401 



MURRAY, EARL OF. 



MURRAY, EARL OF. 



dOa 



source. His acquirements as a linguist pointed him out to Constable, 

 the well-known publisher, as a fit person to superintend a new edition 

 of Bruce's ' Travels ; ' and in the preparation of that work he was 

 employed for about three years, from September 1802, Murray residing 

 during that time chiefly at Kinnaird House, where he had access to 

 the papers left by the traveller. He was also at different times 

 employed in contributing to the ' Edinburgh Review ' and other 

 periodicals. By the advice of his friends he prosecuted the studies 

 necessary for the Church, to which his attention was directed as a 

 permanent source of employment; and at length, in December 1806, 

 he was appointed assistant and successor to Dr. Muirhead, minister of 

 Urr, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, a charge to which he in 1808 

 succeeded as full stipendiary. Within fix mouths after, he married 

 the daughter of a farmer in the neighbourhood. He still continued 

 his philological pursuits. In 1811 an incident occurred which brought 

 him into prominent notice as a linguist : on the recommendation of 

 Mr. Salt, envoy to Abyssinia, he was applied to by the Marquis 

 Wellesley as perhaps the only person in the British dominions qualified 

 to translate a letter, written in Geez, from the governor of Tigre to 

 his Britannic Majesty ; and he performed the task in the most satis- 

 factory way. The following year a vacancy occurred in the chair of 

 Oriental languages in the University of Edinburgh, of which the 

 town-council of the city ate the patrons. The income from this chair 

 was small; the post was however perfectly suited to Murray's taste 

 and habits. It brought him to Edinburgh, where bis literary labours 

 could be both assisted and valued ; and there was a great probability 

 that some other situation would soon be conjoined with it. Great 

 exertions were accordingly made to secure his election, and, notwith- 

 standing some fears of his health giving way under it, his appointment 

 took place. ('Scots Mag.,' July, 1812.) He was elected on the 8th 

 of July 1812, and on the 15th the university conferred on him the 

 degree of Doctor in Divinity. On the 26th of August he was formally 

 inducted to the chair, and ho began to lecture on the 31st of October 

 following. Soon after that he published, for the use of his students, 

 a small work entitled 'Outlines of Oriental Philology,' which is known 

 to have been both composed and prepared for publication after his 

 arrival in Edinburgh : the subject indeed was perfectly familiar to 

 him. He continued to teach his class with little interruption till the 

 end of February or the beginning of March ; and at such times as his 

 health would not permit him to attend bis public lecture, he taught a 

 small Persian class in his own room. The pulmonary complaint how- 

 ever, with which he had been struggling through the winter, at length 

 compelled him to suspend his prelections ; yet, with its characteristic 

 deceit, it always flattered him with hopes of resuming them ; and, 

 quite unconscious of his real situation, he continued engaged in his 

 favourite studies till within a few days of his death, which took place 

 on the 1,5th of April, 1813, in the thirty-seventh year of his age. His 

 body was interred in the Grey Friars' Churchyard, at the north-west 

 corner of the church. 



This great linguist was an eminent example of the pursuit of know- 

 ledge under difficulties. His life however may be described rather as 

 the preparation for some result than as having accomplished much ; 

 and the performance by which be will be known in the literary world, 

 though distinguished by profound and various learning, waa both 

 imperfect and posthumous. It appeared under the auspices of the 

 Rev. Dr. Scot of Corntorphine, and U entitled a ' History of the 

 European Languages, or Researches into the Affinities of the Teutonic, 

 Greek, Celtic, Sclavonic, and Indian Nations.' An extensive acquaint- 

 ance with these languages convinced the author that all the European 

 languages were closely connected ; and in the work now named it .is 

 hi* object to show that they all derive from, and may be traced to, 

 nine euphonic primitives, which primitives he states to be " ag, bag, 

 dwatr, gwag, lag, mag, nag, rag, and swag." " By the help of these 

 nine words and their compounds," says he, "all the European 

 languages have been formed." 



MURRAY, JAMES STUART, EARL OF, known in Scottish history 

 by the name of the ' Good Regent,' was the eldest of three illegitimate 

 brothers, children of King James V. His mother was the Lady 

 Margaret, daughter of John, lord Erskine of Mar, a nobleman of rauk 

 and influence at court, and one of those to whom the custody of the 

 king when an infant had 'been committed. 



Murray is supposed to have been born about the year 1533, but the 

 precise time of his birth is not known, nor any particulars of his early 

 life, except only this, that when but a few years old his father made 

 him prior of St. Andrews, with all the revenues of that rich benefice. 

 It*; afterwards acquired also the priory of Pittenweetn, and, after 

 obtaining a dispensation from the Holy See to hold three benefices 

 together, that of Mascon in France in commendam ; and in 1544 he 

 took the oath of fealty to Pope Paul III. In 1548 however he gave 

 proof of that intrepidity and military genius for which he was after- 

 wards ao distinguished. This was on occasion of the descent into 

 Scotland by the lords Grey de Wilton and Clinton. When the fleet of 

 the latter landed at St. Monan, on the coast of Fife, the Lord James 

 (as he was then called) collected a little band as determined as himself, 

 and, placing himself at their head, attacked the invaders and drove 

 them back to their chips. Shortly before this he had been in France, 

 Laving gone thither in the retinue of his youthful sister, Queen Mary, 

 when it was resolved she should be gent over to the Continent for her 



BIOG. DIV. VOL. IV. 



education ; and at different times afterwards we find him again abroad. 

