UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS x" LIFE HARY QUEEN OF SCOTS BY HENRY GLASSFORD BELL, ESQ. > IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. *ex memoire de 1'ame et de 1'honneur de celle qui a esto Totre royne." Mary't own words. A. L. FOWLE NEW YORK IQOO A B-f v, ) PREFACE. A NEW work on the subject of Mary Queen of Scots runs an imminent risk of being considered a work of supererogation. No period of British history has been more elaborately illustrated than that of her life and reign. She ascended the Scottish throne at a time replete with interest; when the country had awakened from the lethargy of ages, and when the gray dawn of civilization, heralding the full sunshine of coming years, threw its light and shade on many a bold and prominent figure, standing confessed in rugged grandeur as the darkness gradually rolled away. It was a time ^ when national and individual character were alike strongly marked, a time when Knox preached, Buchanan wrote, Murray plotted, and Bothwell ^ murdered. The mailed feudal barons, the un- shrinking Reformers, founders of the Presbyterian j church, and mailed in mind if not in body, the .> discomfited, but the still rich and haughty eccle- siastics of the Romish faith, the contemporaries and followers of the stern Cardinal Beaton, all start forth so vividly before the mind's eye that they seem subjects better suited for the inspired pencil of a Salvator Rosa than for the soberer pen of history. Mary herself, with her beauty and hei + misfortunes, shining among the rest like the crem- r VI tion of a softer age and clime, fills up the picture and rivets the interest. She becomes the centre round which the others revolve ; and their impor- tance is measured only by the influence they exer- cised over her fate, and the share they had in that strange concatenation of circumstances, which, as if in mockery of the nobility of her birth and the splendour of her expectations, rendered her life miserable and her death ignominious. There is little wonder if such a theme, though in itself inexhaustible, should have exhausted the energies of many. Yet the leading events of Mary's reign still give rise to frequent doubts and discussions ; and the question regarding her char- acter, which has so long agitated and divided the literary world, remains undetermined. It is indeed only they who have time and inclination to dis- mantle the shelves of a library and pore over many a contradictory volume, examine many a per- plexing hypothesis, and endeavour to reconcile many an inconsistent and distracting statement, who are entitled to pronounce upon her guilt or innocence. Not that it is meant to be asserted, that unpub- lished manuscripts and documents calculated tc throw new light upon the subject slumber in the archives of government or among the collections of the learned, which have hitherto escaped the notice of the antiquarian and the scholar. On the contrary, there is every reason to believe that all the papers of value which exist have already been found and given to the world. After the voluminous publications of Anderson, Jebb, Goodall, Haynes, Hardwicke, Strype, Sadler, and Murdin, it is by PREFACE. Vli no means probable that future historians will dis- cover additional materials to guide them in their narrative of facts. But few are disposed to wade through works like these ; and they who are, find, that though they indicate the ground on which the superstructure of truth may be raised, they at the same time, from the diffuseness and often contra- dictory nature of their contents, afford every excuse to those who wander into error. The consequence is, that almost no two writers have given exactly the same account of the principal occurrences of Mary's life. And it is this fact which would lead to the belief that there is still an opening for an author, who would endeavour, with impartiality, candour, and decision, to draw the due line of dis- tinction between the prejudices of the one side and the prepossessions of the other, who would expose the wilful misrepresentations of party-spirit, and -correct the involuntary errors of ignorance, who would aim at being scrupulously just, but not un- necessarily severe steadily consistent, but not tamely indifferent boldly independent, but not unphilosophically violent. It seems to be a principle of our common nature to be ever anxious to wage an honourable warfare against doubt ; and no one is more likely to fix the attention than he who undertakes to prove what has been previously disputed. It is this principle which has attached so much interest to the life of the Queen of Scots, and induced so many writers (and some of no mean note) to investigate her char- acter both as a sovereign and a woman ; and the consequence has been, that one half have under- taken to put her criminality beyond a doubt, and the other as confidently pledged themselves it establish her innocence. It may seem a bold but it is a conscientious opinion, that no single author, whether an accuser or a defender, has been entirely successful. To arrive at a satisfactory conclusion the works of several must be consulted ; and, even after all, the mind is often lelt tossing amid a sea of difficulties. The talents of many who have broken a lance in the Marian controversy are un- doubted ; but if we attend for a moment to its pro- gress, the reasons why it is still involved in obscu- rity may probably be discovered. The ablest literary man in Scotland contempo- rary with Mary was George Buchanan ; the Earl of Murray was his patron, and Secretary Cecil his admirer. The first publication regarding the queen came from his pen ; it was written with consum- mate ability, but with a dishonest though not un- natural leaning to the side which was the strongest at the time, and which his own interests and views of personal and family aggrandizement pointed out as the most profitable. The eloquence of his style and the confidence of his statements gave a bias to public opinion, which feebler spirits laboured in vain to counteract. Less powerful as an author, but not less virulent as an enemy, Knox nex* appeared in the lists, and unfurling the banner of what was then considered religion, converted every doubt into conviction, by appealing to the bigotry and the superstition of the uninformed multitude. Yet Knox was probably conscientious, if the term can be applied with propriety to one who did not believe that the Church of Rome possessed a single rirtuous member. In opposition to the productions PREFACE. IX f these authors, is the "Defence of Mary's Honour," by Lesley, Bishop of Ross, an able but somewhat declamatory work, and as liable to sus- picion as the others, because written by an avowed partisan and active servant of the queen. A crowd of inferior compositions followed, useful sometimes for the facts they contain, but all so strongly tinc- tured with party zeal that little reliance is to be placed on their accuracy. Among these may be enumerated the works of Blackwood and Caussin, who wrote in French, of Conseus, Strada, and Turner (the last under the assumed name of Barnestaple), who wrote in Latin, and of Antonio de Herrera, who wrote in Spanish. The calamities which after the lapse of a century again overtook the house of Stuart recalled atten- tion to the discussions concerning Mary; and though time had softened the asperity of the dis- putants, the question was once more destined to become connected with party prejudices. From the publication of Crawford's "Memoirs," in 1705, down to the appearance of Chalmers's "Life of Mary," in 1818, the history of the Queen of Scots has continued one of those standard subjects which has given birth to a new work at least every five years. A few of the more important may be men- tioned. In 1725, Jebb published his own life of Mary, and his collection in two volumes folio, of works which had previously appeared both for and against her. The former production is of little value, but the latter is exceedingly useful, and in- deed no one can write with fairness concerning Mary without consulting it. Lives of the queen by Heywood and Freebairn shortly succeeded ; both X PREFACE. of whom were anxious to vindicate her, but in theii anxiety overshot the mark. In 1728, Anderson's "Collections" were presented to the public, con- taining many papers of interest and value which are not to be found elsewhere. But they are often disingenuously garbled, that Mary may be made to appear in an unfavourable tight ; and a more recent author informs us, that they were in conse- quence "sold as waste-paper, leaving the editor ruined in his character and injured in his prospects." In Scotland, the rebellion of 1715 pov. fully revived the animosities which had never lain en- tirely dormant since the establishment of a new dynasty in 1688 ; and the transition from Charles to his ancestor Mary was easy and natural. The second rebellion in 1745 did not diminish the in- terest taken in the Queen of Scots, nor the ardour with which the question of her wrongs or crimes was agitated. In 1754, Mr. Goodall, librarian to the Faculty of Advocates, made a valuable addition to the works already extant on the subject, in his ' Examination" of the letters attributed to Mary. His habits of laborious research combined with no inconsiderable powers of reasoning enabled him not only to bring together many original papers, not before published, but to found on these much acute argument, and deduce from them many sound conclusions. Goodall's work will never be popu- lar, because it is full of ancient documents, which one is more willing to refer to than to read ; but, as may be remarked of Jebb and Anderson, he who means to write of Mary should not commence until he has also carefully perused the " Exami- nation." PREFACE. XI Four years posterior to Goodall's two volumes appeared Robertson's " History of Scotland." Of course, the leading events of Mary's reign were narrated at length, but too much with the stiff frigidity which Robertson imagined constituted historical dignity, and which was continually betray- ing a greater anxiety about the manner than the matter. Accordingly, what his style gained in con straint his subject lost in interest. No one has said so much of Queen Mary to so little definite purpose as Robertson; no one has so entirely failed in making us either hate or love her. Be- sides, he thought her guilty, on the authority of Buchanan, and has consequently thrown a false gloss over her character from beginning to end. He was supported in his opinions, it is true, by the historian Hume, but the latter, having devoted most of his attention to the history of England, cannot be supposed to have been very deeply versed in the affairs of Scotland ; and in so far as these are concerned, his authority is not of the highest weight. Yet, from the reputation which these two writers have acquired, and deservedly upon other grounds, they have done more mischief to Mary than per- haps any of her calumniators, the multitude being too often inclined to forget when once thoroughly juratus in verba magistri, that he who distinguishes himself in one department may be, and commonly is, deficient in another. In 1760, the credit both of Robertson and Hume was a good deal shaken by Tytler's "Inquiry" into the evidence against Mary. This work is neither historical nor biogra- phical, but argumentative and controversial. It is founded upon Goodall, to whom Tytler confesses T. B 11 PREFACE. his obligations, but the reasonings are much more lucidly and popularly arranged ; and though not so complete or so full of research as it might hare keen, it is upon the whole the ablest and most con- vincing production which has yet appeared on th side of the Queen of Scots. Of the five works of greatest consequence which have appeared since Tytler's, only one has ven- tured to tread in the footsteps of Buchanan. The first in order of date is the French "Histoire d'Elizabeth," in five volumes, by Mademoiselle de Keralio, who devotes a large portion of her book to Mary, and with a degree of talent that does honoui to the sex to which she belongs, vindicates the Scottish queen from the obloquy which her rival, Elizabeth, had too great a share in casting upon her. Nearly about the same time was published Dr. Gilbert Stuart's " History of Scotland." It came out at an unfortunate period, for Robertson had pre-occupied the field ; and it was hardly to be expected that a writer of inferior note would dis- possess him of it. But Dr. Stuart's history, though too much neglected, is in many essential particu- lars superior to Robertson's, not perhaps in so far as regards precision of style, but in research, accu- racy, and impartiality. It would be wrong to say that Stuart has committed no mistakes, but they are certainly fewer and less glaring than those of his predecessor. Towards the end of the last centuiy, Whittaker stood forth as a champion of the Queen of Scots, and threw into the literary arena four closely printed volumes. They bear the stamp of great industry and enthusiasm ; but his materials are not well digested, and his violence often weaken* PREFACE. Xlll his argument. The praise of ardour, but not of jadgment, belongs to Whittaker ; he seems to have forgotten that there may be bigotry in a good as well as in a bad cause ; in his anxiety to maintain the truth he often plunges into error, and in his imdignation at the virulence of others he not unfre- ^uently becomes still more virulent himself. Had he abridged his work by one-third, it would have gamed in force what it lost in declamation, and would not have been less conclusive because less confused and verbose. Whittaker was followed early in the present century by Mr. Malcolm Laing, who, with a far clearer head, if not with a sounder heart, has in his " Preliminary Dissertation," to his " History of Scotland," done much more against Mary than Whittaker has done for her. Calm, col- lected, and well informed, he proceeds, as might ke expected from an adept in the profession to which he belonged, from one step of evidence to another linking the whole so well together that it is at firs sight extremely difficult to discover a flaw in the chain. Yet flaws there are, and serious ones indeed, Mr. Laing's book is altogether a piece of special pleading, not of unprejudiced history. His iagenuity, however, is great; and his arguments carry with them such an air of sincerity, that they are apt to be believed almost before the judgment acknowledges them to be true. It is to be feared, that he is pov r erful only to be dangerous, that he dazzles only to mislead. The author whose two large quarto or three thick octavo volumes brings up the rear of this goodly array is Mr. George Chalmers. There was never a more careful com piler, a more painstaking investigator of public I1V PREFACE. and private records, deeds, and registers, a more zealous stickler for the accuracy of dates, the fidelity of witnesses, and the authenticity of facts. His work, diffuse, tedious, and ill-arranged though it be, full of perpetual repetitions, and abounding in erro- neous theories (for it is one talent to ascertain truth, and another to draw inferences), is nevertheless a valuable accession to the stock of knowledge pre- viously possessed on this subject. His proofs are too disjointed to be conclusive, and his reasonings too feeble to be convincing ; but the materials are better than the workmanship, and might be moulded by a more skilful hand into a shape of much beauty and excellence. Such is an impartial view of the chief works extant upon Mary Queen of Scots ; and it would appear, in consequence, that something is still want- ing to complete the catalogue Three causes may be stated, in particular, why so many persons of acknowledged ability should have devoted their time and talents to the investigation without exhausting it. First, Several of the works we have named are histories ; and these, professing, as they do, to de- ucribe the character of a nation rather than of an individual, cannot be supposed to descend to those minutiae or to enter into those personal details ne- cessary for presenting the vivid portraits in which biography delights. History is more conversant with the genus or the species ; and is addressed more to the judgment than to the feelings. There is in it a spirit of generalization, which, though it expands the mind, seldom touches the heart. Its views of human natmre are on a comprehensive PREFACE. XT scale ; it traces the course of empires and marks the progress of nations. If, in the great flood of events, it singles out a few crowned and conspicuous heads, making them the beacons by which to guide its way, it associates itself with them only so long as they continue to exercise an influence over the des- tiny of others. It is alike ignorant and careless of those circumstances which make private life happy or miserable, and which exercise an influence over the fate of those who have determined that of so many others. Neither Hume, nor Robertson, nor Stuart, nor Keralio, therefore, have said all of Mary that they might have said ; they wrote history not biography. Second, Many of the productions we have named are purely controversial, consisting almost entirely of arguments founded upon facts, not of facts upon which to found arguments. Among these may be particularly included, Tytler, Whittaker, and Laing, works which do not so much aim at illustrating the life and character of Mary as of settling the abstract question of her guilt or innocence. They present, therefore, only such detached portions of her history as bear upon the question of which they treat. To become intimately acquainted with Mary we must have recourse to other authors ; to form an esti- mate of her moral character these might suffice, were it fair to be guided on that subject by the opinions of others. Third, In most of the works in which historical research is fully blended with argumentative deduc- tions, erroneous theories have been broached, which, failing to make good their object, either excite suspicion or lead into error. Thus, Goodall and XVI PREFACE. Chalmers have laid it down as a principle, that iij order to exculpate Mary it was necessary to accuse her brother, the Earl of Murray, of all sorts of crimes. By representing Bothwell as an inferior tool in his hands, they have involved themselves in improbabilities, and have weakened the strength of a good cause by a mistaken mode of treatment. Indeed this remark applies with a greater or less degree of force to all the vindications of Queen Mary which have appeared. Why transfer the burden of Darnley's murder from Bothwell, the actual perpetiatorof the deed, to one who may have been accessory to it, but certainly more remotely \ Why confirm the suspicion against her they wish to defend by unjustly accusing another, whom they cannot prove to be criminal? If Goodall and Chalmers have done this, their learning is com- paratively useless, and their labour has been nearly lost. If the author of the following "Life of Mary Queen of Scots," has been able in any measure to execute his own wishes, he would trust, that by a careful collation of all the works to which he has referred, he has succeeded in separating much f the ore from the dross, and in giving a freshness, perhaps in one or two instances an air of originality, to his production. He has affected neither the insipidity of neutrality nor the bigotry of party zeal. His desire was to concentrate all that could kc known of Mary, in the hope that a light might thus be thrown on the obscurer parts of his subject suffi- cient to reanimate the most indifferent and satisfy he most scrupulous. He commenced his readings with an unbiassed mind, and was not aware at the PREFACE. XVU vutset to what conviction they would bring him. But if a conscientious desire to disseminate truth be estimable, it is hoped that this desire will be found to characterize these Memoirs. Little more need be added. The biography of a queen who lived two hundred and fifty years ago cannot be like the biography of a contemporary or immediate prede cessor ; but the inherent interest of the subject wil excuse many deficiencies. Omissions may, per- haps, be pardoned, if there are no misrepresenta- tions ; and the absence of minute cavilling and trifling distinctions may not be complained of, if the narrative leads, by a lucid arrangement, to satisfactory general deductions. Fidelity is at all times pre- ferable to brilliancy, and a sound conclusion 10 a plausible hypothesis. 312 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST "OLUME. ftp lirmoDUcmou SI CHAPTER I. Scotland and its Troubles during Mary's Infancy 97 CHAPTER II. Scotland and the Scottish Reformers, under the Regency of the Queen-dowager 39 CHAPTER HI. Mary's Birth, and subsequent Residence at the French Court, with a Sketch of the State of Society and Manners in Prance, during the Sixteenth Century 53 CHAPTER IV. Mary's Marriage, personal Appearance, and Popularity 86 CHAPTER V. Mary the Queen-dauphiness, the Queen, and the Queen-dowager of Prance 79 CHAPTER VI. Mary's Return to Scotland, and previous Negotiations with Elizabeth 90 CHAPTER YD. Mary's Arrival at Holyrood, with Sketches of her principal Nobility 107 CHAPTER Vm. John Knox, the Reformers, and the turbulent Nobles 121 CHAPTER K. Mary's Expedition to the North 13 7 KX CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. Chatelard's imprudent Attachment, and Knox'n persevering Hatred 153 CHAPTER XL The domestic Life of Mary, with some Anecdote* of Elizabeth .... 