ions whose principle and
tradition were those of enmity. A perpetual peace had indeed been sworn
and signed at the time of the marriage of Margaret Tudor with James IV,
but how little lasting that had been is amply demonstrated by the fact
that no such crushing defeat had ever been inflicted upon Scotland as
that of Flodden, in which the King and the great part of his nobles
perished. Perhaps it was the germ of the design to attract the lesser
country into the arms of the greater by friendship rather than to set
her desperately at bay against all peaceful influences, which had
prevented the successful army from taking advantage of the victory; but
certainly through all the distracted period of James's minority efforts
had been made by constant envoys to acquire a share in the councils of
the country, such as had hitherto been considered the right of France,
who was the old and faithful ally as England was "the auld enemy" of the
Scots. The alliance with France had been taken for granted on all sides.
That Scotland should harass England in every war between that country
and her continental neighbour was a foregone conclusion, and it was
something still more sure, a proverb on the English side, that when
France was to be assailed the right thing was to begin with Scotland.
The position of Henry as brother of the Scottish Queen, and the nearest
relative of James, who, under circumstances not at all unlikely to
occur, might be his heir, gave the English king now a natural right to
interfere; and it is conceivable that had this right been exercised more
wisely it might have led to fortunate issues. But unhappily King Henry
had associated his influence with that of Angus, taking the part of his
sister's discarded husband with great determination, and apparently
without any sympathy in those changes in Margaret's affections which so
much resembled his own. Angus was to Scotland the representative of the
English alliance, and as everything connected with Angus had now become
hateful to James, it followed that his uncle's desire to obtain an
influence over him, which was not accompanied by any substantial marks
of kindness towards himself, did not meet with much success: though it
might have been otherwise had the vaguely-proposed marriage been carried
out. But one can scarcely be sorry that the noble and graceful James
should have escaped such an alliance.

[Illustration: LINLITHGOW PALACE]

Other and still more serious matter