a solitary dwelling in the extremity of the city, and was murdered on the 9th of February 1567, the house having been blown up with gunpowder. Bothwell was the prime contriver in the murder, and that Mary was accessory to it, is evident from her behaviour towards the king, her remissness in inquiring into the murder, and her marriage with the man who was stigmatized as the murderer. The events which followed this unlawful marriage; the confederation of the nobility for revenging the king's death, and preserving the infant prince; the flight of Bothwell, the imprisonment of Mary; her resignation of the government; coronation of her son, and the appointment of a regent during his minority, are well known. Knox had now reached that point from which he could take a calm view of the struggle in which he had been engaged. True religion was now established, and he cherished the hope of retiring to that privacy from which the Reformation had drawn him, but he was destined to endure further trials. From the time that the Earl of Murray was appointed regent, a number of the nobility, headed by the house of Hamilton, stood aloof, and refused to acknowledge any other than the Queen's authority. After her escape from Lochleven Castle, they collected to her standard, and avowed their design to restore her to the throne, but the defeat at Langside broke up her party; Mary was driven from the kingdom, and the rigorous measures of the Regent, restored a state of obedience to the king's authority. The partisans of Mary, desparing to accomplish their purpose during the Regent's life, determined to cut him off, and employed two persons to assassinate him; but their design having been discovered, Hamilton of Bothwell-haugh undertook to carry it into execution, and, following the Regent in his progress through Glasgow, Stirling, and Linlithgow, found an opportunity in the