117 CHAPTER XII. 4ary's Suitors, and the Machinations of her Enemies IN CHAPTER XIII. Mary's Marriage with Darnley 1M CHAPTER XIV. Murray's Rebellion M7 CHAPTER XV. The Earl of Morton's Plot ttl CHAPTER XVI. Ths Assassination of David Rizzio CHAPTER XVD. fh Birth of James VI Ml CHAPTER XVIIL Mary's Treatment of Darnley, and alleged Lore for the Earl of Bothwell m INTRODUCTION. DURING the reigns of James IV. and James V., Scotland emerged from barbarism into comparative civilization. Shut out, as it had previously been from almost any intercourse with the rest of Europe, boln by the peculiarities of its situation, and its in- cessant wars with England, it had long slumbered in all the ignorance and darkness of those remote coun- tries which even Roman greatness, before its disso- lution, found it impossible to enclose and retain within the fortunate pale of its conquests. The refinement which must always more or less attend upon the person of a king, and shelter itself in the stronghold of his court, was little felt in Scotland. Though attached, from long custom, to the monarchical form of government, the sturdy feudal barons, each pos- sessing a kind of separate principality of his own, took good care that their sovereign's superior influ- ence should be more nominal than real. Distracted, too, by perpetual jealousies among themselves, it was only upon rare occasions that the nobles would as- semble peaceably together, to aid the king by their counsel, and strengthen his authority by their unani- mity. Hence, there was no standard of national manners, no means of fixing and consolidating the wavering and turbulent character of the people. Each clan attached itself to its own hereditary chief- tain ; and, whatever his prejudices or follies might be, was implicitly subservient to them. The feuds and personal animosities which existed among the leaders were thus invariably transmitted to the very humblest of their retainers, and a state of society 22 INTRODUCTION. was the consequence pregnant with civil discord and confusion, which, on the slightest impulse, broke out into anarchy and bloodshed. Many reasons have been assigned why the evils of the feudal system should have been more severely felt in Scotland than elsewhere. The leading causes, as given by the best historians, seem to be, the geographical nature of the country, which made its baronial fastnesses almost impregnable ; the want of large towns, by which the vassals of different barons were prevented from mingling together, and rubbing off, in the collision, the prepossessions they mutually entertained against each other; the divi sion of the inhabitants, not only into the followers of different chiefs but. into clans, which resembled so many great families, among all whose branches a relationship existed, and who looked with jealousy upon the increasing strength or wealth of any other clan; the smallness of the number of Scottish nobles, a circumstance materially contributing to enhance the weight and dignity of each ; the fre- quent recourse which these barons had, for the pur pose of overawing the crown, to leagues of mutual defence with their equals, or bonds of reciprocal piotection and assistance with their inferiors; the unceasing wars which raged between England and Scotland, and which were the perpetual means of proving to the Scottish king that the very posses- sion of his crown depended upon the fidelity and obe- dience of his nobles, whose good-will it was therefore necessary to conciliate upon all occasions, by grant- ing them whatever they chose to demand ; and, lastly, the long minorities to which the misfortunes of its kings exposed the country at an early period of its history, when the vigour and consistency commonly attendant upon the acts of one mind were required more than any thing else, but instead of which, the contradictory measures of contending nobles, or of regents hastily elected and as hasti'* INTRODUCTION. 23 diw>iraced, were sure to produce an unnatural stagna- tion in the government, from which it could be re- deemed only by still more unnatural convulsions. The necessary consequences of these political grievances were, of course, felt in every corner of the country. It is difficult to form any accurate esti- mate, or to draw any very minute picture of the state of manners and nicer ramifications of society at so remote a period. But it may be stated generally, that the great mass of the population was involved in poverty, and sunk in the grossest ignorance. The Catholic system of faith and worship, in its very worst form, combined with the national superstitions so prevalent among the vulgar, not only to exclude every idea of rational religion, but to produce the very lowest state of mental degradation. Commerce was comparatively unknown agriculture but im- perfectly understood. If the wants of the passing hour were supplied, however sparely, the enslaved vassal was contented, almost the only happiness of his life consisting in that animal gratification af- forded him by the sports of the chase, or the bloodier diversion of the field of battle. Education was neglected and despised even by the wealthy, few of whom were able to read, and almost none to write. As for the middle and lower orders, fragments of rude traditionary songs constituted their entire learning, and the savage war-dance, inspired by the barbarous music of their native hills, their principal amusement. At the same time, it is not to be sup- posed that virtue and intelligence were extinct among them. There must be many exceptions to all general rules ; and however unfavourable the circumstances under which they were placed for calling into activity the higher attributes of man's nature, it is not to be denied, that their chronicles record, even in the lowest ranks, many bright examples of patience, perseve- rance, unsinking fortitude, and fidelity, founded upon generous and exalted attachment. It has been said, that under the reigns of the fourth 24 INTRODUCTION. and fifth James, the moral and political aspect of the Scotch horizon began to brighten. This is to b attributed partly to the beneficial changes which the progress of time was effecting throughout Europe, and which gradually extended themselves to Scot- land, and partly to the personal character of these two monarchs. France, Germany, and England had made considerable strides out of the gloom of the dark ages, even before the appearance of Francis I., Charles V., and Henry VIII. James IV., naturally of a chivalric and ardent disposition, was extremely anxious to advance his own country in the scale of nations ; and while, by the urbanity of his manners, he succeeded in winning the affections of his nobles, he contrived also to find a place in the hearts of his inferior subjects, even beside that allotted to their own hereditary chieftain, an achievement which few of his predecessors had been able to accomplish. The unfortunate battle of Flodden is a melancholy record both of the vigour of James's reign, and of the national advantages which his romantic spirit in duced him to risk in pursuit of the worthless phantom of military renown. James V. had much of the ardour of his father, combined with a somewhat greater share of pru- dence. He it was who first made any successful inroads upon the exorbitant powers of his nobility ; and though, upon more occasions than one, he was made to pay dearly for his determination to vindicate the regal authority, he was, nevertheless, true to his purpose to the very last. There seem to be three features in the reign of this prince which particularly deserve attention. The first is, the more extensive ntercourse than had hitherto subsisted, which he es- tablished between Scotland and foreign nations, particularly with France. The inexhaustible ambi- tion of Charles V., which aimed at universal empire, and which probably would have accomplished its design had he not met with a rival so formidable as Francis I., was the means of convincing *be oth>- INTRODUCTION. 25 states of Europe that the only security for their separate independence was the preservation of si balance of power. Italy was thus roused into ac- tivity, and England, under Henry VIII., took an ac- tive share in the important events of the age. To the continental powers against whom that monarch's strength was directed, it became a matter of no small moment to secure the assistance of Scotland. Both Francis and Charles, therefore, paid their court to lames, who, finding it necessary to become the ally of one or other, prudently rejected the empty honours offered him by the emperor, and continued faithful to France. He went himself to Paris in 1536, where he married Magdalene, daughter of Francis. She died, however, soon after his return home ; but, de- termined not to lose the advantages resulting from a French alliance, he again married, in the following year, Mary of Lorraine, daughter to the Duke of Guise, and the young widow of the Duke of Longue- ville. Following the example of their king, most of the Scotch nobility visited France, and as many as could afford it sent their sons thither to be educated ? while, on the other hand, numerous French adven- turers landed in Scotland, bringing along with them some of the French arts and luxuries. Thus the manners of the Scotch gradually began to lose a little of that unbending severity which had hitherto rendered them so repulsive. The second peculiarity in the reign of James V. is the countenance and support he bestowed upon the clergy. This he did, not from any motives of bigotry, but solely as a matter of sound policy. He saw that he could not stand alone against his nobles, and he was therefore anxious to raise into an engine of power a body of men whose inter- ests he thus identified with his own. It is re- markable, that even in the most flourishing days of Catholicism, when the pope's ecclesiastical authority extended itself every where, Scotland alone was 26 INTRODUCTION. overlooked. The king was there always the heart of the church, in so far as regarded all ecclesiastical appointments ; and the patronage of his bishopricks and abbeys was no slight privilege to the Scottish monarch, denied as it was to other kings of more ex- tensive temporal jurisdiction. James converted into benefices several of the forfeited estates of his rebel- lious nobles, and raised the clergy to a pitch of au- tlrority they had never before possessed in Scotland. He acted upon principle, and perhaps judiciously; but he was not aware that by thus surrounding his priests with wealth and luxury, he was paving the way for their utter destruction, and a new and better order of things. It will be useful to observe, as the third character- istic of this reign, the encouragement James gave to .he arts and sciences. For the first time, education began to take some form and system. He gave stability to the universities, and was careful to select for them the best teachers. He was fond of drawing to his court men of learning and genius. He was himself a poet of considerable ability. He had likewise devoted much of his attention to ar- chitecture his fondness for which elegant study was testified by his anxiety to repair, or rebuild, most of the royal palaces. He established also on a perma- nent footing the court of session, or college of jus- tice ; and though his reign, as a whole, was not a happy one, it probably redounded more to the advan- tage of his countiy than that of any of his predecessors. At his death, which took place in 1542, at the early age of 30, accelerated by the distress of mind occa- sioned by the voluntary defeats which his refractory nobles allowed themselves to sustain, both at Falla and Solway Moss, Scotland speedily fell into a state of confusion and civil war. The events which fol- 'owed are indissolubly connected with the subject of these Memoirs, and are related at length in the sue ueeding pages. LIFE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. CHAPTER I. Scotland and its Troubles dunng Mary's Infancy. JAMES V. left, as an inheritance to his kingdom, an expensive and destructive war with England. He likewise left what, under such circumstances, was a very questionable advantage, a treasury well stored with gold, and a coinage in good condition, produced from the mines which he had worked in Scotland. The foreign relations of the country demanded the utmost attention ; but the long minority necessarily ensuing, as Mary, his only surviving lawful child, was but a few days old when James died, awakened hopes and wishes in the ambitious which superseded all other considerations. For a time England was for- gotten ; and the prize of the regency became a bone of civil contention and discord. There were three persons who aspired to that office, and the pretensions of each had their supporters, as interest or reason might dictate. The first was the queen-dowagei, a lady who inherited many of the peculiar virtues, as well as some of the failings, of the illustrious house of Guise, to which she belonged. She possessed a bold and masculine understanding, a perseverance to overcome difficulties, and a forti- T ._f7 28 LIFE OF MARY tude to bear up against misfortunes, not often met with among her sex. She was indeed superior to most of the weaknesses of the female character; and having, from her earliest years, deeply studied the science of government, she felt herself, so far as mere political tactics and diplomatic acquirements were concerned, able to cope with the craftiest of the Scotch nobility. Besides, her intimate connexion with the French court, coupled with the interest she might naturally be supposed to take in the affairs of a country over which her husband had reigned, and which was her daughter's inheritance, seemed to give her a claim of the strongest kind. The second aspirant was Cardinal David Beaton, at that time the undoubted head of the Catholic party in Scotland. He was a man whose abilities all allowed, and who, had he been less tinctured with severity, and less addicted to the exclusive principles of the church of Rome, might probably have filled with tclat the very highest rank in the state. He endeavoured to strengthen his title to the regency by producing the will of James V. in his favour. But as this will was dated only a short while before the king's death, it was suspected that the prelate had himself written it, and obtained the king's signature, at a time when his bodily weakness had impaired his mental faculties. Beaton was, moreover, from his violence and rigour, particularly obnoxious to all those who favoured the Reformation. James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, and next heir to the throne, was the third candidate, and the person upon whom the choice of the people ultimately fell. In more settled times, this choice might possibly have been judicious; but Arran. was of far too weak and irresolute a character to be able to regulate the government with that decision and firmness which the existing emergency required. He had few opin- ions of his own, and was continually driven hither and thither by the contradictory counsels of those UUEEN OF SCOTS. 29 who surrounded him. He had joined, however, the reformed religion ; and this, together with the inof- fensive softness of his disposition, made him, in the eyes of many, only the more fit to govern. The annexation of Scotland to the crown of Eng- land, either by conquest or the more amicable means of marriage, had for many years been the object nearest the heart of Henry VIII. and several of his predecessors. That his father, in particular, Henry VII., had given some thought to this subject, is evident from the answer he made to such of his privy council as were unwilling that he should give his daughter Margaret in marriage to James IV., on the ground that the English crown might, through that marriage, devolve to a king of Scotland. "Whereunto the king made answer, and said, 'What then ! for if any such thing should happen (which God forbid), yet I see our kingdom should take no harm thereby, because England should not be added unto Scotland, but Scotland unto England, as to the far most noble head of the whole island; for so much as it is always so, that the lesser is wont, for honour's sake, to be adjoined to that which is far the greater.'"* How correct Henry VII. was in his opinion, the accession of James VI. sufficiently proved. Henry VIII., though aiming at the same object as his father, thought it more natural that Scotland should accept of an English, than England of a Scot- tish king. Immediately, therefore, after the birth of Mary, he determined upon straining every nerve to secure her for his son Edward. For this purpose, he concluded a temporary peace with the regent Arran, and sent back into Scotland the numerous prisoners who had surrendered themselves at Solway Moss, upon an understanding that they should do all they * Polydore, lib. 26, quoted by Leslie" Defence of Mary's Hmour preface, p xir Apud Anderson, vol. i. 30 LIFE OF MARY could to second his views with their countrymen. His first proposals, however, were so extravagant, that the Scottish parliament would not listen to them for a moment. He demanded not only that the young queen should be sent into England, to be educated under his own superintendence, but that he himself, as her future father-in-law, should be allowed an active share in the government of Scotland. Having subsequently consented to depart considerably from the haughty tone in which these tenns were dictated, a treaty of marriage was agreed upon at the instiga- tion of Arran, whom Henry had won to his interests, in which it was promised, that Mary should be sent into England at the age of ten, and that six persons of rank should, in the mean time, be delivered as hostages for the fulfilment of this promise. It may easily be conceived, that whatever the re- gent, together with some of the reformed nobility and their partisans, might think of this treaty, the queen-mother and Cardinal Beaton, who had for the present formed a coalition, could not be very well satisfied with it. Henry, with all the hasty violence of his nature, had, in a fit of spleen, espoused the reformed opinions ; and if Mary became the wife of his son, it was evident that all the interests both of the house of Guise and of the Catholic religion in Scotland would suffer a fatal blow. By their forci- ble representations of the inevitable ruin which they alleged this alliance would bring upon Scotland, con- verting it into a mere province of their ancient and inveterate enemies, and obliging it to renounce for ever the friendship of their constant allies the French, they succeeded in effecting a change in public opin- : on; and the result was, that Arran found himself at length obliged to yield to their superior influence, to deliver up to the cardinal and Mary of Lorraine the young queen, and refuse to ratifv ttie engagements he had entered into with Henry. Tne cardinal now carried every thing before him, having converted or QUEEX OF SCOTS. 31 intimidated almost all his enemies. The Earl of Lennox alone, a nobleman whose pretensions were greater than his power, could not forgive Beaton for having used him merely as a cat's-paw in his intrigues to gain the ascendency over Arran. Lennox had himself aspired at the regency, alleging that his title as presumptive heir to the crown, was a more legiti- mate one than that of the house of Hamilton, to which Arran belonged. But the still more ambi- tious cardinal flattered only to deceive him; and when Lennox considered his success certain, he ibund himself further from the object of his wishes than ever. Seeing every other hope vain, Lennox set on foot i secret correspondence with Henry, promising that monarch his best support, should he determine upon avenging the insult he had sustained through the vacillating conduct of the Scotch. Henry gladly availed himself of the offer, and sent a considerable force under the Earl of Hartford to the north, by sea, which, having landed at Leith, and plundered that place, as well as the neighbouring city of Edin- burgh, again took its departure for England, without attempting to penetrate farther into the country. This was an unprofitable and ill-advised expedition, for it only tended to exasperate the minds of the Scotch, without being of any service to Henry. The Earl of Huntly well remarked concerning it, that even although he might have had no objections to the proposed match, he had a most especial dislike to the manner of wooing. The Earl of Lennox now found himself deserted in the midst of his former friends, and went prudently into voluntary exile, by retiring into England. Here Henry, in reward of his former services, gave him his niece, the Lady Margaret Douglas, in marriage. She was the daughter, by the second marriage, of Henry's sister, the Lady Margaret, wife of James IV., who, after the king's death, espoused Archibald 32 LIFE OF MARY Earl of Angus. By this alliance, Lennox, though it was impossible for him to foresee such a result, be- came tiie father of Henry Darnley, and a long line of kings. Shortly afterward, an event well known in Scot tish history, and which was accomplished by means only too frequently resorted to in those unsettled times, facilitated the conclusion of a short peace with England. Cardinal Beaton, elevated by his success, and anxious, now that all more immediate danger was removed, to re-establish on a firmer basis the tottering authority of the Romish church, deter- mined upon striking awe into the people by some memorable examples of severity towards heretics. About the end of the year 1545, he made a progress through several parts of his diocess, accompanied by the Earl of Argyle, who was then lord justice gene- ral, and other official persons, for the purpose of trying and punishing offenders against the laws of the church. At Perth, several of the lieges were found guilty of arguing or disputing concerning the sense of the Holy Scriptures, in opposition to an act of parliament which forbade any such freedom of speech, and five men and one woman were con- demned to die. Great intercession was made for them, but in vain; the men were hanged, and the woman was drowned. Still further to intimidate the Reformers, a yet more memorable instance of religious persecution and cruelty was presented to them a few months afterward. George Wishart was at this time one of the most learned and zealous of all the supporters of the new doctrines in Scotland. He had been educated at the university of Cambridge, and had in his youth officiated as one of the masters of the grammar-school at Montrose. His talents and perseverance rendered him particularly obnox- ious to the cardinal, who, having contrived to make him his prisoner, carried him to his castle at St. An drews. An ecclesiastical court was there assembled, QUEEN OF SCOTS. 