Descendants of the Stuarts

328 APPENDIX.
was a man of science and learning ; an excellent poet, a
master of music, the fame of his accomplishments reflected
glory even on the throne. Illustrious in every personal virtue,
free from any personal vice, his very amusements adorned his
character.^' " James I. was," says Noble, "undoubtedly the
vpisest prince, not only of his own, but of any other family
that ever sat upon the throne of Scotland." "He was,"
writes Drummond, " one of the worthiest of all the Kings of
Scotland till his time; of the former kings it might have
been said, the nation made them kings, but this king made
that people a nation." *
James II. — Just, brave, upright, temperate, sincere, war-
like, politic, enterprising, affectionate, and amiable, but high-
spirited and somewhat passionate. " It is difficult," says
Pinkerton, " to know whether to admire most the public or
private virtues of James." " The grief of the nation at the
premature death of this beloved sovereign it would be diffi-
cult to express," writes Tytler.f
James III. — Tytler writes, " James was eminently hand-
some j his countenance combined intelligence with sweetness;
his manners Avere dignified, but somewhat cold and distant,
owing to his reserved and secluded habits of life. Highly
accomplished, and passionately devoted to the fine arts, parti-
cularly music, in which he was a great enthusiast; and
architecture, in which he spent immense sums. His great
fault seems to have been a devotion to studies and ac-
complishments, which, in this rude and warlike age, were
deemed unworthy of his rank and dignity. The error of
the king lay not so much in the encouragement of in-
genuity and excellence, as in the indolent neglect of those
duties and cares of government which were in no degree in-
compatible with the patronage of the fine arts. A too exqui-
* Fordun, Robertson, Buchanan, Pinkerton, Tytler, Drummond, Scott,
Noble.
t Buchanan, Tytler, Abercromby, Robertson, Pinkerton, Scott, Maitland,
Drummond.