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 i
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OP 
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. 
 
 BY MISS BENGER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " MEMOIRS OP ANNE BOLEYN,' 
 " MRS. HAMILTON," &c . &0 . 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOB 
 
 LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, 
 
 PATERNOSTER- KOW. 
 
 1823.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Page 
 
 J OY of Francis the Second on his accession to 
 the crown. Unfortunate effects of Mary's 
 influence over him. Trait of Catherine's 
 address. Interview between Francis and 
 Montmorency. Painful situation of Mary. 
 
 Object of Catherine's jealousy. Dimi- 
 nution of the Court. Its removal to Blois. 
 
 Alarm from the conspiracy of Jean Re- 
 naudie. Precipitate retreat of the King 
 and two Queens to Amboise. Suspicion 
 and detention of the Prince of Conde. 
 Arrest of Castelnau. His noble reply to 
 the Chancellor Olivier. Anguish of Anne 
 of Este at the execution of Castelnau. 
 Death of Olivier. Council of Fontain- 
 bleau. Montluc states. New intrigues.
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Convocation of the States General at 
 Orleans. The King's illness. Death. 
 Important consequences to Mary Stuart. 1 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Removal of Mary from Court, to Orleans. 
 Her residence at Rheims. Her visit to 
 Lorrain. Perplexity of the reforming 
 party in Scotland. Mary's interview with 
 Lord James. Appears at the sacre of 
 Charles the Ninth, at Rheims. Returns 
 to Paris. Homage of the Princes and 
 courtiers. Conversations with Throg- 
 morton. Her farewell to France. De- 
 parture from St. Germains to Calais. 
 Embarkation. Her despondence during 
 the voyage. ---------77 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Knox. His influence. His prejudices 
 against Mary. His description of her re- 
 ception. Sketches of her ministers. The 
 Lord James Maitland of Lethington. The 
 Earl of Morton. The Earl of Huntly. 
 The English resident Randolph. Estab- 
 lishment of Mary's household. Her mu- 
 nificence. Extracts from Randolph's let-
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 Page 
 
 ters communicating various sketches of her 
 Court. ..-_ 120 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Mary under Murray's tutelage. Various spe- 
 culations on her marriage. Restoration of 
 the Earl of Lennox. Arrival of Darnley, 
 and progress of his suit. Opposition from 
 Murray and Elizabeth. Marriage of 
 Darnley and Mary, ------- 159 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Campaign of Mary and Darnley. Elizabeth's 
 treatment of Murray. Conspiracy of Mor- 
 ton, Ruth ven, and Darnley against Rizzio. 217 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Dissension between Mary and Darnley. 
 Mary's illness at Jedburgh. Divorce pro- 
 posed. Baptism of James. Darnley's 
 illness. Reconciliation with the Queen. 
 Death. - 257 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Marriage of Mary to Bothwell. Surrenders 
 to Morton and the confederates, on Car 
 berry Hill. Imprisonment at Lochleven,
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Her extorted abdication. Coronation 
 of her son. Escape. Battle of Lang- 
 side. Flight to England. - - - - - 322 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 A sketch of Mary's residence in England. 390 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES. ------- 471 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 160. for page 101. reference to Keith, read page 201. 
 225. for page 1 17. of Melvil's Memoirs, read 1 14. 
 286. for page 329. of Keith, read 347. 
 296. for page 253. of Keith, read 353. 
 317. for page 5. of Lodge's Illustrations, &c., read i l. 
 327. for page 6. of Keith's Preface, read 9. 
 336. for page 431. of Keith, read 392. 
 369. for page 6. of Keith's Preface, read 8. 
 381. for page 39. of Anderson's Collections, vol. iv., read 
 
 page 60. part ii. 
 
 389. Transfer the reference to Goodall, to page 388. 
 396. After Cavendish, instead of who traced her descent 
 
 to the female line of Henry VII. read, who, by 
 
 marriage, was afterwards allied to the royal line 
 
 of Henry VII. 
 
 410. for page 369. of Chalmers' Life of Mary, read 367. 
 427. for page 92. vol. ii. of Chalmers' Life of Mary, read 
 
 97.
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 or 
 
 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JOY OF FRANCIS THE SECOND ON HIS ACCESSION TO 
 
 THE CROWN. UNFORTUNATE EFFECTS OF MARY*S 
 
 INFLUENCE OVER HIM. TRAIT OF CATHERINE'S 
 
 ADDRESS. INTERVIEW BETWEEN FRANCIS AND 
 
 MONTMORENCY. PAINFUL SITUATION OF MARY. 
 
 OBJECT OF CATHERINE'S JEALOUSY DIMINU- 
 TION OF THE COURT. ITS REMOVAL TO BLOIS. 
 
 ALARM FROM THE CONSPIRACY OF JEAN RENAUDIE. 
 
 PRECIPITATE RETREAT OF THE KING AND TWO 
 
 QUEENS TO AMBOISE. SUSPICION AND DETENTION 
 
 OF THE PRINCE OF CONDE. ARREST OF CASTELNAU. 
 
 HIS NOBLE REPLY TO THE CHANCELLOR OLIVIER. 
 
 ANGUISH OF ANNE OF ESTE AT THE EXECUTION 
 
 
 
 OF 'CASTELNAU. DEATH OF OLIVIER. COUNCIL 
 OF FONTAINEBLEAU. MONTLUC STATES, NEW IN- 
 TRIGUES. CONVOCATION OF THE STATES GENERAL 
 
 AT ORLEANS. THE KING'S ILLNESS. DEATH. 
 
 IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCES TO MARY STUART. 
 
 THE reign of Francis the Second, desig- 
 nated by French historians, le petit Fran- 
 
 VOL. II. B
 
 f ois, may be characterised as the prelude 
 to that mournful tragedy of St. Bartholo- 
 mew, which a few years after was presented 
 to Europe. Abstracted from the calamities 
 and crimes which have given to an inter- 
 val of sixteen months a fearful celebrity, 
 it was not only marked by the sudden 
 developement of principles, the most im- 
 portant to the welfare of mankind, but 
 by a series of events so rapid and extraor- 
 dinary, as to resemble rather the intricate 
 tissue of fictitious adventures, than the out- 
 lines of historical truth. Of this drama, it is 
 a more minute but equally peculiar feature, 
 that superior parts were allotted to inferior 
 actors ; and that in an age of talent, of power, , 
 and of energy, the supreme authority was 
 consigned to an intriguing prelate, (rather 
 an orator than a statesman ;) and a general, 
 who, at a period when royalty was rich in 
 desert, might be more fortunate, but scarce- 
 ly more brilliant than his princely peers. For 
 this inversion of political as well as poetical 
 13
 
 justice, we must refer to the agency of Mary 
 Stuart, at whose solicitation the enamoured 
 Francis delegated to her uncles the com- 
 mand of his sceptre, and by that complai- 
 sance entailed calamity on the realm of 
 France and the Queen of Scotland, the 
 land of his fathers, and the wife of his 
 affections. 
 
 By the laws of France, the monarch was 
 preposterously declared major at the age of 
 fourteen : till that period he was committed 
 to the tutelage of his mother ; the kingly 
 functions being delegated to a council, 
 over which presided the first prince of the 
 blood, with the name and authority of 
 regent. Unhappily for his country, Fran- 
 cis, who had nearly completed his sixteenth 
 year, was no longer subject to the controul 
 of these natural guardians : nor, however 
 feeble in body and in mind, was he insen- 
 sible to the gratification of asserting his 
 prerogative in choosing for his ministers the 
 B.2
 
 Duke of Guise and Cardinal Lorrain, who 
 had induced his mother to sanction the 
 appointment. 
 
 Although Catherine could not legally 
 claim the custody of the king's person, she 
 was still authorized as the natural guardian 
 of his brothers, now presumptive heirs of 'the 
 crown, to demand a share in the adminis- 
 tration. In a parting interview with his 
 consort, Henry himself had enjoined on 
 her the performance of this parental duty ; 
 and it was obvious, that by coalescing with 
 the Bourbons, the first Princes of the Blood, 
 the Constable, and the Chatillons, she 
 might have formed a party sufficiently pow- 
 erful to compel the Guises to relinquish their 
 exclusive pretensions. On this step, had 
 Catherine been swayed by female antipa- 
 thies or affections, she would undoubtedly 
 have determined : but, in her mind, ambi- 
 tion absorbed all other passions ; and she 
 justly calculated that the Bourbons, as
 
 princes of the blood, would feel less de- 
 pendent on her collateral support than the 
 Guises, to whom her alliance must be 
 necessary to counteract the prejudices 
 excited by their foreign extraction and 
 apparent usurpation of privileges, which, 
 according to ancient usage, belonged to 
 native princes. Influenced by these con- 
 siderations, she declared in favour of those 
 she had long execrated as her enemies ; 
 and having stipulated for the disgrace of 
 Diana de Poictiers, consented to sanction 
 with her name and presence their audacious 
 usurpation. 
 
 It was in the last moments of Henry that 
 these negociations were concluded ; but 
 though bred in a court, that monarch did 
 not suspect that his faithful old compere, the 
 Constable, had dispatched a courier to An- 
 thony, king of Navarre, conjuring him to 
 hasten to court, and offering to secure to 
 him the exercise of his hereditary rights 
 B 3
 
 6 
 
 in the council. Unfortunately, the indeci- 
 sion of Anthony's temper prevented him, 
 till too late, from listening to those friendly 
 suggestions. Whilst he deliberated, his rivals 
 acted j and ere Henry closed his eyes, every 
 article of the treaty was adjusted : that 
 nothing might arise to disturb the peace so 
 lately re-established with foreign potentates, 
 the marriage of the Duke of Savoy and 
 Madame Margaret was solemnized by 
 torch-light ; " not hailed," says Vieilleville, 
 " with hautboys, and songs of nuptial tri- 
 " umph, but accompanied with the sobs 
 " and sighs of the distressed bride and sor- 
 " rowing spectators." 
 
 A few hours after this mournful cere- 
 mony, Francis, who, during some days 
 had been languishing under indisposition, 
 was roused by the entrance of the Duke 
 de Nemours, the Cardinal Lorrain, and the 
 Duke of Guise, who, on bended knees, 
 saluted him with the title of king. At this
 
 electric sound, the invalid leapt from his 
 couch, and in a transport of rapturous amaze- 
 ment, protested he was well, and ready to 
 adopt their good counsel. The next mo- 
 ment his mother, evidently dejected, en- 
 tered the apartment, to accompany him 
 from the Tournelles to the Louvre j where 
 he was to receive, according to custom, 
 such addresses and deputations as were of- 
 fered to the new sovereign. Without hesita- 
 tion the young monarch obeyed, and walked 
 between the Cardinal and the Duke of 
 Guise. Mary Stuart followed with Cathe- 
 rine, who, for a moment, losing her habitual 
 self-possession, in a sort of reverie, tra- 
 versing the galleries, took the wrong turn- 
 ing, and had descended one stair before 
 she perceived her mistake : ashamed of her 
 abstraction, she endeavoured to disguise it 
 by a compliment to the young queen ; and 
 waiting till she overtook her, she exclaimed, 
 " Passon, Madam j it isnowyour part to take 
 B 4-
 
 " precedence." * Although this manoeuvre 
 deceived not Mary, she accepted the courtesy 
 with seeming gratitude ; but, in her turn, 
 insisted that Catherine should enter the cha- 
 riot first. With the same refined duplicity, 
 Catherine commissioned Mary to demand 
 from the Duchess de Valentinois, certain 
 crown jewels, and on other occasions to as- 
 sume consequence and authority, t As that 
 princess was at this time notoriously ignorant 
 of state affairs, and from the languor of her 
 health, even unwilling to be burthened with 
 them, it is impossible not to surmise that her 
 interference was exacted by her insidious 
 step-mother. No sooner was the young 
 Queen launched on political life, than sfredis- 
 
 * This anecdote, originally related in Mathieu, is 
 from him mentioned by several writers, and particu- 
 larly quoted in the Observations on the Memoirs of 
 Castelnau, tom.'iv., de la Collection Universelle des 
 Memoires relatifs a FHistoire de France. 
 
 f " The yonge Queen is a great doer here, and 
 " taketh much upon her," (All the French histori- 
 ans contradict the assertion.) Forbes 1 State Papers.
 
 9 
 
 covered, how little the principles of honour, 
 fidelity, and gratitude, were binding on states- 
 men. In climbing to power, the Guises had 
 been steadily sustained by the friendship 
 of Diana de Poictiers ; yet, with the excep- 
 tion of her son-in-law, the Duke de Aumale, 
 they all subscribed, without scruple, to her 
 disgrace. Catherine eagerly seized on her 
 office, and one of her magnificent mansions ; 
 but finally, shewed in her reprisals, a mo- 
 deration creditable to her understanding, 
 and which, in any other individual, might 
 have been attributed to generous sentiments. 
 From the great Constable something better 
 might be expected, and he was protected by 
 pride-from the like debasement. Discon- 
 certed by the indifference which Anthony 
 had manifested for his summons, and con- 
 scious with what hostility he was regarded 
 by the Guises, the wary courtier remained 
 two days at the Tournelles, watching the 
 corpse of his late master; undecided whether 
 he should at once retire from the field, or
 
 10 
 
 make a last effort to retain his place. After 
 a struggle with himself, ambition triumphed, 
 in the disguise perhaps of patriotism and 
 parental affection ; and having assembled 
 his sons and kinsmen, he repaired to the 
 Louvre at the hour when the King dined, 
 and entering by a well-known private 
 door the royal apartment, approached with 
 expressions of homage and loyalty his 
 gracious sovereign. In beholding Francis 
 in that place which he had so often seen 
 filled by the warlike Louis the Twelfth, 
 the brilliant Francis, and the affable Henry, 
 it must have required all the self-posses- 
 sion of the courtly Montmorency to sup- 
 press emotions of sorrow, or even of dis- 
 gust. To the reigning monarch, his fee- 
 ble limbs and low stature gave an air of 
 insignificance and meanness, which was 
 not ennobled by the consciousness of su- 
 perior intellect. In his homely features 
 there was nothing to please the eye ; and 
 from a nasal obstruction, he could not
 
 11 
 
 speak without offending the ear. From 
 his cradle the victim of disease, he had 
 been intrammelled with nurses and phy- 
 sicians, and by them formed to habits 
 of dull docility and undiscriminating ac- 
 quiescence, but the name of king seemed 
 to have communicated an electric energy 
 to his dormant faculties, and he already 
 acquired by intuition, that self-command, 
 so requisite tp royal pageantry. In his 
 gravity he possessed a substitute for dig- 
 nity, and by his unsocial reserve he was 
 protected from the commission of any pal- 
 pable folly or impropriety ; far from being 
 awed by the Constable's dignified aspect, 
 he was evidently prepared for his recep- 
 tion, and, after the ordinary compliments, 
 taking the old Montmorency by the hand, 
 led him into his cabinet, followed by the 
 numerous members of his family, whom 
 the Constable formally presented to the 
 new sovereign, beseeching him to take them 
 under his protection.
 
 12 
 
 To this, Francis having promised acqui- 
 escence, the old courtier proceeded to 
 speak of his years and services; here the 
 young king very adroitly cut short his 
 professions by observing, that he was very 
 sensible of all that he had performed for 
 his predecessors and the state ; that for the 
 future he would relieve his years from this 
 too heavy burthen, but that he assured to 
 him for life the possession of his honours 
 and his pensions, and that a seat in the 
 council should be reserved for him when- 
 ever he felt disposed to assist his two uncles 
 and his mother with his wisdom and expe- 
 rience. Surprised and baffled by this unex- 
 pected proof of capacity, the courteous 
 Montmorency, disguising his chagrin, with 
 profound reverence thanked his Majesty for 
 having so kindly anticipated the boon he 
 had meant to solicit; but added, that as 
 he gratefully accepted his permission to re- 
 tire from public life, he must decline that 
 seat in the council which men strong and 
 18
 
 13 
 
 active could better fill. That for himself he 
 asked but to dedicate his remaining days to 
 the duties of devotion, of which the first 
 should be to pray for the soul of his late 
 beloved sovereign. With these words he 
 withdrew, execrating the artifices and am- 
 bition of his successful rivals, and deter- 
 mined to retire without delay. This mag- 
 nanimous resolution, though, somewhat 
 shaken by the insinuations of Catherine, 
 was confirmed when he went to the levee ; 
 where, to his unutterable astonishment, he 
 found himself in the presence of the fo- 
 reign ambassadors overlooked and neglect- 
 ed, scarcely noticed by the monarch, slightly 
 saluted by the courtiers. The first glance 
 decided his purpose : he returned to the 
 Tournelles*, to superintend the funeral ar- 
 
 * The obsequies of Henry were performed with 
 suitable pomp ; whilst the corpse was conveyed from 
 the Tournelles to Notre Dame, the twenty-four 
 criers proclaimed in succession at the corner of 
 every street, " Fray, pray for the soul of the 
 " most Christian King Henry the Second." The
 
 14 
 
 rangements ; and this last duty performed, 
 publicly departed from St. Germains for his 
 house at Chantilli, with a retinue, noble' and 
 even princely, chiefly composed of noble- 
 men and gentlemen, who, commiserating 
 or resenting his mortification, followed on 
 horseback, whilst the King and Cardinal 
 seemed forgotten. 
 
 When the King of Navarre arrived, he 
 perceived that he had missed the critical 
 
 procession to the church was crowded with princes, 
 nobles, and foreign ambassadors, each of whom was 
 paired with a prelate, with whom, according to Throck- 
 morton, he carried on some trifling conversation to 
 beguile the time ; so little touched are those who have 
 to sustain a part in the pageant, with the state and 
 solemnity which powerfully affect the spectators. The 
 body was consigned to the antient vaults of St. 
 Denis. Cardinal Lorrain said mass; an oration was 
 also delivered ; and finally, the herald stood up, and, 
 after having thrice repeated, " The King is dead," 
 proclaimed as often the king his successor. Then 
 sounded the trumpets to announce the last rite fulfil- 
 led; after which the Estates adjourned to the hall to 
 dinner. Forbes 1 State Papers.
 
 15 
 
 moment, and had no other resource than 
 to propose a. convocation of the States 
 General ; a suggestion that was afterwards 
 zealously seconded by politicians more 
 cordially interested in its adoption. In 
 the sequel, the recommendation of this 
 measure became so offensive to the minis- 
 ters that they repelled it by proclama- 
 tion *, denouncing the penalty of treason 
 
 * " Alarmed by the symptoms of popular dis- 
 " content, in which the Princes of the Blood but 
 " too justly participated, the Cardinal, instead of 
 " employing conciliatory measures, adopted those 
 " no less arbitrary than impolitic ; and, without 
 " deigning to consult Catherine de Medicis, publish- 
 " ed a manifesto denouncing, as disloyal and seditious 
 " disturbers of public tranquillity, whoever should 
 " demand a convocation of the States ; and it was 
 " maintained, that the nomination of a council tended 
 " to bring contempt on the royal authority, inas- 
 " much as the King was major by the laws, and 
 " perfectly competent to govern himself and the 
 " people ; and this edict was not only printed, 
 " but circulated through France." M<?moires de 
 Castelnau. Observations appended to the Memoirs 
 of Castelnau, in the Collection Univcrselle de M6- 
 moires relatifs a I'Histoire de France.
 
 16 
 
 on all who should maintain that the King 
 was not major, or that he was incompe- 
 tent to the legitimate functions of the 
 sovereign. In the same spirit, Cardinal 
 Lorrain having, according to his plans of 
 reform, retrenched the salaries of aged 
 pensioners, veteran or disabled soldiers, 
 to avoid their troublesome and somewhat 
 alarming petitions, caused a gibbet to be 
 erected in the park of Fontainebleau, on 
 which was an inscription menacing with 
 <leath whoever should approach without 
 licence, the gates of the palace. * Of these 
 
 * " Amongst other causes contributing to the insur- 
 *' rection of Amboise, it has been impossible to over- 
 *' look the number of needy malcontents, whom the 
 " new system of retrenchment had reduced to misery 
 " and despair. The prodigality of Henry the Second 
 " having exhausted the finances, the Guises had no 
 " resource but to dismiss an immense number of 
 " officers of the household, who were chiefly old sol* 
 " diers without other means of subsistence ; to con- 
 *' tinue their salaries was impossible without the im- 
 " position of new taxes, a measure which the Cardi- 
 " nal ventured not to propose, lest he should forfeit
 
 17 
 
 two last measures, the violence exclusively 
 belonged to his own temper ; but his bro- 
 ther, the duke, is equally implicated in the 
 affronts and slights offered to the Prince of 
 Conde, who, though he had long resisted 
 the solicitations of his wife and her heroic 
 mother to protect the Calvinists, was now 
 impelled by resentment to espouse their 
 cause, and even to join their commu- 
 nion. The administration of the Guises was 
 marked by such headstrong rashness, such 
 puerile presumption, as might well counte- 
 
 " the affections of the people. In this perplexity he 
 " adopted the expedient already mentioned, of causing 
 " a gibbet to be erected for the intimidation of impor- 
 " tunate suitors. As he had foreseen, the multitude 
 " disappeared ; but it was in uttering curses and exe- 
 " crations, which were soon echoed through every 
 *' province of the kingdom. With so many combus- 
 " tible materials prepared, it was impossible but that 
 " the flames should soon burst forth." Observations 
 appended to the Memoirs of Vieilleville. Collection 
 Universelle des Memoires Relatives & PHistoire de 
 France. 
 
 VOL. II. C
 
 18 
 
 nance the belief that the state was actually 
 governed by a monarch of sixteen. With 
 every quality that belongs to the enter- 
 prising general or gallant cavalier, the 
 Duke, as a statesman, was neither en- 
 lightened nor sagacious ; mistaking obsti- 
 nacy for firmness, he carried to the 
 council the rules of military despotism, 
 the jealousy of his house, the tenacity 
 of the bigot, ready to sacrifice France 
 or Europe, to the interests of a single 
 party. In the Cardinal, a churchman 
 without religion, morals, or even decorum, 
 the defects of his gallant brother were 
 aggravated by all that belongs to cupi- 
 dity, violence, and pusillanimity. Unfor- 
 tunately his faults were relieved by bril- 
 liant and versatile talents, which disguised 
 the shallowness of his judgment, the turpi- 
 tude of his views, the extravagance of his 
 speculations. That the government of 
 such men should have been endured, even 
 with the co-operation of Catherine, w r ould 
 13
 
 appear incredible, but for the reflection that 
 the dignified clergy and bigoted papists 
 had an interest in their success, and that 
 they were idolized by the Parisian popu- 
 lace ; equally endeared to the alarmists, 
 who deprecated toleration, and to the fana- 
 tics, who, without the bribes offered to 
 idolaters, were eager to hunt out heretics, 
 and by an exhibition of images to ensnare 
 them to their ruin. Another circumstance, 
 which perhaps operated with the nobles, as 
 a motive of forbearance, if not indulgence, 
 was the alarming indisposition of the young 
 queen, Mary Stuart, on whose personal 
 influence her uncles were supposed to 
 depend for the preservation of their autho- 
 rity. * 
 
 * One day the Spanish ambassador mentioned to 
 Throckmorton, that, having been in company with the 
 French King and Queen, the latter looked very evil, 
 and was so weak, as even before all who were there, 
 she fell into a svroon, and was in very dangerous case, 
 as she is always after dinner, when she was, with a 
 great ado of aqua vitae and other things, revived, 
 
 c 2 

 
 20 
 
 The ill health of Mary, so constantly 
 attributed to mental causes, sufficiently 
 proves, that even at this epoch of her great- 
 ness, so often referred to in after-life, her 
 position was far from enviable. In assum- 
 ing the state of a queen of France, she was 
 more than ever subjected to her uncles j who 
 required not merely her unremitted, though 
 unobtrusive services with Francis, but her 
 wary observation of Catherine, to whom, 
 with that jealousy inseparable from the con- 
 sciousness of usurpation, they incessantly 
 imputed an intention to negotiate with 
 their rivals, and tamper with their adver- 
 saries. 
 
 In the execution of this delicate task, it 
 was impossible but that Mary should 
 become an object of antipathy to Catherine, 
 
 and retired to her chamber. According to this am- 
 bassador, the Vicomte de Noailles, anticipating Mary's 
 death, preposterously suggested the expediency of a 
 marriage between Elizabeth and Francis, adding, 
 " But, alas ! her Majesty is too wise for a child."
 
 who, finding herself thwarted in all her 
 efforts to efface those impressions the young 
 King received from the two brothers, and 
 therefore virtually excluded from participa- 
 tion in the government, ascribed to Mary 
 alone, and her seducing sweetness, the oppo- 
 sition to her maternal influence; the more 
 galling to her pride, as she believed that she 
 had herself facilitated to the Guises the ac- 
 quisition of their unlimited dominion ; nor 
 was Catherine slow to perceive, that the 
 young Queen had sufficient penetration to 
 detect clandestine movements j and that she 
 communicated to her uncle whatever she 
 knew or surmised of her political intrigues, 
 a grievance of which she could not complain 
 without inculpating herself, but which she 
 afterwards revenged not only by insinu- 
 ations (apparently unfounded,) that she 
 had been treated with disrespect, but by 
 every unkindness that malice could suggest. 
 From the communications of Throckmorton 
 c 3
 
 and other contemporary memoirs *, it is 
 evident, that Catherine was treated with 
 every external mark of respect by the 
 Guises, who deprecated her displeasure ; by 
 Mary, who sympathised in all their wishes ; 
 and Francis, by whom she was both ho- 
 noured and feared, and for many reasons 
 perhaps little beloved. 
 
 Nor was the enmity of Catherine the 
 only penalty with which Mary was visited 
 
 if, &;{j ( Jvi'?yr ' : -^ 
 
 * To substantiate these insinuations, we find an 
 anecdote repeated by several French historians, 
 but the single and suspicious authority on which 
 it rests, is that of the Nuncio Prosper, St. Croix, who 
 probably received it from Catherine herself; in his 
 Lettres is the following passage : La Regina di Scotia 
 un giorno gli disse que non sarebbe mai altro che 
 Jiglia d'un mercante, et questo si stima que fosse detto 
 a soggezione di Lorreno. The Queen of Scotland 
 one day said to her, (Catherine), " That she could 
 " never be more than the daughter of a merchant, and 
 " this remark was believed to have been made at the 
 " suggestion ofLorrain;" but at what period could it 
 have been the policy of the Cardinal or his brother to 
 incense Catherine against their niece or themselves ? 
 The story refutes itself.
 
 23 
 
 for her subserviency to the Guises ; born to 
 be sacrificed to their sinister schemes of 
 policy, the unresisting victim of their 
 criminal ambition, she had excited, by her 
 rash assumption of the armorial bearings, 
 the eternal jealousy of Elizabeth, who, 
 equally provoked and alarmed by the usurp- 
 ation, was induced to enter into an inti- 
 mate correspondence with the chiefs of the 
 reforming party, to whom, from her resent- 
 ment to Knox, she had originally shewn 
 repugnance. * But the climax of every 
 
 * ThrocJcmorton to Cecil. 
 
 " Whereas I wrote unto you on the behalf of John 
 Melvin, upon the desire he had to serve the Queen's 
 Majesty, and to be employed upon the borders. I 
 do since understand by his letter, that he remains at 
 London unemployed ; he saith, that you have made 
 an overture of service to him to be done in the inland, 
 whereunto, albeit he hath, as in other, a good-will 
 and affection ; yet, weighing his elder brother's 
 case, he may not safely repair, because he is a 
 Scotchman, and may with less suspicion enter the 
 border to learn intelligence and to practise than an 
 Englishman may ; and also, for that he doubteth not, 
 being acquainted both with Mr. Knox and others, 
 C 4
 
 evil was the spirit of disaffection they had 
 excited in Scotland, by the desperate reso- 
 
 " by whom things may be learnt and brought to good 
 " purpose, it may like you, therefore, his desire con- 
 " sidered, to do that may serve most for the advance- 
 *' ment of the Queen's service; but albeit I know, 
 " that there is nothing omitted by you, that may be 
 " requisite for the practice now in hand northward, 
 " I cannot, but when things come to my remem- 
 " brance, which, in my opinion, seem necessary to 
 " be done, intimate the same unto you. The master of 
 " Maxwell, who broke out of prison in Edinburgh, is 
 " a great enemy, as I am credibly informed, to Mon- 
 " sieur d'Ozell, for some particular and private cause, 
 " besides his hatred generally to the Frenchmen ; 
 " forasmuch as he is against them, and hath a great 
 " many of his devotion ready to follow him, it were 
 " well done, if some means of practice were devised, 
 " to be administered to him in such sort as shall be 
 " thought most convenient." Haynes' Papers. 
 
 Memorial from the Queen to Sir Nicholas Throck~ 
 
 morion. 
 
 " The safe conveying of the Earl of Arran hither 
 " into this realm of Scotland, seemeth here a thing 
 " both profitable and needful, the doing of it cannot 
 u be here prescribed to your discretion, wherein he
 
 lution of reducing the reformers by force ; 
 an enterprise, to which, if we may credit 
 contemporary writers, they were not so 
 much prompted by zeal, as by the necessity 
 of finding employment abroad for the discon- 
 tented soldiers, whom it was unsafe to dis- 
 band at home. Although no blame can 
 reasonably be imputed to Mary, for a pas- 
 
 " shall deserve great commendation ; it must be done 
 " secretly, as well in respect of the Emperor's sub- 
 " jects and friends and the King Catholic, as of the 
 " French ; and herein haste, so it be with discretion, 
 " is thought most necessary. The entertainment of 
 " is thought very convenient, and you 
 
 " may offer to him 500 crowns pension. As for 
 " Florence Diaceto, his entertainment is thought not 
 " so needful as the others ; but yet the Queen is con- 
 " tent to accept his service, and will reward it with 
 " some pension; if he mean to go into Germany, for 
 " his own purpose it might, as it is thought, do good 
 " to solicit Sturmius to proceed in procuring a com- 
 " mon league, to be made amongst all Protestant 
 " Princes of their faith. Melvin, the Scotchman, 
 " may be thought of hereafter," &c. &c. Haynei 
 Papers. Various documents of the same kind might 
 be produced from the state papers.
 
 26 
 
 sive, or perhaps involuntary acquiescence 
 in measures which she could not prevent, 
 she inevitably became an object of suspi- 
 cion and obloquy to two-thirds of her sub- 
 jects, who soon repaid with violence and 
 injustice, the lessons they had received from 
 their oppressors. 
 
 It is not easy to ascertain how far Mary 
 participated in her uncle's schemes for 
 the subjugation of Scotland ; but it is not 
 improbable, considering with what tenacity 
 she upheld the faith of her fathers, that 
 conscience sanctified to her eyes, what with 
 him was merely the suggestion of mundane 
 policy. Every circumstance of her situ- 
 ation was calculated to nourish bigotry 
 her four Maries, the companions of her 
 childhood, were sprung from strict Catholic 
 families. All the members of her hous- 
 hold, her tutors, her preceptors, were im- 
 bued with the same spirit ; the pride of 
 ancestry, the incitements of interest, the 
 dreams of ambition, conspired to heighten
 
 27 
 
 the abhorrence, which, even in infancy, she 
 had imbibed for heretical innovations. Nor 
 is it improbable, but that the idea of being 
 recognized at Rome as the rival or succes- 
 sor of Elizabeth, lent additional energy to 
 these sentiments. Another collateral sup- 
 port to her bigotry, or constancy, might be 
 discovered in the calumnies with which 
 Cardinal Lorrain assailed the reformers; 
 and which attributed, by his misrepresent- 
 ations, the most offensive indecorums to the 
 female sex. Although the falsehood of 
 these charges was ultimately demonstrated, 
 the impression they had produced was 
 not easily to be effaced. The toler- 
 ation of Catherine, whether springing from 
 indifference or hypocrisy, must have had 
 an inevitable tendency to confirm her aver- 
 sion for the reformers, whilst she dwelt with 
 enthusiasm on the heroic constancy with 
 which her cousin Mary of England had ad- 
 hered to the ancient faith. In any other rank 
 than that of a Queen, little importance
 
 28 
 
 would have been attached to the opinions 
 of a young person, who had scarcely 
 completed her seventeenth year ; but 
 such was the position of Mary, that to 
 France, England, and Scotland, she be- 
 came equally an object of suspicious atten- 
 tion : and Throckmorton, who was in the 
 interest of the Scottish reformers, in his 
 communications to his court, laboured to 
 impress the belief that the young Queen 
 sympathized in the persecuting spirit of 
 Cardinal Lorrain, and in his personal hos- 
 tility to Elizabeth ; but with whatever 
 diligence this ambassador might have pur- 
 sued his enquiries, it was impossible he 
 should have fathomed her real sentiments. 
 At this period her intimacies were confined 
 to her own family ; even her favourite, 
 Mademoiselle Mercceur, afterwards Ma- 
 dame de Marliques, had no opportunity to 
 abuse her confidence. Without losing her 
 native affability, she adopted the reserves 
 of Francis ; emulated the self-possession
 
 29 
 
 of Catherine, and sympathised in the gen- 
 tle manners of Anne of Este; but the quali- 
 ties by which she seemed most distinguish- 
 ed, were gravity and discretion. The 
 susceptibility of her nature, might, perhaps, 
 be detected, in the restless anxieties that 
 consumed her unripened youth. The secret 
 of her ambition escaped in the eagerness 
 with which she grasped a visionary crown ; 
 and in the jealousy with which she resented 
 Elizabeth's imaginary invasion of her own 
 sceptre. Nor with less solicitude did she 
 watcn the progress of the Earl of Arran's 
 wooing, or speculate on the audacious pre- 
 tensions of Robert Dudley. Little did she 
 then imagine she was herself so soon to be- 
 come an object of similar vigilance and sus- 
 picion to her royal rival j still less could 
 she have believed, that within a few short 
 years, love should teach her to forget the 
 crown of France ; and that, like Angelica 
 fascinated by a comely page, prefer to 
 kings and princes, the smooth-faced Henry 
 Darnley.
 
 According to Throckmorton, the fatal 
 armorial bearings afforded a seasonable no- 
 velty to the French court, since they were 
 even conspicuous at the sacre of Francis, 
 which, on the 15th of September,' was so- 
 lemnized at Rheims. " At the gate of this 
 " city the King was received by a maid, re- 
 " presenting the town of Rheims, who, after 
 " a few words spoken of submission, deliver- 
 " ed the keys thereof to the King, who gave 
 " the same to the lieutenant, the Duke de 
 " Nevers, to open the gate. There was in 
 " that place very little, or no shew at all, 
 " saving that the arms of England, France, 
 " and Scotland, quartered, were very trimly 
 " set out over the gate ; from thence he was 
 " strait conducted to the church of Notre 
 " Dame, and there received by the Cardi- 
 " nals, Lorrain, Givry, Bourbon, and Cha- 
 " tillon, in their pontificalibus, accompanied 
 " with some crosses, and a number of priests 
 " in copes. When the King was once en- 
 " teredinto the church, the Cardinal Lorrain
 
 31 
 
 " made an oration to him, which ended, 
 " the King proceeded towards the choir, 
 " led on his right side by Cardinal Givry, 
 " and on the left by Cardinal Chatillon, to 
 " the high altar, where, after he had knelt 
 " and prayed, he offered to the altar a 
 " golden image of St. Francis, and kissed 
 " the cross ; and so went to his palace 
 " without other ceremony or show at all. 
 " The same day the young French Queen 
 " made her entry, and was received at the 
 " gate with a little oration, and with a 
 " small train conducted to the palace." 
 
 During the remainder of the summer, 
 the royal family were in such perpetual 
 progress, that it should seem to have been 
 the King's only pursuit to establish his 
 rights of occupancy in the various palaces, 
 of which he was nominally the possessor. 
 
 These desultory movements were useful in 
 disguising the comparative depopulation of 
 the court, where, owing to the absence, or 
 approaching departure of three princesses,
 
 32 
 
 a mournful blank was perceived in its bril- 
 liant circles. With the Duchess of Savoy 
 vanished many men of letters, who had been 
 attracted to it by her patronage and pro- 
 tection. The separation of the Queen of 
 Spain and the Duchess of Lorrain, diffused 
 a gloom, which was deepened by the late 
 political revolutions. With the Constable 
 disappeared his formidable host of retainers; 
 the spirit of party continued to thin the 
 ranks of princes and nobles, accustomed to 
 surround the throne, and, with the excep- 
 tion of the Montpensiers and Roche-sur- 
 yons, no Bourbon approached the palace : 
 the Admiral Coligny and his sister, Madame 
 de la Roye, were almost the only Calvinists 
 who had sufficient courage and self-posses- 
 sion to enter it with impunity. 
 
 In the princes of Lorrain, a sort of pu- 
 sillanimous suspicion conspired with bi- 
 gotry and ambition to render them averse 
 to all but their partizans and retainers. 
 From this proscription was, however, ex- 
 18
 
 33 
 
 erupted a certain class of ancient nobility, 
 who had hitherto preserved a strict neu- 
 trality with regard to religious controversy, 
 apparently as little disposed to encourage 
 innovations as to countenance persecutions; 
 too enlightened not to prefer the pros- 
 perity of the commonwealth to the interests 
 of the church of Rome, but too cautious, 
 or perhaps pusillanimous, not to shrink from 
 the subversion of the ancient establishment. 
 Of that class an honourable represent- 
 ative might be found in the celebrated 
 Francis Scepeaux, Sieur de Vieilleville *, 
 a veteran, who, like Montmorency, had ga- 
 thered laurels under three preceding reigns, 
 and by his high birth and eminent services, 
 established indisputable claims to the mar- 
 shal's staff, which had lately been granted to 
 his deserts. This nobleman combined, in an 
 
 * The memoirs of this able politician, composed 
 by his secretary, Carloix, present a rich and interest- 
 ing picture of France at that period. 
 
 VOL. II. D
 
 equal degree, the rigid discipline and punc- 
 tilious honour of elder times, with the 
 amenity and versatility of the modern cour- 
 tier. In the court of Henry he had been 
 the Ulysses, who composed differences, 
 prevented quarrels, obviated difficulties, 
 and smoothed embarrassments. More than 
 once he had rendered to that feeble mo- 
 narch, the important service of restoring 
 concord among jealous rivals : the luxurious 
 Marechal St. Andre, the great Montmorency, 
 the imperious Diana, had all confessed, by 
 turns, his secret influence. Although Vie- 
 illeville never realized the fortune obtained 
 by his more intriguing compeers, his mili- 
 tary services procured him the government 
 of Metz, and his approved probity se- 
 cured to him the esteem and confidence of 
 each contending party : but with whatever 
 address he adapted his manners to the 
 court, in his chateau of Duretal, he pre- 
 served the air of a primitive paladin, unit-
 
 35 
 
 ing magnificence and severity, feudal hos- 
 pitality, and domestic simplicty. His wife 
 lived in retirement, devoted to the educa- 
 tion of her children and the superintend- 
 ance of her numerous household. The 
 eldest daughter married early a young no- 
 bleman of Brittany, and exemplified the vir- 
 tues she had witnessed under the paternal 
 roof; for her younger sister, Jane, by the 
 special favour of Catherine de Medicis, was 
 reserved a more brilliant, though, perhaps, 
 less happy destiny. Educated at court*, 
 
 * In the memoirs of Vieilleville, there is an amusing 
 picture of the manners of the young nobility at that 
 period. When the Sieur de Vieilleville became go- 
 vernor of Metz, he contracted an intimacy with the 
 young Count de Saulx, whom he made his Lieutenant, 
 with a promise of future promotion ; and, finally, pre- 
 sented to him his second daughter, in a manner 
 that convinced her he was an approved suitor. From 
 that moment the cavalier was allowed to visit her 
 every afternoon in the Queen's apartment. In the 
 meanwhile M. Duilly, heir to the Seneschal of Lorrain, 
 and guardian of the young Duke, affianced to Claude 
 of France, had obtained from Madame de Vieilleville, 
 
 D 2
 
 36 
 
 with other young girls attached to the 
 Queen's person, she became the bosom 
 
 who was ignorant of her husband's intention, an in- 
 troduction for his son to her charming daughter. In 
 consequence of this arrangement, the young Duilly 
 having become ostensibly the Count's rival, both cava- 
 liers vied with each other in giving treats and colla- 
 tions, of exquisite fruits to their mistress, whose 
 youthful companions, protected like herself by the 
 presence of an elderly gouvernante, were allowed to 
 participate in these offerings of generous love. The 
 Count de Saulx, who was indefatigable in all the exer. 
 qises befitting an accomplished cavalier, often won 
 the prize in tilting, and running at the ring, whilst 
 from the ladies he gained still more applause, by in- 
 troducing a provincial dance, called the Volte de 
 Provence, (obviously identified with the modern 
 waltz,) which, in compliment to him, was called Le 
 Saut de Saulx. Emulous of his fame, M. Duilly, to 
 the Volte de Provence, successfully opposed another 
 dance, the Volte des Brantes de Poitou. For some 
 time it appeared doubtful to which of these lovers 
 Mademoiselle Vieilleville inclined to give the pre- 
 ference, when two of her royal friends, who had 
 an interest in her decision, spared her the embarrass- 
 ment of making a choice. These young ladies were 
 Mademoiselle de Nemours, engaged to the Duke de 
 Vaudement, and consequently designed to live in 
 
 19
 
 37 
 
 friend of the Princess Claude, afterwards 
 Duchess of Lorrain,at whose solicitation she 
 
 Lorrain, and Madame Claude, contracted to the 
 Duke of Lorrain. The former congratulated Made- 
 moiselle de Vieilleville on her late conquest, predicting, 
 that she was destined, like herself, to spend her days 
 with their beloved princess. The attack of Claude, who f 
 though so shortly to be married, was not thirteen, 
 was, probably, prompted by warmer feelings. Steal- 
 ing to her favourite's chamber before she was dressed, 
 she began to entreat her not to give to M. de Saulx 
 any promise of marriage, which might be prejudicial 
 to the pretensions of M. de Duilly. Jane de Vieille- 
 ville having assured her she was still disengaged, the 
 young princess thus discreetly opened her commission : 
 " You are not ignorant, my dear girl, that my mar- 
 " riage with the Duke of Lorrain is to take place as 
 " soon as arrangements can be made for our return- 
 " ing to Paris. Now, in leaving my dear native coun- 
 " try, I shall feel quite desolate if I do not take with 
 " me some of my chosen companions, who have hi- 
 " therto loved me, that we may live and die together. 
 " In my heart, I have chosen five or six young ladies, 
 " amongst whom you hold the first place ; for I love 
 " you dearly ; nor does my mother esteem you less, 
 " because, as she observes, you have discretion, a 
 " quality seldom found in your companions, and are 
 " not addicted to coquetry or scandal ; and have 
 
 D 3
 
 38 
 
 rejected a lover whohad received herfather's 
 approbation to espouse the son of the 
 
 " never sown dissension in families, as is too fre- 
 " quently done. You know, Vieilleville, to whom I 
 " allude ; and no sooner shall the Easter holidays ex- 
 " pire, than you will see half-a-dozen of them dis- 
 " missed in disgrace. Among others, two who have 
 " been so imprudent as to propagate calumnies against 
 " a great lord, and a great lady, who is a woman 
 " of unblemished honour ; but you will hear enough 
 " of this presently. I must now tell you, that the 
 " arrangements for my household have been made 
 " these six days ; and you will not be sorry to find 
 " that your name is foremost on the list to be my 
 " first lady of honour; and I can assure you, the 
 " Queen, your mistress, not only approves my choice, 
 " but even dictated it, which, in some degree, vexed 
 " me, since I would have had you owe it solely to my 
 " own affection: and now you know why I conjure 
 " you to give no promise to the Count de Saulx ; for, 
 " be assured, you are destined for another. Indeed, 
 4< if you marry in Provence, adieu to our pretty 
 " castle in the air ; I shall all my life have to deplore 
 " the overweening love I have cherished for you." 
 
 The answer of Mademoiselle Vieilleville was such as 
 may be imagined, implying perfect devotion, grati- 
 tude, and attachment. The same morning her father 
 wa* summoned to a private audience with Henry and
 
 39 
 
 Seneschal of Lorrain, whom she accepted, 
 purposely that she might accompany her 
 
 Catherine, when the former asked, whether he had 
 promised his daughter to M. de Saulx. The wary 
 courtier admitted he had encouraged that young no- 
 bleman, but that his word was not pledged. Upon 
 this, Catherine reminded him, that when she received 
 his daughter at her court, she 'at the same time ex- 
 acted from him permission to dispose of her as she 
 should think proper ; and that, consequently, he had 
 no right to give her in marriage without her appro- 
 bation. The Marechal not daring to deny the truth, 
 the Queen rejoined, that the person she had chosen to 
 be her husband was M. de Duilly ; her daughter Claude 
 having ascertained from Jane's own confession, that 
 he was no less agreeable to her inclinations than his 
 supposed rival. To such a statement M. de Vieille- 
 ville had nothing to offer but expressions of gratitude 
 and devotion: the Count was instantly dismissed, 
 not, however, without preferment, which, in the se- 
 quel, consoled him for his disappointment. Made- 
 moiselle de Vieilleville was on the same evening 
 affianced to M. Duilly in the King's presence. Whe- 
 ther she really preferred the man she had accepted, 
 appears somewhat doubtful. Her father had not re- 
 signed the Count without reluctance ; and, perhaps, 
 judged wisely in stipulating that the rejected noble- 
 
 D 4
 
 40 
 
 young mistress to that country which, to the 
 imagination of a French courtier, assumed 
 the repulsive aspect of a Scythian exile. 
 How far this lady had reason to be satisfied 
 with the step she had taken, must be left to 
 conjecture ; but to her mistress, who re- 
 sembled her father in the best features of 
 his character, was allotted a rare portion of 
 domestic felicity. Without possessing the 
 talents of her sister, or emulating the learn- 
 ing of her aunt, the Duchess of Savoy, she 
 participated in her gentle and disinterested 
 disposition, and emulated her charity and 
 munificence. It was the fate of this prin- 
 cess, like her sister Elizabeth, the Queen of 
 Spain, to sink into an untimely grave ; but 
 singularly was she favoured above her sur- 
 viving relatives of the house of Valois, of 
 whom none ever tasted of tranquillity ; whilst 
 
 man should never visit Lorrain, which was in future 
 to be the scene of his daughter's residence. Memoires 
 de Francois Seepeaux Sietir de Vicilleville, composts 
 par G. Carloix.
 
 il 
 
 the amiable Claude, united to the object 
 of her affection, by whom her tenderness 
 was fully repaid, during her short but 
 happy life, inspired in her husband's sub- 
 jects sentiments of filial respect, and at her 
 death bequeathed to them a pleasing ex- 
 ample of conjugal harmony and female vir- 
 tue. The Duke of Lorrain had been edu- 
 cated with Francis, and a cordial friendship 
 subsisted between them. To this prin- 
 cess, Mary appears also to have been at- 
 tached; and on her departure from the 
 court, the young King and Queen accom- 
 panied her almost to Nancy. During two- 
 thirds of the journey, the country through 
 which they passed was embellished with 
 chateaux, parks, and gardens, interspersed 
 with towns and villages ; " so that," says 
 Carloix, " Nancy seemed but the suburb of 
 M Paris." Francis paid a similar attention 
 to his sister, the Queen of Spain. In these 
 excursions, although he approached many
 
 42 
 
 noble castles and magnificent seats, which 
 his father used to visit, he kept an even 
 course, never deviating from his route to 
 visit other mansions than royal palaces, or 
 abbeys depending on Cardinal Lorrain. 
 Under the Guises a new system of man- 
 ners, as of policy, had been introduced, 
 and already had the vices of the go- 
 vernment familiarized crimes formerly 
 abhorrent to the French people. The pa- 
 tronage of delators and spies was followed 
 by perjury, treachery, and assassination 
 religious feuds dissolved the ties of friend- 
 ship and consanguinity with public ho- 
 nour was destroyed private confidence. In 
 the joyless court of Francis, Mary was in- 
 cessantly harassed with fears for Scotland : 
 to these was soon added domestic inqui- 
 etude. Within the last six months, 
 Francis had so rapidly increased in size 
 and stature, that he seemed to have sprung 
 at once from childhood to maturity. The
 
 Guises, who had beheld with exultation a 
 developement, which appeared to furnish 
 occular demonstrations of 'his majority, soon 
 observed, with dismay, a total change in his 
 complexion, and various symptoms of de- 
 cline, for which the perplexed physicians re- 
 commended aromatic baths and the milder 
 climate of Blois. To that place he arrived 
 late in December : but in journeying 
 thither, no marks of sympathy or loyalty 
 had awaited him ; prejudice and calumny 
 preceded his steps. To whatever village 
 he arrived, the people fled at his approach. 
 A horrible tale had been circulated re- 
 specting the nature of his disease, of which 
 it was mysteriously insinuated, that to 
 bathe in the blood of infants could alone 
 minister a cure. Appalled by the sug- 
 gestion, mothers, with frantic haste, de- 
 serted their homes, and, to protect their off- 
 spring, took refuge in the neighbouring 
 forests. Touched, even to agony, with these
 
 14 
 
 demonstrations of abhorrence, the young 
 Francis, though soothed with the utmost 
 tenderness by Mary, exclaimed, " What 
 " have I done to be thus shunned and de- 
 " tested ? They fly me ; my people abhor 
 " me ! It is not thus the French used to 
 " receive their King." " Oh! my uncle," 
 he added, addressing the Cardinal, " I 
 " would it were rather you than me that 
 " they hated.* " 
 
 Of this problem a solution was soon offer- 
 ed in the famous conspiracy of Amboise, of 
 which the object appears to have been to 
 remove the King from the Cardinal's cus- 
 tody to the Princes of the blood, who were 
 either the protectors of Calvinism or th6 
 advocates of toleration. Of this audacious 
 enterprise, the ostensible chief was Jean le 
 Barri, or Renaudie, a man ruined in fortune 
 and reputation. The partial revelation of 
 his plot suggested to the ministers the neces- 
 
 * Mathieu, Varillos, Gamier.
 
 45 
 
 sity of an immediate removal from Blois, 
 which was unfortified, to the neighbouring 
 castle of Amboise. But not to spread among 
 the conspirators an alarm that, by arresting 
 their steps, might prevent the complete de- 
 velopement of their intrigues, the migration 
 of the court was effected under the pretence 
 of a frolic after hunting. On reaching the 
 massive gates of the castle, ladies and cava- 
 liers dismounting, gaily ascended the rugged 
 stairs, and ran over the desolate apartments, 
 which were wholly unprepared for their re- 
 ception. To supply the means of accom- 
 modation at once became an exercise and 
 amusement, and ere many hours, the hol- 
 low roofs echoed the long-forgotten sounds 
 of mirth, singing and dancing, the viol 
 and the lute, banished care. The com- 
 pany, who no longer found it safe to pursue 
 their recreations beyond the castle, resorted 
 to the gardens; where, to give zest to 
 the hacknied pastime of running at the 
 ring, the combatants appeared in female
 
 attire; the most illustrious princes dis-: 
 dained not to take a part in this buffoon- 
 ery ; and the ladies, as usual, from their 
 balcony, showered applause on a scene 
 which was soon to be succeeded by many 
 a tragic spectacle. * 
 
 * " The principal combatants were the great Prior of 
 " France, (the junior Prince of Lorrain,) and the Duke 
 " de Nemours ; the former, mounted on a Barbary 
 " courser, presented the costume of a gypsey, wearing 
 " on his head a large round hat or turban, a robe and 
 " coat of velvet and taffetas, whilst in his left hand he 
 " carried a small ape, which had been taught to imitate 
 " the accents of an infant. His antagonist, the Duke 
 " de Nemours, was attired as a simpteBourgeoise, with 
 " her broad hat and black cloth gown, a large leathern 
 " purse, and enormous bunch of a hundred jingling keys 
 " suspended from the girdle. He was mounted on a 
 " martial steed of a beautiful bay colour, well known 
 " by the name of Real, many of whose admirable ex- 
 " ploits rivalled those of the most renowned steeds of 
 " chivalry. No sooner had he received his master's 
 " signal, than, bounding forth with three paces, he 
 " cleared the distance from the beginning to the end 
 " of his caree.r, -whilst the gallant rider kept his seat, 
 " to the astonishment of the men and rapturous admi- 
 " ration of the ladies. But all other sensations yielded 
 " to risibility, when, at every leap of Real, the jingling
 
 4? 
 
 Under this masque of levity were con- 
 cealed sorrow, chagrin, fear, and all the 
 darker passions. Among the inmates of the 
 castle was Renee Duchess of Ferrara, who, 
 on her husband's death, had returned to 
 France, with the hope of spending her 
 remaining days in tranquillity; but here 
 she found, with grief, only persecution and 
 misery. Not less unhappy was Anne of 
 Este, who still sympathised too intimately 
 in her mother's sentiments not to reprobate 
 the system adopted by her ambitious hus- 
 band. More deep, though silent, was the 
 affliction of the Chancellor Olivier, whom 
 
 " keys, like sonorous bells, overpowered all other 
 
 " sounds in their shrill and somewhat clamorous sym- 
 ' phony. Ten times the combatants were whirled 
 ' along the ring with equal velocity : both seemed to 
 ' float in air; and the rapidity of their movements 
 ' fatigued the eyes, and confused the heads of the 
 ' spectators. The eleventh course, in spite of the 
 ' stagfooted Real, the Barbary courser pricked for- 
 ' ward, and the IVior, striking the quintain, bore off 
 
 "the prize in triumph." Brantome Vie du grand 
 
 Orneur de France.
 
 48 
 
 the Guises had recalled from his delicious 
 retirement of Lonville, to sanction with his 
 name and authority the offences they com- 
 mitted against reason, justice, and huma- 
 nity. Catherine herself, awakened to a 
 sense of danger, by the representations of 
 the enlightened Michael de l'H6pital, from 
 whom the Duchess of Savoy had parted, 
 that he might, if it were possible, avert 
 ruin from his country, even Catherine, for 
 once suspending selfish calculations, fixed 
 her. attention on the state of the people, 
 and having recommended a re-union with 
 the Chatillons, invited Admiral Coligny and 
 his brother ta assist- at their deliberations. 
 The Chatillons openly denounced the san- 
 guinary system of oppression which had 
 been introduced, and advised the immediate 
 suspension of religious persecution, and the 
 convocation of the States General. With 
 his usual dissimulation, the Cardinal affected 
 to adopt their advice, by issuing an edict 
 for suspending the prosecution of heretics*
 
 whilst he attacked the main support of the 
 Calvin istic party, by persuading the King 
 that the conspiracy of Renaudie was in 
 reality organised by the Prince de Conde. 
 
 At this moment, when all was suspicion 
 and distraction at court, the Cardinal, with 
 his wonted address, attempted to conciliate 
 the English ambassador, who had com- 
 plained of the armament destined for Scot- 
 land, and to draw from Elizabeth a pro- 
 mise, to withhold assistance from the lords 
 of the congregation. The account of this 
 conference affords a fair specimen of 
 French and English diplomacy, as exempli- 
 fied in the grave, but sagacious Nicholas 
 Throckmorton, and the versatile Cardinal, 
 whose brilliant talents were often marred 
 by vanity and presumption. After a dinner, 
 at which the English ambassador had met 
 the Dukes of Guise and Nemours, and many 
 other princes, the Cardinal led him to a 
 private apartment, where, after having 
 solemnly disclaimed all hostile intentions 
 
 VOL. II. E
 
 towards Elizabeth, in the armament 
 pared against Scotland, he entreated 
 guest to state fo him frankly, an what 
 ground she complained of the French 
 cabinet. In his reply, Throckmorton laid 
 great stress upon the assumption of the 
 armorial bearings. To this the Cardinal 
 adroitly opposed the charge of his mistress 
 having shewn too much countenance to the 
 Scottish rebels. It will be proper to give 
 this answer in his own words* as a curious 
 exposition of his views of legislation, and 
 the imposing frankness with which he af- 
 fected to explain his conduct. 
 
 " Monsieur Pambassadeur, we have cause to' 
 *' thank her Majesty that she dealeth thus frankly 
 " with us, to declare unto us her griefs, which we 
 " knew not of before ; and for our parts, because 
 " you have declared unto me the grounds of 
 " yours, I will particularly answer to the same ; 
 w and first, because you shall the better perceive 
 *' my master's meaning for his doings in Scotland : 
 " thus it is : 
 
 " About the conclusion of the late peace, the prior 
 *' of St. Andrews, the Earl of Argvle, and the Earl
 
 ** of Glencairn,withtheiradherents,dftheirownau- 
 " thority, went about to alter religion j of which, being 
 " advertised by the Queen Regent, commissioners 
 " were sent to have the matter come to debating 
 u and deciding, because -we were desirous to stay 
 *' the matter without rigour: they not only refused 
 u to come to reason, but refused to attend to the 
 " commission, derogating thereby the authority of 
 " the King and the Queen, for which they de- 
 " served severe punishment Notwithstanding the 
 " King sent pardon unto them, so as they would 
 " hearken unto reformation, which they regarded 
 " as much; and at length the King himself wrote 
 " unto them several letters, sent by La Brosse and 
 " the Bishop of Amiens, which they utterly re- 
 " fused to receive, and in the end came so far, that 
 " they would order things as pleased them, and 
 " take the authority from the Queen Regent, who 
 " was by a just parliament so ordained ; and by a 
 " parliament of a few of them, and their accom- 
 " plices, they seek to order the state themselves ; 
 " whereupon the King was, in the end, constrained 
 " to use his force against them ; moved thereunto 
 " by example's sake, to his own subjects, for surety 
 " of the Queen's mother, and honour of the King, 
 " and maintenance of the Queen in her right; 
 " and, added he, we have at no time sent provi- 
 " sion of men, victuals, and ammunition thither,
 
 " but we have caused our ambassadors to inform 
 u the Queen thereof, as loth to cause suspicion, 
 " and yet minding so to chastise her rebels there ; 
 " and what have we done herein prejudicial to 
 " the Queen, your mistress? and may we not 
 " chastise our rebels? and will the Queen take 
 " upon her the defence of those whom she knoweth 
 " to be and hath called rebels? for we have letters 
 " with the words she hath spoken to our ambas- 
 " sador, and that she would rather see them perish 
 " than help them." Throckmorton. " How 
 " they be rebels I know not, and much less that 
 " the Queen, my mistress, hath called them so." 
 Cardinal. " Yes, that she hath done." 
 Throckmorton. " This is your case ; but as for 
 " our case, we have cause to doubt your great pre- 
 " paration for war, however you colour the same." 
 
 The question being waved, Throckmorton 
 continues j 
 
 " But as for the matter of Scotland, it is known 
 " that the fourth part of this preparation needeth 
 " not, their case being as it is ; for either in grant- 
 " ing their liberties and privileges to the noble- 
 " men all troubles may cease, or else with a small 
 *' power they might be brought to order; the 
 " proof whereof appears by the Queen Dowager's 
 " proceedings, in having, with a few, separated 
 " and driven them from Edinburgh." 
 
 Here the Cardinal, after having reiterated
 
 33 
 
 the protestation, " that the armament had no 
 " other object than the subjugation of Scot- 
 " land," adds, that " it was chiefly for 
 " the sake of example and the behalf of 
 " religion ;" and with an insinuating frank- 
 ness, acknowledged the errors and abuses 
 which had crept into the church, for which he 
 conceived no other remedy could be found, 
 than the convocation of a general council. 
 
 As a proof of his own predilection for 
 tolerant principles, he adds, 
 
 " Even three days past, we have published an 
 fc ' edict * to suppress the punishment of men for 
 " religion, and have licensed all men to live ac- 
 " cording to their conscience." " And of this 
 " purpose," says Throckmorton, " he made such 
 " an oration as it were too long to write, even as 
 " though he had been hired by the Protestants to 
 " defend their cause so earnestly." The Cardinal 
 continued ; " And, therefore, seeing we now ac- 
 " cord to the Scots to live according to their con- 
 " science, and they not content therewith, we must 
 *' use them as rebels, and send force to chastise 
 " them - to teach them to know their sovereign." 
 
 * A proclamation rather, at the suggestion of Co- 
 ligny, as above mentioned. 
 
 E 3
 
 54 
 
 Hitherto both parties had but exercised 
 their weapons: the Cardinal now rushed 
 upon the real subject of the conference, by 
 asking abruptly, whether Elizabeth meant 
 to assist the Scots, which, for divers reasons, 
 must be prejudicial to her real interests, 
 Throckmorton parried this attack, by 
 doubting whether any rebellion existed 
 in Scotland. The Cardinal had recourse 
 to flattery, which he lavished on Elizabeth 
 and her ambassador, protesting that he was 
 greatly beloved in France, for his persona] 
 qualities. Again, shifting his ground, he 
 exclaimed, , 
 
 " With regard to the arms which the Ring arid 
 ** Queen bear, I marvel that we never heard of it 
 " till now." "Pirockmorton. " Whether you 
 " heard of it or not, I know not ; at the beginning, 
 " I opened the matter to the Constable, and de- 
 " clared that it was not correspondent with amity ; 
 " andwhatmeanethit that you offer this injury only 
 " to the Queen my mistress, by whose means you 
 " had peace ? for, if she had not more regarded 
 " the universal peace of Christendom than her 
 " own private convenience, she might have hatj 
 15
 
 ** Calais ; and you know that King Philip would 
 " have made no peace without us, for he would 
 " hearken to no conditions till we were satisfied." 
 
 This was a home thrust; and Throck- 
 morton quaintly describes the discomfiture 
 of his adversary: 
 
 " He put his finger to his nose, and scratched 
 ** a little, where I think it did not itch." 
 
 The Cardinal recovers the parole by the 
 common manoeuvre of throwing the blame 
 on his adversary: 
 
 " You complain; but we have most cause to do 
 " so, and the King mindeth to conserve the amity ; 
 *' and, therefore, I pray you, devise what will sa- 
 " tisfy the Queen, your mistress, and she shall be 
 " contented; and for these injuries that have been 
 " done us, and the taking of our ships, we will 
 " omit them, and forget them : I know, if you will, 
 (( you may do all this matter, and, therefore, put 
 " to your helping hand, and I will do the like 
 " for my part." 
 
 The conference being closed, Throck- 
 morton was conducted to the royal cham- 
 ber, where he found the young King sur- 
 rounded with princes and nobles. Their 
 E 4
 
 interview was brief, for Francis, having few 
 ideas, was discreetly sparing of words. 
 
 " I presented him," continues the ambassador, 
 " with your Majesty's letters, which perused, he 
 " enquired, first, how you did, and whether you 
 " loved hawking and hunting ? I told him your 
 " Majesty was in good health, and that, albeit, 
 " you loved such pastimes well, yet your High- 
 " ness was not altogether so much addicted to 
 " them as he. He then declared unto me, that 
 ft he understood, by his uncle the Cardinal, the 
 " matters I had to say to him." 
 
 The ambassador not thinking recapitula- 
 tion necessary, prepared to take leave, when 
 the King, who found, in the ceremonial of 
 the court, some relief from his own personal 
 insignificance, asked him to see his mother, 
 not mentioning his wife, who evidently 
 held a subordinate rank. Throckmorton 
 was, finally, ushered to the presence of 
 Catherine, on whose right-hand sat the 
 young Queen, attended by her ladies, with 
 no other gentlemen than an old Cardinal, 
 and Admiral Coligny. Throckmorton hav- 
 ing presented his letters to both Queens, 
 addressed an elaborate compliment to Ca-
 
 therine, of which Mary, with that address, 
 which is soon acquired in a court, appeared 
 not to hear a syllable. 
 
 " The Queen Dowager thanked j our Majesty 
 " for your remembrance and good opinion, the 
 " recip-oque 'wanted not in her., as it should be found 
 " when occasion ministered, being sorry that any 
 " cause should arise to the contrary, which she 
 " would, for her part, seek to avoid; that your 
 " Majesty should be satisfied, arid that the King, 
 " her son, was your Highness's good brother, 
 " and so would continue, praying me to set to my 
 " helping hand, for she would be glad, and so 
 " would the Queen, her daughter, (and turned to 
 " her, who, thereupon, smiled,) that all things 
 " were amicably composed." 
 
