ed by it. Another proclamation was put forth on the arrival
of the King in Edinburgh commanding all true subjects to refrain from
intercourse of any kind with Angus, his brother, and uncle, not to
receive them or succour them or hold any communication with them on
peril of being considered sharers in their crime--in short, a sort of
interdict after the papal fashion. The impromptu council sat for two
days in the upper chamber of the Tolbooth, which was the recognised
Parliament House, chiefly, it would seem, to hear the King's indictment
against the family of Douglas. James set forth all his grievances, his
subjection to the will of Angus, his separation from his own friends,
the appearance he had been made to assume of enmity to his real
champions, and vowed at the end, says Pitscottie, in the fervour of his
indignation and resentment, that Scotland should not hold them both. He
would receive nothing but support in that assembly where all had
suffered from the supremacy of Angus, and where the too powerful race
had no friends. The council appointed anew all the high officers of
State, whose posts had been appropriated by the Douglases, and sent an
envoy to England to announce that the government of Scotland was
henceforward in the King's own hands. It was also ordained that a
Parliament should be called in the month of September, to confirm in a
more decorous and regular way the decisions of the present hasty
assembly.

When Parliament met these questions were accordingly discussed over
again, with confirmation of what had been already done. It was decided
that Angus should be summoned before them to answer for his misdeeds,
under the penalty if he did not appear of being "put to the horn and
banished during the King's will." Angus was not so rash as to trust
himself within the power of his enemies, as his kinsmen of the house of
Douglas had already done on two fatal occasions: and as neither he nor
his retainers put in an appearance, they were accordingly attainted,
their lands forfeited to the Crown, their name put under the public ban,
their great castle of Tantallon seized, and themselves proclaimed
through all the country as traitors whom no man should receive or
succour.

The complete downfall which overtook this great house after the young
King's abandonment of it is very remarkable, and shows how important was
the royal position, notwithstanding the manner in which it had been
_exploite_, and the mere nominal