Royal Edinburgh: Her Saints, Kings, Prophets and PoetsOliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
History
Royal Edinburgh: Her Saints, Kings, Prophets and Poets
Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
Edinburgh (Scotland) -- History
lifted cows and harried lands of one small proprietor and another. "The
King," adds the same authority, "notwithstanding of this rebellion, was
not the more cruel in punishing thereof nor he was at the beginning:"
while Buchanan tells us that his clemency and moderation were applauded
even by his enemies.
This is throughout the opinion which we find of James. He was capable of
being moved to sudden violent indignation and hasty action, as was too
distinctly demonstrated afterwards; but the hasty outburst once over
came back at once without rancour to his natural benignity, always
merciful, slow to anger, ready to hear whatever the accused might have
to say for himself, and to pardon as long as pardon was possible.
Notwithstanding the rebellious and audacious contempt of all authority
but their own shown by the Douglas party, notwithstanding the standing
danger of their insolent power, their promises so often broken, their
frequent submissions and actual defiance, his aim in all his dealings
with them was rather to do justice to the oppressed than to punish the
guilty. His genial temper, and that belief in his kind which is always
so ingratiating a quality, is proved by the account Major gives of his
life on those military expeditions which from this time forth occupied
so much of his time. He lived with his soldiers as an equal, that
historian tells us, eating as they did, without the precaution of a
taster, which Major thinks highly imprudent, but which would naturally
bind to the frank and generous monarch the confidence and regard of his
fellow-soldiers, and the captains with whom he shared the sometimes
scanty provisions of the campaign.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account