to paint the beautiful lady Ann Campbell. One of his moſt curious paintings is at Cullen houſe, het ſeat of the Earl of Finlater: it is his own portrait, ſitting in his painting-room, the walls of which are hung with pictures; probably ſuch of his own as he moſt valued.

Jameſon is the firſt Scotiſh painter on record; but eminent foreigners had viſited Scotland, and painted illuſtrious portraits. The moſt curious aſſemblage of the kind is in the old gallery of the palace at Scone; a hunting-piece, in which James VI. and his chief courtiers appear. Alexander, the ſcholar of Jameſon, married his daughter; and Coſmo Alexander engraved a portrait of Jameſon, his great grandfather, in 1728. The elder Scougal, an imitator of Lely, and Corrudes, a foreigner, appeared in Charles the Second's reign; and were followed by De Wyck, or De Wit, and by []the younger Scougal. To them ſucceeded Hude, and Medina, both foreigners; and Wait and Aikman, na⯑tives.^*

This portrait of Jameſon, with a miniature of Iſa⯑bel Toſh, his wife, in his hand, is taken from a picture by himſelf, in the poſſeſſion of another deſcendant, Mr. Carnegy, town-clerk of Aberdeen. Hair and eyes black.

JOHN LESLEY, BISHOP OF ROSS.

IT appears that this prelate was the natural ſon of Gawin Leſley, parſon of Kinguſſie in Badenoch. He was born 29th Sept. 1527. In 1538 we find him at ſchool in Moray; in 1546, an acolyte in the cathe⯑dral church of Aberdeen. He is a canon of Aberdeen in 1550, and prebendary and official of that dioceſe eight years after.

About 1563 he appears among the eccleſiaſtic lords of Seſſion; and in 1565 is commendator of the abbey of Lindoris, and biſhop of Roſs.

His attachment to Mary, and his ſufferings in her cauſe, are well known. Deprived of his preferments in his own country, he was at laſt forced into exile; and, after various diſappointments in France and Flan⯑ders, he died at Bruſſels 31ſt May, 1596, aged 69.^*

It is no wonder that his active character has been blackened by party; but a candid proteſtant muſt al⯑low, that Biſhop Leſley acted with uniform principle. As a writer, his reputation ought alſo to ſtand in a ſu⯑perior claſs; for, not to mention his works of contro⯑verſy and piety, his Hiſtory of Scotland, from James III. to his own time, is executed with great informa⯑tion and accuracy; and is far ſuperior, in the real merits of hiſtory, to the elegant but incorrect work of Buchanan. The chronology, and the preſervation of important events and incidents, are ſolely implied, for both were partizans; and this work, eſtranged from party, wiſhes not to pull a wreath from one character, in order to beſtow it on another; but only to aſſign juſt applauſe where it is due.

This portrait is from an original in the univerſity of Aberdeen.

MARGARET OF DENMARK, QUEEN OF JAMES III.

THIS lady was daughter of Chriſtiern the firſt of that name, and firſt king of Denmark of the houſe of Oldenburg. She was married to James III in July 1469, being only in her thirteenth year; and brought the perma⯑nent dower of the Orkneys, the ſuperiority of which had remained with the court of Norway for ſix centuries.

The Scotiſh hiſtorians are unanimous in applauding her perſon, her virtues, and piety.^* An excellent wife, an affectionate mother, ſhe adds the merit of being unknown in the political ſtruggles of a turbulent period.

Margaret of Denmark died in February 1487, aged only thirty one years, and was buried at Cambuſkenneth.^† Whether ſhe fell a prey to diſeaſe, or to the continual agi⯑tations occaſioned by her huſband's miſrule, is left in doubt by the barren hiſtorians of that age.

JAMES VI.

THIS prince was born on the 19th of June 1566; and crowned on the 29th of July in the following year. In 1603 he united the arms of England and Scot⯑land; and died on the 27th of March 1625, aged fifty nine.

With the defect of a feeble character, he had the high merit of being a pacific monarch; a very little learning, a very little knowledge, being ſufficient to ſhew the advan⯑tages of peace over war, both to the king and the people. Even his ſhort peaceful reign greatly advanced the trade, agriculture, and colonies of the kingdom: and if, by way of ſpeculation, we could imagine it prolonged to the preſent epoch, the three realms would have been as one garden, as another China, in univerſal wealth and induſtry.

