though superior in force, to consent to a pacification. He then proceeded to Edinburgh castle, where he resided some time; but mistrusting the designs of the other party, he again turned towards the north. Arriving at Stirling, the governor refused to admit him, and he was now deserted by several of the northern peers. Resolving to commit his fortune to the decision of a battle; he met the opposite party near Bannockburn, on June 11, 1488, where a sharp conflict ensued, which was soon ended by the king's hasty flight. In crossing the rivulet which gives name to the place, his horse started and threw him, and he was carried unknown to a neighbouring mill, where some of the pursuers recognized and cruelly murdered him, being then in the thirty-sixth year of his age, and twenty-eighth of his reign. By his queen, who died the following year, he left three sons. ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS, sixth earl of Angus. He was one of the chief actors in the combination formed among the nobility, for the removal of Robert Cochrane and other minions who had insinuated themselves into the favour of James III., and whom they hanged over the bridge at Lauder. At the battle of Torwood, where that king lost his life, the earl of Angus commanded in the right wing of the royal army. About five years afterwards, he was made chancellor. At the fatal battle of Flodden, he endeavoured to dissuade James IV. from that engagement, but without success. The earl died about a year after this event, and was buried in the church of St. Mains, in Galloway.

WILLIAM ELPHINSTONE, a distinguished statesman and ecclesiastic of Scotland. He was a native of Glasgow, and was born in 1431. He received his education at the university of his native city, where he made extraordinary proficiency in all the learning then prosecuted. After completing his studies in his native city, he went over to France, for the purpose of obtaining a perfect knowledge of the civil and canon law, in the university of Paris, where he afterwards became a professor; and during a residence of six years, acquired considerable reputation in the discharge of his duty. Returning to Scotland, he entered into holy orders, was soon appointed official of Glasgow, and afterwards of St. Andrews. He was admitted a member of the king's council; and on a misunderstanding taking place between James III. of Scotland, and Lewis XI. of France, his powerful mediation at the latter court, in conjunction with the bishop of Dunkeld and the earl of Buchan, effected an amicable reconciliation. On this occasion Elphinstone conducted himself with the greatest prudence, while he displayed uncommon eloquence; and the king was so grateful for his meritorious services, that he rewarded him with the see of Ross. He was translated from this to the diocese of Aberdeen, about the year 1484, and was also appointed to the high office

of chancellor of the kingdom, which he managed with so much moderation and equity, that all parties esteemed and admired him. Upon the breaking out of the civil wars between James and the discontented nobility, bishop Elphinstone seems to have declined all interference with public affairs of a political nature, and confined himself to the discharge of his ministerial duties. But when James IV. ascended the throne, his abilities as a statesman were again called forth, and he was chosen ambassador to the emperor Maximilian, for the purpose of bringing about a marriage alliance between his royal master and the emperor's daughter; but she had been previously promised to another, which rendered his mission in this respect void. It was, however, productive of very beneficial consequences to his country, for he was the means of terminating an enmity which had long existed between the Dutch and Scots. This he conducted in such a masterly manner, that James never undertook any thing of importance, without consulting him, and obtaining his approbation. The bishop was no less the zealous patron of learning; and it was through his influence that James IV. applied for and obtained a bull from the pope, for the establishment of a university at Aberdeen. King's college, of which he is generally considered as the founder, was undertaken and completed by his exertions; and at his death, he bequeathed large sums of money for its support. He died in 1514, in the 83rd year of his age, at which advanced period his constitutional vigour was very little impaired, and all the faculties of his mind were in full force, but the serious losses at the memorable battle of Flodden, had broken his heart. He wrote a history of Scotland, which is among the MSS. of Sir Thomas Fairfax, in the Bodleian library at Oxford.

JAMES IV., king of Scotland, was not sixteen years old when he had the misfortune to stand in battle against his father, James III., whose murder raised him to the crown, in 1488. Remorse for his unfilial conduct was one of the first feelings which attended his elevation, and he condemned himself to wear an iron chain round his body, to which he added one link for every succeeding year. The party of the victorious barons of course possessed the superiority in the beginning of the new reign, and they obtained a declaration in parliament of their innocence with respect to the late king's death and other slaughters, which were imputed to his own perverseness and deceit. An insurrection which took place in the north, for the purpose of revenging his death, was soon suppressed. A subsequent parliament, in 1490, was instrumental in healing the feuds and animosities of parties, and restoring internal tranquillity. The young king contributed to this desirable end by the impartial administration of justice, and equal courtesy to all the nobles. His opening qualities were well calculated to gain poVOL. IV. 0

pularity. He was addicted to martial and manly sports, gallant, frank, and magnificent. His invitations of the peers and gentry to frequent tournaments and other festivities, inspired a general spirit of loyalty, though the splendour of his court involved his finances in occasional disorder. The prudent policy of Henry VII., maintained peace between the two nations, which for some years was only interrupted by some unavowed hostilities at sea. It was one of James's passions to become powerful on that element, and the valour of the Scottish commanders was crowned with success in some petty conflicts. In 1496, James adopted the cause of Perkin Warbeck, the pretended duke of York, who came to his court with recommendations from the king of France and the king of the Romans. James appears to have given full credit to his pretension, and besides had in view the advantages to be made, if by his aid Perkin should ascend the English throne. He treated him with respect, married him to the daughter of the earl of Huntley, a lady of royal blood, and entered the English border with an army in his behalf. This was, however, chiefly a pillaging expedition on the part of the Scotch king, and he withdrew after loading his army with booty. He repeated his incursion in 1497, and laid siege to Norham castle; but the approach of the earl of Surrey caused him to retreat, and the English retaliated on the Scottish border. Peace was, however, so much the object of Henry, that he soon made overtures of accommodation, and through the mediation of Spain, a truce was agreed upon during the lives of both monarchs. James abandoned the cause of Perkin, but would not consent to deliver him up. Soon after, he listened to a proposal for a nearer union of the two crowns, by his marriage with Margaret, the daughter of Henry; and the first treaty of peace between the two nations from the year 1332, was concluded in 1502. By reason of Margaret's tender age, the marriage did not take place till the summer of 1503. It was an important event, which in the issue produced the desirable union of the two kingdoms under one crown.