 Here Mary rejoined, with a vivacity 
 which not all the ceremonial of the court 
 coidd wholly suppress, 
 
 " Yes, my good sister may be assured to have 
 " a better neighbour of me, being her cousin, than 
 " of the rebels, and so, I pray you, to signify to 
 her." 
 
 In a subsequent interview, Mary dis- 
 sembled not her displeasure at the belief 
 that the Scottish lords had shewn the Eng- 
 lish Queen more respect than they yielded
 
 58 
 
 to her, their native sovereign ; and it was 
 evident, from her conversation," that she 
 participated in the restless suspicions which 
 invested the court, and formed its atmo- 
 sphere. Already had Cardinal Lorrain pre- 
 judiced the King's mind against the Prince 
 de Conde, who, like Coligny, was invited to 
 the castle as a friend, but, on his arrival, 
 arrested as a prisoner, his papers examined, 
 his servants searched and interrogated, but 
 no evidence could be extracted to substan- 
 tiate the accusation of his enemies ; and 
 such was the frank and fearless intrepidity 
 with which he met the charge, that, finally, 
 when he challenged to single combat 
 any who should impeach his loyalty and 
 honour, the Duke of Guise, who naturally 
 loved the brave, pledged himself to be his 
 second.* But the Cardinal, though baffled 
 
 * The following observations, which have been 
 sanctioned by the approbation of a body of enlight- 
 ened men, comprise, in a few words, all that has 
 been clearly ascertained respecting the conspiracy of 
 Amboise. 
 
 " The Catholic writers of the day have very gene- 
 " rally attempted to inculpate the Prince de Comic
 
 59 
 
 \, 
 
 in this instance, discovered another object 
 worthy of his vengeance in the brave Baron 
 
 "and the Colignys ; supporting this opinion by the 
 " celebrated consultation of civilians and theolo- 
 " gians, respecting the rights of the people to resist 
 " the usurpers who had abused the youth and credu- 
 " lity of an inexperienced sovereign. Davila assigns 
 " a principal part to the Constable. A modern writer, 
 " Pere Daniel, has not scrupled to associate with him 
 '* Admiral Coligny; but it is certain no contemporary 
 t( writers countenanced the suspicion; neither, if they 
 " did, could vague conjectures be received as ac- 
 " credited evidence. Had Pere Daniel referred to 
 " M. de Castelnau and De Thou, he would have dis- 
 4< covered that both the Admiral and M. Andelot re- 
 ' paired, without hesitation, to Amboise, at the first 
 " summons, and that their unembarrassed manners 
 " bespoke the confidence and boldness of innocence ; 
 *' if conjecture be once admitted, who shall escape 
 " suspicion ? Even Catherine de Medicis has, by 
 " some authors, been implicated in the transaction. 
 " See Memoires de Tavannes. This, at least, is 
 " certain, that the real leader of the enterprise re- 
 " mained behind the scene. With regard to the 
 <* Prince de Conde", it will not be found that he is 
 '< criminated by any substantial proofs, any credible 
 " testimony. It was very possible for audacious men, 
 " who adopted the sentiments, to inspire the belief 
 that they spoke by the authority of any public cha*
 
 Castelnau, who having taken arms, avow- 
 edly to release the King from the usurpation 
 of the Princes of Lorrain, at the head of 
 three hundred troops, occupied a castle in 
 the vicinity of Amboise. 
 
 Alarmed at his approach, the Cardinal 
 desired Marechal de Vieilleville to induce 
 the Baron to repair to Amboise to state his 
 grievances, assuring him of safety, if he 
 came unarmed, and attended but by few 
 companions. Too experienced in courts, 
 to confide in the honor of such employers, 
 the Marechal excused himself on the plea, 
 that to such desperate men he could make 
 ho assurances of indemnity that would in- 
 spire confidence ; but he submitted to the 
 King, whether it would not be proper to de- 
 volve the office on a Prince of the Blood, 
 who could alone be considered as a proper 
 
 " racter ; the true chief was mute, and invisible." 
 Observations appended to les Memoires de Francois 
 Scepeau, Sieur de Vieilleville, Collection Universelle des 
 Memoires relatifs a I'Histoirc de France.
 
 61 
 
 delegate of the sovereign.* In consequence 
 of this suggestion, the commission was given 
 to the Duke de Nemours, who having 
 pledged to Castelnau the word of a Prince 
 for his safety, that officer, with fifteen of his 
 companions, readily accepted the invitation ; 
 but no sooner had they reached the castle, 
 than, instead of being conducted to the 
 King's presence, they were committed to 
 separate cells, examined, and subjected to 
 torture, to extract particular information 
 of the conspiracy. Shocked at this breach 
 of faith, the Duke de Nemours vehe- 
 mently demanded the fulfilment of his 
 engagement. Both Catherine and Mary, 
 the Duchess of Guise, and many great 
 ladies of the court, united in supplica- 
 tions for mercy ; to which (by the Cardi- 
 nal's command) the Chancellor Olivier re- 
 plied, " That the King kept no faith with 
 " rebels ; and, to prevent future importu- 
 
 * See Regnier de la Planche. Les Memoires de 
 Castelnau. Garnier. Memoires de Francois Scepeau, 
 Si fur de VieilleviUe, 3 torn.
 
 62 
 
 " nity, punishment was denounced against 
 " all who should appeal in their behalf.*' * 
 At his examination, Castelnau, instead of 
 admitting any thing to criminate the Prince 
 de Conde\ boldly reclaimed the promise 
 by which he had been betrayed. The 
 judges feeling the force of his argu- 
 ments, yet sensible that his doom was 
 sealed, shifted their ground by examining 
 him respecting the tenets of his faith ; to 
 which, after some hesitation, he replied with 
 characteristic openness and sincerity. The 
 Chancellor Olivier, who had once been in 
 the number of Castelnau's intimate friends, 
 having enquired on what grounds he had 
 changed his religion, the Duke of Guise 
 perceiving that he hesitated, exclaimed^ 
 " Speak, speak; you seem dumb with fear.'* 
 
 * According toVieilleviile,theDuke de Nemours wds 
 chagrined, because he had given his signature. " As 
 *' to his word," says the author, " he valued it little, 
 " since he would have killed on the spot any man 
 " who should have pretended that he had made the 
 " promise; but his signature he could not disown." 
 Such was the honor of the Duke de Nemours !
 
 63- 
 
 " Fear!" retorted the Baron, indignantly,- 
 " where is the man, however brave, en- 
 " vironed as I am, by mortal enemies, with- 
 " out either nails or claws to protect himself 
 " from their vengeance, where is he who 
 " would not fear? Brave as you are, were 
 " you in my power as I am in yours, and if 
 *' I bore to you the malice which you tes- 
 " tify to me, and all the King's good and 
 *' loyal subjects, I doubt not, you too would 
 " have some consciousness of danger." 
 
 After this, regaining self-possession, he" 
 entered on the subject with such animation 
 and energy, that the Chancellor, with 
 much surprise, demanded in what school 
 he had so soon learnt to become a theolo- 
 
 gian. 
 
 " And have you," replied Castlenau, 
 " lost all recollections of the hours I spent 
 " in your house at Leuville, once the sanc- 
 " tuary of honor, learning, and virtue, 
 " which I visited on my return from Flan- 
 " ders ; and where, when you enquired 
 " with what studies I had beguiled the pe-
 
 64 
 
 " riod of my captivity, I answered, in read- 
 " ing the Holy Scriptures. Do you not 
 " remember how cordially you applauded 
 " my pursuit ; and how, after having heard 
 " certain doubts which still lingered in my 
 " mind, you exhorted me to frequent the 
 ** religious assemblies at Paris, and to visit 
 " the reformed churches in Germany and 
 " Geneva ? Did you not also express a wish, 
 * e that all the French nobility resembled me 
 " in zeal and sentiment, inasmuch as I had 
 " chosen the right path ? My Lord, is not 
 " this true?" The Chancellor, casting down 
 his eyes, in silence, Castlenau continued; 
 f< How can it be, that the man so eminently 
 *' endowed with talents and virtues, who has 
 " arrived at the highest honors of his pro- 
 " fession, to whom the word of truth has 
 " been revealed, and who now totters on 
 " the last plank of life ; how can it be, that 
 " such a man, for the sake of a little 
 " momentary prolongation of power and 
 <{ splendour, can stoop to become the slave 
 21
 
 65 
 
 " of yon proud Cardinal, at once betraying 
 '* his conscience, his King, and his country." 
 
 Here the Cardinal, perceiving the Chan- 
 cellor's embarrassment, resumed the sub- 
 ject, till baffled by Castelnau's unpreme- 
 ditated eloquence, he bade him reflect, 
 that as his brother was no theologian, it 
 was not right to shock his faith. At these 
 words, the Duke interposed, by saying, 
 " That though he pretended not to be com- 
 " petent to polemical disquisitions, he per- 
 <( fectly knew how to strike off heretical 
 " heads." " Would to God," replied Cas- 
 telnau, " that you were as competent to dis- 
 " cuss this subject as your brother, since I 
 " feel assured you would not, like him, do 
 " violence to your conscience. As to 
 " the menace of striking off a head, I hold 
 " it to be unworthy of a Prince." 
 
 It is not improbable, but that the supe- 
 riority which Castelnau had displayed in 
 argument with Cardinal Lorrain, accelerated 
 his fate. On the day appointed for his 
 
 VOL. II. F
 
 66 
 
 execution, he approached, without emotion, 
 the scaffold which had been erected in front 
 of a gallery, prepared for the ladies, to 
 whom, in the absence of other amuse- 
 ments, the exhibition of dying criminals 
 had been rendered an interesting spectacle. 
 In a court where humanity was identified 
 with sedition, and honor stigmatized as re- 
 bellion, even the tenderness of the female 
 sex was sacrificed to a fanatical loyalty ; 
 and to have declined witnessing the death 
 of a conspirator, would have been construed 
 into a tacit approbation of the conspiracy. 
 It was impossible, at this moment, to con- 
 template, without regret, Castelnau, an 
 officer of approved valour, whose life had 
 been often hazarded for his country j but 
 stronger emotions were excited, when he 
 he raised to heaven the hands that had 
 been stained with the blood of his com- 
 panions, and invoked vengeance on the au- 
 thors of that treachery to which he had been 
 sacrificed. At that instant a shriek was heard 
 
 21
 
 in the gallery, from whence Anne of Este, 
 pale and trembling, rushing forth, retired to 
 her chamber ; where, being followed by Ca- 
 therine, who coolly enquired the cause of 
 her affliction, she exclaimed, " Have I not 
 " cause to weep? and shall not the 
 " blood that has been shed this day be 
 " required of me and my children ?" 
 Nor was this princess the only individual 
 touched by the catastrophe ; the Prince de 
 Conde, who had been cruelly dragged to 
 the spot, was observed to shudder, and by 
 that involuntary movement of humanity 
 furnished new grounds for suspicion : but 
 the person most affected by the tragedy 
 was the Chancellor Olivier, who loving 
 Castlenau and abhorring the severity of 
 which he was compelled to be the minister, 
 in a sort of lethargic melancholy, took to his 
 bed, from which he never rose ; and in 
 his dying moments uttered the delirious ex- 
 clamation, of " Accursed Cardinal ! thou 
 F 2
 
 68 
 
 " dost prepare perdition for all!"* It 
 would have been pleasing to discover that 
 Mary Stuart evinced such sensibilities as 
 did honor to Anne of Este ; and assuredly, 
 in after life, she appeared not wanting in 
 tenderness, but at this period the sympa- 
 thies of her nature were checked by the 
 constraint of her situation ; nor should it be 
 forgotten that her mind was corroded by 
 cares in which no other woman partici- 
 pated. By a singular coincidence, the com- 
 motions of Scotland were simultaneous with 
 those of France j and during the three 
 succeeding months, the insurrections in 
 Provence and Normandy, seemed to cor- 
 respond with the assembling of the con- 
 gregational forces, the siege of Leith, the 
 deposition of the queen mother from the 
 Regency, (an event she survived but few 
 weeks,) and the famous convention by 
 whose authority the mass was finally abo- 
 
 * Memoires de Vieilleville, torn. 3. Observations sirr 
 les Memoires de Castelnan.
 
 69 
 
 lished, and the worship of Calvin esta- 
 blished in its place. On receiving the in- 
 telligence of her mother's dissolution, 
 the young queen might have said with 
 Macbeth, * she should have died hereafter. 9 
 The multiplied distractions of the state, inter- 
 dicted the indulgence of private sorrows ; 
 distrust and terror pervaded the court ; 
 perplexity and danger environed the throne ; 
 and, instead of weeping in her chamber, 
 Mary had to attend her consort to the great 
 national council holden at Fontainebleau, 
 that celebrated assembly which concen- 
 trated the royalty, the talents, the patrio- 
 tism of France, where Coligny presented 
 the petition subscribed by 50,000 Hugo- 
 nots *, for liberty of conscience, where two 
 bishops t advocated the cause of toleration, 
 
 * The Calvinists were first called Hugonots, in allu- 
 sion to a pretended ghost which was believed to haunt 
 an old turret, called Hugo's Tower ; and thus became 
 the popular bugbear, with which mothers frightened 
 their children. LABOUREUR. GARNIER. 
 
 f These were Monluc, Bishop of Valence, and 
 Niavillac, brother to the advocate of Anne Du Burg. 
 F 3
 
 70 
 
 and more extraordinary still, Cardinal Lor- 
 rain coalesced with Michael 1'Hopital, in 
 voting for the states-general. 
 
 What impression these representations 
 might have produced on Francis or Mary, 
 must be left to conjecture ; but it is proba- 
 ble that the prejudices which the young mo- 
 narch had imbibed against the Prince de 
 Conde and the King of Navarre, extended 
 to the whole Calvinistic party, and that in 
 suffering its ostensible chiefs, the King of 
 Navarre, and the Prince de Conde, to be 
 inveigled to the states-general, he was 
 merely defending his crown and his life 
 against the machinations of his enemies. 
 With these sentiments, having deposited 
 his brothers and sister in the Castle of Vin- 
 cennes, he departed from St. Germains to 
 Orleans, which he entered with military 
 pomp, avowedly to assume the command 
 of his army, accompanied by Mary and 
 Catherine, and whilst the mother fortified 
 his courage, the wife betrayed no femi- 
 nine timidity. The arrival of the King of
 
 71 
 
 Navarre and his brother, was the signal for 
 the triumph of their kinsmen. Like Cas- 
 tlenau, they had confided in promises of 
 safety, and like him, the prince was arrested 
 as a state prisoner, on the charge of treason. 
 It appears incredible that any govern- 
 ment, in a nation comparatively civilized 
 and enlightened, should have ventured on 
 an act of perfidy worthy of an Algerine 
 Corsair ; but the pretended interests of re- 
 ligion sanctified the measure to one party, 
 the safety of the state excused it to another; 
 and the presence of veteran troops invested 
 its authors with impunity. Of the actors in 
 this drama, the king only was sincere ; and 
 it was with the conviction of his kinsman's 
 treason, that he turned sternly from the 
 Princess de Conde, who had thrown herself 
 at his feet to implore mercy, exclaiming, 
 " He aimed at my life, he sought my 
 " crown." From that moment the fate of 
 Louis Bourbon seemed inevitable. No 
 one presumed to speak in his favour; 
 j- -i
 
 72 
 
 even the wary Marechal Vieilleville ex- 
 cited suspicion, by expressing his wonder, 
 that the prince, if he was conscious of 
 guilt, should so readily surrender himself 
 to the power of justice, and perceiving his 
 error, advised the cardinal to commit the 
 prince to the Bastille, disclaimed with in- 
 dignation any intention of visiting him, and 
 protested that, if he were really criminal, 
 he should vote for his death, even though 
 he had been his own brother. 
 
 At this crisis, when his friends yielded to 
 the most gloomy presages, the Prince dis- 
 played the magnanimity of a real hero. Dur- 
 ing the painful interval of suspense, which 
 intervened from the commencement of the 
 king's illness, when he expected to be sa- 
 crificed to the malice or pusillanimity of his 
 enemies, no agitation could be detected 
 in his looks or accents* : he preserved, 
 
 According to Regnier de la Planche, Du Thou, 
 
 and other historians, the Duke and Cardinal would 
 
 have persuaded Catherine to extort from the States 
 
 General, an order for his execution, previous to 
 
 15
 
 . 73 
 
 unaltered, the serenity and gaiety of his 
 temper, and, as usual, exerting his various 
 powers of pleasing, continued to laugh, 
 to sing, to rally, with his attendants. In 
 this manner, he was engaged at chess, when 
 his valet de chambre, in cautious language, 
 intimated that the danger was over, since 
 the king had breathed his last. Such a 
 communication might have disturbed even 
 stoical self-possession ; but the volatile, im- 
 petuous Louis Bourbon, received it with- 
 out changing countenance, and having made 
 another move, won the game. 
 
 her son's death ; and that she was diverted from it 
 by the Chancellor Michael L'Hopital. In the mean- 
 while, the King of Navarre, who, though not formally 
 arrested, was detained and suspected, was summoned 
 to a private audience by Catherine, who stipulated 
 with him for the surrender of his rights to supremacy 
 in the council of regency, and on that condition in- 
 demnified his brother's safety. A reconciliation was 
 then effected between the Guises and the King of 
 Navarre. The Prince de Conde was, with reason, dis- 
 gusted with his brother's complaisance.
 
 74 , 
 
 It was on the llth of November, that 
 Francis, in assisting at vespers, fainted, and 
 was conveyed to his chamber. During 
 his illness, which lasted seventeen days, the 
 Guises devised a scheme for silently eradi- 
 cating heresy, more likely to prove suc- 
 cessful, than the armies they had collected, 
 the Inquisition they meant to re-establish, 
 or even the sanguinary punishments they 
 were about to enforce. This was no other 
 than simply to require from every individual 
 attached to the service of the queen, the 
 king, the princes, the nobles, and the gentry, 
 a formal subscription to the Catholic faith. 
 Already had many thousand signatures 
 been affixed to this schedule, when the 
 attention of the court was arrested by the 
 stroke which consigned the young monarch 
 to an untimely grave. Various and most 
 dissonant were the emotions created by this 
 event, in the inmates of the same mansion : 
 to the King of Navarre it brought redemp- 
 tion from ruin ; to the Prince de Conde it
 
 75 
 
 announced restoration to his wife, his chil- 
 dren, his country ; to Catherine, who by 
 secret stipulation had secured to herself un- 
 limited supremacy, it gave the dominion, 
 for which she had long panted in vain ; to 
 Cardinal Lorrain it announced disgrace ; 
 from the Duke of Guise it took not enough 
 of power to revive in him the native gene- 
 rosity of his character ; to Montmorency 
 it recalled dreams of ambition nearly aban- 
 doned ; to the enlightened mind of Michael 
 L'Hopital it suggested the possibility of 
 procuring salvation for France. In Andelot 
 and Coligny, and a small band of virtuous 
 patriots, it inspired hopes, it held forth 
 promises of political regeneration, never 
 to be realized; to Mary Stuart, alone, the 
 blow was irreparable and fatal. At an 
 earlier period, the dissolution of her union 
 had been comparatively a blessing ; but 
 now, that by the maladministration of the 
 Guises, the ancient altars of Scotland were 
 for ever overthrown, and a powerful party
 
 76 
 
 formed against the native sovereign j now, 
 that the perfidy of her kinsmen had de- 
 stroyed the confidence, and alienated the 
 affections of two-thirds of her subjects ; 
 now that she had been raised too high, not 
 to have attracted enemies, and was sunk 
 too low, not to lose friends ; at this awful 
 crisis, what remained for Mary Stuart, a 
 daughter of Guise, a widowed queen, a 
 devoted Papist, but peril, privation, cala- 
 mity, or perhaps destruction.
 
 77 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 REMOVAL OF MARY FROM COURT, TO ORLEANS. 
 
 HER RESIDENCE AT RHEIMS. HER VISIT TO LOR- 
 
 RAIN. PERPLEXITY OF THE REFORMING PARTY 
 
 IN SCOTLAND. MARY*S INTERVIEW WITH LORD 
 
 JAMES. APPEARS AT THE SACRE OF CHARLES 
 
 THE NINTH, AT RHEIMS. RETURNS TO PARIS. 
 
 HOMAGE OF THE PRINCES AND COURTIERS. CON- 
 VERSATIONS WITH THROGMORTON. HER FARE- 
 WELL TO FRANCE. DEPARTURE FROM ST.GERMAINS 
 
 TO CALAIS. EMBARKATION. HER DESPOND- 
 ENCE DURING THE VOYAGE. 
 
 IT is well known, that there is no stage of 
 human life where the scene changes so ra- 
 pidly as in a court. In a few hours, the 
 death of Francis seemed forgotten. To 
 his tutors was left the care of his interment, 
 whilst his mother, with ardor, devoted her- 
 self to the more imposing duties of admi- 
 nistration. The Duke of Guise, and King 
 of Navarre had alike submitted to her
 
 7$ 
 
 sway, whilst the Cardinal withdrew to his 
 archiepiscopal palace, at Rheims, under the 
 pretence of attending to his religious voca- 
 tion. Mary's natural impulse was to abandon 
 the palace in which Catherine lived and 
 reigned. But she too well understood what 
 was due to her self 'not to retire with dignity ; 
 and without betraying the consciousness of 
 humiliation, prudently removed to a chateau, 
 near Orleans, avowedly to indulge in privacy 
 her unregarded sorrows. * But here she was 
 not long suffered to remain. A visit from 
 Chantonnay, the Spanish ambassador, es- 
 caped not Catherine's vigilance, and with 
 quick-sighted jealousy, she ascribed to it 
 an embryo treaty of marriage between the 
 Queen of Scots and Don Carlos of Spain. 
 Alarmed at the suggestion, she signified to 
 the Duke of Guise her pleasure, that their 
 niece should remove to a greater distance. 
 
 * Melvil. Observations sur les Memoires de Cas* 
 telnau, Vol. XLI. De la Collection Universelle de Me- 
 moires relatives a I'Histoire de France.
 
 79 
 
 Humility was a hard lesson to Mary ; but 
 her education had now recommenced, and 
 for the first time she began to see men and 
 things as they really were. Whether 
 Catherine's impatience to be relieved from 
 her presence originated in motives of 
 policy, or personal antipathy, must be left 
 to conjecture. But as she seldom allowed 
 herself to be influenced by passion, it is 
 more probable, that her rigour was but a 
 precaution to prevent the Princes of Lor- 
 rain from forming in the person of their 
 widowed niece such an alliance as, in the 
 critical state of parties in France, might 
 enable them to regain their former pre- 
 ponderance in the cabinet. By whatever 
 motives she was actuated, her will was now 
 omnipotent; and even the high-spirited 
 Duke employed his influence with Mary, 
 to induce her, for Catherine's satisfaction, 
 to depart for Rheims, from whence his 
 brother was hereafter to accompany her to 
 Joinville, to pay a farewell-visit to his
 
 80 
 
 mother, the Duchess Dowager of Guise. 
 After which, he suggested the propriety 
 of her departure for Scotland, where her 
 presence was required. From this proposal, 
 Mary recoiled at first, with involuntary 
 horror ; nor was it likely, that by visiting 
 her mother's tomb *, she could learn to 
 vanquish her repugnance. 
 
 The fate of that meritorious, though mis- 
 guided princess, Mary of Guise, was univer- 
 sally attributed to the chagrin she had suffer- 
 ed in Scotland ; and if such a woman, in the 
 full maturity of her powers, and confessedly 
 distinguished by consummate prudence, 
 had failed in the attempt to maintain 
 regular government, how little was it to 
 be expected, that Mary, yet in the spring 
 of youth, without experience or judgment, 
 should prove successful in the unequal con- 
 flict. To this objection, it was answered 
 by her advisers, that her mother's misfor- 
 
 * Mary of Guise was interred in the royal abbey at 
 Rheims.
 
 81 
 
 tunes had originated in the abortive effort 
 to resist the establishment of the Reforma- 
 tion ; that tliis point being relinquished, 
 the Queen of Scots, her daughter, would be 
 cordially welcomed to the throne of her 
 ancestors ; and having secured the affec- 
 tions of her subjects, might gradually re- 
 claim them to the Holy See ; nor did the 
 Cardinal forget to urge the facilities which 
 the vicinity of England would afford her, 
 in promoting her speculations on the sceptre 
 of Elizabeth. The last argument was per- 
 haps the most powerful ; but though pride, 
 ambition, and reason conspired to force 
 Mary from France, they could not reconcile 
 her to the hard necessity which decreed her 
 banishment. Yet, slighted as she had al- 
 ready been by the court, it was soothing to 
 her wounded heart, to receive both from 
 Catholics and Protestants a cordial invita- 
 tion to return to her native country. In 
 reality, the young king's death had been 
 scarcely more critical to France than to 
 
 VOL. JI. G
 
 82 
 
 Scotland, where the reformers * began seri- 
 ously to entertain designs of withdrawing that 
 allegiance, which rendered them dependent 
 on a foreign government. In contemplating 
 the late changes in Scotland, nothing excited 
 so much astonishment as the unexampled, 
 and almost incredible facility, with which, 
 after having deposed the Regent, a few 
 Protestant lords and citizens had proceeded 
 in convention to abolish the mass, and to 
 denounce the penalty of banishment or 
 death on all who should persist in publicly 
 exhibiting the antient forms of worship. 
 From this circumstance it would, however, 
 be rash to infer, that the spirit of Catho- 
 licism was subdued, or that the conformity 
 of worship, which those enterprizing leaders 
 had imposed, resulted from general assent 
 and simultaneous agreement. It is even 
 doubtful how far the Protestants were nu- 
 merically superior to their adversaries ; in 
 
 * See Keith and Cecil's correspondence with Mait- 
 laad, in Haynes and Forbes 1 State Papers.
 
 S3 
 
 talents, energy, and intelligence, there was 
 no parity between them. It should also 
 be observed, that the ministers of religion 
 were also the leaders of popular insurrec- 
 tion, and that the state of society, in which 
 the people had suddenly passed from the 
 lethargy of superstition to the delirium 
 of fanatical excitement, was peculiarly cal- 
 culated to accelerate a revolution in the 
 opinions, the feelings, and even the habits 
 of the community. Above all, the oppres- 
 sion of the Guises, the horror and detes- 
 tation excited by the persecution, of which 
 France and Spain presented so many awful 
 examples, had inspired an energy, an omni- 
 potence of will, that almost assumed the 
 character of preternatural inspiration. But 
 such an exaltation of feeling could not be 
 permanent j and whenever its effervescence 
 subsided, a reaction was to be expected 
 from the oppressed party. It was notorious 
 that many of the nobles adhered to the 
 antient faith, and that in various parts of 
 G 2
 
 84. 
 
 the kingdom, more particularly towards the 
 north, were to be found its disguised parti- 
 zans, who deplored the humiliation of their 
 church, and watched for a propitious mo- 
 ment to raise it from the dust. The true 
 position of the two parties, after the death 
 of Francis, is ably stated in a letter from 
 William Maitland, of Lethington, a man of 
 exquisite talents and address, who had origi- 
 nally been secretary to the Queen Regent, 
 but in the late commotions seceded to 
 the Congregation, to which he was now 
 firmly attached; and to whose ostensible 
 chief, the Queen's brother, commonly called 
 the Lord James, or the Prior of St. Andrews, 
 he appeared to be entirely devoted. 
 
 A Letter from the Laird of Lethington to Sir 
 
 William Cecil. 
 SIR, 
 
 " That thus long I have delayed to write unto 
 " your honour, I pray, impute it only to my ab- 
 " sence : I have been these forty days in the north 
 " parts of Scotland with my Lord James, where
 
 85 
 
 ** we have not been altogether unoccupied; but so 
 " far as occasion would serve, advancing the reli- 
 " gion and common cause. Since our returning, 
 *' I have understood the stay of Monsieur d'Osel, 
 " and judge that you have wisely foreseen the in- 
 " conveniences that might have followed upon his 
 " coming hither. I do also allow your opinion 
 " anent the Queen our sovereign's journey to- 
 " wards Scotland ; whose coming hither, if she be 
 " enemy to the religion, and so affected towards 
 " that realm, as she yet appeareth, shall not fail 
 *' to raise wonderful tragedies. Although the re- 
 *' ligion here hath in outward appearance the upper 
 " hand, and few or none there be that openly dare 
 '* profess the contrary, yet know we the hollow hearts 
 *' of a great number, who woidd be glad to see it and 
 " us overthrown ; and if time served, would join 
 " with her authority to that effect : but I foresee, 
 <( that the difficulty thereof shall make that which 
 " is most principal in intention be last in execu- 
 " tion. Sure I am, the suppressing of religion is 
 " chiefly meant, but the same must be pressed but 
 " by indirect means. First of all, the comfort 
 tl which we have of the Queen's majesty's* friend- 
 
 * Elizabeth, a correspondence with whose minis- 
 ters had commenced during the commotions in Scot- 
 land, and was regularly continued till her death. 
 
 G 3
 
 " ship must be cut off by dissolution of the intelli- 
 *' gence begun of late ; which being not feasible 
 " in her absence, her own presence will make 
 " more easy. The Papists, you know, be in their 
 " hearts, for religion's sake, altogether enemies to 
 " this conjunction. Those that gave themselves 
 " forth for Protestants be not all alike earnestly 
 " bent to maintain it. Some have been accus- 
 " tomed so to feed upon the French fare, that 
 " their delicate stomachs cannot well digest any 
 " other. Some be so covetous, that wheresoever 
 " the lure of commodity is showed unto them, 
 " thither will they fly. Some so inconstant, that 
 " they may be easily carried away by the counte- 
 ** nance of their princess's presence, sometimes 
 *' showing them a good visage, and sometimes, 
 " as occasion shall require, frowning on them. 
 " Others there be so careless and ignorant, that 
 " they will rather respect their present ease, which 
 " shall bring after it most grievous calamities, than 
 ** with the hazard of a little present incommodity 
 " put them and theirs in full security afterwards : 
 " these to be a great number, in our late danger, 
 " we had large experience ; yet I doubt not, but 
 " the best sort will constantly and stoutly bear out 
 " that which they have begun. Marry, what dif- 
 " ficulty and hazard shall be in it, you may judge, 
 *' when the Queen shall so easily win to her party 
 21
 
 *' the whole Papists, and so many Protestants as 
 
 " be either addicted to the French faction *, cove- 
 
 " tous, inconstant, uneasy, ignorant, or careless. 
 
 " So long as her Highness is absent, in this case 
 
 " there is no peril; but you may judge what the 
 
 " presence of a prince, being craftily counselled, 
 
 " is able to bring to pass. Every man once in a 
 
 " year hath to do with his prince's benevolence : 
 
 " if at that time, when his particular business oc- 
 
 " curreth, her countenance shall be but strange to 
 
 " him in sight of the peril, in what case shall the 
 
 " subject then be ? Every man hath in his pri- 
 
 " vate causes some enemy or unfriend : what bold- 
 
 " ness shall they not take, seeing an advantage, 
 
 " and knowing their adversary to be out of the 
 
 " prince's good grace ? She will not be served 
 
 " with those that bear any good will to England. 
 
 " Some quarrel shall be picked to them, not di- 
 
 " rectly for religion at the first ; but where the 
 
 " accusation of heresy would be odious, men must 
 
 " be charged with treason. The like of this in that 
 
 " realm, I think, hath been seen in Queen Mary's 
 
 " days ; a few number thus disgraced, dispatched, 
 
 " or dispersed, the rest will be an easy prey, and 
 
 " then may the butchery of Bonner plainly be- 
 
 * The French and English factions still distracted 
 Scotland.
 
 88 
 
 " gin. I make not this discourse as our meaning 
 " to debar her Majesty from her kingdom, or that 
 " we would wish she should never come home, 
 " (for that were the part of an unnatural subject,) 
 " but rather desiring such things as be necessary 
 " so to be provided for in the mean time, that 
 " neither she by following the wicked advice of 
 " God's enemies, to lose the hearts of her subjects, 
 " neither yet so many as tender the glory of God 
 " and liberties of their native country to be the 
 " sons of death. The best is, that intelligence be- 
 " gun betwixt these two kingdoms may endure 
 " and be increased, the breach whereof I know 
 " will be attempted by all means possible. 
 
 " The great desire I have of the continuance, 
 " maketh me so earnest to wish that her majesty 
 " may be induced by good means to enter in the 
 " same conjunction ; whereunto if she cannot by 
 " one way or other be persuaded, then can I not 
 " but doubt of the success in the end. Although 
 " I do chiefly respect the common cause and 
 " public estate, yet doth my own private not a 
 " little move me to be careful in this behalf. In 
 " what case I stand you will easily judge by sight 
 " of the inclosed, which I pray you return to me 
 " with speed.* I know by my very friends in 
 
 * In the margin is added, I pray you that the letter 
 inclosed come not to light.
 
 89. 
 
 " France that she hath conceived such an opinion 
 " of my affection towards England, that it killeth 
 " all the means I can have to enter in any favour. 
 " But if it might be compassed that the Queen's 
 " Majesty and her highness, might be as dear 
 " friends as they be tender cousins, then were I 
 " able enough to have as good part in her good 
 " grace, as any other of my quality in Scotland. 
 ** If this cannot be brought to pass, then I see 
 " well, at length it will be hard for me to dwell 
 " in Rome, and strive with the pope. I assure 
 " you this whole realm is in a miserable case. 
 " If the Queen our Sovereign come shortly home, 
 " the dangers be evident and many ; and if she 
 " shall not come, it is not without great peril ; 
 " yea, what is not to be feared in a realm lacking 
 " lawful government ? It is now more than two 
 " years past that we have lived in a manner with- 
 " out any regiment; which when I consider 
 " sometimes with myself, I marvel from whence 
 " doth proceed the quietness which we presently 
 " enjoy, the like whereof I think, all circumstances 
 " being weighed, was never seen in any realm. 
 " It would seem impossible that any people could 
 " so long be contained in order, without fear of 
 " punishment and strict execution of the laws ; 
 " and, indeed, I cannot by searching, find out 
 " any probable reason, but only that it has
 
 90 
 
 " pleased the goodness of God to give this glory 
 " to his truth preached among us; but by all 
 " worldly judgment, the policy cannot thus long 
 " endure ; so that for this respect her absence to 
 " us is most pernicious. Thus, whether she 
 " come or not, we be hi a great strait. But you 
 " will say, hath not the council the regiment? 
 " yes, some in appearance, but none in very deed; 
 " and that which is, doth in a manner serve only 
 " for a shadow to so many as do willingly obey : 
 " but to know what authority it hath, you must 
 " reduce to your remembrance the treaty made 
 " at Edinburgh, wherein for the government of 
 " the realm was accorded an article, That the 
 " estates in parliament should nominate twenty- 
 " four persons of the most capable of the whole 
 " realm, of whom the Queen should choose eight, 
 ** and the estates thereafter six ; which fourteen 
 " so chosen should be the council. According 
 " whereunto the estates in the next parliament 
 ** thereafter nominated twenty-four, whose names 
 '* were sent to the Queen ; but neither would her 
 " Majesty, being required, ratify that treaty, con- 
 " firm our proceedings in that parliament, nor 
 " allow the nomination of the said twenty-four, 
 *' but hath always deferred, and thus long fed us 
 " with hope of her own coming. It is true that 
 ** some of the persons nominated have taken upon
 
 91 
 
 " them the management of things since that time, 
 " to do the best they might. You may reply, 
 " why ? Doth not the whole regiment appertain to 
 " the nobility in absence of your Sovereign ? yes : 
 " but how willingly, think you, will some of the 
 " noblemen obey, which think themselves nothing 
 " inferior to the others ? and yet, being Papists, 
 " or otherwise unapt for counsel, were neglected 
 " by the estates in the nomination, and now are 
 " stirred up privily, and comforted by the Queen 
 " to disallow our proceedings : and if the council 
 " should take the way which is most meet for 
 " maintenance of their own state and forthsetting 
 " of their author-ity, then fear I that eschewing 
 " Scylla, they should fall into Charybdis. Many 
 " things are requisite to bear out a public autho- 
 " rity, which cannot be done without public 
 " charges ; and we dare not once touch any part 
 " of the Prince's revenues : the noblemen's estates 
 ** be scarce sufficient to maintain their own part, 
 " specially absent from their houses. I believe it 
 " would be hard for a number of noblemen in 
 " England to continue always at London upon 
 " their own charges, where they could have 
 " nothing but bought for ready money. Thus, 
 " if they meddle with no part of the Prince's 
 *' rents, the public charges cannot be borne ; and 
 " if they should but meddle with so much as is
 
 " necessary, thereupon shall the Queen take oc- 
 '" casion to accuse us to all princes as usurpers of 
 *' the patrimony of her crown ; so must we either 
 " incur in this accusation, or else suffer the whole 
 " policy to be dissolved for lack of regiment. I 
 " pray you, by your next letters, let me in this 
 " point hear your advice, and what the Queen's 
 " Majesty will think in it ; for if her Highness 
 " allow our doings, we will the less care what 
 " other foreign princes think of us. For my 
 " opinion anent the continuance of amity betwixt 
 " these two realms, there is no danger of breach 
 " so long as the Queen is absent ; and if all men 
 " were so persuaded as I am, or did consider the 
 " consequence which I foresee, little peril would 
 " be after her coming ; but her presence may alter 
 " many things. I trust so many as have made 
 " promise to the Queen's Majesty, shall sooner 
 " be driven from your friendship by force, than 
 " they will forsake it by their good wills. I will 
 " always at my uttermost study that no seed of 
 " division take root betwixt the Duke of Chaste! - 
 " herault and my Lord James, on whose concord 
 " the weal of our cause doth depend. It will serve 
 " as well to confirm them in the Queen's Ma- 
 " jesty's devotion, as also to encourage them to 
 " go constantly and stoutly forward, if they shall 
 " understand from her Highness, that so long as
 
 93 
 
 " tliey will continue friends to England, her Ma- 
 " jesty will not forsake them, but will succour 
 " and aid them, if necessity require it, in case 
 " the Queen, at her coming home, either mean to 
 " alter the state of religion, or yet begin to perse- 
 " cute such as have advanced the common cause. 
 " For renewing of a league, this I have thought, 
 " it would more irritate and offend the Queen our 
 " Sovereign Lady, and she will worse take it, as 
 " meant particularly against herself, if we now, 
 " being delivered from present par of strangers, 
 " should enter in anew, than when the King her 
 *' husband was alive, and them that be faint-hearted 
 " amongst ourselves will not easily be persuaded; 
 " therefore, methinks it were convenient, if it 
 " could be compassed, that a league were de- 
 " vised betwixt the Queen's Majesty, the Princes 
 " Protestant of Germany, so many of France as 
 " profess the religion, the Kings of Denmark and 
 " Sweden, at least so many as would embrace it 
 " for maintenance of religion, in which league we 
 " also would desire to be comprehended, which 
 " cause, as it is most plausible to the world, so 
 " will it at first be best allowed. To the end the 
 " estates may be shortly assembled for answering 
 " of the Queen's letter, which Mr. Randolph hath 
 " for them, we have framed a letter for their con- 
 " vocation, whereof I rend you herewith a copy,
 
 " pretending only the Queen's coming; for if the 
 " most part knew it were for any matter concerning 
 " England, they would absent themselves. It will 
 " breed some jealousy to the Queen, if we, after 
 " our assembling, send any of our nation to the 
 " Queen's Majesty ; and yet it is most necessary 
 " that the present estate of this realm, and the 
 " apparent of the future, be imparted to her Ma- 
 " jesty ; for which purpose I have thought, if you 
 " should allow of it convenient, that Mr. Randolph 
 " shall come, by whose report you will be more 
 " amply informed, than you can by writing ; and 
 " we shall more particularly understand the 
 " Queen's intention, and your opinion on every 
 " behalf. Let me by your next understand what you 
 " think thereof. In times coming, when it shall 
 " happen the Queen's Majesty to write to the 
 " Duke's Grace, it shall be well done, that either 
 " her Majesty, or you by her commandment, write 
 " somewhat to my Lord of Arran, his son, to fur- 
 " ther the matter. So I wish your honour fare- 
 well." * 
 
 From the contents of this letter, it is evi- 
 dent that nothing could have been so ac- 
 
 * Appendix in Keith, page 92. From an original 
 in the Cotton Library.
 
 ceptable to the Protestant chiefs, as that 
 Mary should continue to reside in France, 
 devolving the Regency on one of their 
 party. This hope being dissipated by the 
 annunciation of her intended return to 
 Scotland, they naturally became desirous to 
 win her confidence ; and, for that purpose, 
 wisely delegated to the prior of St. Andrews, 
 the duty of offering her their loyal ser- 
 vice. No person could have been found 
 more competent to the task : with abilities, 
 rather solid than brilliant, the Lord James 
 at the age of thirty had acquired the 
 reputation of a consummate statesman. 
 Originally destined for the church, he had 
 been endowed with the richest abbey in 
 Scotland, and continued to appropriate to 
 himself its revenues; but his enterprising 
 character was ill suited to an ecclesiastical 
 vocation, and he had, during the subse- 
 quent struggles of religion, embraced the 
 principles, and upheld the cause, of the 
 Reformers.
 
 96 
 
 Of that vigorous conduct, by which he 
 provoked the enmity of the French faction, 
 but attracted the favour of Elizabeth, and, 
 what was more, secured Cecil's friendship, 
 various opinions were pronounced ; and he 
 was alternately extolled as a patriot, or con- 
 demned as a disloyal incendiary. To recon- 
 cile these discrepancies of sentiment, it 
 will, perhaps, be sufficient to conclude, that 
 his actions were uniformly regulated by 
 certain prudential principles of calculation, 
 and that, though not generous enough to 
 sacrifice himself to his country, he identified 
 his interests with those of the party which 
 he had taken under his protection. His 
 private character was unsullied by the vices 
 common to his age and station : his re- 
 venues, instead of being wasted on profli- 
 gate pleasures, were employed in maintain- 
 ing a little host of pensioners and retainers, 
 always subservient to his will, and ever 
 ready to increase his power and popularity. 
 Although, in early youth, he had visited 
 20
 
 
 97 
 
 France as a student, he retained a certain 
 native plainness of language and manners, 
 which sometimes serves the statesman more 
 effectually than the fair professions of the 
 courtier. It was during her progress from 
 Rheims to Nancy, that Mary met him, 
 and though she had just received a com- 
 munication from the Catholics, to caution 
 her against his promises or professions, she 
 not only determined to adopt his counsels, 
 but was evidently disposed to commit her- 
 self to his guidance. Disgusted with the 
 artifices of the French court, she found in 
 his bluntness something to inspire con- 
 fidence ; and with that facility, which often 
 betrayed her into danger, admitted the 
 belief that she had found in him not merely 
 an able adviser, but an affectionate brother. 
 On his part, it was impossible but that he 
 should have been gratified by his repeption, 
 till, on taking leave, he asked for the earldom 
 of Murray, which the Queen declined pro- 
 mising until she should return to Scotland ; 
 
 VOL, II. H
 
 98 
 
 this refusal, probably, excited in his mind, 
 some distrust of her sincerity^ since, on 
 his return, he visited Elizabeth, with whom 
 he is supposed to have entered into engage- 
 ments, incompatible with the loyalty he had 
 lately pledged to his own sovereign.* 
 
 On parting from her brother, Mary was 
 seduced to momentary fbrgetfulness of po- 
 litical cares, by the honours with which she 
 was received at Nancy, into which she 
 made a public entry, conducted by the 
 young Duke, and his mother the Duchess 
 Dowager Christina ; at the palace, she was 
 greeted by her sister-in-law, the amiable 
 Claude, who consoled herself for her re- 
 
 * According to Camden, and other historians, he 
 suggested to Elizabeth the scheme of intercepting his 
 sister on her passage to Scotland. To this obliquity, if 
 true, he might have been tempted by the hope of se- 
 curing to his party the protection of that Queen, and 
 also to satisfy the ministers of the Evangile, who, pre- 
 viously to his departure, required he should extort from 
 Mary the renunciation of the idol ; to which, he re- 
 plied, " I will condition all I can ; but I may not pre- 
 " vent her hearing mass in her own chamber."
 
 moval to a country in which some vestiges 
 of barbarism were still visible, by drawing 
 around her a circle of fair companions, 
 whose elegance and beauty recalled the 
 image of her father's court, and almost 
 created another Fontainebleau. As, at 
 this period, neither her consort nor her- 
 self were sufficiently mature to be eman- 
 cipated from tutelage, the Duchess Dow- 
 ager and the Duke de Vaudemont, main- 
 tained precedency in the council, leaving 
 to the youthful pair the more amiable 
 sovereignty of pleasure. Day after day 
 they issued edicts for amusement, in which 
 hunting and hawking, music and dancing, 
 masquing, enacting plays, succeeded with 
 a rapidity that scarcely allowed time to 
 repair the waste of nature. * The tumultu- 
 ous gaiety of this scene could have been 
 little congenial to the state of Mary's feel- 
 ings, and she was soon compelled, by an at- 
 
 * See Conseus in Jebb Lesley in Jebb. 
 H 2
 
 100 
 
 tack of ague, a malady, at that time, equally 
 prevalent in France and Germany, to ex- 
 change the brilliant spectacles of Nancy for 
 the more salubrious, though unattractive, 
 residence of Joinville. This town, situated 
 on the river Marne, formed the capital of a 
 petty district, which, in 1530, had been cre- 
 ated into a principality, in favour of the house 
 of Guise ; its chief ornament was the an- 
 tient chateau, in the chapel of which An- 
 toinetta of Bourbon had raised a superb 
 monument, wrought of porphyry and jasper, 
 which was dedicated to the memory of her 
 departed lord. In that venerable mansion, 
 an interval of ten years had produced 
 no perceptible change ; it still preserved 
 the same solemn aspect which pervaded it 
 during the last visit of Mary of Guise. 
 Proud to display and to perpetuate the 
 emblems of her grief, Antoinetta suffered not 
 the black hangings to be removed from 
 the wall, nor was her own sable veil dis- 
 carded j the austere gravity of the aged
 
 101 
 
 Princess, and the profound reverence she 
 received from her attendants, gave to 
 every object the character of funeral pa- 
 geantry ; no gaieties were here exhibited. 
 Absorbed in religious zeal, this Princess, 
 even in lavishing kindness on her grand- 
 daughter, cordially approved of her depar- 
 ture, believing, that by her presence, she 
 might reclaim her subjects from rebellious 
 heresy. Such sanctified demeanour was 
 rather calculated to inspire reverence than 
 love, and Mary was, perhaps, not unwilling 
 to quit the almost sacred retreat for the 
 more congenial hospitality of her aunt 
 Renee, in whose luxurious apartments was 
 seen no conventual austerity, and who 
 lavished on her niece attentions, that in 
 part consoled her for the mortification of 
 assisting at the sacre of Charles the Ninth, 
 which was performed on the 25th of June. 
 At that solemnity appeared Mary, in all the 
 state and pomp of widowed royalty ; but 
 distinguished by the white mourning allotted 
 H 3
 
 102 
 
 to youthful dowagers j her dark brown 
 tresses were concealed under a long crape 
 veil, which floated loosely on her shoulders, 
 and, according to Brantome, was not so 
 delicate as the tint of her colourless 
 cheeks. 
 
 In this first re-union with the court, 
 Mary was received, by the nobility, with 
 profound respect, and by Catharine with 
 affected caresses ; but in the younger princes 
 and nobility she inspired such lively emo- 
 tions of interest and admiration, as revived 
 the Queen Mother's jealousy, and redoubled 
 the impatience with which she anticipated 
 her departure. It was impossible not to 
 perceive that Mary's charms were height- 
 ened, and that, abstracted from Guisian in- 
 trigue, she must possess a personal influ- 
 ence truly formidable. Exonerated from 
 the etiquette, which, whilst Francis lived, 
 opposed a barrier to the approaches of 
 the other sex, it was . no longer for- 
 bidden to avow for her, sentiments warmer 
 than loyalty, and even to address her in
 
 103 
 
 language more impassioned than admir- 
 ation. The charms of her conversation, 
 her graceful address, her captivating ac- 
 complishments, had raised the 'woman above 
 the Queen ; and, to complete those powers 
 of fascination, Mary, herself, was become 
 susceptible of feelings to which she had 
 hitherto, probably, remained a stranger. A 
 sudden reverse of fortune, by discovering 
 the hollowness of the practised courtier, 
 taught her to discern and to appreciate those 
 proofs of disinterested regard which she 
 had lately experienced. Naturally disposed 
 to munificence, she found, to her surprise, 
 she was become tributary to kindness and 
 sympathy, which it was not unpleasing to re- 
 pay with gratitude and confidence j even the 
 sense of obligation awakened emotions of 
 tenderness more pleasing than painful. The 
 latent capacities of her heart and understand- 
 ing were now unfolded, and the bitterness of 
 humiliation softened by the consciousness 
 of possessing, in herself a power of dis- 
 H 4
 
 104. 
 
 pensing happiness, independent of her royal 
 sceptre. 
 
 From Rheims, Mary proceeded to Paris ; 
 into which she made a public entry, far 
 different from that which she had once an- 
 ticipated, but more flattering to female sen- 
 sibility than any formal homage that could 
 have been rendered to the crowned consort 
 of the Sovereign. With the exception of 
 the young Monarch, all the Princes of the 
 Blood, with a brilliant company of cavaliers, 
 met her at the gates of St. Denis, and fol- 
 lowed in her train to the Louvre. The 
 next day, she was conducted to St. Ger- 
 mains, where she soon observed, that a 
 complete change had taken place in the 
 language of the court j which now, in com- 
 pliment to the King of Navarre, affected 
 unbounded liberality for the Hugonots. 
 Catharine herself, though not daring to 
 forsake the mass, or positively to attend a 
 Calvinistic conventicle, permitted a sort 
 of religious assembly in her apartment,
 
 . 
 
 105 
 
 where polemical discussion took place 
 of sentimental trifling, and the Bishop of 
 Valence was allowed to preach a sermon j 
 in which, to the horror of Chantonnay, the 
 Spanish ambassador, he omitted any invo- 
 cation of the Saints or the Virgin. Neither 
 the Duke of Guise nor his niece chose to be 
 present at these discourses ; and the old Con- 
 stable Montmorency was so much offended 
 by the deviations from established usage, 
 that he was once tempted to throw the 
 preacher from 4he window. It had been 
 prudent in Mary so far to surmount her 
 prejudices as to be one of the Bishop's 
 auditors ; but, in this instance, her resolution 
 was immutable ; her sincerity inspired res- 
 pect, and in a conversation with Throck- 
 morton, she frankly declared, that as she 
 had been bred a Catholic, she hoped to die 
 in that communion. 
 
 " To be plain with you," said she, " the 
 religion which I profess I take to be the 
 most acceptable to God; and, indeed,
 
 106 
 
 neither do I know, or desire to know, any 
 other. Constancy becometh all people well, 
 and none better than Princes, and such as 
 have rule over realms, and specially in 
 matters of religion. I have been brought 
 up in this religion, and who might credit 
 me in any thing, if I should shew myself 
 light in this case ? and though I be young, 
 and not well learned, yet have I heard this 
 matter oft disputed by mine uncle, my Lord 
 Cardinal, and I found therein no great 
 reason to change my opinion." 
 
 After this protestation, she conceded to 
 Throckmorton that many abuses had crept 
 into the church, which called for reform ; 
 but added, 
 
 " I am none of those that will change my 
 religion every year ; and, as I told you in 
 the beginning, I mean to constrain none of 
 my subjects, but would wish that they were 
 all as I am j and, I trust, they should have 
 no support to constrain me." 
 
 But if Mary declined polemical contro- 
 17
 
 107 
 
 versy, she resumed her classical pursuits, 
 which had lately been suspended, and de- 
 voted two or three hours of every morning 
 to the perusal of a Latin author, with the 
 learned Buchanan. At her leisure, she was 
 encircled by Ronsard and du Bellay, and 
 other fashionable bards, who cultivated her 
 fine taste, and stimulated her to the exercise 
 of a native talent for metrical composition ; 
 and, according to Brantome, she often pro- 
 duced extempore poems, illustrating some 
 idea happily struck out in conversation. 
 
 Mary sometimes wrote poems of a higher 
 cast, which breathed of taste and feeling, 
 and were even tinctured with a certain clas- 
 sical elegance, rarely exemplified in any con- 
 temporary female productions ; to this class 
 belongs the well-known poem composed on 
 the death of Francis, En mon triste et dowc 
 chant. * If Mary drew attention as a poet, as 
 a minstrel she was captivating; her voice was 
 melodious, and she never appeared to more 
 
 * Translated by Whitaker.
 
 108 
 
 advantage than when she touched the lute, 
 with a hand, which, if her admirers maybe 
 credited*, presented a model to the sculptor; 
 the susceptibility of her character imparted 
 a touching expression to her countenance, 
 which would have excited interest without 
 that symmetry of feature and form, by which 
 she is allowed to have been distinguished : 
 added to these powerful attractions, the pity 
 inspired by her sorrows, the vicissitudes of 
 her romantic fortune, the difficulties of her 
 situation, the perilous prospects before her, 
 all conspired to engage sympathy, to kindle 
 enthusiasm. The nobility crowded round 
 her; and parties were formed, and spec- 
 tacles presented t, of which she appeared to 
 be the only object. Among the young ca- 
 valiers, were some in whom this homage even 
 assumed the character of serious passion. 
 The most ardent of her admirers was the 
 Duke de Damville, the second son of the 
 
 * Varillas. Brantorae. Mezerai. 
 t Lesley in Jebb.
 
 109 
 
 Constable Montmorency. Intoxicated with 
 juvenile enthusiasm, or rather, perhaps, 
 with those ebullitions of vanity for which 
 it is not unfrequently mistaken, Damville * 
 hovered round the queen, nor allowed a 
 day to pass without seeing her; but, however 
 he might be flattered by her smiles t, he 
 
 * Du Thou. 
 
 f It has been pretended, that Mary sympathized in 
 his feelings, and that she protested she would have 
 espoused him had he been at liberty ; but this anec- 
 dote, for which there is no respectable testimony, has, 
 perhaps, no better foundation than some compliment- 
 ary remark, which policy, rather than affection, might 
 have dictated. With regard to Damville's passion, it 
 appears not to have troubled his tranquillity, nor to 
 have prevented his pursuing other conquests. This 
 nobleman was equally an unfaithful husband, and a 
 fickle lover. On the death of Antoinetta de la Marck 
 his wife, he espoused Louisa Budos, the most beauti- 
 ful woman in Dauphiny, but whose charms corrected 
 not his inconstancy. After her demise, he became 
 passionately attached to her aunt Laurentia, with 
 whom he contracted marriage, without waiting for 
 a Papal dispensation; an irregularity, on which, when 
 he was tired of his wife, he grounded his hopes of 
 annulling the engagement. Disappointed in this ex-
 
 no 
 
 must have been mortified to discover how 
 little he had the power to dispel the me- 
 lancholy and abstraction which, in the most 
 brilliant scenes, often clouded her counte- 
 nance ; when, forgetting all but her own 
 sad thoughts, she unconsciously gave utter- 
 ance to the bitter regrets, or " fatal pres enti- 
 " ments that oppressed her heart, and tears 
 " trickling down her cheecks, shuddered at 
 " the picture that fancy created." * The 
 Duke d'Aumale, and Great Prior, by 
 whom she was really beloved, urged her 
 to remain in France ; and there were mo- 
 ments when Mary recoiled with indescrib- 
 able horror, from the idea of living in 
 Scotland, where her religion was insulted, 
 and her sex contemned ; where her mother 
 had languished in misery, and her father 
 
 pectation, he revenged himself on his virtuous consort 
 by shutting her up in a chateau, from which she was 
 not liberated till after his death, in 1581. LABOU- 
 REUR. 
 * Brantome.
 
 Ill 
 
 sunk into an untimely grave. But from 
 these impressions she was recalled by 
 pride, dignity, ambition, the persuasions of 
 the Duke of Guise, and the exhortations 
 of Cardinal Lorrain ; who, hopeless of ren- 
 dering her marriage a profitable speculation 
 whilst she remained in France, became im- 
 portunate for her return to Scotland, and, 
 to accelerate her departure, obtained from 
 Catharine a loan, which was highly accept- 
 able. The next preliminary was to obtain 
 from Elizabeth a safe conduct ; which that 
 Queen, in the presence of the Spanish am- 
 bassador, refused, alleging that Mary had 
 never ratified the treaty of Edinburgh.* 
 On receiving this communication, the keen 
 sensibility of Mary's temper burst forth ; 
 and in an interview with Throckmorton, 
 after having been careful to dismiss her at- 
 tendants, (a delicacy omitted by Elizabeth,) 
 she thus gave vent to her feelings : 
 
 " There is nothing," she continued, 
 * Cabala.
 
 " that doth more grieve me than that I 
 did so forget myself as to require of the 
 Queen, your mistress, that favour which I 
 had no need to ask; I needed no more 
 to have made her privy to my journey, 
 than she doth me of hers. I may pass 
 well enough into mine own realm, I think, 
 without her passport or licence ; for, though 
 the late King, your master, used all the 
 impeachment he could, both to stay me, 
 and catch me, when I came hither, yet, 
 know, Monsieur 1'Ambassadeur, I came 
 hither safely ; and I may have as good 
 means to help me home again as I had to 
 come hither, if I would employ my friends.* 
 Truly," said she, " I was far from evil 
 meaning to the Queen, your mistress, 
 at this time to employ her amity to stand 
 me instead than all the friends I have ; and 
 yet, you know, both in this realm and 
 elsewhere, I have both friends and allies, 
 and such as would be glad and willing to 
 * Cabala.
 
 113 
 
 employ both their forces and aid. You 
 have often told me, that the amity be- 
 tween the Queen, your mistress, and me, 
 were very necessary and profitable to us 
 both. I have some reason, now, to think 
 that the Queen, your mistress, is not of 
 that mind ; for, I am sure, if she were, she 
 would not have received me thus unkindly. 
 It seems," added she, reproachfully, " she 
 makes more account of the amity of my 
 disobedient subjects, than of me their So- 
 vereign, who am her equal in degree, 
 though inferior in wisdom and experience, 
 her nearest kinswoman, and her next neigh- 
 bour. The Queen, your mistress, doth 
 say that I am young, and lack experience ; 
 but I have age enough, and experience, to 
 use myself towards my friends and kinsfolk 
 uprightly ; and, I trust, my discretion shall 
 not fail me, that my passions shall move me 
 to use other language than it becomes me 
 to a Queen, and kinswoman." 
 
 After this burst of feeling, she excused 
 VOL. n. i
 
 114 
 
 herself from ratifying the treaty till she 
 should be able to consult with her parlia- 
 ment ; that when she assumed the arms of 
 of England, she acted in obedience to the 
 late King, her husband; and that she 
 wished for nothing so much as to live in 
 amity with the Queen of England. Arti- 
 ficial, as was this pretext, it appeared not 
 unplausible; and might, perhaps, have 
 satisfied Elizabeth, but for the suspicion 
 industriously excited, that Mary tampered 
 with her Catholic subjects. 
 
 In a subsequent conversation with Throg- 
 morton, Mary again forgetting, or rather, 
 perhaps, not having yet learnt the politician, 
 from a sudden impulse of the heart, thus 
 expressed her secret forebodings : 
 
 " If my preparations were not so far ad- 
 vanced, perhaps the unkindness of your 
 mistress might stay my passage ; but now 
 I am resolved, I trust the winds shall 
 prove favourable ; but even if I should be 
 carried into her kingdom, she may do with
 
 115 
 
 me according to her pleasure ; and if my 
 life be the sacrifice, it shall, perhaps, for 
 me, be the happier fate." 
 
 In this short speech, we discover that 
 mixture of melancholy, and dignity, of wo- 
 manly softness, and youthful desperation, 
 that pervaded her character. Her feelings 
 were afterwards embodied in the elegant 
 little song* of " Adieu, plaisant pays de 
 
 * For the following elegant paraphrase of Adieu, 
 plaisant pays de France, the author must again ac- 
 knowledge her obligations to the young female friend 
 before mentioned. 
 
 Adieu, plaisant pays de France. 
 
 Farewell to thee, thou pleasant shore, 
 The lov'd, the cherish'd home to me 
 Of infant joy a dream that's o'er; 
 Farewell ! dear France, farewell to thee. 
 
 The sail that wafts me, bears away 
 From thee but half my soul alone; 
 Its fellow half will fondly stay, 
 And back to thee has faithful flown. 
 
 I trust it to thy gentle care ; 
 For all that here remains with me 
 Lives but to think of all that's there, 
 To love, and to remember thee. 
 ^ I 2
 
 116 
 
 " France," deservedly admired by Ron-' 
 sard, and every reader of taste, from the 
 sixteenth to the nineteenth century. 
 
 On the eve of their eternal separation, 
 Catharine's hostility to her daughter-in-law 
 seemed subdued ; she lavished on her cour- 
 teous attentions, attended her the first stage 
 of her journey from Paris to St. Germain, 
 where, thirteen years before, she had wel- 
 comed the infant Queen of Scots to France 
 and where now, with a profusion of tears, 
 she bade the widowed Queen of France 
 adieu ! Anne of Este gave a more un- 
 equivocal proof of attachment, by accom- 
 panying her niece to the coast, as did the 
 Duke and his five brothers ; and so numerous 
 were the noble dames and cavaliers, who 
 followed in her train, that this mournful 
 pilgrimage wore the appearance of a bridal 
 triumph. At Calais, Mary lingered six 
 days only ; but the solemn farewell was at 
 length pronounced, the last glance ex- 
 changed with the friends so dearly loved.
 
 117 
 
 " Habitually superstitious, in embarking 
 " for the royal galley, Mary was appalled 
 " by the mournful spectacle of a vessel 
 ** striking against the pier, and sinking to 
 " rise no more; overwhelmed with the 
 " sight, the unhappy Queen exclaimed, 
 " * O God ! what fatal omen is this for a 
 " voyage ! ' then rushing towards the stern, 
 " she knelt down, and covering her face, 
 " sobbed aloud, " Farewell ! France, fare- 
 " well! I shall never, never see thee more!" 
 " Repeatedly she raised her eyes to steal 
 " another, and another glance of that shore 
 " she had for ever left, and often sobbed 
 " aloud, Adieu! France, adieu!'* In 
 " this attitude she remained, till the ap- 
 " proach of night compelled her to change 
 " her station ; when she exclaimed, with 
 " impassioned emotion, " The hour is then 
 " arrived, when I must lose sight of thee, 
 " thou dearest country; a dark veil conceals 
 " thee from my eyes. Adieu, then, most 
 
 * Brantome. 
 i 3
 
 118 
 
 " beloved land, adieu !" With these words, 
 she quitted her seat, but could not be 
 persuaded to leave the deck; and at the 
 dawn of day, again caught a glimpse of 
 Calais, with such renewed anguish, as 
 even to express a frantic hope, that the 
 appearance of an English fleet might sus- 
 pend her voyage : but, at this moment, the 
 breeze freshened, the sails were unfurled, 
 within an hour, every vestige of France 
 had vanished from her exploring eyes ; of 
 the pomps and gaieties, in which she had 
 borne so large a part, nothing remained 
 but a vexatious, troubled dream. The voy- 
 age was not unprosperous; and in after-life, 
 she, perhaps, recollected, with peculiar 
 tenderness, that brief interval of ten days, 
 during which, she was still permitted to en- 
 joy, within that narrow space, the courtesies, 
 the blandishments, the sympathies of a 
 French circle ; when, for the last time, she 
 found herself surrounded with friends and 
 
 kinsmen, to whom, as a Queen, and a 
 15
 
 119 
 
 woman, she was equally endeared; who 
 held sacred her faith, participated in her 
 tastes, sympathized in her weaknesses, and 
 spontaneously echoed her sentiments. Sooth- 
 ed by their attentions, her grief subsided 
 into a tender melancholy, never whoUy 
 unaccompanied by feelings of complacency; 
 and on being shewn certain perilous shoals, 
 which the vessel had escaped, she ob- 
 served, " that for the sake of her friends, 
 " and for the common weal of Scotland, 
 " she ought to rejoice ; but that for herself, 
 ** she should have esteemed it a privilege 
 *' so to end her course." * 
 
 * Brantome.
 