33 at which Wishart was sentenced to be burnt. It may give us a clearer idea of the spirit of the times to know, that on the day on which this sentence was to be put in execution, Beaton issued a proclamation, forbidding any one, under pain of church censure, to offer up prayers for so notorious a heretic. When Wishart was brought to the stake, and after the fire had been kindled, and was already beginning to take effect, it is said that he turned his eyes towards a window in the castle overlaid with tapestry, at which the cardinal was sitting, viewing with complacency the unfortunate man's suffering, and exclaimed, "He, who, from yonder high place, beholdeth me with such pride, shall, within few days, be in as much shame as now he is seen proudly to rest himself." These words, though they met with little attention at the time, were spoken of afterward as an evident and most remarkable prophecy. It was not long after this martyrdom, that Cardinal Beaton was present at the marriage of one of his o\vn illegitimate daughters, to whom he gave a dowry of 4000 merks, and whose nuptials were solemnized with great magnificence. Probably he conceived, that the more heretics he burned, the more unblusn- ingly he might confess his own sins against bovh religion and common morality. On the prelate's return to St. Andrews, Normn Lesly, a young man of strong passions, and eldest son to the Earl of Rothes, came to him to demand some favour, which the cardinal thought proper to refuse. The particulars of the quarrel are not. pre- cisely known, but it must have been of a serious kind; for Lesly, taking advantage of the popular feeling which then existed against the cardinal, de- termined upon seeking his own revenge by the assas- sination of Beaton. He associated with himself several accomplices, who undertook to second him in this design. Early on the morning of the 29th of May, 1546, having entered the castle by the gat* 313 34 LIFE OF MARY which was open to admit some workmen who were repairing the fortifications, he and his assistants pro- ceeded to the door of the cardinal's chamber, at which they knocked. Beaton asked, "Who is there !" Norman answered, "My name is Lesly," adding, that the door must be opened to him and those that were with him. Beaton now began to fear the worst, and attempted to secure the door. But Lesly called for fire to burn it, upon which the cardinal, seeing all resistance useless, permitted them to enter. They found him sitting on a chair, pale and agitated ; and as they approached him he exclaimed, " I am a priest ye will not slay me ?" Lesly, however, losing ail command of his temper, struck him more than once, and would have proceeded to further indignities, had not James Melville, one of the assassins, " a man," says Knox, " of nature most gentle and most modest," drawn his sword, and presenting the point to the car- dinal, advised him to repent of his sins ; informing him, at the same time, that no hatred he bore his, person, but simply his love of true religion, induced him to take part against one whom he looked upon as an enemy to the Gospel. So saying, and without waiting for an answer, he stabbed him twice or thrice through the body. When his friends and servants collected without, the conspirators lifted up the de- ceased prelate, and showed him to them from the very window at which he had sat at the day of Wish- art's execution. Beaton at the time of his death was fifty-two. He had long been one of the leading men in Scotland, and had enjoyed the favour of the French king, as well as that of his own sovereign James V. Some attempt was made by the regent to punish his murderers, but they finally escaped into France.* * Knox seems not only to justify (he assassination of Cardinal Beaton, but to hint that it wool/*, have been proper to have disposed of his suo sessor in the same way. " Thes," says he, " are the work* of our God, whereby he would admonish the tyrants of this earth that, in the end ftUEEN OF SCOTS. 35 There is good reason to believe that Henry VIII. sfecretly encouraged Lesly and his associates in this dishonest entei prise. But, if such be the case, that monarch did not live long enough to reap the fruits of its success. He died only a few months later than the cardinal ; and about the same time his contem- porary Francis I. was succeeded on his throne by his son Henry II. These changes did not materially affect the relative situation of Scotland. They may, perhaps, have opened up still higher hopes to the queen-dowager and the French party ; but, in Eng- land, the Duke of Somerset, who had been appointed lord protector during the minority of Edward VI., was determined upon following out the plans of the late monarch, and compelling the Scotch to agree to the alliance which he had proposed. In prosecution of his designs, he marched a pow- erful army into Scotland, and the result was the un fortunate battle of Pinkie. The Earl of Arran whose exertions to rescue the country from this new aggression were warmly seconded by the peo pie, collected a force sufficiently numerous to enable him to meet and offer battle to Somerset. The Eng- lish camp was in the neighbourhood of Prestonpans-, and the Scotch took up very advantageous ground about Musselburgh and Inveresk. Military discipline was at that time but little understood in this country ; and the reckless impetuosity of the Scotch infantry was usually attended either with immediate success, or, by throwing the whole battle into confusion, with irretrievable and signal defeat. The weapons to which they principally trusted were, in the first place, the pike, with which, upon joining with the enemy, all the fore rank, standing shoulder to shoulder he will be revenged of their cruelty, what strength soever they make in tbe contrary. list such is the blindness of man, as David speaks, that the posterity does ever follow the footsteps of their wicked fathers, and principally in their impiety: for how little differs the cruelty of that bastard thai yet is called Bishop of St. Andrews from the cruelty of (he 'ormer, we will after hear." Knox's Hist, of the Reformation, p. 65. 36 LIFE OF MARY together, thrust straight forward, those who stood in the second rank putting their pikos over the shoulders of their comrades before them. The length of these pikes or spears was eighteen feet six inches. They seem to have been used principally on the first onset, and were probably speedily relin quished for the more efficient exercise of the sword, which was broad and thin, and of excellent temper. It was employed to cut or slice with, not to thrust ; and, in defence against any similar weapon of the enemy, a large handkerchief was wrapped twice or thrice about the neck, and a buckler invariably carried on the left arm.* For some days the two armies continued in sight of each other, without coming to any general en- gagement. The hourly anxiety which prevailed at Edinburgh regarding the result may be easily ima- gined. To inspire the soldiers with the greater courage, it was enacted by government that the heirs of those who fell upon this occasion in defence of their country should for five years be free from government taxes, and the usual assessments levied by landlords. At length, on Saturday, the 10th of September, 1547, the Scotch, misled by a motion in the English army, which they conceived indicated a design to retreat, rashly left their superior situation, and crossing the mouth of the Esk at Musselburgh, gave the protector battle in the fields of Pinkie, an adjoining country-seat. They were thus so exposed, that the English fleet, which lay in the bay, was ena- bled, by firing upon their flank, to do them much mis- chief. The Earl of Angus, who was leading the vanguard, found himself suddenly assailed by a flight of arrows, a raking fire from a regiment or two of foreign fusileers, and a discharge of cannon which unexpectedly opened upon him. Unable to advance, he attempted to change his position for a more ad- * DalyelPs " Fragments of Scottish History " QUEEN OF SCOTS. 37 vantageous one. The main body imagined he was falling back upon them in confusion ; and to heighten their panic, a vigorous charge, which was at this moment made by the English cavalry, decided the fortune of the day. After a feeble resistance the Scotch fled towards Dalkeith, Edinburgh, and Leith, and being hotly pursued by their enemies, all the three roads were strewed with the dead and dying. In this battle the Earl of Arran lost upwards of 8090 men ; among whom were Lord Fleming, together with many other Scotch noblemen and gentlemen. The English army advanced immediately upon Leith, which they took and pillaged ; and would have entered Edinburgh, had they not found it impossible to make themselves masters of the castle. The fleet ravaged the towns and villages on the coasts of the Forth, and proceeded as far north as the River Tay, seizing on whatever shipping they could meet with in the harbours by which they passed. Far, however, from obtaining by these violent measures, the ultimate object of his desires, Somerset found himself further from his point than ever. The Scotch, enraged against England, threw themselves into the arms of France ; and the protector, under- standing that affairs in the south had fallen into con- fusion in his absence, was obliged to return home, leaving strong garrisons in Haddington, and one or two other places which he had captured. The Earl of Arran and Mary of Guise sent immediate intelli- gence to Henry II. of all that had taken place ; and, sanctioned by the Scottish parliament, offered to conclude a treaty of marriage between his infant son, the dauphin Francis, and the young Scottish queen. They moreover agreed to send Mary into France, to be educated at the French court, until such time as the nuptials could be solemnized. This proposal was every way acceptable to Henry, who, like his father Francis, perfectly understood the importance of a 39 LIFE OF MARY close alliance with Scotland, as the most efficient means for preventing the English from invading his own dominions. He sent over an army of 6000 men to the aid of the regent; and in the same ves- sels which brought these troops, Mary was conveyed from Dumbarton into France. Henry also, with much sound policy, in order to strengthen his inter- ests in Scotland, bestowed, about this time, upon the Earl of Arran, the title of the Duke of Chatelherault, together with a pension of some value. During a period of two years, a continual series of skirmish- ings were carried on between the Scotch, supported by their French allies, and the English ; but without bay results of much consequence on either side. In 1550, a general peace was concluded ; and the marriage of the Scottish queen was never after- ward made the ground of war between the two countries. From this period till Mary's return to her own country, the attention of Scotland was entirely en- grossed with its own affairs, and the various im- portant events connected with the rise, progress, and establishment of the Reformation. As these effected no slight change in the political aspect of the coun- try, and exercised a material influence over Mary's future destiny, it will be proper to give some ac- count of them in this place ; and these details being previously gone through, the narrative, in so fai as regards Queen Mary, will thus be preserved un- broken. QUEEN OF SCOTS. CHAPTER II. Scotland attd the Scottish Reformers under the Regency of the Queen-dowager. IT was in the year 1517 that Luther first stated his objections to the validity of the indulgences granted so liberally by Pope Leo X. From this year those who love to trace causes to their origin, date the epoch of the Reformation. It was not, however, til! a considerably later period, that the new doctrines took any deep root in Scotland. In 1552, the Duke of Chatelherault, wearied with the fatigues of govern- ment, and provoked at the opposition he was con- tinually meeting with, resigned the regency in favour of the queen-mother. Mary of Guise, by a visit she had shortly before paid to the French court, had paved the way for this accession of power. Her brothers, the Duke of Guise and Cardinal of Lor- raine, were far from being satisfied with the state of parties in Scotland. Chatelherault they knew to be of a weak and fluctuating disposition ; and it seemed to them necessary, both for the preservation of the ancient religion and to secure the allegiance of the country to their niece, the young queen, that a stronger hand, guided by a sounder head, should hold the reins of the state. Upon their sister's fidelity they knew they could depend ; and it was principally through the influence of French gold and French intrigue that she was placed in the regency. The inhabitants of Scotland were at this time divided into two great classes, those who were still stanch to the church of Rome, and those who were determined on effecting a reformation. At the head of the former was John Hamilton, Archbishop of $ 40 LIFE OF MARY Andrews, who, upon the murder of Cardinal Beaton, had obtained that appointment through the Duke of Chatelherault, whose natural brother he was. He was greatly the duke's superior in courage and sa- gacity, anfl was deeply imbued with the prelatical spirit of ambition then so prevalent. The resignation of the regency provoked him exceedingly, the more especially as Mary, to strengthen her own authority, found it necessary at first to treat the Reformers mildly. He was consoled, however, by the death of Edward VI. in 1553, and the accession of the young king's eldest sister Mary to the English throne, as bigoted and determined a Catholic as ever lived. The man who had placed himself at the head of the Reformers, and who, although young, had already given Hamilton and his party good cause to tremble at his increasing authority, was James Stuart, the eldest of Mary's three illegitimate brothers, and one who occupies a most important station in the history of his country. His father made him, when only seven years old, Prior or Commendator of St. An- drews, an office which entitled him, though a layman, to the full income arising from that rich benefice. It was soon discovered, however, that he had views far beyond so comparatively humble a rank. Even when a boy, it was his ambition to collect around him associates who were devoted to his service and desires. He went over with Mary to France in 1548, but remained there only a very short time ; and at the age of twenty-one he was already looked up to by the Scottish Reformers as their chief. His know- ledge was extensive, and considerably in advance of the times in which he lived. His personal bravery was undoubted, and his skill in arms so great, that few of his military enterprises were unsuccessful. His passions, if they were strong, seem also to have been deep, and entirely under his own command. Whatever may he thought of the secret motives QUEEN OF SCOTS. 4. which actuated him, he was seldom betrayed into any symptoms of apparent violence. He thus contrived to hold a steady course, amid all the turbulence and convulsions of the age in which he lived ; while the external decorum and propriety of his manners, so different from the ill-concealed dissoluteness of many of his contemporaries, endeared him the more to the stern followers of Luther. It is curious to observe the very opposite views which different his- torians have taken of his character, more especially when they come to speak of him as the Earl of Murray and the Regent of Scotland. It would be. improper and unnecessary to anticipate these dis cussions at present, since it is hoped the reader wiF be able to form his own estimate upon this sub- ject from the facts he will find recorded in these Memoirs. It must be evident, that with two such men, each *vt the head of his own party, the country was not likely to continue long in a state of quietness. The queen-regent soon found it necessary, at the instiga- tion of the French court, to associate herself with the Archbishop of St. Andrews; in opposition to vrhich coalition, a bond was drawn up, in 1557, by some of the principal Reformers, in which they an- nounced their resolution to form an independent con- gregation of their own, and to separate themselves entirely from the " congregation of Satan, with all the superstitious abomination and idolatry thereof." Articles, or Heads of a Reformation, were soon after- ward published, in which it was principally insisted, that on Sunday and other festival days the common- prayer should be read openly in the parish churches, along with the lessons of the Old and New Testa- ments ; and that preaching and interpretation of the Scriptures in private houses should be allowed. In the following year, one of the first outrages which the Reformers committed in Scotland took place in Edinburgh. On occasion of the annual pro- 42 LIFE OF MARY cession through the city, in honour of the tutelai saint St. Giles, the image of that illustrious per- sonage, which ought to have been carried by some of the priests, was missing the godly having be- forehand, according to John Knox, first drowned the idol in the North Loch, and then burned it. It was therefore necessary to borrow a smaller saint from the Gray Friars, in order that this " great solemnity and manifest abomination" might proceed. Upon the day appointed, priests, friars, canons, and " rotten Papists" assembled, with tabors, trumpets, banners, and bagpipes. At this sight the hearts of the breth- ren were wondrously inflamed; and they resolved that this second dragon should suffer the fate of the first. They broke in upon the procession, and though the Catholics made some slight resistance at first, they were soon obliged to surrender the image into the hands of the Philistines, who, taking it by the heels, and knocking, or, as the reformed historian says, dadding its head upon the pavement, soon re- duced it to fragments, only regretting that " the young St. Giles" had not been so difficult to kill as his father. The priests, alarmed for their personal safety, sought shelter as quickly as possible, and gave Knox an op- portunity of indulging in some of that austere mirth which is peculiarly remarkable, because so foreign to his general style. " Then might have been seen," says he, " so sudden a fray as seldom has been seen among that sort of men within this realm ; for down goes the cross, off go the surplices, round caps, and cornets with the crowns. The Gray Friars gaped, the Black Friars blew, and the priests panted and fled, and happy was he that first got the house ; for such a sudden fray came never among the genera- tion of Antichrist within this realm before." The magistrates had some difficulty in prevailing upon the mob to disperse, after they had kept possession of the. streets for several hours ; and the rioters es- caped without punishment ; for " the brethren assem- QUEEN OF SCOTS. 43 bled themselves in such sort in companies, singing psalms, and praising God, that the proudest of the enemies were astounded."* The commissioners who, about this time, were sent into France, and the motives of their embassy, will be spoken of afterward. But the remarkable circumstance, that four of them died when about to return home, one at Paris, and three at Dieppe, had a considerable influence in exciting the populace to still greater hatred against the French party, it being commonly suspected that they had come by their death unfairly. The Congregation now rose in their demands ; and among other things, insisted that " the wicked and scandalous lives" of churchmen should be reformed, according to the rules contained in the New Testament, the writings of the ancient fathers, and the laws of Justinian the emperor. For a while, the queen-regent temporized; but finding.it impossible to preserve the favour of both parties, she yielded at length to the solicitations of the Arch- bishop of St. Andrews, and determined to resist the Reformers vigorously. In 1559, she summoned all the ministers of the Congregation to appear before her at Stirling. This citation was complied with, but not exactly in the manner that the queen wished ; for the ministers came not as culprits, but as men proud of their principles, and accompanied by a vast multitude of those who were of the same mode of thinking. The queen, who was at Stirling, did not venture to proceed to Perth; and the request she made, that the numbers there assembled should de- part, leaving their ministers to be examined by the government, having been refused, she proceeded to the harsh and decisive measure of declaring them all rebels. The consternation which this direct announcement of hostilities occasioned among them was still at its * Keith, p. 68. Knox's History, p. 94-96 44 LIFE OF MARY height, when the great champion of the Scottish K* formation, John Knox, arrived at Perth. This cele- brated divine had already suffered much for "the good cause ;" and though his zeal and devotion to it were well known, it was not till latterly that he had entertained much hope of its final triumph m his na- tive country. He had spent the greater part of his life m imprisonment or exile; he had undergone many privations, and submitted to many trials. But these were the daily food of the Reformers; and, while they only served to strengthen them in the ob- duracy of iheir belief, they had the additional effect of infusing a morose acerbity into dispositions not naturally of the softest kind. Knox had returned only a few days before from Geneva, where he had been solacing his solitude by writing and publishing that celebrated work which he was pleased to entitle, " The first blast of the trumpet against the monstrous regiment of women." This treatise, directed princi- pally against Mary of England, not forgetting Mary Queen of Scots and her mother of Guise, rather over- shot its own purpose, by bringing the Reformer into disrepute with Elizabeth, who came to the crown soon after its appearance. To pacify that queen, for it appears even Knox could temporize occasionally, he gave up his original intention of blowing his trumpet thrice, and his first blast was his last.* The day after the ministers and their friends had been declared rebels, Knox delivered at Perth what Keith terms " that thundering sermon against idol- atry." The tumult which ensued at the conclusion of this discourse has been attributed by some histo- rians to accident ; but Keith's suspicion that Knox had a direct intention to excite it seems well founded, when we consider the ferment in which the minds of his audience were at the time, and the peculiar style in which he addressed them. Buchanan is of * Mffrie'i Life of Knox, vol. i. p. m QUEEN OF SCOTS. 