In a subsequent parliament, several very useful laws for the improvement of the country, and the preservation of internal tranquillity were passed, and James, occupied in these patriotic cares, appears in a truly respectable light. He also paid attention to foreign affairs, and the concerns of his allies, and the success of his interposition in more than one instance, showed that Scotland was considered as of some weight in the scale of European politics. His close connection with the English court did not prevent him from cultivating the ancient amity between his country and France. Lewis XII., through the medium of Bernard Stuart d'Aubigny, carried on negociations in Scotland, and obtained the promise of a succour for his wars in Italy; nor could the pope, Julius II., subvert the attachment of James

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to France, though superstition was one marked feature in his character. The death of Henry VII., in 1509, made no immediate change in the relations between England and Scotland, and the treaty of peace was renewed by Henry VIII. The haughty violence of this monarch, however, endangered the du ration of this friendship; and his capturing, upon pretence of piracy, the two ships of the Scottish Barton, by means of the admiral lord Thomas Howard, was considered by James as an act of hostility peculiarly provoking, on account of his fondness for maritime consequence. To gratify this passion, he had some time before constructed a ship of war called the Great Michael, of larger dimensions than any in the English or French navies ;-an idle piece of vanity, which uselessly exhausted the forests of the country and the royal arsenals. The confederacy against France, between the pope, the king of Arragon, and the king of England, was a still more powerful means of setting James and Henry at variance. By the arts of France, and the money which she lavished at the court of Scotland, a treaty was formed, binding the kings of the two countries to assist each other "against all who may live and die." One of the artifices employed to inflame the spirit of James, was well calculated to operate upon his romantic character; this was his appointment by the French queen, Anne of Brittany, to be her knight and champion, after the example of the times of chivalry. Various negociations were, however, carried on between the English and Scotch courts, as it was an important point to Henry to secure the northern part of his kingdom from incursion, while he should be absent with the strength of the nation in France. These, however, were ineffectual. James, in 1513, sent a fleet with troops to France. Soon after, in retaliation for some depredations of the English borderers, he sent the earl of Home to make incursions into England, which proved unfortunate, in consequence of his falling into an ambush on his return. Soon after, James, summoning the whole array of his kingdom, amounting to a hundred thousand men, entered England, and took possession of some castles on the borders. One of these was that of Ford, whose mistress, of the name of Heron, a woman of art and beauty, detained the amorous king some days in a state of inglorious inaction. During this fatal period, his army suffering through bad weather and scarcity of provisions, and dispirited by delay, was seized with a spirit of desertion, which prevailed to such a degree, that he had not above 30,000 remaining in the field. In the mean time, the earl of Surrey, having collected the force of the northern counties, advanced at the head of 26,000 troops. The two armies met at Flodden on the banks of the Till, in Northumberland; and after some skilful manœuvres of the English general, which intercepted the retreat of the Scots, a general battle was brought on by the at

tack of the English in the afternoon of September 9, 1513. Great valour was displayed on both sides, and night alone stopped the conflict. The king bravely fighting in the centre, fell mortally wounded. His natural son, the archbishop of St. Andrews, twelve earls, and many inferior nobles, fell around him. The king's body fell into the hands of the victors, and was carried to the monastery of Sheene, near Richmond, where it was interred; but the Scottish populace long enjoyed a fond opinion, that their beloved sovereign was not dead, but had buried his disgrace in some foreign pilgrimage. James IV. was slain in the forty-first year of his age, and twenty-sixth of his reign. He left one legitimate child; another, born after his death, died in its infancy.

LAW.

MARIANO SOXINI, or SOCCINI, denominated the Elder, an eminent canonist, was born at Siena in 1401. He studied first at his native place, and then in Padua, in which last university, after he had taken his degree, he was for some years professor of the canon law. He then returned to Siena, where he taught as a professor during the remainder of his life. He was very intimate with Eneas Sylvius, afterwards pope Pius II., who has a panegyric upon him in one of his letters, in the most magnificent terms, assigning to him almost universal proficiency in science and the arts, with the greatest excellence of moral character. Soxini was sent by the state to compliment Sylvius when he ascended the papal throne, on which occasion he was nominated consistorial advocate. He died in 1467, leaving behind him a considerable reputation for learning and integrity.

JOHN D'ANANIA, or AGNANY, a lawyer of great reputation. He was of obscure origin, and on that account took the name of Anania, a town of the ancient Latium, instead of that of his family. He became professor of civil and canon law at Bologna, and archdeacon, and was in high esteem on account of his learning and piety. He wrote "Commentaries on the fifth book of the Decretals:" "A Treatise on Feudal Rights:" one on "Magical Ceremonies," &c. He died in 1458.

JASON DEL MAINO, an eminent Italian lawyer, born at Pesaro, in 1405, was sent to Pavia to study the law, having received the elements of a good education in his native place. Free from the constraint of parental observation, he applied himself more to the gaming table than to those pursuits which were intended to fit him for future life. By this line of conduct he was soon reduced to a state of almost absolute indigence. The animadversions of his father, together with his own sufferings, effected such a change in his mode of living, that he be