 120 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 KNOX. HIS INFLUENCE. HIS PREJUDICES AGAINST 
 
 MARY. HIS DESCRIPTION OF HER RECEPTION. 
 
 SKETCHES OF HER MINISTERS. THE LORD JAMES 
 
 MAITLAND OF. LETHINGTON. THE EARL OF MOR- 
 TON. THE EARL OF HUNTLY. THE ENGLISH RE- 
 SIDENT RANDOLPH ESTABLISHMENT OF MARY*S 
 
 HOUSEHOLD. HER MUNIFICENCE. EXTRACTS 
 
 FROM RANDOLPH'S LETTERS COMMUNICATING VA- 
 RIOUS SKETCHES OF HER COURT. 
 
 \VHILST Mary unwillingly approached her 
 native country, there was one individual, 
 by whom her arrival was deprecated as the 
 precursor of peril, crimes, and calamities. 
 This was no other than Knox, the formid- 
 able champion of the Reformation, whose 
 " single voice could put more life into a 
 " host, than six hundred blustering trum- 
 " pets" the man whom no bribes could 
 * Randolph in Keith.
 
 tempt, no penalties intimidate, no trials 
 overcome; who scorned alike the smiles or 
 frowns of princes ; equally insensible to the 
 privations of poverty, the allurements of 
 fortune, or the witcheries of beauty. From 
 the memorable hour in which Knox had 
 embraced a spiritual vocation in the Castle 
 of St. Andrews, he had consecrated life 
 and all its faculties to the accomplishment 
 of one object, the abolition of the mass 
 and of Papistry in Scotland. 
 
 For this enterprize he was eminently fitted 
 by a rare combination of physical and moral 
 qualities ; born to command, he possessed 
 not merely the physical courage or moral 
 energy common to all brave and resolute 
 men: with stoical inflexibility he united in- 
 tense zeal and almost delirious enthusiasm ; 
 yet paradoxically discovered a keen insight 
 into human nature, and a felicitous talent 
 of directing human passions. But his real 
 strength resided in a certain directness of 
 purpose, an inflexible determination of will,
 
 aided by the popular persuasion, in which he 
 fully participated, that he acted and even 
 spoke from the impulse of divine inspir- 
 ation. 
 
 With no higher title than that of Minister 
 of the Evangile, Knox exercised over the 
 congregations of Scotland a more than papal 
 supremacy. He spoke as a prophet, and as 
 a prophet was heard with reverence : his 
 denunciations were received as predictions, 
 his solemn words treasured in remembrance 
 as the oracles of Providence. Yet, though 
 deeply tinctured with fanaticism, he was, in 
 _ reality, an admirable judge of human char- 
 acter, as appears from his having chosen the 
 Prior of St. Andrews, a man eminently 
 prudent and persevering, to be the chief 
 of the Reforming Party ; on him he had cast 
 his sacred mantle, and imparted with it a 
 large portion of his own personal influence. 
 It has been even suspected that he wished 
 to transfer to him the kingly power, but of 
 this we have no proof. Still less that he
 
 123 
 
 himself aspired to the sceptre of Scotland. 
 It was as an apostle, or rather as a prophet, 
 that Knox challenged homage. In his own 
 conceptions he was alternately the Elijah 
 rebuking Ahab the Jeremiah denouncing 
 Israel the John the Baptist, who could 
 overawe even the presumptuous Herod. 
 Woe to the man who incurred his wrath, or 
 feh 1 under his chastisement ! Unhappy they 
 who became the object of his antipathy or 
 suspicion ! In this predicament was Mary 
 Stuart ! Whatever prejudice he had origi- 
 nally conceived against a daughter of Guise, 
 was confirmed, and justified, by the admin- 
 istration of her uncles. Educated under their 
 auspices, imbued with their principles, he 
 regarded her as infected with their cruelty 
 and perfidy as a Papist, incapable of any 
 moral virtue as an idolater worse than 
 an infidel. If she would subdue his preju- 
 dice, she must disclaim her superstitions, re- 
 nounce the Mass, forsake the idol on no 
 other condition could he be persuaded that
 
 124 
 
 she was entitled to esteem and confidence. 
 It is notorious that Knox had hoped, through 
 the agency of Murray, to impose those 
 articles on Mary previous to her return to 
 Scotland. But Murray temporized, and 
 Mary was to be allowed the exercise of her 
 own worship, in a private chapel : the reli- 
 gion of the country to continue as estab- 
 lished by the Convention of Edinburgh. 
 
 With these concessions Knox was not to 
 be satisfied : he foresaw the consequences 
 that must result from the influence of the 
 Sovereign: he anticipated apostacy and 
 perversion in lukewarm and mercenary 
 men; and solemnly pledged himself) by 
 whatever means he possessed, to resist that 
 idolatrous Sovereign, whom he gratuitously 
 invested with all the vices and corruptions 
 incident to Papistry. 
 
 For this purpose he began to administer 
 
 antidotes to the poison which Mary was to 
 
 distil with her honied words, by launching 
 
 invectives against the Idol, and exciting 
 
 19
 
 125 
 
 hatred of its priests. To a certain point 
 he succeeded. The people execrated the 
 priests, but certain old and hereditary asso- 
 ciations resisted his insinuations against the 
 Sovereign : the image of royalty, gracefully 
 realised in a young and beautiful woman, the 
 last scion of Bruce, the descendant of a 
 hundred kings, awakened sentiments of 
 pride and attachment ; during her voyage, 
 fervent were the prayers breathed for her 
 safety, and on her arrival, according to the 
 confession of Knox himself, unbounded was 
 the enthusiasm with which her presence 
 was hailed by her native country. 
 
 " On the 19th day of August, 1561, be- 
 twixt seven and eight hours before noon, 
 arrived Mary, Queen of Scotland (then 
 widow) in two gallies out of France. In her 
 company, besides her gentlewomen, called 
 the Maries, were her uncles, the Duke 
 d'Aumale, the Grand Prior, the Marquis 
 d'Elbceuf; there accompanied her also, 
 d' Amville, son to the Constable of France,
 
 126 
 
 with other gentlemen of inferior condition, 
 besides servants and officers. The very face 
 of the heavens at the time of her arrival did 
 manifestly speak what comfort was brought 
 into this country with her : to wit, sorrow, 
 dolour, darkness, and all impiety; for in 
 the memory of man that day of the year was 
 never seen a more dolorous face of the hea- 
 vens, than was at her arrival, which two 
 days after did so continue ; for, besides the 
 surface wet, and the corruption of the air, 
 the mist was so thick and dark that scarce 
 could any man espy another the length of 
 two pair of butts. The sun was not seen to 
 shine two days before nor two days after. 
 That fore-warning, gave God to us but, 
 alas ! the most part were blind. 
 
 " At the sound of the cannon which the 
 gallies shot, happy was he or she that first 
 must have the presence of the Queen. The 
 Protestants were not the slowest, and therein 
 they were not to be blamed. Because the 
 Palace of Holyrood-House was not tho-
 
 127 
 
 roughly put in order, for her coming was 
 more sudden than many looked for, she 
 remained in Leith till towards the evening, 
 and then repaired thither. In the way be- 
 twixt Leith and the Abbey, met her the Re- 
 bels and crafts of men of whom we spoke of 
 before, to wit, those that had violated the 
 the acts of the magistrates, and had be- 
 sieged the provost. But because she was 
 sufficiently instructed that all they did was 
 done in spite of their religion, they were 
 easily pardoned. Fires of joy were set forth 
 at night, and a company of most honest men 
 with instruments of music, and with musi- 
 cians, gave their salutations at her cham- 
 ber window ; the melody, as she alledged, 
 liked her well, and she willed the same 
 to be continued some nights after with great 
 diligence.* The Lords repaired to her from 
 all quarters, and so was nothing under- 
 
 * Brantome very pathetically laments the annoy- 
 ance which the Queen suffered from this vile music, 
 which robbed her of repose.
 
 128 
 
 stood but mirth and quietness, till the next 
 Sunday, which was the 24th of August, when 
 that preparation began to be made for that 
 idol the mass, to be said in the Chapel ; which 
 perceived, the most of all the godly began 
 to speak openly : " Shall that Idol be suffer- 
 " ed again to take place within this realm? 
 " It shall not." The Lord Lindsay (then 
 but Master) with the gentlemen of Fife, and 
 others, plainly cried in the close or yard, 
 " The idolatrous priests shall die the death, 
 " according to God's law/." One that car- 
 ried in the candle was evil afraid. But 
 then began flesh and blood to show itself. 
 There durst no Papist, neither yet any that 
 came out of France whisper, but the Lord 
 James, the man whom all the godly did most 
 reverence, took upon him to keep the Chapel 
 door. His best excuse was, that he would 
 stop all Scottish men to enter into the mass. 
 But it was and is sufficiently known, that 
 the door was kept, that none should have 
 entry to trouble the priest, who after the
 
 129 * 
 
 mass was ended, was committed to the pro- 
 tection of the Lord John of Coldingham and 
 
 Lord Robert of , who then were 
 
 both Protestants, and had communicated at 
 the table of the Lord ; betwixt them both 
 the priest was conveyed to his chamber." 
 
 The prevention of outrage seems to have 
 been deplored by the Preacher, when he 
 adds 
 
 " And so the godly departed with grief 
 of heart, and in the afternoon repaired to 
 the Abbey in great companies, and gave 
 plain significations that they could not abide 
 that the land, which God by his power had 
 purged from idolatry, should in their eyes 
 be polluted again, and so began complaint 
 upon complaint. The old duntebors and 
 others, that had long served in the Court, 
 and hoped to have no remission of sins 
 but by virtue of the mass, cried, they would 
 away to France without delay they could 
 not live without the mass ; the same affirmed 
 the Queen's uncle : and, would to God, 
 
 VOL. II. K
 
 130 
 
 that altogether, with the mass, they had 
 taken good night of the realm for ever." 
 
 By a remarkable coincidence, Mary 
 landed almost on the anniversary of that day 
 on which she had heard in the great Coun- 
 cil of Fontainebleau, the toleration of the 
 Calvinists so ably defended by Admiral Co- 
 ligny ; she was now in a country where the 
 same arguments might be applied to the 
 Catholics, who were here denied that liberty 
 of worship which had in France been 
 withheld from the Sectaries. This reflection, 
 which might have led to the conclusion, 
 that there was more apparent than real 
 disparity in the civilization of France 
 and Scotland, was little consolatory to a 
 youthful Sovereign, who had hitherto been 
 accustomed to associate the name of heresy 
 with the crimes of treason and rebellion; 
 still less to a woman, possessing all the sus- 
 ceptibility of her sex, who had hitherto been 
 taught to believe that she inspired only sen- 
 timents of affection, but who was now, for
 
 131 
 
 the first time, regarded witli distrust or 
 aversion. To conciliate her subjects, she 
 had exchanged the white crape garb, which 
 at the French Court procured her the ap- 
 pellation of the " Heine Blanche," for a 
 sable suit, which gave to her aspect a more 
 sedate and matronly character ; even Knox 
 confesses that, " under the widow's weeds 
 " she could counterfeit to perfection.*' 
 These were, however, not unfavourable to 
 the display of her beauty, which excited ge- 
 neral admiration. Her manners were still 
 more captivating : whether she rode or 
 danced, or walked, spoke or remained in 
 silence, the same grace pervaded her looks, 
 her language, and her movements. 
 
 Among the nobility by whom she was 
 welcomed, Mary cordially recognized as 
 her nearest relatives, the illegitimate off- 
 spring of James the Fifth. Exclusive of 
 the Lord James, whose mother, the high- 
 spirited daughter of the Earl of Mar, had 
 become the wife of Sir Robert Douglas
 
 132 
 
 of Lochleven, James left two sons and one 
 daughter by different mistresses j in com- 
 mon with their brother, the Lord John of 
 Coldingham, and the Lord Robert of Strath- 
 don, had both been trained to the church 
 and enriched with its patrimony, although 
 they had since seceded to the reformers; 
 they were both of ordinary talents, addicted 
 to pleasure, and willing by flattery to pur- 
 chase preferment. To their sister, Jean, 
 married to the Earl of Argyle, Mary became 
 tenderly attached, and often sought to miti- 
 gate the hardships she experienced from a 
 brutal and imperious husband. 
 
 From her other relatives Mary derived 
 little comfort. The Earl of Lennox and his 
 family still remained in exile ; the Duke of 
 Chatelheraulf was declining into dotage, 
 and since the death of his brother, the Abbot 
 of Pasley, no Hamilton had arisen to sus- 
 tain the dignity of his house. 
 
 The Earl of Arran, so long an object of 
 suspicion to Mary and her uncles in France,
 
 here equally inspired her aversion. In his 
 childhood, it will be recollected, this no- 
 bleman was formally contracted to the 
 Queen of Scots. After his return from 
 France, he had wooed, in a singular style, 
 Queen Elizabeth *, by whom his suit was 
 civilly declined. 
 
 He now resumed his original claim on 
 Mary, who repulsed him with more disdain 
 than she ever shewed for any other lover. 
 In the Lord James alone did she discover a 
 kinsman worthy to afford her counsel or 
 protection, and to him she willingly surren- 
 
 * The following curious specimen of courtship is 
 extracted from the State Papers : 
 
 Earl of Arran to Secretary Cecil. 
 
 " These things when I call to remembrance, who can 
 say but God has framed her, Elizabeth, in the shape of 
 a woman, to excel any of her progenitors, and that he 
 of his infinite wisdom will show what he is able to 
 -work to the manifestation of his glory, in such a vessel 
 and kind as hath from the first been reputed fullest of 
 imperfections, comp'ared unto man." 
 
 Hayness Slate Papers. 
 
 K 3
 
 134. 
 
 dered the care of the state, and the super- 
 intendence of her own conduct. 
 
 As a statesman unrivalled by his com- 
 patriots, he had long formed a rallying 
 point with all men of talents and dis- 
 tinction attached to his party ; of these, 
 the first was Secretary Maitland of Le- 
 thington, a man of brilliant parts, who 
 united much political sagacity and discern- 
 ment with those elegant attainments and po- 
 lished manners which the Prior disdained 
 to cultivate; after these came the Earl 
 of Morton, the retainer and partizan of Lord 
 James, who, if he possessed not the exquisite 
 talents of Maitland, supplied its place by 
 the vigour of a self-cultivated mind, whose 
 versatile powers had been exercised in ad- 
 versity and enriched by practical experience. 
 This nobleman was the nephew of that Earl 
 of Angus, whom James the Fifth had ban- 
 ished from Scotland during the minority of 
 Mary; the Douglasses, who had been at- 
 tached to the English interest, were recalled
 
 135 
 
 and again expelled ; and, during his exile, 
 the present Earl, who had no higher title than 
 a Douglas, lived in England in such ob- 
 scurity, that he was glad to accept the oc- 
 cupation of Grieve*, to relieve the pressure 
 of indigence. 
 
 On returning to his native country, he 
 applied the knowledge thus painfully ac- 
 quired to the improvement of his own 
 patrimony; his situation became prosperous, 
 and uniting latitude of morals with the ut- 
 most strictness of sectarian principles, he 
 managed, without abandoning his plea- 
 sures, to become the disciple of Knox, and 
 the bosom friend of the Lord James. 
 Among other noblemen of minor im- 
 portance devoted to the Reformation, was 
 the Earl Marischal, of unblemished re- 
 putation ; the Lord Ochiltree, who wor- 
 shipped Knox ; the Earl of Mar, a man of 
 
 * Bailiff or overseer, superintending the estates, 
 leases, &c. See Hume of Godscroft's History of the 
 House of Angus and Morton. 
 
 K 4
 
 136 
 
 exemplary prudence ; the Earls Ruth ven and 
 Lindsay, both furious zealots ; lastly, James 
 Hepburn, Earl Bothwell, a bold intriguing 
 courtier, whose prodigality had exhausted his 
 large hereditary possessions, and who, under 
 the mask of boisterous gaiety, concealed a 
 daring spirit, and an insatiable ambition. Of 
 the Catholics, -the most important was the 
 Chancellor, the Earl of Huntley, the chief 
 of the House of Gordon, who had signal- 
 ized his valour in the wars with England, 
 and his devotion to th,e House of Stuart, 
 in all its conflicts with the nobility or the 
 congregation : although staunch to his re- 
 ligion, he abstained from going to mass in 
 Edinburgh, where Knox had established a 
 despotic empire. 
 
 On the 28th of August, Mary made her 
 public entry into Edinburgh, with every de- 
 monstration of loyalty from her subjects. 
 Over her head was suspended a canopy of 
 black and crimson, borne by twelve young 
 men, habited in black velvet, with crimson 
 
 10
 
 137 
 
 caps*, the sons of superior citizens, who glo- 
 ried in their office. She smiled on all as 
 she passed, with that grace peculiar to her- 
 self, which persuaded every beholder that 
 he was the particularly distinguished in- 
 dividual. But under a cheerful aspect 
 she concealed an anxious heart ; the preju- 
 dices, and even the superstitions of educa- 
 tion had taught her to distrust the honor 
 and loyalty of heretics, and she long 
 continued to expect that poison or some 
 envenomed spellt, should devote her to 
 a lingering death. Sensation baffles reason 
 neither the arguments of Lord James, nor 
 the eloquence of Lethington, dissipated her 
 terrors, but time and experience mitigated 
 them, and she saw with pleasure her uncles 
 and the Duke de Damville invited, on the 
 
 * Keith, page 189. 
 
 f See in chapter the fifth, Lord Ruthven's excuse 
 for presenting her with a ring. A few hours before 
 her death, Mary sent to Henry the Third, king of 
 France, as a valuable bequest, two precious rings, for 
 preserving life and health.
 
 138 
 
 following Sunday, to a civic banquet: with 
 so little strictness was the Sabbath then 
 observed in Scotland, and so much more 
 difficult is it to supersede habits than opi- 
 nions. It was to Mary a painful task to endure 
 the presence of Knox, whom she knew only 
 as the Goliah of impiety, who had subverted 
 the ancient faith, and incited subjects to re- 
 bellion ; who reviled women, more especially 
 such as had the misfortune to be queens ; 
 and was, throughout, an object of abhorrence. 
 Of the zeal and success with which he 
 had attacked vice and immorality, and of 
 the effects which he had actually produced 
 in society, by exacting from the higher and 
 lower classes, the same reverence for moral 
 and religious duty*, she knew nothing"; 
 she knew only, that his mind was perverted 
 by fanaticism and intolerance. At the 
 
 * After the example of Calvin, Knox established a 
 rigorous. Kirk censorship, by virtue of which, men and 
 women of the first rank were publicly subjected to 
 penance for notorious offences.
 
 suggestion of her brother, however, she 
 determined to see this formidable adversary, 
 whom she, perhaps, hoped to win by her 
 sweetness and condescension. 
 
 An account of their interview, as detailed 
 by himself) offers a curious illustration of 
 his character, and explains in what predica- 
 ment Mary was placed with her puritani- 
 cal subjects. On his entrance he found 
 with the Queen only her brother, the Lord 
 James, who remained silent, whilst she 
 reproached him with the work in which he 
 had inveighed against the government of 
 women, the Preacher replied: 
 
 " Learned men, in all ages, have had 
 " their judgments free, and most commonly 
 " disagreeing from the common judgment 
 " of the world; such also have they pub- 
 " lished both with pen and tongue, not- 
 " withstanding they themselves have lived 
 " in the common society with others, and 
 " have borne patiently with the errors and 
 " imperfections which they could not
 
 140 
 
 " amend. Plato, the philosopher, wrote his 
 " book of the Commonwealth, in the which 
 " he condemns many things that were main- 
 " tained in the world, and required many 
 " things to have been reformed ; and yet, 
 " notwithstanding, he lived under such po- 
 " litics as then were universally received, 
 " without further troubling any state ; even 
 " so, Madam, am I content to do, in up- 
 " rightness of heart, and with the testi- 
 " mony of a good conscience I have com- 
 " municated my judgment to the world. 
 " If the realm find no inconvenience in 
 " the regimen of a woman, that which 
 " they approve, shall I not farther disallow 
 " them within my own breast, but shall be 
 " as well content, and shall live under your 
 " Majesty as Paul was to live under the 
 " Roman Emperor; and my hope is, that so 
 " long as you defile not your hands with 
 " the blood of the saints of God, that 
 " neither I nor that book shall either hurt 
 " you or your authority j for in very deed,
 
 14-1 
 
 ' Madam, that book was written most espe- 
 " cially against wicked Mary of England." 
 " But you speak of women in general ?" 
 " Most true it is, Madam, and yet plain- 
 " ly appeareth to me, that wisdom should 
 " persuade your Majesty never to raise 
 " trouble for that which this day hath not 
 " troubled your Majesty, neither in person 
 " nor in anxiety. For of late years, many 
 " things which before were holden stable, 
 " have been called in doubt ; yea, they have 
 " been plainly impugned : but yet, Madam, 
 " I am assured, that neither Protestant nor 
 " Papist shall be able to prove that any 
 " such question was at any time moved in 
 " public, or in private. Even, Madam, if 
 " I had intended to trouble your estate, 
 " because you are a woman, I might have 
 " chosen a time more convenient for that 
 " purpose than I could do now, when your 
 " own presence is within the realm." 
 
 Having replied to the first charge, Knox 
 reminded the Queen that he had resided in
 
 142 
 
 England and other countries without having 
 incurred the charge of sedition ; and with re- 
 gard to another imputation of his enemies, 
 that he practised necromancy, he appealed 
 to all who had ever heard him preach, 
 whether he did not resist and condemn the 
 impiety. 
 
 With this explanation Mary appears to 
 have been satisfied ; but she reminded him 
 that by his arguments her subjects were in- 
 cited to sedition. " You have," said she, 
 " brought the people to receive another 
 " religion than their princes can allow 
 " and how can that doctrine be of God, 
 " seeing that God commandeth subjects to 
 " obey their princes ?" 
 
 " Madam, as right religion took neither 
 " original nor integrity from worldly 
 " princes, but from the eternal God alone, 
 " so are not subjects bound to frame their 
 ** religion according to the appetite of 
 " their princes. If ah 1 the seed of Abra- 
 " ham should have been of the religion of 
 12
 
 143 
 
 " Pharaoh, what religion should there have 
 " been in the world ? Or if all men in the 
 " days of the Roman emperors, should have 
 " been of the religion of the Roman em- 
 " perors, what religion should have been 
 " on the face of the earth ? Daniel and his 
 " fellows were subject to Nebuchadnezzar, 
 " and unto Darius, and yet they would not 
 " be of their religion." 
 
 To this argument Mary having replied, 
 that none of these had raised the sword 
 against their princes, Knox, with his usual 
 shrewdness, rejoined : 
 
 " Yet, Madam, ye cannot deny but that 
 " they resisted j for those that obey not the 
 " commandments given, in some sort resist." 
 
 " But yet," reiterated the Queen, " they 
 " resisted not by the sword." 
 
 " God, Madam, had not given them the 
 " power and the means." 
 
 " Think you that subjects, having the 
 " power, may resist their princes ?" 
 
 " If princes do exceed their bounds,
 
 144 
 
 " Madam, or do against that wherefore 
 " they should be obeyed, there is no doubt 
 " they may be resisted, even by power; 
 " for there is neither greater honor nor 
 " greater obedience to be given to kings 
 " and princes than to father and mother ; 
 " but so it is, that the father may be stricken 
 " with a phrenzy, in the which he will slay 
 " his own children ; now, Madam, if the 
 " children arise, apprehend the father, take 
 " the sword or other weapon from him, and 
 " finally bind his hands and keep him in 
 " prison till his phrenzy be overpast, think 
 " ye, Madam, that the children do any 
 " wrong?" 
 
 At the mention of a prison, Mary seemed 
 petrified; and as Knox was celebrated for 
 uttering oracular sentences, these words and 
 the emotion they had produced, were after- 
 wards attributed to preternatural inspira- 
 tion. In the sequel, the Reformer pressed 
 the Queen to hear the controverted points 
 argued in her presence; and, on taking
 
 145 
 
 leave, civilly wished she might be blessed 
 by Scotland even as Deborah had been in 
 Israel. 
 
 With the exception of Knox, who was 
 consistent with his principles, Mary found 
 not, among the fanatics of the day, much 
 that savoured of ascetic self-denial. The 
 habits of the young nobility were idle and 
 luxurious ; addicted to hawking, hunting, 
 and drinking, they surrendered themselves 
 to sensual gratification, and found it 
 more easy to renounce the mass, and 
 abuse the Papists, than to practise tem- 
 perance, justice, and charity. Even the 
 favourite of Knox, the Lord James, gave 
 Mary no stern lessons of economy; nor 
 were any limits imposed on her profusion 
 in the establishment of her household. The 
 people beheld with satisfaction the magnifi- 
 cence of the Court, which the young Queen 
 and her ladies invested with the attractions 
 of elegance and beauty. Of the four Maries 
 the most distinguished was the lovely 
 
 VOL. II. L
 
 146 
 
 Fleming, who soon inspired in Maitland a 
 "serious passion, and in the sequel became 
 his devoted wife ; Mary Livingston engaged 
 the affections of Lord Semple ; Mary Beaton, 
 the daughter of Lord Crichie, though affi- 
 anced by her father before she left France, 
 remained unmarried, as did Mary Seaton. 
 Exclusive of these playmates of her child- 
 hood, the Queen took under her protection 
 a circle of young girls for education, includ- 
 ing two junior sisters of the two Maries Bea- 
 ton and Livingston ; there was also a young 
 French lady, called Mademoiselle de Pin- 
 guillon, to whom the Queen was extremely 
 partial, but who, not relishing Scotland, soon 
 returned to France. Of Mrs. Craig and 
 Mrs. Brian, two other ladies belonging to 
 the household, nothing is known but that, 
 like the Maries, they were entitled to the 
 honor of dining and supping in the Queen's 
 chamber.* 
 
 * An embroiderer and tapestry maker were attached 
 to their service : for each lady were provided a man and
 
 Mary had brought from France many 
 valuables besides her jewels, and by her care 
 the walls of Holyrood were embellished with 
 tapestry, far different from that exhibited at 
 the espousals of James and Margaret ; but 
 she brought a more tasteful offering to her 
 country in a little sycamore plant, which 
 was transplanted to the garden, and in time 
 (though Mary was not destined to witness 
 its progress) expanded to a fair and stately 
 tree*, which, if tradition may be credited, 
 has been the parent stem of all those beau- 
 tiful groves, so often celebrated in Scottish 
 
 woman servant. At the breakfasts and collations were 
 allotted two dishes to each individual of the higher 
 order. At each meal, wine was served with profusion, 
 and in the hall and the Queen's chamber there was a 
 daily consumption of thirty gallons. Menu de la 
 Maison de la Royne fails par Monsieur Pinguil Ion. 
 For the curious reader will be found an extract from 
 this Book, at the end of the volume. 
 
 * This venerable tree was in existence till about 
 four years ago, when it was blown down, its wood 
 formed into trinkets, and sold as precious relics. 
 L 2
 
 148 
 
 It was creditable to Mary's feelings that 
 she relished the simple amusement of gar- 
 dening, and delighted in the scenes of na- 
 ture ; but, if (as Brantome has described 
 her) she was feelingly alive to the enjoy- 
 ment of intellectual society, she had reason 
 to repine under the privations she experi- 
 enced. She found no Ronsards, no du 
 Bellays to foster her talents or cultivate 
 her taste ; no elegant literature softened 
 the asperity of polemical disputation. The 
 scholastic Buchanan was the only native 
 poet who visited her palace, and even he, 
 on leaving France, appears to have re- 
 nounced the muses. 
 
 It was, perhaps, policy that led Mary to 
 cultivate the society of Thomas Randolph, 
 the English resident, who, through the me- 
 dium of Cecil, transmitted to Elizabeth re- 
 gular and minute details of Mary and her 
 Court. Randolph possessed a lively pen, 
 and although evidently devoted to Murray 
 and his party, his letters are not unworthy
 
 11-9 
 
 of attention ; and as they furnish information 
 not to be derived from any other source, a 
 few extracts, commencing from the period 
 of Mary's arrival in Scotland, are submitted 
 to the reader : 
 
 To Secretary Cecil. * 
 
 September, 1561. 
 
 " Knox spoke upon Tuesday to the 
 Queen, he knocked so hastily upon her heart 
 that he made her to weep ; as well you know, 
 there be some of that sex that will do that 
 as well for anger as for grief. Though in 
 this the Lord James will disagree with me : 
 she charged him with his book j with his se- 
 vere dealing with all men that disagreed with 
 him in opinion ; she willed him to use more 
 meekness in his sermons j some things he 
 spoke to her contentation, in mitigating the 
 rigour of his book, and in some things he 
 
 * In Keith, page 188. 
 L 3
 
 150 
 
 pleased her very little. In (special) speak- 
 ing against the mass, he declared the griev- 
 ous plagues of God, that had fallen upon 
 all estates for committing idolatry. He con- 
 cluded in the end with her, that he hath 
 liberty to speak freely his conscience, to give 
 unto her such reverence as becometh the 
 ministers of God, unto the superior powers. 
 He prayed, and doth daily pray for her, as 
 the preachers were wont to pray for Queen 
 Mary, &c. 
 
 " The rumour that he hath talked with 
 the Queen, maketh the Papists doubt what 
 will become of the world ; it liketh not them 
 well that I resort so often to the Court ; I 
 have been there thrice since Sunday j but, 
 of all they marvel most, what traffic the 
 Lord of Lethington maketh with you. * She, 
 herself, hath found three points necessary 
 to maintain her estate : first, to make peace 
 
 * Maitland was in England, labouring, with more 
 zeal than policy, to extort a public acknowledgement 
 from Elizabeth of Mary's claim to the crown of 
 England.
 
 1.V1 
 
 with England ; next, to be served by the 
 Protestants (in the other party, she findeth 
 not that which she looked for) ; the third is, 
 to enrich her crown with the Abbey lands, 
 which if she do, what shall there lack in her 
 (saving a good husband) to lead a happy 
 life? 
 
 " On Tuesday last she made her entry j 
 she dined in the castle ; the first sight she 
 saw, after she came out of the castle, was 
 a boy of six years of age, that came as 
 it were from heaven out of a round hole, 
 that presented unto her u Bible, a psalter, 
 and the keys of the gates, and spoke unto 
 her the verses which I send you. The 
 rest were terrible significations of the ven- 
 geance of God upon idolaters they were 
 burnt Cora, Dathan, and Abiram in the 
 time of their sacrifices they were minded 
 to have had a priest burnt at the altar, at 
 the elevation."* 
 
 * See Keith, p. 190, copied from MSS. in the Cot- 
 ton Library. 
 
 L 4
 
 1,52 
 
 In the first progress that Mary took 
 through the country, she perceived similar 
 indications of fanaticism. 
 
 Randolph to Cecil. 
 
 " September 
 
 " On Sunday was eight days, her Grace's 
 devout chaplains in the Chapel Royal would, 
 by the good device of her trusty servant, 
 Alexander Areskine, have sung a high mass. 
 The Earl of Argyle and the Lord James so 
 disturbed the quire, that some, botH priests 
 and clerks, left their places with broken 
 heads and bloody ears ; others were there, 
 that shed a tear or two, and made no more 
 of the matter. The by-gone night, at the 
 Earl of Rothes, (I know not whether it be 
 spoken in truth or malice), but, it is said, 
 he lost both plate and something else, that 
 was easy to be conveyed ; but, it is very
 
 153 
 
 true, that in those places where they have 
 been, saving in this town, they have paid 
 little for their meat.* At St. Johston's she 
 was well received, and presented with a heart 
 of gold, full of gold ; she liked not the 
 pageantry there, they did too plainly con- 
 demn the errors of the world. As she 
 rode through the street she fell sick, and 
 was borne from her horse into her lodg- 
 ing j with such sudden passions, I hear, she 
 is often troubled, after any great unkindness 
 or grief of mind. At St. Andrews she was 
 upon Sunday, from whence I have not as 
 yet heard ; but that I judge to be a lie, that 
 there was a priest slain this day. 
 
 " On Sunday next, Mr. Knox declareth 
 the duty of all kinds of magistrates, in a 
 good reformed Commonwealth. He hath 
 received your letter, sent by the Laird of 
 Lethington, and meaneth shortly to answer 
 
 * It will be recollected, that a similar charge was 
 brought against the court of Henry the 8th.
 
 dt.* It is suspected, that the Lord James 
 seeketh too much his own advancement j 
 which hitherto little appeareth, for any thing 
 that he ever received worth a groat. It is 
 thought that Lethington is too politic ; and 
 take me these two out of Scotland, and 
 those that love their country shall soon find 
 the want of them." 
 
 Alarmed by the turbulence manifested 
 by either party, Mary more than ever be- 
 came desirous to cultivate the friendship of 
 the English resident, and consented, at his 
 solicitation, to read an oration of Beza, on 
 the subject of transubstantiation ; and al- 
 though she still refused to discuss the sub- 
 ject, Randolph affected to believe that her 
 conversion might be accomplished by the 
 personal interposition of Elizabeth ; an in- 
 terview with the two Queens was therefore 
 proposed, and earnestly recommended. 
 
 * A proof that Cecil communicated with the chief 
 of the malcontents in Scotland.
 
 Randolph to Cecil. 
 
 " October 
 
 " The next day, I was sent for to the 
 council-chamber, where she herself sitteth 
 the most part of the time, sewing some work 
 or other. She saith unto me thus " These 
 " three days, I have done nothing else but 
 " devise with my council, how to daunton 
 " on the thieves and robbers upon the bor- 
 " ders." 
 
 The council being dissolved*, she walked 
 with Randolph in the garden, and thus 
 began to question him : " How like you 
 " this country you have been in it a 
 " good space, and know it well enough ?" 
 " My answer," continues Randolph, " was, 
 " that the country was good, and the 
 " polity might be made much better." 
 " The absence," said she, " of a prince 
 " hath caused it to be worse but yet, 
 
 * It appears, that six lords were always present, 
 and that they deliberated six hours every day.
 
 156 
 
 " is it not like unto England ?" I an- 
 swered, " That there were many in the 
 " world, worse than her Grace's, that 
 " were thought right good, but I judged 
 " few better than England ; which, I 
 " trusted, that some time after, her Grace 
 " should witness." " I would be content 
 " therewith," said she, " if my sister, your 
 " mistress, so liked." I said, " That it 
 " was the thing that many of her Grace's 
 " subjects did desire, and, as I judged, would 
 " also well content my mistress." Of this 
 purpose we had long talk. Many honourable 
 words she spake of the Queen's Majesty. 
 She remembered her mother's passage 
 through England, and commended the re- 
 ception that her uncle, the Grand Prior, and 
 Monsieur Villemont, had at Berwick." 
 
 After some official details, Randolph con- 
 tinues : 
 
 " I receive of her Grace, at all times, 
 very good words. I am borne in hand by 
 13
 
 1.57 
 
 such as are nearest about her, as the Lord 
 James and the Laird of Lethington : that 
 they are meant as they are spoken of, I see 
 them above all others in credit, and find in 
 them no alteration; though there be that com- 
 plain, they yield too much to her appetite, 
 which I see not. The Lord James dealeth 
 according to his nature, rudely, homely, 
 and bluntly ; the Laird of Lethington more 
 delicately and finely, yet nothing swerv- 
 ing from the other in mind and effect. 
 She is patient to hear, and beareth much. 
 The Earl Marischal is wary, but speaketh 
 sometimes to good purpose ; his daughter 
 is lately come to this town : we look short- 
 ly for what shall become of the long love be- 
 twixt the Lord James and that lady. The 
 Lord John of Coldingham hath not least 
 favour, with his leaping and dancing ; he 
 is like to marry the Lord Bothwell's sister. 
 The Lord Robert consumeth with love of 
 the Earl Cassil's sister ; the Earl Bothwell 
 hath given unto him old lands of his father,
 
 158 
 
 in Teviotdale, and the Abbey of Melross* 
 The Duke's Grace* is come to Kinneil, and 
 proposes not to come near to the Court, ex- 
 cept that he be sent for. I hear of nothing 
 that is proposed against him ; it is thought 
 that he may be well enough spared. My 
 Lord Arran proposeth not to be at Court so 
 long as the mass remaineth : there come 
 few to it, but herself j her uncle, and train. 
 Three causes, I perceive there are, that 
 makes my Lord of Arran to absent himself: 
 the one is the mass ; the other, the presence 
 of his enemy ; the third, lack wherewith to 
 maintain a Court. By the first, he main- 
 tains his credit with the precise Protestants ; 
 the other argues less courage in him than 
 many men thought, that his enemy is yet 
 alive to have that place which he is unwor- 
 thy of; the third manifests the beastliness 
 of his father, that more than money, hath 
 neither faith nor God. The lords now be- 
 
 * ChatelherauU.
 
 159 
 
 gin to return to the Court, the bishops flock 
 apace ; the Metropolitan of St Andrew's 
 arrived here on Monday last, with eighty 
 horses in train, and to be seen he rode half- 
 a-mile out of his way through the High- 
 Street of Edinburgh ; we know not yet 
 what mischief he and his associates come for: 
 he had with him only two Hamiltons." 
 
 Randolph concludes his letter by say- 
 ing : 
 
 " Mr. Knox cannot be otherwise per- 
 suaded but many men are deceived in this 
 woman ; he feareth yet posterior a erunt pe- 
 jora primis ; his severity keepeth us in mar- 
 vellous order.* I commend better the suc- 
 cess of his doings and preachings, than the 
 manner thereof \ though I acknowledge his 
 doctrine to be sound. His prayer is daily 
 for her, that God will turn her obstinate 
 
 * Knox had lately imposed public penance on the 
 Lord Treasurer of the Queen's houshold, for an illicit 
 intrigue.
 
 100 
 
 heart against God and his truth ; or, if the 
 holy will be otherwise, to strengthen the 
 hearts and hands of his chosen and elect, 
 stoutly to withstand the rage of all tyrants : 
 and in words terrible enough." 
 
 Randolph to Cecil. * 
 
 " November) 1561. 
 
 " The absence of the Duke's Grace from 
 this Court caused here such rumours 
 among the people of his misliking of the 
 Queen's proceedings, with somewhat else 
 that they unadvisedly reported, that was 
 meant towards him, that he was advised 
 by his friends to repair into this town, and 
 by his presence make void all such vain 
 talk as was here in many men's mouths, t 
 Upon Tuesday last he came into this 
 
 * Keith, page 101, from MSS. in Cotton Library. 
 
 f It appears, from Randolph, that the Queen was 
 scarcely tolerated by these great lords, who exer- 
 cised absolute dominion over their vassals.
 
 1G1 
 
 town, upon Wednesday he saw the 
 Queen, and was well received, and as he 
 confessed to me, no manner of occasion 
 offered by the Queen of misliking ; since 
 that time he hath been daily in Court and 
 council. He doubts that the Queen 
 intends to take from him Dumbarton, and 
 so thinketh himself void of all place of suc- 
 cour; "For," saithhe, " whenever she hath 
 that out of my hands, I know that her mind 
 towards me and my house cannot be good. 
 I will, therefore, assure myself by all 
 means, to keep that which I shall not be 
 able to do unless your mistress at that 
 time stand a gracious Princess, who hath 
 promised me by letters, never to see me 
 nor my house wrecked." Though I knew 
 that he doubteth more than he hath 
 occasion, yet would in no manner of way 
 condemn his purpose, nor thought it good 
 to discourse him of the Queen's favor, so 
 long as he perseveres in the maintenance 
 
 VOL. II. M
 
 of God's truth, obedience to his sovereign, 
 and affection towards my mistress. 
 
 " I enquired of him, what right he had 
 to have that place, or pretence to refuse 
 the delivery if it were demanded: he 
 answered that his right was none, but 
 that he took it from the Earl of Lennox ; 
 but that he had a promise made to him 
 by mouth by this Queen's mother to have 
 it in a farm for nineteen years. My Lord 
 of Arran remaineth at St. Andrews * : he 
 knoweth not himself, and I cannot con- 
 jecture what he means by his abode there : 
 he wrote of late to the council, that he 
 might be assured of the revenues of St. 
 Andrews, Dumferline, and Melross, by 
 the Queen's authority, as they had put 
 him in possession ; adding this clause, 
 that otherwise he would complain to his 
 brethren, who from the beginning had 
 
 * Not long after this, Lord Arran became insane.
 
 103 
 
 been of the congregation. This manner 
 of doing was found very strange ; his bill 
 was rejected. 
 
 "It is now called in question whether 
 that the Princess, being an idolater, may 
 be obeyed in all civil and politic actions." * 
 
 " I think marvellously of the wisdom of 
 God," says Randolph, " that gave this un- 
 ruly, inconstant, and cumbersome people 
 no more power and substance than they 
 have, for then would they run wild. Now 
 they imagine that the Lord James groweth 
 cold; that he aspireth to great matters; 
 he is now lieutenant upon the borders, 
 commander, that is, sole minion, of the 
 Queen, like shortly to be Earl of Murray, 
 and Treasurer of Scotland. Lethington 
 ambitious and too full of policy ; so there 
 is no remedy, say they ; it must yet come to 
 a new day. To the contrary of this I 
 persuade by all means that I can with 
 
 * See Knox. 
 M 2
 
 164 
 
 such as I may most assuredly have to do, 
 and in my conscience they are in the 
 wrong to the Lord James, and whenever 
 Lethington is taken out of this place they 
 shall not find among themselves so fit a 
 man to serve in this realm." 
 
 As an additional proof of popular fanati- 
 cism, Randolph mentions, " that the Queen 
 having ordered mass to be sung, one of the 
 priests was well beaten for his reward, by a 
 servant of the Lord Robert's. We look to 
 have it proclaimed again, that no man un- 
 der "pain of confiscation, hear, say, or come 
 unto her own mass, saving her household 
 that came out of France. The ministers 
 shall have their livings appointed by her 
 authority." 
 
 " Of the Catholics," he says, " they know 
 not yet for ah 1 their mass, what they may 
 well think of her: they say the Lord 
 James beareth too much rule ; Lethington 
 hath a crafty head, and fell tongue ; the 
 worst that they like is, the accord that 
 20
 
 16,5 
 
 they hear is like to be between the 
 Queen's Majesty and this Queen ; if that 
 be, they think themselves quite overthrown; 
 they say plainly, that she cannot then 
 return a true Christian woman ; and before 
 God, neither I nor the Lord of Lethington 
 can be persuaded that she will give over 
 her mass till she hath spoken with the 
 Queen's Majesty." 
 
 The arrival of the French ambassador 
 de Foix, produced many speculations, and 
 Randolph shrewdly remarks : " Out of the 
 countenances of princes, he that is able to 
 judge, may pick out great likelihoods of 
 their thoughts, or find how they are dis- 
 posed. The time of her talk with Mon- 
 sieur de Foix it was marked by others, 
 before I came in, (and after, I saw myself,) 
 many alterations in her face : her colour 
 better that day than ever I saw it j when 
 I talked with her she was very merry, and 
 spake with much affection, as I think came 
 from the heart." 
 
 M 3
 
 166 
 
 " During Lent, she observed the old 
 manner in all her doings ; she could not 
 persuade one lord of her own to wear the 
 deule for that day, not so much as the 
 Earl Bothwell." 
 
 The arrival of Monsieur Moret, in 
 whose suite came the celebrated David 
 Rizio, was equally a subject of speculation 
 to the diplomatist, who enquires, with pre- 
 tended interest, whether he came to 
 Scotland to propose a marriage between 
 the Queen and the Duke de Nemours ; 
 his curiosity is, however, unsatisfied, and 
 all that he learns is, that when any 
 purpose falleth in of homage, she saith, 
 * she witt have none other husband than the 
 Queen of England.' 
 
 After the perusal of these extracts, it 
 will not appear extraordinary that Mary 
 should, as Melvil states, have been subject 
 to fits of melancholy when she was not 
 under the influence of strong excitement; 
 21
 
 16? 
 
 or that she should have sought the society 
 of foreigners, with an avidity that offended 
 her jealous countrymen; neither is it sur- 
 prising, that when the more irksome duties 
 of the day were over, she should have been 
 tempted to prolong the dance or concert 
 long beyond the hour that Knox and pru- 
 dence would have prescribed. In this man- 
 ner, habits of self-indulgence must in- 
 evitably have been acquired, which 'she 
 had hereafter cause to lament. Upon 
 great and momentous occasions, Mary was 
 capable of energy, courage, and endur- 
 ance, but with quick parts, and ardent feel- 
 ings, she possessed not the solid judgment 
 and political sagacity by which her mother 
 had been eminently distinguished ; and al- 
 though she cherished a high idea of the 
 royal prerogative, she frankly surrendered 
 her authority to friends or favourites, of 
 whom accident rather than reason deter- 
 mined the choice. Hitherto she had ac- 
 quiesced in Murray's supremacy, but they 
 M 4
 
 168 
 
 sympathized little in sentiment; and^though 
 unequal to the cares of government, she 
 sighed to reclaim her independence. It 
 was an engaging feature in Mary's cha- 
 racter, that she never forgot a friend, or 
 overlooked a service j but in her, kindness 
 sometimes became prodigality, and grati-- 
 tude injustice : she despised economy, and 
 lavished on a Mary Livingston, or a David 
 Rizio, money that might have purchased 
 respect even from her disaffected subjects.* 
 
 * The Queen gave certain lands to John Semple on 
 his marriage with Mary Livingston, which were after- 
 wards reclaimed. She bestowed, also, the revenue of 
 an abbey on George Buchanan.
 
 169 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MARY UNDER MURRAY'S TUTELAGE. VARIOUS SPE- 
 CULATIONS ON HER MARRIAGE. RESTORATION OF 
 
 THE EARL OF LENNOX. ARRIVAL OF DARNLEY, 
 
 AND PROGRESS OF HIS SUIT. OPPOSITION FROM 
 
 MURRAY AND ELIZABETH. MARRIAGE OF DARN- 
 LEY AND MARY. 
 
 IT was not long before Mary fulfilled 
 every promise she had made to her brother, 
 by bestowing on him the Earldom of Mur- 
 ray, including certain lands belonging to 
 the crown. He continued to be her 
 minister, or, as he was called, her mi- 
 nion : in reality the sovereign of Scot- 
 land. * But while the Earl governed the 
 Queen, he was himself held in subjection 
 to Knox, who, on his marriage with the 
 Lady Agnes Keith, publicly admonished 
 
 To Mary's honour, the appointment of three days 
 in the Sessions-house, for gratuitously attending to 
 poorer clients, was of her own suggestion, Keith.
 
 170 
 
 him of the duties which he owed to religion 
 and his country; adding, that if he should 
 hereafter be found lukewarm in the cause, 
 it would be said his wife had changed his na- 
 ture. Murray was, however, far from partici- 
 pating in the intolerant zeal of his monitor, 
 and in conjunction with Lethington, than 
 whom no Jesuit was more dexterous in con- 
 troversy, laboured to reconcile Knox to 
 the necessity of allowing the Queen to 
 worship God according to the dictates of 
 conscience: the Preacher persisted in de- 
 manding that the idol should be taken 
 from her and though, finally, the ques- 
 tion was submitted to Calvin, continued 
 in his sermons to satirize the Queen's 
 levity and hypocrisy ; her taste for 
 dancing and fiddling excited his abhor- 
 rence ; and, in one instance, he inveighed 
 against these abominations with such pecu- 
 liar acrimony, that Mary was unwisely per- 
 suaded to summon him to her presence. 
 But, instead of apologizing for his offence,
 
 171 
 
 he coolly replied, " Madam, this is often- 
 times the just recompence which God gives 
 the stubborn of the world, that because they 
 will not hear God speaking to the comfort 
 of the penitent, they are oft compelled to 
 hear the false reports of others, to their 
 great displeasure. Madam, if the reporters 
 of my words had been honest men, they 
 would have reported my words, and the cir- 
 cumstances of the same : but, because they 
 would have credit in Court, and wanting 
 virtue worthy thereof, they must have some- 
 what to please your Majesty, if it were but 
 flattery and lies ; but such pleasure (if any 
 your Majesty take in such persons) will 
 turn to your' everlasting displeasure ; for, 
 Madam, if your own ears had heard the 
 whole matter that I treated, if there be in 
 you one spark of the Spirit of God, yea, 
 of honesty and wisdom, you would not 
 justly have been offended with any thing 
 that I spake." In proof of his words he 
 recited the discourse to confute the re-
 
 172 
 
 porters, and was dismissed rather with a 
 compliment than a reproach. 
 
 On quitting the palace, Knox heard 
 some one exclaim, "He is not afraid!" 
 " And what," said he, " should there be to 
 afray me, in the pleasing face of a gentle- 
 woman ? I have met many angry men, and 
 yet was never afraid." 
 
 It falls not within the scope of this work 
 minutely to enter into the history of Scot- 
 land, or the details of Murray's adminis- 
 tration ; it is, therefore, not necessary to 
 describe the commotions in the north, fol- 
 lowed by the Earl of Huntly's insurrection 
 and death. The transaction belonged exclu- 
 sively to the minister*; the only share that 
 
 * According to the statement of Keith, page 229, 
 Huntly had lately been deprived of lands which 
 were given to Murray, as having originally belonged 
 to the Earldom of Murray. Huntly was a zealous 
 Catholic, mutual antipathy subsisted between them : 
 the former, who was powerful and ambitious, appears 
 to have believed that the Queen might be persuaded 
 to marry his son, Sir John Gordon; Murray took ad-
 
 173 
 
 Mary had in it, was that she unwillingly 
 sanctioned his behests against several noble 
 Catholics; and, finally, at Aberdeen wit- 
 nessed with anguish, the execution of Sir 
 John Gordon, the EarPs son, by whom 
 she was passionately adored. It may be 
 remarked of this ill-fated youth, that of all 
 who felt or affected to feel the power of 
 Mary's charms, he only appears to have 
 cherished for her a sincere attachment. 
 It was suspected, that the Queen was 
 not insensible to his merits * ; but by preci- 
 pitately quitting the prison to which he 
 had been committed, in consequence of an 
 unfortunate duel, he compelled his Mistress 
 to assume great rigour ; and she even for- 
 bade him her presence. At this crisis, 
 
 vantage of his presumption to prejudice the Queen 
 against him ; Huntly took up arms rather against 
 Murray than the Queen, and perished at the fight of 
 Corrichie. See also Chalmers, quarto edit. vol. i. p. 79. 
 * See Gordon's History of the House of Gordon.
 
 Mary was conducted by Murray on a pro- 
 gress to the north of Scotland, where the 
 Gordons had great power, and held many 
 castles in their possession. The Earl of 
 Huntly, who had submitted indignantly to 
 Murray's administration, refused to deliver 
 those strong holds into his hands. The Earl, 
 in the Queen's name, persisted; Huntly, 
 believing that she, in demanding the ces- 
 sion, sighed to be liberated from her bro- 
 ther's usurpation, collected his vassals, 
 was joined by his son, and finally de- 
 feated and slain at Corrichie. For Sir John 
 Goi don was reserved a harder fate ; his op- 
 position to Murray was ostensibly rebellion * ; 
 and whatever might be her private senti- 
 ments, Mary had so little the power to 
 soften his sentence, that she was not even 
 
 * It will be recollected, that during the minority of 
 James the Fifth, the sovereign was constrained to 
 march against a loyal subject. It appears not, how- 
 ever, that Mary favoured Huntly, but she certainly 
 wished to spare his family.
 
 175 
 
 permitted to decline seeing it executed. 
 To Gordon it perhaps afforded some grati- 
 fication, that his parting look was hers, and 
 his last sigh breathed in her presence. It was 
 pretended by his enemies, that he had con- 
 fessed his ^father's meditated treasons : but 
 the circumstance is improbable; and it. is 
 certain, that Mary dissembled not the sor- 
 row she suffered for his death. But other 
 cares forced her attention from this pain- 
 ful subject ; the state of France, now dis- 
 tracted with civil warfare, occasioned hei> 
 the most lively inquietude. In one of those 
 revolutions incident to a Court, the Con- 
 stable Montmorenci had coalesced with his 
 antient foes, the Princes of Lorrain, and his 
 son, the Duke de Damville, was seen fight- 
 ing under the same standard. But scarcely 
 had Mary exulted in this intelligence, than 
 her satisfaction was damped by the fatal tid- 
 ings, that her two beloved kinsmen, the 
 Grand Prior and the Duke of Guise, had
 
 176 
 
 perished * j the former in the battle of 
 Dreux, the latter by the hands of the 
 fanatical Poltrot. In common with all her 
 family, Mary ascribed the instigation of 
 the crime to Admiral Coligny, who had in 
 vain demanded to be confronted with his 
 accuser. The House of Guise and its parti- 
 zans adhered to their prejudice and even 
 the venerable Antoinetta quitted her castle 
 at Joinville, to lead the family proces- 
 sion, which paraded the streets, imploring 
 justice ! Deeply affected with these do- 
 mestic calamities, Mary felt herself out- 
 raged by the rigors which were exercised 
 towards her Catholic subjects, several of 
 whom had revived the antient worship, and 
 were consequently subjected to severe pe- 
 nalties; even her personal friend, the Bishop 
 of St. Andrews, escaped not imprisonment. 
 
 * The son of the Duke of Guise cruelly revenged 
 his father's death on the supposed murderer, at the 
 fatal marriage of Henry of Navarre. Knox, p. 350.
 
 177 
 
 The ferment had been created by Knox, 
 who, in his turn, saw with no small chagrin 
 the homage offered to the Queen, on her 
 first public appearance in parliament. * 
 
 In the sequel a dispute arose between 
 Knox and Murray ; which, during many 
 months, occasioned the suspension of their 
 friendship. This circumstance diminished 
 not the severity with which the former 
 continued to animadvert upon the Queen's 
 conduct. The subject of her marriage had 
 
 * " Three sundry days the Queen rode to the Toll- 
 " both ; the first day she made a painted oration, and 
 " there might have been heard amongst her flatterers, 
 " ' Vox DiancB, the voice of a goddess ! (for it could 
 " ' not Dei,) and not of a woman ! God save that 
 " ' sweet face ! was there ever orator spoke so pro- 
 " ' perly and so sweetly !' All things," he adds, 
 ' ' misliked the preachers. They spake boldly against 
 " the superfluity of their clothes, and against the rest 
 " of their vanity, which they affirmed should provoke 
 " God's wrath not only against these foolish women, 
 " but against the whole realm. Articles were pre- 
 " sented for orders to be taken of apparel, and for re- 
 " formation of other enormities, but all was winked at." 
 Knox's History of the Reformation, p. 361. 
 
 VOL. II. N
 
 178 
 
 long engaged the attention of her subjects, 
 but of none more than Knox, who dreading 
 the imposition of a popish sovereign, was 
 displeased with her rejection of the King 
 of Sweden, and alarmed with the rumour 
 that the Archduke of Austria and Don 
 Carlos of Spain had both been proposed 
 to the Queen of Scots. In the fervor of 
 his zeal, the Preacher attacked Mary with 
 such violence, that she was once more ad- 
 vised to summon him to her presence.* 
 He was accompanied to the palace by ano- 
 ther minister, John Erskine, of Dun, whose 
 gentle aspect and mild temper bore a strik- 
 ing contrast to his own stern deportment. 
 On being introduced to the royal chamber, 
 the Queen, says Knox, began to cry out in 
 a vehement fume : 
 
 " That never Prince was used as shee 
 " was ; I have," said she, " borne with you 
 
 * This description of the interview is given by him- 
 self, and characteristic of the man and the age.
 
 179 
 
 " in all your rigorous manner of speaking*, 
 " both against myself, and against my 
 " uncles ; yea, I have sought your favour 
 " by all possible meanes ; I offered unto 
 " you presence and audience whensoever 
 " it pleased you to admonish mee ; and yet 
 " I cannot be quit of you ; I vow to God 
 " I shall be once revenged :" and with 
 these words scarce could Marnocke, one of 
 her pages, get handkerchiefs to hold her 
 eyes dry ; for the teares and the howling, be- 
 sides womanly weeping, stayed her speech." 
 " The said John,*' he adds, " did patiently 
 abide all this fume, and at opportunitie an- 
 swered; " True it is, Madame, your Ma- 
 " jesty and I have beene at divers contro- 
 
 * Lethington had in vain attempted to induce Knox 
 to change the style of his prayers for Mary, observ- 
 ing, that he put a doubt in the people of her conver- 
 sion. " Not I," said the other, " but her own obsti- 
 nate rebellion, causeth more than me to doubt of her 
 conversion." " Wherein rebels she against God ?" 
 " In every action of her life," replied Knox, " but es- 
 pecially in that she will not hear the preaching of the 
 blessed Evangell." Knox, p. 384.
 
 180 
 
 " versies, into the which I never perceived 
 " your Majesty to be offended at me ; but 
 " when it shall please God to deliver you 
 " from that bondage of darknesse and er- 
 " rour wherein ye have been nourished for 
 " the lack of true doctrine, your Majesty 
 " will finde the liberty of my tongue no- 
 " thing offensive ; without the preaching 
 " place, I thinke few have occasion to be 
 " offended at me ; and there I am not mas- 
 " ter of myselfe, but must obey Him who 
 " commands me to speak plaine, and to 
 " flatter no flesh upon the face of the 
 " earth." 
 
 " But what have you to do," said she, 
 " with my marriage?" 
 
 Without deigning to notice this question, 
 Knox went on methodically to answer : 
 
 " If it please your Majesty patiently 
 " to hear me, I shall shew the truth in 
 " plain words. I grant your Majesty of- 
 " fered unto mee more than ever I re- 
 " quired, but my answer was then as it is
 
 181 
 
 " now, That God hath not sent me to 
 " awaite upon the courts of Princes, or 
 *' upon the chamber of ladies, but I am 
 " sent to preach the Evangell of Jesus 
 " Christ to such as please to hear ; it hath 
 " two points, Repentance and Faith : Now, 
 " in preaching repentance, of necessity it 
 " is that the sinnes of men be rioted, 
 " that they may know wherein they of- 
 " fend. But so it is, that most part of your 
 " nobilitie are so much addicted to your 
 " affections, that neither God's Word, nor 
 " yet their Commonwealth, are rightly re- 
 " garded; and, therefore it becometh me to 
 " speak that they may know their duty." 
 
 " What have you to do," reiterated the 
 Queen, " with my marriage, or what are you 
 *' within the Commonwealth ?" 
 
 " A subject, borne within the same, 
 " Madame ; and albeit I bee neither earle, 
 " lord, nor baron, within it, yet hath God 
 " made me, (how abject that ever I bee in 
 " your eyes) a profitable and a usefull mem- 
 N 3
 
 182 
 
 " ber within the same ; yea, Madame, to 
 " me it appertaineth no less to forewarn 
 " of such things as may hurt it, if I foresee 
 " them, then it doeth to any one of the no- 
 " bility ; for both my vocation and office 
 " craveth plainnesse of me : and therefore, 
 " Madame, to yourself e I say that which 
 * I spake in publike : Whensoever the no- 
 " bility of this realme shall be content, and 
 " consent that you be subject to an unlaw- 
 ** full husband, they doe as much as in them 
 " lieth to renounce Christ, to banish the 
 " truth, to betray the freedom of this 
 " realme, and perchance shall, in the end, 
 " doe small comfort to yourselfe." 
 
 " At these words," the cynic continues, 
 " howling was heard, and teares might have 
 been scene in greater abundance than the 
 matter required : John Erskine, of Dun, a 
 man of meeke and gentle spirit, stood be- 
 side, and did what he could to mitigate the 
 anger, and gave unto her many pleasant 
 words of her beauty, of her excellency, and
 
 183 
 
 how that all the Princes in Europe would 
 be glad to seek her favours j but all that 
 was to cast oil into the flaming fire." 
 
 No such mitigation, however, was of- 
 fered by Knox, who stood still, without 
 any alteration of countenance, and in the 
 end said, " Madame, in God's presence 
 I speak, I never delighted in the weeping 
 of any of God's creatures, yea, I can 
 scarcely well abide the teares of mine own 
 boys, when mine own hands correct them ; 
 much less can I rejoice in your Majesties 
 weeping; but seeing I have offered unto 
 you no just occasion to be offended, but 
 have spoken the truth, as my vocation 
 craves of me : I must sustaine your Ma- 
 jesties teares rather than I dare hurt my 
 conscience, or betray the Commonwealth 
 by silence." Herewith was the Queen more 
 offended, and commanded the said John to 
 passe forth of the cabinet, and to abide 
 further of her pleasure in the chamber. 
 
 " But in that chamber, where he stood as 
 
 N 4t
 
 184 
 
 one whom men had never scene (except 
 that the Lord Ochiltree bare him company) 
 the confidence of Knox did not forsake 
 him ; and, therefore, began he to make dis- 
 course with the ladies, who were there sit- 
 ting in all their gorgeous apparel ; which, 
 when he espied, he merrily said, " Fair 
 ladies, how pleasant were this life of 
 yours, if it should ever abide ; and then in 
 the end that wee might passe to Heaven 
 with this geare : but fie upon that knave, 
 Death, that will come whether we will or 
 not ; and when he hath laid on the arrest, 
 then foule wormes will bee busie with this 
 flesh, be it never so faire and so tender: 
 and the silly soule, I feare, shall be so 
 feeble, that it can neither carry with it 
 gold, garnishing, targating, pearl, nor pre- 
 cious stones." The ladies listened with 
 complacency, and, perhaps, had not been 
 often so well entertained. Such a being as 
 Knox was not to be awed by a Court ; and 
 Mary, had she been wise, would never have
 
 185 
 
 attacked the man whom she could not sub- 
 due ; above all, she ought to have known, 
 that woman's tears, when they move not 
 pity, provoke contempt. 
 
 After reiterated failures, she was weak 
 enough to make another effort to intimi- 
 date ; to which she was, however, tempted 
 by the belief that in issuing circular letters 
 to convene, upon a certain day, the mem- 
 bers of the different congregations in Edin- 
 burgh, Knox had exceeded the limits even 
 of his evangelical privilege ; but, on being 
 formally arraigned before the members of 
 her council, he not only vindicated his 
 conduct, but even in the Queen's presence, 
 extorted from her Lords a confession, that, 
 according to law, he had committed no 
 offence against her. 
 
 After this triumph, Knox celebrated his 
 marriage with Margaret Stuart, the daugh- 
 ter of Lord Ochiltree, a young lady who had 
 scarcely completed her twentieth year. By 
 what spells or charms this austere personagfe,
 
 186 
 
 who never ceased to revile and vilify the 
 female sex, could have created in a youthful 
 bosom such tender interest, must be left to 
 conjecture but the nuptials were solem- 
 nised with the entire approbation of her 
 parents, who gloried in their affinity to the 
 intrepid Reformer. 
 
 Happy had it been for Mary Stuart, could 
 she have been equally favoured in her elec- 
 tion of a consort ! It had indeed been urged 
 by Knox and others, that no choice ought 
 to be allowed her, and that it was rather 
 for the states to give the Queen a husband, 
 than for the Queen to impose a sovereign 
 on the people. 
 
 Nor was it to the states alone that Mary 
 had to refer her election; on the part of 
 England, Elizabeth protested against a fo- 
 reign potentate the Puritans deprecated 
 a Papist the Pope and other Catholic 
 princes interdicted a Protestant alliance, 
 against which her own prejudices operated 
 more strongly, even than their imperative
 
 187 
 
 veto. But for that fatal obstacle, what 
 should have impeded a marriage treaty 
 with the Prince de Conde, now a widower ; 
 or one of the numerous German Princes, 
 unincumbered with territory, who would 
 have gloried in her alliance ? But Mary, 
 who was secretly devoted to the interests of 
 her church, still cherished the delusive 
 persuasion, that her subjects might be re- 
 claimed to the faith of their fathers. Averse 
 by nature to cruelty, and instructed by the 
 fatal example she had witnessed in France, 
 she was little likely, under any circumstances, 
 to recur to sanguinary persecution j but she 
 obviously was ready to employ seduction, or 
 any other means, to accomplish the desired 
 object, the source of all her present and 
 subsequent perplexities. On the subject 
 of marriage, too, she was embarrassed by 
 her views on the English sceptre ; and her 
 desire to be declared the presumptive 
 heiress of Elizabeth, to whom she offered, 
 on that condition, to submit her choice.
 