46 the same opinion, though he would naturally have leaned to the other conclusion. He says that Knox, " in that ticklish posture of affairs, made such a pa- thetic sermon to the multitude who were gathered together, that he set their minds, which were already fired, all in a flame." If, in addition to this, the usual manner of Knox's eloquence be considered, it will hardly be questioned but that the outrage of that day was of his doing. His vehemence in the pulpit was at all times tremendous; indeed, in so far as the effect he produced upon his hearers was concerned, he seems to have trusted almost as much to the dis- play of his physical as of his mental energies. Many years after the period now alluded to, when he was in his old age and very weak, Melville tells us, that he saw him every Sunday go slowly and feebly, with fur about his neck, a staff in his hand, and a servant supporting him, from his own house to the parish church in St. Andrews. There, after being lifted into the pulpit, his limbs for some time were so feeble that they could hardly support him ; but ere he had done with his sermon, he became so active and vigor- ous, that he was like " to ding the pulpit in blads, and flie out of it."* What he must have been, therefore, in his best days may be more easily imagined than described. On the present occasion, after Knox had preached and some of the congregation had retired, it appears that some " godly men" remained in the church. A priest had the imprudence to venture in among them, and to commence saying mass. A young man called out that such idolatry was intolerable ; upon which it is said that the priest struck him. The young man retorted by throwing a stone, which injured one of the pictures. The affair soon became general. The enraged people fell upon the altars and images, and in a short time nothing was left undemolished but the * M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. ii. p. 206 46 LIFE OF MARY bare walls of the church. The Reformers through, out the city, hearing of these proceedings, speedily collected, and attacking the monasteries of the Gray and Black Friars, along with the costly edifice of the Carthusian Monks, left not a vestige of what they considered idolatrous and profane worship in any of them. The example thus set at Perth was speedily followed almost every where throughout the country. These outrages greatly incensed the queen-regent, and were looked upon with horror by the Catholics in general. To this day the loss of many a fine building through the zeal of the early Reformers is a common subject of regret and complaint. It is to be remembered, however, that no revolution can be effected without paying a price for it. If the Re- formation was a benefit, how could the Catholic superstition be more successfully attacked than by knocking down those gorgeous temples which were of themselves sufficient to render invincible the pride and inveterate bigotry of its votaries ? The saying of John Knox, though a homely, was a true one, " Pull down their nests, and the rooks will fly away." It is not improbable, as M'Crie conjectures, that had these buildings been allowed to remain in their former splendour, the Popish clergy might have long con- tinued to indulge hopes, and to make efforts to be restored to them. Victories over an enemy are cel*> brated with public rejoicings, notwithstanding the thousands of our fellow-countrymen who may have fallen in tht contest. Why should the far more im portant victory over those who had so long held in thraldom the human mind be robbed of its due praise, because some statues were mangled, some pictures torn, and some venerable towers overthrown 1* * The biographer of Knox goes, perhaps, a little too far, when he pio- Pri iial. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 77 rangement of material atoms or a light suffused upor the face from the secret and ethereal mind, it was a rift which Nature had lavishly bestowed on Mary. A year or two previous to her marriage, when walking in a religious procession through the streets of Paris with a lighted torch in her hand, a woman among the crowd was so struck with her appearance that she could not help stopping her to ask, " Are you not indeed an angel ?" Brantome, with more question- able sincerity, compares her at the age of fifteen to the sun at midday. He tell us also that the brother of Francis, afterward Charles IX., never saw even a picture of Mary without lingering to gaze upon it, declaring passionately that he looked upon Francis as the happiest man on earth, to possess a creature of so much loveliness. Nay, Brantome even goes the length of asserting that no man ever saw Mary who did not lose his heart to her. He is pleased, like- wise, with some na'ivet6, to pay her several high com- pliments at the expense of her native country. It appears that Mary, amid all the gayeties of the French court, had not forgotten her early residence at Inch- mahome, in the quiet lake of Monteith. Actuated by these recollections and other motives, she delighted to testify her regard for Scotland in various ways : and among others by frequently wearing in public the graceful Highland costume. The rich and national Stuart tartan became her exceedingly; and Bran- tome, who seems to have been greatly puzzled by the novelty of the dress, is nevertheless forced to declare that when arrayed after " the barbarous fashion of the savages of her country, she appeared a goddess in a mortal body, and in a most outr6 and astonish- ing garb." Mary herself was so fond of this cos- tume that she wore it in one of the portraits which were taken of her in France. If she appeared so beautiful thus " habilltc a la sauvage," exclaims Brantome, "what must she not be in her iich and ovely robes made d la Frangaise, ou rEspagnole, or 78 LIFE OF MARY with a bonnet a fltalienne ; or in her flowing white dress contending in vain with the whiteness of her skin! " Even when she sung and accompanied her- self upon the lute, Brantome found occasion to dis- cover a new beauty, " her soft snowy hand and fin- gers, fairer than Aurora's." "Ah royaume d'Escosse !" he touchingly adds, " Je croy que, maintenant, vos jours sont encore bien plus courts qu'ils n'estoient, et vos nuits plus longues, puisque vous avez perdu cette princesse qui vos illuminoit !" The historian Castelnau, in like manner, pronounces Mary " the most beautiful and accomplished of her sex ;" and Mezeray tells us that " Nature had bestowed upon her every thing that is necessary to form a complete beauty ;" adding, that " by the study of the liberal arts and sciences, especially painting, music, and poetry, she had so embellished her natural good quali- ties, that she appeared to be the most amiable prin- cess in Christendom." On the occasion of her mar- riage, not only were the brains of all the jewellers, embroiderers, and tailors of Paris put in requisition, but a whole host of French poets felt themselves suddenly inspired. Epithalamiums poured in from all quarters, spiced with flattery of all kinds, few of which have been borne down the stream of time so honourably for their authors' abilities as that of Bu- chanan, who, having long struggled with poverty, had at last risen to independence under the patronage of Cardinal Lorraine. This poem is well known, but is not more complimentary than that of Joachim du Bellay, who, after comparing Mary to Venus, con- cludes his song with these lines : "Par une chalne A sa langue attachta Hercule a soi les peuple attiroit ; Mai* celle ci tire ceux qu'elle voi t Par une chalne a ses beaux yeux aitacbfo." Homage so general cannot have been entirely mis- placed, or very palpably exaggerated. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 79 In Scotland, through the insrj* ion of the queen- icgent, Mary's nuptials, which were far from being agreeable to a numerous party, were celebrated with probably less sincere, and certainly much more homely expressions of pleasure. Orders were sent to the different towns "to make fyres and processions general." Mons-Meg, the celebrated great gun of Edinburgh Castle, was fired once ; and there is a charge of ten shillings in the treasurer's accounts of that year, paid to certain persons for bringing up the cannon " to be schote, and for the finding and carrying of her bullet after she was schote frae Wardie Muir to the castel of Edinburgh," a distance of about two miles. A play was also enacted, but of what kind it is difficult to say, at the expense of the city of Edinburgh. CHAPTER V. Mary the Queen-dauphiness, the Queen, and the Queen- dowager of France. SHORTLY after the espousals, Mary and her husband retired to one of their princely summer residences. Here she unostentatiously discharged the duties of a respectful and attentive wife, in a manner which gained for her the admiration of all who visited them. Delightful as society and amusements must at that age have been to her, she readily accommo- dated herself to the peculiar temper of Francis, and seemed willing for his sake to resign all the gayetjes of the court. But the intriguing and restless ambition of her uncles could not allow her to remain long quiet About this time Mary Tudor, who had succeeded Edward VI. on the English throne, died; and although 80 LIFE OF MARY the parliament of that country had declared that the succession rested in her sister Elizabeth, it was thought proper to claim for Mary Stuart a prior right. The ground upon which they built this claim was the following. Henry VIII. married for his first wife Catharine of Arragon, widow of his brother Arthur, *nd by her he had one child, Mary. Pretending, after having lived with her eighteen years, that his con- science rebuked him for making his brother's wife the partner of his bed, he procured a divorce from Catharine for the purpose of marrying Anne Boleyn, by whom he had also one daughter, Elizabeth. Grow- ing tired of this new wife, she was sent to the scaffol' to make way for Jane Seymour, by whom he had ont son, Edward. Of this uxorious monarch's other three wives it is unnecessary to speak. Henry had procured from the British parliament a solemn act, declaring both his daughters illegitimate, and he left his crown to Edward VI., who accordingly succeeded him. Upon Edward's death, the parliament, rescind- ing their former act, in order to save the nation from a civil war, called to the throne Henry's eldest daughter Mary, not, however, without a proles' being entered in behalf of the Scotch queen by her guardians. Upon Mary's death the opportunity again occurred of pressing the claims of the daughter of James V. The mother of that king, it will be remembered, who married his father James IV., was the eltest daughter of Henry VII., and sister, conse- quently, of Henry VIII. Henry was, therefore, Mary's maternal granduncle ; and if his wives Catharine and Anne Boleyn were legally divorced, she had certainly a better right to the English crown than any of their illegitimate offspring. Soon after the accession, however, of Edward VI., the parlia- ment, complying with the voice of the whole nation, had declared them legitimate ; and as Elizabeth now quietly took possession of the throne, and could hardly bj iny chance have been dispossessed, it was QUEEN OF SCOTS. 91 to say the least, extremely ill-advised to push Mary forward as a rival claimant. For various reasons, however, this was tne policy which the Guises chose to pursue. Nor did tho< proceed to assert her right with any particular deK cacy or caution. Whenever the dauphin and his queen came into public, they were greeted as the King and Queen of England ; and the English arms were engraved upon their plate, embroidered upon their scutcheons and banners, and painted on their furniture.* Mary's favourite device, also, at this time, was the two crowns of France and Scotland, with the motto, Aliamque moratur, meaning that of England. The prediction made by the Duke of Alva, on observing this piece of empty parade, was but too fatally fulfilled," That bearing of Mary Stuart's," said he, " will not be easily borne." About this time Mary seems to have been attacked with the first serious illness which had overtaken her in France. It was not of that acute description which confined her to bed, but was a sort of general debility accompanied with a tendency to frequent fainting. It is mentioned in Forbes's State Papers, that on one occasion, to prevent her from swooning in church, her attendants were glad to bring her wine from the altar. There were some at the French * The coat-of-arm.s borne by Francis and Mary is worth describing. The coat was borne Baron and Femme ; the first contained the coat of the dauphin, which took up the upper half of the shield, and consisted of the arms of France. The lower half was impaled quarterly. In one and /our the arms of Scotland, and in two and three those of England. Over the whole was half an escutcheon, the sinister half being obscured or cut off, to denote that the English crown was in the possession of another, to the bearer's prejudice. Under the arms were four lines in French, thug wretchedly translated by Strype, in his " Annals of Queen Elizabeth." " The arms of Mary Queen-dauphiness of France, The noblest lady in earth for till advance, Of Scotland queen and of England, also Of France, as God hath provide! it so." Keith, p. 114. Chalmers, vol. ii. p. 413. A painting (probably a copy) containing these arms, and the above motto, is preserved in Mirv's partmentB at Holyrood House 816 32 LIFE OF MARY court who would have felt little grief had this illnesa ended fatally, considering how serious a blow Mary's death would have been to the too predominating influence of the house of Guise. In England, the news would have been particularly agreeable to Elizabeth, whose ambassador at Paris eagerly con- soled her with the intelligence that Mary was not expected to be of long continuance. The natural strength of her constitution, however, soon restored Her to her former health and spirits. But it was destined that there was to be another and more unexpected death at the French couit. Henry II., while exhibiting his prowess at a tourna- ment, on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth to Philip of Spain, in July, 1559, received a wound in the head from the spear of his antagonist, the Count Montgomery, which, though apparently not of much consequence at first, occasioned his dissolution eight days afterward. A considerable change immediately took place in the aspect of the court. The stars of the Dutchess de Valentinois and of the Constable Montmorency set at once ; and that of Catharine de Medicis, though not entirely obscured, shone lower in the horizon. She was now only the second lady in France, Mary Stuart taking the precedence. The Guises reigned along with her, and the house of Bourbon trembled. Catharine, who could bear no superior, more especially one young enough to be her own daughter, could ill dis guise her chagrin. As a guardian, however, of hei late husband's younger sons, the presumptive heirs to the crown, she was entitled to maintain her place and authority in the government. There is a curious little anecdote of her which shows how much the change in her situation was preying on her mind. As she was leaving the palace of '.he Toumelles, to accompany Francis to the Louvre, where he was to appear as the new sovereign, she fell into a revery, and in traversing the gallery, took a wrong turn and UUEEN OF SCOTS. 83 was entirely separated from her party before she discovered her mistake. She soon overtook them, however, and as they passed out, said to Mary, " Pass on, madam, it is now your turn to take prece- dence." Mary accepted the courtesy, but with be- coming delicacy insisted that Catharine should entei the carriage first.* There is something more affecting in the change which Henry's death produced in the condition of the venerable Montmorency and his family. He whom three monarchs had loved and respected, who had given dignity to their councils, and ensured success to their arms, was not consid- ered worthy of remaining in the palace of the feeble and entrammelled Francis. With a princely retinue, he retired honourably to his mansion at Chantilly. Mary was now at the very height of European grandeur. The queen of two powerful countries and the heir-presumptive of a third, in the flower of her age, and, from her superior mental endow- ments, much more worshipped, even in France, than her husband, she affords at this period of her history as striking an example as can be found of the concen- tration of all the blessings of fortune in one person. She stood unluckily on too high and glorious a pin- nacle to be able to retain her position long, consistent with the vices vita mortalium- While she conducted herself with a prudence and propriety altogether re- markable, considering her youth and the suscepti- bility of her nature, she began to be regarded with suspicion at once by France, England, and Scotland. In France, she was obliged to bear the blame of many instances of bigotry and over-severity in the govern- ment of her uncles ; in England, Elizabeth took every opportunity to load with opprobrium a sister- queen whose descent, birth, station, and accom- plishments were so much superior to her own ; in Scotland, the Reformers, inspired by James Stuart, j f, * Miss Benger, vol. ii. p. 7. bv UFE OF MAR\ who, with ulterior views of his own, was contented to act as trie tool of Elizabeth, laboured to make it be believed ih*< Mary was an uncompromising and narrow-minded Catholic. In September, 1559, Francis was solemnly crowned at Rheims ; and during the remainder of the season he and Mary, attended by their nobles, made various progresses through the country. In December Francis, whose health was evidently giving way went, by the advice of his physicians, to Blois, cele- brated for the mildness of its climate. It affords a very vivid idea of the ignorant superstition of the French peasantry to leam, that on his journey thithei every village through which he passed was deserted. An absurd story had been circulated, and was univer- sally believed, that the nature of Francis's com- plaints was such, that they could only be cured by the royal patient bathing in the blood of young children! Francis himself, although probably not informed of the cause, observed with pain how he was every where shunned; and, notwithstanding the soothing tenderness of Mary, who accompa- nied him, is said to have exclaimed to the Cardinal of Lorraine, " What have I done to be thus shunned and detested ? They fly me ; my people abhor me ! It is not thus that the French used to receive their king."* Misfortunes, it is said, never come singly. While Mary was performing the part of an affectionate nurse to her husband, she sustained an irretrievable loss in the death of her mother, the Scottish regent, m June, 1560; and in the December following, her husband, Francis, died at Orleans, in the 17th year of his age, and the 17th month of his reign.f Feel- * Miss Benger, vol. ii. p. 43. t Miss Benger erroneously antedates the death of Francis on the 28th of November. See her Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 74. Chalmers, who is th very historian of dates, gives a copy of the inscription on the tnmb ! Francis, which of course settles the point ; vo! ii. p. 124. Miss does not appear to have seen this inscription. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 85 ing that his exhausted constitution was sinking rap- idly, and that his death was at hand, almost the last words he spoke were to testify his affection for Mary, and his sense of her virtues. He earnestly besought his mother to treat her as her own daugh- ter, and his brother to look upon her as a sister. " He was a prince," says Conaeus, " in whom, had he lived, more merit would probably have been dis- covered than most people suspected."* The whole face of things in France was by this event instantly changed again. Francis the Little, as he was con- temptuously termed by the French, in opposition to his father, Francis the Great, was succeeded by his younger brother, Charles IX. He being still a mi- nor, his mother, Catharine, contrived to get herself appointed his guardian, and thus became once more Queen of France, the nobility, as Chalmers re- marks, being more inclined to relish a real minority than an imaginary majority. Catharine's jealousy of Mary Stuart of course extended itself, with greater justice, to her uncles of Guise. It was now their turn to make way for Montmorency ; and the Car- dinal of Lorraine, one of the most intriguing states- men of the age, retired, in no very charitable mood of mind, to his archbishopric at Rheims, where, in a fit of spleen, he declared he would devote himself entirely to religion. There is something exceedingly na'ive and amusing in Sir James Melville's account of this " gret change- ment." " The queen-mother," says he, " was blyth of the death of King Francis, her son, because she had na guiding of him, but only the Duke of Guise and the cardinal, his brother, by raisoun that the queen, our maistress, was their sister's dochter. Sa the queen-mother was content to be quit of the gov- ernment of the house of Guise ; and for their cause (sake) she had a great mislyking of our queen." Ol * L'onams in Jebb, vol. ii. p. 19. 