far as Inverness, to repress the violence of the Highland chiefs; and by attaching the more powerful barons to his person and service, and arraying the clans in opposition to each other, he succeeded in introducing a certain degree of respect for the laws among the fierce inhabitants of the northern counties. In 1502, a treaty of marriage betwixt the Scottish king and Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., was concluded at Richmond; and in the following year, the young bride, only in her fourteenth year, was conducted to Edinburgh, where the nuptials were solemnized with much chivalrous pomp and splendour. This was a union which produced the happiest effects in future times, as it united the two kingdoms in the person of James VI., the great-grandson of this marriage. In 1504, James with a large retinue proceeded to Eskdale, where he called the borderers to a severe account for their depredations, and with a salutary severity executed the most noted of these freebooters. In the same year, a rebellion in the Western Isles had been for the time subdued by Sir Andrew Wood; but the rebellion breaking out anew in the following year, the king repaired to the Hebrides in person with an ample force, and completely subdued the insurrection. Affable and easy of access to the meanest of his people, and liberal even to profusion in his entertainment of the nobles, James IV. was highly popular with all classes of his subjects. His noble bearing as a knight, gained their admiration; and the energy he displayed in maintaining order and justice throughout the land, and his unwearied efforts in promoting the commercial interests of the country, and in providing a navy for its defence, secured their gratitude and esteem; so that, although his licentious gallantries have left a blot upon his personal character, his memory has been transmitted to posterity in brighter colours, and his fame has reached us with louder plaudits, than those of almost any other monarch that ever ruled in Scotland. So long as the sceptre of England was swayed by the cautious Henry VII., peace was maintained between the two countries; but on the accession of Henry VIII., a prince of a temper as fiery as that of his Scottish brother in-law, war soon became inevitable. Henry invaded France, and James, to serve his French ally, immediately declared war upon England. The war was unpopular with the Scottish nation, yet such was their loyal devotion to the king, that Highlands and Lowlands at once poured forth their array to fight in the quarrel of their beloved monarch, and James soon saw himself at the head of an army of one hundred thousand men. He crossed the Tweed, but instead of pressing forward while the English were unprepared, he loitered away his time in idle dalliance with the Lady Heron at Ford Castle, till many of his own troops had returned home, and the Earl of Surrey had collected a strong force to oppose him. James was posted on Flodden hill, in so strong a position, that Surrey finding an assault from the south hopeless, where the ground was abrupt and rugged, led his army across the Till, and by a circuit, placed himself to the north of the Scottish army, where the ground, sloping gently, afforded an easy means of access. During this manœuvre, Surrey exposed himself to certain defeat had James attacked his army in flank. This unaccountable oversight on the part of the Scots, in neglecting to attack the English whilst defiling past them, proved fatal to Scotland. The battle began at four in the afternoon, and was maintained with great valour and obstinacy, the king fighting on foot with his nobles around him, till the darkness separated the combatants. It was not till next morning that the Scots were aware of their defeat, and the English sure of their victory. About an equal number fell on each side, but the English lost only men of common rank, while the Scottish army, consisting chiefly of the flower of the nobility and gentry, fighting around their beloved sovereign, the best and bravest of Scotland were left dead on the field. The king and thirteen earls were slain, besides fifteen lords and chiefs of clans, with a long list of gentry and ten thousand of the common rank; so that the whole Scottish nation were thrown into mourning, and the fatal field of Flodden is still remembered as one of the greatest calamities that ever befell the kingdom of Scotland.-Written for the present Work. SECTION VI. POETRY. I.-CHRIST'S BIRTH ANNOUNCED. WHEN Jordan hush'd his waters still, When Bethel's shepherds through the night, Hark! from the midnight hills around, Wild murmuring o'er the raptured soul. On wheels of light-on wings of flame, The glorious hosts of Zion came: High heaven with songs of triumph rung, While thus they struck their harps and sung O Zion! lift thy raptured eye, The long-expected hour is nigh; The joys of nature rise again, The Prince of Salem comes to reign. See, mercy from her golden urn, Pours a rich stream to them that mourn; The bleeding bosom of despair! He comes to cheer the trembling heart, O Zion! lift thy raptured eye, CAMPBELL N II. THE 148th PSALM PARAPHRASED. BEGIN, my soul, the exalted lay! Let each enraptured thought obey, And praise the Almighty's name; To swell the inspiring theme. Ye fields of light, celestial plains, Your Maker's wondrous power proclaim, Ye angels, catch the thrilling sound! Join, ye loud spheres, the vocal choir; Soon as grey evening gilds the plain, Thou heaven of heavens, his vast abode, Whate'er a blooming world contains, Ye dragons, sound his awful name Let every element rejoice; Ye thunders, burst with awful voice, His praise in softer notes declare, To him, ye graceful cedars, bow; Tell, when affrighted Nature shook, And trembled at his frown. Ye flocks, that haunt the humble vale, Wake, all ye mounting tribes, and sing: To him who shaped your finer mould, Let man by nobler passions sway'd, Till heaven's broad arch rings back the sound, Ye whom the charms of grandeur please, Fall prostrate at his throne; Ye princes, rulers, all adore : Praise him, ye kings, who makes your power Ye fair, by nature form'd to move, Let age take up the tuneful lay, OGILVIE. III. THE HERMIT. Ar the close of the day, when the hamlet is still, |