 188 
 
 During three years it formed the basis of 
 correspondence between the two Queens, 
 in whom their respective ministers laboured 
 to cultivate a cordial friendship.* The real 
 object of Lethington and certain English 
 ministers, appears to have been to make the 
 succession to the English crown contingent 
 on the conversion of Mary from Popery, and 
 on that condition to procure her union with 
 a Protestant consort. Unfortunately, their 
 Queens entered not sincerely into these sen- 
 timents; Mary as little intended to renounce 
 her religion, as Elizabeth to nominate a 
 successor. In the progress of the nego- 
 ciation, to gain time, the Queen of Eng- 
 land proposed to Mary to espouse the Earl 
 of Leicester. Randolph relates the manner 
 in which the proposal was received, in a 
 letter describing his visit to St Andrews, 
 
 * It has been pretended, that Cecil was originally 
 averse to the union of the two kingdoms ; but this was 
 probably owing to his repugnance to the Queen of 
 Scots and her Catholic tenets.
 
 189 
 
 which affords an agreeable picture of Mary's 
 domestic life.* , r; ; 
 
 " Her grace lodged in a merchant's 
 house ; her train was very few ; and there 
 was small repair from any part. Her will 
 was, that, for the time that I did tarry, I 
 should dine and sup with her. Your Ma- 
 jesty was oftentimes dranken unto by her, 
 at dinners and suppers. Having in this sort 
 continued with her Grace Sunday, Mon- 
 day, and Tuesday, I thought it time to 
 take occasion to utter that which last I 
 received in command from your Majesty, 
 by Mr. Secretary's letter ; which was to 
 know her Grace's resolution, touching those 
 matters propounded at Berwick, by my 
 Lord of Bedford and me, to my Lord of 
 Murray, and Lord of Liddington ; I had 
 no sooner spoken these words, but she saith, 
 " I see now well, that you are weary of 
 this company and treatment ; I sent for you 
 
 * For this agreeable letter, copied from the Paper 
 Office, the public are indebted to Mr. Chalmers.
 
 190 
 
 to be merry, and to see how like a Bour- 
 geois wife I live, with my little troop, and 
 you will interrupt our pastime with your 
 great and grave matters ; I pray you, Sir, 
 if you be weary here, return home to Edin- 
 burgh, and keep your gravity and great 
 embassade until the Queen come thither ; 
 for I assure you, you shall not get her here, 
 nor I know not myself where she is be- 
 come ; you see neither cloth of estate, nor 
 such appearance that you may think there 
 is a Queen here ; nor I would not that you 
 should think that I am she at St. Andrews, 
 that I was at Edinburgh." 
 
 " I said, that I was very sorry for that, 
 for that at Edinburgh she said, that she did 
 love my mistress, the Queen's Majesty, 
 better than any other, and now I marvelled 
 how her mind was altered. It pleased her at 
 this to be very merry, and called me by 
 more names than were given me in my 
 christening. At these merry conceits much 
 good sport were made. " But well, Sir,"
 
 191 
 
 saith she, " that which then I spoke in 
 words shall be confirmed to my good sister, 
 your mistress, in writing ; before you go out 
 of this town you shall have a letter unto 
 her, and for yourself, go where you will, I 
 care no more for you." The next day I 
 was willed to be at my ordinary table, being 
 placed the next person (saving worthy Bea- 
 ton*) to the Queen's self. 
 
 " Very merrily she passeth her time : 
 after dinner she rideth abroad. It pleased 
 her the most part of the time to talk with 
 me ; she had occasion to speak much of 
 France, for the honour she received there ; 
 to be wife unto a great king, and for 
 friendship shewn unto her in particular, 
 by many, for \vhich occasions she is bound 
 to love the nation, to shew them pleasure, 
 and to do them good. 
 
 " Her acquaintance is not so forgotten 
 
 * Mary Beaton, who from her infancy, had been 
 a maid of honour. She was the niece of Cardinal 
 Beaton.
 
 there, nor her friendship so little esteemed, 
 but yet it is divers ways sought to be conti- 
 nued. She hath of her people, many well af- 
 fected that way, for the nourriture that they 
 have had there, and the commodity of service, 
 as those of the guard, and men at arms ; be- 
 sides, privileges great for the merchants, 
 more than ever were granted to any nation. 
 What privately, of long time, hath been 
 sought, and yet is, for myself to yield unto 
 their desires in my marriage ; your Majes- 
 ty cannot be ignorant, and you have heard. 
 To have such friends, and see such offers 
 (without assurance of as good), nobody will 
 give me advice that loveth me. Not to 
 marry, you know, it cannot be for me ; to 
 defer it long, many incommodities ensue. 
 How privy to my mind, your mistress hath 
 been herein ; how willing I am to follow her 
 advice, I have shewn many times, and yet 
 can I find in her no resolution, nor deter- 
 mination. For nothing, I cannot be bound 
 unto her ; and to France, my will against
 
 193 
 
 ter ; but, if she will repute me always but 
 as her neighbour, Queen of Scots, how 
 willing soever I be to live in amity, and to 
 maintain peace ; yet, must she not look for 
 that at my hands, that otherwise I would, or 
 she desireth. To forsake friendship offer- 
 ed, and present commodity, for uncertainty, 
 no friend will advise me, nor your mistress 
 herself approve my wisdom. Let her, there- 
 fore, measure my case as her own, and so 
 will I be to her. For these causes, until my 
 sister and I have further proceeded, I must 
 apply my mind to the advice of those, that 
 seem to tender most my profit, that shew 
 their care over me, and wish me most 
 good."* 
 
 During these matrimonial negociations, 
 Mary had not over-looked the eligibility 
 of her cousin, Lord Darnley ; whose father, 
 the Earl of Lennox, it will be recollected, 
 
 * For this letter, of which the original remains in 
 the Paper Office, the public are indebted to Mr. Chal- 
 mers. See his Life of Mary, quarto edition. 
 
 VOL. II. O
 
 194 
 
 after his rejection by Mary of Guise, went 
 to England, and received from Henry the 
 Eighth the hand of his niece, the Lady 
 Margaret Douglas*, who, after Mary her- 
 self, was the next presumptive heir to the 
 crown of England. To consolidate these 
 claims to the English succession, by an 
 union with Darnley, appeared not even to 
 Cardinal Lorrain a contemptible specula- 
 tion; Lethington patronized, nor could Mor- 
 ton t, who was his kinsman, be averse to it ; 
 but to Murray, the proposal appears to have 
 been highly displeasing; and Randolph, 
 suddenly discovering in Mary a thousand 
 faults, thus echoes his sentiments t : 
 
 " I hear daily, so many and grievous 
 complaints of the state and government of 
 
 * It will be recollected, that the father of this Lady 
 Douglas, Earl of Angus, after his divorce from Queerv 
 Margaret, tyrannized over James the Fifth, in his mi- 
 nority. 
 
 f James, Earl of Morton, was the son of Sir George 
 Douglas, brother to the Earl of Angus. 
 In a letter to Sir William Cecil.
 
 195 
 
 this country, that either there is great lack 
 of wisdom in those that have the chief 
 charge to direct all things as they ought to 
 be, or great fault in the subjects, that 
 through their disobedience, no good order 
 (be it never so well devised) can be ob- 
 served. What troubles have arisen in 
 this country for religion, your Honour 
 knoweth ; all things are now grown into 
 such a liberty, and her Grace taken unto 
 herself such a will, to do therein what she 
 lists, that of late, contrary to her own or- 
 dinances, as great numbers have repaired 
 to her Chapel, to hear mass, as sometimes 
 come to the common Church, to hear ser- 
 mon. To have her mind alter'd for this 
 freedom, she desireth to have all men live 
 as they list ;. she can hardly be brought, 
 and thinketh it too great a subjection, for 
 her, being a Prince in her own country, to 
 have her will broken therein.* 
 
 * Keith, p. 271. 
 o 2
 
 " The subjects that desire to live in the 
 true worship and fear of God, offer rather 
 their lives again to be sacrificed, than that 
 they would suffer again such an abomina- 
 tion ; yea, almost permit herself to enjoy 
 the mass, which is now more plainly and 
 openly spoken against by the preachers, 
 than ever was the Pope of Rome. This 
 kindleth in her a desire to revenge, and 
 breedeth in others a liberty to speak, and a 
 will to attempt to mend that by force *, which 
 by no other means they can get reformed. 
 What this may grow unto, except some 
 speedy help be put unto it, I leave your 
 Honour to think; for myself, I would I 
 were far enough from the sight of it. 
 
 " There were two notable blasphemies 
 against God, yet not worthily punished, 
 though somewhat, with difficulty, enough 
 to have the doers committed to prison. A 
 schoolmaster at Haddingtoun made a play, 
 
 * Even at this period, the deposition of Mary ap- 
 pears inevitable.
 
 197 
 
 to exercise his scholars against the minis- 
 ters, and baptized a cat in the name of the 
 Father, the Son, &c. One of the Queen's 
 Chapel, a singing man, said, that he be- 
 lieved as well a tale of Robin Hood, as any 
 word written in the Old Testament or the 
 New.* Her own mass, andthe resort unto it; 
 such blasphemies as these unpunished ; her 
 will to continue Papistry, and her desire to 
 have all men live as they list, so offendeth 
 the godly men's consciences, and so many 
 besides that desire alteration t, that it is con- 
 tinually feared that these matters will shortly 
 break out to some greater mischief. By the 
 way, I will tell your Honour a merry tale, 
 but very true, which commonly tales are 
 not. There is one that attendeth upon 
 this Court, called Moffet, who, commonly 
 once in three years, entereth into a phrenzy. 
 Within these twenty days, his passion taketh 
 
 * Not approved by the Holy Church. 
 J- According to Randolph, its disaffection was not 
 confined to the rigid Puritans. 
 
 o 3
 
 198 
 
 him with such an imagination that he 
 is the Queen's husband. A great Protes- 
 tant he is, and very godly when he is 
 in his wits. He came one day into the 
 Queen's Chapel, and rinding the priest at 
 mass, drew out his sword, drove the priest 
 from the altar into the vestry, broke the 
 chalice, and threw and pulled to pieces all 
 the robes and reliques ; cross, candlesticks, 
 and ah 1 that was there, were cut and broken. 
 The mass-sayer was the Doctor of Sorbon, 
 and at the hearing of it was the Queen's 
 physician, and (as he saith himself) never 
 in greater fear of his life, and hid himself 
 behind the tapestry, until this execution of 
 this mass-god was past. This doth as much 
 anger the Queen, as it doth please many 
 others, to have her sacred place thus dis- 
 turbed. 
 
 " These often debates, these common 
 
 controversies between her nobles, must 
 
 needs bring great disliking; and so often 
 
 renewed, yea, almost daily, to her Grace's 
 
 15
 
 199 
 
 grief to hear of them, must needs grow to 
 a mischief, and as they say, erumpere in ner- 
 vum. Above all the rest, this is that is 
 feared, (that will be the breach of all good 
 accord and quietness of this estate, though 
 the rest be borne with) that is, if she match 
 herself with a Papist, by whom she may be 
 fortified to her intent. Of this point there 
 is no small care taken, and much doubt 
 risen what shall become of those who in 
 times past have so far attempted as to es- 
 tablish here churches, &c. without her con- 
 sent. Sometime they take advice to be 
 suitor unto the Queen's [of England] Ma- 
 jestie, that she will be so careful of this es- 
 tate, and with those that with all reverence 
 and humble sort are ready to serve her, and 
 obey her next unto their own sovereign." 
 
 Although Murray was hostile to the Queen's 
 marriage, he could form no feasible objec- 
 tion to the restoration of the Earl of Lennox, 
 nor to the reception of Darnley in Scotland ; 
 and it was actually at his house at Wemyss, 
 o 4
 
 200 
 
 in Fife, that the youthful lord was presented 
 to his Queen. To his romantic adventure, 
 he had been prompted by the suggestions 
 of his mother, the aspiring Lady Lennox, 
 the niece of Henry the Eighth, who, during 
 four years, had not ceased to speculate 
 on her Henry's union with the Queen of 
 Scots. A Catholic herself, she had infused 
 into her son's mind the same principles ; and 
 though from policy, he trim'd his religion 
 between Puritanism and Popery *, she was 
 persuaded his cousin would have no reason 
 to be dissatisfied with his sentiments. But 
 she trusted not to his personal merits alone, 
 for the success of the adventure. Bred in a 
 Court, and familiar with its venal intrigues, 
 she had collected money and jewels to be 
 judiciously distributed to favorites and pa- 
 rasites ; and having thus prepared the way, 
 parted from him with secret exultation, little 
 suspecting she had taken her last look of 
 that handsome youth, on whom she doated, 
 
 * Randolph in Keith.
 
 201 
 
 and who was eventually to be the victim of 
 her enterprizing ambition. 
 
 Inflated with that presumption which, in 
 his sex, commonly accompanies the consci- 
 ousness of transcendant beauty, Darnley was 
 disposed to consider himself entitled to the 
 greatest princess in Europe ; for the present, 
 however, he followed his mother's prudent 
 counsels, appeared modest, and concealed 
 his arrogance under the semblance of re- 
 serve. Though three years younger than 
 the Queen, his majestic stature, and digni- 
 fied carriage, were imposing ; his features 
 regular, his motions graceful, whilst his 
 eloquent eyes answered for his intellectual 
 endowments. The first impression was not 
 unfavourable. Mary remarked he was the 
 properest long man she had ever seen * ; and 
 when, at the invitation of Lord Murray, he 
 danced with her a gaillarde, they appeared 
 to mutual advantage. In dancing and rid- 
 ing, Darnley equally excelled ; he played 
 
 * Melvil's Memoirs.
 
 202 
 
 on the lute, had a musical ear, and re- 
 lished poetry. It was long since Mary 
 had met with a cavalier, young, handsome, 
 and of royal extraction, capable of appre- 
 ciating her own elegant accomplishments. 
 From the hour of his arrival, Darnley's 
 object was obvious, his success seemed 
 doubtful. Whether swayed by pride, 
 or coquetry, or whether Mary indulged 
 the too visionary hope, that she might 
 be wooed for herself, rather than her 
 crown, and sought to prolong the proba- 
 tion of love, it is certain that she refused 
 the ring, which, according to the custom of 
 the age, Darnley offered to her, as the 
 token of his passion. She permitted, rather 
 than invited his attentions, and by her re- 
 serve probably reminded the Earl of Len- 
 nox of his own unprosperous suit with her 
 mother, Mary of Guise. In this uncer- 
 tainty, Darnley, recollecting his mother's 
 prudent counsels, presented a jewel to 
 David Rizio, the Savoyard musician, men-
 
 203 
 
 tioned by Randolph, who had been lately 
 advanced to the post of French Secretary, 
 and being shrewd and entertaining, a poet 
 and a wit, easily won the Queen's favour, 
 and, by degrees, almost engrossed her confi- 
 dence. That Mary should have relished 
 his music, or even his conversation, was not 
 surprising, considering the constraint im- 
 posed upon her in Scotland ; but that, with 
 the example of Oliver Sinclair and Solway 
 Moss before her, she should venture pub- 
 licly to distinguish one, who both as a 
 foreigner and a Papist, offended the pride, 
 and alarmed the jealousy of her subjects, 
 argues a lamentable deficiency in judgment 
 and discretion, than which, in her position, 
 nothing could be more fatal. At this period 
 Darnley too caressed the fortunate Savoy- 
 ard, who warmly patronised his suit; nor 
 was his suspence of long duration. During 
 a temporary malady, which proved to be 
 the measles, he excited in his royal mistress 
 an excess of alarm and tenderness, that
 
 204 
 
 betrayed her secret to the Court, to Ran- 
 dolph, and Elizabeth. The Queen of Eng- 
 land, though in reality well affected to the 
 match, from policy commenced a vigorous 
 opposition, by committing Lady Lennox to 
 the Tower, and recalling her husband and 
 her son from Scotland. The message was 
 received by Lennox with respect by 
 Mary with tears by Darnley with con- 
 tempt. The arrogance of that young no- 
 bleman was already but too palpable, and 
 he not only defied the Duke of Chatel- 
 herault and the Hamiltons, but affronted 
 Murray, by imprudently remarking, that 
 he had obtained too many lands from the 
 Crown*; for the last offence, Mary with 
 much difficulty persuaded him to offer an 
 apology; but even as a lover, he was refrac- 
 tory to her wishes ; and, though ever ready 
 to exact sacrifices, seldom condescended to 
 make them ; such, in fine, were his folly 
 and perverseness, that Randolph appears 
 
 * Randolph in Keith. 
 13
 
 205 
 
 not to have exaggerated his defects in the 
 following description : 
 
 " His behaviour is such, he is runne in 
 open contempt of all men, even of those 
 that were his chief friends ; what shall 
 become of him, I know not, but it is greatly 
 to be feared, that he can have no long life 
 amongst this people. The Queen herself, 
 being of better understanding, seeketh to 
 frame and fashion him to the nature of her 
 subjects : no persuasion can alter that which 
 custom hath made old in him. He is 
 counted proud, disdainful, and suspicious ; 
 which kind of men, this of any other least 
 bear. Towards her Grace herself, I never 
 saw men's minds so greatly altered ; yea, 
 I may say, almost to utter contempt of her, 
 without the fear of God, regard to princely 
 majesty, or care that she ought to have over 
 her subjects or country." 
 
 Independent of personal dislike, Murray 
 felt himself imperatively bound, as ostensible 
 chief of the Reformers, to oppose Mary's
 
 206 
 
 union with a Papist; the mass, though abolish- 
 ed by the Convention, was, by the Queen's 
 example, upheld and protected, and in the 
 troubled state of Europe, who should gua- 
 rantee indemnity to the Reformers, unless 
 their civil and religious liberties were fixed 
 on a permanent basis ? Such were the argu- 
 ments with which the Earl justified to him- 
 self and his party, his association with the 
 Duke and other Protestant Lords, which 
 the Queen called sedition ; his private ap- 
 plications to Elizabeth for assistance, and, 
 finally, the enterprize planned, though not 
 executed, for surprizing Darnley and Mary 
 at the Raid of Baith*, and transporting the 
 former to England, whilst the Queen was to 
 be confined till she should grant certain con- 
 ditions for the Kirk and Scotland. These 
 proceedings, though perhaps in part neces- 
 sary, verged on rebellion, and neither the 
 nobility or the citizens afforded Murray 
 
 * See Keith, p. 292.
 
 207 
 
 the encouragement he expected : the for- 
 mer, according to Knox, were actuated 
 by jealousy, the latter by prejudice. In 
 reality, the people, who passionately de- 
 sired to see the race of Bruce perpetuat- 
 ed, in the sympathy naturally excited by 
 two youthful lovers, were disposed to 
 overlook those objections which to Murray 
 and Knox appeared insuperable. In the 
 meanwhile, all was suspicion and dismay 
 at Court; it was pretended that Lennox 
 and Darnley sought Murray's life, and 
 that cautious statesman not only availed 
 himself of the rumour to refuse his sister's 
 invitations, but framed from it an excuse 
 for assembling his partizans, and for reiterat- 
 ing his clandestine applications to Cecil and 
 Elizabeth.* The Queen became alarmed 
 was estranged from her own attendants, 
 and surrendered herself to Lennox, Darn- 
 ley, and Rizio. Randolph continued to 
 write to Cecil, but it was only to create a 
 prejudice against her. 
 
 * Keith, p. 300.
 
 208 
 
 " The Lords of the Congregation assem- 
 bled themselves yesterday at Stirling, only 
 to conclude what their parts should be if 
 the Queen would overthrow* religion, or do 
 any manner of act that might give occasion 
 to the Queen our Sovereign to make war 
 against this country. She (Mary) taking an 
 opinion that they would come to this town 
 and assail her here, sent for them with the 
 greater expedition, as by this letter* in closed 
 your Honour may perceive, in which you 
 may note in what credit the Queen our Mis- 
 tress is yet in ; that she can be content to 
 use this term our old enemies t, besides many 
 unhonourable words that she hath openly 
 spoken ; and plainly I must say, that she 
 is so much altered from that majesty 
 that I have seen in her from that mo- 
 desty that I have wondered at to be in her, 
 that she is not now counted by her own sub- 
 
 * A circular letter from Queen Mary to the Lords 
 Barons of Fife, Angus, and Lothian, demanding their 
 aid. Keith, p. 298. 
 
 f Quoted from the letter above-mentioned.
 
 209 
 
 jects not to be the woman she was.* She is 
 so poor at this present, that ready money 
 she hath very little, credit none at all, 
 friendship with few ^ both she and her 
 
 *- The following letter was addressed to the Queen 
 of England by the associated Lords at Stirling : - 
 
 " May it please your Majesty, understanding by 
 your ambassador, SirN.Thockmorton, and also by Mr. 
 Ilandolph, the good and gracious mind your Majesty 
 beareth to the maintenance of the Gospel, and we that 
 profess the same in this Realm, it is expedient to 
 let your Majesty understand, that lately we have 
 presented our Sovereign certain articles for establish- 
 ing the Evangill in this our native country ; whereof, 
 as the answer is long delayed, so hope we very slen- 
 derly thereof; and fearing that our earnest suit, joined 
 with the profession of the said religion, shall at length 
 procure to us no good will of our Sovereign, without 
 our meritings, and seeing it hath pleased to bless your 
 Majesty with that most honourable title, to be (under 
 God) Protectrix of the professors of the religion, 
 and having in ourselves experimented your Majesty's 
 gracious liberality in that behalf, can do none other 
 in time of necessity, nor with thankful hearts for the 
 past, and good hope for that shall come, than have re- 
 course to your Majesty's accustomed bounty, which 
 your Majesty vouchsafed in our extremity." Keith, 
 page 300. 
 
 VOL. II. P
 
 210 
 
 hqsband (so I may now well call him) so 
 high that yet they think themselves equal 
 to the greatest, and able to attain to what- 
 soever they desire. To let the world under- 
 stand that the Lords have some other pre- 
 tence in their heads than religion, she 
 seemeth now willing to make no alteration 
 of religion, and thinketh that way to make 
 the Protestants more odious to the rest, but 
 she herself altereth nothing of her accus- 
 tomed sort ; and because my Lord Darn- 
 ley would seem to be indifferent, sometimes 
 he goeth with the Queen to mass ; and 
 these two last days hath been at the sermon. 
 It is also said, that she will be married by 
 a Minister. Your Honour may perceive 
 how her promise is kept to the Queen's 
 Majesty, that her marriage should be de- 
 ferred three months, and nothing done 
 therein before the Parliament, which now is 
 prorogued to the first of September. These 
 matters are thus guided by my Lord of
 
 Lennox, my Lord Robert, and David * ; 
 other counsel she taketh little of any sub- 
 ject^ she hath. 
 
 " Mr. John Hay is sent to declare unto 
 my Lord Murray, the Lord of Lennox 
 and the Lord Darnley's good will to- 
 wards him ; and to purge them that any 
 of them were ever consenting to have 
 slain him, as was reported ; and in that 
 quarrel, my Lord of Lennox doth offer to 
 fight with whomsoever doth dare avow it : 
 whether it be true or not, that the Lord 
 Grey should have done it, I know not. 
 Shortly we shall know to what end these 
 forces are assembled, and the Castle furnish- 
 ed; whither the Queen will retire, if she find 
 herself not able to make part against such 
 as are of the contrary party. My Lord of 
 Lennox upon Sunday should have gone to 
 Glasgow, but that purpose was altered be- 
 cause the other were too many in his way, 
 
 * David Rizio, who appears to have already pos- 
 sessed the Queen's intimate confidence.
 
 and, indeed, would have fought, if he had 
 held on his journey ; in this state and case 
 hath he brought himself, the Queen, .and 
 the whole country." * 
 
 During these cabals, Mary appears to 
 have been distracted with love and fear; 
 her suspicions of Elizabeth, and resentment 
 to Murray. That she should be blind to 
 Darnley's defects was impossible, since she 
 even endeavoured to correct them ; but 
 whatever errors she might have detected 
 in his understanding, she certainly sus- 
 pected, not the egotism of his nature, or 
 the depravity of that heart, of which she 
 flattered herself she was the supreme ob- 
 ject. From infancy surrounded by flatter- 
 ers, she had yet to learn, that the woman 
 who is born to wield a sceptre, inspires 
 ambition rather than love. Her beauty 
 softened not Darnley's wayward temper; 
 nor did her generous affections awaken 
 in him corresponding tenderness. There 
 
 * Keith.
 
 213 
 
 is a tradition, that even then he preferred 
 to herself one of her ladies. That she had, 
 at least, a rival in her crown, was evident 
 from the avidity with which he solicited 
 royal honors. No sooner was he made 
 Earl of Ross, than he sighed to be Duke 
 of Rothsay ; and when it was announced 
 to him, that he must yet wait for that dig- 
 nity a few days longer, he aimed his dagger 
 at the messenger who communicated the 
 unwelcome tidings. But the Matrimonial 
 Crown, that solemn acknowledgment of 
 the States, by which Francis had been 
 recognised King of Scots for life, was the 
 grand object of his ambition ; and even on 
 the eve of marriage, after she had created 
 him Duke of Albany, he passionately pro- 
 tested, that now or never it must be 
 yielded to his acceptance.* Such a declara- 
 
 * On the evening preceding the marriage, the trum- 
 pet sounded through the streets, and during an hour 
 at Mercat's cross ; a proclamation was made, setting 
 forth the Queen's intent to solemnize the band of 
 marriage with the most illuster Prince Henry, Duke 
 p 3
 
 tion should have alarmed Mary's caution, 
 but she had already advanced too far to 
 recede ; the Pope's dispensation was ob- 
 tained, the Cardinal's permission granted, 
 the banns published (in the Kirk), Mur- 
 ray and his Lords summoned, on pain of 
 being proclaimed rebels, to give attend- 
 ance, and, finally, at half past six on the 
 morning of the 29th of July, the ceremony 
 was performed, by the Dean of Restabrig, 
 in her own chapel ; from whence Darnley, 
 instead of accompanying her to mass, re- 
 tired to pursue his favourite pastime of 
 hunting. On returning to her palace, 
 Mary, who still retained her black widow's 
 gown, was importuned by her courtiers to 
 
 of Albany. ' In respect of the which marriage, and 
 during the time thereof, we taill, ordain, and con- 
 sent, that he be styled King of this our Kingdom, and 
 that all our letteris to be directed after our said mar- 
 riage, in the names of the said illuster Prince and 
 us, and King and Queen of Scotland conjointly.' 
 
 Keith, p. 306. 
 It was for the States alone to make Darnley king 
 
 for life.
 
 215 
 
 lay aside that mourning garb, and, " after 
 " some pretty reluctance" says Randolph, 
 " every gentleman was allowed to take out 
 " a pin ;" after which she retired to her 
 chamber, where she was soon arrayed with 
 suitable magnificence. How different were 
 these from her former nuptials with the 
 homely, but affectionate Francis ! At the 
 dinner the handsome Darnley appeared in 
 royal robes, and, equally with Mary, was 
 served by three noblemen, the Earls 
 Cassils, Glencairn, and Eglintoun, who 
 secretly grudged their attendance. The 
 banquet was superb, but without the grace 
 and elegance that had presided at Mary's 
 former marriage j there was enough, how- 
 ever, of feasting and revelry : but as Mur- 
 ray and his lords were notoriously collect- 
 ing forces, the Queen and her friends also 
 prepared to take the field ; and Darnley, 
 willing to ingratiate himself with the people, 
 in the new character of King, went in state 
 to the High Church, where a gorgeous 
 p 4s
 
 216 
 
 throne was decorated for his reception. 
 But, short-lived was the new Monarch's 
 triumph, when the cynical Knox, with 
 even more than wonted keenness in his 
 eyes, expatiated pointedly on the misery 
 of those realms, of which women and boys 
 had the government ! * To this vehement 
 discourse, the haughty , Henry listened 
 with evident discomposure, till at length, 
 in a frenzy of passion, he descended from 
 his throne, marched out of the church, 
 mounted his steed, and being too angry to 
 eat his dinner, hunted during several hours, 
 till his wrath had somewhat subsided in 
 hunger. Such was the being to whom 
 Mary Stuart had surrendered her liberty, 
 and for whose sake she had offended her 
 jealous nobles ! 
 
 * This discourse, which well sustains the reputation 
 of Knox for eloquence, is appended to his History of 
 the Reformation.
 
 217 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF MARY AND DARNLEY. ELIZABETH'S 
 
 TREATMENT OF MURRAY. CONSPIRACY OF MOR- 
 TON, RUTHVEN, AND DARNLEY AGAINST RIZIO. 
 
 THE campaign of Mary and Darnley, 
 though late begun, was soon ended. " The 
 swash, the tabron, and the drum, were 
 stricken through the streets," says Knox, 
 " to raise recruits for the royal army." On 
 the 26th of August, the two Sovereigns left 
 Edinburgh : the lords retired before them : 
 and in their progress to Calender, they 
 met no other impediments than wind and 
 weather, and want of money. Eager to 
 evince to her subjects, that she inherited the 
 spirit of her ancestors, Mary marched on *, 
 
 * According to Randolph, she wore for her defence 
 armour under her dress, and carried pistols on her 
 saddle.
 
 218 
 
 "her courage man-like," saysKnox, "always 
 increasing." By her side rode Darnley, 
 in gilded armour ; his father, the Earl of 
 Lennox, led the vanj the Chancellor 
 Morton commanded in the centre: the 
 King and Queen brought up the rear, ac- 
 companied by Parson Balfour of Flisk, 
 David Kizio, and another Italian musician, 
 called Francisco, and whose business, it 
 may be presumed, was rather to amuse 
 their friends than to terrify their enemies. 
 Although Mary no longer confided in 
 Lethington, whom she knew to be Murray's 
 colleague, she missed his counsels, and was 
 sensible, that her elder brother's place was 
 ill supplied by the Earl of Athole, her hus- 
 band, or his father; to supply whose ob- 
 vious deficiencies, she associated with them 
 the Earls of Huntly* and Bothwell; an 
 arrangement, by which she is said to have 
 
 * The Earl of Huntly, the survivor of the unfortu- 
 nate family of the Gordons, had been lately restored to 
 his estate and dignity.
 
 displeased equally Lennox and her captious 
 Darnley, whose folly and perverseness al- 
 ready caused her more perplexity, than the 
 whole realm of Scotland. Vain and pre- 
 sumptuous, the Earl of Lennox wanted 
 wisdom, had he even possessed authority, to 
 correct his son's imprudence ; and by his 
 mischievous adulation*, rather inflamed than 
 
 * Of this adulation, some idea may be formed by 
 the tenor of the following letter from the Earl of 
 Lennox to his son, King Henry, (indorsed to the 
 King's Majesty) : 
 
 " Sir, I have received by my servant Nisbet, your 
 natural and kind letter, for the which I humbly thank 
 your Majesty, and as to the contents thereof, I will 
 not trouble you therein, but refer the same till I wait 
 upon your Majesty at Peebles, which shall be so soon 
 as I hear the certainty of your going thither ; and for 
 that the extremity of this stormy weather causes me 
 to doubt of your setting forward, therefore, I stay till 
 I hear from your Majesty, which I shall humbly be- 
 seech you I may, and I shall not fail to wait upon you 
 accordingly ; this committing your Majesty to the 
 blessing of God^ and preserve you in health, long life, 
 and most happy reign, your Majesty's most humble 
 subject and servant, Mathew Lennox. 
 
 " I shall desire your Maje&ty to pardon me, in that
 
 220 
 
 softened the spirit of the haughty youth, 
 who incessantly importuned the Queen to 
 extort from the nobles, a recognition of his 
 rights to the Matrimonial Crown ; without 
 which the title of King was but an empty 
 compliment. To allay his impatience in the 
 first instance, and, perhaps^ to fortify herself 
 against her brother, Mary had caused him 
 to be proclaimed King, and exacted for him 
 the same reverence that was offered to her 
 own person j but she, too late, perceived 
 her error, and that she must either ruin 
 herself, or resist his future encroachments. 
 Exasperated by this proof of firmness, 
 Darnley vented his spleen on all her con- 
 fidential servants; even his old friend, 
 David Rizio, incurred his displeasure, be- 
 cause he was still trusted by his mistress, 
 and because it devolved on him, as secre- 
 tary, to .be the depositary of the cachet 
 
 the writing is not of my own hand, for truly, a pain 
 which I have at the shoulder is the cause thereof." 
 Keith, Preface, p. 7.
 
 or seal, for impressing the King's signa- 
 ture, when he was absent on business or 
 pleasure. In the bosom of a high-spirited 
 susceptible woman, the discovery of Darn- 
 ley's ingratitude, was in itself sufficient to 
 inflict a cruel wound; but to this humi- 
 liation was added the detection of those 
 vicious propensities, which could not be 
 concealed from the world, and which must 
 inevitably destroy respect even when they 
 eradicate not affection. 
 
 The following is a sketch of Darnley's 
 character four months after marriage : 
 
 " All people say, that Darnley is too 
 much addicted to drinking. Tis certainly 
 reported, there was some jar betwixt the 
 Queen and him, at an entertainment in a 
 merchant's house in Edinburgh, she. only 
 dissuading him from drinking too much 
 himself, and enticing others ; in both which 
 he proceeded, and gave her such words 
 that she left the place with tears ; which, 
 they that are known to their proceedings,
 
 222 
 
 say, is not strange to be seen. These jars 
 arise, amongst other things, from his seek- 
 ing the Matrimonial Crown, which she 
 will not yield unto ; the calling in of the 
 coin, wherein they were both, and the 
 Duke's (of Chastelherault) finding so fa- 
 vourable address; which hath much dis- 
 pleased both him and his father. Darnley 
 is in great misliking with the Queen : she 
 is very weary of him : and, as some judge, 
 will be more so ere long; for true it is, 
 that those who depend wholly upon him, 
 are not liked of her ; nor they that follow 
 her, of him ; as David Rizio, and others ; 
 some say, she likes the Duke better now 
 than formerly ; so some think, that if there 
 should be the quarrel betwixt her and 
 Darnley, which she could not appease, 
 that she will use the Duke's aid in that 
 affair. There also have arisen some un- 
 kind speeches, about signing letters : he, 
 immediately after his marriage, signing 
 first, which she will not allow of now. His 
 18
 
 223 
 
 government is very much blamed, for he is 
 thought to be wilful and haughty, and 
 some say, vicious ; whereof too many were 
 witnesses, the other day at Inchkeith, with 
 the Lord Robert*, Fleming, and such like 
 grave personages." t 
 
 If the situation of Mary excited com- 
 miseration, her chagrins were somewhat 
 softened by the hope which she was now 
 permitted to cherish, of giving an heir to 
 the ancient house of Bruce ; but Darn- 
 ley, far from regarding this circumstance 
 with satisfaction, thought only of the 
 humiliation he should experience, in the 
 event of the Queen's demise, without that 
 grand prerogative the Matrimonial Crown, 
 which was to vest in him, during life, the 
 sceptre of Scotland; yet, with an incon- 
 sistency that marks the excess of fatuity, 
 he so little sought to concih'ate the people 
 
 * Lord Robert, the Queen's brother, a notorious 
 profligate. 
 
 f Letter from Sir William Drury to Secretary Cecil.
 
 224. 
 
 whom he aspired to govern, that he went 
 openly to mass, and on Candlemas day joined 
 the procession in the Queen's Chapel, and 
 bore in his hand a lighted taper. His predi- 
 lection for Popery, did not, however, prevent 
 his listening to overtures from the Kirk party, 
 for the accomplishment of his purpose ; 
 and it is a curious circumstance, that the 
 agency of Murray (or his friends), who had 
 formed the impediment to his marriage, 
 was to be employed for establishing his 
 authority. During the struggle with his 
 sovereign, that nobleman, finding himself 
 abandoned by all but the Duke and five 
 other Protestant lords, had taken refuge in 
 England, where, contrary to his expecta- 
 tions, Elizabeth, instead of approving his 
 late exertions, hardly allowed him to ap- 
 proach her presence, and at Court publicly 
 extorted from him, before the French and 
 English ambassadors, an acknowledgment 
 that she had neither aided nor abetted, in 
 his abominable rebellion ! 
 14
 
 After this humiliation, he withdrew to 
 Newcastle, where, though privately sup- 
 plied with money from Cecil, with whom 
 he cultivated a private friendship, he no 
 longer disdained to make concessions to his 
 native Queen, and even stooped to purchase 
 Rizio's favour, by the present of a diamond 
 ring. * A more disinterested advocate ap- 
 peared for him in Sir Nicholas Throck- 
 morton, whose remonstrances with Mary t, 
 would have proved successful, but for the. 
 solicitations of her uncle, Cardinal Lorrain, 
 the intrigues of the French and Spanish 
 ambassadors, and, above all, the exhorta- 
 tions of the Pope (Pius the 4th), enforced 
 by the donation of 800 crowns, which, how- 
 ever, never came into her possession, t 
 
 In this first conflict with her brother, 
 Mary had triumphed, but never was victory 
 
 * Keith. f Melvil. 
 
 J According to Melvil, the ship being stranded on 
 the English coast, its freight enriched the Earl of 
 Northumberland. Page 117. 
 VOL. II. Q,
 
 more dearly purchased, and little did she 
 understand the character of the Scottish 
 nation, if she expected, with impunity, to 
 bereave it of the chief, in whom the 
 Reformers placed unlimited confidence, 
 and who, having regained the favour of 
 Knox, was hallowed in his daily prayers, 
 and tacitly understood to be the object of 
 that tremendous public fast, (ordained in 
 this year), of which the Queen herself re- 
 marked, that it filled her with more dread 
 than * an army of ten thousand men.' Un- 
 fortunately, too, at this juncture, several no- 
 blemen resorted openly to the Royal Chapel, 
 whilst the suspicion that Mary had acceded 
 to the Catholic League, for the extirpation 
 of heresy, kindled a secret discontent, 
 of which the effects were soon to burst 
 forth. To obtain the restoration of Mur- 
 ray was, however, the first object of the 
 reforming party. That nobleman having 
 been proclaimed a rebel, was cited to ap- 
 pear in Parliament, on a certain day, to
 
 227 
 
 suffer the penalty of the law; the con- 
 fiscation of his estate being only deferred 
 till his sentence should have been formally 
 pronounced in that assembly.* To avert 
 this stroke, it was contrived, through the 
 agency of the Chancellor Morton, Murray's 
 bosom friend, and his illegitimate cousin, 
 George Douglas, to inveigle Darnley into 
 a confederacy with the banished lords, and 
 other malcontents, of which the ostensible 
 pretexts were, to dismiss the Parliament, 
 (especially convened for the condemnation 
 of Murray), to put to death Rizio, as 
 the Queen's adviser to harsh measures, and 
 to procure for the King the Matrimonial 
 Crown, vesting in him the exclusive admi- 
 nistration. It has been pretended, that 
 Douglas laboured, not unsuccessfully, to in- 
 fuse into the King's mind certain suspi- 
 cions, injurious to his wife's honour ; but 
 this appears to have been a slander, after- 
 
 * It is said his lands were already appropriated to 
 new favorites.
 
 228 
 
 wards circulated by the other conspirators, 
 in order to throw on Darnley, exclusively, 
 the odium of the transaction. 
 
 By whose agency the intrigue was origi- 
 nally formed, appears uncertain. It is 
 generally ascribed to George Douglas, an 
 illegitimate descendant of Angus, the 
 father of Lady Lennox, who had lately 
 become the associate of Darnley's pro- 
 fligate pleasures ; by others it is affirmed, 
 that the Chancellor Morton was the per- 
 son who suggested to the King, that he 
 ought not to remain in vassalage to a wo- 
 man, who had solemnly vowed to him 
 obedience. It was notorious, that both 
 Morton and Maitland adhered to Murray, 
 and that the former had resolved to 
 desert his mistress, unless she consented 
 to restore his friend ; but, whoever insti- 
 gated the crime, little persuasion appears 
 to have been necessary to determine Darn- 
 ley to adopt any means, however atrocious, 
 to secure to himself that substantial power,
 
 without which he considered Mary and 
 the kingly title as unworthy of his accept- 
 ance j he, therefore, entered into corres- 
 pondence with the banished lords, whom 
 he promised to indemnify from the Par- 
 liament, and to establish their religion. In 
 the original bond * of association, which 
 both Darnley and Lennox subscribed, the 
 assassination of Rizio is not mentioned, 
 nor, in all probability, was his fate only 
 sealed ; but his unpopularity furnished 
 the young king with a colourable plea to 
 disguise his baseness and ingratitude. That 
 he was not influenced by a lover's jealousy, 
 is obvious, since he shewed more eagerness 
 to grasp the sceptre, than to avenge himself 
 on the pretended paramour, in whose ac- 
 tual murder, according to the relation even 
 
 * In another paper or bond of assurance, subscribed 
 by the King on the 1st of March, Rizio is specifically 
 named, and others are alluded to, who should be pu- 
 nished according to their demerits. See Goodall, 
 266. 
 
 Q 3
 
 230 
 
 of Lord Ruth ven, the principal conspirator, 
 he remained wholly passive.* Exclusive 
 
 * Certain Articles to be subscribed by James Earl 
 of Murray, Archibald Earl of Argyle, Alexander Earl 
 of Glencairn, Andrew Earl of Rothes, Robert Earl of 
 Boyd, Andrew Lord Ochiltree, and other complices of 
 the noble and mighty Prince Henry King of Scotland, 
 which they offer with all lowliness to the same Prince 
 for whom they pray. The said Earls, Lords, and com- 
 plices shall become and by the tenure thereof become 
 true subjects and faithful servants to the noble and 
 mighty Prince Henry King of Scotland, husband to 
 our Sovereign Lady, that they and theirs shall take his 
 part in all his causes and quarrels, against 'whomsoever 
 it be, to the utmost of their power, and shall befriends 
 to his friends, and enemies to his enemies, and therein 
 neither spare their lands, lives, or estates. The said 
 Lords and their complices shall, at the first Par- 
 liament that shall be after their return, grant, give, 
 and ordain the Matrimonial Croivn to the said noble 
 Prince, all the days of his life. And if any person or 
 persons withstand or gainsay the same, the said Lords, 
 Earls, and their complices, shall take such part as the 
 said noble Prince liketh, in all sorts whatsoever for ob- 
 taining the same : the said Earls shall fortify and main- 
 tain the said noble Prince in his just title to the Crown 
 of Scotland, failing of succession of our said Sov- 
 ereign Lady, and shall justify and set forward the same 
 of their utmost, and if any man will usurp or gainsay 
 the said just title, and the Lords shall defend the same
 
 231 
 
 of the Queen's Chancellor, Morton, and 
 Secretary Maitland, there were others of 
 
 of life or death, and shall pursue or expel 
 the said usurpers. As to the religion established by 
 the Queen's Majesty since her arrival into this realm, 
 whereupon proclamation and edicts were made, 
 that they and every one of them shall fortify and 
 maintain the same of their utmost power, as they be- 
 come true subjects to the said noble Prince, so shall 
 they not spare life or limb in setting forward all that 
 may. From the Cotton Library. 
 
 Certain Articles to be fulfilled by the noble and 
 mighty Prince, Henry King of Scotland, husband to 
 our Sovereign Lady, to James Earl of Murray, Arch- 
 ibald Earl of Argyle, Alexander Earl of Glencairn, 
 Andrew Earl of Rothes, Robert Lord Boyd, Andrew 
 Lord Ochiltree, remaining in England. The said noble 
 Prince shall obtain their remissions if they require the 
 same, for all faults of whatsoever quality or kind and 
 persevere in pursuing for the same till -obtained, as 
 soon as by their help and supply he obtain the Crown 
 Matrimonial, and stop and impede that they shall not 
 be called or accused for whatsoever crime) and freely 
 remit and forgive the said Earls, Lords, and their 
 complices, all crimes of whatsoever quality or condi- 
 tion they be, and to bury and put them in oblivion, as 
 if they had never been ; and they shall receive them 
 at their return thankfully, as other true and faithful 
 subjects and servants. Item, We shall not suffer the 
 
 Q 4
 
 her council engaged in the confederacy : 
 Both well, Huntly, and Athole alone re- 
 mained untainted. The Secretary was to 
 prevent resistance to the King's party from 
 the domestics ; the Chancellor had corrupt- 
 ed the guards ; Ruthven and Lindsay were 
 to head the assailants. Of all the actors 
 
 said Earls to be called or accused iu Parliament, nor 
 suffer any forfeiture to be laid against them, but shall 
 stop the same to our utmost power, that the foresaid 
 Earls returning into the realm of Scotland, shall use 
 and enjoy their lands, livings, benefices, as before their 
 passing into England, and fortify them in the enjoy- 
 ment of the same against all persons to the utmost of 
 our power. As to the said Earls (their religion), we 
 are contented and consent that they use the same ac- 
 cording to the Queen's proclamation made thereupon. 
 And if any person or persons offer to make impediment 
 therein, we shall take part of the aforesaid Earls to 
 the utmost of our power : and after their return upon 
 adhering and good service to be done to its, We, the 
 said noble Prince shall consent, aid, and assist to the 
 establishing of the religion now professed, and concur 
 with them if any power shall withstand them. We 
 shall fortify and maintain the said Earls against whom 
 soever in all their just causes and quarrels. Keith, 
 Appendix.
 
 233 
 
 in this tragedy, Darnley was at once the 
 most weak and wicked. Ruthven and 
 Lindsay were inflamed with zeal for reli- 
 gion : Morton's treason was, in some de- 
 gree, mitigated by his attachment to Mur- 
 ray : even the ruffian Douglas planted not 
 his dagger in the bosom of a confiding 
 woman, to whom, by every tie of duty 
 and humanity, he was bound to give pro- 
 tection. * 
 
 It was on Saturday, the 5th of April, 
 1566, two days previous to that on which 
 the Parliament were to assemble, that Mary, 
 
 * See Keith, Appendix, p. 120, 121. This and 
 the following account are taken from the Relation 
 written in Lord Ruthven's name, in 1566, intituled 
 " A Discourse of the late Troubles that happened in 
 Scotland, betwixt the noble and mighty Princess, by 
 the grace of God, Queen of Scotland, and her hus- 
 band, Henry, the King. As this discourse was writ- 
 ten by Mary's mortal enemy, it cannot be suspected 
 of partiality ; yet even this statement furnishes no 
 ground for imputation against her character. Even 
 in the assurance subscribed on the 1st of March, 
 David Rizio is merely stigmatized for bribery and 
 corruption. Sec Goodall.
 
 234- 
 
 now far advanced in pregnancy, was 
 supping in a private apartment adjoin- 
 ing her bed-chamber, attended as usual by 
 her sister Lady Argyle, her brother the 
 Earl of Orkney, Areskine, Master of the 
 Household, her physician, and Rizio ; when 
 suddenly was filled the court-yard with 
 armed men, and the shouts of " A Douglas! 
 ' a Douglas !" raised by Morton's fol- 
 lowers, were loudly vociferated. Before 
 the Queen could enquire the cause of 
 the disturbance, Darnley, entering by a 
 private passage, took his seat beside her; 
 whilst, from the opposite door, several 
 armed men rushed in ; and, more con- 
 spicuous than the rest, the Lord Ruth- 
 ven, who, though languishing under a 
 hopeless disease, was impelled by fanati- 
 cism to devote the last remains of life to 
 the perpetration of an atrocious murder. 
 
 At the sight of this dying man, whose 
 wasted form was awfully contrasted with 
 the fierce expression of his countenance,
 
 235 
 
 Mary shuddered, but before she could de- 
 mand the motive of his intrusion, he ex- 
 claimed, 
 
 " Let it please your Majesty that yonder 
 " man, David, come forth of your privy- 
 " chamber, where he hath been over-long." 
 
 The Queen answered, " What offence 
 " hath he done?'* 
 
 Ruthven replied, " That he made a 
 " greater and more heinous offence to her 
 " Majesty's honor, the King her husband, 
 " the nobility, and Commonwealth." 
 
 " And how ?" said she. 
 " If it would please your Majesty, he 
 " hath offended your honour, which I dare 
 " not be so bold as to speak of. * As to 
 " the King your husband's honour, he hath 
 " hindred him of the Crown Matrimonial, 
 " which your Grace promised him; besides 
 
 * It is to be doubted whether Ruthven said all that 
 is here ascribed to him, since the Queen in her letter 
 to her ambassador in France alludes not to this insult, 
 which she would have been most likely to resent.
 
 280 
 
 *' many other things which are not neces- 
 " saiy to be expressed ; and hath caused 
 ' your Majesty to banish a great part of the 
 " nobility, and to forfeit them, that he 
 " might be made a Lord. * And to your 
 " Commonweal he hath been a .common 
 " destroyer, hindring your Majesty to grant 
 " or give any thing but what passed through 
 *< his hands, by taking of bribes for the 
 " same ; and caused your Majesty to put 
 " at the Lord Ross for his whole land, be- 
 " cause he would not give over the lands 
 " of Melvin to the said David, besides 
 " many other inconveniences that he soli- 
 " cited your Majesty to do." Then the 
 Lord Ruthven said to the King, " Sir, 
 " take the Queen your wife and Sovereign 
 " to you," who stood all amazed and knew 
 not what to do. 
 
 " Then ruer Majesty rose upon her feet 
 and stood before David, he holding her Ma- 
 
 * There appears to have been no foundation for this 
 aspersion, afterwards repeated by Buchanan.
 
 237 
 
 jesty by the plaits of her gown, leaning back 
 over of the window, his dagger drawn in his 
 hand : meanwhile Arthur Areskin, and the 
 Abbot of Holyrood House, and the Lord 
 Keith, Master of the Household, with the 
 French Apothecary, and one of the Cham- 
 ber, began to lay hands on the Lord 
 Ruthven, none of the King's party being 
 there present. Then the said Lord Ruth- 
 ven pulled out his dagger, and defended 
 himself until more came in, and said to them, 
 " Lay no hands on me, for I will not be 
 " handled.'* At the coming in of others 
 into the Cabinet, the said Lord Ruthven 
 put up his dagger, and with the rushing in 
 of meq, the board fell into the wall, meat 
 and candles being thereon." * 
 
 During this terrific scene of confusion, 
 Mary appears to have fainted, since she 
 passively allowed Lord Ruthven to put her 
 into the arms of Darnley, with an injunc- 
 
 * This circumstance is mentioned in Melvil's Me- 
 moirs, page 128.
 
 238 
 
 tion, little to be regarded, that she should 
 dismiss all her fears. In the meantime 
 the conspirators, forcing Rizio from the 
 window in which he still maintained his 
 ground, hurried him, in spite of his piercing 
 cries, into the Queen's chamber, where 
 George Douglas, who had snatched the 
 dagger from Darnley's side, inflicted with 
 it the first wound, whilst a band of inferior 
 ruffians eagerly dispatched their victim. 
 
 On recovering her senses, Mary, with ad- 
 mirable self-possession, desired the Earl of 
 Morton, to bring to her, from David's 
 chamber, the black coffer, containing cy- 
 phers, and writings connected with her 
 foreign correspondence. In this instance 
 she was obeyed, and now perfectly sensible 
 that the outrage had been committed at 
 Darnley's instigation, she thus indignantly 
 addressed him : 
 
 " My Lord, why have you caused to do 
 " this wicked deed to me, considering that 
 " I took you from low estate and ntade
 
 " you my husband ; what offence have I 
 " given you that you should do me such 
 " shame?" 
 
 To this, according to Ruthven, Darnley 
 replied* : 
 
 " I have good reason, for since yon- 
 " der fellow, David, came in credit and 
 " familiarity with your Majesty, you nei- 
 " ther regarded, entertained, or trusted me 
 " after your wonted fashion." 
 
 This insinuation Mary repelled with 
 dignity : in conclusion, he retorted that 
 since she had made him her husband she 
 owed him obedience. 
 
 * In this relation, originally drawn up by Lord 
 Ruthven, and corrected by Cecil, it was obviously 
 the object of the writer, to represent Darnley as sole 
 author of the conspiracy. Whether in the first in- 
 stance it originated with Darnley, or with Ruthven 
 and Morton, has always been disputed ; but as there 
 are some palpable falsehoods in this relation, it will 
 hereafter appear to have been very doubtful whether 
 Lord Ruthven or Darnley said so much of Rizio. 
 George Douglas left in the body of Rizio, Darnley 's 
 dagger ; but the King never left the chamber.
 
 240 
 
 Without descending to altercation, Mary 
 replied, " My Lord, all the offence that is 
 " done me you have the wite thereof, for 
 " the which I shall be your wife no 
 " longer." 
 
 Here Ruthven exhorted her to submit 
 to her husband, not perhaps without a se- 
 cret exultation that, having himself been 
 repulsed by her, she had such fatal cause 
 to repent her imprudent choice ; but whilst 
 his stern countenance bespoke implacable 
 hatred, he sunk exhausted into a chair, and 
 entreating her Majesty's pardon, drank a 
 cup of wine. With a look of mingled hor- 
 ror and disgust, the Queen exclaimed," Is 
 " this your sickness?" 
 
 " God forbid that your Majesty had 
 " such a malady." 
 
 " If I die or the Commonwealth perish," 
 replied the Queen, " I will leave the re- 
 " venge of my cause to my friends, to be 
 " taken of you, Lord Ruthven and your 
 " posterity ; I have the King of Spain and
 
 " the Emperor for my friends, also the King 
 " of France, my good brother, with my 
 " uncles of Lorrain, besides the Pope's ho- 
 " liness, and many other Princes in Italy." 
 
 " Madam," replied Ruthven, " these 
 " Princes are overgreat personages to med- 
 " die with so poor a man as I am, and if 
 " any thing be done this night, which your 
 " Majesty mislikes, the King your husband, 
 " and none of us, is to be blamed." 
 
 Here a new tumult arose in the palace, 
 occasioned by an effort of Bothwell, Hunt- 
 ly, and Athole, to expel the King's party. 
 To appease this disorder, Ruthven, with 
 renewed energy, left the apartment ; when 
 Darnley promptly announced the expected 
 return of Murray and the banished Lords, 
 with the repeal of their forfeiture; to 
 which intimation Mary replied, that it was 
 not her fault they had been banished so 
 long, but to appease his discontent 
 When Ruthven re-appeared, Mary enquired 
 for Rizio, but received an evasive an- 
 
 VOL. ii. R
 
 swer : she next demanded how long such 
 strict friendship had subsisted between him 
 and Murray ; and reverting to a former pe- 
 riod, added, " Remember you what the 
 " Earl of Murray would have had me do 
 " unto you, for giving me the ring ?" 
 
 " I bear no quarrel," said Ruthven, " for 
 " that cause, but heartily forgive him and 
 " all others; and as for that ring, it had no 
 " more virtue than another, but was a little 
 " ring, with a pointed diamond in it."* 
 
 " Remember you not, that you said it 
 " had a virtue to keep me from poison ?" 
 
 " It may be, I said that the ring had 
 " so much virtue; but I take from you 
 " that evil opinion of pre-supposition, that 
 " you conceived the Protestants would 
 " have done ; since I know they will do 
 " no more harm to your Majesty's body, 
 
 * In one of her sociable conversations with Knox, 
 Mary mentioned Lord Ruthven having given her a 
 ring ; but added, " I cannot love Lord Ruthven, he 
 practises necromancy ;'* and she was serious ; so in- 
 curably was her mind infected with superstition. 
 
 KNOX.
 
 243 
 
 " tlian to their own hearts. It was so im- 
 " printed in your Majesty's mind, that it 
 " could not be removed without a contrary 
 " impression." 
 
 " What offence or default have I com- 
 " mitted, to be thus treated ?" 
 
 " Enquire of the King, your husband." 
 " Nay, I will enquire of you ?" 
 " Madam, if it would please your Ma- 
 " jesty to remember, that you have for 
 " this long time, a number of perverse per- 
 " sons, and especially one David, a stranger, 
 " an Italian, who ruled and guided the 
 " country without advice of the nobility 
 " and council ; and especially against those 
 " peers that were banished." 
 
 " Were you not one of my council ? Why 
 " would you not declare, if I did ought 
 " amiss?" 
 
 " Because your Majesty would not listen, 
 
 " in all the time your Majesty was at Dum- 
 
 " fries ; but whenever you called your coun- 
 
 " cil together, did things by yourself, and 
 
 R 2
 
 " your privy persons : albeit, your nobrlity 
 " suffer the pains and expence." 
 
 " Well, you find great fault with me ; I 
 " will be content to set down my crown 
 " before the Lords of the Articles*, and it 
 " they find that I have offended, to give it 
 " where they please." 
 
 " God forbid, Madam : but who chose 
 " the said Lords of the Articles ?" 
 
 " Not I." 
 
 " Saving your Majesty's reverence, you 
 " chose them all in Seaton, and nominated 
 " them ; and as for your Majesty's council, it 
 " hath been suffered to wait full long : and 
 
 * Dr. Robertson informs us, that " it was the busi- 
 ness of the Lords of Articles to prepare and digest all 
 the matters which were to be laid before Parlia- 
 ment ; and that they not only directed its proceedings, 
 but possessed a negative before debate. It should be 
 remembered that a Scottish Parliament consisted of 
 great barons, ecclesiastics, and a few representatives 
 of boroughs; they composed but one assembly, over 
 which the Lord Chancellor presided. According to 
 the same historian, the prerogative of election re- 
 sided in the Sovereign."
 
 245 
 
 " what was done, it behoved them to say, it 
 " was your Majesty's pleasure, and the Lords 
 " of the Articles. Your Majesty first chose 
 " such as would say whatsoever you thought; 
 " and now, when the Lords of the Articles 
 *' have sitten certain days, reasoning if they 
 " could find any principal cause why they 
 " should be forfeited ? No, Madam, not so 
 " much as one point, except false witness, 
 " be brought against them."* 
 
 Here Lord Ruthven paused, perceiving 
 that Mary had been seized with faintness, 
 and, with some humanity, recommended 
 Darnley to leave her to repose. They had 
 no sooner withdrawn, than the new Sove- 
 reign issued his commands to the magistrates 
 of the city, that none but Protestants should 
 leave their houses; the next day he dis- 
 charged the Parliament by proclamation. 
 During this night of agony, Mary was 
 heard to traverse her chamber in perturba- 
 
 * The Lord Ruthven's relation. See Keith, Ap- 
 pendix. 
 
 R 3
 
 246 
 
 tion, scarcely to be conceived. Whatever 
 she had before suffered, or feared, sunk into 
 insignificance : she was now a captive, im- 
 prisoned in her own palace, and by the 
 connivance of that man she had so fondly 
 loved. It was true, she might suspect that 
 he had been the dupe of a faction hostile to 
 her government : but small was the consol- 
 ation to be derived from the conviction of 
 his unparalleled folly. To what point the 
 conspiracy tended, she neither knew, nor 
 ventured to enquire. The terrible aspect 
 of Lord Ruthven filled her with sinister 
 forebodings ; nor could she banish the 
 impression, that he sought even her life. 
 But terror did not deprive her of self- 
 possession ; and though debarred from all 
 but one or two female servants, she con- 
 trived to transmit a message to Bothwell 
 and Huntly, who promised to effect her de- 
 liverance ; and having accidentally caught 
 a glimpse of Melvil from her window, she 
 took the opportunity by him to communi-
 
 247 
 
 cate to Murray an assurance of unlimited 
 pardon, on condition that he should pre- 
 serve her life and liberty. But her surer 
 hope was still with Darnley, who, though 
 ashamed to enter her presence, at length ap- 
 proached, and finding her more calm than 
 he expected, unfolded to her, by degrees, the 
 history of the fatal confederacy. But this 
 part of the relation ought to be given in 
 Mary's own words, which, allowing for 
 her agitation, appears to have been more 
 conformable to facts, than the Lord Ruth- 
 ven's statement.* Having described the 
 attack on Rizio, she thus continues : 
 
 " After this deed, the said Lord Ruth- 
 ven, coming again in our presence, declared 
 how they and their complices were highly 
 offended with our proceedings and tyranny, 
 which was not to them tolerable : how he 
 was abused by the said David, whom 
 
 * The Lord Ruthven's manifesto was published in 
 reply to Mary's statement, which was contained in the 
 instructions transmitted to her ambassador in France. 
 
 R 4
 
 248 
 
 they had actually put to death j namely, 
 in taking his counsel for maintenance of 
 the antient religion ; debarring the Lords 
 who were fugitive, and entertaining amity 
 with foreign Princes ; putting, also, upon 
 counsel the Lords Bothwell and Huntly*, 
 who were traitors, and with whom he as- 
 sociated himself; that the Lords banished 
 in England, were that morn to resort to us, 
 and would take plain part with them in our 
 controversy, and that the King was willing to 
 remit them their offences. We all this time 
 took no less care of ourselves, than for our 
 counsel and nobility, to wit, the Earls 
 Huntly, Bothwell, Athole, Lords Fleming, 
 and Levingston, Sir James Balfour, and cer- 
 tain others, our familiar servitors, against 
 whom the enterprize was conspier, as well 
 as for David ; and, namely, to have hanged 
 Sir James ; yet, by the Providence of 
 
 * The Queen's account may be compared with th 
 conversation detailed by Lord Ruthven.
 
 249 
 
 God, the Earls of Bothwell and Huntly 
 escaped at a back window, by some cords ; 
 the conspirators took some fear, and 
 thought themselves disappointed in their 
 enterprize. The Earl of Athole, and Sir 
 James Balfour, by some other means, with 
 the Lords Fleming and Levingston, ob- 
 tained deliverance."* 
 
 " Our brother," Mary continues, " the 
 Earl of Murray, that same day at even, ac- 
 companied by the Earl of Rothes, Pitarraw, 
 Grange and others, came to us, and seeing 
 our state, was moved with natural affection 
 towards us ; upon the morn he assembled 
 
 * The Queen adds : " The Provost and town of 
 Edinburgh having understood this tumult in our palace 
 caused ring their common bell, came to us in great 
 number, and desired to have seen our presence, and 
 communed with us ; and to have known our welfare ; 
 to whom we were not permitted to give answer, being 
 extremely bosted by their lords, who, in our face de- 
 clared, if we desired to have spoken them, they should 
 cut us in collops, and cast us over the walls." But this 
 charge is disclaimed by Lord Ruthven.
 
 250 
 
 the enterprizers of the late crime, and such 
 of our rebels as came with him. In their 
 council they thought it most expedient we 
 should be warded in our Castle of Stirling, 
 there to remain till we had approved, in 
 Parliament, all their wicked enterprizes, es- 
 tablished their religion, and given to the 
 King the Crown Matrimonial and the whole 
 government of our realm, or else by all ap- 
 pearance prepared to put us to death, or de- 
 tain us in perpetual captivity." 
 
 How far Murray was really involved in 
 the conspiracy is not very clearly ascertain- 
 ed. When he was introduced to the 
 Queen by Darnley, she embraced him, ex- 
 claiming, " Had you been here, I should 
 " not have been so treated." At these 
 words the Earl shed tears, which, perhaps, 
 Darnley did not witness without emotion. 
 Taking an arm of each, the unfortunate 
 Mary walked in her apartment, supported 
 by the husband who had usurped her au- 
 thority, and by the brother who was here- 
 
 13
 
 after to depose her. It was, however, some 
 relief to her anguish, that she was in the 
 custody of Darnley, who solemnly disavowed 
 having instigated the murder of Rizio. 
 