In features, particularly the noſe, James VI reſembles his father Darnley more than the ancient Stuart line. The ſingular ſtare of his eyes, mentioned by contemporary au⯑thors, is more apparent in the portraits taken in more advanced years; particularly a fine whole length at Wind⯑for, in which the face not a little reſembles the vulgar ſign of the Saracen's head.

ANNE OF DENMARK, QUEEN OF JAMES VI,

WAS the daughter of Frederic II king of Denmark and Norway. In October 1589 James proceeded himſelf in queſt of his bride, as his grandfather James V had ſet an example of this gallantry. They were married in Denmark; and Anne was crowned in the enſuing ſpring.

She died in March 1619.

The character of Anne of Denmark was the reverſe of that of her countrywoman, Margaret wife of James III. Amorous, bold, intriguing, impreſſed with little reverence for her huſband's ſpirit, or abilities for government, ſhe was immerſed in polities, though her ſupreme cunning have veiled her from hiſtorical obſervation. That, in particular, ſhe had no ſmall ſhare in the Gowrie conſpiracy, may per⯑haps be ſhewn by the editor, in a ſhort tract on that em⯑broiled ſubject. At preſent he ſhall only hint that the main actor, Gowrie's brother, was a paramour of Anne, that ſhe highly offended James by her continued favour to the for⯑feited family; that the earl of Gowrie himſelf appears to have been entirely innocent, and that Anne's ambition might conſpire with her lover's infatuation, to impriſon her huſband, and rival Elizabeth in female ſovereignty. Had the lover been a man of ability, had not his mind been al⯑moſt diſtracted with the weight of the enterprize, another example might have been added to thoſe in ancient and modern hiſtory, of imperious queens who have impriſoned or murdered their huſbands.

HENRY SCOUGAL, PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY AT ABERDEEN,

WAS the ſon of Patrick Scougal biſhop of Aberdeen 1664—1682; and has the merit of being the firſt Scotiſh author, it is believed, who wrote a book of practi⯑cal piety. Eccleſiaſtical diſputes, ſo inconſiſtent with the meek ſpirit of chriſtianity, had firſt prevailed between the catholics and reformers, then between the epiſcopals and preſbyterians, and afterwards between the preſbyterians and independents. Sermons, and commentaries on ſcripture were ſometimes interpoſed; but the chief object, the prac⯑tice of the Chriſtian virtues, was unaccountably neglected; Durham's curious work, On Scandal, being rather a diſcuſ⯑ſion of eccleſiaſtic diſcipline and polity, and a defence of the preſbyterians againſt the independent Jacobins of the day, than an ethical production.

Of Henry Scougal little is known. It is ſaid that, being of an amorous complexion, he ſometimes loved God, and ſometimes loved women; and that having unfortunately become enamoured of a married lady at Aberdeen, he died in the ſtruggles of virtue and paſſion. But he had grown ſo corpulent in his retreat, the ſteeple of the cathedral church of St. Machan's, at Old Aberdeen, that his execu⯑tors were forced to extract the body through a window. Theſe traditions ſeem rather inconſiſtent, as love is gene⯑rally ſuppoſed rather to belong to the claſs of conſumptions, than of dropſies; and it is rare that the amorous ſwain pines away into plenitude.

Scougal's Life of God in the ſoul of man was publiſhed by Biſhop Burnet, in 1691, 8vo; and has ſince paſſed through many editions, being a work of eminent piety, without enthuſiaſm, and written in a clear neat ſtyle.

ALEXANDER HENDERSON.

