to the king. "That's right," said he; "it is the custom for the
executioner to inherit from the-condemned". Meanwhile, the Earl of
Lennox, supported by the people's murmurs, loudly demanded justice for
his son's death, and came forward as the accuser of his murderers. The
queen was then obliged, to appease paternal clamour and public
resentment, to command the Earl of Argyll, the Lord Chief Justice of the
kingdom, to make investigations; the same day that this order was given,
a proclamation was posted up in the streets of Edinburgh, in which the
queen promised two thousand pounds sterling to whoever would make known
the king's murderers. Next day, wherever this letter had been affixed,
another placard was found, worded thus:

"As it has been proclaimed that those who should make known the king's
murderers should have two thousand pounds sterling, I, who have made a
strict search, affirm that the authors of the murder are the Earl of
Bothwell, James Balfour, the priest of Flisk, David, Chambers,
Blackmester, Jean Spens, and the queen herself."

This placard was torn down; but, as usually happens, it had already been
read by the entire population.

The Earl of Lennox accused Bothwell, and public opinion, which also
accused him, seconded the earl with such violence, that Mary was
compelled to bring him to trial: only every precaution was taken to
deprive the prosecutor of the power of convicting the accused. On the
28th March, the Earl of Lennox received notice that the 12th April was
fixed for the trial: he was granted a fortnight to collect decisive
proofs against the most powerful man in all Scotland; but the Earl of
Lennox, judging that this trial was a mere mockery, did not appear.
Bothwell, on the contrary, presented himself at the court, accompanied by