 " That night," she continues, " we de- 
 clared our state to the King our husband, 
 certifying him how miserably he would be 
 handled, if he permitted the Lords to pre- 
 vail ; and how unacceptable it would be to 
 other Princes, our confederates, in case he 
 altered the religion. By this persuasion he 
 was induced to condescend to the purpose 
 taken by us, and to retire in our company 
 to Dunbar. We being minded to have 
 gotten ourselves relieved of this detention, 
 desired, in quiet manner, the Earls of Both- 
 well and Huntly to have prepared some way 
 whereby we might have escaped ; who, not 
 doubting therein at the least, taking no 
 regard to hazard their lives in that be- 
 behalf^ devised that we should have come 
 over the walls of our palace, in the night,
 
 upon chairs, which they had in readiness 
 to that effect soon after."* 
 
 According to this statement, the change 
 which Mary had effected in Darnley's re- 
 solution, was rather the triumph of reason 
 than of love. When he was convinced that 
 the conspirators meant not to acknowledge 
 his authority, he desisted from his pre- 
 tensions, and exchanged forgiveness with 
 his injured wife. The prejudices of edu- 
 cation and religion, the pride of royalty, 
 even certain latent feelings of parental af- 
 fection, of which the most obdurate natures 
 are not incapable these various motives 
 operated on his fickle mind, and he became 
 as willing to abandon the Lords as he had 
 been eager to seek their alliance. On reach- 
 
 * To this letter was added, in the Queen's own 
 hand, " I beseech you, as soon as this shall come 
 to hand, to communicate the contents to the Court, 
 to prevent false reports from being circulated ; and do 
 not fail to impart it to the ambassadors." Keith, 
 page 332.
 
 2,53 
 
 ing Dunbar, Mary issued proclamations de- 
 nouncing the principal conspirators j who, 
 having liberated Murray, had no better re- 
 source than to flee to England, and take 
 possession of his quarters at Newcastle : 
 In the course of a few months, however, 
 all the nobles were pardoned and restored, 
 with the exception of Lord Ruthven, who 
 died in exile, of a malady which had been 
 previously pronounced incurable.* 
 
 * In the relation of Lord Ruthven, we have the fol- 
 lowing account of the manner in which Darnley be- 
 trayed his colleagues : " After supper, at six o'clock, 
 the King coming down to his chamber, the Articles 
 which were for the security of the Lords, were given 
 to the King to be subscribed by the Queen ; which the 
 King took in hand to be done, and desired the said 
 Lords to remove, that her Majesty's guards and ser- 
 vants might order all as they pleased. The Lords an- 
 swered, You may make us do what you please, but 
 'tis sore against our wills, for we fear that all is but de- 
 ceit that is meant towards us, and that the Queen will 
 pass away shortly, and take you with her, either to 
 the Castle of Edinburgh or Dunbar : and the Lord 
 Ruthven protested, That what bloodshed or mischief 
 should ensue thereon, should fall upon the King's head 
 and his posterity, and not upon theirs.
 
 254 
 
 " The King said he would warrant them all : so they 
 parted and took their leave of the King, and passed all 
 out of Holyrood House to the Earl of Morton's house, 
 where they supped. And on the morrow, which was 
 Tuesday, the 12th of March, the Lords hearing the 
 Queen's Majesty with the King was departed, contrary 
 to their expectation, after the matter was appointed, 
 they required one another's opinion; which con- 
 cluded, all to remain within the town of Edinburgh, till 
 such time as they might send some nobleman to her 
 Majesty, for performance of the Articles promised for 
 their security ; they sent for the Lord Semple, and de- 
 sired him to pass to the Queen, at Dunbar, with the 
 writing of the Lords, which he granted to do, and re- 
 ceived the same with a copy of the Articles which the 
 King received before, and promised to do his utter dili- 
 gence to get them subscribed : who, coming to Dunbar, 
 presented the Lord's writings to their Majesties : which 
 was evil taken of the Queen, who made him to remain 
 three days : who, at his return, reported that there 
 was nothing to be looked for but extremities to all 
 those Earls, Barons, and Gentlemen, that were at the 
 slaughter of David, notwithstanding her Majesty's 
 promise. At that time her Majesty wrote to all Earls, 
 Lords, and Barons, to meet her at Haddington, the 17th 
 or 18th day of March, and directed her general letters, 
 charging all men above sixteen to be at the said meet- 
 ing in armour, with weapons, after the sort of war ; and 
 sent a charge to the Lord Ereskin, Captain of the 
 Castle of Edinburgh, to fire on the town unless the 
 Lords departed out of it.
 
 255 
 
 " On Saturday, the 23d, her Majesty caused to 
 summon the Earl of Morton, and the Lord Ruthven, 
 with their accomplices, the Master of Ruthven, Laird 
 of Ormiston, Warestone, Haltone, Everstone, and 
 others, to appear before her Majesty, within six days, 
 under pain of rebellion, and putting them to her Ma- 
 jesty's horn ; which, before, hath never been used in 
 Scotland, but newly invented by them that understood 
 not law. And how her Majesty hath handled the Ba- 
 rons, and others our poor brethren at Edinburgh, and 
 how they are oppressed by the men of war, God 
 knoweth, who will put remedy thereto when He 
 thinketh best ; and how the Barons' wives are op- 
 pressed, by spoiling their places, and robbing their 
 goods, it would pity a good heart: and whereas her 
 Majesty alledgeth, that night that David was slain, 
 some held pistols to her Majesty's breast, some struck 
 so near her Majesty, that she felt the coldness of the 
 iron, with many other such like things ; which we take 
 God to record, there was not one stroke in her Majesty's 
 presence ; nor was David stricken till he was at the 
 farther door of her Majesty's outer chamber : and her 
 Majesty maketh all these allegations to bring the said 
 Earl of Morton, Lord Ruthven, and their complices, 
 into great hatred with foreign Princes, and with the 
 Nobility and Commons of the said Realm, who have 
 experience of the contrary, and know that there was 
 no evil meant to the Queen's body. The eternal God, 
 who hath the rule of all Princes in His hand, send her 
 His Holy Spirit, that she may rule and govern with 
 clemency and mercy.
 
 256 
 
 * 
 
 " Since the former division, the King hath revolted 
 from the Queen to the Lords, and now is come to her 
 again. The constancy of such a King I leave you to 
 judge of." 
 
 Written in Berwick, the last day of April, 1566, by 
 Lord Ruthven, who died a few months after. Appen- 
 dix to Keith. 
 
 Notwithstanding Lord Ruthven's complaints of the 
 Queen's cruelty, it is a well-attested fact that only two 
 obscure individuals (Scott and Yair) were executed 
 for Rizio's murder. See Arnot's Criminal Trials.
 
 257 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DISSENSION BETWEEN MARY AND DARNLEY. MARY*S 
 
 ILLNESS AT JEDBURGH. DIVORCE PROPOSED. 
 
 BAPTISM OF JAMES. DARNLEY ? S ILLNESS. RE- 
 CONCILIATION WITH THE QUEEN, DEATH. 
 
 1 HE death of Rizio forms an important 
 epoch in Mary's history. Convinced, by 
 experience, how difficult it would be to 
 maintain her government without Murray's 
 assistance, she sought to detach him from 
 Morton and his ferocious partizans, Ruthven 
 and Lindsay and, having signed a re- 
 mission for his offences, declared her wil- 
 lingness to readmit him to favour, on the 
 single condition that he should subscribe a 
 bond renouncing enmity with the Gordons, 
 the Earls of Argyle and Both well. 
 
 Destitute of political sagacity, Mary saw 
 not how chimerical must be the hope to 
 separate the interests of Murray and Mor- 
 
 VOL. n. s
 
 258 
 
 ton, whom the late conspiracy had united in 
 an eternal bond of friendship. 
 
 She flattered herself that Murray might 
 be induced to coalesce with men his in- 
 feriors in talent and reputation, over 
 whom he had long been accustomed to as- 
 sert supremacy ; she was not aware that in 
 becoming more supple he was not less am- 
 bitious, and that the mortifications he had 
 lately suffered must have rendered him not 
 less aspiring, but more reserved and insidi- 
 ous. That the moral character of Murray 
 was not improved by the lessons he had re- 
 ceived in his banishment, appears from the 
 caution and obliquity by which he ever after 
 regulated his conduct. Discarding the 
 manly language which had once justified his 
 pretensions to patriotism and independence, 
 he rather watched than reproved the follies 
 of his sovereign *, and from an open enemy 
 
 * In Randolph's Correspondence we find that when 
 Mary proposed to espouse Darnley, Murray openly 
 protested against the follies of his Sovereign.
 
 became a suspicious friend. With his new 
 colleagues he could not long harmonize. 
 The Earl of Argyle treated with brutality 
 his sister ; the Earl of Huntly was the re- 
 presentative of the Gordons, to whom, a few 
 years before, he had proved implacable, 
 and whose sister, the Lady Jean, a strict 
 Catholic, had lately espoused the ambitious 
 Bothwell, who, as a Protestant,, refused, 
 even at the Queen's solicitation, to be 
 married in the Roman chapel. 
 
 The Queen had, however, presided at the 
 nuptials with evident satisfaction. The 
 active services which Bothwell had since 
 rendered her excited her warmest gratitude ; 
 a sentiment that, in her bosom, was ever ar- 
 dent and tenacious; to evince the lively sense 
 she entertained of his loyalty, she vested 
 in him the privilege of exempting from pu- 
 nishment many who had been implicated 
 in the late conspiracy ; an indulgence cre- 
 ditable to her clemency, but which inevi- 
 tably led to the persuasion that the medi-
 
 260 
 
 ator was the exclusive object of her confi- 
 dence. The incompetency of Mary to go- 
 vern by her own judgment was now well 
 known ; her propensity to favoritism alike 
 notorious ; and Bothwell, who in reality 
 possessed talents superior to any of his par- 
 ty, naturally came to be considered as her 
 prime counsellor. On entering Edinburgh 
 Castle, in which she was to reside during 
 her confinement, Mary gave a banquet to 
 her turbulent Lords, who, in her presence, 
 pledged themselves to live in amity and 
 concord; but it was* not for a woman's 
 voice to silence the passions of ambitious 
 men. Murray suspected Bothwell, and 
 was himself hated by Huntly. Darnley 
 detested the Queen's kinsmen, nor- could 
 he endure the reflexion that Murray, the 
 object of his aversion, whom his influence 
 had once banished, should, by his agency, 
 be reinstated in power. To Bothwell he 
 appears to have shewn neither friendship nor 
 hostility. Although their fathers had been
 
 261 
 
 unsuccessful competitors for the smiles of 
 Mary of Guise ; the years of Bothwell 
 nearly doubled those of Darnley ; their ha- 
 bits and manners were wh oily dissimilar : the 
 former, brave and turbulent, coarse and un- 
 polished ; the latter, more refined, but sple- 
 netic and vindictive. From his father, 
 Bothwell challenged, by hereditary right, the 
 office of Lord High Admiral, to which was 
 now added that of Lieutenant of the Bor- 
 ders ; an honourable, but perilous service, 
 which had formerly been filled by the Earl 
 of Murray, and which that nobleman was, 
 perhaps, not displeased to see transferred to 
 a dangerous rival. To himself was assigned 
 the more important function of watching 
 over his sister's personal safety; and, in the 
 event of her demise, of lending protection 
 to her infant heir ; and as by this arrange- 
 ment, Darnley, or rather his father, detected 
 a resolution to exclude him from the re- 
 gency, he relapsed into his waywardness and 
 discontent. Although the sensibility of Mary's 
 s 3
 
 temper was ill fitted to brook affronts or suffer 
 wrongs in silence ; she had never shewfi 
 herself to be vindictive, and had dhe been 
 left to the dictates of her own heart, with 
 the natural facility of her sex, might: have 
 suggested for Darnley a better excuse than 
 he ever offered for himself ; but surrounded 
 by venal or factious courtiers, who fomented 
 their mutual discontents, she lived in an at- 
 mosphere that envenomed the wounds which 
 could only have healed in privacy and si- 
 lence. In this, as in other instances, the in- 
 jurerwas implacable. Itwas in vain that Mary 
 absolved her husband from the crime of 
 Rizio's murder, and reiterated the assurance 
 of forgiveness ; by no condescension could 
 she reconcile Darnley to himself, or screen 
 him from public contempt; by no efforts obli- 
 terate the recollection of that treachery by 
 which confidence was for ever destroyed. 
 Young and susceptible, it was no trifling ag- 
 gravation of her sufferings, that the outrage 
 she had received was published through
 
 263 
 
 Europe, with comments as mortifying to her 
 pride as injurious to her reputation j nor 
 could she, perhaps, help suspecting that she 
 was at once an object of pity to Elizabeth, 
 and of derision to Catherine de Medicis. 
 
 During an absence of five years, Mary's 
 heart had not estranged itself from the 
 Court of France ; and she was still trem- 
 blingly alive to the judgment which it 
 should pronounce upon her conduct. 
 
 To a woman of feeling, there is, per- 
 haps, no humiliation so painful as to expose 
 the errors of the man whom she has passion- 
 ately loved. A sense of propriety had al- 
 ready rendered Mary anxious, that her am- 
 bassador should exonerate her husband from 
 all voluntary participation in the murder of 
 Rizio: and it is worthy of remark, that, in 
 the following letter addressed to her aunt, 
 Anne of Este, she scarcely alluded to the 
 catastrophe. There was, perhaps, another 
 motive for her silence. The Duchess hav- 
 ing written to submit to her a question of 
 s 4
 
 264 
 
 importance to her future happiness, Mary 
 had too much delicacy to obtrude her own 
 domestic inquietudes. During the three 
 years which had elapsed since the assassin- 
 ation of her husband, the Duchess had found 
 an ardent friend in the Duke de Nemours, 
 who now solicited her hand, with a promise 
 of affording to her children parental protec- 
 tion. Although the Duchess was disposed 
 to accept his suit, her delicacy was alarmed 
 by an idle rumour, which certain Hugonot 
 libellers circulated, that this Prince had long 
 been her passionate admirer, and that she 
 was the original of that nameless beauty for 
 whom he exhibited a crimson livery. The 
 surmise is rendered improbable by the 
 tenor of Anne's domestic life; but she 
 was jealous of her reputation, and it is evi- 
 dently in reply to some scruple respecting 
 propriety, that Mary alludes in the following 
 epistle. * 
 
 * MSS. of Bethune. Royal Library.
 
 265 
 
 To the Duchess of Guise (Anne ofEste.) 
 
 " MY AUNT, 
 
 " I have received both your let- 
 ters, one after the other. In that by Mau- 
 vissiere, you evince for my sake, a sorrow 
 for which I feel not a little grateful, having 
 indeed had long and ample experience of 
 the kind feelings you entertain for me ; in 
 which I may at least venture to affirm, you 
 do not leave me behind you; but quitting 
 this pleasant theme, I have to tell you how 
 completely, in a very short time, I have 
 changed my character, from that of the most 
 easily satisfied and care-chasing of mortals, to 
 one embroiled in constant turmoils and per- 
 plexities, as you may have heard from the 
 Secretary of my Ambassador, whom I un- 
 derstand to be at Paris : On this subject it 
 will not be necessary for me to dilate ; it 
 would indeed be to wrong Mauvissiere, who 
 has received, on my part, true and faithful 
 details of these transactions. And now, to
 
 266 
 
 pass to other things I learn from yourself 
 and from my ambassador, what splendid of- 
 fers you have received from the Duke de 
 Nemours, which cannot be otherwise than 
 advantageous to your children ; and since it 
 pleases you to communicate with me, as with 
 one of your nearest relatives and friends, 
 on a subject of such importance to your fu- 
 ture prospects, I should deem it criminal 
 to withhold my real impressions, little as any 
 opinions of mine can be necessary to aid 
 your judgment. Assuredly, if I either saw 
 or heard from others, an intimation of any 
 thing that could operate to their prejudice 
 or yours, I should not scruple to own it j 
 but since, on the contrary, it appears to me 
 that, by forming this connexion, you may rea- 
 sonably hope to derive every possible good, 
 and to be once more one of the happiest 
 women in the world, I passionately desire 
 it, and the more from the good wishes which 
 I bear to the Prince, to whom you are about 
 to be allied, and to whom I beseech you to 
 10
 
 267 
 
 present my best recommendations. Embrace 
 for me also the darling, and beg her to ex- 
 cuse me if I do not write till I am relieved 
 from this burthen, which will not be till six 
 weeks hence. I pray to God to arm me 
 with constancy for that great trial. 
 
 " From the Castle of Edinburgh, this * 
 of May. " MARY." 
 
 Nearly at the same time, Mary addressed 
 the following letter to the Duke de Ne- 
 mours t : 
 
 " MY COUSIN, 
 
 " Though neither Mauvissiere 
 nor Monsieur PEmbassadeur has brought 
 me any memorial, at least from your own 
 hand, I cannot chuse but write, by Jaqties, 
 your old servant and mine, to assure you, 
 that, though you may impart your good 
 tidings to those who better deserve attention,^ 
 
 * The date is erased. 
 
 t MSS. of Bethune. Royal Library.
 
 268 
 
 you cannot find either relative or friend to 
 whom the intimation of your happiness can 
 be more acceptable. The bearer can testify 
 I have little leisure to write during these 
 troubles : You have already had a taste of 
 such distractions, but it will here be far 
 worse, unless God shall stretch forth his 
 hand, whom I pray to bestow on you your 
 mistress, with ah 1 the happiness you can 
 
 wish for. 
 
 " MARY." 
 
 During her residence in Edinburgh Cas- 
 tle, Mary received an intimation so gratify- 
 ing to her wishes as almost to atone for her 
 previous sufferings ; that in the event of 
 Elizabeth's death, the chiefs of the two 
 political parties in England were equally 
 willing to acknowledge her title to the suc- 
 cession.* Cheered by these smiling auspices, 
 she at length retired to the state chamber, 
 which had been decorated for her reception 
 
 * Melvil's Memoirs, page 133.
 
 269 
 
 during her confinement, with a tasteful 
 magnificence never before exhibited within 
 that ancient edifice. On the nineteenth of 
 June was born James of Scotland, and never, 
 perhaps, did the infant's first cries awaken 
 such various and powerful emotions in a ma- 
 ternal bosom, as when Mary received the as- 
 surance that she had a living son to recom- 
 pense her sufferings, to endear her to her 
 subjects, to realise the dreams of ambition 
 that had so long floated in her fancy, and, if 
 one irascible feeling could have alloyed the 
 transports of that blissful moment, to avenge 
 her wrongs, and baffle her foes.' In cherish- 
 ing the child from whom destruction had 
 been so wonderfully averted, she naturally 
 indulged the hope that he was reserved for 
 a splendid destiny. Anticipations of great- 
 ness and of glory mingled with the simple 
 emotions of nature, and it was not only 
 the woman but the Queen that triumphed. 
 Little did she foresee, that, in Scotland, a 
 son must inevitably become his mother's
 
 270 
 
 rival ; and that, in giving the nation a male 
 representative of Bruce, she had lost her 
 strongest hold on their future allegiance. 
 
 Even in the first transports of joy and na- 
 tional enthusiasm, the education of the 
 Prince became a subject of anxious solici- 
 tude to her Protestant subjects ; who, after 
 having assembled in the High Church to 
 return solemn thanks for her safety, unani- 
 mously resolved to insist that he should be 
 nurtured in evangelical principles. 
 
 For this purpose a congratulatory depu- 
 tation from the General Assembly, headed 
 by the superintendant of Lothian, commu- 
 nicated to the Queen the prayers of her 
 subjects that she would be graciously 
 pleased to allow their Prince to be reared in 
 the true faith. Unfortunately for Mary, she 
 discovered not how much it imported even 
 to her personal safety, to acquiesce in this 
 demand ; more unfortunately still, she 
 allowed herself to believe that, both in Scot- 
 land and England, the antient worship was
 
 ultimately to be restored : the number of 
 Catholics in both countries had lately aug- 
 mented, and she well knew that in France, 
 Spain, and Italy, a league existed for the 
 extirpation of heretical principles. With 
 these internal convictions, Mary scrupu- 
 lously abstained from a promise, not only 
 revolting to her conscience, but incompatible 
 with her foreign engagements ; unwilling, 
 however, at such a moment, to cause dis- 
 pleasure to her subjects, without replying 
 to the address, she ordered the infant Prince 
 to be presented to the deputies, and with 
 her wonted grace placed him in the arms of 
 the superintendant. Charmed with this af- 
 fability, the minister uttered a prayer for the 
 babe's future honor and prosperity, and, at 
 the conclusion, extorted from the child a 
 certain responsive murmur, to signify that 
 he pronounced, Amen. Mary, now in her 
 turn delighted, with genuine expressions 
 of maternal fondness thanked the minister, 
 sportively calling him good Mr. Amen, an
 
 appellation by which he was ever after dis- 
 tinguished. * 
 
 The birth of James afforded Mary a plau- 
 sible pretext for renewing with Elizabeth the 
 subject of her right to the succession, nor 
 did this application, however unacceptable, 
 prevent the Queen of England from con- 
 senting to become one of the sponsors to 
 her infant son. In the meantime, his mother 
 delighted to form for him an expensive es- 
 tablishment, consisting (exclusive of the only 
 useful individual, his nurse) of a governor, 
 a governess, and between thirty and forty 
 officers and domestics, some of whom were 
 musicians. The fondness which Mary show- 
 ered on her son, might have renewed her 
 affection for her husband, had she not been 
 fatally convinced that he regarded her with 
 the most mortifying indifference. Hitherto 
 he had remained with her in the Castle, but 
 dissension soon arose between them. Mur- 
 ray having obtained the Queen's pardon for 
 
 * Spottiswoode.
 
 273 
 
 t 
 
 Maitland, who, for what reason is little 
 known, was the object of Darnley's peculiar 
 abhorrence. The Secretary, not having yet 
 been admitted to the presence of his Mis- 
 tress, it was agreed that their meeting should 
 take place at Alloa, the residence of the 
 Earl of Mar, whom Mary was about to vi- 
 sit, accompanied by the Earl and Countess 
 of Murray, her sister the Lady Argyle, and 
 her hospitable host, the Earl of Mar, whose 
 wife was already the governess of the infant 
 Prince of Scotland. With these friends and 
 kinsmen Mary embarked on the Forth, in 
 a vessel provided by Bothwell, \?ho, in the 
 character of hereditary Admiral, officially 
 presided during the excursion.* 
 
 * Such is the foundation of Buchanan's anecdote of 
 Mary committing herself to the protection of Bothwell 
 and the pirates. Captain Blackadder commanded the 
 vessel, and it is true that, when Bothwell's fortunes be- 
 came desperate, he addicted himself to piracy. But 
 no discredit attached to that officer at the period of 
 Mary's embarkation : besides that she went in good 
 company; and it is worthy of remark, that the female 
 
 VOL. II. T
 
 274 
 
 At Alloa, the Laird of Lethington present- 
 ed himself to the Queen, and was graciously 
 reinstated in her favour. But the pleasure 
 of this restoration was destroyed by Darnley, 
 who, not chusing to sail in the same vessel 
 with Murray, had overtaken the Queen 
 by land. At the sight of Lethington his 
 ill humour redoubled, and indignantly quit- 
 ting the party*, he went back to Edin- 
 burgh. To that place Mary herself returned 
 to meet the ambassador Mauvissiere (de 
 Castelnau) who, having arrived expressly to 
 present congratulations on the birth of her 
 
 friends with whom she most familiarly associated, such 
 as the Ladies Argyle, Mar, and Murray, were of un- 
 blemished reputation. For the documents of Mary's 
 excursion to Alloa, see Chalmers* page 181, 4to. edit. 
 Also Goodall, vol. i. p. 293. 
 
 * The calumny of Buchanan is also repelled by Mr. 
 Chalmers with an unpublished dispatch of the Earl of 
 Bedford, (extracted from the paper office,) specifically 
 stating that a quarrel had arisen between Darnley and 
 Mary on the subject of Maitland.
 
 son, kindly interposed his good offices to 
 effect a reconciliation between Mary and 
 her wayward husband. * 
 
 That the representations of Castelnau had 
 produced some impression on Darnley's 
 mind, appeared from his comparatively ra- 
 tional conduct during six weeks, when he 
 condescended* to accompany the Queen 
 and the Court on an excursion to Megot- 
 land, or Peebleshire, a district long cele- 
 brated for the delights of hunting ; of which 
 James the Fourth, and his successor had 
 left many a romantic tradition. Although 
 disappointed in the original object of their 
 expedition, the discovery of game, the 
 Royal party progressed to the Western 
 Highlands, but little pleasure awaited them, 
 when the admonitions of Castelnau ceased 
 
 * See Memoires de Castelnau, in which he states 
 that the young King and Queen had quarrelled from 
 mutual distrust and jealousy of power ; and that Darn- 
 ley was rash and unreasonable, and Mary Stuart am- 
 bitious and unsubmitting. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 
 
 to be regarded ; and the violence of 
 Darnley's temper exasperated by disap- 
 pointment, was perpetually rekindling do- 
 mestic discord. Conscious that he had 
 forfeited his title to respect, this miserable 
 victim of egotism and arrogance, imputed 
 insult and rudeness to all that appro'ached 
 him, or that possessed the Queen's confi- 
 dence ; and with perverseness, bordering on 
 madness, directed his hostility towards her 
 unexceptionable female friends, the Ladies 
 Mar, Argyle, and Murray. * Wearied at 
 length with incessant quarrels, he detached 
 himself from the Court, retired to a private 
 house, and positively refused to accompany 
 Mary to Edinburgh. Left to himself, and 
 to the undisturbed indulgence of his gloomy 
 reflections, he devised a scheme that ac- 
 corded with his morbid feelings, and pro- 
 mised him an exquisite though desperate 
 
 * See Earl of Bedford's Dispatch from the Paper 
 Office in the Appendix to Robertson's History of Scot- 
 land.
 
 277 
 
 revenge. This was no other, than to 
 abandon his country, to wander like a de- 
 solate and proscribed being ; only to pub- 
 lish his imaginary wrongs and inflict ago- 
 nizing pangs on Mary's pride and delicacy. 
 Whilst he was thus occupied, he received 
 a visit from his father ; who, though in ge- 
 neral disposed to encourage his follies, was 
 in this instance sufficiently rational to dis- 
 suade him from the enterprize. But wis- 
 dom loses its efficacy when administered to 
 fools ; and the Earl, finding his remon- 
 strances unheeded, despatched a messenger 
 to the Queen, announcing and deploring 
 his son's determination. Within a few 
 hours arrived Darnley himself to confirm 
 the intelligence. 
 
 The behaviour of Mary and the conduct 
 which was adopted by her ministers towards 
 her husband, are well detailed in the following 
 letter, addressed by the Privy Council to the 
 Queen-Mother of France, which evidently 
 bears the stamp of Maitland's able pen. 
 T 3
 
 278 
 
 After the usual exordium of compliment, 
 the writer thus enters on the subject. 
 
 " About ten or twelve days ago, the 
 Queen, at our request, came to this town 
 of Lisleburg, (Edinburgh.) Her Majesty 
 was desirous the King should have come 
 with her, but because he liked to remain at 
 Stirling, and wait her return thither, she 
 left him there, with an intention to go to- 
 wards him again in five or six days ; mean 
 time whilst the Queen was absent, the Earl 
 of Lennox, his father, came to visit him in 
 Stirling, and having femained with him two 
 or three days, he went his way to Glasgow, 
 the ordinary place of his abode ; from Glas- 
 gow, my Lord of Lennox wrote to the 
 Queen, and acquainted her Majesty, that 
 though formerly, both by letters and mes- 
 sages, and now also by communication with 
 his son, he endeavoured to divert him from 
 an enterprize he had in view, he nevertheless 
 had not the interest to make him alter his 
 mind. This project, he tells the Queen, was
 
 to retire out of the kingdom beyond sea, 
 and for this purpose he had a ship lying 
 ready. The Earl of Lennox's letter came 
 to the Queen's hands on Michaelmas-day, 
 and her Majesty was pleased to impart the 
 same to the Lords of her Council ; and if 
 her Majesty was surprized by this adver- 
 tisement, these Lords were no less asto- 
 nished to understand that the King, who 
 may justly esteem himself happy, upon 
 account of the honour conferred upon him, 
 and whose chief aim should be to render 
 himself grateful to her country, should en- 
 tertain any thoughts of departing, after so 
 strange a manner, out of her presence j nor 
 was it possible for them to form a con- 
 jecture from whence such an imagination 
 should take its rise. Their Lordships, there- 
 fore, took a resolution to talk with the 
 King, that they might learn from him- 
 self the occasion of this hasty deliberation. 
 The same evening the King came to Edin- 
 burgh, but made some difficulty to enter 
 T 4
 
 280 
 
 into the Palace, by reason that three or four 
 Lords* were at that time present with the 
 Queen, and peremptorily insisted that they 
 might be gone before he would conde- 
 scend to come in ; which deportment ap- 
 peared to be abundantly unreasonable, 
 since they were three of the greatest lords 
 in the kingdom, and that those Kings 
 who by birth were Sovereigns of the 
 realm, have never acted in that manner 
 towards the nobility. The Queen, how- 
 ever, received this behaviour as decently as 
 was possible ; and condescended so far as 
 to meet the King without the palace, and 
 so conducted him into her own apartments ; 
 and there he remained all night, and then 
 her Majesty entered calmly with him on 
 the subject of his going abroad, that she 
 might understand from himself the occasion 
 of such a resolution ; but he would by no 
 means give or acknowledge that he had 
 
 * The Earls Murray, Rothes, and Glencairn.
 
 281 
 
 any occasion offered him of discontent. The 
 Lords of Council being acquainted, early next 
 morning that the King was going to return 
 to Stirling, they repaired to the Queen's 
 apartment, and no other person being pre- 
 sent, except Monsieur de Croc, whom they 
 prayed to assist with them as being here on 
 the part of her Majesty, the occasion of 
 their being together here was then with all 
 humility and reverence due to their Ma- 
 jesties proposed, namely, to understand from 
 the King, whether according to advice im- 
 parted to the Queen, by the Earl of Len- 
 nox, he had formed a resolution to depart 
 by sea out of the realm, and upon what 
 ground, and for what end ? That if his re- 
 solution proceeded from discontent they 
 were earnest to know what persons had 
 afforded an occasion for the same. That 
 if he could complain of any of the sub- 
 jects of the realm ; be they of what quality 
 soever, the fault should immediately be 
 repaired to his satisfaction. And now we did
 
 282 
 
 remonstrate with him, that his own honour, 
 and the Queen's honour, the honour of us 
 all, was concerned; for if, without just occa- 
 sion, he would retire from the place, and 
 abandon the society of her, to whom he is 
 so far obliged, that in order to advance him, 
 she humbled herself and, from being his 
 Sovereign, surrendered herself to be his 
 wife ; if he should act in this sort, the whole 
 world would blame him, as ingrate and ut- 
 terly unworthy to possess the place to which 
 she had exalted him. On the other hand, 
 that if any just occasion had been given 
 him, it behoved to be very important, since 
 it inclined him to relinquish so beautiful a 
 Queen, and noble realm; and the same 
 must have been afforded either by the 
 Queen herself, or us, her ministers. As 
 for us, we professed ourselves ready to 
 do him all the justice he could demand. 
 Then her Majesty was pleased to enter into 
 the discourse, and spoke affectionately to 
 him, beseeching him that since he would 
 10
 
 283 
 
 not open his mind to her in private, accord- 
 ing to her most earnest request, he would 
 declare before these lords, where she had 
 offended him, in any thing. She likewise 
 said, that she had a clear conscience j that 
 in all her life she had never done any thing 
 that could prejudice his or her honor: 
 but, nevertheless, as she might have given 
 him offence without design, she was 
 willing to make amends as far as he 
 should require ; therefore, prayed him not 
 to dissemble. 
 
 " But though the Queen and all others, 
 with Monsieur de Croc, used all the interest 
 they were able, he would not own that he 
 had intended any voyage, and declared 
 freely, that the Queen had given him no 
 occasion of complaint. Whereupon he 
 took leave of her Majesty, and went his 
 way, so that we were all of opinion, this 
 was but a false alarm, the Earl of Lennox 
 was willing to give her Majesty : neverthe- 
 less, by a letter, which the King has since
 
 284- 
 
 wrote to the Queen in a sort of disguised 
 style, it appears that he still has it in his 
 head to leave the kingdom ; and there is an 
 advertisement otherwise, that he is secretly 
 proposing to be gone." 
 
 The Secretary continues, 
 
 " 'Tis true, that in the letter, he grounds 
 a complaint on two points ; one is, that her 
 Majesty trusts him not with so much autho- 
 rity, nor is at such pains to advance him, 
 and make him honoured, as she first did ; 
 and the other point is, that nobody attends 
 him, and that the nobility desert his com- 
 pany. To these the Queen has made answer, 
 that if the case be so, he ought to blame 
 himself, and not her ; for, that in the be- 
 ginning, she had conferred so much honour 
 upon him, as came afterwards to render 
 herself uneasy the credit and reputation 
 wherein she had placed him, having served 
 as a shadow to those who have most hein- 
 ously offended her reputation. But, not- 
 withstanding this, she has continued to shew
 
 him such respect, that although they who 
 did perpetrate the murder of her faithful 
 servant, had entered her chamber with his 
 knowledge, having followed close, and had 
 named him the chief of their enterprize ; 
 yet would she never accuse, but did always 
 excuse him, and was willing to appear as 
 though she believed it not. And then as to 
 his not being attended, the fault thereof 
 must be charged upon himself, since she has 
 always made an offer to him of her own 
 servants ; and as for the nobility, they come 
 to Court and pay deference and respect, 
 according as they have any matters to do, 
 and as they receive a kindly countenance ; 
 but that he is at no pains to gain them, and 
 make himself beloved, having gone so far 
 as to prohibit those noblemen from enter- 
 ing his room, whom she had first appointed 
 to be about his person. If the nobility 
 abandon him, his own deportment towards 
 them, is the cause thereof; for if he desires 
 to be followed and attended, he must in the
 
 286 
 
 first place, gain their love, and for this pur- 
 pose render himself amiable to them, with- 
 out which, it would be difficult for her Ma- 
 jesty to regulate this point especially to 
 make the nobility consent, that he shall have 
 the management of affairs put into his hands, 
 because she finds them utterly averse to any 
 such matter."* 
 
 At hiifdeparture from the Privy Council, 
 Darnley had taken leave of Mary with these 
 emphatic words : " Adieu ! Madam. You 
 " shall not see my face for a long space." 
 To the lords he also bowed, and said, 
 "Gentlemen, Adieu!" yet such was his 
 vacillation, that the next day, he sent to 
 the French Ambassador to meet him be- 
 tween Glasgow and Stirling, when he suf- 
 fered himself to be almost persuaded to re- 
 linquish his purpose ; and by degrees ac- 
 knowledged, that he wanted to displace 
 Secretary Maitland, the Justice Clerk, and 
 the Clerk of the Register ; and, as he ul- 
 
 * Keith, p. 329.
 
 28? 
 
 timately abandoned the enterprize of going 
 abroad, it should seem that the only ra- 
 tional object of his conduct, was to compel 
 Mary to new model her administration. 
 Respecting the objects or the causes of 
 Darnley's repugnance, the Lords of the 
 Privy Council preserve a discreet silence. 
 But their omission is supplied by Sir Ro- 
 bert Melvil, who frankly states that it was r 
 " because the king could not obtain such 
 " things as he sought, and chiefly the re- 
 " moval of Maitland, and the ministers 
 " above-mentioned, whom he alleged to have 
 " been guilty in Rizio's murder, although 
 "the Queen had acquitted him thereof." It 
 appears not improbable that Darnley took 
 this step partly to throw from himself the 
 odium he had incurred in that transaction, 
 and partly to deprive the Queen of an able 
 statesman, whose talents must have fortified 
 any administration ; whatever resulted from 
 his political views, he succeeded completely 
 in rendering Mary the most miserable of 
 women.
 
 288 
 
 / In the meanwhile, the queen prepared, in 
 pursuance of a resolution formerly taken, 
 to hold a justice ayre, at Jedburgh ; at 
 which her husband ought to have as- 
 sisted. Nothing could be more rude and 
 disturbed than the state of society towards 
 the borders, where the great lords and their 
 vassals equally spurned the restraint of laws, 
 and the authority of the sovereign. The 
 neighbouring districts had long been in- 
 fested with banditti ; to chastise whose in- 
 solence, Bothwell, the Queen's lieutenant, 
 advanced from Jedburgh towards the 
 Marches ; where he was attacked by the 
 robbers, severely wounded, and finally con- 
 
 i 
 
 veyed to a place called the Hermitage*, 
 for recovery. This unlucky accident oc- 
 curred on the 8th of October ; on which 
 day, the Queen, accompanied by the Earls 
 Murray, Argyle, Rothes, Glencairn, and 
 Huntly, had quitted Edinburgh ; she arrived 
 
 * In Liddisdale. The inhabitants of Liddisdale 
 chiefly bore the surname of Armstrong.
 
 "289 
 
 at Jedburgh on the 10th, and immediately 
 proceeded to public business. Proclama- 
 tions had been previously issued, summon- 
 ing the nobility and gentry of the country 
 to her assistance ; and also, to prohibit men 
 from resorting to the Court in armour, or 
 from offering to the citizens unseemly vio- 
 lence. It was not till the 16th, that the 
 Queen, with her Officers of State, passed 
 to Hermitage Castle, twenty miles distant, 
 whether to confer with Bothwell on busi- 
 ness, respecting the motives for the late out- 
 rage on his person, or purely as a visit of 
 friendship and condolence ; a respectful, 
 and as should seem, well-merited acknow- 
 ledgment of his loyal services, must be left 
 to conjecture.* It is, however, not impro- 
 
 * From the circumstance mentioned by Mr. Chalmers, 
 that a roll of papers was transmitted to Bothwell, on 
 the day after this visit, by the Queen's order, it appears 
 probable, that the visit was purely official. Be that as it 
 may, the facts are very different from the account given 
 even by Dr. Robertson, who, in this instance, incau- 
 tiously followed Buchanan. That several days elapsed> 
 
 VOL. II. U
 
 290 
 
 ' bable, since the Earl of Morton was, at that 
 time, known to be in the neighbouring 
 March of Cessford, that Mary, might be 
 anxious to ascertain from Bothwell's lips, 
 whether he ascribed the attack on his per- 
 son to that nobleman's instigation. In Mor- 
 ton's behalf she had long been importuned 
 by Murray, by Elizabeth, and Maitland, 
 and, at a proper time, meant to yield to 
 their solicitations j but the discovery of a 
 new treason would have altered her pro- 
 ceedings ; to ascertain the fact was, there- 
 fore, of importance, j By whatever consider- 
 ations Mary was induced to pay this visit, 
 there appears not, (when calumny is dis- 
 carded,) any specific ground for the suspicion 
 that she then felt for Bothwell a warmer 
 
 from the time when Mary became apprized of the ac- 
 cident, before she went to Hermitage Castle, is ascer- 
 tained from the public Registers ; which demonstrate. 
 
 that she arrived on the 10th at Jedburgh See 
 
 Keith, p. 351, 352. Birrel's Diary. Even Knox men- 
 tions her journey to Hermitage from Jedburgh, in- 
 stead of Borthwick.
 
 sentiment than friendship ; in all her affec- 
 tions, Mary was ardent, and romantic, 
 and though it should have been admitted 
 that she had gone to Hermitage Castle 
 merely to say one kind word to the loyal 
 servant, whose blood had lately flowed in 
 her service, she had, two years before, made 
 a far greater effort to gratify a female friend, 
 when she rode to Calender, to assist at the 
 baptism of Lord Levingston's child, regard- 
 less of the danger which awaited her, from 
 Murray and his party.* 
 
 Had her attentions to Bothwell been sus- 
 ceptible of a dishonourable interpretation, 
 it is impossible not to believe that Darn- 
 ley, in his late epistolary remonstrance, 
 would have availed himself of such fair 
 and legitimate grounds for complaint. [The 
 ride to Jedburgh had nearly proved fatal to 
 Mary : exhausted with fatigue, consumed 
 
 * Keith, page 292. This was previous to- Mary's 
 marriage with Darnley. 
 
 U 2
 
 with vain regrets and unceasing solicitudes, 
 she was the next morning attacked by a 
 fever, of which the symptoms soon became 
 alarming ; #nd not only to her friends, but 
 herself, her recovery appeared hopeless./ At 
 
 I r '"" " i j, TT i um "ii ' ' ' M --i~- JL^iin""^ 
 
 ine moment, when the secret frailties of her 
 soul were revealed in confession, Mary 
 avowed nothing, which the most virtuous 
 woman might blush to own, or to which 
 the most rigid censor could impute re- 
 proach. There is a letter from Lesley*, 
 Bishop oflloss, to her confident, the Arch- 
 bishop of Glasgow, that minutely describes 
 the progress of her malady, and her beha- 
 viour under the impression that her dis- 
 solution was approaching. He expatiates 
 on her patience, her piety, and resigna- 
 tion ; and, in what manner she conjured 
 her nobles to watch over the education 
 of her son, and to allow liberty of con- 
 
 * Lesley's letter to the Archbishop of Glasgow. 
 See Keith, Appendix.
 
 293 
 science to her Catholic subjects. / But the 
 
 _jj_i IIIMI~IT"^ ii ' i rri , , mLr .UK- ^^ , *% m*0f*^ 
 
 good Bishop, being well aware that his let- 
 ter would be communicated to Cardinal 
 
 Lorrain, prudently abstained from mention- 
 
 i~~ 
 
 /Ing, that Maryfhad entreated Murray to 
 
 v assume the Regency ; and that she be- 
 / queathed the guardianship of her son to 
 Elizabeth^ There is another subject intro- 
 duced in this letter, that throws light on the 
 embarrassments of the Queen's situation, 
 and strikingly illustrates the mixture of 
 bigotry and facility, of timidity and pre- 
 sumption, that struggled in her character. 
 This refers to the arrival of the Pope's 
 Nuncio, whom, to give dignity to her 
 son's approaching baptism, she had rashly 
 s invited to Scotland, where it was utterly 
 impossible he should be received, and 
 where the intimation of such a purpose 
 must inevitably have kindled sedition. To 
 make an effort for his reception was, in 
 Mary's eyes, an imperative duty too Jong 
 neglected, for which she languished to offer 
 u 3
 
 I 
 
 atonement. As she was, however, sensible 
 that she had miscalculated in bespeaking 
 the Nuncio's assistance at the baptism, 
 where Elizabeth's ambassador was to be 
 present ; she had no alternative but to 
 suggest a delay, little agreeing with her in- 
 clinations, or her professions ; and by which 
 she compromised her sincerity, without as- 
 suring her safety. 
 
 A letter from the aged Le Croc, the French 
 Ambassador, confirms Lesley's, details of her 
 patience and resignation, and that she pro- 
 fessed her readiness to exchange forgive- 
 ness with her enemies. Mt was long before 
 Darnley came to claim the benefit of this 
 general amnesty, and his neglect drew 
 from Le Croc the qualified reproach, that 
 if the King was aware of her state, he was 
 without excuse. Finally, the King arrived ; 
 but as his visit was not prompted by. love, 
 it afforded no pleasure ; and as he still dis- 
 dained to conciliate the woman he had so 
 deeply injured, he made a precipitate 
 10
 
 retreat. In the meanwhile, Bothwell, now 
 
 I 
 
 in a state of convalescence, repaired to 
 Jedburgh, and had frequent conferences 
 with his royal mistress, of which, according 
 to Melvil, the restoration of the Earls Mor- 
 ton, Ruthven, and Lindsay, formed a prin- 
 cipal .subject/ 
 
 Mary's recovery was rapid, and to recruit 
 her strength, she ventured, even in Novem- 
 ber, to commence an excursion, she had long 
 meditated, towards Berwick. * She was accom- 
 panied by Murray, Maitland, the High She- 
 riff Bothwell, and eight hundred horsemen, 
 who formed for her a cavalcade, not less 
 royal than that of her grandmother, Mar- 
 
 * This excursion is curiously misrepresented by 
 Buchanan, and the journal supposed to have been for- 
 warded by Murray to Cecil, inserted in Anderson's col- 
 lections. One of its insidious features is, that although 
 Mary (as appears from various State documents, and 
 Maitland's letter) was publicly accompanied, she is 
 always mentioned as being with Bothwell only. The 
 discrepancy in the spurious and genuine journals, is 
 demonstrated by Mr. Chalmers. See Note (rf), at the 
 end of the volume. 
 
 U \
 
 296 
 
 garet. On being apprized of her approach, 
 Sir John Foster, the Warden of Berwick, 
 to avoid exciting suspicion of hostile inten- 
 tions marched out with only three score 
 men, who paraded before her on Halidon- 
 Hill, where the English took leave with 
 every mark of reverence and homage.* 
 
 In this excursion, although Mary could 
 have had no clandestine interview with 
 JBothwell, it is not improbable but that, as 
 Melvil affirms, she privately apprized him 
 .of her intention finally to grant Morton's 
 pardon, at the intercession of Elizabeth. 
 Nor is it unlikely, that the schemes of am- 
 bition, afterwards so fatal to his Sovereign 
 and his country, first rose to his mind 
 during the deliberations of her ministers on 
 the necessity .of dissolving the fatal ties 
 which Mary had contracted with Darnley. 
 How far the Queen was conscious of their 
 intentions is not known ; but she returned 
 to^Craigmillar, overwhelmed with dejec- 
 tion. * I fear," writes the good Le 
 * Keith, page 253.
 
 Croc, " she will still give us trouble \ 
 " the cause of her illness is deep-seated 
 " grief and she continually exclaims, * / 
 
 " would I were dead? The King, 
 
 " her husband," continues the ambassador, 
 " came to visit her at Jedburgh ; he re- 
 " mained there but one single night, and 
 " yet, in that short time I had a great 
 " deal of conversation with him. He re- 
 " turned to see the Queen about five or 
 " six days ago, and the day before yester- 
 " day he sent to desire to speak with me, 
 " which I complied with, and Ibund that 
 " things go still worse and worse. I think 
 " he intends to go away to-morrow j but in 
 " any event I am positive, as I always have 
 " been, that he will not be present at the 
 " baptism. To speak my mind freely, (but 
 ** I beg you not to disclose what I say in 
 " any place that might turn to my pre- 
 . " judice,) I do not, for several reasons, ex- 
 " pect that any good understanding will 
 " ever subsist between them, unless God 
 " effectually put to his hand. I shall only
 
 * name two : the first is, the King will 
 " never humble himself as he ought 
 " the other is, that the Queen can't see 
 " any nobleman speaking with the King, 
 but presently she suspects some con- 
 trivance among them." 
 December 1, 1567. 
 
 A propensity to suspicion was a weakness 
 to which Mary had been subject from her 
 early youth ; she had learned, from fatal ex- 
 perience, to watch her husband's actions 
 with distrust; nor was the result of her 
 observations consolatory, since, if Knox 
 may be credited, she had the mortification 
 to discover in him a new treachery, that 
 of writing to the Pope, to complain of her 
 lukewarmness and mismanagement in the 
 Catholic cause. Whether even Darnley 
 was actually guilty of this last baseness, 
 may perhaps be doubted; but i by 
 malicious misrepresentations, such an im- 
 pression was produced on Mary's mind, 
 the effect must have been equally injurious
 
 990 
 
 ^1 (...dMBH I.- .*-"*""""* 
 
 to her peace. I With so many sources 
 of uneasiness, it is not surprising that she 
 should consume hour after hour in sighs 
 and tears, or that her declining health 
 excited the apprehension, that like her 
 father she was destined to die of grief. At 
 length Maitland devised a scheme, which 
 Murray appears to have sanctioned, and, 
 one morning accompanied by the Earls of 
 Argyle, Huntly, and Bothwell, repaired 
 to the Queen's apartment, where, having 
 expatiated on Darnley's flagitious conduct, 
 the secretary suggested the expediency of 
 a divorce, which he pledged himself to 
 obtain, on condition that the Queen should 
 restore to their estates and honours the 
 Earls Morton, Lindsay, and Ruthven. Her 
 Grace answered, '* That on two conditions 
 " she might agree to the proposal : the 
 " first, that the divorce should be made 
 " lawfully, and that it should not prejudice 
 " her son ; otherwise, she would rather 
 " endure all torments, and abide the perils 
 *' that might ensue."
 
 300 
 
 The Earl of Bothwell answered, " The 
 
 - 
 
 " divorce might be made without pieju- 
 *' dice to the Prince, since he himself had 
 " succeeded to his father's title and estate ; 
 \ *' although he had been divorced from his 
 ** mother. 
 
 " It was also suggested that after the di- 
 " voice, the King should remain in one part 
 *' of the country, the Queen in another, or 
 " that he should withdraw to a foreign land." 
 
 The Queen here said, " That perhaps he 
 " would change opinion, and that it was 
 *' better that she herself for a time passed 
 " into France." 
 
 Then Lethington rejoined, " Think ye 
 \ *'. not, that we, who are of the chief of your 
 i; **. Nobility and Council, shall find means 
 " that you be quit of him without prejudice 
 " to your son ? and although my Lord of 
 *' Murray be no less scrupulous for a Pro- 
 " testant than your Grace for a Papist, 
 " I am sure he will look through his fingers 
 thereto, and will behold our doings." .
 
 .301 
 
 The Queen here answered decidedly, "f 
 " will, that ye do nothing to spot my ho- 
 " nour or conscience ; and therefore I pray 
 " you let the matter rest, till God of- his 
 " goodness find the remedy."* 
 
 It is difficult to develope the motives of 
 Mary's refusal : had she secretly loved 
 Both well, she would probably have em- 
 braced the means of liberty ; and had she 
 already embarked in a criminal intrigue, 
 she would not have resisted the persuasions 
 
 * Extracted from the declaration of the Earls Hunt- 
 ly and Argyle, see appendix to Keith. Anderson's 
 Collections. To this declaration, which was presented 
 at Hampton Court with the view of throwing on 
 Murray's party the odium of Darnley's murder, the 
 Earl of Murray gave in an answer, not denying the 
 conversation alluded to, but protesting that he had 
 never signed any bond, nor been accessary to any 
 association for the King's death. But he denied not 
 that the proposal for divorce was made to Mary 
 at Cragmillar, which is thus established, even by 
 Murray's testimony. It is curious to observe how 
 completely Buchanan inverts the truth, when he pre- 
 tends that the Queen and Bothwell began to talk qf 
 the divorce, but being repulsed projected the assas- 
 sination.
 
 302 
 
 of her paramour ; if influenced alone by 
 vindictive feelings, she sought her hus- 
 band's life, she must have been sensible 
 that when the nuptial tie was dissolved, he 
 would be more easily assailable. Why 
 then did she recoil from the proposal, 
 unless she feared to compromise herself by 
 endangering Darnley's safety, or that some 
 sentiments of affection still lingered in her 
 heart? It has been supposed, that she 
 dreaded the censures which might be 
 passed on her conduct in France ; or that 
 she feared to separate her interests from 
 those of her husband, lest she should injure 
 her title to the English crown. All these 
 objections are valid when addressed to 
 reason, but passion would have challenged 
 stronger arguments. 
 
 It was in December Mary was thus 
 scrupulous. Little could she then antici- 
 pate the reproaches she was to incur in the 
 ensuing May. 
 
 """"Amidst all her perplexities, the Queen 
 was indefatigable in her preparations for
 
 SOS 
 
 the royal christening. Like all her family, 
 she delighted in pomp and magnificence, 
 and on the present occasion her pride was 
 sanctified by maternal affection. At length 
 the ambassadors of France, Savoy, and/ 
 England being arrived she repaired to StiiV 
 ling, where she affected to discard her 
 cares, and to think only of adding lustre 
 to the festival. The baptismal ceremony 
 was performed according to the Roman 
 rites, within her own chapel, which neither 
 the Earl of Bedford, nor any protestant 
 lords entered ; the Countess of Argyle, 
 who represented Elizabeth, and who carried 
 the child in her arms, ventured into the 
 idolatrous temple, a crime for which she had 
 afterwards to undergo public penance in the 
 kirk of Edinburgh. At dinner, where Mary 
 presided with more than wonted grace, the 
 Earl of Bedford, willing to compliment the 
 nobility at the expence of their sovereign, 
 expressed his thankfulness that only two 
 of the lords then present had countenanced
 
 504 
 
 the superstitions of Papistry* ; a remark 
 which Mary endured with her accustomed 
 politeness, not perhaps without secretly 
 felicitating herself on the absence of the 
 Pope's Nuncio. With the English ambas- 
 sador, came Robert Gary and many of 
 Elizabeth's gallant cavaliers, on whom the 
 Queen of Scots made a most favourable 
 impression. A succession of masques and 
 banquets followed, but in none did Darnley 
 take a part ; and whilst the Queen sparkled 
 in the hall of Stirling castle, disguising in 
 smiles an aching heart, her husband, 
 who, had he consulted his dignity, would 
 have removed from the town, still lin- 
 gered in it, immured in a private mansion 
 unknown, unhonoured, ashamed to meet 
 strangers, afraid to seek friends, and with 
 no other satisfaction than that of be- 
 lieving that, if he did not partake, he could 
 
 * Knox, page 44-0. The Earl of Bedford brought 
 from the Queen of England, a present of a font of 
 gold valued at 3,000 crowns.
 
 305 
 
 f 
 at least poison the Queen's triumph. Various 
 
 causes have been assigned for an absence 
 derogatory to the dignity of either party. 
 Whether he feared the Earl of Bedford 
 would not recognize him as King, or scorned 
 to witness Mary's magnificence, or believed 
 he should mortify her by his conduct, 
 this at least is certain, that Darnley was 
 no less miserable than Mary ; and the fol- 
 lowing letter from the French ambassador, 
 Le Croc, affords a striking illustration of 
 the sufferings incident to royalty, as exem- 
 plified in the King and Queen of Scotland. * 
 
 December 
 
 " The christening of the Prince was so- 
 " lemnized on Tuesday last, when he re- 
 " ceived the. name of Charles James; it 
 " was the Queen's pleasure that he should 
 
 * Buchanan pretends that the Queen would not 
 give Darnley a suit of clothes. But Mr. Chalmers has 
 ascertained by the Treasury books, that Darnley 's ex- 
 penditure was at least equal to that of Mary. Quarto 
 edition, vol. i. p. 186. 
 
 VOL. II. X
 
 306 
 
 11 bear the name of James together with 
 " Charles, after the King of France, be- 
 " cause, said she, all the good Kings of 
 " Scotland, his predecessors, who have been 
 " most devoted to the crown of France, 
 " were called by the name of James. 
 " Every thing was performed according to 
 " the holy Catholic church. The King, 
 "Lord Darnley, had still given out that 
 " he should depart two days before the 
 " christening : but when the time ap- 
 " preached, he gave no sign of removal ; 
 " only, he still kept close within his own 
 " apartment. The very day of the cere- 
 " mony, he sent three times, desiring me 
 " either to come and see him, or to appoint 
 " the hour when he might come to my 
 " lodgings ; so that I found myself obliged 
 " to signify to him, that since he was on 
 " no good terms with the Queen, I had 
 " been charged by the Most Christian King, 
 " to have no communication with him. 
 " And I caused him also to be told, that a> 
 
 15
 
 307 
 
 " it would not be proper for him to come to 
 " my lodgings, where there was a crowd of 
 " company ; as he might understand that 
 " there were two passages in it, and that 
 " if he entered by one door, I should 
 " be constrained to go out by the other : 
 " nor can any good be expected from him. 
 " I cannot pretend to foretell how all may 
 " terminate, but this I will say, that matters 
 " cannot long remain as they are, without 
 " producing bad consequences. Of the 
 " Queen, he says, she behaved admirably, 
 " and shewed such earnestness to entertain 
 " the company in the best manner, as 
 " almost to forget her own sufferings." 
 
 Since the last' rupture of the King and 
 Queen, there had been no symptom of re- 
 conciliation ; and, according to Le Croc, 
 at this period, Darnley exhibited a more than 
 usual degree of folly and captiousness. 
 
 In her private instructions to the Earl of 
 Bedford, the Queen of England had judici- 
 ously advised Mary to resume towards her 
 x 2
 
 308 
 
 husband the same demeanour she had shewn 
 at their marriage; but at the same time she 
 exacted of her that she should restore Mor- 
 ton, Lindsay, and Ruthven ; a measure which 
 Darnley deprecated, and which so strongly 
 excited his indignation, that without even 
 saying, Adieu * ! he quitted Stirling, and re- 
 turned to his father's at Glasgow, regardless 
 of the small-pox which raged in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and of which he immediately 
 caught the infection. 
 
 Although Mary had scorned to notice her 
 husband's departure, she was uneasy respect- 
 ing his future movements ; nor was the 
 return of Morton, Lindsay, and Ruthven 
 calculated to tranquillize her mind. In a 
 letter to her ambassador, the Archbishop of 
 Glasgow, in France, she mentions having 
 been alarmed by a rumour that the King 
 and the Earl of Lennox were about to con- 
 spire with certain lords to crown the young 
 Prince, and to shut her up for life : on in- 
 vestigation, this story was found to have 
 
 * Knox.
 
 30$ 
 
 been at mischievous fabrication. And to the 
 same pernicious source was traced another 
 tale, importing that the Queen was about 
 to put the King into ward ; a calumny by 
 which the Queen was much irritated, and 
 which she seems to identify with certain ill- 
 natured tales that Lennox and Darnley had 
 circulated against her. 
 
 " For the King our husband," she con- 
 tinues, " God knows always our part to- 
 " 'wards him, and his behaviour and thank- 
 " fulness to us is semblablement well known 
 " to God and the world especially our 
 " own subjects see it and in their hearts, 
 " we doubt not, condemn the same, always 
 " we perceive him occupied, busily enough, 
 " to have inquisition of our doings, which, 
 " God willing, shall always be such as none 
 " shall have occasion to be .offended with, 
 " or to report of us any ways but honourably. 
 " Howsoever he, his father, and their fol- 
 " lowers speak, who we know want no good 
 " will to make us ado, if their power were 
 x 3 

 
 .310 
 
 " equivalent to their mind ; but God moder- 
 " ates their forces well enough, and takes 
 " means of the execution of their pretences 
 " from them, for as we believe they shall find 
 " none or very Jew approvers of their coun- 
 " sels and devices, imagined to our displea- 
 " sure or disliking : and thus commit you to 
 " the protection of God. 
 
 " Your right good mistress, 
 
 " MARY." * 
 
 At Edinburgh, the 20th Jan. 156$. 
 
 1 
 
 According to the date of this letter, it 
 was written when Darnley was recovering 
 from the small-pox at Glasgow.! On hear- 
 ing of his illness, Mary, had sent her own 
 physician, and manifested towards him de- 
 , corous attention. To find her conduct 
 
 * Keith's Preface. 
 
 f The nature of Darnley's malady was well known 
 to many contemporary writers, both French and Eng- 
 lish, although even Dr. Robertson seems to adopt the 
 extravagant calumny of Buchanan. By his late re- 
 searches, Mr. Chalmers has, however, ascertained the 
 fact. See note at the end of this volume.
 
 311 
 
 misrepresented at such a moment, must \ 
 have been peculiarly aggravating to her 
 keen feelings ; and to the Archbishop she 
 scrupled not to avow her chagrin with an 
 openness, which she would scarcely have 
 indulged, had she anticipated the conse- 
 quences of the association already existing 
 against Darnley's life. After two days she 
 set out from Edinburgh to visit her ungraci- 
 ous husband ; a step to which she was pro- 
 bably prompted by regard to her reputation, 
 and, it may be, by the counsels of perfidious 
 advisers, who hoped to draw from it their 
 own advantage. At Glasgow she found Darn- 
 ley still languishing under the effects of his 
 malady ; no longer haughty and stubborn, 
 but mild and penitent. Obduracy formed no 
 part of Mary's character ; her resentments 
 were vehement rather than lasting, and 
 when we recollect how much she was the 
 creature of impulse, and how little of con- 
 sistency appeared in her general conduct, 
 we shall not find it incredible that, with her 
 x 4
 
 wonted facility, she discarded resentment, 
 for the present checked suspicions, and 
 even lavished on him the most soothing at- 
 tentions. n reconciling herself to Darnley, 
 
 9 
 
 "nowever, she scorned to dissemble with 
 Lennox, who appears to have been the 
 primary object of her displeasure ; and 
 to whose mischievous agency she, with 
 reason, ascribed much of her conjugal infe- 
 licity. When Darnley was sufficiently re- 
 covered, she transported him from Glasgow 
 to Edinburgh ; where, to avoid the damp of 
 Holyrood- House, he was lodged in a man- 
 sion belonging to the Provost, in the Kirk 
 of Field, of which the air was esteemed re- 
 markably salubrious. Though at some 
 distance from the town, this house was not 
 solitary, since the Archbishop of St. An- 
 drews had a lodging in its immediate vi- 
 cinity ; and to dissipate any apprehensions 
 that Darnley might entertain for his safety, 
 the Queen herself slept two nights in the 
 room underneath his apartment. On the 
 day preceding his death, Morton and the
 
 olo 
 
 * m 
 other lords were reconciled to him by the 
 
 Queen's mediation. On that fatal Sunday, 
 Mary left him at eleven to superintend 
 a masque in the Palace, which was to be 
 given in honour of a wedding. At part- 
 ing, she embraced him, and took from her 
 finger a ring, which she presented in token 
 of forgiveness ; a gratuitous treachery, if 
 she was aware of his impending fate, for 
 which it seems impossible to account. 
 
 At eleven, she quitted the house, which, 
 three hours after, was invested with armed 
 men, some of whom watched without, 
 whilst others entered to achieve their bar- 
 barous purpose ; these having strangled 
 Darnley and his servant with silken cord, 
 carried their bodies into the garden, and 
 then blew up the house with powder, which 
 had previously been disposed in the lower 
 apartments. The explosion took place at 
 two in the morning, and before three, the 
 leader of the enterprize, Both well, repaired 
 to the palace to announce the castastrophe,
 
 814 
 
 which he coolly attributed to accident. At 
 first the Queen seemed petrified with hor- 
 ror; then naturally recurring to sinister 
 suspicions, she wrote to the Archbishop of 
 Glasgow to communicate the tidings, and 
 to express her conviction, " that the same 
 " stroke had been intended for both j and 
 " that it was only by the especial provi- 
 " dence of God she had escaped from 
 " sharing the same fate."* According to 
 custom she remained some days in a dark 
 chamber, from whence she removed for 
 her health to the seat of Lord Seatont; 
 but on returning to Edinburgh, she re- 
 ceived Elizabeth's envoy, (Killigrew) in 
 the same lugubrious state, so that, he 
 
 * This suspicion had in part been excited by the 
 Archbishop himself; who, in a letter dated 27th of Ja- 
 nuary, warns her of some conspiracy that was forming 
 against her safety, and charges her to double her 
 guards. 
 
 j- This is very different from Buchanan's statement. 
 See Lesley's Defence of Queen Mary's Honour. 
 Keith. Killigrew's Letter in Chalmers.
 
 315 
 
 says, " he could not see her face but 
 " her voice was very doleful." In the 
 meanwhile, Darnley's body had been em- 
 balmed, and buried, according to the antient 
 rites, in the royal cemetery * : a solemn 
 dirge was also sung for his soul ; and a re- 
 ward of 2000 pounds offered for the de- 
 tection of the murderer. In the death of 
 Darnley, abstractedly considered, there was 
 nothing to excite surprize or regret ; but the 
 mysterious circumstances of this assas- 
 sination, the silence, the secrecy, the cau- 
 tious circumspection, so different from the 
 daring spirit usually displayed in Scotland, 
 created no less wonder than abhorrence. 
 To discover the primary authors of the 
 murder, became an object of universal in- 
 terest j and, what is extraordinary, the en- 
 quiry has never terminated, since after 
 the lapse of nearly three centuries, the 
 
 * Lord Traquair and the other Catholic nobles being 
 present. Lesley's Defence of Mary's Honour. 
 Keith, ]>. 368. Birrel's Diary. Yet Birrel was a 
 puritan, and prejudiced against Mary.
 
