stage and devote himself to his great work, "Origenes del Teatro Español," which was not published till after his death. He was appointed chief of the royal library under Joseph Bonaparte, and twice had to fly from Spain with the intruders. He was permitted to return; but not feeling safe from the Inquisition, he returned to Bayonne, and afterwards resided at Bourdeaux and in Paris. He died in the last-named city, 21st June, 1828. He was buried in Père la Chaise.—F. M. W.
MORATIN, Nicolas Fernandez, a Spanish dramatic author, born in 1737; died in 1780. His chief work (1770) was a drama, "Hormesinda," founded on events connected with the Arab invasion, the first which appeared in Spain under the canons which governed Corneille and Racine. Neither this nor two which succeeded it are of great merit. His "Poeta," a collection of short poems; "Diana," a didactic poem; and a poem on the destruction of his ships by Cortes—are all that need be mentioned in addition. He laboured with more success as a professor, and as the founder of a literary club in Madrid, to reform the bad taste of his times.—F. M. W.
MORAY, James Stewart, Earl of, the celebrated regent of Scotland, was born in 1530, and was the natural son of James V. by Margaret, daughter of John, Lord Erskine. In his seventeenth year he accompanied his sister Mary to France, where he completed his education; and, having been intended for the church, was created prior of St. Andrews. But on arriving at manhood he discovered no inclination to follow the clerical profession; and having in his twenty-second year attended the preaching of John Knox at Calder he became a convert to the reformed faith, and the most active among the lords of the Congregation, as the leaders of the protestant party were called. Even at that period Knox had formed the highest expectations from the talents and spirit of the young nobleman; and his sagacious and zealous efforts contributed greatly to the overthrow of Romanism, and the establishment of the protestant religion in Scotland. Along with the earl of Argyll he accompanied Knox in his memorable preaching tour through Fife, which led to the demolition of the monasteries. He was one of the commanders of the army of the Congregation which, with the assistance of an English force, compelled the French troops to evacuate Scotland; and he assisted in negotiating the memorable treaty of Edinburgh, by which the independence of the country was secured, and the way prepared for the overthrow of the Romish faith. He was one of the commissioners appointed by the parliament to be present at the celebration of the marriage of the Scottish queen to the dauphin, in 1558. After the death of her husband, he was despatched by the Estates for the purpose of endeavouring to obtain his sister's approbation of the object of the Congregation, and of an alliance with England; but she obstinately refused to ratify the treaty of Edinburgh or to adopt the policy he recommended; and even endeavoured, though without success, to gain him over to her own views, by offering him a cardinal's hat and several rich benefices in France. His refusal, however, did not seem to lessen her esteem or to shake her confidence in his integrity, for she promised to send him full powers to govern the kingdom during her absence; though finding that his attachment to the alliance with England remained unshaken, she failed to fulfil her promise. On Mary's return to her own country, Lord James was appointed her prime minister; and though strongly attached to the protestant faith, he firmly refused to permit any infringement of the queen's religious freedom, and protected her chaplains in the performance of their religious rites, to the great discontent of the more extreme protestants. Under the prudent direction of Lord James and Lethington the supremacy of the reformed party was secured, along with private liberty of conscience for the queen, and an adequate amount of support to the Romish clergy; the plots of the Hamiltons and of the Gordons, the heads of the Romish party, were suppressed and punished; amity was maintained with England; and the administration of public affairs was conducted with equal firmness and discretion. Mary placed full confidence in the rectitude and wisdom of her able minister, and as a mark of her regard created him Earl of Mar (January, 1562) on the occasion of his marriage with a daughter of the Earl Marischal; and a few months later, on the rebellion of the Gordons, she bestowed upon him the earldom of Moray, with the extensive estates attached to it, which, during the confusion of the civil war, had been assumed by Huntly.
The prosperity which Scotland enjoyed under the firm and prudent guidance of Moray, was unfortunately not of long duration. He and the other lords of the Congregation were deeply offended by Mary's marriage with Darnley, which she carried out in spite of their earnest remonstrances. Moray refused to appear at court, alleging that Darnley and his father, the earl of Lennox, intended to murder him; and for the purpose of preventing the marriage he formed a plot to intercept the queen and Darnley on their journey from Perth to Callander house, which they, however, escaped by a hasty march commenced at an early hour in the morning. After the marriage had taken place, the earl and his confederates—the duke of Chatelherault, the earls of Glencairn, Argyll, Rothes, and others—encouraged by large promises and a small sum of money sent them by Elizabeth, rose in arms against their sovereign; but Mary took the field and chased the insurgents from place to place, till finding that the great body of the people looked coldly on their cause, they were compelled to take refuge in England. On their failure Elizabeth, with characteristic perfidy and dishonesty, publicly disowned them as unworthy traitors, compelled them to declare that she knew nothing of their plot, and then commanded them to leave her presence, though she privately furnished them with means of support. Moray's haughty spirit was now humbled; he deeply felt the error he had committed, and was anxious to return to his allegiance. He even stooped to bespeak the good offices of David Riccio, and sent a valuable diamond ring to this all-powerful adviser of the queen. But Mary, unfortunately for herself, instead of following the advice of Melvil, who told her she must pardon if she would reign peacefully, preferred the counsels of France and of the popish party, and determined to crush her brother and his associates by procuring their condemnation and forfeiture as traitors, at the next meeting of parliament. To prevent these measures, and to frustrate the plot which had been formed for the extirpation of the protestant religion, a conspiracy was entered into by Morton, Darnley, and others, to murder Riccio and expel the queen's Romish advisers (See Riccio, David.) Moray was undoubtedly privy to this atrocious scheme; for, according to previous concert with the assassins, he returned from England on the day after the murder, and even assumed the lead in the councils of the conspirators. But the queen, after regaining her liberty, prudently made a distinction between the old and the new rebels, and pardoned Moray on his pledging himself to have nothing more to do with the murderers of Riccio. From this time onward Mary lived on terms of amity with her brother; but he does not seem to have taken any prominent part in the management of her affairs. Her alienation from her husband, and her fatal passion for Bothwell, cannot have escaped the penetration of so shrewd a spectator; but though Lethington and Morton alleged that he was favourable to a divorce, there is no reason to believe that he was an accomplice in the murder of Darnley. He was absent from the court when that wicked deed was perpetrated; and shortly after—foreseeing, but unable to prevent his sister's marriage to Bothwell—he left the country and went to France. After the flight of Bothwell, the surrender of Mary at Carberry, her imprisonment in Lochleven castle, and forced abdication of the throne, Moray was appointed regent of the kingdom by the confederate barons. They had in the meantime taken care to write him with the view of gaining him to their cause; but he had expressed his disapproval of their violent proceedings, and had sent a messenger to remonstrate with them for having imprisoned the queen. The French court made strenuous efforts, and held out most magnificent promises to Moray, to induce him to support their interests in Scotland. But their brilliant offers were resolutely refused; and he declined with equal firmness the overtures which were made to him on the part of England. On receiving intelligence of his election to the office of regent, he lost no time in returning to Scotland, where he was enthusiastically welcomed by the citizens of Edinburgh. After carefully making himself acquainted with the position of parties and the views of the confederates, and paying a visit to Mary at Lochleven, to whom he spoke with great severity of her past life and present danger, he ultimately consented at her urgent request to assume the government. He was next day proclaimed regent with the usual ceremonies, and took a solemn oath to maintain the protestant faith and the laws of the kingdom. He entered upon the duties of his office with his accustomed energy, and "went stoutly to work," says Throckmorton, "resolved to imitate those who had led the people of Israel." Most of the