THIS Franklin of the Scotiſh commotions in laſt century was miniſter at Leuchars: and was in vain tempted with a biſhopric. He died in 1649, regretting the exceſs to which affairs were carried; but never repent⯑ing of his own moderate motives and actions, as vainly repeated by his opponents; a ſtale device of party.^*

In fact the preſbyterians, after overturning the epiſcopal deſpotiſm of the time, were gradually ruining their own cauſe by a deſpotiſm far more diſguiſting. The ſaints at⯑tempted to eſtabliſh a clerical ariſtocracy, not only over Scotland, but over England; and the civil power would have become the mere ſlave of eccleſiaſtic cenſure, and excommunication. Liberty of conſcience was entirely de⯑nied by the preſbyterian party; their church polity was a part of their creed; and the penalty againſt any diffent was excommunication in this world, and a liberal inheritance in hell fire hereafter. A man's private life was to be tainted with ſaintſhip or hypocriſy; and every pleaſure was to va⯑niſh at the nod of thoſe phyſicians of Sancho the governor. The preſbyterians ſupported the regal power, as a ſhield againſt the independents, and ſectaries; who, with far ſupe⯑rior political ſkill, allowed univerſal liberty of conſcience.

But a nondeſcript ſaint, named Cromwell, put himſelf at the head of the independents, and completely overthrew the preſbyterian deſpotiſm. Both parties appealed to King Chriſt, and he decided in favour of the democratic church.

In the ſole choice left, between the impertinent autho⯑rity, and degrading ſuperſtition, of the preſbyterians, and []the power merely military of Cromwell, it is no wonder that the nation ſighed for the ancient monarchy; a govern⯑ment at leaſt of gentlemen over gentlemen, and more bene⯑ficent to all, than that of parſons or ſoldiers over ſlaves.

Henderſon's favourite polity, and the clerical ariſto⯑cracy, were after his death to be trampled under foot; but be timouſly eſcaped from the evils to come. One of the chief events of his life was, the ſolemn conference with Charles I at Newcaſtle, on various topics of religion and government; the relation has been printed, and does honour to both parties.

PATRICK FORBES, BISHOP OF ABERDEEN.

THIS learned prelate was deſcended of the ancient and noble family of Forbes,^* and was himſelf baron or laird of the eſtates of Corſe and Oneil in Aberdeenſhire. Having received an excellent education, and being attached to eccleſiaſtical ſtudies, he was often perſuaded to take or⯑ders; but could not be prevailed on, till the year 1612, when the miniſter of Keith having, in a paroxyſm of reli⯑gious melancholy, ſtabbed himſelf, urged this as his dying requeſt; but the motive, conſidering all the circumſtances, ſeems moſt inadequate to the effect.

However this be, Mr. Forbes entered into eccleſiaſtic orders in his forty eighth year; and was choſen biſhop of Aberdeen ſix years after. He died on the 28th March 1635, aged ſeventy one years, and was interred in the ſouth aile of the cathedral.

In epiſcopal juriſdiction he was laudably rigid, and uſed ſuddenly to viſit the churches of his dioceſe on ſundays, that he might ſee the common method of the preachers, and accommodate his inſtructions accordingly.

He wrote a commentary on the Revelations, printed by Elzevir, 1646, 4to. Some particulars concerning him may be found in the life of the yet more learned and cele⯑brated John Forbes of Corſe, prefixed to his works Amſt. 1703, 2 vols. folio.^†

MARGARET OF SCOTLAND, DAUPHINESS OF FRANCE.

WAS the eldeſt daughter of James I by his wife Joanna Beaufort. In July 1436 ſhe was wedded to Louis dauphin of France, when ſhe was only twelve years of age.

She died in Auguſt 1445, in her twenty ſecond year, her exquiſite ſenſibility being unable to digeſt a ſlanderous expreſſion of a baſe courtier. Her marriage had been un⯑happy; the character of her huſband, afterwards the infa⯑mous Louis XI, being malignant to an inconceivable degree.

Margaret was not only celebrated as a patroneſs of men of letters, but was herſelf a proficient in French poetry, having compoſed many rondeaux and ballads. In the exami⯑nations taken concerning the cauſe of her death, it is men⯑tioned that ſhe would ſit up all night, writing poetry; and would compoſe twelve rondeaux in a day.^*

This portrait is taken from the Monumens de la Monar⯑chie Francoiſe of Montfaucon; and is not only intereſting in itſelf, but as ſhewing the dreſs of the times. The like⯑neſs may be conſidered as verified by the plate next given by Montfaucon, from the ſame MS. and which preſents a ge⯑nuine portrait of Charles VII.