86 LIFE OF MARY Montrtorency, who, as soon as he heard of *m al ness of Francis, commenced his journey towaids the court, he says, " The constable, also chargit to come to the court, looked for na less, and seamed to be seak, making little journees, caried in a horse- litter, drew time sae lang by the way, that the king, in the mean time, died. Then he lap on horsbak. and cam freely to the court, and commandit, like a constable, the men of war that gardit the croun, by the Duke of Guise commandement, to pack them aff the toune. The queen-mother was also very glaid of his coming, that by his autority and frendship with the King of Navarre she mycht the better dryve the house of Guise to the door." Of Mary, who, it may well be supposed, felt this change more than any one, Melville says, " Our queen, also, seeing her friends in disgrace, and knawing hirself no to be weil liked, left the court, and was a sorrowful widow when I took my leave at hir, in a gentilman's house, four myle fra Oilcans." To this "gentilman's house," or chateau, in the neighbourhood of Orleans, Mary had retired to shed in private those tears which the death of her husband called forth. In losing Francis, she had lost the playmate of her childhood, the husband of her youth, and, what by many women would be considered as serious a loss as either, the rank and title of Queen of France. It was here, probably, that she composed those verses to the memory of her deceased husband which her biographers have so frequently copied, and which are so full of gentle and unaffected feeling. Mary, however, was at this time a personage of too much importance in the politics and affairs of Europe to be left long unmolested to the indulgence of that sincere, but commonly temporary sorrow of a widow of eighteen. New suitors were even now beginning to form hopes of an alliance with her ; and two of the earliest in the field were Don Carlos of Spain and the King of Navarre. But Mary was QUEEN OF SCOTS 87 determined to listen to no proposals ot a matrimonial nature till she had arranged the plan of her future life. France was no longer for her the country it had once been. Her affectionate father-in-law, Henry, and her amiable though weak husband, Fran- cis, both of whom commanded for her the first rank in the state, were dead. Her mother would never visit her more ; for her tomb had already been erected at Rheims ; and her proud uncles had been banished from the court. Mary had too high a spirit, and knew her own superiority too well, to brook for a moment the haughty control of Catharine de Medicis. She felt that not all the blood of all the merchants of Italy could ever elevate the queen-dowager to an equality with one who, as it is said she herself once expressed it, drew her descent from a centenary line of kings. Catharine felt this painfully, and the more so, that, when Mary once more made her appearance at court, she perceived, in the words of Miss Benger, that " the charms of her conversation, her graceful address, her captivating accomplishments, had raised the woman above the queen" In the mean time, by the Reformed party in Scot- land, the news of the death of Francis was received with any thing but sorrow. Knox declared triumph- antly that " his glory had perished, and that the pride of his stubborn heart had vanished into smoke." The Lord James, her natural brother, was imme- diately deputed by the Congregation to proceed to France, to ascertain whether the queen intended returning to her native country, and, if she did, to influence her as much as possible in favour of the true gospel and its friends. Nor were the Catholics inactive at this critical juncture. A meeting was held, at which were present the Archbishop of St. Andrews, the Bishops of Aberdeen, Murray, and Ross, the Earls of Huntly, Athol, Crawfurd, and Suth- erland, and many other persons of distinction, by whom it was determined to send as their ambassadoi 88 LIFE OF MARY to Mary, John Lesly, afterward Bishop of Ross, and one of the queen's stanchest friends, both during her life and after it. He was of course instructed to give her a very different account of the state of mat- ters from that which the Lord James would do. He was to speak to her of the power and influence of the Catholic party, and to contrast their fidelity both to her and to her mother with the rebellious proceedings of those who supported the covenant. The Lord James went by the way of England, and Lesly sailed from Aberdeen for Holland. Both made good speed ; and Lesly arrived at Vitry in Cham- pagne, where Mary was then residing, only one day before the Prior of St. Andrews. He lost no time in gaining admission to the queen; and though there is little doubt that his views were more sincere and honourable than those of her brother, it is at the same time very questionable whether the advice he gave her was judicious ; and it is probably fortunate that Mary's good sense and moderation led her to reject it. Lesly commenced with cautioning her against the crafty speeches which he knew the Lord James was about to make to her, assuring her that his prin- cipal object was to insinuate himself into her good graces, to obtain the chief management of affairs, and crush effectually the old religion. The prior, Lesly assured her, was not so warm in the cause of the Reformers from any conviction of its truth, as from his wish to make it a stepping-stone for his own ambition. For these reasons he advised her to bring with her to Scotland an armed force, and te land at Aberdeen or some northern port, where the Earl of Huntly and her other friends would join hei with a numerous army, at the head of which she might advance towards Edinburgh, and defeat ai once the machinations of her enemies. The queen. in reply to all this, merely desired that Lesly should remain with her till she returned to Scotland, com- manding him to write, in the mean time, to the lords QUEEN OF SCOTS. 89 and prelates who sent him, to inform them of her favourable sentiments towards them, and of her in- tention to come speedily home.* The day after Lesly's audience, Mary's old friend the Lord James (for it will be remembered that thir- teen years before he had come to France with her, and he had in the interval paid her one or two visits) obtained an interview with his sister. He had every desire to retain the favourable place which he flat- tered himself he held in her estimation ; and though so rigid a Reformer among his Scottish friends, his conscience does not seem to have prevented him from paying all the court he could to his Catholic sovereign. In the course of his conversation with her, he carefully avoided every subject which might have been disagreeable to Mary. He besought her to believe that she would not find the remotest occa- sion for any foreign troops in Scotland, as the whole nation was prepared faithfully to obey her. This assurance was true, as it turned out ; but it is not quite certain whether the Prior of St. Andrews was thinking, at the time, so much of its truth as of its being convenient, for various reasons, that Mary should have no standing force at her command in her own kingdom. Mary gave to her brother the same general sort of answer that she had previously given to Lesly. At the same time, she was secretly disposed to attribute greater weight to his arguments, and treat him with higher consideration, for a reason which Melville furnishes. It appears that the French noblemen, who, on the conclusion of peace with Eng- land, had returned from Scotland, had all assured her that she would find it most for her interest to associate in her councils the leaders of the Reform- ers, particularly the prior himself, the Earl of Ar- gyle, who had married her natural sister, the Lady Jane Stuart, and Maitland of Lethington. * Keith, p. 157 and 160. 90 LIFE OF MART It is worthy of notice that, affairs of state having been discussed, the prior ventured to speak a word or two for his own interest. He requested that the earldom of Murray might be conferred on him, and the queen promised to attend to his request on her return to Scotland. Having thus prudently dis- charged his commission, the Lord James took his leave, visiting Elizabeth on his way home, as he had already done before passing over into France. About the same time, many of the Scotch nobility, in an- ticipation of her speedy return, came to pay their duty to the queen, and among them was the cele- brated Earl of Bothwell.* CHAPTER VI. Mary's Return to Scotland, and previous Negotiations with Elizabeth. ELIZABETH, being informed of Mary's intended movements, thought the opportunity a favourable one for adjusting with her one or two of their mutual disagreements. Mary's refusal ,to ratify the cele- brated treaty of Edinburgh had particularly galled the English queen. Most of the essential articles of that treaty had already been carried into effect ; and as Francis and Mary had sent their ambassadors inta Scotland with full powers, they were bound, accord- ing to the ordinary laws of diplomacy, to agree to whatever concessions their plenipotentiaries made. But, as Robertson has remarked, Cecil " had proved greatly an overmatch for Monluc." In the sixth article, which was by far the most offensive to the Scottish queen, he had got the French delegates to * Keith, p. 100, et *eq. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 91 consent to a declaration, that Francis and Mary should abstain from using and bearing the title and arms of the kingdom of England, not only during the life of Elizabeth, but "in all times coming" There was here so palpable a departure from all law and justice, that if there was ever a case in which a sovereign was justified in refusing to sanction the blunders of his representatives, it was this. Robert- son's observations on the point are forcible and cor- rect. "The ratification of this article," says he, ' would have been of the most fatal consequence to Mary. The crown of England was an object worthy of her ambition. Her pretensions to it gave her great dignity and importance in the eyes of all Europe. By many her title was esteemed preferable to that of Elizabeth. Among the English themselves, the Roman Catholics, who formed at that time a nume- rous and active party, openly espoused this opinion; and even the Protestants, who supported Elizabeth's throne, could not deny the Queen of Scots to be her immediate heir. A proper opportunity to avail her- self of all these advantages could not, in the course of things, be far distant, and many incidents might fall u. to bring this opportunity nearer than was ex- pected. In these circumstances, Mary, by ratifying the article in dispute, would have lost that rank which she had hitherto held among neighbouring princes ; the zeal of her adherents must have gradually cooled; and she might have renounced, from that moment, all hopes of ever wearing the English crown." Mary, therefore, cannot be, in fairness, blamed for her conduct regarding this treaty. But, as has been already said, she allowed herself to be persuaded to a very great imprudence, when she advanced what she declared to be a present and existing claim on the English crown. This was an aggravation of the offence, which Elizabeth could never pardon. She determined to retort upon Mary as efficiently, though not quite so directly. She found means to hint to IT. H ;>- LIFE OF MARY her friends in Scotland, that it would n^t be disagtee- able to her were the Earl of Arran, eldest son of the Duke of Chatelherault, and, after his father, presump- tive heir to the throne, to propose himself to her as a husband. This was accordingly done, and must have touched Mary very closely, especially as she had no children by her husband Francis. But as Elizabeth had never any serious intention of accept- ing of Arran's proposals, she was resolved upon taking another and much more unjustifiable method of harass- ing Mary. Knowing that she possessed the command of the seas, the English queen imagined that she had it in her power to prevent, if she chose, Mary's return to her own kingdom. Before granting her, therefore, as in common courtesy she was bound to do, a free passage, she determined on seizing the opportunity for again pressing the ratification of the treaty of Edinburgh. With this view, she desired Sir Nicolas Throckmorton, her ambassador at Paris, to wait on the Queen of Scots, ostensibly to congratulate her on her recovery from an attack of ague, but in reality to press this matter upon her attention. The au- dience which Mary granted to Throckmorton .ipon this occasion, together with another which she gave him a few weeks afterward, introduce us to her, foi the first time, acting for herself, in her public and important capacity of Queen of Scotland. All histo- rians unite in expressing their admiration of the tal- ented and dignified manner in which she conducted herself, though only in her nineteenth year. We have fortunately a full account of both conferences, furnished by Sir Nicolas Throckmorton himself, in his letters to the Queen of England. The ambassador, on his first interview, having ex pressed Elizabeth's happiness at Mary's recovery, proceeded to renew the demand which had so fre- quently been made to her regarding the treaty of Edinburgh Mary, in answer, said that she begged QUEEN OF SCOTS. 9Jl to thank the queen her good sister for her congratu- lations, and though she was not yet in perfect health, she thanked God for her evident convalescence. As to the treaty of Edinburgh, she begged to postpone giving any final ...iswer in the affair until she had taken the advice of the nobles and estates of her own realm. " For though this matter," she said, " doth touch me principally, yet doth it also touch the nobles and estates of my realm ; and, therefore, it is meet that I use their advice therein. Heretofore they have seemed to be grieved that I should do any thing without them, and now they would be more offended if I should proceed in this matter of myself without their advice." She added, that she intended to return home soon, and that she was about to send an ambassador to Elizabeth, to require of her the common favour of a free passage which princes usually ask of each other in such cases. In a spirit of conciliation and sound policy, she concluded with these words. " Though the terms wherein we have stood heretofore have been somewhat hard, yet I trust that from henceforth we shall accord together as cousins and good neighbours. I mean to retire all the Frenchmen from Scotland who have given jealousy to the queen my sister, and miscontent to my subjects ; so that I will leave nothing undone to satisfy all parties, trusting the queen my good sister will do the like, and that from henceforth none of my disobedient subjects shall find aid or support at her hands." Seeing that Mary was not to be moved from the position she had taken regarding this treaty, Throckmorton went on to sound her upon the subject of religion. His object was to ascertain what course she intended to pursue towards the Scottish Reformers. Mary stated to him distinctly her views upon this important matter, and there was a consistency and moderation in them hardly to have been expected from the niece of the Cardinal of Lorraine, had we not been previously aware of the 94 LIFE OF MARY strength of her superior miiul. " I will be plain with you," said she to the ambassador. " The religion which I profess I take to be most acceptable to God and, indeed, I neither know, nor desire to know, any ther. Constancy becometh all people well, but none better than princes, and such as have rule over realms, and especially in matters of religion. I have been brought up in this religion, and who might credit me in any thing if I should show myself light in this case." " I am none of those," she added, " that will change their religion every year ; but I mean to con- strain none of my subjects, though I could wish that they were all as I am; and I trust they shall have no support to constrain me." It will be seen, in the sequel, whether Mary ever deviated for a moment from the principles she here laid down. Throck- morton ventured to ask, if she did not think many errors had crept into her church, and whether she had ever seriously weighed the arguments in support of the Reformed opinions. "Though I be young, and not well learned," she replied, modestly, " yet have I heard this matter oft disputed by my uncle, my lord cardinal, with some that thought they could say somewhat in the matter; and I found no great reason to change my opinion. But I have oft heard him confess, that great errors have come into the church, and great disorder among the ministers and clergy, of which errors and disorders he wished there might be a reformation." Here this conference con- eluded.* Elizabeth, as soon as she understood that Mary waited for the advice of her privy counsellors and her parliament before ratifying the treaty of Edin- burgh, addressed a letter to the " states of Scotland," as she was pleased to term them, but, in point of fact, only to her old allies the lords of the Congregation. The object of this letter was to convey, in haughtv * Keith, p 165. et seq. QUEEN OF SCuTS. 95 and even insolent terms, a threat that, unless they secured their queen's assent to the treaty, they might cease to look for any aid or protection from her. In other words, its meaning was this: Through my interference, you have been able to establish the new Gospel ; your queen you know to be a Catholic ; and as it is not unlikely that she may associate in her councils your old enemies the Catholic nobility, it is hi me you trust to enable you to rebel successfully against your lawful sovereign. But I have no inten- tion to give you my support for nothing ; and unless your reformed consciences will permit of your in- sisting that Mary Stuart shall sign away her heredi- tary right of succession to the English throne, I shall henceforth have nothing more to do with you. No other interpretation can be put on such expressions as the following, couched in terms whose meaning sophistry itself could not hide. "In a matter so profitable to both the realms, we think it strange that your queen hath no better advice ; and therefore we do require ye all, being the states of that realm upon whom the burden resteth, to consider this matter deeply, and to make us answer whereunto we may trust. And if you shall think meet she shall thus leave the peace imperfect, by breaking of her solemn promise, contrary to the order of all princes, we shall be well content to accept your answer, and shall be as careless to see the peace kept, as ye shall give us cause; and doubt not, by the grace of God, but whosoever of ye shall incline thereto, shall soon- est repent. You must be content with our plain writing." To this piece of " plain writing," the Reformers, probably at the instigation of the Lord James, sent a submissive and cringing answer. " Your majesty," they say, "may be well assured, that in us shall be noted no blame, if that peace be not ratified to your majesty's contentment." " The benefit that we have received is so recent, that we cannot suddenly bury 96 LIFE OF MARY it in forgetfulness. We would desire yom majesty rather to be persuaded of us, that we, to our powers will study to 1 leave it in remembrance to our pos- terity." In other words, Whatever our own queen Mary may determine on doing, we shall remain steady to your interests, and would much rathei quarrel with her than with you. To this state of mind had Elizabeth's machinations contrived to bring the majority of the young queen's subjects.* In the mean time, Mary had sent an ambassadoi into England to demand a safe-conduct for her ap- proaching voyage. This was expressly refused; and Throckmorton was again ordered to request an audience with Mary, to explain the motives of this refusal. " In this conference," observes Robertson, " Mary exerted all that dignity and vigour of mind of which she was so capable, and at no period of her life were her abilities displayed to greater advan- tage." Throckmorton had recourse to the endless subject of the treaty of 1560, or, as it is more com- monly called, the treaty of Edinburgh, as the apology his mistress offered for having, with studied dis- respect, denied the suit made by Mary's ambassador, in the presence of a numerous audience a direct breach of courtly etiquette. Mary, before answering Throckmorton, commanded all her attendants to retire, and then said, " I like not to have so many witnesses of my passions as the queen, your mistress, was content to have, when she talked with M. D'Oy- sel. There is nothing that doth more grieve me, than that I did so forget myself as to require of the queen, your mistress, that favour, which I nad no need to ask. I may pass well enough home into my own realm, I think, without her passport or license 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 you know, M. 1'Amba*. * Keith, p. 107, et wq. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 9? sadeur, I came hither safely, and I may have as good means to help me home again, if I could employ my friends." " It seemeth," she added, with much truth, " that the queen, your mistress, maketh more account of the amity of my disobedient subjects, than she doth of me, their sovereign, who am her equal in degree, though inferior in wisdom and experience, her nighest kinswoman, and her next neighbour." She then proceeded very forcibly to state, once more, her reasons for refusing to ratify the treaty. It had been made, she said, during the life of Francis II., who, as her lord and husband, was more responsible for it than she. Upon his death, she ceased to look for advice to the council of France, neither her uncles nor her own subjects, nor Elizabeth herself, thinking it meet that she should be guided by any council but that of Scotland. There were none of her ministers with her ; the matter was important ; it touched both them and her ; and she, therefore, considered it her duty to wait, till she should get the opinions of the wisest of them. As soon as she did, she undertook to send Elizabeth whatever answer might appear to be reasonable. " The queen, your mistress," ob- served Mary, "saith that I am young; she might say that I were as foolish as young, if I would, in the state and country that I am in, proceed to such a matter, of myself, without any counsel; for that which was done by the king, my late lord and hus- band, must not be taken to be my act ; and yet I will say truly unto ye, and as God favours me, I did never mean otherwise unto the queen, your mistress, than becometh me to my good sister and cousin, nor meant her any more harm than to myself. God forgive them that have otherwise persuaded her, if there be any such." It may seem strange, that as the sixth article was the only one in the whole treaty of Edinburgh which occasioned any disagreement, it was not proposed to make some alteration in it, which might have ren- 317 JJfc LIFE OF MARY dered it satisfactory to all parlies. Mary would have had no objection to have given up all claim upon the crown of England during the lifetime of Elizabeth, and in favour of children born by her in lawful wedlock, if, failing these children, her own right was acknowledged. There could have been little difficulty, one would have thought, in express- ing the objectionable article accoidingly. But this amendment would not by any means have suited the views of Elizabeth.