 316 
 
 subject still continues open to contro- 
 versy. According to Buchanan, who wrote 
 confessedly to sustain the interests of his 
 party, (and with that vehemence which 
 betrays a consciousness of having incurred 
 reproach,) the assassination was planned 
 exclusively by the Queen and Bothwell. 
 This explanation would be more plausible, 
 had there been fewer persons engaged in the 
 conspiracy. Vulgar ruffians might have been 
 hired by an unprincipled noble to despatch 
 the slighted Darnley; a perfidious Queen 
 might surely have employed the means of 
 poison, so falsely imputed to Mary Stuart. 
 Nothing could have been so ill contrived 
 for concealment or deception as the actual 
 arrangement. That a numerous and a 
 powerful confederacy had existed to pro- 
 cure Darnley's death, (in which number 
 were included those very men who after- 
 wards became the Queen's accusers,) was a 
 fact so notorious, that the Earl of Sussex, 
 in a letter to Cecil, dated 1558, says,
 
 Si? 
 
 " it was hardly to be denied."* Exclusive 
 of Both well's intimate friends, the Laird of 
 Ormiston, and Sir James Balfbur, he was 
 assisted by the kinsmen both of Morton and 
 Maitland, of whom the former was after- 
 ward sactually executed, the latter, formally 
 accused, and on his own confession, virtually 
 inculpated. t Of such men, Bothwell might 
 have been the agent, or the associate, but the 
 relative position of the parties precludes the 
 idea of his pre-eminence. To suppose that so 
 many powerful individuals coalesced, purely 
 to gratify the base passions of the Queen 
 
 * Lodge's Illustrations of British History, vol. ii. 
 p. 5. 
 
 f Archibald Douglas, the cousin of Morton, was 
 actually present at Darnley's murder ; and his servant, 
 John Binning, (many years after executed for having 
 been at and part in the same) deposed, that he had 
 left one of his pantofles in the garden of the Kirk'^ 
 field. (See the letter of Sir John Foster, in Chalmers'.) 
 Archibald Douglas was so strongly suspected of 
 participation, that he remained many years in exile ; 
 but,, at length, when his friends came to be in power, 
 was, like Bothwell, put on a sham trial, purposely 
 that he might be acquitted.
 
 318 
 
 and her paramour is preposterous. Nor 
 is it surprizing, that many English and 
 foreign writers have adopted the hypothesis 
 of Camden *, which traces the confederacy 
 that destroyed Darnley to a deeper source, 
 and a more important object, than the gra- 
 tification of an unlawful love. From the 
 moment of Mary's arrival in Scotland, the 
 Protestant chiefs (as appears from Ran- 
 dolph's letters) had watched for an oppor- 
 tunity to establish the new kirk on a 
 permanent basis. At the epoch of the 
 Queen's marriage, Murray made an effort, 
 which, by the lukewarmness of his parti- 
 zans, or the jealousy of his rivals, was 
 wholly frustrated. After the assassination 
 of Rizio, a second attempt was rendered 
 
 * Camden is supported by Laboureur, in his Ad- 
 ditions to Castlenau ; the latter better known in history 
 by the name of Mauvissiere, was officially employed 
 in many embassies to England and Scotland, and not 
 partial to Mary Stuart. It is from materials and 
 documents by him collected, and afterwards put into 
 Laboureur's possession, that the latter derived his 
 belief of her innocence.
 
 319 
 
 abortive by the tergiversation of Darnley. 
 On the birth of James, the ministers en- 
 treated that the young prince might be edu- 
 cated in the reformed faith. The Queen's re- 
 jection of this overture, her notorious bigotry, 
 her suspected coalition with the implacable 
 enemies of the reformation, filled with 
 alarm a large part of her subjects ; excited 
 the speculative genuis of Maitland, and the 
 ferocious energy of those nobles, originally 
 disaffected to her government. To prevent 
 those future tragedies, which Lethington 
 had long since predicted, no better means 
 could be suggested than to secure to the 
 young Prince a Protestant education, and to 
 restrain his mother from contracting a fo- 
 reign alliance. In achieving this object, the 
 agency even of a Bothwell was not to be re- 
 jected ; and the same nobles who should 
 combine with him for Darnley' s death, 
 might concur in surrendering to him the 
 person of their Queen, rather to guarantee 
 the party than to recompense the assassin.
 
 320 
 
 Camden ascribes to Murray the most cri- 
 minal ambition j but, even were the charge 
 proved against him, that suspicion cannot 
 attach to Maitland, who appears to have 
 been personally devoted to his sovereign ; 
 and to have embarked in this desperate 
 enterprize, with the vain hope of averting 
 from his country the horrorg of civil 
 dissension. 
 
 With regard to the Queen, although it 
 foUows not that she should be exonerated 
 by the crimination of Morton and his con- 
 federates, yet, it must be allowed, that this 
 fact materially vitiates the evidence by 
 them adduced against her, and that those 
 accusations ought to be received with dis- 
 trust, that depend exclusively on their tes- 
 timony. 
 
 It should also be recollected, that to in- 
 clude the Queen in the conspiracy, is to im- 
 pute to her a degree of cruelty and perfidy 
 revolting to her sex, and utterly inconsistent 
 (calumny excepted,) with every other part
 
 321 
 
 of her conduct and character. In recon- 
 ciling herself to Darnley, she had regained 
 his confidence, and renewed with him the 
 conjugal charities. At such a moment, to 
 have conspired against him was to descend 
 to the most flagitious baseness ; during three 
 weeks to dissemble her hatred to smile 
 on the man for whose life she thirsted, 
 must have required a cold-blooded hypo- 
 crisy, a systematic self-command of which 
 in almost every instance, she seems to have 
 been wholly incapable : young and sus- 
 ceptible, accustomed to abandon herself to 
 the impulses of feeling j rash, impetuous, 
 and vacillating, Mary Stuart appears not 
 to have possessed sufficient strength of cha- 
 racter to sustain the atrocious part, which 
 her enemies have allotted her in this mourn- 
 ful tragedy ; and, to say nothing of habits, 
 feelings, or principles, her very weaknesses 
 should lead us to acquit her. 
 
 VOL. II.
 
 322 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MARRIAGE OF MARY TO BOTHWELL. SURRENDERS TO 
 
 MORTON AND THE CONFEDERATES, ON CARBERRY- 
 HILL. IMPRISONMENT AT LOCHLEVEN. HER EX- 
 TORTED ABDICATION. CORONATION OF HER SON. 
 ESCAPE. BATTLE OF LANGSIDE. FLIGHT TO ENG- 
 LAND. 
 
 AFTER the death of Darnley, the events 
 even of Mary's domestic life, become 
 so closely interwoven with historical details, 
 popularly known, that it is not without dif- 
 fidence, the following brief account, chiefly 
 derived from an author* who collected 
 facts without inventing theories, is sub- 
 mitted to the reader : 
 
 On the first announcement of Darnley's 
 murder, the crime was attributed, with some 
 
 * Keith, to whom has been generally applied the 
 title, rarely merited, of an impartial collector.
 
 323 
 
 probability to Morton's agency; but, in a few 
 hours, whether through treachery or indis- 
 cretion, the suspicion was transferred to 
 Bothwell, and placards appeared on the 
 Tolbooth, naming both him and his accom- 
 plices, among whom was Joseph, the brother 
 of David Rizio ; an answer was also publish- 
 ed to the Queen's proclamation, in which 
 Bothwell, Sir James Balfour, &c. were de- 
 signated. Whether guided by these noti- 
 fications, or his own surmises, the Earl of 
 Lennox, in a correspondence* with the 
 
 * The correspondence is extant in Keith: " On the 
 " 20th of February, the Earl writes to the Queen, to 
 " thank her for her letter of condolence ; and be- 
 " seeches her to assemble the whole of her nobility* 
 " in order that the authors of the iniquity may be 
 " discovered. The Queen replies on the following day, 
 " (the 21st) assuring him, she had already issued pro- 
 " clamations for a Parliament, to be holden for that 
 " express purpose. The Earl answers on the 24th, 
 " lamenting that the affair should be so long delayed ; 
 " and praying, that the persons, whose names had 
 " been affixed on the Tolbooth, should be immediately 
 " prosecuted in the ordinary Courts of Justice. The 
 " Queen again writes, on the 1st of March, that the 
 Y 2
 
 Queen, became very importunate for the 
 prosecution of the murderers ; in her answer, 
 Mary professed to participate in his impa- 
 
 " Earl had misconceived her meaning, inasmuch as she 
 " had never wished for delay, and that the Parliament 
 " were not to supersede the process in the Courts of 
 " Justice ; that, with respect to the Tikatt, affixed to 
 " the Tolbooth, there were found on it names, many 
 " and contrarious ; but, if he should be pleased to 
 .*' specify the culprits, they should be forthwith prose- 
 " cuted." The Earl of Lennox replied not, till the 12th 
 of March : ' My humble petition was, and still is, 
 " * that it may please you, not only to apprehend and 
 " ' put in sure keeping the persons named in the 
 " ' Tikatt, but, with diligence, to assemble the whole 
 " ' of the nobility, and then, by open proclamation, 
 " ' to require the writers of the said Tikatt to appear ; 
 " ' at which time, if they do not, your Majesty may, 
 " * by advice of your nobility, put to liberty the per- 
 " * sons in the Tikatt aforesaid ; and for the names, 1 
 " * marvel the same has been kept from your Majesty's 
 " ' ear, considering it is so openly talked of: The Earl 
 " ' of Bothwell, Master James Balfour, and Master 
 " * David Chalmers.' To this the Queen merely replied, 
 " on the 24th of March, by promising, that the per- 
 " sons accused should be immediately brought to trial. 
 " On the 28th, an order was issued by the Privy 
 ' Council, for the trial of the Earl Bothwell, and 
 " others, on the 12th of April." Keith, page 370.
 
 325 
 
 hence, and, finally, at his instance, the Earl 
 of Bothwell, and the other persons men- 
 tioned in the placards, were summoned, by 
 an order of the Privy Council, to take their 
 trial on the 12th of April. After this con- 
 cession, the Earl expected that the culprits 
 should be kept in custody ; but the Queen 
 and Privy Council refused to restrain them 
 of liberty, on the grounds of an accusation 
 originally derived from anonymous testi- 
 mony. Mary's conduct, in this instance, 
 was loudly censured j on the supposition of 
 her innocence, it argues feebleness, and 
 rashness ; but on the presumption of her 
 guilt it is wholly inexplicable, since con- 
 sciousness should have suggested caution 
 rather than boldness; and, even if she re- 
 fused to imprison Bothwell, would she not 
 at least, during a few days, have consented 
 to banish him her presence ? It should how- 
 ever be observed, that if she participated 
 not in the conspiracy, she must have been 
 persuaded of Both well's innocence, and 
 Y 3
 
 326 
 
 with that mixture of credulity and sus- 
 picion peculiar to her character, proba- 
 bly ascribed the charge to the machina- 
 tions of certain enemies, who sought to 
 deprive her of his faithful service. Of 
 all her ministers, Bothwell alone had uni- 
 formly evinced his loyalty. The Earl of 
 Murray had once manifested hostility to 
 her government, and was Morton's sworn 
 friend ; Maitland had shewn himself in- 
 triguing. Among the nobles, the Earls 
 Rothes, Glencairn, and their adherents, had 
 formerly joined the standard of revolt ; 
 Ruthven and Lindsay, the objects of her ter- 
 ror and abhorrence, were again in Scotland. 
 Previous to Darnley's death, the Arch- 
 bishop of Glasgow* had warned her of some 
 
 * To his honor, this prelate strenuously urged the 
 necessity of a prompt and rigorous prosecution. In 
 a letter, dated the 9th of March, he says : "I can 
 conclude nothing but what your Majesty writes 
 to me yourself, that since it has pleased God to pre- 
 serve you to take a rigorous vengeance thereof; that 
 rather than it be not actually taken, it appears to 
 me, better in this world that you had lost life, and 
 all. I ask your Majesty's pardon that I write so
 
 327 
 
 imminent danger impending, and she ap- 
 pears to have connected her husband's 
 murder with a conspiracy directed against 
 her own person. Under this impression, 
 she might have urgent motives for not 
 restraining Bothwell's liberty, even inde- 
 pendent of the partial friendship, which she 
 frankly avowed, and which she ought to have 
 known would be liable to sinister interpreta- 
 tion ; but reason seems to have forsaken her, 
 when she persisted, by treating him with her 
 wonted confidence, to evince her contempt 
 
 " far, but I can hear nothing to your prejudice, but I 
 " must per force write the same, that all may come to 
 " your knowledge, for the better remedy may be put 
 " thereto. Here it is needful, that you forthwith 
 " shew the great virtue, magnanimity, and constancy 
 " that God has granted you ; by whose grace, I hope, 
 " you shall overcome this most heavy envy and dis- 
 " pleasure of the committing thereof, and preserve 
 " that reputation in all godliness you have conquest 
 " of long, which can appear no ways more clearly, 
 " than that you do such justice as that the world may 
 " declare your innocence, and give testimony for ever 
 " of their treason that have committed it." Keith's 
 Preface, page 6. 
 
 Y 4-
 
 328 
 
 of the accusation. It must however be re- 
 collected, that independent of the Queen, 
 Bothwell commanded the talents and influ- 
 ence of the first men in Scotland. Mail- 
 land and Morton were now his confidants, 
 as was Archibald Douglas, a kinsman of 
 Morton's. The Lord Chancellor Huntly 
 was his brother-in-law ; even Ruthven 
 and Lindsay were conciliated. By the 
 Earl of Murray, he was treated with 
 cordiality ; and, after he had been pub- 
 lickly accused, met Killigrew, the English 
 envoy, at his table. But when the time 
 of Bothwell's trial drew nigh, the Earl 
 departed from Scotland to France* ; a 
 prudent step, by which he preserved an ex- 
 terior of friendship towards the queen, with- 
 out compromising his reputation with Cecil 
 and his English partizans, and embraced 
 
 * It lias been pretended, that the Earl of Murray 
 left his estate in trust to the Queen and Bothwell, but 
 this palpably is erroneous; the countess his wife, re- 
 mained in Scotland.
 
 329 
 
 the opportunity of strengthening his interest 
 with the Hugonot party. That at such a 
 juncture he should have left his country and 
 his sister, when she most required counsel 
 and protection, seems inexplicable on any 
 other supposition. In the meanwhile the 
 Earl of Lennox, finding Bothwell inaccessi- 
 ble, applied to Elizabeth to obtain by her 
 mediation a delay of the trial, which he 
 had once desired should be precipitated. To 
 Mary herself he addressed not this request 
 till the eleventh of April, " when," says 
 Keith, " though the Queen had been willing, 
 " she could not have adjourned the Court." 
 Neither does it appear in what manner an 
 adjournment could ultimately have aided 
 the Earl's cause, although it might have 
 gratified his parental feelings, to fix the 
 deeper stain on Bothwell's reputation. 
 
 On the 12th of April, arrived Elizabeth's 
 messenger with a letter * from his mistress, 
 
 * See Drury's Letter to Cecil in Chalmers' Life of 
 Mary, vol. ii. p. 2t5. 4-to. etl.
 
 330 
 
 in which she urged on Mary the propriety 
 of deferring the trial. After much diffi- 
 culty, he found means to deliver his letter to 
 Lethington, who dismissed him with a civil 
 excuse ; and at that moment, he observed 
 a large party of cavaliers waiting to attend 
 Bothwell to the Court of Justice. When 
 that nobleman issued from the palace, he 
 advanced between Maitland and Morton, 
 followed by a train of gentlemen mount- 
 ed on horseback, and 200 soldiers, who 
 were cheered as they passed by mercenaries 
 posted in the streets for that purpose. On 
 reaching the Tolbooth, Bothwell found 
 the Earl of Argyle (who was the Here- 
 ditary Lord Justice), the Earl of Huntly, 
 with four assessors, ready to receive him. 
 The Dittay being read, charging Both- 
 well with murder and treason, the accuser 
 and accused were ordered to come forth. 
 The Earl of Bothwell instantly obeyed ; but 
 instead of the Earl of Lennox, appeared his 
 steward, Robert Cunningham, to protest in 
 17
 
 331 
 
 his master's name against the proceedings, 
 and to demand a farther delay on the plea 
 of illness, and because he had not been al- 
 lowed to bring with him a sufficient number 
 of friends and assistants.* The Lord Justice, 
 who appears to have been apprised of this 
 subterfuge, immediately produced the Earl's 
 former letters, in which he had demanded 
 a speedy trial, and consequently decided, 
 that the assize should proceed ; during these 
 formalities, Bothwell was observed to look 
 melancholy, and the Laird of Ormiston, one 
 of his guilty agents, whispered in his ear 
 a caution not to betray himself by that con- 
 scious countenance, t 
 
 " You might look so, and you were going 
 to the deed. Alas ! and woe worth them, that 
 
 * On the very morning of the trial, the Earl was 
 said to have been forbidden, in the Queen's name, from 
 bringing with him more than six men ; and the circum- 
 stance appears probable, considering that the trial was 
 managed by Huntley, Morton, and Maitland. 
 
 f See the Confession of Ormiston, in Arnot's Cri- 
 minal Trials.
 
 332 
 
 ever devised it. I trow it shall gar us all 
 mourn." To this Bothwell, who had pre- 
 viously shewn him a bond of indemnity, to 
 which many lords had affixed their sig- 
 nature, replied, " Hold your tongue ; I 
 " would not it were yet to do ; I have 
 " an airt gaite for it, come what may." 
 
 As neither witnesses nor proofs were 
 produced against the culprit, the twelve 
 peers had little difficulty in acquitting him 
 of the charges * ; and to atone for his mor- 
 tification, they even declared him clear 
 from suspicion of being in any way acces- 
 sary to the murder : the assize lasted from 
 twelve to seven in the evening t ; and the 
 
 * According to Keith, the indictment was informal, 
 being for the 9th instead of the 10th of April. 
 
 -j- " The Earle Bothwell was acquited by his peeres, 
 " according to the common and ordinarie trade and 
 " inaner, in such cases usually observed. These un- 
 " natural and disloyal subjects, these most shameful, 
 " craftie colluders, her adversaries, and accusers, I 
 " meane the Earle Morton, the Lord Semple, the 
 " Lord Lindzay, with their adherents and affinitic, 
 '- especially procured, and with al diligence laboured 
 
 19
 
 333 
 
 verdict of acquittal was, two days afterwards, 
 confirmed by the Parliament, which declared 
 the Earl Bothweli free from reproach. 
 
 The next day, Bothweli published a cartel, 
 in which he challenged to single combat any 
 who should dispute his innocence; and a 
 week after, having invited to supper a party 
 of nobles, he obtained their signatures to a 
 bond recommending him as a suitable hus- 
 band to the Queen their Sovereign. The Earl 
 of Lennox had previously retired to Eng- 
 land.* In the meanwhile the Queen con- 
 signed her son, with Stirling Castle, to 
 
 " his purgation and acquital ; which was afterward 
 " confirmed by the Three Estates, by Acte of Parlia- 
 " ment." Lesley 's Defence of Queen Mary's Ho- 
 nour. 
 
 * Buchanan pretends that the Queen took this step 
 in order to obtain for Bothweli the possession of Edin- 
 burgh Castle, which on that occasion was ceded to 
 him by the Earl of Mar. But if Mary at this time 
 contemplated the probability of her immediate mar- 
 riage, she committed a great oversight in surrendering 
 her son to Murray's kinsman.
 
 334 
 
 the care of Murray's kinsman, the Earl of 
 Mar ; in whose custody he was to remain till 
 he should have attained the age of seven- 
 teen. 
 
 In this instance only did Mary discover 
 prudence ; in every other she was swayed, 
 as, unhappily, she had ever been, by her sym- 
 pathies, her prejudices, her prepossessions ; 
 weaknesses not inexcusable in a young and 
 lovely woman, but in a sovereign pernicious, 
 and therefore culpable. Whatever senti- 
 ments she had hitherto entertained for Both- 
 well, it was evident she now placed in him 
 implicit trust, ' and looked to him alone 
 for counsel and protection : yet the pride 
 of royalty was deeply rooted in her mind ; 
 and not only her ambition but her attach- 
 ment to the antient faith forbade her to es- 
 pouse a Scottish Earl, however brave and 
 loyal, who would never forsake the sect 
 whom his vices disgraced. The existence of 
 the Lady Bothwell formed perhaps but a 
 minor objection, so many other obstacles
 
 -335 
 
 opposed their union. But the ambitious 
 Bothwell, who relied on the interest he 
 had gained in her affections, and who had 
 access to attendants, willing to encourage 
 his presumption, having collected forces 
 against the banditti in Liddisdale, inter- 
 cepted the Queen at Almond Bridge, dis- 
 persed her retinue, and conducted herself, 
 Secretary Maitland, and Sir James Melvil, 
 to Dunbar Castle. 
 
 By whatever pretence Mary was induced 
 to put herself in the Earl's power, she appears 
 not to have made an effort to obtain her liber- 
 ation ; nor the next day, when Maitland 
 and Melvil were dismissed, did she transmit 
 any message to complain of her captivity. 
 The ridiculous plea offered by Bothwell, for 
 this outrage, was the necessity of his commit- 
 ting the offence of treason, in order that he 
 might be acquitted of all minor trespasses. 
 According to Mary's statement*, it was then 
 that hefirstproposed marriage, supporting his 
 
 * Instructions to the Ambassadors in France.
 
 330 
 
 pretensions by the bond to which the Nobles 
 had affixed their signature. " She professes 
 " to have been astonished at his audacity, 
 " but that, on seeing the bond, she became 
 " intimidated; and that, finally, reflecting 
 " on the difficulties of her situation, she was 
 " persuaded to yield a reluctant assent."* 
 During the ten days that Mary was de- 
 
 * In his Defence of Queen Mary's Honour, Lesley 
 says, " she did consent to that, to which those crafty 
 " colluding heads and the state of the times did in a 
 " manner enforce her." In her instructions to the am- 
 bassadors in France, Mary adds, " that during ten days 
 " none came to her aid ;" she is evidently impressed 
 with the apprehension, that by her marriage she 
 should endanger her reputation in France. It is 
 worthy of remark, that she appears much less anxious 
 to secure the good opinion of Elizabeth, to whom she 
 merely states to her ambassador, that she found her- 
 self incompetent to the government of the realm, 
 without a husband's protection. She praises Both- 
 well's valour, but never mentions his carrying her to 
 Dunbar castle ; and she even justifies her marriage 
 with a man lately divorced from another woman, a 
 subject not even mentioned to her friends hi France. 
 In both memorials she intimates, that she is wearied 
 and overwhelmed with the burthen of affairs ; expres- 
 sions which occur also in the instrument of her pre- 
 tended resignation. See Keith, p. 431.
 
 337 
 
 tained in Dunbar castle, Bothwell instituted 
 a suit for divorce from his wife in the 
 Bishop's Court*, on the grounds of consan- 
 guinity; whilst the lady herself sued for 
 divorce in the Queen's Court, on the plea 
 of adultery. On leaving Dunbar, the 
 Queen was conveyed to Edinburgh, not 
 to the palace but the castle, which was in 
 Both well's possession. On the 12th of 
 May, she declared before the Sessions 
 House, that she was free, and that she con- 
 sented to marry the Earl Bothwell ; and the 
 next day, actually created him Duke of 
 Orkney. The history of this transaction 
 affords one example of integrity strikingly 
 contrasted with the conduct of those perfi- 
 dious and venal nobles, who, without scru- 
 ple, sacrificed the honour of their native 
 Sovereign. The individual by whom they 
 were opposed was John Craig, a popular 
 preacher, who refused to publish the banns 
 
 * The Consistorial Court, lately re-established, at the 
 earnest solicitation of the Archbishop of St. Andrews. 
 
 VOL. II. Z
 
 338 
 
 between the Queen and Bothweli, and even 
 before the privy council maintained that the 
 marriage was illegal and dishonourable. 
 
 In spite of his opposition the prelimina- 
 ries proceeded, and finally, on the 15th of 
 May, Mary was married privately in her 
 own chapel, and publicly in the High 
 Church, by the Bishop of Orkney. On 
 this occasion no royal splendour appears 
 to have been exhibited ; there was neither 
 ball nor banquet; no foreign ambassadors*, 
 and few of the Catholic nobility attended ; 
 according to Melvil, who was present, the 
 Duke of Orkney supped alone, the Queen 
 having withdrawn to another apartment 
 From this moment the unhappy story of 
 Mary becomes intricate, and almost inex- 
 plicable : instead of evincing for her husband 
 that inordinate affection imputed to her by 
 Buchanan, she was every day seen to weep, 
 
 * The absence of the French ambassador is obvi- 
 ously to be attributed to his not having received any 
 instructions from his court; and probably, also, from 
 the suspicion that the marriage, on the queen's part, 
 was compulsory.
 
 339 
 
 and once threatened to destroy her exist- 
 ence. According to the statement of 
 Morton and his associates, she was treated 
 by the execrable Bothwell as his hostage ; 
 and, to prevent her escape, sentinels 
 were planted at the door of her cham- 
 ber, which none but his creatures were 
 permitted to approach. * There is little in 
 this gloomy picture that accords with the 
 violent passion to which she is supposed 
 to have sacrificed every sentiment of honor 
 and duty; perhaps the most wretched por- 
 tion of Mary's whole existence was the 
 month she passed with Bothwell, after her 
 disgraceful marriage. Not daring to trust 
 his late confederates, the Duke of Orkney 
 attempted to draw the young Prince into 
 his possession, believing that, under the 
 title of Regent, he might secure that au- 
 thority, which he foresaw would not be 
 long vested in him as the Queen's hus- 
 
 * This fact was so notorious, that even Cecil, in his 
 paper Contra Reginam Scotorum, admits it. See An- 
 derson's Collections, vol.iv. p. 101. 
 
 Z 2
 
 340 
 
 band. The Earl Morton and his friends, 
 seizing this occasion, associated to raise 
 the standard of revolt at Stirling, avow- 
 edly to protect the young prince, to revenge 
 his father's death, and even to redeem from 
 thraldom their injured Queen, whom they 
 now declared to have been taken against 
 her will to Dunbar, and to have espoused 
 by compulsion the murderer of the late 
 king.* By these plausible professions they 
 gave to treason a gloss of loyalty, and drew 
 to their party many who were either too cau- 
 tious, or too scrupulous, to have openly 
 patronized rebellion ; whilst, with that bold 
 decision which characterized all his move- 
 ments, Morton led his troops towards 
 Holyrood House, from which the Queen 
 and Bothwell with difficulty escaped to 
 Borthwick : from thence Bothwell with- 
 drew to Dunbar, and Mary, who justly 
 dreaded Morton and his colleagues, had no 
 
 * MelviL See also the Band of Association, in 
 Anderson's Collections, vol. i. ; and in Keith, p. 405. 
 See the Answer of the Lords to Throckmorton ; Keith, 
 p-4-18.
 
 341 
 
 alternative but to follow, disguised in men's% 
 clothes, to Dunbar castle. From thence 
 Bothwell circulated in her name a manifesto, 
 disclaiming the imputations of their mutual 
 enemies, and challenging the loyalty of her 
 faithful subjects. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the confederates march- 
 ed to Edinburgh, obtained possession of the 
 castle from Sir James Balfour, and, in the 
 name of the young Prince, advanced against 
 their Sovereign. It was on the 16th of 
 June that the two armies were confronted, 
 the royalists being posted on Carberry-Hill, 
 the confederates on the plain beneath ; but, 
 although- Bothwell brought the Queen into 
 the field, her presence inspired no enthu- 
 siasm. By their looks, the soldiers expressed 
 disaffection ; many were seen to retire, 
 none seemed willing to proceed. In this 
 embarrassment, Bothwell offered to fight 
 any who should presume to charge him 
 with the King's murder ; but successively 
 rejected several nobles who would have ac- 
 z 3
 
 eepted the challenge, The French Ambas- 
 sador, Le Croc, after an unavailing attempt 
 to mediate between the two parties, returned 
 to Edinburgh ; and the Queen, perceiving 
 resistance hopeless, desired to confer with 
 the Laird of Grange, who solemnly as- 
 sured her, that the confederates had not 
 taken up arms against her, but Bothwell ; 
 and, that if she would forsake him, they 
 should receive her with respect, and offer 
 to her allegiance. After some hesitation, 
 Mary replied, that she embraced the over- 
 ture, on condition that Bothwell should 
 be suffered to pass unmolested from the 
 field. Kirkaldy having pledged himself for 
 his safety, the Queen bade him, adieu! 
 and having watched till he had cleared 
 the lines, said, " To you, Laird of 
 " Grange, and to your honor, I render 
 " myself." Kirkaldy conducted her with 
 profound respect to the confederates, 
 where (with that dignity, which never 
 forsook her) she thus addressed them : 
 " I come, my Lords, not that I fear for
 
 343 
 
 " my life, not that I doubt of victory, but 
 " because I abhor the shedding of Christian 
 " blood, much more that of my own sub- 
 " jects. I come, therefore, to be governed 
 " by your counsels, trusting you will treat 
 " me as your native Princess." The Earl 
 of Morton received her with reverence, 
 the soldiers with respect. The inarch 
 commenced ; but, from Mary's manner, it 
 was supposed, she anticipated a rescue. 
 When they approached the capital, the 
 multitude poured forth, not to relieve or 
 even to commiserate her distresses, but to 
 display before her eyes a bloody ensign, on 
 which was represented, the young Prince 
 kneeling and invoking vengeance on the 
 authors of his father's murder. At this 
 frightful image, Mary almost fell from her 
 horse, and, bursting into an agony of tears, 
 exclaimed, " I am your native Princess ! 
 " descended from the blood of Bruce! 
 " Treat me not thus !" Her appeal was 
 unregarded. Even in the women, her 
 z 4
 
 344 
 
 dishevelled hair, her tears, her anguish," 
 awakened no pity ; and she proceeded, 
 amidst loud execrations, till she reached the 
 Provost's house, where she was lodged for 
 that night. 
 
 The next day, in direct violation of their 
 promises*, the confederates conveyed the 
 royal captive to the Castle of Lochleven, 
 of which Sir William Douglas was the pos- 
 sessor ; and where, in addition to his mother, 
 (that haughty dame, who never ceased to as- 
 sert that she was the lawful wife of James the 
 fifth,) were two other gaolers, the Lords 
 Lindsay and Ruthven, who had both been 
 present at Rizio's assassination, the father of 
 
 * When Kirkaldy resented this perfidy, the Lords 
 (says Melvil) produced a letter from the Queen to 
 Bothwell, assuring him of her constant love ; but this 
 letter is not mentioned by other writers ; neither, if it 
 were authenticated, could it excuse the perfidy com- 
 mitted against her. Besides, the same Melvil assures 
 us, that far from loving Bothwell, after her marriage 
 she shewed for him terror and disgust ; and that even 
 at Carberry-Hill, when he offered to shoot Kirkaldy, 
 she rebuked him with vehemence. 
 
 13
 
 345 
 
 the latter having died in exile. To this 
 prison arrived Mary, on the 18th of June 
 no longer attired as a Queen, but in a 
 coarse cassock her retinue reduced to a 
 cook, an apothecary, and two female ser- 
 vants. * 
 
 Hitherto the confederates had not ven- 
 tured to announce that which was their ul- 
 timate object, the Queen's dethronement: 
 they professed to have taken up arms, to 
 separate her from her husband's murderer ; 
 and to have placed her in confinement, only 
 that they might be permitted to punish 
 the delinquent ; but, now that she was in 
 their power, they proceeded to extort the 
 surrender of her crown, an act which 
 to the Queen of England, and to the other 
 Potentates of Europe, was to be repre- 
 sented as a voluntary abdication. In this 
 well-concerted plan, it is impossible not 
 
 * History of James the Sixth. Lesley's Defence of 
 Queen Mary's honour. Keith.
 
 346 
 
 to recognize able statesmen, and profound 
 politicians. The suffrage of the lower order 
 had been previously gained by artful repre- 
 sentations mingled with calumnies against 
 the Queen's character ; but the Lords were 
 sensible that better proofs would be requir- 
 ed to justify the violence committed and in- 
 tended. It was on the 18th of June that 
 they placed the Queen in Lochleven, and 
 on the 20th they were so fortunate as to dis- 
 cover in Edinburgh Castle a casket*, for- 
 
 * " It is forsooth, a boxe of letters taken from one 
 " Daighleysh, who was executed for the Lorde Darn- 
 " ley's death, the Earlesman, for sooth ; whiche letters 
 " he received at Edenborough of one Sir James Bal- 
 " foure, to convey to his master ; Thus say they, but 
 " we say to you, as is sayd in Terence, Non sunt haec 
 " satis divisa temporibus. The very time, if nothing 
 " else were, bewraieth you, and your whole cause 
 " withal. Is it to be thought, that either the Earle 
 " would send to the said Sir James, who had before 
 " assisted the faction against the Quene with the force 
 " and strength of Edenborough castle, and driven from 
 " thence the very Earle himselfe, or that the said 
 " Sir James would send any such thing to the Earle ? 
 " is it likely ? is it credible ? Had the forger and in- 
 
 20
 
 347 
 
 merly the property of Francis the Second, 
 containing letters supposed to be addressed 
 by the Queen to Bothwell, which, whether 
 spurious or genuine, were admirably cal- 
 culated to give a plea of justice to illegal 
 proceedings. * 
 
 Such a felicitous coincidence inevitably 
 
 " ventour of this tale, by seemely conveyance parted 
 " and divided the distinction of his times ? How say 
 " ye ? Whereas nowe it is in no case to be supposed 
 " or conjectured that suche a wise vertuous ladie 
 " would sende any such letters ; yet putting the case, 
 " that she had sent them, it is not to be thought, 
 " that either the receaver thereof, or that she herselfe, 
 " whome ye conceave to have sent them, would have 
 " suffered them, for the hasarding of her estimation 
 " and honour, to remaine undefaced, namely, seeing 
 " there was a special mention made, and warning 
 " given forthwith to burn them." Lesley's Defence 
 
 of Queen Mary's Honour Anderson's Collections, 
 
 vol. i. 
 
 * Without entering into the controversy respecting 
 the genuineness of those letters, it may be fairly pre- 
 sumed that the circumstance of BothwelFs sending for 
 the casket, first suggested the happy expedient of 
 making it the depository of the Queen's secrets ; for 
 even admitting that she should have been vile enough
 
 348. 
 
 leads to the suspicion, that the confederates 
 had anticipated the circumstance, and that, 
 to them at least, this amatory correspondence 
 contained no novelty. Fortified with these 
 documents, the Earl of Morton instructed 
 the Queen's gaolers to prevail on her to 
 resign her crown to the infant James; 
 but Mary, who too late recalled her dignity, 
 passionately exclaimed, " Never, but with 
 " my life will I part with the crown of my 
 " ancestors." By the suggestion of Sir 
 Nicholas Throckmorton, who in his letters 
 
 to write the letters, and that Bothwell should have 
 had the temerity to preserve them ; was it possible 
 that Mary should have suffered these memorials of 
 her infamy to remain enshrined in the casket which 
 she had given him as a token of regard ? It is notorious, 
 that Dagleish, the messenger, who is said to have been 
 the bearer of this casket, was never examined on that 
 subject; the whole story rests on the authority of 
 the Earl of Morton, who professed to have received it 
 from Dagleish. See this subject ably discussed in 
 Tytler's Enquiry ; in Whitaker's Vindication ; Laing's 
 Dissertation, prefixed to his continuation of Robert- 
 son's History; and recently in Chalmers' Life of 
 Mary.
 
 349 
 
 assured her that no compulsory abdication 
 was valid, she at length yielded to necessity 
 and the brutal menaces of Lord Lindsay ; 
 and, without glancing at their contents, affix- 
 ed her signature to three deeds, in which she 
 surrendered her rights to her son, and con- 
 signed the regency to the Earl of Murray, 
 or if it should be by him declined, to a 
 select council. When the sacrifice was 
 completed, Mary dried her eyes, and, re- 
 suming her courage, wrote to the confe- 
 derates, requesting to be removed to a more 
 healthy spot, to be allowed the society 
 of her ladies, and materials for embroid- 
 ery, with which to beguile her confinement. 
 The last of these requisitions only was 
 granted ; her removal would have been un- 
 safe, to indulge her with companions was 
 imprudent.* 
 
 Hitherto every effort of the confede- 
 rates had been successful; but, till the 
 
 * She was however visited by Lady Murray.
 
 3,50 
 
 young Prince should be crowned, they felt 
 not secure of triumph. Even this diffi- 
 culty was surmounted by the firmness of 
 Morton, and his associates.* Deaf to the 
 remonstrances of Throckmorton, who, on 
 the part of Elizabeth, protested against 
 her cousin's dethronement t, they convened 
 the Barons, whilst the ministers of the 
 Evangik wrought upon the affections of 
 the people, and, finally, on the 29th of 
 July, the infant, James, was crowned at 
 Stirling ; where Knox, in preaching the 
 coronation sermon, enjoyed the proudest 
 triumph of his life. 
 
 It is natural to enquire in what manner 
 
 * The Lords Glencairn, , Rothes, Semple, Hume, 
 Mar, and Ochiltree. 
 
 j- When Throckmorton applied for an answer to the 
 demands of Queen Elizabeth, the Earl of Morton an- 
 swered, ' that shortly he should hear from them ; but 
 ' that day being destined to the communion, continual 
 * preaching, and common prayer, they could not be ab- 
 ' sent nor attend to the matters of the world ; for Jirst 
 ' they must seek the matters of God, and take counsel of 
 ' Him who could best direct them.' Keith, Preface, 
 page xi.
 
 351 
 
 that day passed with Mary, and how 
 she survived the blow. It has been 
 sometimes found, that a single passion 
 more completely exhausts the faculties of 
 human endurance, than a combination of 
 calamities the most terrible and overwhelm- 
 ing. At Craigmillar, when the queen only 
 suffered from Darnley's waywardness, she 
 seemed hastening to an untimely grave ; 
 during her brief union with Bothwell, she 
 was almost driven to self-destruction; 
 but now, that all save life was lost, that, 
 blasted in fame and fortune, she saw her- 
 self dispossessed of her crown, exiled from 
 her friends, bereaved even of her child 
 she not only endured, but anxiously studied 
 to preserve existence. It should seem, that 
 a strong sense of injustice sustained her 
 courage, and that hope was fostered by re- 
 sentment. 
 
 The arrival of Murray was anticipated 
 by each party with impatience. At his 
 departure from France, he had pledged
 
 352 
 
 himself to defend his sister's rights and 
 honor. In England, he concealed his real 
 intentions from Cecil and Elizabeth j 
 even to Morton and his confederates, who, 
 having achieved that which he would have 
 scrupled to attempt, required him but to 
 sanction their proceedings, he would give 
 no definitive answer till he had visited 
 his sister at Lochleven. That Mary con- 
 tinued to regard him as her friend was 
 evident, from the cordiality of her wel- 
 come ; although the Earls Athol and Mor- 
 ton were his companions. When Murray 
 had before seen Mary in captivity, he 
 wept * ; but now, though torrents of tears 
 fell from her eyes, she obtained from him 
 no looks, no expressions of sympathy. Im- 
 patient of the restraint imposed by witnesses, 
 she took him apart, and they communed 
 together till supper ; but he little answered 
 her expectations his reserve was impene- 
 trable. After supper, she again challenged 
 
 * After Rizio's assassination.
 
 353 
 
 a private interview, which lasted till mid- 
 night. The Earl then opened, but it was 
 only to upbraid and intimidate. " He* 
 " spoke to her" (adds Throckmorton) " as 
 " her ghostly father, exhorting to patience 
 " and repentance. The Queen wept bit- 
 " terly : sometimes she acknowledged her 
 " unadvisedness and misgovernment, some 
 " things she did confess plainly, some things 
 " she did excuse, some things she did ex- 
 " tenuate. In conclusion, the Earl of 
 " Murray left her that night, in hope of 
 " nothing but God's mercy, willing her to 
 " seek that as her chief refuge, and so 
 " departed." 
 
 The next morning, when they renewed 
 the conference, Murray finding Mary's 
 spirit subdued, administered consolation, as- 
 sured her of life, and pledged himself if 
 possible, to preserve her honour. Even 
 for this promise she shewed gratitude, and 
 
 * Keith, page 445. 
 VOL. II. A A
 
 358 
 
 and several others, some of whom confessed 
 their guilt, but positively denied the Queen's 
 participation in their crime. 
 
 In the month of March, the Regent went 
 again to Lochleven ; but in this interview 
 we hear of no tears, no tenderness. The 
 Queen simply reminded him of the violation 
 of his word ; and then, it may be presumed, 
 with some irony, entreated, that he would 
 give her a husband, alleging that she should 
 like to espouse his half-brother, George 
 Douglas*, a youth of eighteen. The Regent 
 parried the attack, by saying, that his brother 
 was not of rank to match with her Grace. 
 
 A few days after this interview, Mary 
 nearly succeeded in making her escape, dis- 
 guised as a laundress. She had actually 
 seated herself in the boat, when she was dis- 
 covered by inadvertently raising to her cheek 
 a hand of snowy whiteness. In a second 
 attempt, planned by George Douglas, she 
 was alike unsuccessful ; and for his friendly 
 * Drury to Cecil, in Keith, page 469.
 
 359 
 
 offices, that youth was expelled the castle, 
 but not before he had secured to her interests 
 another Douglas, an orphan boy, who had 
 from infancy lived in the family, a poor de- 
 pendent on the Lord of Lochleven. 
 
 Of any new enterprise, however, Mary 
 was so little sanguine, that, on the first of 
 May, (the eve of her deliverance,) she wrote 
 to Catherine de Medicis * that she was 
 watched night and day, the girls of the castle 
 sleeping in her chamber j and that, unless 
 the French King interposed, she should re- 
 main in prison for life. The next afternoon, 
 William Douglas had the address to steal 
 the keys from the hall in which Sir William 
 and his mother were sitting at supper ; the 
 Queen being apprized of this circumstance, 
 once more descended, with her maid, to the 
 Lake, where a boat was waiting, into which 
 they both entered, the maid assisting Wil- 
 liam in rowing; and as they approached the 
 
 * Laboureur's Additions Castelnau. 
 A A 4
 
 356 
 
 but that the Elders of the Church, not 
 approving of this delicate reservation, de- 
 manded of the privy-council, why their sove- 
 reign was kept in Lochleven ? and thus 
 extorted a declaration of her having been 
 convicted, by certain written proofs, of par- 
 ticipation in her husband's murder. It is easy 
 to detect in this procedure, the independent 
 spirit of Knox ; but, to have been consist- 
 ent, when he demanded that the Sovereign 
 should be amenable to the laws, he ought 
 at the same time, to have challenged for her 
 a public trial, instead of a private accusa- 
 tion.* Of Both well so little was known after 
 the Queen's imprisonment, that he seemed 
 almost forgotten ; and so far was Morton 
 from pursuing with his accustomed-energy 
 
 * Mr. Chalmers adduces strong arguments to prove 
 that the contents of the casket never were produced 
 to the parliament ; the facts of the letter having been 
 written and received, was established on the unquali- 
 fied testimony of the confederates. Thus Bothwell's 
 previous acquittal, and the Queen's conviction, were 
 conducted on principles equally arbitrary.
 
 357 
 
 the murderer of Darnley, that he suffered 
 him to remain till the 26th of June in Dun- 
 bar castle, and then gently summoned him 
 to surrender the fortress ; nor was it till se- 
 veral days after that Bothwell embarked for 
 Murray, where he lingered several weeks 
 under the protection of his uncle the 
 bishop. From thence he departed to Ork- 
 ney, where, being apprised that a squadron 
 was fitted out for his interception, he was 
 compelled to retake to his ships, one of which 
 perished in a storm. To repair the loss, 
 he boarded a Danish ship, and afterwards 
 being captured by a Norwegian vessel, 
 was conveyed to Denmark, imprisoned 
 on the charge of piracy, and finally de- 
 tained during life in rigorous captivity. 
 After Bothwell's departure from Scotland, 
 Captain Blackadder was tried and con- 
 demned for Darnley's murder, but persisted 
 in declaring his innocence. Dagleish was 
 also executed, as were Powrie, Hepburn*, 
 
 * See Anderson's Collections. 
 A A 3
 
 354. 
 
 clasping him in her arms, conjured him, 
 for her son's sake, to accept the Regency, 
 and to preserve the kingdom from rebellion. 
 " The Earl," says Throckmorton, " declared 
 " many reasons why he should refuse it." 
 The Queen, regarding him as less unkind 
 than the confederates, persisted in her en- 
 treaties ; arid, finally, after a decorous resist- 
 ance, he granted the boon, yet suppressed 
 the satisfaction he secretly experienced. 
 When the Earls Athol and Murray were 
 about to take leave, Mary said, with touching 
 pathos : " Of my severity, my Lords, you 
 " have had experience, and of the end of it. 
 " I pray you also, let me find that you have 
 " learned by me to make an end of yours ; 
 " or, at least, that you can make it final." 
 But it was not till Murray gave to Ruth- 
 ven and Lindsay a parting injunction to 
 treat her kindly, that Mary felt, in all its 
 bitterness, that she was held in ignomi- 
 nious captivity by her own subjects, men 
 notoriously criminal, and who had lately 
 20
 
 355 
 
 sued to her clemency. For a moment, she 
 yielded to this impression in an agony of 
 tears; but, quickly resuming her composure, 
 besought Murray to bear her blessing to 
 her dear son. The next day she wrote to 
 desire him to take charge of her jewels 
 and other valuables. * With this requisition 
 the Earl complied, and on the IQth, having 
 formally accepted the Regency, took pos- 
 session of the state-chamber in which the 
 Queen in the preceding year had given 
 birth to James. 
 
 It is not uncommon to see the unfortu- 
 nate pass from the extremes of confidence 
 to distrust, and Mary, who was at once cre- 
 dulous and suspicious, soon became ac- 
 quainted with circumstances which for ever 
 dissipated her illusions respecting Murray's 
 friendship. In the ensuing Parliament, the 
 Act of Resignation was produced, and would 
 have been registered without examination, 
 
 * Murray afterward sent to Lochleven a large part 
 of the Queen's wardrobe. 
 
 A A 2
 
 360 
 
 shore, he flung into the Lake * the keys of 
 the castle they had just quitted. Another 
 coadjutor in this enterprize, was John 
 Beaton, who held frequent communication 
 with George Douglas; and, by his assistance, 
 provided horses to be ready on the Queen's 
 approach. Scarcely had she landed, when, 
 by their care, she was mounted on a pal- 
 frey, and conveyed to Niddry, the seat of 
 Lord Seaton ; where, surrounded by friends, 
 Mary might repeat with ecstasy, " I am 
 " once more a Queen!" How often, in 
 succeeding years of captivity, must the re- 
 collection of that rapturous welcome have 
 imparted a momentary sensation of pleasure 
 to her oppressed heart ! 
 
 After a halt of three hours, she proceed- 
 ed to Hamilton, where she solemnly re- 
 voked her compulsory abdication, and dis- 
 
 * These keys were found the 20th October 1805, 
 and delivered to Mr. Taylor of Kinross', . whose de- 
 scription of them will be found in the notes to the 
 seventh chapter at the end of this volume. 
 
 13 

 
 361 
 
 patched a messenger to demand restitution 
 of the Regent. Every moment was big with 
 interest ; the nobles promised allegiance ; 
 John Beaton was dispatched to Elizabeth, to 
 solicit aid ; native troops crowded to her ban- 
 ner, and, in a few days, 6000 men were as- 
 sembled. But, unfortunately, there was no 
 Morton to direct their movements; and 
 whilst the Queen entreated to be conveyed 
 to Dumbarton, the rash counsels of the 
 Archbishop of St. Andrew's, who projected 
 the Queen's marriage with his nephew, Lord 
 Arbroath, precipitated the fatal battle of 
 Longside. * 
 
 It is only for the imagination to follow 
 Mary through the rapid vicissitudes, the con- 
 flicting emotions that twelve days produced. 
 On the second of May, she had escaped 
 from her prison; on the thirteenth, she 
 witnessed the dispersion of the army so sud- 
 denly created, and fled, with precipitation, 
 
 * Near Kirkcudbright, in view of Solway Fjrth.
 
 366 
 
 " cence, your Highness would either with- 
 " out delay give her aid yourself, to the 
 " subduing her enemies, or else, being now 
 " come of good will, and not of necessity 
 " into your hands, {for a good and greatest 
 " part of her subjects, said she, remain 
 " fast to her still,) your Highness would, 
 " at least, forthwith give her passage 
 " through your country into France, to 
 " seek aid at other princes hands ; not 
 " doubting, but both the French King, and 
 " the King of Spain, would give her relief 
 " to her satisfaction. And here, she fell 
 " into discourses, that the cause of the war 
 " and disobedient treasons of these her 
 " subjects, was thereby to keep that which 
 " she had too liberally given them by 
 " violence ; since, through her revocation 
 " whereof, when of full age, they could not 
 " enjoy the same by law ; and withal (she 
 " affirmed,) that both Lethington and the 
 " Lord Morton were assisting to the mur- 
 " der of her husband."
 
 36? 
 
 Although Mary's eyes were now opened 
 to the consequences of her rashness, she 
 wasted the precious moments in eloquent 
 invective and impassioned tears. It is true, 
 she protested, that she would seek redress 
 from every potentate in Christendom, nor re- 
 ject it even from the Grand Turk ; that she 
 would rather die than submit to her rebels ; 
 that the Hamiltons should prosecute her 
 claims in Scotland, and that she would 
 even ruin herself to subvert Murray's 
 government. But, after these ebullitions 
 of passion, she consumed in negociation 
 the time that should have been given to 
 action, in addressing pathetic appeals to 
 Charles the Fourth of France, and a spirited 
 but unavailing remonstrance to the Queen 
 of England. * 
 
 It is a pleasing trait of gratitude, that, 
 
 * In her letters to Elizabeth, she declares, that the 
 nobility were all loyal, with the exception of Murray, 
 Morton, Mar, Hume, Seraple, and Glencairu.
 
 364, 
 
 \vhether alarmed by the example of success- 
 ful rebellion, or touched with the distresses 
 of royalty, she dispatched the Lady Scroop, 
 and several other accomplished women, to 
 the Queen of Scots, with assurances of 
 friendship and commiseration. But, as 
 Elizabeth never acted without the advice of 
 her council, her feelings were soon checked 
 by their cautious suggestions; and, fore- 
 seeing the embarassments that might arise 
 from personal intercourse with the deposed 
 Queen, she allowed Cecil to dictate the an- 
 swer transmitted through the medium of 
 Lord Scroop and Sir Francis Knolles. 
 During their deliberations, Mary, without 
 anticipating disappointment, exerted all her 
 powers of captivation with her English 
 friends, walked out to witness the popular 
 pastimes, and, by her conversation, sup- 
 plied an inexhaustible fund of amusement. 
 Amongst her few Scottish attendants, were 
 Lord and Lady Livingston, Lord Fleming, 
 and the maid of honour before-mentioned, 
 Mary Seaton, who excelled as a tire-wo-
 
 365 
 
 man, and, every other day, contrived for tlie 
 Queen a peruke of hair, " which, without 
 expence," says Knolles, " sets off a woman, 
 and makes her look gaily well." When 
 Elizabeth's messengers arrived, they were 
 ushered into Mary's chamber of presence. 
 In describing the interview, Knolles, with- 
 out wasting one word on her beauty, expa- 
 tiates on her energy and eloquence. * 
 
 " We found her in her answers to have an 
 " eloquent tongue and a discreet head ; and, 
 " it seemeth by her doings, that she hath 
 " stout courage and liberal heart adjoined 
 " thereunto ; and, after our delivery of your 
 " Highness's letters, she fell into some 
 " passion, with the water in her eyes ; and 
 " therewith, she drew us with her into her 
 " bed-chamber, where she complained unto 
 " us, for that your Highness did not 
 " answer her expectations, for the admit- 
 " ting her into your presence forthwith ; 
 " that upon good declaration of her inno- 
 
 * Anderson's Collections, vol. iv.
 
 362 
 
 to Dundrennan Abbey *, from whence she 
 directed her mournful eyes towards the 
 English coast ; and, peremptorily rejecting 
 Archbishop Hamilton's advice to remain in 
 Scotland, rashly resolved to throw herself 
 on the friendship of Elizabeth. This design 
 was no sooner formed than executed ; and, 
 without waiting even for the return of the 
 messenger who had been sent to enquire 
 whether she might remain in safety at Car- 
 lisle, she embarked in a fishing boat, re- 
 gardless of the remonstrances, and even 
 of the tears of her kinsman, of whom she 
 took an eternal adieu, t 
 
 By her fatal precipitation, Mary missed the 
 messenger who was actually journeying to- 
 wards her from Elizabeth, with unlimited 
 offers of service, on the single condition 
 that no French troops should be admitted 
 
 * Dundrennan Abbey near Kirkcudbright in Gal- 
 loway. 
 
 f The Archbishop of St. Andrew's was executed in 
 1573 for having been arte and parte in Darnley's 
 murder.
 
 363 
 
 into Scotland. It was on the 15th of May 
 that she arrived at Workington, in Cumber- 
 land, accompanied by the good Lord Her- 
 ries, and about twenty other attendants, 
 among whom were the faithful William 
 Douglas, and a companion of her child- 
 hood, the amiable Mary Seaton. 
 
 Destitute of money, clothes, or any appen- 
 dage of royalty, Mary would fain have con- 
 cealed the rank she could so ill represent ; 
 but rumour whispered her arrival, and she 
 was soon surrounded by the neighbouring 
 nobility and gentry, who, with great respect, 
 attended her to Cockermouth, from whence 
 she was afterwards conducted to the Castle 
 of Carlisle. Her first impression of Eng- 
 land was flattering ; and had the sincerity of 
 its government corresponded with the hos- 
 pitality of the people, Mary would have 
 had no cause to repent of her confidence. 
 In justice to Elizabeth, it must however be 
 observed, that by her first impulse she ap- 
 pears to have been prompted to receive the 
 royal fugitive with sympathizing kindness ;
 
 368 
 
 in the bitterness of her .own disappoint- 
 ment, Mary did not forget her obligations 
 to young Douglas, whom she earnestly re- 
 commended to the French King, as the 
 individual who had been most instrumental 
 in effecting her deliverance. 
 
 " Beaton and Seaton," she writes, " have 
 " done much, but Douglas more than any ; 
 " since, at the risque of his life, and to 
 " the ruin of his fortunes, he rescued me 
 " from the hands of my mortal enemies. 
 " I beseech you," she continues, with a 
 womanly feeling, " to shew, by some 
 " public token of regard, that you feel some- 
 " what obliged to him for my sake." 
 
 In her letters to the English Queen, 
 Mary insisted on the injuries she had re- 
 ceived from Morton and his confederates *, 
 
 * This assertion, so often reiterated, agrees not 
 with Dr. Robertson's suggestion, that Mary had par- 
 doned Morton exclusively through the intercession 
 of Bothwell. Mr. Chalmers demonstrates, that it was 
 rather to the influence of Murray than of Bothwell,
 
 369 
 
 whom she had pardoned at Elizabeth's espe- 
 cial intercessions and appeal, to her sense of 
 justice, whether ^she is not bound, in, some 
 degree, to repair the evils which she has 
 innocently occasioned? In another letter, 
 she solemnly disclaims the idea of disgracing 
 her kinswoman. 
 
 " Alas, madam, and when was blame im- 
 " puted to any prince, for listening in 
 " person, to the complaints of those whom 
 " calumny has outraged. Dismiss from your 
 " mind the idea, that I came hither to save 
 " my life, a boon, that no country, not 
 " even Scotland, denied me ; think only, 
 " that I come to vindicate my honour, to 
 " gain support against my false accusers j 
 " not to explain to them as if we were of 
 " equal rank ; since, I well know, they 
 
 but still more to the representations of Elizabeth, that 
 she made the concession. (See also Melvil.) The 
 court of France had also recommended the measure. 
 (See Keith's preface, page vi.) Dr. Robertson's mis- 
 take is derived from Buchanan. 
 
 VOL. II, B B
 
 370 
 
 " have violated the duty they owed me as 
 " their native sovereign. To judge my 
 " cause, I have chosen you, above all others, 
 " as my kinswoman and best friend. In 
 " making this election, I rather meant to 
 " offer the tribute of homage, than to in- 
 " flict the penalty of disgrace."* 
 
 By throwing herself on Elizabeth's pro- 
 tection, Mary had placed the English go- 
 vernment in an awkward predicament. To 
 espouse the Queen's cause, was to level a 
 fatal blow at the Protestant party, which 
 flourished under the Regent's administra- 
 tion. Totally to reject her suit, was to 
 hold out to France a temptation to a/moy 
 England by invading Scotland. 
 
 In this embarrassment, nothing remained 
 but to temporize ; and whilst Sir Henry 
 Norris was required to fathom the inten- 
 tions of the French cabinet, Sir Francis 
 Knolles was instructed to amuse the Queen 
 of Scots, and to endeavour to obtain, by 
 
 * See Anderson's Collections, vol. iv.
 
 371 
 
 pei-suasion, voluntary confirmation of the 
 surrender of her crown, formerly extorted 
 at Lochleven. To the honour of Sir Francis, 
 his manly feelings revolted from the artifice ; 
 and he ventured to affirm, that it was far 
 better to be an open enemy than a trea- 
 cherous friend. 
 
 " And yet this lady and Princess," he 
 " writes to Cecil, " is a notable woman ; 
 " she seemeth to regard no ceremonious 
 " honour, besides the acknowledging of 
 " her estate royal, she sheweth a dispo- 
 " sition to speak much ; to be bold, to 
 " be pleasant, and to be very familiar ; 
 " she sheweth a very great desire to be 
 " avenged of her enemies j she sheweth a 
 " readiness to expose herself to all perils in 
 " hope of victory ; she desireth much to 
 " hear of hardiness and valiancy, com- 
 " mending by name all approved men 
 " of her country^ although they be her 
 " enemies ; and she concealeth no cow- 
 " ardice, even in her friends. The 
 
 BBS
 
 372 
 
 " thing that most she thirsteth after is 
 " victory ; and it seemeth to be indifferent 
 " to her, to have her enemies diminished, 
 " either by the sword of her friends, or by 
 " the liberal promises and rewards of her 
 ** purse, or by divisions and quarrels raised 
 " amongst themselves ; so that for victory's 
 " sake, pain and peril seem pleasant unto 
 " her } and in respect of victory, health 
 " and all things seem to her contemptuous 
 " and vile. Now what is to be done with 
 " such a lady and Prince ; or whether 
 " such a Princess and lady is to be 
 " nourished in one's bosom, or whether it 
 " be good to halt and dissemble, I defer 
 " to your judgment. If her Highness think 
 " it good to stay the coming in of the 
 " French into Scotland ; if her Highness 
 " think any peril towards her ; if her High- 
 " ness think any Princes and Potentates, or 
 " that any factious subjects may conspire 
 " against her ; then, I am sure, she will 
 " think it good policy, roundly and plainly,
 
 373 
 
 " to assist her own course, without colours 
 " and cloaks, that hide no man's eyes but 
 " those that are blind ; and, surely, the 
 " plainest way is the most honourable. In 
 " my simple opinion, I take it an honour- 
 " able quarrel for her Highness to expel the 
 " French ; and the easiest way thereto, is to 
 " aid and countenance the Regent in time ; 
 " and if the spots in this Queen's coat be 
 " manifest, the plainer and sooner that her 
 " Highness doth reveal her discontent 
 " therewith, the more honourable it will 
 " be, I suppose ; and it is the readiest way 
 " to stop the mouths of factious murmuring 
 subjects. " * 
 
 Sir Henry Norris having quieted Cecil's 
 apprehensions respecting the interference 
 of the French cabinet, concurred with 
 
 * Anderson's Collections, vol. iv. page 73. In a 
 subsequent letter, Sir Francis Knolles calculates, that 
 if Mary were permitted to pass to France, she 
 would be forced to spend her dowry ; whereas, if 
 she were detained in England, she would expend 
 it in fomenting disturbances in Scotland, 
 
 B B 3
 
 374 
 
 Knolles, in advising that the Queen of 
 Scots should be allowed free egress ; but 
 the secretary replied, that such was not the 
 general opinion, and that for himself, he 
 found neither her continuance good, nor her 
 departing quiet. * The conduct of Mary 
 during this emergency was such as little 
 justified the impressions she had given of 
 her ability. Instead of returning to Scot- 
 land, where her partizans began to manifest 
 considerable activity, instead of adhering to 
 her first resolution never to advance beyond 
 Carlisle, but for the purpose of seeing Eliza- 
 beth, she allayed her impatience bynominat- 
 ing the Duke of Chatelherault and the Earl 
 of Argyle her lieutenants in Scotland ; so- 
 licited assistance from other Potentates, but 
 still listened to Elizabeth ; suffered herself 
 to be conducted to Bolton Castle, the 
 mansion of Lord Scroop, who was brother- 
 in-law to the Duke of Norfolk ; and, finally, 
 consented to refer her disputes with her 
 * Cabala.
 
 375 
 
 subjects to the arbitration of the English 
 Queen. 
 
 With the late proceedings in Scotland, 
 and the charges which had been brought for- 
 ward against Queen Mary, every English 
 gentleman was now familiar. The contents 
 of the casket had been communicated to 
 Cecil * and his partizans, before Elizabeth 
 proposed to challenge Murray to answer 
 for his usurpation of his sister's authority ; 
 promising, if he gave not sufficient reasons, 
 that she would re-seat the Queen on the 
 throne of her ancestors. Confiding in the 
 justice of her cause, Mary was credulous 
 
 * In a paper dated June, Cecil sums up every thing 
 that could be stated pro and contra the Queen of 
 Scots. But he appears to have been perplexed in 
 what manner to reconcile to Elizabeth's doctrine of 
 the divine rights of sovereigns, the rendering Mary 
 amenable to any human tribunal. To obviate the 
 difficulty, he, at length, concludes, " that having made 
 her husband king, he naturally became her superior ; 
 and that therefore she was to be held guilty if she 
 should be found to have procured his murder." 
 Anderson's Collections, vol. iv. 
 
 B B 4f
 
 enough to embrace the proposal j and com- 
 missioners were appointed on either side 
 to support the interests of the disputing 
 parties. But Mary little suspected, that 
 with the exception of Norris and Knolles, 
 all the members of Elizabeth's council 
 concurred in voting for her detention, as a 
 measure of political expediency j for which 
 it was only necessary to discover a co- 
 lourable pretext. Of the sinister intrigues, 
 and vacillating factions existing in Scotland, 
 a masterly exposition is given by Arundel, 
 Earl of Sussex ; in which, having premised 
 that the matter must rest, either in de- 
 claring the Queen of Scots guilty, or by some 
 compositions, with a shew of saving her 
 honour, he observes, " that the first could 
 " scarcely be attempted, since she might 
 " deny the letters, and accuse the most of 
 " them, her accusers, of manifest consent to 
 " the murder, hardly to be denied. That the 
 " uncertainty of the young King's life ren- 
 " dered it advisable, even to Murray's fac-
 
 377 
 
 " tion, to save her honour ; since, in the. 
 " event of his death, they must either restore 
 " her to the crown, or allow it to descend 
 " to the Hamiltons, whom they detested : 
 " that for these reasons, a composition was 
 " desirable for both parties, by which the 
 " Queen might reign jointly with her son, 
 " whilst the Earl of Murray governed for 
 " both." The Earl adds, " that even the 
 " Hamiltons, who demanded her unlimited 
 *' restitution, were willing, (in respect of 
 " her misgovernment,) that she should be 
 " directed by a council of nobles, pro- 
 " vided, that neither of them aspired to 
 " supremacy, but that all were allowed 
 " to govern in rotation." In conclusion, 
 he says, pithily, " Thus do you see 
 " howe these two factyons for ther pry- 
 " vate causes tosse betwene them the 
 " crowne and publyke affayers of Scot- 
 " land, and howe nere they be to agree 
 " if ther pryvate causes were not ; and 
 " care nether for the mother nor the
 
 378 
 
 t 
 
 " chyld, (as I thynk before God,) but 
 " to serve ther owne turne. Neither will 
 " Murray like of any order, wherby he 
 " showld not be Regent styled ; nor Ha- 
 " milton of any order wherby he showld 
 " not be as great, or greater in govern- 
 " ment than Murray. So as the govern- 
 " ment is presently the matter, whatsoever 
 " they say was heretofore the cause ; and, 
 " therefore, it will be good tve forgett not 
 " our parte in this tragedy e. Thus ferre 
 " of that I have gathered by them ; wher- 
 " in, if they do not alter, I am sure I do 
 " not erre. And now, touchyng my 
 " opynyon of the matter, (not by waye of 
 " advyse, but as impartyng to you what 
 " I conceyve), I thynke suerly no ende 
 " can be made good for England, excepte 
 " the person of the S. Quene be deteyned, 
 " by one means or other in England." * 
 
 As procrastination was the aim of the 
 English government, it is not surprizing, 
 
 * Lodge's Illustrations of English History, vol. ii.
 
 that though Mary had been removed to 
 Bolton Castle, in July, the hearing of the 
 Scottish cause was deferred till October, 
 when the Regent arrived, accompanied 
 by Morton, Maitland, the celebrated George 
 Buchanan, and other able and intelligent 
 coadjutors. On the part of Mary ap- 
 peared many barons and dignified eccle- 
 siastics ; but with the exception of John 
 Lesley, Bishop of Ross, not one man of 
 high intellectual attainments. On the 
 part of Elizabeth, appeared the Duke of 
 Norfolk, the Earl of Sussex, and Sir 
 Ralph Sadler, the commissioners appointed 
 to hear the cause, and to communicate to 
 their Sovereign the result of the investiga- 
 tion. 
 