 He was also present at Mary's marriage with the Dauphin of France, 

 and was soon afterwards deputed to carry to the latter the crown 

 and other ensigns of royalty. Circumstances occurred however in 

 Scotland which prevented the execution of this appointment : tho 

 Reformation was now rapidly diffusing itself among all classes of the 

 community, and dissolving in its mighty progress the nearest and 

 tenderest ties. In these struggles the Prior of St. Andrews joined tho 

 reformers, or, as they were called, the ' congregation," among whom, 

 by his courage and military skill, the success of his undertakings, tho 

 sanctity or rather austerity of his character, and the bluntness of his 

 manner, aided by the advantages of birth, countenance, and person 

 which he possessed, he gradually acquired a very high degree of con- 

 sideration. The queen-regent (to whom he was opposed) of course 

 endeavoured fo destroy his influence, representing him in particular 

 as an aspiring ambitious man who, under pretence of a reformation in 

 religion, sought to overturn the existing government. That argument 

 however had little weight, or rather it worked a contrary way : his 

 influence continued to increase ; and when, in the end of the year 1559, 

 the congregation resolved on taking the government into their own 

 hands, he was one of the council appointed for civil affairs. On tho 

 death of the queen-regent he was made one of the lords of the articles, 

 and on the dauphin's death ho was directed by the convention of 

 estates to proceed to France and invite Mary to return to her native 

 country. Such au appointment suited the views of the prior well ; 

 for previous to the death of Francis the Lord James had entered into 

 a correspondence with the young queen, soliciting the renewal of his 

 French pension ; and in reply Mary had assured him not only of that 

 but of the highest favours, civil or ecclesiastical, which could be con- 

 ferred upon him, provided he would return to his duty. He had also 

 at the same moment applied through Throckmorton to Cecil, tho 

 English minister, requesting some pension or allowance in recompence 

 for tiie losses he had sustained in the cause of the Reformation. He 

 therefore willingly undertook the proposed mission, and setting out on 

 the service accordingly, reached the palace and quickly gained admit- 

 tance to the queen. He then found that an envoy from the Roman 

 Catholic party in Scotland had preceded him ; and in the interview 

 which the prior had with his sister, he learnt that the disturbed state 

 of the country and his own ambitious views had been strongly insisted 

 on. Mary however adopted her brother's suggestions, and agreed to 

 return to Scotland without that armed force which the Roman Catholic 

 envoy had represented as wholly indispensable. Tho Lord James 

 immediately communicated the result of the conference to Throck- 

 morton, the English ambassador, but in a secret manner ; and, contrary 

 to Mary's express wishes, in returning home he waited on Elizabeth, 

 to strengthen no doubt the friendship which subsisted between her 

 and the reformers in Scotland, and no doubt also to acquaint her with 

 the determination which Mary had been induced to form. It i-i 

 observable that the letters from Throckmorton at this period strongly 

 urge upon Elizabeth to secure the Lord James's regard ; and from ono 

 of them it may even be inferred that Elizabeth had done him some 

 "good turn," as Throckmorton expresses it, for this very end. 



The Lord James returned to Edinburgh in the beginning of June 

 1561, having been absent on his mission about two months. In ten 

 weeks after, Mary embarked from Calais, and after a voyage of five 

 days arrived in the port of Leith. On her arrival she found the prior 

 among the first men in the kingdom ; and he then naturally became 

 her prime minister, confidant, and adviser. In this situation he acted 

 with great tact and judgment, and at the same time with much 

 tenderness to the queen. He protected her in the exercise of her own 

 religion, and in return obtained from her a proclamation highly 

 favourable to the reformers. He restrained the turbulence of the 

 borders, moderated the zeal of the people against popery, aud at ones 

 kept down the enemies of Mary's dynasty and strengthened the 

 attachment of her friends. Mary rewarded his services by conferring 

 on him the title of Earl of Mar, and honoured his marriage with the 

 Lady Agues Keith, eldest daughter of the earl marischal, which took 

 place about the same time, with a series of spleudid entertainments. 

 The greatness of the banqueting indeed, and the vanity thereof, 

 offended the more strict of the reformers, and Knox took occasion to 

 read the Lord James a solemn admonition ; " for," said the preacher, 

 " unto this day the Kirk of God hath received comfort by you and 

 by your labours, in the which if hereafter ye be found fainter than 

 before, it will bo said your wife hath changed your nature." 



The earldom of Mar, which the prior had just obtained from Mary, 

 having been claimed by Lord Erskine as his peculiar right, was soon 

 after resigned with the property belonging to it ; but in its place the 

 j prior received the earldom of Murray, which had been long the 

 favourite object of his ambition. This grant was scarcely a less 

 matter of jealousy to the prior's great rival, tho Roman Catholic Earl 

 of Huntley, than the grant of Mur was to the Lord Erakine. But all 

 dispute on that head was soon ended; for Huutley was shortly after 

 proclaimed a traitor for various overt acts of insubordiuatiou ami 

 rebellion, originating in disappointed ambition, and not long after that 

 he suddenly expired. Murray was now lft in undisputed possession 

 of the chief authority in the kingdom next to the queon, who reposed 

 in him almost unlimited confidence. An incident occurred about this 

 period which showed the influence he possessed in the government, 



2 JJ 