* To have acknowledged Mary's right of succession would have been at once to have pointed out to all the Catholics of Europe the person to whom they were to pay their court, on account not only of her present influence, but of the much greater which awaited her. Besides, it might have had the appearance of leaving it doubtful whether Elizabeth's possession of the throne was not conceded to her more as a favour than as a right. This ex- treme jealousy on the part of the English queen originated in Mary having imprudently allowed her- self to be persuaded to bear the arms of England diversely quartered with her own, at the time Eliza- beth was first called to the crown. At the interview we have been describing, Throckmorton being si- lenced with regard to the ratification of the treaty, thought he might with propriety advert to this other subject of complaint. " I refer it to your own judgment, madam," said he, " if any thing can be more prejudicial to a prince, than to usurp the title and interest belonging to him." Mary's answer deserves particular attention. " M. 1'Ambassadeur," said she, " I was then under the commandment of King Henry my father, and of the * Robertson says that the amendment would not have been approved of by " either queen." He alleges that Mary had only " suspended" the prosecution of her title to the English crown ; and that " she deter- mmed to revive her claim on the first prospect of success." That Rob- ertson has in this instance done injustice to Mary is erident from the exact consistency of her future conduct with what will be found stated in the text. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 99 King my lord and husband ; and whatsoever was then done by their order and commandments, the same was in like manner continued until both their deaths ; since which time you know I neither bore the arms nor used the title oj England. Methinks," she added, " these my doings might ascertain the queen your mistress, that that which was done before was done by commandment of them that had power over me ; and also, in reason, she ought to be satisfied, seeing I (now) order my doings as I tell ye." With this answer Throckmorton took his leave.* Seeing that matters could not be more amicably adjusted, Mary prepared to return home, independ- ent of Elizabeth's permission. Yet it was not with- out many a bitter regret that she thought of leaving all the fascinations of her adopted country, France. When left alone, she was frequently found in tears ; and it is more than probable that, as Miss Benger has expressed it, there were moments when Maiy recoiled with indescribable 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 sunk into an untimely grave." At last, however, the period arrived when it was ne- cessary for her to bid a final adieu to the scenes and friends of her youth. She had delayed from month to month, as if conscious that in leaving France she was about to part with happiness. She had origin- ally proposed going so early as the spring of 1561, but it was late in July before she left Paris ; and as she lingered on the way, first at St. Germains, and afterward at Calais, August was well advanced be- fore she set sail. The spring of this year, says Bran- tome poetically, was so backward that it appeared * Keith, p. 170, et seq. Robertson say?, that at the period of these conferences Mary was only in her eighteenth year ; but as they both took place in 1561, she must have been in her nineteenth year, which Keith confirms, who says (page 178), " The readers, having now perused seve- ral original conferences, will, 1 suppose, clearly discern the fine spirit and geniusof that princess, who was yet but in the nineteenth year of her age 100 LIFE OF MARY sis if it would never put on its robe of flowers ; and thus gave an opportunity to the gallants of the court to assert, that it wore so doleful a garb to testify its sorrow for the intended departure of Mary Stuart.* She was accompanied as far as St. Germains by Catharine de Medicis and nearly all the French court. Her six uncles, Anne of Este, and -many other ladies and gentlemen of distinction, proceeded on with her to Calais. The historians Castelnau and Brantome were both of the queen's retinue, and accompanied her to Scotland. At Calais she found four vessels, one of which was fitted up for herself and friends, and a second for her escort; the two others were for the furniture she took with her. Elizabeth, meanwhile, was not inattentive to the proceedings of the Scottish queen. Through the agency of her minister, Cecil, she had been anxiously endeavouring to discover whether she would render herself particularly obnoxious either to Catharine de Medicis or the leading men in Scotland, by making herself mistress of Mary's person on her passage homewards, and carrying her a prisoner into Eng- land. Her ambassador, Throckmorton, had given her good reason to believe that Catharine was not disposed to be particularly warm in Mary's defence. f As to Scotch interference, Camden expressly informs us, that the Lord James, when he passed through England on his return from France, warned Elizabeth of Mary's intended movements, and advised that she should be intercepted. This assertion, though its truth has been doubted, is rendered exceedingly prob- able by the contents of two letters which have been preserved. The first is from Throckmorton, who * Brantome in Jebb, rol. ii. p. 82. t Keith, p. 175. Throckmorton writes, " Thereto the qieen-rnother said, The king, my son, and I would be glad to do good betwixt the queen, my sister, your mistress, and the queen, my daughter, and shall be glad to hear that there were good amity betwixt them ; Tor neither the king, my son, nor I, nor any or his council, will do harm in the mat- ter, or show oursetvu other than friends to them both." QUEEN OF SCOTS. 101 assures Elizabeth that the Lord James deserves hei most particular esteem ; " Your majesty," he says, ** may, in my opinion, make good account of his con- stancy towards you ; and so he deserveth to be well entertained and made of by your majesty, as one that may stand ye in no small stead for the advancement of your majesty's desire. Since his being here (in France), he hath dealt so frankly and liberally with me, that I must believe he will so continue after his return home."* The other letter is from Maitland of Lethington, one of the ablest men among the Scotch Reformers, and the personal friend and co- adjutor of the Lord James, to Sir William Cecil. In this letter he says ; " I do also allow your opinion anent the queen our sovereign's journey towards 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." He then proceeds to point out, that, as Elizabeth's object, for her own sake, must be to pre- vent the Catholics from gaining ground in Scotland, her best means of obtaining such an object is to pre- vent a queen from returning into the kingdom who " shall so easily win to her party the whole Papists, and so many Protestants as be either addicted to the French faction, covetous, inconstant, uneasy, igno- rant, or careless." " So long as her highness is ab- sent," he adds, " 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." " For my opinion," he concludes, " anent the continuance of amity betwixt these two realms, there is no dan- ger of breach so long as the queen is absent ; but her presence may alter many things."! To make assurance doubly sure, Cecil desired Randolph, the English resident in Scotland, to feel the pulse of the nobility. On the 9th of August, 1561, only a few days before Mary sailed fr< it * Kfith, p. 164 t IbM., Appendix, p. 92 102 LIFE OF MARY France, Randolph wrote from Edinburgh an epistle to Cecil, in which he assures him that it will be a " stout adventure for a sick crazed woman" (a sin- gulai mode of designating Mary) to venture home to a country so little disposed to receive her. " I have shown your honour's letters," he says, "unto the Lord James, Lord Morton, Lord Lethington; they wish, as your honour doth, that she might be stayed yet for a space; and if it were not for theit obedience 1 sake, some of them care not tho 1 they nevtr saw her face" And again, " Whatsomever cometh of this, he (Lethington) findeth it ever best that she come not." Knox also, it seems, had been written to, and had expressed his resolution to resist to the last Mary's authority. " By such letters as ye have last received," says Randolph, " your honour some- what understandeth of Mr. Knox himself, and also of others, what is determined, he himself, to abide the uttermost, and others never to leave him, until God hath taken his life." " His daily prayer is, for the maintenance of unity with England, and that God will never suffer men to be so ungrate as by any persuasion to run headlong unto the destruction of them that have saved their lives, and restored their country to liberty."* Elizabeth, having thus felt her way, and being satisfied that she might with safety pursue her own inclinations, was determined not to rest contented with the mere refusal of passports. Throckmorton was ordered to ascertain exactly when and how Mary intended sailing. The Scottish queen became aware of his drift, from some questions he put to her, and said to him, cuttingly, " I trust the wind will be so favourable, as I shall not need to come on the coast of England ; and if I do, then M. 1'Am- bassadeur, the queen, your mistress, shall have me in her hands to do her will of me ; and if she be so hard-hearted as to desire my end, she may then do * Robertson, Appendix, No. 5, from the Cotton Library OF SCOTS. 103 her pleasure, and make sacrifice of me. Peradven- ture, that casualty might be better for me than to live." Throckmorton, however, made good his point, and was able to inform Elizabeth that Mary would sail either from Havre-de-Grace or Calais, and that she would first proceed along the coast of Flanders, and then strike over to Scotland. For the greater certainty, he suggested the propriety of some spies being sent across to the French coast, who would give the earliest intelligence of her move- ments. Profiting by this and other information, all the best historians of the time agree in stating, that Elizabeth sent a squadron to sea with all expedition. It was only a thick and unexpected fog which pre- vented these vessels from falling in with that in which Mary sailed. The smaller craft which car- ried her furniture they did meet with, and believing them to be the prize they were in search of, they boarded and examined them. One ship they de- tained, in which was the Earl of Eglinton, and some of Mary's horses and mules, and, under the pretence of suspecting it of piracy, actually carried it into an English harbour. The affectation of " clearing the seas from pirates," as Cecil expresses it, was a mere after-thought, invented to do away with the suspicion which attached itself to this unsuccessful attempt. Its real purpose was openly talked of at the time. Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper, in a speech he made at a meeting of the privy council in 1562, said, frankly, " Think ye that the Scottish queen's suit, made in all friendly manner, to come through England at the time she left France, and the denial thereof unless the treaty were ratified, is by them forgotten, or else your sending of your ships to sea at the time of her passage 1" Camden, Holinshed, Spottiswoode, Stranguage, and Buchanan, all speak to the same effect; and Elizabeth's intentions, though frustrated, hardly admit of a doubt.* * Keith, p. 178 ; Chalmers, vol. ii. p. 4 18 ; Stranguage, p. 9 ; and Frea aim. p. 19. 104 LIFE OF MART On the 25th of August, 1561, Mary sailed out of tlie harbour of Calais, not without shedding] and seeing shed many tears. She did not, however, part with all the friends who had accompanied her to the coast. Three of her uncles, the Duke d'Aumale, the Marquis D'Elbeuf, and the grand prior, the Duke Danville, son to Montmorency, and afterward Constable of France, one of the most ardent and sincere admirers that Mary perhaps ever had, and many other persons of rank, among whom was the unfortunate poet Chatelard, who fluttered like a moth round the light in which he was to be con- sumed, sailed with her for Scotland. Just as she left the harbour, an unfortunate accident happened to a vessel, which, by unskilful management, struck upon the bar, and was wrecked within a very short distance of her own galley. " This is a sad omen,* 1 she exclaimed, weeping. A gentle breeze sprang up ; the sails were set, and the little squadron got under way, consisting, as has been said, of only four vessels, for Mary dreaded lest her subjects should suppose that she was coming home with any mili- tary force. The feelings of " la Reine 5/ancA," as the French termed her, from the white mourning she wore for Francis, were at all times exceedingly acute. On the present occasion, her grief amounted almost to despair. As long as the light of day con- tinued, she stood immoveable on the vessel's deck, gazing with tearful eyes upon the French coast, and exclaiming incessantly, "Farewell, France! fare- well, my beloved country !" When night approached, and her friends besought her to retire to the cabin she hid her face in her hands, and sobbed aloud. * The darkness which is now brooding over France," said she, " is like the darkness in my own heart." A little afterward, she added, "I am unlike the Carthaginian Dido, for she looked perpetually on the sea, when .ffineas departed, while all my regards are for the land." Having caused a bed to be mad QUEEN OF SCOTS. lOf for her on deck, she wept herself asleep, previously enjoining her attendants to waken her at the first peep of day, if the French coast was still visible. Her wishes were gratified ; for during the night the wind died away, and the vessel made little progress. Mary rose with the dawn, and feasted her eyes once more with a sight of France. At sunrise, however, the breeze returned, and the galley beginning to make way, the land rapidly receded in the distance. Again her tears burst forth, and again she exclaimed, " Farewell, beloved France ! I shall never, never see you more." In the depth of her sorrow, she even wished that the English fleet, which she con- jectured had been sent out to intercept her, would make its appearance, and render it necessary for her to seek for safety, by returning to the port from whence she had sailed. But no interruption of this kind occurred.* It is more than likely that it was during this voy- age Mary composed the elegant and simple little song so expressive of her genuine feelings on leav- ing France. Though familiarly known to every reader, we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of inserting it here. Adieu, plaisant pays de France ! O my patrie, La plus cherie ; Qui a nourri ma jeune enfance. Adieu, France ! adieu, mes beaux jours! La nef qui dejoint mes amours, N'a cy de moi que la moitii ; Une parte te reste ; elle est tienne ; Je la fie a ton amitie, Pour qne de Pautre il te souvienne ! t * Brantome in Jebb, vol. li. p. 483, et seq. ; Keith, p. 179 ; and Free- burn, p. 16. et seq. t Several translations of this song have been attempted, bat no translation can preserve the spirit of the original . Adieu, thou pleasant land of France . The dearest of all lands to me, Where life was like a joyful dance The joyful dance of infancy. 106 LIFE OF MARY Branlome, who sailed in the same vessel with Mary, and gives a particular account of all the events of this voyage, mentions, that the day before entering the Frith of Forth, so thick a mist came on, that it was impossible to see from the poop to the prow. By way of precaution, lest they should run foul of any other vessel, a lantern was lighted, and set at the bow. This gave Chatelard occasion to remark, that it was taking a very unnecessary piece of trouble, so long at least as Mary Stuart remained upon deck, and kept her eyes open. When the mist at length cleared away, they found their vessel in the midst of rocks, from which it required much skill and no little labour to get her clear. Mary declared, that so far as regarded her own feelings, she would not have looked upon shipwreck as a great calamity ; but that she would not wish to see the lives of the friends who were with her endangered (among whom not the least dear were her four Maries) for all the kingdom of Scotland. She added, that as a bad omen had attended her departure, so this thick fog seemed to be but an evil augury at her arrival. At length, the harbour of Leith appeared in sight, and Mary's eye rested, for the first time, upon Arthur Seat and the castle of Edinburgh. Farewell my childhood's laughing wiles. Farewell the joys or youth's bright day ; The bark that bears me from thy smiles, Bears but my meaner half away. The best is thine ; my changeless bean Is given, beloved France ! to thee ; And let it sometimes, though we part, Remind thee with a sigh of me. Mary was not the only one who commemorated in verse her depart ure from France. Numerous vaudevilles were written upon the occa- sion, several of which are preserved in the Anthologie Francaise. QT7F.EN OF 'SCOTS. 107 CHAPTER VII. tfary'a Arrival at Holyrood, with Sketches of her pitnnptu Nobility. MARY landed in Scotland with a mind full of anxiety and uncertainty. She came alone and unprotected, to assume the government of a country which had long been distinguished for its rebellious turbulence. The masculine spirit of her father had quailed before the storm. Her mother, whose intellectual energy she well knew, had in vain attempted to bring order out of confusion, and harassed and worn out, had at length surrendered her life in the struggle. For the last two years, it is true, the country had enjoyed, not peace and tranquillity, but a cessation from an actual state of warfare. Nevertheless, the seeds of discontent, and of mutual distrust and hatred, were as abundant as ever. Marj's religion was well known ; and her confirmed devotion to it was by one party magnified into bigotry, and pronounced criminal ; while by another it was feared she would show herself too lukewarm in revenging the insults which the ancient worship had sustained. Such being the state of things, how could a young, and comparatively inexperienced queen, just nineteen years of age, approach her kingdom otherwise than with fear and trembling 1 Contrasted too with her former situation, that which she was now about to fill appeared particu- larly formidable. In France, even during the life of her husband, and while at the very height of her power, few of the severer duties of government rested upon her. She had all the essential authority, I. I 108 LIFE 'OF MART without much of the responsibility of a sovereign. Francis consulted her upon every occasion, and fol- lowed her advice in almost every matter in which she chose to interfere ; but it was to him or her uncles of Guise that the nation looked when any of the state-machinery went wrong. It would be very different in Scotland. By whatever counsel she acted, the blame of all unpopular measures would be sure to rest with her. If she favoured the Protestants, the Catholics would renounce her; if she assisted the Catholics, the Protestants would again be found assembling at Perth, listening, with arms in their hands, to the sermons of John Knox, pulling down the remaining monasteries, and sub- scribing additional covenants. Is it surprising, then, that she found it difficult to steer her course between the rocks of Scylla and the whirlpools of Chary bdis ? If misfortunes ultimately overtook her, the wonder unquestionably ought to be, not that they ever ar- rived, but that they should have been guarded Hgainst so long. Nothing but the wisest and most temperate policy could have preserved quietness in a country so full of the elements of internal discord. Mary's system of government throughout all its ramifications must have been such as no queen of her age could have established, had there not been more than an empty compliment in those lines of Buchanan, in which he addresses his royal mistres* as one " Quae sortem antevenis mentis, virtutibus an DOS, Sexum animis, morum nobilitate genus." There is, besides, a natural feeling of loyalty, which, though it may be evanescent, hardly fails to be kindled in the breasts of the populace at the sight of their native sovereign. The Scots, though they frequently were far from being contented with the measures pursued by their monarchs, have been always celebrated for their attachment to their per- QUEEN OF SCOTS. 109 sons. Mary, on her first landing, became aware of this truth. As soon as it was known that she intended returning from all the splendours of France to the more homely comforts of the land of her birth, the people, flattered by the preference she was about to show them, abated somewhat of their previous as- perity. They were the more pleased that she came to them, not as the Queen of France, who might have regarded Scotland as only a province of her empire, but as their own exclusive and independent sovereign. They recollected that she had been at the disposal of the estates of the country from the time she wns seven days old, and they almost felt as if she had been a child of their own rearing. They knew, also, that she had made a narrow escape in crossing the seas ; and the confidence she evidently placed in them, by casting anchor in Leith Roads, with only two galleys, did not pass unnoticed. But she had arrived sooner than was expected ; for, so little were they aware of her intended motions, that when her two ships were first observed in the Frith, from the castle of Edinburgh, no suspicion was entertained that they carried the queen and her suite. It was not till a royal salute was fired in the Roads that her arrival was positively known, and that the people began to flock in crowds to the shore. On the 20th or 21st of August, 1561, the queen landed at Leith. Here she was obliged to remain the whole day, as the preparations for her reception at Holyrood House were not completed. The multi- tude continued in the interval to collect at Leith, and on the roads leading to the palace. On the road between Leith and Restalrig, and from thence to the abbey, the different trades and corporations of Edinburgh were drawn up in order, lining the way with their banners and bands of music. Towards evening, horses were brought, for the queen and her attendants. When Mary saw them, accustomed as 110 LIFE OF MARY she had been to the noble and richly caparisoned steeds of the Parisian tournaments, she was struck both with the inferiority of their breed and the poor- ness of their furnishings. She sighed, and could not help remarking the difference to some of her friends. " But they mean well," said she, " and we must be content." As she passed along, she was every where greeted with enthusiastic shouts of applause the involuntary homage which the beauty of her coun- tenance, the elegance of her person, and the graceful dignity of her bearing could not fail to draw forth. Bonfires were lighted in all directions, and though illuminations were then but indifferently understood in Scotland, something of the kind seems to have been attempted. On her arrival at the palace all the musicians of Edinburgh collected below her win- dows, and in strains of most discordant music con- tinued all night to testify their joy for her return. Some of the more rigid Reformers, willing to yield in their own way to the general feeling, assembled together in a knot, and sung psalms in her honour Among the musical instruments the bagpipes were pre-eminently distinguished, which, not exactly suit ing the uncultivated taste of Brantome, he patheti- cally exclaims, " He ! quelle musique ! et quel repos pour sa nuit !"