 The history of the conferences of York 
 and Hampton Court is well known, as is 
 the political chicanery by which an affair 
 of arbitration was converted into a sort of 
 judicial process against the Queen of Scots. 
 Originally Elizabeth proposed, merely to
 
 380 
 
 institute an enquiry, on which to ground 
 her pretensions for interference with the 
 existing government of Scotland ; alleging, 
 that she could not justly impugn the Re- 
 gent's rights, without giving him an oppor- 
 tunity to vindicate his conduct. 
 
 In the first instance, when the Queen's 
 commissioners charged the Regent with 
 rebellion and usurpation, the Regent re- 
 plied, " that the confederates had taken 
 arms to revenge the late King's death on 
 the murderer Bothwell, whom her Ma- 
 jesty protected ; that, to prevent her offer- 
 ing impediments to this act of justice, 
 they had committed her to Lochleven, 
 where she had voluntarily surrendered the 
 crown to her infant son ; and, that in 
 accepting the government which she had 
 abdicated, they were neither rebels nor 
 usurpers." 
 
 To this the Queen's commissioners re- 
 plied, that if she had incurred blame in 
 marrying Bothwell, who had been tried
 
 381 
 
 and acquitted of her husband's murder, 
 she had acted by their advice * ; since, they 
 could not deny, but that they had sub- 
 scribed the bond, recommending him to 
 be a suitable husband ; that she had con- 
 sented to renounce him when she surren- 
 dered to them on Carberry Hill ; that so far 
 from having impeded justice, she had been 
 
 * By a letter from Elizabeth's commissioners, at 
 York, October, 1568, it appears, that the Regent 
 caused the evidence against Mary to be privately sub- 
 mitted to the Duke of Norfolk and his colleagues ; and, 
 that at the same time they produced a copy of the bond, 
 declaring Bothwell clear from suspicion, and recom- 
 mending him to Mary as a proper husband ; to which 
 the most part of the lords and counsellors of Scotland 
 had put their hands. In admitting this fact, however, 
 they protested, that they subscribed not out of liking, 
 having procured a warrant from the Queen to indem- 
 nify them for so doing. When we recollect how 
 little power the Queen possessed, it appears extra- 
 ordinary that she should have so coerced almost the 
 whole nobility of Scotland. The commissioners add, 
 that a contract of marriage had been shewn them 
 between the Queen and Bothwell, dated before his 
 purgation. It is almost needless to state, that this 
 contract is, by the Queen's advocates, pronounced a 
 forgery. Anderson's Collections, vol. iv. page 39.
 
 382 
 
 herself treated with indignity, and -finally 
 consigned to a prison in Lochleven, where, 
 to save her life, she had, by compulsion, 
 subscribed that deed, by virtue of which 
 they pretended to usurp her government ; 
 that the punishment of Bothwell was pal- 
 pably a mere pretext for the outrage they 
 had committed, since, during many months, 
 they had taken no steps to bring him to 
 justice ; and finally, had permitted him to 
 escape to another country. As these 
 charges were substantiated by facts which 
 could not be denied, the Queen's cause 
 was evidently triumphant; but, as during 
 the enquiry, schemes of composition were 
 agitated, neither party accused the other 
 of Darnley's murder. On Mary's side this 
 forbearance was owing to a secret treaty 
 with Maitland, who now favoured her 
 cause, and hoped under certain restrictions 
 to restore her to the government. In her 
 previous conversations with Scroop and 
 Knolles, she had repeatedly designated
 
 383 
 
 Maitland and Morton as the authors of her 
 husband's murder; and authorized her com- 
 missioners to charge them with the fabrica- 
 tion of the spurious letters ; but now that 
 the latter was willing to become her friend, 
 she naturally abstained from an attack that 
 must have alienated him from her interests. 
 At the same time, a subordinate intrigue 
 was carried on with the Duke of Norfolk, 
 to whom Maitland* suggested, that by 
 marrying the Queen of Scots he might 
 unite England and Scotland in perpetual 
 amity, and secure the establishment of the 
 Protestant religion. The proposal was 
 communicated to the Regent, who affected 
 to enter into Maitland's views ; and in 
 conformity with the Duke's advice, pro- 
 mised to be careful of his sister's honour. 
 In the meanwhile this clandestine corres- 
 pondence having transpired, the confe- 
 
 * If Maitland had really a share in the fabrication 
 of those letters ; he must have been prompted by per- 
 sonal interest, to propose the marriage with Norfolk.
 
 384 
 
 rences were transferred from York to 
 Hampton Court ; where, under Cecil's 
 superintendance, the Regent suffered him- 
 self to be persuaded to produce the do- 
 cuments contained in the casket, without 
 which he had no colourable excuse to offer 
 for his usurpation of the government. 
 
 On the papers extracted from this casket, 
 was founded the complex charge of adultery 
 and murder ; in proof of which, the con- 
 federates produced a series of amatory 
 letters, addressed to Bothwell before Darn- 
 ley's death, and alluding to circumstances 
 connected with that event ; to these were 
 appended some miserable French verses, 
 (which the poet, Ronsard, pronounced 
 spurious j) and the depositions of certain 
 domestics of Bothwell, who had been con- 
 victed, on their own confession, as agents 
 of his crime; from one of which only 
 was any evidence extracted to prejudice 
 the Queen of Scots : and it is proper to 
 observe, that the deposition of this last
 
 385 
 
 witness, an illiterate man, who could 
 neither read nor write, was marked with an 
 incongruity, that must inevitably excite 
 distrust ; since, though no living witnesses 
 were produced to attest the improper con- 
 duct of Mary Stuart, she was made to re- 
 ceive and transmit familiar messages to 
 Bothwell by a menial domestic. To cor- 
 roborate the letters and confessions, was 
 appended a journal of the Queen's proceed- 
 ings, (attributed to Buchanan's pen,) and 
 transmitted by Murray to Cecil ; of which, 
 the gross inaccuracy and wilful misrepre- 
 sentations can now be demonstrated * ; but 
 which it suited the policy of the English 
 ministers to receive as authenticated truth. 
 Of the letters, it had been previously argued 
 by the Earl of Sussex, that they were not 
 admissible as judicial evidence t ; yet that 
 
 * Mr. Chalmers adduces strong evidence, that this 
 confession is a forgery. 
 
 f See the document at the end of this volume, ex- 
 tracted from Chalmers' Life of Mary. 
 
 VOL. II. C G
 
 386 
 
 nobleman in common with the other 
 commissioners, upholding the policy of 
 supporting Murray's government, decided 
 without any adequate investigation, that 
 the letters addressed to Bothwell were 
 genuine, and that consequently the Re- 
 gent was justified in his usurpation. How 
 far this declaration agreed with internal 
 convictions must be left to conjecture ; but 
 it seems evident, that the Duke of Norfolk, 
 who resented Murray's accusation of his 
 sister, and had himself been persuaded of 
 her innocence, was rather swayed by his 
 fears than his feelings, when he subscribed 
 to the opinion of his confederates. During 
 this process Mary became sensible of the 
 oversight she had committed, in submitting 
 to a political inquisition ; and by advice of 
 Lesley, hastily revoked the powers vested 
 in her commissioners, imperatively demand- 
 ing to be admitted to Elizabeth's presence. 
 This proceedure has been much blamed; 
 but was, according to the Bishop of Ross, 
 is
 
 387 
 
 the only resource left to shield her royal dig- 
 nity from degradation; yet, when pressed 
 by Elizabeth to reply to the Regent's alle- 
 gations, she pledged herself to disprove 
 them, provided she were allowed time and 
 opportunity to collect evidence, and pro- 
 cure witnesses in her defence; and, as a 
 preliminary, demanded to see the originals 
 or duplicates of the letters and sonnets 
 ascribed to her pen. Although this equit- 
 able demand could scarcely be disputed, 
 Elizabeth annexed to it the whimsical 
 condition, that Mary should previously give 
 a written promise to reply to every article 
 of the Regent's accusation. To this Lesley 
 objected * ; and Elizabeth, or rather Cecil, 
 having attained the object for which the 
 enquiry was actually instituted, that of 
 having elicited sufficient matter against the 
 Queen of Scots, to gain time, witji a view to 
 her ultimate detention, no longer pressed the 
 subject ; finally, the English commissioners 
 
 * Queen Mary's Register, Goddall, page 305. 
 C C 2
 
 388 
 
 declared " that nothing had hitherto beert 
 " deduced against the Regent and his ad* 
 " herents, that may impair their honour or 
 " allegiance ; and, on the other side, nothing 
 " sufficiently produced nor shewn by them 
 " against the Queen their sovereign, for 
 " which the Queen of England should 
 "conceive evil opinion of the queen her 
 " sister for any thing yet seen ;" and with 
 this nullity the enquiry terminated. It was 
 however stipulated, that the Earl should 
 return to England whenever the Queen of 
 Scots should return a specific answer to his 
 charges. In the mean time, he was dis- 
 missed with honour, and a gratuitous loan 
 of 5000/. *, avowedly to maintain peace be- 
 tween the sister kingdoms. Whilst Mary, 
 the original complainant, whom neither 
 threats nor blandishments could induce 
 to ratify her extorted abdication, was con- 
 signed to the care of the Earl of Shrews- 
 
 * See Rymer's Federa, torn. xv. page 677.
 
 389 
 
 bury * ; whether in conformity to Cecil's 
 principle, that she ought to be treated as a 
 prisoner of war, or to the advice of Sus- 
 sex and the other privy counsellors, that 
 she should be detained in England, it is 
 evident she was devoted to captivity, not 
 for any real or imaginary crimes, (since by 
 the English government all judicial rights 
 were disclaimed,) but for the security of 
 England, and the promotion of the protest- 
 ant cause in Europe. 
 
 * Previous to his departure from England, Murray 
 renewed the subject of his sister's marriage with the 
 Duke of Norfolk, through whose intercession he ob- 
 tained from Mary an injunction to her partizans, to 
 suffer him to pass without molestation along the 
 borders. In return for this concession, Murray pro- 
 mised to co-operate with Maitland in promoting the 
 Duke's objects, and professed his willingness to con- 
 cur in his sister's restoration. See Appendix to Good- 
 all, vol. ii. page 305. 
 
 c c 3
 
 390 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A SKETCH OF MARY'S RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 
 
 IHE commencement of Mary's captivity 
 in England was accompanied by some cir- 
 cumstances of mitigation, and even of com- 
 parative enjoyment. During her residence 
 at Bolton Castle, she had been exhilarated 
 by agreeable society and smiling prospects ; 
 and although the unsatisfactory issue of 
 the conferences destroyed her confidence 
 in Elizabeth's friendship, she discovered 
 new resources, with which to resist her 
 enmity. In Scotland, her party had gained 
 strength ; since exclusive of the Duke of 
 Chatelherault and Lord Herris, the Earl 
 of Huntly in the north, the Earl of Argyle 
 in the west, openly espoused her cause ; 
 whilst the genius of Maitland secretly 
 worked for her restoration to the sceptre of
 
 391 
 
 her ancestors. For the tergiversation of 
 this able statesman, various motives have 
 been assigned, but, abstracted from political 
 considerations, his inclination to serve 
 the Queen was cherished by his wife, the 
 amiable Mary Fleming, who had been the 
 companion of her childhood, and could not 
 remain insensible to her misfortunes. Dis- 
 gusted with Morton, and slighted by 
 Murray, who was gradually assuming the 
 insolence of authority, the fertile mind 
 of Lethington * devised a fantastic scheme 
 of coalition between Mary and the infant 
 James j which, without abolishing the re- 
 gency, was to vest in his mistress the osten- 
 sible sovereignty. 
 
 Even in Maitland, the maintenance of the 
 Protestant kirk, and the league with Eng- 
 land, took place of every other object ; and, 
 
 * See in Anderson's Collections, called by Cecil a 
 Device of Lethington's. 
 
 C C 4
 
 392 
 
 effectually to preclude Mary from contract- 
 ing any foreign alliance, he engaged Lesley, 
 the Bishop of Ross, to promote the marriage 
 treaty with Norfolk ; to which the Queen at 
 first evinced indifference, or rather aversion. 
 The Duke, like herself, had been thrice 
 married, and his eldest son was nearly of 
 her own age ; but though neither young nor 
 susceptible, Norfolk inherited the ambition 
 of the Howards, and without having ever 
 seen the woman, conceived an ardent 
 passion for the Queen. Lesley, the patron 
 of the scheme, was a zealous Catholic, 
 and faithfully devoted to the cause of his 
 unfortunate mistress. Like his contem- 
 porary, Buchanan, he was eminently dis- 
 tinguished by his classical attainments ; and 
 composed, in the Latin language, his 
 ' Annals of Scotland ;"* a work which was 
 consequently familiar to learned men in 
 
 * See Lesley's Negotiations, in Anderson's Collec*. 
 tions, vol. iii.
 
 .393 
 
 every country of'Europe. But his " Defence 
 of Queen Mary's honour," which appears 
 to have been little more than an expansion 
 of his statement during the conferences at 
 Hampton Court, was written in English ; * 
 and could therefore but imperfectly counter- 
 act the impression produced by her eloquent 
 calumniator, Buchanan. The private cha- 
 racter of Lesley commanded respect : 
 equally sincere in his political and reli- 
 gious principles, he consumed twenty years 
 of his life in strenuous, though often in- 
 judicious, efforts, to restore his Sovereign 
 to the throne, and to reclaim her subjects 
 to the faith of her ancestors. In the sequel, 
 his enterprizing spirit seduced him into 
 complicated and dangerous schemes, by 
 which her cause was rather injured than 
 promoted ; nor can it escape detection, that 
 the Catholic champion predominated over 
 
 * In publishing this defence, Lesley did more for 
 Mary's vindication than could have been effected by 
 a renewal of the conferences at Hampton Court.
 
 394 
 
 the loyal subject ; and that a blind zeal 
 to sustain the supremacy of Rome, some- 
 times led him to recommend measures more 
 likely to irritate the suspicions of Elizabeth, 
 than to relieve the distresses of her ill-fated 
 
 rival. 
 
 It must, however, be admitted, that, 
 
 having anticipated the ultimate views of 
 the English Queen and her ministers, 
 Lesley naturally became eager to embrace 
 any means, however desperate, that pro- 
 mised the termination of Mary's captivity. 
 In spite of the assurances reiterated at 
 Hampton Court, that the Queen of Scots 
 was to be considered as a free Princess, 
 her removal from Bolton Castle in the 
 depth of winter, without regard to her 
 health or inclination, established the fact, 
 that she was in future to be considered 
 as a state prisoner. 
 
 It was in January, 1568, that Mary ar- 
 rived at the castle of Tutbury, from whose 
 aspect she recoiled with impressions of
 
 395 
 
 disgust, which were somewhat softened by 
 the presence of her faithful friends, Lord 
 and Lady Livingston, Mary Seaton, and a 
 junior Livingston ; nor, to a heart sus- 
 ceptible as her's of attachment, could 
 it be a matter of indifference, that in 
 her reduced train of domestics she saw 
 many faces long familiar to remembrance*, 
 the experinced Raulet, her French secre- 
 tary, and the gallant William Douglas, 
 her juvenile protector. In the family of 
 her new guardians might be discovered 
 the epitome of a court, with all its conco^ 
 mitant suspicions and intrigues, venal spies, 
 and domestic discords. Naturally liberal 
 and courteous, the Earl of Shrewsbury was 
 united to a woman whose imperious and 
 crafty temper constantly embittered his 
 existence. This lady, perhaps the most 
 complete shrew in Britain, had been thrice 
 
 * Thirty in number. See Lodge's Illustrations of 
 British History, vol. ii.
 
 396 
 
 married* before she captivated the noble 
 George Talbot; and, by her former husband, 
 Sir William Cavendish, she had a daughter, 
 who traced her descent to the female line 
 of Henry VII. To a late period, she pre- 
 served her personal attractions, and that 
 ascendancy she had originally established 
 over her facile husband, whose feelings 
 were as often wounded by her sordid habits t 
 as his quiet was disturbed with her captious 
 arrogance and pretended jealousy; vices 
 originating exclusively in the love of power, 
 without one redeeming quality of female 
 tenderness or dignified integrity. 
 
 To propitiate this lady was of import- 
 ance to the Queen of Scots, who having 
 learnt enough of human nature to address 
 
 * She had first married a commoner ; then a knight x 
 who made her lady St. Loe ; next a baronet of most 
 antient family ; and lastly, a peer of the realm. 
 
 j- Of her talents for management and economy, 
 there is an amusing example in her letter to the Earl, 
 published in Lodge's Illustrations of British History, 
 vol. ii.
 
 397 
 
 herself to its baser propensities, readily 
 sacrificed to the Countess a part of the 
 jewels which had been transmitted to her 
 from Scotland. For a short time the ex- 
 pedient succeeded ; but the rapacity of her 
 new hostess was insatiable. The suspicious 
 Elizabeth employed her as a spy on the 
 fidelity of her own husband ; and, incredible 
 as it may appear, the Countess, either to 
 increase her consequence, or to inflict some 
 new penance on her despised lord, affected 
 to believe that the Queen of Scots had 
 seduced his affections. That the charge 
 was utterly disregarded by the Queen of 
 England is evident, from the confidence 
 she continued to repose in the Earl's 
 fidelity ; and Sir William Cecil, in an offi- 
 cial communication to Norris, says, " Poor 
 " Lord Shrewsbury being first stricken with 
 " palsy, is now lamentably fallen into a 
 " phrenzy." * In reality, the Earl, who had 
 
 * See Cabala.
 
 398 
 
 passed the meridian of life, was prematurely 
 visited with the infirmities of age. By 
 whatever motives he had been induced to 
 accept the charge of the Queen of Scots, 
 he was soon eager to relinquish it ; but the 
 Queen's authority compelled him to remain 
 at his post, to the ruin of his peace, and 
 the impoverishment of his fortune. 
 
 The Earl of Shrewsbury possessed several 
 mansions, at no considerable distance from 
 each other. In May, 1569, Mary was 
 conducted to Wingfield Manor, a more 
 eligible residence than Tutbury Castle ; 
 from whence she addressed the states of 
 Scotland, requiring them to obtain her 
 divorce from Bothwell, which the Regent, 
 according to his engagements with Norfolk, 
 was bound to enforce with all his influence. 
 But whether he was merely passive, or 
 positively hostile to the measure, the pe- 
 tition was contemptuously rejected *, in 
 
 * In this mandate it is remarkable, that Mary 
 mentions several impediments to her marriage with
 
 399 
 
 spite of the efforts of Maitland, and the 
 Queen's partizans ; nor was this the only 
 disappointment that awaited Mary. The 
 Duke of Chatelherault having temporized, 
 Lord Merries was compelled to disarm, 
 whilst the Earls of Argyle and Huntly 
 listened to overtures of accommodation ; 
 and, finally, Maitland, whom the Regent 
 found no longer indispensable, was arrested 
 on the charge of having been accessary to 
 the late King's murder ; but he was rescued 
 from imprisonment by the brave Kirkaldy, 
 who desired that the accusation might be 
 extended to Archibald Douglas and the 
 Earl of Morton. * 
 
 In the meanwhile, a sentimental corres- 
 pondence had commenced between Mary 
 and the Duke of Norfolk, and, by the 
 
 Bothwell, neither known nor suspected, and, among 
 others, certain degrees of affinity. See an extract 
 from the original at the end of the volume. 
 
 * Both of whom were concerned in the conspiracy 
 for Darnley's murder.
 
 400 
 
 agency of Lesley, the proposed marriage 
 was submitted to the French and Spanish 
 ambassadors, who procured the sanction of 
 their respective sovereigns. By the treach- 
 ery of Murray, the intrigue had been al- 
 ready whispered to those who possessed 
 Elizabeth's confidence, and by himself was 
 afterwards fully divulged to Cecil, to whom 
 Norfolk poured forth his complaints of 
 Murray's perfidy and ambition; insinuating 
 that his real object was the possession of 
 his sister's kingdom. * 
 
 Originally, Mary had made her ac- 
 ceptance of Norfolk t dependent on Eliza- 
 beth's approbation. The sanction of Spain 
 and France induced her to think more 
 seriously of the alliance ; and, as a proof of 
 the deference she felt for his judgment, 
 she rejected, by his advice, a liberal offer 
 
 * See Haynes's State Papers, page 22. 
 
 f In Hardwicke's state papers, are to be found 
 some of Mary's letters to Norfolk, evidently dictated 
 by the almost forlorn hope of regaining her liberty.
 
 401 
 
 Leonard Dacres to effect her escape, and 
 conduct her to any country in Europe. 
 The opposition of the Duke to this sug- 
 gestion is ascribed by Lesley to ambitious 
 jealousy of some foreign rival, but was 
 obviously dictated by the fear of alarming 
 Elizabeth's suspicions ; since, during the 
 rebellion of the North *, he withdrew to his 
 paternal mansion, instead of attempting to 
 liberate Mary, or to protect her from the 
 rigours to which she was subjected by 
 the English government. In the sequel, 
 when he discovered that his correspondence 
 with the captive Queen was betrayed to 
 his sovereign, he affected to renounce his 
 matrimonial speculations, and solemnly 
 promised never to renew them without Eli- 
 zabeth's concurrence. 
 
 * The rebellion of the North broke out in 1569, 
 headed by the Catholic Earls of Westmoreland r:nd 
 Northumberland, of whom one fled to Holland, the 
 other to Scotland; but was afterwards basely surren- 
 dered by the Regent Morton to Elizabeth, and exe- 
 cuted for treason. 
 
 VOL. II. D D
 
 4O2 
 
 Too wary to trust to his professions, the 
 Queen caused him to be committed, for his 
 misdemeanor, to the Tower, where he re- 
 mained during a second insurrection of Ca- 
 tholic malecontents ; which, though suffi- 
 ciently explained by the intolerant system 
 maintained against them, was attributed to 
 the insidious influence of Mary Stuart, 
 Sensible of the perils to which she exposed 
 herself, by keeping in captivity a Princess, 
 to whom the oppressed papists must na- 
 turally look for deliverance, Elizabeth 
 had almost determined to surrender Mary 
 to the Regent Murray, when the spirited 
 remonstrance of Lesley, and his mediation 
 with the foreign ambassadors, suspended 
 her purpose. The Regent revenged his 
 disappointment on Lesley, by accusing 
 him of having excited the late commo- 
 tions; for which he was committed to 
 the custody of the Bishop of London. 
 Whether the negociation for the surrender 
 of Mary would have been renewed, must
 
 403 
 
 be left to conjecture j since, to the unut- 
 terable grief of Knox, Murray was cut off 
 in his prosperous career by the hands of 
 an obscure assassin. * The character of 
 Murray, like that of Mary, has been dif- 
 ferently pourtrayed by party writers; and 
 he is alternately represented as the best, or 
 the vilest of men. That he was enterprizing 
 and ambitious, capable of deep dissimulation, 
 and not untinctured with hypocrisy, is evi- 
 dent from his general conduct. But, that he 
 was true to his party cannot be denied ; 
 and that, next to himself, he loved his 
 country, must be admitted, by his inveterate 
 foes. In private life, he rather commanded 
 respect than inspired affection. His treat- 
 ment of Mary, of Maitland, and of Nor- 
 folk, bespoke a heart callous to sentiments 
 of gratitude, honour, or friendship. His 
 
 * The perpetrator of this crime was one Hamilton, 
 of Bothwellhaugh, who, in revenge for an injury his 
 his wife had received from one of Murray's followers, 
 shot him at Linlithgow. 
 
 D D 2
 
 404. 
 
 administration was, however, tempered 
 with clemency ; and he died at a moment 
 when his loss seemed irreparable to his 
 distracted country. 
 
 During the insurrections in England, 
 Mary was removed from Tutbury to Co- 
 ventry, placed under the Earl of Hunting- 
 don, watched night and day, and treated 
 with the utmost rigour. On the restoration 
 of public tranquillity she was re-estab- 
 lished at Tutbury, where she received from 
 Maitland the most exhilarating accounts 
 of the progress of her party in Scotland, 
 The first step taken by this able statesman, 
 was to obtain, with Morton's assistance, 
 an assize to clear him from the charge of 
 having connived in Darnley's murder ; his 
 next was to form, in conjunction with 
 Kirkaldy, a confederacy in Mary's favour, 
 by which he alienated Morton, and alarmed 
 Cecil. During three months, Elizabeth 
 hesitated between her jealousy of Mary 
 and her prejudices against the Rebels j 
 13
 
 yet, whilst she professed neutrality, sent 
 Lennox to be elected Regent, and dis- 
 patched Cecil, lately created Lord Bur- 
 leigh, to treat with the Queen of Scots, for 
 her restoration to her kingdom ; but on 
 such terms as it was easy to foresee, would 
 never be sanctioned by the states of Scot- 
 land.* 
 
 Mary was then at Chatsworth, where she 
 awaited with patience the issue of the ne- 
 gociation ; unfortunately, she had solicited 
 assistance from the Pope, and the King of 
 
 * In the foreground of this treaty, stood the rati- 
 fication of the never-to-be-forgotten treaty of Edin- 
 burgh ; and among other stipulations it was exacted, 
 that the young King should be educated in England. 
 By the following passage from one of Cecil's letters, 
 it appears that he was little pleased with his com- 
 mission. 
 
 " I am thrown into a maze at this time that I know 
 " not how to walk from dangers. Sir Walter Mild- 
 " may and I are sent to the Scottish Queen, as by 
 " the Queen's Majesty's letters you may see : God be 
 *' our guide, for neither of us like the message 1" 
 Cabala. 
 
 D D 3
 
 406 
 
 Spain, who, under the pretext of 'redeeming 
 her from captivity, put in motion a variety 
 of plots and conspiracies to annoy the go- 
 vernment. By the agency of the fanatical 
 Felton, a bull of excommunication, pro- 
 nounced against Elizabeth, by Pius the 
 Fifth, was affixed to the walls of Lambeth 
 Palace, and through the medium of Kidol- 
 pho, a Florentine merchant, a scheme was 
 formed for restoring the Catholic religion, 
 and deposing the protestant Queen. De- 
 spairing of liberty by other means, Mary 
 at length recommended Ridolpho to Nor- 
 folk, who, with an inconsiderate rashness, 
 often to be found in pusillanimous cha- 
 racters, embraced the desperate expedient 
 of corresponding with a notorious spy ; 
 suffered himself to be involved in a trea- 
 sonable negociation with the enemies of 
 Elizabeth j and finally expiated his frailty 
 and his ambition on the scaffold. * 
 
 * It was proposed by Ridolpho, that the Spaniards 
 should invade England with ten thousand ; but whilst
 
 1.07 
 
 Nor was the death of Norfolk the only 
 evil that resulted to Mary from Ridolpho's 
 intrigues. Against herself, as the object, if 
 not the author of the conspiracy, the in- 
 dignation of the Protestants was generally 
 excited. Both houses of parliament pre- 
 ferred a bill of attainder against Mary 
 Stuart ; and Elizabeth, by rejecting their 
 petition, not only wiped off much of the 
 odium she had originally incurred by her 
 detention of the Scottish Queen, but ac- 
 quired the praise of clemency and magna- 
 nimity, and ever after boasted of her for- 
 bearance in leaving life to her whom she 
 had irreparably injured. To aggravate 
 Mary's chagrins, the Bishop of Ross, who 
 had been committed to the Tower, was 
 liberated only to be proscribed; and 
 
 he was in Flanders, negociating the affair with the 
 Duke of Aloa, an account of the conspiracy was 
 transmitted to Elizabeth. Copies of his letters being 
 found in the Duke of Norfolk's possession, that noble- 
 man was arraigned. 
 
 D D 4f
 
 408 
 
 Charles the Ninth, piqued by her clan- 
 destine application to the Court of Spain, 
 abandoned her cause. In Scotland, her 
 prospects were not more cheering. 
 
 By the influence of Cecil, Lennox had 
 been declared Regent; but, destitute of 
 talents or prudence, signalized his ad- 
 ministration by cruelty and' meanness, 
 rashly sacrificed to his hereditary abhor- 
 rence of the house of Hamilton, the Arch- 
 bishop of St. Andrew's, (who was executed 
 for participation inDarnley's murder,) and 
 finally, like his predecessor, Murray, was in 
 a few months assassinated. The Earl of 
 Mar, who succeeded to his perilous office, 
 was of a different spirit, and sighed to 
 give peace to his afflicted country; but 
 in that virtuous aim he was fatally coun- 
 teracted by the Earl of Morton, who, 
 on his death, became sole Regent of 
 Scotland. Against that able, though un- 
 principled chief, neither the genius of 
 Lethington, nor the invincible spirit of
 
 409 
 
 Kirkaldy availed to sustain Mary's sinking 
 cause. The Castle of Edinburgh alone re- 
 mained to her party ; even that fortress was 
 at length yielded to the English Commander. 
 Kirkaldy, Maitland, and his brother, being 
 included in the prisoners of war who 
 trusted to the honour and demanded the 
 protection of England, but whom a base 
 and discreditable policy betrayed to the 
 Scottish Regent. The brave Laird of 
 Grange perished by the hands of the ex- 
 ecutioner ; an ignominy that Maitland es- 
 caped by a premature and suspicious 
 death, which was generally attributed to 
 poison. All Scotland was now reduced to 
 the King's government, and the Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, in communicating to Mary the 
 capitulation of Edinburgh, was unfeeling 
 enough to expatiate on the generous at- 
 tachment which his sovereign evinced for 
 the interests of her infant son. " How," 
 cried the captive Queen, " can you expect 
 * I shall thank her for depriving me of my
 
 410 
 
 "only friends? Henceforth, I will neither 
 " speak nor hear of Scotland."* In spite 
 of her resolution, the Earl perceived, that 
 the news nipped her sore, and that she often 
 sunk into a profound melancholy, from 
 which she was roused only, to give vent to 
 indignant complaints, or inventive suspi- 
 cions, intermingled with menaces, which 
 proved that the spirit of Mary Stuart 
 was still unsubdued. In her gloomy mo- 
 ments, she was accustomed to impeach 
 the integrity of her agents in France, not 
 excepting her uncle, Cardinal Lorrain, 
 with whose rapacity she was but too well 
 acquainted. At other times, she boasted 
 of her foreign friends and connections, 
 and openly avowed her resolution, never 
 to desist from the attempt to recover her 
 liberty.! 
 
 * See in Chalmers' Life of Mary, an extract from 
 Shrewsbury's letter, page 369. 
 
 f Being once reminded by Shrewsbury that she 
 was suspected of spending her money in fomenting
 
 411 
 
 Within three years she found herself the 
 survivor of those individuals, whether friend- 
 ly or inimical, who had most powerfully in- 
 fluenced her destiny; the specious Mur- 
 ray, the restless Lennox, the intriguing 
 Archbishop of St. Andrew's, and the inflex- 
 ible Knox, the most honourable of her foes, 
 whose prejudices were sanctified by magna- 
 nimous integrity. After these came the 
 misguided Norfolk, equally unseasonable 
 in his caution and his temerity. The 
 gallant Kirkaldy followed, but of all most 
 lamented and irreparable, was the sagaci- 
 ous Maitland. In contemplating the fine 
 talents and amiable sympathies of this 
 eloquent statesman, it is impossible not 
 to lament that he belonged not to another 
 and a better age. From his father, Sir 
 Richard Maitland, who was in his day a 
 
 dissensions in England, she exclaimed, " Never let 
 " them fear; for every penny I can get, goes to 
 * Scotland to support my party." Lodge's Dlustra- 
 tions of British History, vol. ii.
 
 412 
 
 / 
 
 poet of considerable eminence, he had 
 caught a certain elegance and liberality of 
 mind, rarely discovered among his Scottish 
 contemporaries. * Married in early life, he 
 was a widower when he became enamoured 
 of Mary Fleming, with whom he enjoyed 
 a short-lived season of domestic felicity. 
 After Murray's death, he saw his family 
 involved in his misfortunes; not even his 
 aged father was spared by the vindictive 
 Lennox or the rapacious Morton, who thus 
 repaid the services they had received from 
 his accomplished son. Amidst such compli- 
 cated calamities, the spirits of Maitland sunk ; 
 his strength failed, his hopes and even his 
 energies were exhausted. At the invectives 
 of Knox he might have smiled, to the satires 
 of Buchanan t he could have replied with 
 more elegant raillery, but he was unable 
 to endure the sting of self-reproach ; and 
 
 * Chalmers. 
 
 Buchanan satirized him in his Chameleon.
 
 413 
 
 whether lie died by poison or the slow 
 disease of grief, it is equally true that he 
 became the victim of faithless friends and 
 pernicious counsels. It is remarkable that 
 shortly after Maitland, died Cardinal Lor- 
 rain, the primary author of Mary's errors 
 and misfortunes, who had first stimulated 
 her ambition, and whose lessons were never 
 to be effaced from remembrance. 
 
 In the absence of all those splendid scenes 
 to which she had from infancy been accus- 
 tomed, Mary had no other solace than the 
 few domestic attendants who for her sake 
 sacrificed the pursuits of pleasure and of 
 fortune ; even of these, the number was, 
 from various causes, quickly diminished. 
 But her French secretary, Roulet, was the 
 first loss she sustained by death ; and this 
 mournful event, which in happier circum- 
 stances might have awakened but a tran- 
 sient emotion, produced within the walls 
 of Sheffield Castle a deep and indelible im- 
 pression. Every day, every hour, increased
 
 414 
 
 the gloom and hopelessness of her captivity. 
 In the earlier part of her residence with 
 Lord Shrewsbury, she had occasionally con- 
 versed with such persons of rank as visited 
 the family* ; but by the jealousy of Eliza- 
 beth and her ministers, she was now ex- 
 cluded from all social communication with 
 strangers; and nothing remained to break 
 the death-like stillness of her solitude but 
 the petty intrigues of Lady Shrewsbury, 
 the murmurs of her own domestics, the 
 embarrassments of her guardian in procur- 
 ing subsistence for so large a household, 
 the whispers of suspicion, and increasing 
 indications of hostility, t 
 
 From the epoch of Morton's election to 
 
 * By one of these, Nicholas White, she is described 
 as a goodly personage, though not comparable to the 
 English Queen, with an alluring grace, a pretty 
 Scotch speech, a piercing wit clouded with mildness. 
 
 j- Mary's table was still served with sixteen dishes 
 to each course, and her household consumed a large 
 quantity of wine. See Lodge's Illustrations of Bri- 
 tish History, vol. ii.
 
 415 
 
 the regency, in 1573, every rational hope 
 vanished of Mary's restoration in Scotland; 
 and to this conviction she was probably in- 
 debted for the indulgence of visiting Bux- 
 ton: she even carried on a friendly commerce 
 of letters and presents with Elizabeth, to 
 whom she transmitted several elegant pieces 
 of her work, and received in return a pro- 
 fusion of compliments. But in 1577 Mary 
 was apprised of a circumstance calculated 
 to rouse her from inactivity ; such was the 
 death of Bothwell, who was believed to 
 have left a testament or confession, in which 
 he exonerated the Queen from all partici- 
 pation in Darnley's murder. Copies of 
 this testament were said to have been 
 transmitted both to Scotland and England, 
 by whose respective governments Mary 
 naturally suspected that the document had 
 been suppressed. In the fulness of her 
 heart, she wrote to her faithful friend 
 the Archbishop of Glasgow*, by whose 
 * See Keith, Appefldix, p. 142.
 
 416 
 
 agency she procured a copy of an at- 
 testation attributed to Both well, contain- 
 ing, (as was pretended,) a declaration made 
 previous to his death, and which solemnly 
 maintained her innocence. Of 'such a docu- 
 ment the genuineness appeared suspicious, 
 and it has been generally considered since 
 a forgery. But the earnestness which Mary 
 evinced on this subject, the confidence with 
 which she anticipated a honourable result 
 to the enquiry, affords at least a presump- 
 tion of her innocence, perhaps more satis- 
 factory than any declaration which could 
 have been made in her favour by such a 
 miscreant as Bothwell. * 
 
 The death of Bothwell was followed by 
 that of Margaret, Countess of Lennox, 
 who, in the pedantic language of the 
 
 * If Bothwell died in a state of derangement, he 
 must at that time have been incapable of making the 
 declaration attributed to him. The period when his 
 malady commenced is not known. In 1569, Lord 
 Boyd procured his consent to the divorce demanded
 
 age, is said to have yielded, in 1.578, to the 
 co-acting laws of contraries. * 
 
 * Extract from Johnson's History of the Minority of 
 King James. 
 
 " This year Margaret Douglas yielded herself to the 
 " co-acting laws of contraries ; a woman of a princely 
 " majesty, in the 63d year of her age, descended from 
 " Henry the Seventh. For Margaret, his elder 
 " daughter, was assigned the imperial crown of Great 
 " Britain, and by the applause of the nobles betroth- 
 " ed to James the Fourth, of whom sprung James the 
 " Fifth. After the candle of James the Fourth's life 
 " was extinct, Margaret, who was his espoused, took 
 *' to husband Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, the 
 " flower of the Scotch nobility, by whom she had Mar- 
 " garet Douglas, at Harbottle, in Northumberland. 
 " This most zealous and thrice-noble lady had the 
 " chequers of good and bad fortune, which posterity 
 " will memorize or external lineaments and internal or- 
 " naments egregious ; her descent was regal ; the fruit 
 " of her womb and their numerosity was no less, while 
 " King Edward wore the crown with honour. But 
 " novercaling fortune, lest this lady should be ob- 
 " livious of mortality, overshadowed her fair heaven of 
 " prosperity with many inconveniences of human 
 " frailty. She was supervisor to eight of her children; 
 " thrice imprisoned for affecting loves, not for any 
 " crime against the crown or state." 
 
 VOL. II. E E
 
 Amidst the vicissitudes of this lady's life, 
 ambition appears to have constantly predo- 
 minated in her character j and unfortunate 
 as had been the result of her matrimonial 
 speculations, she ventured (in 1574) to coa- 
 lesce with Lady Shrewsbury in forming an 
 union between her son, Charles Stuart, and 
 that lady's daughter, Elizabeth Cavendish. 
 By this alliance, Elizabeth, as was naturally 
 to be expected, became alarmed ; and not 
 only the two countesses, but the unfortunate 
 Mary Stuart, whose interests were in some 
 degree compromised by the connection, 
 incurred suspicion and reproach. Towards 
 the close of her life, Lady Lennox was 
 reconciled to the Queen of Scots ; a cir- 
 cumstance calculated to strengthen the 
 persuasion of Mary's innocence. In de- 
 fiance of the English government, the 
 indefatigable Bishop of Ross had pub- 
 lished various tracts in her vindication ; 
 and his spirited defence of Queen Mary's 
 honour, though suppressed in England, ap-
 
 419 
 
 peared at Brussels, and circulated on the 
 continent. 
 
 The eloquence of Lesley was enforced 
 by the execution or attainder of those men 
 who had been foremost in accusing their 
 sovereign of a crime manifestly committed 
 at their instigation, or with their connivance. 
 To the majority of the Protestant party, 
 however, those suggestions were addressed 
 in vain. They insisted vehemently on Mary's 
 guilt, because they desired to exclude from 
 the crown of England a Catholic Princess 
 connected with the authors and protectors 
 of the league for extirpating evangelical 
 principles. Nothing but the terrors insepar- 
 able from an age of oppression and perse- 
 cution could reconcile with the common 
 sympathies of humanity the rancour with 
 which Theodore Beza*, besofaght Elizabeth 
 to destroy Mary Stuart, that false Medea, 
 
 * See the Reveil au Matin, published in 1574-. 
 E E 2
 
 420 
 
 only less criminal tJian Catharine de Mediris, 
 who, if permitted to live, would inevitably 
 prove fatal to the people of God. In the 
 language of Scripture, the Protestant Queen 
 was admonished, by the example of Saul, to 
 destroy idolaters. For the commonweal of 
 England, she was required to sacrifice the 
 love of clemency to the sense of justice. In 
 the name of honour, piety, and humanity, 
 she was conjured to devote to the common 
 executioner the Queen of Scots, lest, by a 
 false and mistaken mercy, she should pre- 
 pare destruction and misery for a suffering 
 people. To account for this extravagance, 
 it should be recollected that, in the sixteenth 
 century, liberty was but a name, connected 
 with the classical images of Greece and 
 Rome ; not a single spot could be dis- 
 covered that secured to man the blessings 
 of civil and religious freedom. In the Ne- 
 therlands, although those struggles had 
 begun which formed the school of patriots,
 
 of statesmen, and heroes, the conflict- 
 was unequal, the issue uncertain ; not 
 even the little state of Holland was yet 
 reclaimed from the overwhelming flood 
 of despotism and oppression, nor had 
 America become the sanctuary of Europe ; 
 for the Catholic who upheld, or the 
 Protestant who resisted the prescriptive 
 authority of papal Rome, the same iron 
 laws of necessity existed ; and however they 
 might dissent in tenets of faith, they sym- 
 pathised in party feelings, and assimilated 
 in those darker features which tyranny had 
 imprinted on the human character, and 
 which were only to be effaced by the mild 
 and ameliorating influences of a happier 
 system. That love of justice, humanity, 
 and truth, which is the birthright of free- 
 men, belongs neither to the tyrant nor the 
 slave. Cruelty is naturally allied to suspi- 
 cion ; and when we reflect on the vestiges 
 of feudal barbarism and violence, which de- 
 formed society in the sixteenth century, we 
 EE 3
 
 shall cease to wonder that the champions of 
 Protestantism demanded the sacrifice of a 
 feeble woman, with as much energy as in 
 the nineteenth, the friends of humanity 
 have implored the abolition of African 
 slavery. 
 
 In general, it is the effect of long-pro- 
 tracted sufferings to blunt the native sensibi- 
 lities of the temper ; but in Mary's soul time 
 appeared to produce little change. Though 
 the sceptre had been wrested from her 
 hands, the passions of royalty were en- 
 throned in her breast. Born to be a sove- 
 reign, she could not divest herself of those 
 impressions which she had received with 
 her first consciousness of existence, she 
 ceased not to cherish the persuasion that 
 she belonged to a privileged order of 
 beings, and gloried in proclaiming that 
 she was not subject to ordinary laws, or 
 amenable to any human tribunal. 
 
 Driven from her realm, disclaimed by her 
 subjects, it was her pride to repeat that she 
 17
 
 423 
 
 would live and die as became a queen the 
 anointed queen of the Scots. Nor can it be 
 doubted, that, amidst all her privations, she 
 extracted consolation from the reflection that 
 she was presumptive heir to the crown of 
 England. To the faith in which she had 
 been educated, Mary naturally attached 
 herself with increasing ardour and tenacity. 
 On her first arrival in England, she had 
 from policy communicated with a chaplain 
 of the established church, and expressed 
 complacency and respect for the Anglican 
 system. But such constraint as in happier 
 moments might be endured, after a series 
 of afflictions, became insupportable. In 
 England, as in Scotland, she saw the wor- 
 ship of her ancestors disgraced. There 
 were times when no Catholic priest was 
 allowed to approach her presence, to ad- 
 minister to her those sacred consolations for 
 which she often sighed with an earnestness 
 only to be conceived by those who have 
 been, like her, consigned to hopeless cap- 
 E E 4
 
 424 
 
 tivity. Touched by her situation, Pope 
 Gregory XIII., like his predecessor, ex- 
 pressed for her an attachment which, whilst 
 it called forth her warmest gratitude, pro- 
 bably increased her regrets for having done 
 so little to promote what she conceived to 
 be the common cause of Christendom ; nor 
 can it be doubted that in Mary's future 
 plans of life was included a resolution zea- 
 lously to uphold the Catholic faith, and to 
 suffer for its sake with heroical constancy. 
 
 But it required all her efforts to resist 
 the dreariness that surrounded her prison. 
 Separated from the female friends who had 
 at first softened her captivity*, she was de- 
 prived of all congenial society, and had no 
 other solace for solitude than books often 
 reperused, or the embroidery, which, when 
 her health became impaired, she was com- 
 pelled to relinquish. From her former 
 amusements she was restricted ; neither 
 
 * See her pathetic complaints, in Laboureur's Ad- 
 ditions to Castelnau.
 
 425 
 
 limiting nor hawking was often allowed, 
 even to ride for air and exercise was some- 
 times prohibited. Whatever spot she ap- 
 proached was rendered solitary ; whatever 
 mansion she inhabited assumed the aspect 
 of a prison ; none ventured to approach the 
 gates without permission, none departed 
 without search.* The most ordinary con- 
 cerns of life furnished matter for discus- 
 sion and jealousy. That in such a situation 
 Mary should rarely have exercised her 
 native talent for poetry is not surprising. 
 By unceasing irritation, the elasticity of the 
 soul is destroyed : political intrigues repel 
 the influence of the imagination. Even 
 her lute was here discarded; she had no 
 resources but in her own mind; and little 
 to occupy it, besides visionary speculations, 
 self-tormenting suspicions, fantastic hopes, 
 and corroding resentments. In the charac- 
 
 * See the Regulations in Sir Ralph Saddler's State 
 Papers, and Lodge's Illustrations of British History, 
 \ol. ii.
 
 426 
 
 ter and future conduct of her son, she had, 
 however, a legitimate object for her solici- 
 tude and sympathy ; and it was with in- 
 tense interest she listened to the tales which 
 were sometimes transmitted of his promis- 
 ing talents and affectionate disposition. 
 From the regent Morton, and his tutor Bu- 
 chanan, she well knew he would be taught 
 to consider her as the vilest of women. 
 But Mary trusted to the impulse of nature 
 to counteract those impressions, and al- 
 lowed her imagination to dwell on the filial 
 piety of a child to whom she had never 
 been known, and to whom she was destined 
 for ever to remain a stranger. 
 
 The removal of Morton from the regency 
 in 1580 revived her hopes of emancipation ; 
 and conceiving that the revolution in Scot- 
 tish affairs had been produced by the agency 
 of Ermo Stuart, Duke of Lenox, (descended 
 from the Duke of Albany,) who had been 
 educated in France, she began to entertain 
 a chimerical expectation that her son might
 
 427 
 
 be reclaimed to the Catholic faith, and having 
 constituted the Duke of Guise her lieutenant, 
 indirectly authorised him to treat in her 
 behalf with the young King of Scotland. 
 The interception of this document alarmed 
 the vigilance of the English cabinet, and 
 the dissatisfaction was increased by the ex- 
 ecution of Morton, who, in 1581, was tried 
 and convicted, on no very conclusive evi- 
 dence*, for having been arte and parte in 
 Darnley's murder : even by himself, the jus- 
 tice of his sentence was however admitted 
 by a voluntary confession, in which he stat- 
 ed, that, previous to his restoration, Mait- 
 land and Bothwell had visited him at Whit- 
 tingham, where the former proposed to 
 him to destroy Darnley, as an enemy to the 
 
 * By the curious letter from Sir John Forster, 
 published in Chalmers' Life of Mary, (vol. ii. page 92. 
 4?to. edition,) it appears, that the declaration and 
 testament of Bothwell was produced at Morton's 
 trial, and admitted as evidence against him, which 
 proves either that the document was genuine, or 
 that the most barefaced forgeries were with impunity 
 obtruded on the public.
 
 428 
 
 commonwealth ; that at first he (Morton) 
 had declined the overture, unless the trans- 
 action should be with the Queen's consent. 
 That his pardon having been obtained on 
 his return to Scotland, the subject was re- 
 newed; that he persisted in his scruples, 
 challenging Both well to produce some writ- 
 ten testimonial from the Queen's hand that 
 she approved the deed ; that this pledge 
 was never given, although Bothwell pro- 
 tested she sanctioned the measure ; finally, 
 that, though privy to the design, he did not 
 actually aid in the enterprise, in which 
 he had before stated Maitland to have 
 taken an efficient part. * 
 
 * See Moyse's Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland. 
 From this concession of Morton's, Mr. Chalmers in- 
 fers that Bothwell could never have received from 
 the Queen the letters attributed to her pen by Bu- 
 chanan. In Morton's confession there appears to have 
 been much mental reservation, as, if not personally 
 assisting at Darnley's murder himself, his kinsman, 
 Archibald Douglas, was present on that memorable 
 occasion ; and he was notoriously the manager of 
 Bothwell's trial, though he declined being on the jury.
 
 In whatever anticipations Mary indulged 
 after Morton's death, they were soon damp- 
 ed by the conspiracy of Ruthven, and the 
 other malcontent Lords, and her son's de- 
 tention in their custody. On these tidings, 
 believing that James, like herself, was de- 
 voted to destruction, she for the first time 
 yielded to despondence; grief aggravated 
 her maladies, and for a few days her disso- 
 lution seemed inevitable ; but suddenly re- 
 covering from this dejection, she addressed 
 to Elizabeth a letter dictated by maternal 
 feelings, which contained a brief but ele- 
 gant narrative of her sufferings. * 
 
 In a few months the young King regained 
 his liberty, when Mary flattered herself, that, 
 by the intervention of the French court, a 
 treaty was at length about to be concluded 
 for her titular association with her son in 
 
 * This celebrated letter (written in 1582) has been 
 often published ; it was abridged in Camden, but has 
 been given entire in Whitaker's Vindication, and in 
 Mr. Chalmers's Life of Mary Queen of Scots.
 
 430 
 
 the government of 'Scotland. She disclaimed 
 all intention to deprive him of the sovereign 
 authority ; but insisted, that his present 
 claims were founded on injustice and usurp- 
 ation, and earnestly desired that he should 
 surrender to her the crown, only to receive 
 it from her hands as a mark of respect, and 
 that he recognised her maternal preroga- 
 tives. At this crisis, by the recommenda- 
 tion of Mauvisiere, Mary entered into a 
 correspondence with the notorious Archi- 
 bald Douglas, who had taken refuge in 
 France, and, not daring to return to Scot- 
 land, was eager to regain her friendship. 
 Mary signified her readiness to accept his 
 overture, provided he could clear himself 
 from participation in Darnley's murder. 
 This answer drew from Douglas a circum- 
 stantial account of the conference between 
 Morton andBothwellatWhittingham*, when 
 
 * In the letter to Mary, published in Robertson's 
 Appendix, Archibald Douglas confirms Morton's 
 avowal of the conference at Whittingham between
 
 431 
 
 Darnley's death was projected; which, if it 
 does not exonerate M aiy, at least criminates 
 many of her accusers. 
 
 From this correspondence she derived 
 little or no advantage, and still less from 
 her commerce with France, in order to es- 
 tablish her claims in Scotland. To the 
 scheme of association, James and his coun- 
 sellors were wholly averse; his rejection of 
 the proposition appears to have inflicted on 
 his mother a deeper wound than she had 
 hitherto experienced, and in the bitterness of 
 her soul she wrote to Mauvisiere, to entreat 
 
 that Earl, Maitland, and Bothwell, to concert Darn- 
 ley's death ; and that a band was formed by several 
 nobles to that effect. He affirms, also, that Maitland 
 afterwards declared, the Queen refused to sanction 
 the measure ; yet, though he was confessedly employed 
 in the negociation, he pretends to Mary that he did 
 not aid in the enterprise. But it should be recollected, 
 that his own servant, John Binning, who was executed 
 for the crime, deposed to his master's having been in 
 the kirk field on the night of Darnley's murder . 
 and that, in the hurry of quitting the garden, he had 
 left one of his pantoufles or slippers behind him.
 
 4.32 
 
 that the king of France would, for her sake, 
 resent the undutiful behaviour of James, by 
 ceasing to acknowledge him as a sovereign. 
 To Elizabeth she wrote also in the same 
 strain, protesting, that if he persisted in 
 those unnatural sentiments, she would dis- 
 inherit him, and transfer her claims to some 
 more worthy object. 
 
 " You may recollect, madam, that it 
 " pleased you to intimate to me, you 
 " had never acknowledged my son to be 
 " King until I had myself voluntarily con- 
 " f erred on him that title, which I did, 
 " however, on condition that he consented 
 " to the association proposed, and that he 
 " should allow he had no legitimate right 
 " to the crown but through my means ; 
 " nor would it be a little prejudicial to the 
 " princes of Christendom, and among others 
 " to yourself, (whatever your counsellors 
 " may pretend to the contrary,) if it should 
 " once be established as a principle, that it 
 " is lawful to depose and elect kings : be
 
 133 
 
 " not therefore, I beseech you, the advo- 
 " cate and protectress of violence and 
 " usurpation ; lend not the sanction of your 
 " name to such enormous impiety, such 
 " violation of all rights, human and divine. 
 " It sometimes happens, that brothers and 
 " other near kinsmen have been seduced 
 " from their relative duties by the rage 
 " for dominion j but, alas ! what can be so 
 " abhorrent to God and man, as for an 
 " only child, to whom every thing is freely 
 " offered, to despoil his own mother of her 
 " state and crown, without even the excuse 
 " of being incited to it by ambition ; for 
 " all that I demand is, that he shall pay 
 " honour to myself, and discharge his own 
 " conscience, without ever wishing to set 
 " foot in Scotland. For the love of God, 
 " madam, you, who are his godmother, to 
 " whose care I once bequeathed him, when 
 " I believed I was about to die *, as I 
 
 * Mary alludes to her dangerous illness at Jedburgh, 
 when she recommended her son to the guardianship af 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 VOL. II. F F
 
 434 
 
 " should yet do at the hour of death, 
 " consider with your natural sense of jus- 
 " tice and prudence, what good, what 
 " honour can result from such counsels, 
 " as I too well know are instilled into 
 " your mind, that of coalescing with my 
 " son, and upholding him in his ingratitude 
 " and contempt." 
 
 After reiterating the menace of disinhe- 
 ritance, she continues, " be assured, no ap- 
 " prehensions of danger, no presages of 
 " death, shall ever induce me to take one 
 " step, to utter a single word inconsistent 
 " with these professions ; far rather would 
 " I die, such as it pleased Heaven I should 
 " be born, than pusillanimously prolong my 
 " life by any concessions unjust to myself | 
 " or unworthy of my race." * 
 
 On another occasion, Mary, with in- 
 creasing tenacity of her rights, desired 
 her son might be reminded that he owed 
 
 * Laboureur's Additions a Castelnau.
 
 every thing to her, since he derived from 
 his father but a small patrimony. Yet the 
 vehemence of her resentment prevented not 
 her supplying him with money from the re- 
 venues of her dower ; and she afterwards stated 
 to Sir Ralph Sadler, that knowing his po- 
 verty, she had actually furnished him with 
 large sums for his favourites and his plea- 
 sures. In her miserable captivity, Mary 
 was naturally impelled to brood on the 
 ingratitude and infidelity she had experi- 
 enced. Religious impressions conspired 
 to strengthen those temporary feelings of 
 alienation towards her son j and there 
 were perhaps moments when she was per- 
 suaded that she ought to prefer the ho- 
 nour of the Apostolic church to the in- 
 terests of an heretical child. * Amidst 
 her various chagrins, she had, however, the 
 satisfaction of obtaining through the agency 
 
 * See two very spirited letters of Mary on this sub- 
 ject, in Laboureur's Additions a Castelnau. See also 
 Chalmers* and Lodge's Illustrations of British History. 
 
 F F 2
 
 4,36 
 
 of the French ambassador, an attested disa- 
 vowal of the slanders which Lady Shrews- 
 bury and her sons had maliciously propa- 
 gated against her reputation ; through the 
 same medium she communicated other 
 grievances, originating in the parsimony of 
 the English government. * During the last 
 four years her establishment had been re- 
 peatedly reduced; she was without the so- 
 ciety of any lady of suitable rank, and in 
 vain solicited permission to receive Lady 
 Athol, who had voluntarily offered to solace 
 her captivity. Mary had been fifteen years 
 in the custody of Lord Shrewsbury, a 
 charge which he filled to the serious in- 
 jury of his fortune, and from which he was 
 
 * From a letter in Lodge's Illustrations, it ap- 
 pears, that though the provisions were often not 
 eatable, Mary's table was still furnished with sixteen 
 dishes to each course, that the principal officers of 
 the household had ten, and her ladies eight covers. 
 They drank wine in abundance, and Mary had some- 
 times baths of wine for pain or tumor in her side, 
 to which she had been long subject.
 
 437 
 
 importunate to obtain his dismission, but 
 it was not easy to meet with another noble- 
 man equally faithful, to supply his place. 
 At length, the aged Sir Ralph Sadler, aided 
 by his son-in-law Mr. Somers, consented to 
 undertake the trust till a permanent guar- 
 dian should be provided. On arriving at 
 Wingfield, to which the Queen had been re- 
 moved from Sheffield, the venerable states- 
 man was struck with the change which time 
 and suffering had produced in her appearan c e, 
 and he ventured to express the belief, that as 
 she was incapacitated by lameness and 
 debility for exertion, there was little dan- 
 ger of her escaping from captivity. In 
 spite of these representations, he was re- 
 quired to conduct her to Tutbury Castle, a 
 residence for which Mary had ever enter- 
 tained an insuperable repugnance ; yet 
 however unwilling she might be to com- 
 mence this journey, she performed it with 
 cheerful resignation. During her progress 
 to Derby, she was attended by some of the 
 F F 3
 
 438 
 
 neighbouring gentry, with whose deportment 
 she expressed herself much gratified ; and 
 on being lodged in that town for the night, 
 completely captivated by her manners the 
 few females who were allowed to approach 
 her. The next day, in a conversation with 
 Mr. Somers, she protested, that if she 
 could even regain her liberty, she would not 
 live in Scotland, where she had been so ill 
 used, but only give good advice to her son, 
 and then retire to France ; and she added, 
 that she would rather die in prison with 
 honour, than flee with shame. There were, 
 however, moments when the fear of death 
 seemed predominant. Previous to leaving 
 Wingfield, she had subscribed the bond of 
 association, which, in consequence of the 
 alarm created by various rumours of conspi- 
 racy, had been formed for the protection of 
 Elizabeth, and she now enquired in what 
 manner her signature had been accepted, 
 with an emotion that betrayed her solicitude 
 to prolong existence.
 
 439 
 
 In Tutbury Castle, however cold and 
 comfortless, she was treated with kindness by 
 Sadler, who twice permitted her to hawk on 
 the banks of the Dove, an indulgence she 
 knew how to appreciate; but such solace she 
 enjoyed not long. Sir Ralph being superseded 
 in his charge by Sir Amias Paulet, a puri- 
 tan, the least humane of Mary's gaolers, 
 who gave a foretaste of his government, by 
 banishing from her presence-chamber the 
 royal canopy, embossed with the arms of 
 Scotland and Lorraine, a symbol of dignity 
 in her eyes most precious. * 
 
 In a letter addressed to Maouvisiere, from 
 Tutbury, evidently dictated by anguish and 
 despondence, Mary thus describes the 
 complicated hardships and misery of her 
 situation. 
 
 " Aware that your answer cannot soon 
 " reach me, I find it necessary to renew the 
 " memorial of my grievances respecting the 
 
 * In her private apartment a smaller canopy re- 
 mained. Chalmers. 
 
 F F 4
 
 " remittance of my dowry, the augmenta- 
 " tion of my attendants, and a change of 
 " residence, circumstances apparently tri- 
 " vial, and of small importance to the 
 " Queen, my good sister, but which I feel 
 " to be essential to the preservation of my 
 " very existence. Necessity alone could 
 " induce me to descend to earnest and 
 " reiterated supplications, the dearest price 
 " at which any boon can be purchased. To 
 " convey to you an idea of my present situ- 
 " ation, I am on all sides enclosed by fortified 
 " walls, on the summit of a hill which lies 
 " exposed to every wind of heaven : within 
 " these bounds, not unlike the wood of Vin- 
 " cennes, is a very old edifice, originally a 
 " hunting-lodge, built merely of lath and 
 " plaster, the plaster in many places crum- 
 " bling away : this edifice, detached from 
 " the walls about twenty feet, is sunk so 
 " low that the rampart of earth behind the 
 " wall is level with the highest part of the 
 " building, so that here the sun can never
 
 441 
 
 " penetrate, neither does any pure air ever 
 " visit this habitation, on which descend 
 " drizzling damps and eternal fogs, to such 
 " excess, that not an article of furniture 
 " can be placed beneath the roof, but 
 " in four days it becomes covered with 
 " green mould. I leave you to judge in 
 " what manner such humidity must act 
 " upon the human frame ; and, to say every 
 " thing in one word, the apartments are in 
 " general more like dungeons prepared for 
 " the reception of the vilest criminals, than 
 " suited to persons of a station far inferior 
 " to mine, inasmuch as I do not believe that 
 " there is a lord or gentleman, or even yeo- 
 " man in the kingdom, who would patient- 
 " ly endure the penance of living in so 
 " wretched an habitation. With regard to 
 " accommodation, I have for my own per- 
 " son but two miserable little chambers, 
 " so intensely cold during the night, that 
 " but for ramparts and entrenchments of 
 " tapestry and curtains, it would be impos-
 
 442 
 
 " sible to prolong my existence ; and of 
 " those who have sat up with me during 
 " my illness, not one has escaped malady. 
 " Sir Amias can testify that three of my 
 " women have been rendered ill by this 
 " severe temperature, and even my physi- 
 " cian declines taking charge of my health 
 " the ensuing winter, unless I shall be per- 
 " mitted to change my habitation. With 
 " respect to convenience, I have neither 
 " gallery nor cabinet, if I except two little 
 " pigeon holes; through which the only 
 " light admitted is from an aperture of 
 " about nine feet in circumference ; for 
 " taking air and exercise, either on foot or 
 " in my chair, I have but about a quarter 
 " of an acre behind the stables, round which 
 " Somers last year planted a quickset hedge, 
 " a spot more proper for swine than to be 
 " cultivated as a garden ; there is no shep- 
 " herd's hut but has more grace and pro- 
 " portion. As to riding on horseback dur- 
 4< ing the winter, J am sure to be impeded 
 11
 
 443 
 
 " by floods of water or banks of snow, nor 
 " is there a road in which I could go for 
 M one mile in my coach without putting my 
 " limbs in jeopardy ; abstracted from these 
 " real and positive inconveniences, I have 
 " conceived for this spot an antipathy which, 
 " in one ill as I am, might alone claim 
 " some humane consideration. As it was 
 " here that I first began to be treated with 
 " rigour and indignity, I have conceived, 
 " from that time, this mansion to be singu- 
 " larly unlucky to me, and in this sinister im- 
 " pression 1 have been confirmed by the tra- 
 " gical catastrophe of the poor priest, of 
 " whom I wrote to you; who, having been 
 " tortured for his religion, was at length found 
 " hanging in front of my window. * It was 
 " here that I lost my good kind Rallay, who 
 
 * The Catholic alluded to, had been persecuted for 
 his religion; when, to escape farther hardships, he 
 hung himself in the manner described by Mary, who, 
 on that occasion, addressed to Elizabeth an eloquent 
 letter on the duty of allowing toleration, See La- 
 boureur.
 
