the poor bird
got after that, between the two lovers, who kept him flying back and
forth a dozen times a day with their fond messages under his wing.

At last, King Henry got wind of this romantic affair, and, instead of
being angry; he was very glad, for he wanted King James to have an
English wife. So he took him from prison, gave him Lady Jane in
marriage, and restored him to his throne.

The poet-king and his noble queen were very kindly received in
Scotland, and lived for some time very happily and peacefully, always
dearly loving one another. But James found the kingdom in great
confusion from misgovernment, and the common people very much
oppressed. He bravely set himself to reform matters, trying to relieve
and protect the poor, and restrain and humble the rich and powerful.
His most difficult labor was to lessen the power of the great nobles,
who were in fact almost kings themselves, on their own estates, and
fought against each other, and even against the king, upon the
slightest provocation, and often without any. They rebelled against
this as being a spiteful action, and not, as it really was, a noble,
kingly effort to benefit the _whole_ kingdom. They took further
offence at the levying of some taxes for the support of the throne and
to carry on the government. The people being poor, and not used to
paying such taxes, were easily led to believe that it was King James's
avarice, and not the necessities of the government, which caused them
to be exacted. So, although he was so wise and good, and had the
welfare of his people so much at heart, he came to be looked upon as
unjust and tyrannical, by both the nobles and the common people; and
this led to a conspiracy to bring about his death.

The leader in this conspiracy was one Sir Robert Graham, a bold,
ambitious man, who was greatly embittered by having suffered an
imprisonment at the command of the King. He also enticed into the plot
the old Earl of Athole, by promising that his son, Sir Robert Stewart,
should be made king in James's place. Many others joined the plot,
upon various grounds, bringing with them their followers, to whom they
pretended that their object was to carry off a lady from the court.
Graham went off into the far Highlands, to complete his plan, and from
thence he formally recalled his allegiance to the king, bidding him
defiance, and threatening to put him to death with his own hand. In
reply to this, King James set a pri