* It is worth while remarking here how Knox, in his History of the Reformation, betrays his chagrin at the affectionate manner in which Mary was received. " The very face of the heavens at the time of her arrival," he says, " did manifestly speak what com- * Jebb, vol. ii. p. 484 ; Keith, p. 180; Miss Benger, vol. ii. p. 125. In an anonymous French work, entitled " Histoire de Marie Stuart, Heine d'Ecosse et de France," t as a free grant, but as a lease during five years, to Huntly, his wife, and heirs, on the con- dition of a yearly payment of 2500 merks Scots. Till 1564, therefore, Huntly was entitled to consider himself master of all the lands and revenues of this earldom. But in 1561 the title and lands were pri- vately conferred upon the Earl of Mar. It is true, that he might have applied thus early only to prevent himself from being anticipated, and might not have intended to encroach on Huntly's rights before the legal period of his enjoying them had expired. The advantage, however, he so eagerly took of an incident that occurred in the month of June, 1562, proves that Mar had never any intention to keep his title to the earldom of Murray locked up for three years.* The father of James, Lord Ogilvy, had married one of the Earl of Huntly's sisters, who gave her some lands in liferent as her dowry. Upon her hus- band's death, considerations induced her to surren- der the liferent to her brother, and the earl then gave it to his son, Sir John Gordon. But Lord Ogilvy was displeased with his mother's conduct, and questioned its legality. The matter, however, was decided against him, though not before it had occasioned much bad blood between him and Sir John Gordon. These two noblemen unfortunately met on the streets of Edinburgh; and though Sir John had married Ogilvy's sister, all ties of relationship were disre- garded, and an affray took place, in which both were assisted by their respective servants. It does not exactly appear who was the aggressor in this scuffle, but, from the circumstances which led to it, the prob- ability is that it was Ogilvy. Both noblemen were severely wounded ; and the magistrates, enraged at their breach of the peace, committed them to prison.f * Chalmers, rol. i. p. 78 ; voL li. p. 293, et seq. ; and p. 426, et seq. f Knox, p. 315; Goodall, vol. i. p. 192. Chalmers says that Sir John Gordon's antagonist was rot a Lord Ogilvy, but only James Ogilvy of 140 LIFE OF MART Mary, with her court, was at Stirling, but the Earl f Mar obtained permission to depart for Edinburgh, to examine into the whole affair. The son of the Earl of Huntly was now within his power, and he saw the advantages which might be made to accrue to himself in consequence. After examination, he or- dered the Lord Ogilvy and his retainers to be set at liberty, but Sir John Gordon he sent to the common jail. Sir John, not liking to trust himself in such hands, made his escape, after remaining in prison for about a month, and proceeded to hi" father's house in the north to recite to him his grievances.* Such being the state of feeling subsisting between the queen's prime minister and these great northern chieftains, it can scarcely be allowed that Robertson expresses himself correctly when he says, " The queen happened to set out on a progress into the northern parts of the kingdom." Her motions were at this time entirely regulated by the Earl of Mar, who, seeing the contempt which had been offered to her authority by the flight of his son, felt satisfied that Mary could not pass through the extensive ter- ritories of Huntly without either giving or receiving some additional cause of offence, which would in all probability lead to consequences favourable to Mar's ambition. Unless this hypothesis be adopted, no rational cause can be assigned why the queen should have chosen this particular season for her visit to the North. From the recent suspicion which had at- tached to the Earl of Huntly, as one of Arran's col- leagues in a conspiracy against her favourite minis- ter, and the still more recent conduct of his son, Sir John Gordon, she certainly could have no intention to pay that family the compliment of honouring them with her royal presence as a guest. North of Aber- Cardell, a son of the deceased Alexander Ogilvy, of Findlater. Bat as b< does not give any authority for this assertion, we have preferred follow ing KDOX, Goodall, and Robertson. * Chalmers, vol i. p. 80 ; and TO! it p. 298 QUEEN OF SCOTS 141 dec.li, however, nearly the whole country was sub- servient to Huntly ; and if Mary did not pass through it as a friend, she must as an enemy. This was the consideration that prompted the Earl of Mar to fix this year for the expedition. It was owing to nego- tiations with Elizabeth concerning a personal inter- view between the two queens, that Mary was unable to set out till towards the middle of August. The queen left Edinburgh on horseback, as usual, attended by a very considerable train. Among others, four members of her privy council went with her the Earls of Argyle, Morton, Marschall, and Mar, the first three of whom had no particular liking for Huntly, and were, besides, entirely under the direction of the last. Randolph also attended the queen in this journey, and furnishes some details concerning it. On the 18th of August, 1562, she left Stirling, and after a disagreeable and fatiguing jour- ney arrived at Old Aberdeen on the 27th. Here she remained for several days ; and all the nobility in these parts came to pay their homage to her. Among the rest were the Earl and Countess of Huntly, who entreated her to honour them with a visit at Huntly Castle, informing her that they had endeavoured to make suitable preparations for her entertainment. Mary, at Mar's instigation, of course (for, as far as her own feelings were concerned, she must have looked with favour upon the first Catholic peer of the realm), received them coldly. This was but a poor return for Huntly's long-tried fidelity to her- self and family ; for, whatever quarrels he may have had with the nobility, he had always preserved in- violate his respect for the royal prerogative. His son, Sir John Gordon, also came to Aberdeen, and surrendered himself to the queen, to be dealt with as her justice might direct. He was neither tried nor taken into custody ; but, with more refined policy, he was ordered by Mar and the rest of the queen's council to proceed voluntarily to Stirling 142 LIFE O* MARY Castle, and there deliver himself as a prisoner to th . keeper, Lord Erskine, Mar's uncle. It was no doubt foreseen that this order, so disproportioned in iig severity to the offence which occasioned it, would not be complied with, nor was it wished that it should. Guided by similar advice, Mary refused to visit the residence of the Earl of Huntly a refusal which was pathetically lamented by Randolph, as it was " within three miles of her way, and the fairest house in this country." We learn from the same authority, that there was such a scarcity of accom- modation in Old Aberdeen, that Randolph and Mail- land the secretary, who had recently returned from England, were obliged to sleep together in the same bed. This is perhaps rendered the less remarkable, when we are informed that there were at the univer- sity only fifteen or sixteen scholars. On the 1st of September, Mary left Aberdeen for Inverness ; but in the interval the Earl of Mar, per- ceiving that there might be some occasion for their services, had collected a pretty strong body of men, who marched forward with the queen and her train. In journeying northward she travelled by Rothiemay, Grange, Balvenie, and Elgin, passing very near the Earl of Huntly's castle. No entreaty would induce her to enter it ; hut she permitted the Earl of Argyle and Randolph to partake of its hospitality for two days. " The Earl of Huntly's house," says Ran- dolph, " is the best furnished that I have seen in this country. His cheer is marvellous great ; his mind then such, as it appeared to us, as ought to be in any subject to his sovereign." On the 8th of September, Mary went from Elgin to Tarnaway, the baronial residence of the earldom of Murray, and at that time in possession of a tenant of the Earl of Huntly. Information being there re- ceived that Sir John Gordon's friends and vassals, exasperated at the over-degree of rigour with which he was treated, were assembling in arms, and that U.UEEN OF SCOTS. 14S Sir John, instead of going to Stirling, had joined the rebels a proclamation was issued, chaiging him to surrender, by way of forfeit, into the queen's hands his houses and fortresses of Findlater and Auchin- doune. This proclamation was expressed with a bitterness which must only have enraged the dis- contents the more. It required the surrender ol these strongholds, with the avowed intention of breaking the power of the rebels ; and in considera- tion of her majesty having heard " the many grievous complaints of the poor people of this coun- ;ry, hearing them to be iierreit (robbed) and op- pressed by him ana his accomplices in times by-past ; and fearing the like, or worse, should be done in time coming." The same proclamation described Sir John Gordon's wife, as " Lady Findlater, his pre- tended spouse."* Fearing that even all this might not be enough to induce Huntly to take such steps as might be plau- sibly construed into treason, Mar now for the first time produced his title to the earldom of Murray, and assumed the name. The only meeting of coun- cil held north of Aberdeen was at Tarnavvay ; and at the first council after the queen had returned to Aberdeen we find Mar's name changed to that of Murray. Robertson, who has followed Buchanan's, or in other words Murray's own account of the transactions in the north, in referring Mar's as- sumption of the earldom of Murray to a later date, forgets that it must have been sanctioned by Mary and her council ; and that the only opportunity for doing so, in the interval of their departure from and return to Aberdeen, was at Tarnaway.f This new insult upon himself and family was, as Murray expected, deeply felt by the Earl of Huntly. He began to suspect that it was intended to ruin him; and in this extremity, with evident reluctance, * Keith, ;. 225 t Ibid. p. 8M. 144 LIFE OF MART he prepared to defend himself. Mary, meanwhile, marched forward to Inverness. " On her arrival,*' says Robertson, "the commanding officer in the castle, by Huntly's orders, shut the gates against her." The gates were shut, but certainly not by Huntly's orders ; for as soon as he heard that the castle had been summoned, he sent his express commands to the governor (who had acted upon his own responsi- bility) to surrender it. These commands, however, came too late ; the castle had been taken by storm, and the governor put to death. What right the Earl of Murray, or even the queen herself, had to demand the surrender of the castle, which belonged heredi tarily to Lord George Gordon, the Earl of Huntly's eldest son, does not appear. As Chalmers remarks, the whole proceeding seems to have been illegal and unwarrantable. Huntly, who was on his way to Inverness to attempt an arrangement of these dis- putes by a personal interview with the queen, when he heard of the execution of the governor, returned to his castle.* The Gordons were now fairly roused ; and, col- lecting their followers, they determined to act reso- lutely, but not as aggressors. Mary was made to believe that she was in the midst of a hostile coun- try ; and though there was in reality no intention to attack her, every means was taken to inspire her with fear, and to convince her of the treacherous de- signs of the Earl of Huntly. But Mary had a courageous spirit when it was necessary to exert it. " In all those garbrilles," says Randolph, " I never saw the queen moved never dismayed ; nor never thought I that stomach to be in her that I find. She repented nothing, but when the lords and others at Inverness came in the morning from the watch, that she was not a man, to know what life it was U he all night in the fields, or to walk upon the cause * Chalmers, v' i. p. 84, and vol. li. p. 308. c^UEEN OF SCOTS. 1 45 way with a jack and knapsack, a Glasgow buckler, and a broadsword." On the 15th of September the queen returned southward. She had with her about two thousand man ; and as she advanced their number increased to three thousand. She marched by Kilravock and Tarnaway to Spynie Castle. Thence she proceeded through the country of the Gordons, crossing the Spey at Fochabers, and going by the way of Cullen and Banff. Thioughout the whole course of this march, Murray took care to make her believe that she was in danger of being attacked every moment. If there had been any enemy to fight with, " what desperate blows," says Randolph, " would not have been given, when every man should have fought in the sight of so noble a queen, and so many fair ladies!" The only incidents which seem to have occurred were summonses to surrender, given by sound of trumpet, at Findlater-house and at Deck- ford, mansions of Sir John Gordon. The keepers of both refused ; but they were not acting upon their master's authority. Having slept a night at the Laird of Banff's house, Mary returned, on the 22d of September, to Aberdeen. Her entry into the New Town was celebrated by the inhabitants with every demonstration of respect. Spectacles, plays, and interludes were devised ; a richly- wrought silver cup, with 500 crowns in it, was presented to her ; and wine, coals, and wax were sent in great abundance to her lodgings. But the Earl of Murray was not yet satisfied that he had humbled the Gordons enough. It was true, that the lands of Sir John had been forfeited ; that the castle or Lord George had been captured ; and that the title and estates of the earldom of Murray had been wrested from Huntly. But Huntly's power still remained nearly as great as ever ; and it seemed doubtful whether Murray would ever be able to seat himself quietly in his new possessions, situated 3110 146 LIFE OF MARY as they were in the very heart of the eari's domains. The privy council were therefore prevailed upon to come to the resolution that the Earl of Huntly, in the language of Randolph, " shall either submit him- self and deliver his disobedient son John, or utterly to use all force against him, for the subversion of his AOUSC far ever." To enforce this determination, Muiray levied soldiers, and sent into Lothian and Fife for officers in whom he could place confidence, particularly Lindsay and Grange. With what show of reason the unfortunate Huntly could be subjected to so severe a fate it is difficult to say. He had come to offer his obedience and hospitality to the queen on her first arrival at Aberdeen, he remained per- fectly quiet during her journey through that part of the country which was subject to him, he sent to her, after she returned to Aberdeen, the keys of the houses of Findlater and Deckford, which she had summoned unsuccessfully on her march from Cullen to Banff, and he delivered to her, out of his own castle, a field- piece which the regent Arran had long ago given to him, and which Mary now demanded. He added, that " not only that, which was her own, but also his body and goods, were at her grace's commands."* His wife, the Countess of Huntly, led Captain Hay, the person sent for the cannon, into the chapel at her castle, and placing herself at the altar, said to him, " Good friend, you see here the envy that is borne unto my husband. Would he have forsaken God and his religion, as those that are now about the queen's grace and have the whole guiding of her have done, my husband had never been put at as now he is. God, and He that is upop this holy altar, whom I believe in, will, I am sure, preserve, and let our true meaning hearts be known and as I have said unto you, so, I pray you, let it be said unto your mistress. My husband was * Chalmers, vol. li. p. 306. ftlTKEN OF SCOTS. 147 erer obedient unto her, and so will die her faithful subject."* That Mary should have given her sanction to these iniquitous proceedings can only be accounted for by supposing, what was in truth the case, that she was kept in ignorance of every thing tending to exculpate Huntly, while various means were invented to inspire her with a belief, that he had conceived, and was intent upon executing, a diabolical plot against her- self and government. It was given out that his object was to seize upon the queen's person, to marry her by force to his son Sir John Gordon, and to cut off Murray, Morton, and Maitland, his principal enemies.f Influenced by these misrepresentations, which would have been smiled at in later times, but which, in those days, were taken more seriously, the queen put the fate of Huntly into the hands of Mur- ray. Soon after her return to Aberdeen, an expedi tion was secretly prepared against Huntly's astle. If resistance was offered, the troops sent for *e * Chalmers, vol. i. p. 90. f " The time and place for perpetrating this horrid deed," says Ro bertson, " were frequently appointed; but the executing of it was won derfully prevented by some of those unforeseen accidents which so often ccnr to disconcert the schemes, and to intimidate the hearts, of assas- sins," There is something strangely inconsistent between this state- ment, and that which Robertson makes immediately afterward in a note, where he says," Vfe have imputed the violent conduct of the Earl of Huntly to a sudden start of resentment, without charging him with any premeditated purpose of rebellion." And that Huntly did not intend U seize the queen and her ministers, the historian argues upon these grounds : " 1st, On the queen's arrival in the north, he laboured in good earnest to gain her favour, and to obtain a pardon for his son. 3d, He met the queen first at Aberdeen and then at Rothiemay, whither he would not have ventured to come had he harboured any such treasonable resolution. 3d, His conduct was irresolute and wavering, like that of a man disconcerted by an unforeseen danger, not like one executing a con- certed plan. 4th, The most considerable persons of his clan submitted to the queen, and found surety to obey her commands : had the earl been previously determined to rise in arms against the queen, or to seize her ministers, it is probable he would have imparted it to his principal fol- lowers, nor would they have deserted him in this manner." Yet in direct opposition to this view of the matter, Robertson, in telling the story of Huntly's wrongs, throws upon him the whole blame, and entirely ex* culpates Murray Robertson, vol. L p. 222, et seq. I M 148 LIFE OF MARY purpose were to take it by force, and if admitted without opposition, they were to bring Huntly a prisoner to Aberdeen. Intimation, however, of this enterprise and its object was conveyed to the earl, and he contrived to baffle its success. His wife re- ceived the party with all hospitality ; threw open her doors, and entreated that they would examine the whole premises, to ascertain whether they afforded any ground of suspicion. But Huntly himself took care to be out of the way, having retired to Bade- noch.* Thus foiled again, Murray, on the 15th of October, called a privy council, at which he got it declared, that unless Huntly appeared on the following day before her majesty, " to answer to such things as are to lay to his charge," he should be put to the horn for his contempt of her authority, and "his houses, strengths, and friends taken from him."f However willing he might have been to have ventured thus into the lion's den, Huntly could not possibly have appeared within the time appointed. On the 17th of October, he was therefore denounced a rebel in terms of the previous proclamation, and his lands and titles declared forfeited.^ Even yet, however, Huntly acted with forbearance. He sent his countess to Aberdeen on the 20th, who requested admission to the queen's presence, that she might make manifest he'r husband's innocence. So far from obtaining an audience, this lady, who was respected and loved over the whole country, was not allowed to come within two miles of the court, and she returned home with a heavy heart. As a last proof of his fidelity, Huntly sent a messenger to Aberdeen, offering to enter into ward till his cause might be tried by the whole nobility. Even this offer was rejected ; and, goaded into madness, the unfortunate earl at length * Chalmers, vol. i. p. 93, and vol. ii. p 306. t Keith, p. 396 t Chalmers, vol. ii. p. 307 OF SCOTS. 