 444 
 
 " was one of the consolations of my capti-> 
 " vity; another of my people is since dead, 
 " and their companions are ill : briefly, I 
 " can here have no comfort, and if I perish, 
 " must attribute my fate to suffering and 
 " privation. With regard to the inconveni- 
 " ence of removing at this season, no atten- 
 " tion was paid to it last year, when, whether 
 " I would or not, I was constrained to de- 
 " part, though I had for three months been 
 " confined to my bed, and was dragged 
 " hither to a house which, after having been 
 " uninhabited for fifteen years, was pre- 
 " pared in five weeks for my reception." * 
 By the interposition of the French court, 
 Mary was removed to Chartley, but the 
 number of her attendants was not aug- 
 mented. Even in this state of desolation, 
 she continued to be an object of interest to 
 the enemies of Elizabeth, who hoped by her 
 means to promote the object of the new 
 Catholic League, for the extirpation of 
 Protestantism in Europe. 
 
 * MSS. de Bethune, N 8. b. 91. fol. 1 to 3.
 
 44,5 
 
 In a letter from one of those fanatical 
 emissaries engaged in a crusade against 
 the Reformation, the Queen of Scots was 
 earnestly importuned to accede to the holy 
 league for the preservation of Christendom ; 
 and by her aversion to sanguinary measures, 
 she should seem to have offended her 
 continental allies. The zealous La Rue 
 continues, " Much injury has been done 
 " to 'your cause by the rumour that your 
 " majesty will not agree to employ force. 
 " The pope, a man of strict principles, is 
 " severe to heretics, and bent on their ex- 
 " termination."* To an enlightened mind, 
 it would have been obvious that this 
 continental coalition could only accelerate 
 Mary's destruction ; but whatever political 
 judgment she had originally possessed was 
 paralyzed by her tedious captivity, which 
 not only debarred the means of improve- 
 ment, but left her at the mercy of mis- 
 chievous suggestions, and the impulses of 
 
 * MSS. de Bethune, No. 88.
 
 446 
 
 feeling rendered morbid by disease. During 
 the last five years, her mind had evidently 
 been enfeebled by calamity ; the less she 
 had of hope, the more tenacious were her 
 pretensions to dignity and importance ; to 
 other disappointments, was added the bit- 
 ter conviction that her son not only dis- 
 dained the proposed association with herself, 
 but that he had willingly coalesced with her 
 rival. She was officiously informed by one of 
 her foreign correspondents *, that aj: a dinner 
 where the young king scarcely ventured to 
 drink his mother's health, he repeatedly 
 pledged that of the Queen of England. 
 Convinced that she had nothing to hope 
 from James or Elizabeth, and even suspect- 
 ing that her son meant to supplant her in the 
 English succession, she lent herself to the 
 chimeras of Morgan, Paget,. and other zea- 
 lous catholics, with whom she maintained an 
 epistolary intercourse, and who, caring less 
 for her safety than the advantage of their 
 * The priest Fontenay. See Murclin, page 535.
 
 447 
 
 party, rashly embarked in plots and con- 
 spiracies against Elizabeth, by which her 
 own security was inevitably compromised. 
 One of these men, Morgan*, on the sus- 
 picion of having employed Parry to assas- 
 sinate Elizabeth, was imprisoned in France. 
 Lord Paget escaped ; and the Earl of Arun- 
 del, a strict Catholic, who was also sup- 
 posed to favor Mary's cause, had no alterna- 
 tive but exile. It was at this crisis, when 
 the ascendency of the house of Guise, and 
 the hostility of Spain, rendered Mary more 
 than ever an object of political jealousy 
 to the English cabinet, that she renewed 
 with Babington, a young man of fortune, 
 a correspondence originally commenced 
 at the recommendation of her friend Arch- 
 bishop Beaton. During the suspension of 
 then" epistolary intercourse, Babington had 
 been seduced by the arguments of Giffbrd, 
 a fanatical priest, to engage in a conspiracy 
 for the assassination of Elizabeth ; and it was 
 
 * Morgan was a Scottish refugee, and bigotted 
 Catholic.
 
 448 
 
 proposed that there should be an invasion of' 
 England by Spanish troops, whilst a simul- 
 taneous insurrection of the catholics was to 
 open the gates of Mary's prison, and per- 
 haps raise her to that throne to which she had 
 so long aspired. Of this execrable plot, it 
 may be observed, that though it threatened 
 Elizabeth's existence, it was not favourable 
 to Mary's restoration ; who, considering in 
 what custody she remained, was not likely 
 to survive her rival. To redeem her liberty, 
 however, she suggested in reply, that her 
 rescue should be attempted, either by set- 
 ting fire to the stables, or by surprising her 
 when riding in the fields : to this was also 
 added a passage, (which she afterwards dis- 
 claimed,) promising ample recompence to 
 the seven conspirators engaged in the assas- 
 sination of Elizabeth * ; on this single sen- 
 tence rested the presumption of Mary's ac- 
 
 * Both Camden and Castelnau concur in represent- 
 ing Mary as not having dictated the passages which 
 she disclaimed, the genuineness of which rests on the 
 evidence of two secretaries, never confronted with 
 their mistress.
 
 44<) 
 
 tual participation in the guilty enterprize. 
 In every other respect she was passive, since 
 the scheme had been formed without her 
 knowledge, and without her agency was to 
 be executed ; neither could she be expected 
 to denounce the friends who offered her the 
 means of recovering liberty. It appears not 
 that she entertained any sanguine expect- 
 ations of success ; and with such vigilance 
 was she guarded by Paulet, that the plot 
 had been discovered, and the conspirators 
 actually tried and executed before she was 
 apprized of the event. At length a messen- 
 ger, who was charged with the important 
 intelligence, arrived at Chartley just as 
 Mary was mounting her horse for exercise: 
 and no sooner had she left the house, than 
 her secretaries were arrested, her cabinets 
 broken open, and all her letters and papers 
 conveyed to Elizabeth. On her return, 
 perceiving that not only her papers, but 
 even her money had been removed, she 
 exclaimed with indignation, " They cannot 
 VOL. n. G G
 
 450 
 
 " take from me my English blood, or my 
 " catholic religion." * 
 
 Exulting in the evidence which had been 
 obtained from her two secretaries for the cri- 
 mination of the Queen of Scots, the English 
 ministers transmitted copies of her inter- 
 cepted letters, accompanied by the deposi- 
 tions of the conspirators, to the court of 
 France, where, though her misfortunes might 
 be commiserated, her imprudence was cen- 
 sured by the enemies of her house, and 
 ridiculed by Catherine de Medicis. In 
 Scotland the inteUigence excited strong 
 emotions, but it was in vain that Courcelles, 
 the French minister, attempted to rouse 
 James to vigorous efforts for his mother's 
 safety ; the young king (who had just 
 concluded a treaty with Elizabeth) replied, 
 " that as she brewed, she must drink t," 
 and eagerly dispatched a messenger to Lon- 
 don, to testify his own abhorrence of the 
 wicked conspiracy. It is, however, but fair 
 
 * Lodge. f MSS. de Bethune.
 
 451 
 
 to state, that he conceived not Mary's life 
 to be endangered; and for any thing else, 
 " he confessed he cared not how strictly she 
 " was kept a prisoner," adding, in allusion 
 to what had escaped her, in a moment of 
 irritation, that she had not only sought to 
 dethrone him, but menaced him with disin- 
 heritance, as he could prove by her own 
 letters.* In the meanwhile, the King of 
 France besought Elizabeth at least to treat 
 Mary with the respect and commiseration 
 due to her sex, her rank, and her misfor- 
 tunes : if she were arraigned before any tri- 
 bunal, he suggested that she should be 
 allowed counsel, inasmuch as she was a 
 stranger to the laws of England, and had 
 lived nearly twenty years in absolute seclu- 
 sion. Elizabeth was at first perplexed in 
 what manner to conduct a criminal process 
 against a sister queen. No less jealous 
 than Mary of the privileges of royalty, 
 she rejected a public trial as indecorous, 
 
 * Courcelles, No. 1513. MSS. de Bethune. The 
 letters alluded to are found in Laboureur. 
 
 G G 2
 
 and at length adopted the expedient 
 of sending the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, 
 and forty peers and privy counsellors, to 
 examine the Queen of Scots, to hear her 
 defence, and afterwards to report the same 
 to the star-chamber, where finally judgment 
 was to be pronounced. Nothing could be 
 more informal than this procedure, more 
 derogatory to every principle of law and 
 justice ; without either counsel or advo- 
 cate, Mary was to confront the legislative 
 and judicial power of a kingdom, in which 
 she was at once a foreigner and a captive, 
 a devoted victim to suspicion or to venge- 
 ance. Elizabeth too late discovered, that 
 by her compulsory detention of a sister 
 queen, she had in reality created to herself 
 and the state, dangers and perplexities 
 such as neither the navies of Spain, nor 
 the armies of France, could have called 
 into existence. 
 
 Previous to this arrangement, Mary had 
 been removed to Fotheringay, where, on 
 the 12th of October, the commissioners
 
 453 
 
 presented the mandate for her trial. She 
 objected to the prerogative the Queen as- 
 sumed, of arraigning as a criminal a prin- 
 cess who, like herself, was an absolute sove- 
 reign; protested vehemently against such 
 authority; but finally, with her wonted 
 facility, was induced to confront the com- 
 missioners, in order to clear herself from the 
 charge of having conspired with the assas- 
 sins. To give to the scene an air of 
 pomp and solemnity, the hall of the castle 
 had been fitted up to represent a court 
 of justice. At the upper end appeared a 
 vacant chair of state, over which was sus- 
 pended the regal canopy of England; on 
 either side were benches, on which peers 
 and barons sat in gradation ; the judges, 
 the barons of the exchequer, opposite to 
 them; and in the centre, at a small table, 
 the Queen's counsel. * After a seclusion 
 of nineteen years, it might have been ex- 
 pected that on her entrance Mary should 
 * Camden. 
 G G 3
 
 4,54 
 
 betray some painful emotion; but indigna- 
 tion took place of every feeling, when she 
 perceived in front of the royal chair another 
 seat allotted to herself, over which no canopy 
 was suspended.* The commissioners hav- 
 ing taken their places, an examination 
 or rather a conference, commenced re- 
 specting her correspondence with Babing- 
 ton, a fact established by the depositions 
 of the other conspirators, and the testi- 
 mony of the secretaries Naue and Curie. 
 Mary denied that she had received letters 
 from Babington, and contended, that 
 for what her secretaries had written, she 
 was not responsible. Neither, she con- 
 cluded, was the testimony of treacherous 
 servants entitled to any credit. To the 
 letters which were produced, from the 
 Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, respecting 
 the invasion of England, she answered, 
 " This is nothing to the matter, neither 
 
 * MSS. de Bethune. Caraden.
 
 455 
 
 " does it prove that I consented to hurt, or 
 " kill the Queen." 
 
 Amongst other things, the Lord Burleigh 
 alleged, " that she had projected to send 
 " her son into Spain, and to assign over 
 " to the Spanish king whatever rights she 
 " claimed to the English succession. Her 
 " answer was, that she had no realm she 
 " could give away, but yet, it was lawful 
 " to give away her own things at pleasure." 
 When pressed with the concurrent testi- 
 mony of Naue and Curie, she repeated 
 her former assertions, denying the recep- 
 tion of the letters. The Lord Treasurer 
 observed, that she knew Morgan, who 
 had commissioned Parry to kill the Queen, 
 and had bestowed on him a pension. 
 She replied, that Morgan having been 
 ruined in her service, she was bound in 
 honour to relieve him. " But," retorted she, 
 " pensions have been given by England to my 
 " sworn enemy, Patrick Gray." * On being 
 
 * Camden. 
 G G 4
 
 456 
 
 shown the contents of her letter to Lord 
 Paget and Mendoza, soliciting foreign aid, 
 she answered, " These things touch not the 
 " Queen; and if strangers seek to deliver 
 " me, it is not to be imputed to me as a 
 " crime." On the following day, she repeat- 
 ed her protestations against the proceedings 
 of the commissioners j and with her usual 
 tenacity of royalty, lamented, " that she 
 " should be so basely used as to have 
 " her honour called in question before petti- 
 " foggers and lawyers, who drew every 
 " circumstance into consequence by their 
 " quiddities and tricks, since anointed and 
 " consecrated princes were not subject to 
 "the same laws as private men."* She also 
 reminded them, " how Elizabeth herself 
 " had been drawn into the conspiracy of 
 " Wyat, when she was most innocent ; reli- 
 " giously affirming, that though she wished 
 " well to the catholic cause, she would not 
 have it prosper by the blood of vengeance; 
 * LJdal,
 
 4.57 
 
 " that she had rather play the part of Esther 
 " than Judith." The Lord Burleigh pro- 
 ceeding to sum up the evidence, again 
 insisted on Parry's commission to kill 
 Queen Elizabeth. " You are my professed 
 " enemy," cried she. " Rather," he an- 
 swered, " the enemy of all who would 
 " destroy the Queen, my sovereign." When 
 pressed with having instigated the in- 
 vasion of England, she denied the 
 fact; but added, with a menacing tone, 
 " that since she was now convinced she 
 " had no hope from England, she was re- 
 " solved not to reject foreign aid." She 
 again demanded to be heard in full par- 
 liament, or before the Queen and Council, 
 and, when she at length arose, withdrew 
 with a cheerful countenance, and with a 
 majesty that seemed to challenge respect. 
 The court was immediately adjourned to the 
 star-chamber, where, finally, sentence was 
 pronounced against her. An act of attainder 
 
 * Camden. Udal. MSS. tie Bethune.
 
 458 
 
 followed, but it was declared, that this 
 should not prejudice her son, the King of 
 Scots. 
 
 When it was notorious that Mary had 
 been condemned, James interceded for 
 her life ; but he had ill chosen his mes- 
 senger, in the Master of Gray, who had pre- 
 viously written to the ambassador, Archi- 
 bald Douglas, that the interests of all 
 honest men required this Queen to be put 
 put of the way ; and it is even affirmed, 
 that he secretly advised the English minis- 
 ters to hasten her death. * The French 
 King was earnest in his efforts to preserve 
 Mary's life ; and, by reiterated importuni- 
 ties, drew an acrimonious answer from Eliza- 
 beth, whose vengeance was roused by the 
 discovery of a new plot against her own 
 existence, attributed to the machinations 
 of the French ambassador, Aubespine Cha- 
 teauneuf t, a man notoriously devoted to 
 
 * Murdin, p. 569. 
 
 f The charge was repelled by the ambassador with 
 
 13
 
 459 
 
 
 
 the house of Guise j whether the charge 
 were real or fictitious, it furnished a plau- 
 sible pretext to the enemies of the captive 
 Queen to hasten her death. 
 
 Ignorant of these sinister intrigues, 
 Mary addressed to Elizabeth a farewell 
 letter, in which she renewed her protest- 
 ations of innocence, disclaimed all vin- 
 dictive feelings, and solicited as a last 
 favour, that her body might be transported 
 to France, and consigned to the same 
 vault which contained her mother's remains. 
 To this was added an urgent request, that she 
 might be allowed to receive the consolations 
 of religion in her last moments. She promised 
 to return a jewel once given her by Eliza- 
 beth, as a token of love, and entreated per- 
 mission to bequeath some memorial of 
 
 contempt ; and by Castelnau and Laboureur it is con- 
 sidered as a fictitious conspiracy. Camden lays great 
 stress on the pretended assassination ; but the quietness 
 with which Lord Burleigh accepted Chateauneuf's apo- 
 logy, forms, in reality, his best exculpation. Cam- 
 den. - MSS. de Bethune. Rapin.
 
 460 
 i 
 affection to her son, with her maternal 
 
 benediction, of which, she adds, " he 
 " has been deprived since you announced 
 " to me his refusal to accede to the 
 " association between us, a measure in 
 which I was compromised by pernicious 
 " counsel : the last point I leave to your 
 " discretion, and to the conscience of others. 
 " I conjure you in the name of our Re- 
 " deemer, by the ties of blood, by the me- 
 " mory of Henry VII. our ancestor, by the 
 " honour and dignity of that sex common to 
 " us both, that you deny not my petition. 
 " To conclude, I know not whether you 
 " are aware, that in your name they have 
 " removed the royal canopy from my apart- 
 " ment. It has since been attributed to the 
 " advice of your council. I bless God, that 
 " this last cruelty, which served only to 
 41 gratify malice and to trouble my dying 
 " moments, came not from you. God be 
 " praised for all ! If you grant these my 
 " last prayers, allow me to receive the as- 
 
 10
 
 461 
 
 " surance under your own hand. May the 
 " God of mercy and truth illumine you 
 " with his holy Spirit, and give to me grace 
 " to die in perfect charity and forgiveness." 
 From the moment of her condemnation, 
 Mary is said to have been cheerful, her 
 health improved, her spirits revived, and she 
 seemed sustained by the persuasion that 
 she had withstood every trial to shake her 
 faith, and by her religious constancy obtain- 
 ed acceptance with Heaven. It is however 
 possible, that as Elizabeth delayed to sign 
 the warrant for her execution, she still 
 doubted whether she was to die, and antici- 
 pated only a more rigorous captivity. But 
 this illusion vanished, when, on the after- 
 noon of the 7th of February, just as Mary 
 had withdrawn to her inner apartment, she 
 was informed that the Earls of Kent and 
 Shrewsbury were waiting to see her. At 
 these tidings she cast the royal mantle over 
 her shoulders, and hasted to receive them. 
 Their mission was soon executed. 
 
 On being informed that she was to die
 
 462 
 
 on the morrow, at ten in the morning, 
 she replied, " The message is welcome; 
 " yet I did not think the Queen, my 
 " sister, would have consented to my 
 " death." She then asked to be allowed 
 to see her almoner, her steward, and her 
 confessor. The last was denied by the Earl 
 of Kent, who recommended to her the Dean 
 of Peterborough, and when Mary declined 
 his assistance, exclaimed, " Your life is the 
 " death of our religion, as your death shall 
 " be its life." The Earls having withdrawn, 
 Mary desired that her household might be 
 assembled for supper, and at the close of 
 the repast pledged health to her domestics, 
 who, each kneeling in turn, mingled tears 
 with their wine, whilst their mistress en- 
 deavoured to comfort them, lamenting only 
 that she could so ill requite their fidelity. 
 After supper she devoted two hours to the 
 ordering of her worldly affairs *, and to writ- 
 ing letters, one of which was to the King of 
 
 * According to Camden, she wrote her will on two 
 sheets of paper without reading it over.
 
 France, in which she besought him to pro- 
 tect Leslie, Bishop of Ross, and to recom- 
 pense some of her poorer servants. She 
 then withdrew to her oratory, where her de- 
 votions were long and fervent; she wept, but 
 the tears she shed were no longer those of 
 passion but devotion, and accompanied with 
 suitable expressions of penitence, of piety, 
 and resignation. In those sacred moments, 
 when neither the frailty of youth, nor the 
 vanity of ambition could be recalled without 
 sorrow or disgust, she perhaps rejoiced in 
 the approach of death, by which she was to 
 be for ever delivered from the trials and 
 te- ptations of human existence. That she 
 considered her sentence as unmerited can 
 scarcely be doubted, and whether this was 
 merely an aberration of judgment, or that 
 she had really been the victim of treache- 
 rous servants who imposed on her confi- 
 dence, she evidently exulted in the persua- 
 sion, that she was to suffer for her constancy 
 in the Catholic faith. On rising from her
 
 devotions, she retired to rest; after a 
 sound sleep, arose refreshed, and called 
 on her attendants to attire her for the 
 mournful solemnity. The ruling passion of 
 Mary's soul, the pride of royalty, even in 
 these last moments continued to operate, 
 and she issued from her chamber clad 
 in princely robes, a black veil descended to 
 her feet, an ivory crucifix hung suspended 
 from her neck, and a string of beads was 
 appended to her girdle. * When the sheriff 
 arrived, attended by the Earls, Kent and 
 Shrewsbury, and Sir Amias Paulet, to con- 
 duct her to the scaffold, she courteously ac- 
 cepted the assistance of Paulet in descending 
 the stairs, observing, it was the last trouble 
 she should give him. In the gallery she was 
 met by her steward, Melvin, who broke in- 
 to pathetic lamentations, which she inter- 
 rupted, telling him, he ought rather to re- 
 joice that the trials and troubles of Mary 
 Stuart were now at length to have an end j 
 
 * Camden.
 
 and " bear from me," she added, " this 
 " message to Scotland, that I die a true 
 " woman to my religion, and like a true 
 " woman of Scotland and France. But God 
 " forgive them that have thirsted for my 
 " blood as the hart doth for the water 
 " brooks. O God ! thou art truth ; thou 
 " knowest the inner chamber of my 
 " thoughts, and that I was ever willing 
 " that England and Scotland* should be 
 " united together. Commend me to my son, 
 " and tell him I have done nothing prejudi- 
 " cial to the state or the kingdom of Scot- 
 " land." After which, the tears trickling 
 down her cheeks, she kissed Melvin, and 
 bade him adieu. Then, turning to the Earls, 
 requested some of her servants might be per- 
 mitted to witness her last moments; but this 
 being denied, Mary descended to entreaty, 
 reminding them that their mistress, herself a 
 maiden queen, could not withhold the boon. 
 Perceiving that the Earls still demurred, 
 * Udal. 
 
 VOL. II. II U
 
 466 
 
 tears of indignation started to her eyes, 
 whilst she exclaimed, " I am cousin to 
 " your queen, am descended of the blood 
 " royal of Henry the Seventh, Dowager 
 " Queen of France, anointed Queen of 
 " Scotland." The Earl of Kent no longer 
 resisted her importunity ; and she chose 
 from her domestics Melvin, who bore up 
 her train, her physician, and two female 
 attendants. Before her marched the Sheriff 
 and the Earls, while she leaned on the arm 
 of Sir Amias Paulet. In this manner she 
 passed from the entry into the hall of 
 Fotheringay Castle, (the scene of her trial,) 
 at one end of which, inclosed within a 
 railing, was a seat, on which she sat down, 
 and it was then observed that a little fa- 
 vourite shag dog had followed the pro- 
 cession, and now hid himself in her train. 
 
 The galleries of the hall were crowded 
 with spectators, who could not witness, 
 without emotion, the marks of infirmity she 
 exhibited. Though the symmetry of her 
 form had long been destroyed, her com-
 
 467 
 
 plexion was still fine ; her countenance re- 
 tained all its touching sweetness of expres- 
 sion ; and whilst the warrant for her execu- 
 tion was reading, she smiled with perfect 
 composure. The Dean of Peterborough 
 then addressed the Queen upon her reli- 
 gious errors ; to which she replied with 
 firmness, that her opinions were fixed and 
 unchangeable. He persisted in reciting an 
 English prayer, whilst the Queen and her 
 attendants repeated in Latin their prayers 
 from the office to theVirgin. After this, Mary 
 prayed in English for the afflicted church, 
 for the Queen of England, and for her son. 
 Then, having pronounced forgiveness on the 
 executioner, she desired her maids to band- 
 age her eyes, and, bidding them farewell, 
 laid her head on the block, softly repeating 
 the words, In Domine confido. The fatal 
 stroke was then given ; and, in a moment, 
 the cry of, " So perish the enemies of Queen 
 " Elizabeth/* received from the Earl of 
 Kent a responsive amen. During this 
 H H 2
 
 468 
 
 mournful spectacle the little favourite dog, 
 starting from the robes under which he had 
 been concealed, sought by his caresses, to 
 restore animation to the insensible corse ; 
 and lying down between the headless shoul- 
 ders, moaned piteously as he licked the 
 blood of his devoted mistress. Touched by 
 this instance of brute sympathy, the exe- 
 cutioner suffered him to keep his place ; 
 and even the Earl of Kent shewed to the 
 poor animal an indulgence denied to the 
 last moments of the unfortunate Mary. 
 Two days after the dog died, as it was 
 believed, of grief. It is worthy of remark, 
 that the statesmen and courtiers who had 
 discarded all faith in human attachments, 
 honoured this trait of animal fidelity, which 
 was mentioned hi the official account trans- 
 mitted to Lord Burleigh.* 
 
 The body of the deceased Queen, having 
 been royally embalmed, was deposited in a 
 superb coffin, and, after an interval of six 
 
 * See also in Sanderson's History of Mary and 
 James, p. 12.
 
 469 
 
 months, interred in the cathedral of Peter- 
 borough. Her domestics remained long in 
 confinement ; and, what appears extraordi- 
 nary, an embargo was laid on the ports ; 
 not even the ambassadors being allowed to 
 transmit to their respective courts their 
 ordinary dispatches. In Edinburgh, the 
 news of Mary's execution transpired not 
 till three weeks after the event.* It is not 
 easy to develope the motives for this refined 
 policy. In this, as in every other transac- 
 tion, Elizabeth had sustained her reputation 
 as an able and vigorous politician ; but she 
 fixed an indelible stain on her honour, when 
 she inveigled to a prison the fugitive prin- 
 cess, who came confiding in promises of 
 friendship and protection ; and she ill sus- 
 tained her pretensions to magnanimity by 
 devoting to the scaffold the miserable vic- 
 tim of her duplicity, whom oppression and 
 misery had irritated almost to madness. The 
 execution of Mary might be necessary to her 
 
 * Courcelles. MSS. de Bethune. 
 H H 3
 
 470 
 
 personal security, and useful to public 
 quillity ; but for her detention, the original 
 source of all those commotions, seditions, 
 and treasons which, during eighteen years, 
 agitated the country, for that measure, 
 no less cruel than pusillanimous, as unwise 
 as unjust, neither excuse nor palliation can 
 be offered, unless we suppose that the strong- 
 minded Elizabeth, like the unhappy Mary, 
 was sometimes made the dupe of crafty col- 
 luding heads, who sacrificed her fame and 
 her peace to partial policy and sinister 
 counsels.
 
 ADDITIOiNAL NOTES 
 
 TO 
 
 THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 PAGE 115. CHAP. u. 
 
 I HE original French of Mary's Farewell to 
 France : 
 
 Adieu, plaisant pays de France, 
 
 O ma patrie 
 
 La plus cherie, 
 
 Qui as nourri ma jeune enfance ! 
 Adieu, France ! adieu, mes beaux jours ! 
 La nef qui dejoint mes amours 
 N'a cy de moi que la moitie ; 
 Une parte te reste ; elle est tienne ; 
 Je la fie a ton amitie 
 Pour que de 1'autre il te souvienne. 
 
 PAGE 118. CHAP. u. 
 
 Of the poet Chatelard, mentioned by Brantome 
 as one of the Queen's companions in this voyage, 
 who afterwards occasioned her much vexation, the 
 following account is extracted from Chalmers' Life 
 of Mary: 
 
 " When the Queen arrived from France, there 
 
 H H 4
 
 472 
 
 . 
 " came, in the train of Mons. d'Anville, one Cha- 
 
 " telard, a gentleman by birth, a soldier by pro- 
 " fession, a scholar from education, and a poet by 
 " choice. He returned with d'Anville to France, 
 " after enjoying, from the rank of his protector, 
 " the various amusements of Mary's court, and 
 " feeling the influence of Mary's manners. Chate- 
 " lard liked whom and what he saw well enough to 
 ** visit those various objects again. In Novem- 
 " ber, 1562, he arrived, ^as we have seen, with 
 " letters from d'Anville and others, for the Queen, 
 " and was well received ; because he was favour- 
 " ably recollected by every one at court, except 
 " by all those who delighted in promoting Ran- 
 " dolph's intrigues and Murray's views. If we 
 " might believe Knox, who constantly thinks that 
 " his motives may justify his means, we ought to 
 " be of opinion, that the Queen used such per- 
 " sonal freedoms with Chatelard, as to justify him 
 " in using similar freedoms in return. He pro- 
 " ceeded the full length, on the 1 2th of February, 
 " 1562-3, of concealing himself in the Queen's 
 " bedchamber, when she was about to retire into 
 " it for the night, with his sword and dagger be- 
 " side him. This fact being concealed from the 
 " Queen by her female attendants, from pruden- 
 " tial motives, till the morning, the Queen com- 
 " manded Chatelard out of her sight. The Queen, 
 " with a part of her train, left Edinburgh on the
 
 473 
 
 " 1 3th, and slept at Dunfermling. On the 1 4th, 
 " she proceeded to Burnt Island, where she slept. 
 " Chatelard, notwithstanding, followed her into 
 " Fife, and came to Burnt Island on the 14th. 
 " And the Queen having retired into her bed- 
 " chamber, Chatelard presented himself before 
 " her, coming in immediately after her, to clear 
 " himself, as he said, from the former imputation 
 " against his conduct. Astonished at his auda- 
 " city, * the Queen herself was fain to cry for 
 " ' help.' The Earl of Murray was sent for, 
 " when the Queen, amidst her agitations, com- 
 " manded her minister to put his dagger into him. 
 " But Murray thought proper to send him to 
 " ward ; reserving this daring or infatuated mis- 
 * creant to the due course of law, which would 
 " lay open the whole transaction. The chancel- 
 " lor, the justice clerk, and other counsellors, were 
 " sent for to Edinburgh. This wretched enthusiast 
 " was tried in a few days at St. Andrews; and on 
 " the 22d of February was executed; * reading 
 " * over, on the scaffold,' says Brantome, * Ron- 
 " * sard's Hymn on Death, as the only prepara- 
 " * tion for the fatal stroke.' " Quarto edition, 
 vol. i. page 
 
 The bitter prejudices of Knox disposed him to 
 receive and to propagate the most absurd slanders 
 against his sovereign. But that his invidious in- 
 sinuations respecting Chatelard were disbelieved,
 
 474 
 
 even by his own party, is evident, since they were 
 not mentioned during Mary's confinement at Loch- 
 leven, when the rebel Lords, anxious to excuse 
 their violence, at first proposed to accuse her of 
 tyranny, and then of various iUicit intrigues, but 
 finally abandoned both charges as untenable. 
 
 PAGE 147. CHAP. in. 
 
 EXTRAIT FROM THE MENU DE LA MAISON 
 DE LA ROYNE, 
 
 FAIT PAR MONSIEUR PINGUILLOX. 
 
 
 
 MENU DE CUISINE BOUCHE. 
 
 A Jour de Chair. 
 
 Disner. 
 
 Quatre platz poutaige. 
 Quatre platz entres de table. 
 
 BouiL 
 
 Vne p 06 beuf roialle. 
 Vng hault couste mouton. 
 Vng chappon. 
 
 Most. 
 
 Vng membre mouton. 
 Vng chappon. 
 Trois poulletz ou pigz. 
 Trois gibiers. 
 Deux gros.
 
 475 
 
 Soupper. 
 
 Quatre platz poutaige. 
 Quatre platz entres de table, 
 
 Bouil. 
 
 Vng hault couste mouton. 
 Vng chappon. 
 
 Most. 
 
 Vng membre mouton. 
 Vng chappon. 
 Trois gibiers. 
 Trois poulletz or pigz. 
 Vng paste de trois poulletz ou pigz. 
 Deux gros et demy. 
 
 TABLE DBS DAMES. 
 
 A Jour de Chair. 
 
 Disner. 
 
 Quatre platz entres de table. 
 Quatre platz poutaige. 
 
 Boueil. 
 
 Deux pieces beuf. 
 Deux chappons. 
 Deux pieces mouton ou la vail. 
 
 Host. 
 
 Deux chappons. 
 Deux gibiers.
 
 476 
 
 Quatre poulletz ou pigz. 
 
 Vng gros. 
 
 Deux p ces mouton ou la vail. 
 
 Soupper. 
 
 Quatre platz entres de table. 
 Et quatre platz poutaige. 
 
 Most. 
 
 Deux chappons. 
 Deux gibiers. 
 Quatre poulletz ou pigz. 
 Deux poulletz. 
 Vng gros et dy. 
 Deux p ces mouton. , 
 
 TABLE DBS FILLES DAMOISELLES. 
 
 A Jour de Chair. 
 
 Disner. 
 
 Quatre platz poutaige. 
 Quatre platz entres de table. 
 
 Boueil. 
 
 Vne piece de beuf. 
 Vng chappon. 
 Vne piece mouton ou la vail. 
 
 Rost. 
 
 Vng chappon. 
 Vng gibier.
 
 477 
 
 Deux poulletz ou pigz. 
 
 Dy gros. 
 
 Vne piece de mouton ou la vail . 
 
 Soupper. 
 
 Quatre platz entres de table. 
 Et quatre platz poutaige. 
 
 Eost. 
 
 Vng chappon. 
 Vng gibier. 
 
 Deux poulletz ou pigz. 
 Vng groset dy. 
 Vne p ce mouton ou la vail. 
 
 MENEU DE CUISINE BOUCHE. 
 
 A Jour de Pots son. 
 Pour la Royne. 
 
 Eisner. 
 
 Quatre platz poutaige. 
 Viii plastz rost. 
 
 Soupper. 
 
 Poutaiges comme au disner. 
 Viii plastz rost. 
 
 TABLE DES OFFICIERS CUISINE BOUCHFE, 
 
 Disner. 
 
 Quatre platz poutaiges. 
 Cinq plastz rost.
 
 478 
 
 Soupper. 
 
 Poutaiges comme au disner. 
 Cinq plastz de rost. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION DE BURRE. 
 
 En lad cuisine de bouche par jo r xii Ibz burre. 
 Oeufz pour lad dame disner et scupper, xii oeufz. 
 Pour les officiers de lad cuisine, - - xii oeufz. 
 
 Soe toute de cuisine de bouche a jo r de poisson. 
 
 Xxvi plastz rost, xxiiii oeufz. 
 
 Cuisine com. a Jour de Poisson. 
 
 TABLE DES M ES - D*HOSTEL. 
 
 Disner. 
 
 Quatre platz poutaige. 
 Xii plastz rost 
 
 Soupper. 
 
 Poutaiges comme au disner. 
 Xii plastz rost 
 
 TABLE DES DAMES. 
 
 Disner. 
 
 Quatre platz poutaige. 
 Dix plastz rost. 
 
 Soupper. 
 
 Poutaiges comme au disner. 
 Dix plastz rost.
 
 4-79 
 
 Et sera prins garde de diminuer lad table apres 
 q. Mad lle - de Pinguillon et fontpertuis s'en sont 
 allees en France. 
 
 PAGE 151. CHAP. in. 
 
 The following stanzas, extracted from a poem 
 presented to Mary, afford a sample of the didac- 
 tic style in which she was addressed, even by the 
 bards of Scotland : 
 
 ANE NEW ZEIR GIFT, 
 
 TO THE QUEXE MARY, 
 
 quhen scho come Jirst hame, 1562. 
 
 Welcum, illustrat ladye, and oure Quene ; 
 Welcum oure lyone, with ]>e Floure-de-lyce : 
 Welcum oure thrissil, wt J>e Loranc grene ; 
 Welcum oure rubent roiss vpoun J>e ryce ; 
 Welcum oure jem and joyfull genetryce ; 
 Welcum oure beill of Albion to beir ; 
 Welcum oure pleasand Princes, maist of pryce ; 
 God gif J'e grace aganis pis guid new-zeir. 
 
 This guid new zeir, we hoip, wt grace of God, 
 Salbe of peax, traquillitie, and rest ; 
 This zeir sail rycht and ressone rewle J>e rod, 
 Quhilk sa lang seasoun has bene soir supprest ; 
 This zeir, ferine fay 1 sail frelie be confest, 
 And all erronius questionis put areir,
 
 480 
 
 Tolaboure pat -pis lyfe amang ws lest; 
 God gif pe grace aganis pis guid new-zeir. 
 
 Heirfore address the dewlie to decoir, 
 And rewle thy regne w* hie magnificence ; 
 Begin at God to gar sett iurth his gloir, 
 And of his gospell gett experiece; 
 Cans his trew kirk be had in reuerece ; 
 So sail thy name and fame spred far and neir : 
 Now, this thy dett to do w l diligence, 
 God gif pe grace aganis pis guid new-zeir. 
 
 Found on pe first four vertewus cardinall, 
 On wisdome, iustice, force, and temperas ; 
 Applaud to prudent men, and principall 
 Of vertewus lyfe, thy wirschep till avance; 
 Waye Justice, equalr wtout discrepance ; 
 Strenth thy estait with steidfastnes to steir ; 
 To temper tyme w* trew continuance, 
 God gife pe grace aganis pis guid new-zeir. 
 
 Cast thy consate, be counsald of }>e sage, 
 
 And cleif to Christ, hes kepit pe in cure, 
 
 Attingent now to twentye zeir of aige, 
 
 Preservand pe fra all misaventure. 
 
 Wald thow be servit, and thy cuntre sure, 
 
 Still on pe commoun-weill haif e and eir; 
 
 Preiss ay to be protectrix of pe pure ; 
 
 So God sail gyde thy Grace this gude new-zeir.
 
 481 
 
 Gar stanche all stryiff, and stabill thy estaitis 
 
 In Constance, concord, cherite, and lufe ; 
 
 Be bissie now to banisch all debatis, 
 
 Betuix kirk-men and temporal! men dois muse : 
 
 The pulling doun of policie reprufe, 
 
 And lat perversit prelettis leif perqueir ; 
 
 To do the best, besekand God above, 
 
 To gife the grace aganis )>is guid new-zeir. 
 
 Att croce gar cry be oppin proclamatioun, 
 Vndir grit panis, fat nothir he nor scho, 
 Off hayle writ, haif ony disputatioun, 
 Bot letterit men, or lernit clerkis f rto ; 
 For lymmer lawdis, and litle lassis lo, 
 Will argun bay 1 w 4 bischop, priest, and freir : 
 To dantoun f is, thow hes aneuch to do, 
 God gife ]>e grace aganis f is gude new-zeir. 
 
 After having expatiated on the profligacy of 
 Popish priests, the author adopts a more liberal 
 tone than was often found in the Reformers. 
 
 With mess nor matynes nowayis will I mell, 
 
 To iuge fame iustlie passis my ingyne ; 
 
 Thaj gyde nocht ill that governis weill fame sell, 
 
 And lelalie on lawtie layis fair lyne : 
 
 Dowtis to discus, for doctouris ar devyne, 
 
 Cunnyng in clergie to declair fame cleir : 
 
 To ordo this, the office now is thyne, 
 
 God gif fe grace aganis pis gude new-zeir. 
 
 VOL. II. I I
 
 482 
 
 As beis takkis walx and honye of the floure, 
 So dois f e faythfull of Goddis word take frute j 
 As waspis ressauis of ]>e same hot soure. 
 So reprobatis Christis buke dois rebute : 
 Wordis, w t out werkis, availzeis no* a cute : 
 To seiss thy subiectis in luf and feir, 
 That rycht and reasoun in thy realme may rute, 
 God gife )>e grace aganis f is gude new-zeir. 
 
 The epistoUis and evangelis now ar prechit, 
 But sophistrie or ceremoneis vaine ; 
 Thy pepill, maist pairt, trewlie now ar techit, 
 To put away idolatrie prophaine ; 
 Bot in sum hartis is gravit new agane, 
 Ane image, callit cutvatyce of geir ; 
 Now, to expell fat idoll standis vp plane, 
 God gif f e grace aganis f is gude new-zeir. 
 
 For sum * quhen' sene at sermonis seme sa hayle, 
 Singand Sanct Dauidis psalter on fair bukis, 
 And ar bot biblistis fairsing full fair bellie, 
 Bakbytand nytbouris noyand fame in nwikis, 
 Ruging and raisand vp kirk-rentis lyke ruikis ; 
 As werrie waspis aganis Goddis word makis weir : 
 Sic Christianis to kiss wt chanteris kuikis, 
 God gife f e grace aganis f is gude new-zeir. 
 
 Dew tie and dettis ar drevin by dowbilnes, 
 Auld folkis ar flemit fra zung fayth professouris,
 
 The grittist ay, the greddiar I gess. 
 
 To plant quhair preistis and personis wer posses- 
 
 souris ; 
 
 Teindis ar vptane be testament transgressouris ; 
 Credence is past, off promeiss tho* thaj sweir : 
 To punisch Papistis and reproche oppressouris, 
 God gif f e grace aganis f is gude new-zeir. 
 
 Pure folk ar famist w* fir fassionis new, 
 Thaj faill for fait fat had befoir at fouth ; 
 Leill labouraris lamentis, and tennentis trew, 
 That f aj ar hurt and hareit north and south : 
 The heidismen lies cor mundum in fair mouth, 
 Bot nevir w* mynd to gif f e man his meir : 
 To quenche thir quent calamiteis so cowth, 
 God gif fe grace aganis fis gude new-zeir. 
 
 Protestandis takis f e freiris auld antetewme, 
 
 Reddie ressauaris bot to rander nocht , 
 
 So lairdis vpliftis mennis leifing ouir thy rewme, 
 
 And ar rycht crabit quhen thaj crave fame ocht ; 
 
 Be thaj vnpayit, thy pursevandis ar socht, 
 
 To pund pure communis corne and cattell keir : 
 
 To wisy all fir wrangus workis ar wrocht, 
 
 God gif f e grace againis f is gude new-zeir. 
 
 Haull biddis nocht deill w l thingis idolatheit, 
 Nor quhair hypocrasie hes bene committit ; 
 Bot kirk-mennis cursit substance semis sweit 
 Till land-men, w* fat leud burd-lyme are kyttit; 
 i i 2
 
 484. 
 
 Giff thow persave sum senzeour it lies smittit, 
 Solist fame softlie nocht to perseveir : 
 Hurt no* pair hono r , thot thy heines wittit 
 Bot graciouslie forgife pame pis gude zeir. 
 
 Foirgifanis grant with glaidnes and gude will, 
 Gratis till all into zcf parliament ; 
 Syne stabill statutis, steidfast to stand still, 
 That barrone, clerk, and burges be content : 
 Thy nobillis, erlis, and lordis consequent, 
 Treit tendir, to obtene fair hartis inteir ; 
 That paj may serve and be obedient, 
 Vnto thy Grace, aganis pis gude new-zeir. 
 
 Sen so thow sittis in saitt superlatywe, 
 Caus everye stait to pair vocatioun go, 
 Scholastik men pe scriptouris to descrywe, 
 And maiestratis to vse pe swerd also, 
 Merchandis to trafique and travell to and fro, 
 Mechanikis wirk, husbandis to saw and scheir ; 
 So salbe welth and weilfaire wkmt wo, 
 Be grace of God aganis pis guid new-zeir. 
 
 Latt all thy realme be now in reddines, 
 With coistlie clething to decoir thy corss ; 
 Zung gentilmen for dansing pame address, 
 With courtlie ladyes culpit in consors : 
 Fark ferce gallandis for feild gemis enforss ; 
 Enarmit knychtis at listis w l scheild and speir, 
 To fecht in barrowis bay 1 on fute and horss, 
 Agane py grace gett ane guid-man pis zeir.
 
 485 
 
 This zeir salbe imbassatis heir belyffe, 
 For mariage, frome princes, dukis, and kingis ; 
 This zeir, wtin thy regioun, sail aryfe, 
 Rowtis of the rankest pat in Eurup ringis ; 
 This zeir bay 1 blythnes and abundance bringis, 
 Naveis of schippis outthro the sea to sneir, 
 With riches, raymentis, and all royall thingis, 
 Agane J>y Grace get ane gude-man J>is zeir. 
 
 The poem concludes with the following quaint- 
 ness : 
 
 L'ENVOY. 
 
 Prudent, maist gent, tak tent, and prent j? e wordis 
 Intill this bill, with will thame still to face, 
 Quhilkis ar no 1 skar, to bar on far fra bawrdis, 
 Bot leale, bot feale, may haell, avaell thy Grace ; 
 Sen lo, thow schow fis to, now do hes place, 
 Receive, [and] swaif, and haif, ingraif it heir : 
 This now, for prow, fat j>ow, sweit dow, may brace, 
 Lang space, with grace, solace, and peace, pis zeir. 
 
 LECTORI. 
 
 Fresch, fulgent, flurist, fragrant flour, formois, 
 Lantern to lufe, of ladeis lamp and lot. 
 Cherie maist chaist, cheif charbucle and chois; 
 Smaill sweit smaragde, smelling but smit of smot ; 
 Noblest nato 1 ", nurice to nurtour not, 
 This dull indyte, dulce, dowble, dasy deir, , 
 Send be thy sempill servand SANDERIS SCOTT, 
 Greting grit God to grant thy Grace gude zeir. 
 MS. fol. 90. [ALEX*- SCOTT.] 
 
 i i 3
 
 486 
 
 PAGE 273. CHAP. TI. 
 
 The lands of Alloa formerly belonged to a 
 family of the name of Baillie, and were forfeited. 
 The King, about 1315, exchanged these lands 
 with Lord Erskine, for the forest of Glenartney and 
 lands adjoining, now Loch Katherine. Alloa re- 
 mained in the Erskine family until 1715, when it 
 was forfeited, with all the other possessions of the 
 Earl of Mar. But the estate of Alloa was bought 
 back by the friends of the family in 1 722. There 
 is still in the tower of Alloa a cradle and child's 
 high-chair, both of oak, and carved, which were 
 King James the Sixth's. Annapel Murray, (of 
 the Athol family,) then Countess of Mar, was in 
 immediate attendance on him when a child, and 
 there is her low nursing-chair, likewise of oak, 
 carved, and the initials of her name carved on it. 
 
 PAGE 295. CHAP. vi. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers demonstrates the falsehood of 
 Buchanan's Journal, referred to by Cecil in his 
 argument against the Queen of Scots, by the fol- 
 lowing extract from the Privy Seal Register : 
 
 " Aug. 2d. 1566. At Alloa, the King and 
 " Queen in council, declared their purpose to hold 
 '* a Justice Ayre, at Jedburgh : but this declared 
 " intention was prevented, till the beginning of 
 " October.
 
 487 
 
 " Oct. 7th. Bothwell, who was the Queen's 
 " lieutenant on the borders, went from Edinburgh, 
 " to Liddisdale. 
 
 " 8th. Was wounded by John Elliot, of the 
 " Park ; also BirrePs diary. 
 
 " 8th. The Queen and Murray, and all her 
 " court, went from Edinburgh, to hold a Justice 
 " Ayre at Jedburgh. 
 
 " 10th. She held a privy council at Jedburgh. 
 " (Privy Council Register.) 
 
 " llth. . She held another council at Jed- 
 burgh. 
 
 " 15th. She was still at Jedburgh. 
 
 " 16th. The Queen, accompanied by several 
 " officers, went to visit her lieutenant at Hermit- 
 " age. (Privy Seal Register.)" Vol. I. page 
 109. Quarto edition. 
 
 Buchanans Journal compared ivitk the Records. 
 
 Journal. Records. 
 
 Nov. 5th, 1566. The Nov. 5th, 1566 At 
 
 Queen and Bothwell came Jedburgh, there were pre- 
 to Kelso, and there abode sent in the Privy Council, 
 two nights. the Earls of Murray, Both- 
 
 well, Atholl, Rothes, and 
 Orkney, with the officers 
 of state ; and several pri- 
 vate causes were decided 
 there, in which the Warden 
 of the Marches, SirWaltei 
 i i 4
 
 488 
 
 Records. 
 
 Ker, was Plantiff. Privy 
 Council Register of that 
 date. 
 
 Nov. 10th. The Privy 
 Council sat at Kelso, and 
 decided a private com- 
 plaint. 
 
 Journal. 
 
 Nov. 7th. They came 
 to Longton. 
 
 Nov. 9th. They came 
 to Wedderborn. 
 
 Nov. 1 Oth. Th ey came 
 to Coldingham, where the 
 Lady Reres, and her com- 
 pany, were taken by the 
 wolds. 
 
 Nev.l 2th. They came 
 to Dunbar, where they 
 staid two nights. 
 
 For the sequel of this curious document, the 
 reader is referred to Chalmers's Life of Mary, 
 vol. ii. page 110. 4to edit. 
 
 PAGE 310. CHAP. vi. 
 
 That Darnley's malady was the small-pox, is 
 demonstrated by Mr. Chalmers from several docu- 
 ments still extant in the paper-office ; among others, 
 a dispatch from the Earl of Bedford ; another from 
 Sir William Drury, Marshal of Berwick ; even
 
 489 
 
 the puritan Birrel, in his Diary, simply states the 
 fact, that the King had the small-pox. Several 
 contemporary historians attest the truth. And 
 Laboureur, who derived his information from the 
 veracious Castelnau, confirms the statement. 
 
 PAGE 337. CHAP. vn. 
 
 The Lady Bothwell appears not to have been 
 ever much attached to her first husband. (See 
 Throckmorton's letter in Keith, in which she is 
 said to have declared she would never live with 
 him again ;) according to Gordon, of Gordons- 
 town, she did not marry the Earl of Sutherland, 
 till 1573; after whose death, she espoused Alex- 
 ander Ogilvie, Lord Boyne ; she was, says Gordon, 
 a comely lady, judicious, of excellent memory, 
 with an understanding above her sex ; she super- 
 intended the improvements of her estate; built 
 houses ; authorised industry ; and apparently was 
 much fitter for government than Queen Mary. 
 See Gordon's History of the House of Gordon. 
 
 PAGE 389. CHAP. vn. 
 
 The true reasons for Mary's detention appear to 
 be unfolded in the following notes written in Cecil's 
 hand, in which after having premised, that it was 
 " useful and honorable for the Queen's Majesty to 
 " intermeddle in the affairs of Scotland, more es-
 
 490 
 
 " pecially since the Queen of Scots had made pre- 
 " tensions to her crown of England," he enumerates 
 the dangers to be apprehended, if she should pass 
 into France. " If France possess hir, she shaU 
 " also serve them to revive the old league betwixt 
 " France and the crowne of Scotland, to the 
 " sworne malice of England, and at this tyme 
 " that shall be more perrillooss then heretoforj 
 " when the crown of England and Burgundy wer 
 " knitt and confederat together agaynst France 
 " and Scotland : wher now England hath no leage 
 " of good frendship with any prince or contrie, 
 " but standeth alone, saving for the present, the 
 " accord betwixt England and Scotland bredeth 
 " such profit to England, as no other amity can, 
 " in respect of ther conjunction by dry Marcheis, 
 " which cannot continue longe after the Scottish 
 " Quene shall be at the devotion of France. 
 
 " If France shall revive her league with Scot- 
 " land and England have no other amity than it 
 " hath, England shall be more subject to danger 
 " than ever it was thesse three hundred yeares, 
 " for these causes. 
 
 First. " Heretofore England had Calliss and 
 " the Merches thereof, by which it was owner of 
 " the narrow seas, and had opportunitie to invade 
 " France by land. The contrary whereof is now 
 " for France, for they have the commoditie by 
 " Calliss, keping a few gallise ther, to impeach
 
 491 
 
 " our possession of the narrow seas, and thereby 
 " to interrupt our trade of merchandise, without 
 " which the crowne of England cannot well 
 " stand, as the charges of government is now in- 
 " creased. 
 
 " Daungers, if the Scottish Quene do remayn 
 " in England. 
 
 " If she remayne with liberty to" practise with 
 " whom she will, she shall employ hirself to in- 
 " crease hir part, for hir intention to have the 
 " crown of England without expectation to suc- 
 " cede, whansoever she shall fynd hir opportunity 
 " to sease it, and to lay hand on it, and for such 
 " an enterprise, she shall in tyme, recover all hir 
 " subjects in Scotland to be of hir part ; for no 
 " man can thynk but such a swete bayte would 
 " make concord betwixt them all. 
 
 " Daungers, if she shuld return into Scotland, 
 " to rule as she did. 
 
 " The frends of England shall all be in tyme 
 " abassed. The French faction shall increase. 
 " The young prince shall have but a short tyme: 
 " and the Hamiltons being swore confederates of 
 " France, shall be exalted ; and most likely, the 
 " Quene herself shall not have long contynu- 
 " ance. 
 
 " England shall have contynuall jarryng uppon 
 " the frontiers, and if any French garrison shall 
 " be in Scotland the crown of England must in-
 
 4-92 
 
 " crease ther charge at Barwyck, and upon all the 
 " frontyers. 
 
 " Beside this, Ireland shall be molested with 
 " the Scotts more than it hath bene. 
 
 " Lastly. The state of religion shall be 
 " changed in Scotland, which will fede no small 
 " trooble inEngland, being at this present not clere 
 " of inward swellyngs. 
 
 " If the Q. shall be retorned into Scotland, 
 " these provisions must be made. 
 
 " That all subjects of Scotland answerable for 
 " the murder, be fyrst duly punished. 
 
 " That a sufficient devorce be made betwixt the 
 " Quene and the Erie Bothwell. 
 
 ** That she depend not upon France. That 
 " hir marriage may be at the Quenes disposi- 
 " tion. 
 
 " That no French garrison come into Scot- 
 " land. 
 
 " That the peace of Leith be ratified by the 
 " Queen and the Parliament of Scotland. 
 
 " That the Erie Murray have the principal 
 " charge in Scotland." Anderson's Collections, 
 vol. iv. 
 
 PAGE 392, CHAP. viii. 
 
 George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, was one of 
 the richest peers in the kingdom, and possessed 
 magnificent mansions at Sheffield, Wingfield, Tut- 
 
 11
 
 493 
 
 bury, and Chatsworth. By his first wife, Lady 
 Gertrude Manners, he had several children, some 
 of whom had cause to lament his second union 
 with the Lady St. Loe, who had thrice before en- 
 tered the marriage state, and who stipulated, be- 
 fore she became the Earl's wife, that his son Gil- 
 bert should marry her eldest daughter, by Sir 
 William Cavendish, and his eldest daughter 
 espouse that young lady's brother. These preli- 
 minaries being adjusted, the nuptials of the Earl 
 and Lady St. Loe were solemnized with suitable 
 magnificence ; whilst Gilbert and the young Ca- 
 vendish were sent for education to the continent. 
 The wife of the former inherited her mother's 
 spirit, and in tune estranged her husband from his 
 father's affections. The Lady Shrewsbury herself 
 could not exist without some political intrigue ; she 
 alternately flattered and calumniated Mary, and 
 often dupted Elizabeth. In 1574-, she incurred 
 her displeasure by making a match between her 
 daughter Elizabeth Cavendish and Charles Stuart, 
 the youngest son of Lady Lennox; but she appears 
 to have soon regained the favour of her sovereign, 
 who did not, however, protect her from the humi- 
 liation she deservedly incurred, by her malignant 
 aspersions of Mary Stuart. And in 1584 we find, 
 both from Strype (Annals, 3d vol. page 232,) and 
 from the Correspondence of Castelnau, that the
 
 494 
 
 Countess and her two sons attested before a ma- 
 gistrate the falsehood of those calumnious reports 
 which, through their influence, had been widely cir- 
 culated. Mary complained loudly of the injury, to 
 the courts of France and England ; and in one of 
 her letters to Castelnau, she designates a gentleman 
 named Topcliffe, as the original author of the calum- 
 ny, adding, that formerly, when they were on good 
 terms, both Lady Shrewsbury and herself had 
 laughed at the absurdity. This remark agrees with 
 a passage in Lady Shrewsbury's letter to the Earl, 
 (in Lodge's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 167.) in which 
 she playfully desires him to commend her to his 
 charge and love. 
 
 PAGE 398. CHAP. vin. 
 
 The following extract has been taken from the 
 mandate transmitted by Mary to the States of 
 Scotland, in 1569, demanding a divorce from 
 Bothwell. The original, which had been preserved 
 among the Kilmarnock archives, is now deposited 
 in the Advocate's library, at Edinburgh. 
 
 " Marie by the grace of God, Quene of Scottis 
 " and Dowarier of France, to all and sendrie 
 " quhais knowledge, this present letteris sal cum 
 " greting in God everlasting. Forsameikle as we 
 " are crediblie informed be sendrie and divers no- 
 " blemen of our realme, that the pretended mar- 
 " riage, sometime contractit and in a manner 
 15
 
 495 
 
 " solemnizat, betweene us and James Erie Both- 
 " well, was for divers respectes unlawful, and may 
 " not of good conscience nor law stand betwixt us, 
 " (albeit it seemed otherwise to us and our coun- 
 " sail at that time ;) considering, therefore, with 
 " ourselves, and thinking that the same does touch 
 " us, so hiechlie in honor and conscience, that it 
 " dailie and hourlie troubles and vexes our sprite 
 " quaiht through, we are moved to seeke remedy. 
 " For this cause we have askit counsel of the 
 " gretest clerks, best learned and expert doctors 
 " in divine and humane laws, as we could have 
 " in divers contries, be whom we are assuredlie 
 " informed and certainlie persuaded that the said 
 " pretendit marriage is a no ways lawful, nor can 
 " in any way be the causes prementioned as 
 " good. Not onlie because that he was before 
 " contractit to ane other wife, and he not lawfullie 
 " divorcit from hir; but also (althocht we were 
 " informed ther was no impediment,) yet ther 
 " were divers gret impediments of affinitie and 
 " uther ways standing betwixt us; quilhkis git 
 " they had been known to us, would have made 
 " let and impediment to our and now being re- 
 " vealed to us sufficient to make us clearly under- 
 " stood, we may be seperat fra him be the lawis ; 
 " for of our mind and will to ord to all thingis 
 " quilk is baith good and honorabil for con- 
 " science, relief of our trouble afflicted sprite
 
 496 
 
 " B, als also for the declaration of our ain 
 " honour, and contentation of our estatis ane gude 
 " subjects of our realme ; we, of our ain motive, 
 " free will and mind, have made, constitute, no- 
 " minate, &c. &c. &c." 
 
 PAGE 393. CHAP. viii. 
 
 In 1531 the Bishop of Ross published, under 
 the name of Morgan Phillips, several pamphlets 
 in vindication of the Queen of Scots, his de- 
 fence of Queen Mary's honour, and of her title 
 to the crown of "England, in which he admitted 
 he had chiefly borrowed the arguments from 
 two eminent English lawyers. The Bishop was 
 ever active and zealous in Mary's cause, and it was 
 by his agency that the marriage was proposed be- 
 tween her and Norfolk. When the Earls of North- 
 umberland and Westmoreland took arms, it was 
 expected the Duke of Norfolk would by force 
 rescue the Scottish Queen. Mary herself thought 
 so; and she is said to have expressed disappoint- 
 ment, not unmixed with disgust, at his lukewarm- 
 ness. 
 
 After his departure from England, the Bishop 
 remained faithful to his unfortunate mistress, by 
 whose recommendation he was patronized by the 
 Pope and the King of France, yet died in a state 
 of honourable indigence. In Lesley's spirited de- 
 fence of Queen Mary's honour, may be detected
 
 497 
 
 the original of all the arguments since adduced to 
 prove, that the letters to Bothwell are fabricated. 
 
 " She denieth them, .and we denie them to. 
 " There is neither subscription of the writer, nor 
 " superscription unto whom they were directed ; 
 " they are neither sealed nor signed ; there ap- 
 " peareth neither date wherein they were dated, 
 " neither day nor month. There is no mention 
 " made of the bearer, who is, as it may be sup- 
 " posed, for any name he beareth, the man in the 
 " moone. He was never yet ''known nor heard 
 " of, that did either receive, or deliver them. For 
 " as for him that ye surmise was the bearer of 
 " them, and whome you have executed of late for 
 " the said murther, he, at the time of his said 
 " execution, tooke it upon his death, as he should 
 " answere before God, that he never caried any 
 " such letters, nor that the Queene was partici- 
 " pant nor of counsayle in the cause. Think ye 
 " that wise and expert men are ignorant, how 
 " perilous and dangerous a matter it is, to fasten 
 " any good proufe upon illation of letters, and 
 " how easy it is to some men, to imitate and 
 " counterfeit any character? The which a 
 " knight, lately deceased in England, could so 
 " lively and subtilely doe, that he who wrote most 
 " crabbedly and unleageably, could hardely dis- 
 " cerne his owne hande writing from the knight's 
 " counterfeiting hande. 
 
 VOL. II. K K
 
 .. 
 
 498 
 
 " But who conferred these letters, I pray you, 
 
 with your Queene's owne handewriting ? Dare 
 " you to warrant them in this so perilous and 
 " weighty a cause, to have bene so exquisitely 
 " and so exactly vewed and conferred with all 
 " suche dewe circumstances as the civil law doth 
 " require, were it but a civil or a money matter. 
 
 " You wil, peradventure, answere, that there 
 " was dew collation by you made. O perfect and 
 " worthy collation ! O meete and apt men for 
 " suche a purpose ! 
 
 " As though it is not notoriously known through- 
 " out the worlde, that ye are her most mortal 
 " enemies, as though these counterfeit letters were 
 " not the underpropped postes and upholders of 
 " your whole treachery and usurped kingdome; 
 " as though -that many in Scotlande could not ex- 
 " presse and resemble, and counterfeit in their 
 " writings, the Queenes very character : and 
 " as though there were not among your selves 
 " some singular artificer in this handy-craft, and 
 " that hath sent letters also in her very name, as 
 " wel into Englande, as to other places by- 
 " sides, without either her commaundement, or 
 " knowledge. How can I chose then, but say, 
 " that this deede is your shamefull handy-craft, 
 " and not her hande-writing? Yea surely, al this 
 " is your owne fained forging, and most vile coun- 
 " terfeiting. 
 
 10
 
 499 
 
 " For either you must bring forth good and 
 " apparent witnesses, to proove it her hande, or 
 " some suche as were privie to the meaning of the 
 " sayd letters ; whiche ye neither yet have done, 
 " nor are likely ever to doo. Or ye must graunte, 
 " that you were privie to them yourselves with the 
 " Queene, or at least with the said Earle, whom 
 " ye surmise to have received these letters, or that 
 " al this is by you maliciously driven and con- 
 " eluded. Lesley's Defence of Queen Mary's 
 " Honor , vol. v. of Anderson' s Collections. 
 
 O 
 
 NO. 6. r^ 
 
 On the 1st of August, 1367, the body of Mary 
 was interred with royal pomp, in the Cathecjhral 
 of Peterborough. The Countess of Bedford,, as 
 the representative of Elizabeth, headed the pro- 
 cession, followed by the greater part of the 
 English nobility. * 
 
 The funeral sermon was preached by the 
 Bishop of Lincoln ; and preceded by a prayer, in 
 which he called on his hearers to give thanks 
 for the happy dissolution of Mary, Queen of 
 Scotland, " of whose life or death," he added, 
 " I have not much to say, because I knew not the 
 " one, neither was present at the other." At the 
 
 * Martyre de la Royne d'Ecosse Mort de la 
 Reyne d'Ecosse, in Jebb. 
 
 K K 2
 
 500 
 
 conclusion of his discourse, the English mourners 
 proceeded to the vault, with the Scottish atten- 
 dants, who, being Catholics, had absented them- 
 selves during the service; at the door of the 
 choir stood the Scottish women, who saluted 
 the English ladies as they passed. After the 
 sacred ceremony the company repaired to the 
 palace, where a splendid repast was provided by 
 the Bishop of Peterborough. Innumerable were 
 the spectators of the solemnity: not even the 
 nuptials of Mary with Francis excited more at- 
 tention than did these mournful obsequies. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 The following letter, of which the original is 
 preserved in the Advocate's library, at Edinburgh, 
 was written, when Mary was about twelve years 
 .of age. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from Mary, Queen of Scots, 
 
 to her Mother. 
 " Ma Dame, 
 
 " J'ai este bien aise d'avoir trouve 1'opportunite 
 *' si bonne de vous ecrire, comme je tien encor 
 ** en ce lieu de Meudon avec madame, ma 
 " grandmere, ou le Roy et la Royne doivent venir 
 " ieudi prochain au batesme de mon petit cousin. 
 " Mon oncle, Monsr. le Cardal. m'a fait entendre 
 " comme tous les Seigneurs de mon royaume 
 " ont bonne volonte de vous obeir, et faire pour
 
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