149 collected his followers round him, and, raising the standard of rebellion, not against the queen, but against Murray, advanced suddenly upon Aber- deen. This resolute proceeding excited considerable alarm at court. Murray, however, had foreseen the probability of such a step being ultimately taken, and had been busy collecting forces sufficient to repel the attack. A number of the neighbouring nobility had joined him, who, not penetrating the prime minister's real motives, were not displeased to see so proud and powerful an earldom as that of Huntly likely to fall to pieces. On the 28th of October, Mur- ray marched out of Aberdeen at the head of about 2000 men. He found Huntly advantageously sta- tioned at Corrachie, a village about fifteen miles from Aberdeen. Huntly's force was much inferior to that of Murray, scarcely exceeding 500 men. Indeed, it seems doubtful whether he had advanced so much for the purpose of fighting as for the sake of giving greater weight to his demands to be admitted into the presence of the queen, who, he always main- tained, had been misled by false counsel. Perceiving the approach, however, of his inveterate enemy Mur- ray, and considering the superiority of his own posi- tion on the hill of Fare, he relinquished all idea of retreat, and determined at any risk to accept the battle which was offered him. The contest was of short duration. The broadswords of the Highland- ers, even had the numbers been more equal, would have been no match for the spears and regular disci- pline of Murray's Lowland troops. Their followers fled ; but the Earl of Huntly and his two sons, Sir John Gordon and Adam, a youth of seventeen, dis- daining to give ground, were taken prisoners. The earl, who was advanced in life, was no sooner set upon horseback, to be carried triumphantly into Aber- deen, than the thoughts of the ruin which was now brought upon himself and his family overwhelmed 150 Lli'E OF MARY him; and, without speaking a word, or leceiving a blow, he fell dead from his horse.* Sir John Gordon, who was pronounced the author of all these troubles, having been marched into Aber- deen, was tried, condemned, and executed. He may have been an enemy of Murray's, but so far from be- ing a traitor to the queen, he was one of the most devoted admirers and attached subjects she ever had. Yet Murray took care to have it reported, that Sir John, before he was beheaded, confessed, that if his * Knox, pi 320 ; Buchanan's History, book xvii. ; Chalmers, vol. i. p. 95, and vol. ii. p. 309, whose authority is a letter of Randolph, preserved in the paper office, and written the evening of the very day on which the battle took place. Randolph, though not on the field himself, had two servants there, and saw the dead body of the earl, when it was brought into Aberdeen. Robertson and others have said, that Huntly. who was very corpulent, was slain on the field, or trodden to death in the pursuit. Chalmers, however, has truth on his side, when he re- marks, that " Doctor Robertson, who never saw those instructive letters (of Randolph), grossly misrepresents the whole circumstances of thai aflkir at Corrachie ; he says, ' Huntly advanced with a considerable Hirer towards Aberdeen, and filled the queen's small court with the utmost consternation ; and that Murray had only a handful of men in whom he could confide : but, by his steady courage and prudent conduct, gained a miraculous victory.' For the assertion of Murray's having only a hand- ful of men, he quotes Keith, p. 230, in which there is not one word of the _/orce at Corrachie on either side. The force there spoken of is what the queen had about her two months before on her first progress into the north, not on her return to Aberdeen, after new troops had been raised, and old ones summoned to that premeditated and barbarous scene." Knox is also a better authority upon this subject than Robertson. He gives the following curious account of the earl's death and subsequent fate : " The earl, immediately after his taking, departed this life, without any wound, or yet appearance of any stroke, whereof death might have ensued ; and so, because it was late, he was cast over athwart a pair of creels, and so was carried to Aberdeen, and was laid in the tolbootli thereof, that the response which his wife's witches had given might be fulfilled, who all affirmed (as the most part say) that that same night he should be in the tol booth of Aberdeen, without any wound upon his body. When his lady got knowledge thereof, she blamed her principal witch, called Janet ; but she stoutly defended herselt(as the Devil can ever do), nd affirmed that she gave a true answer, albeit she spoke not all the truth ; for she knew that he should be there dead." Knox, p. 328. " It is a memorable fact," Chalmers elsewhere remarks, " that Huntly and Sutherland" (who was forfeited soon afterward, as implicated in thi* pretended rebellion) " were two of those nobles who had sent Bishop Lesly to Prance, with offers of duty and services to the queen, while Murray, Maitland, and other considerable men offered their duties '1:111 senrices to Elizabeth." QUEEN OF SCOTS. 151 father had taken Aberdeen, he was determined to have " burned the queen, and as many as were in the house with her."* So palpable a falsehood throws additional light upon the motives which instigated the prime minister throughout. With a refinement of cruelty, he insisted upon Mary giving her public countenance to his proceedings, by consenting to be present at Gordon's death. She was placed at a win- dow, opposite to which the scaffold had been erected. Gordon, who was one of the handsomest men of his times, observed her, and fixing his eyes upon her, " gave her to understand by his looks," says Free- bairn, " that her presence sweetened the death he was going to suffer only for loving her too well." He then fell upon his knees, and prepared to lay his head upon the block. Mary, totally unable to stand this scene, was already suffused in tears ; and when she was informed that the unskilful official, instead of striking off the head, had only mangled the neck, she fainted away, and it was some time before she could be recovered.! Adam Gordon was indebted to his youth for saving him from his brother's fate. He lived to be, as his father had been, one of Mary's most faithful servants. Lord Gordon, the late earl's eldest son, who was with his father-in-law, the Duke of Chatelherault, at Hamilton, was soon afterward seized and committed to prison, Murray finding it convenient to declare him implicated in the earl's guilt. Having remained under arrest for some months, he was tried and found guilty, but the execu tion of his sentence was left at the queen's pleasure She sent him to Dunbar castle ; and as Murray could not prevail upon her to sign the death-warrant, he had recourse to forgery ; and had the keeper of the castle not discovered the deceit, the Lord Gordon's fitte would have been sealed. Mary was content Randolph in Keith, p. 230. iJtll* did Mary then dream of Fothenngay 152 LIFE OF MART with keepinghim prisoner, till a change in her adminis- tration restored him to favour, and to the forfeited estates and honours of his father. One other incident connected with these tragical events is worth recording. Means having been taken for the preservation of Huntly's body, it was sent by sea to Leith, and lay for several months at Holyrood House. In the parliament which met in May, 1563, these melancholy remains were produced, to have sentence of forfeiture pronounced against them. To obviate if possible this additional calamity, the Countess of Huntly, widow of the deceased, appeared before the parliament, and with the spirit of a Gordon requested to be heard in her late husband's defence. The request was refused ; Huntly's castles and houses were rifled of their property, his friends and vassals ned, and many escheats granted to those who had assisted in crushing this once noble family.* Murray having now no further occasion for the queen's presence at Aberdeen, the court moved southwards on the 5th of November. On her way home, she visited Dunnottar Castle, Montrose, Ar- In Buchanan's Cameleon, a severe satire, written at the request of his patron the Earl of Murray, when that nobleman quarrelled with Secretary Maitland, we have the following ridiculous account of the secret motives which led to this disastrous northern expedition. " The queen, by advice of her uncles, devised to destroy the Earl of Murray, thinking him to be a great bridle to refrain her appetites, and impediment to live at liberty of her pleasure ; not that he ever used any violence anent her, but that his honesty was so great that she was ashamed to attempt any thing indecent in his presence. She then, being deliberate to destroy him, by the Earl of Huntly, went to the north, and he in bet company ; and howbeit t lie treason was opened plainly, and John Gordon lying not far off the town (Aberdeen) with a great power, and the Earl of .Murray expressly lodged in a house separate from all other habita- tion, and his death by divers ways sought, this Cameleon (Maitland) whether for simpleness or for lack of foresight, or for boldness of courage. I refer to every man's conscience that doth know him, he alone could ee no treason, could fear no danger, and could never believe that the Earl of Huntly would take on hand such an enterprise." This state- ment, while it gives some notion of the dependence to be placed on Bu- chanan's accuracy when influenced by party feelings, betrays at the same time the important secret, that Maitland saw and felt the injustier of Hunt'.y's persecution. Buchanan's Cameleon, p. 9 QUEEN OF SCOTS. 153 broath, Dundee, Stirling 1 , and Linlithgow. She arrived at Edinburgh on the 22d, having been absent upwards of three months. It is much to be regretted that she ever undertook this northern expedition. Though she had little or no share in its guilt, she had allowed herself to be made an effectual tool in the hands of Murray, who was now more powerful than any minister of Mary's ought to have been. He had forced the Earl of Bothwell into exile; he had brought the Duke of Chatelherault and Arran into disgrace ; and having accomplished the death of the courageous Huntly, he had obtained for himself and friends the greater part of that nobleman's princely estates and titles. Besides, he was more popular among the Reformers than ever, for the destruction of the Gordon family had been long wished for by them. In short, though without the name, he was the king of Scotland, and his sister Mary was his subject. CHAPTER X. Chatelard's imprudent Attachment, and Knotfs persevering Hatred MARY returned from her northern expedition towards the conclusion of the year 1562. The two following years, 1563 and 1564, undistinguished as they were by any political events of importance, were the quietest and happiest she spent in Scotland. Her moderation and urbanity had endeared her to her people ; and in her own well-regulated mind existed a spring of pure and abiding satisfaction. Nevertheless, vexations of various sorts mingled 154 LIFE OF MARY their bitterness in her cup of sweets. An occurrence which took place early in 1653 demands our attention first. The poet Chatelard has been already mentioned as one of those who sailed in Mary's train, when she came from the Continent. He had attached himself to the future Constable of France, the Duke Danville, and was a gentleman of good family and fortune, being by the mother's side the grandriephew of the celebrated Chevalier Bayard. The manly beauty of his person was not unlike that of his ancestor ; and, besides being well versed in all the more active accomplishments of the day, he had softened and refined his manners by an ardent cultivation of every species of belles-lettres. It was this latter circum- stance that gained for him the occasional favourable notice of Mary. A poetess herself, as much by na- ture as by study, her heart warmed towards those who indulged in the same delightful art. Chatelard wrote both in French and Italian ; and finding that Mary deigned to read and admire his productions, he seems thenceforth to have made her the only theme of his enamoured and too presumptuous muse. To the queen this was no uncommon compliment. She received it gracefully, and sometimes even amused herself with answering Chatelard's effusions. This condescension almost turned the young poet's brain. He had left Scotland with the Duke Danville, and Mary's other French friends, at the end of the year 1561 ; but he eagerly seized the opportunity afforded him by the civil wars in France to return before twelve months had elapsed. The Duke Danville sent him to Mary's court, there is every reason to believe, to press upon her attention once more his own pre- tensions to her hand. But Chatelard, in the indul- gence of his mad passion, forgot the duty he owed his master ; and for every word he spoke in prose for the duke, he spoke in verse twenty for himself. Mary, long accustomed to this species of adulation. QUEKN OF SCOTS. 155 and looking upon flattery as part of a poet's pro- fession, smiled at the more extravagant flights of his imagination, and forgot them as soon as heard. These smiles, however, were fatal to Chatelard. " They tempted him," says Brantome, " to aspire, like Phaeton, at ascending the chariot of the sun." In February, 1563, he had the audacity to steal into the queen's bedchamber, armed with sword and dagger, and attempted to conceal himself till Mary should retire to rest. He was discovered by her maids of honour; and Mary, though much enraged at his conduct, was unwilling, for a first offence, to surrender him to that punishment which she knew would be inflicted were it known to her privy council. She was contented with reprimanding him severely, and ordering him from her presence. This leniency was thrown away upon the infatuated Chatelard. Only two nights afterward, the queen having, in the interval, left Edinburgh for St. An- drews, he again committed the same offence. As she went to St. Andrews by the circuitous route of the Queensferry, she slept the first night at Dumfermline, and the second at Burntisland. Here Chatelard inso- lently followed the queen into her bedroom, without attempting any concealment, and assigned, as the motive for his conduct, his desire to clear himself from the blame she had formerly imputed to him. Mary commanded him to leave her immediately, but he refused ; upon which she saw the necessity of calling for assistance. The Earl of Murray was at nand, and came instantly. The daring boldness of Chatelard's conduct could no longer be concealed ; the proper legal authorities were sent for from Edin- burgh ; the poet was tried at St. Andrews, and was condemned to death. He was executed on the 22d of February, and conducted himself bravely, but as a confirmed enthusiast even on the scaffold. He would not avail himself of the spiritual advice of any minister or confessor; but having read Ronsard's 156 LIFE OF MARY Hymn on Death, he turned towards the place where he supposed the queen was, and exclaimed in an unfaltering voice, " Farewell, loveliest and most cruel princess whom the world contains !" He then, with the utmost composure, laid his head upon the block, and submitted, with all resignation, to his fate.* Mary remained at St. Andrews till the middle of April, when she removed to Loch Leven, where she had better opportunities of enjoying her favourite amusements of hunting and hawking. She went thither in considerable grief, occasioned by the news she had lately received from France of the death of two of her uncles, the Duke of Guise and the grand prior. The former had been barbarously assassin- ated, at the siege of Orleans, by a Protestant bigot of the name of Poltrot ; and the latter had been fatally wounded at the battle of Dreux. Alluding triumph- antly to the murder of the Duke of Guise, Knox ex- pressed himself in these words, " God has stricken that bloody tyrant." This enmity to the house of Guise, which Knox carried even beyond the grave, was now no novelty. Some months before, he had taken occasion to preach a severe sermon against Mary and her friends, in consequence of an enter- tainment she gave at Holyrood upon receiving news of her uncles' successes in the French civil wars. Mary had, in consequence, sent for Knox a second time, when he repeated to her the principal part of his sermon, in a manner which made it appear not * Brantome in Jebb, p. 495, et seq. ; Chalmers, vol. i. p. 101 ; Free- bairn, p. 25 ; and Histoire de Marie Stuart, torn. i. p. 210. Knox, a- usual, gives a highly indecorous and malicious account of this affair, big drift being to make his readers believe (though he does not venture to ay M in direct terras) that Mary had first tempted, and then 'betrayed Chatelard ; and that she was anxious to have him despatched secretly, that he might not stain her honour by a public confession. If such were really tbe fact, it is odd that Chatelard should have been brought to a scaffold, which was surrounded by thousands, and that, even according to Knox himself, be said nothing relating to Nary bat w hat U narrated la the text. Vide Knox's History, p 325. QUEEN OF SCOTS 57 quite so obnoxious as she had been induced f> be- lieve. She had then the magnanimity to tell him, that though his words were sharp, she would not blame him for having no good opinion of her uncles, as they and he were of a different religion. She only wished that he would not publicly misrepresent them, without sufficient evidence upon which to ground his charges. Knox left Mary " with a rea- sonable merry countenance," and some one observ- ing it, remarked, " He is not afraid !" Knox's answer is characteristic, and does him credit, " Why should the pleasing face of a gentlewoman affray me ? I have looked in the faces of many angry men, and yet have not been afraid above measure." The third time that Knox was admitted into Mary's presence was at Loch Leven. This, as indeed every interview she had with the celebrated Reformer, and she had only four, exhibits her character in a very favourable point of view. It appears, that while the queen reserved for herself the right of celebrating mass in her own chapel, it was prohibited throughout the rest of the kingdom. Some instances had oc- curred in which this prohibition had been disregarded ; and upon these occasions the over-zealous Protest- ants had not scrupled to take the law into their own hands. Mary wished to convince Knox of the im- propriety of this interference. He thought it neces- sary to oWend hi* brethren ; but his answer to the queen's simple question, " Will ye allow that they shall take my sword in their hands ?" though la- boured, is quite inconclusive. That " the sword of justice is God's" may be a very good apothegm but would be a dangerous precept upon which if form a practical rule in the government of a state. Mary, however, knowing by experience that it was hopeless to attempt to change Knox's sentiments, and not wishing to enter into an argument with him, passed to other matters. Though she disliked the rudeness of his manners, she had a respect for the 158 LIFE OF MARY unbending stoicism of his principles ; aad having too much good sense to hold any one responsible for the peculiarities of his belief, she could not help per- suading herself that she would finally soften the asperity of those with whom she disagreed only upon articles of faith. With this view, she con- versed with Knox upon various confidential matters, and actually did succeed in winning for the moment the personal favour of her stern adversary. " This interview," observes Dr. M'Crie, " shows how fai Mary was capable of dissembling, what artifice she could employ, and what condescensions she could make, when she was bent on accomplishing a favour- ite object." There is something very uncharitable in the construction thus put upon the queen's con- duct. She had, no doubt, a favourite object in view ; but that object was mutual reconcilement, and the establishment, as far as in her lay, of reciprocal feel- ings of forbearance and good-will among all classes of her subjects. The " artifice" she used consisted merely in the urbanity of her manners, and her de- termination to avoid all violence, in return for the violence which had been exhibited towards herself. Soon after this conference, Mary went to Edin- burgh, to open in person the first parliament which had been held since her return to Scotland. Its ses- sion continued only from the 26th of May to the 24th of June, 1563 ; but during that short period, business of some importance was transacted. The queen on the first day rode to the parliament-house in her robes of state, the Duke of Chatelherault carrying the crown, the Earl of Argyle the sceptre, and the Earl of Murray the sword.* She was present on * Chalmers, in his account of the opening of this parliament, seems to have committed an error. He says (vol. i. p. 105), " The queen cam* to parliament in her robes, and was crowned." That any coronation took place is not at all likely. Chalmers surely had forgotten that Mary was .'rowned at Stirling by Cardinal Beaton just twenty years before. There was no reason why the ceremony should have been repeated. Chalmers' mistake is probably founded upon the following passage in a letter of QUEEN OF JCOTS. 15ft tnree or four occasions afterward ; but on the first day she made a speech to the representatives of her people, which was received with enthusiastic ap- plause. This applause was wormwood to Knox, who, with even more than his usual discourtesy towards a sex whom he seems to have despised, says, " Such stinking pride of women as was seen at that parliament was never before seen in Scotland." He was heartily borne out in his vituperations by the rest of the preachers. The rich attire which Mary and the ladies of her court chose to wear were abomi- nations in their eyes. They held forth to their re- spective flocks against the " superfluity of theii clothes," the "targeting of their tails," and "the rest of their vanity." It was enough, they said, " to draw down God's wrath not only upon these foolish women, but upon the whole realm." At this parlia- ment the earldoms of Huntly and Sutherland were declared forfeited ; an act was passed for preventing any one from summoning the lieges together without the queen's consent ; some judicious legislative mea- sures of a domestic nature were established ; and an act of oblivion for all acts done from the 6th of March, 1558, to the 1st of September, 1561, was unanimously carried. This act of oblivion was de- clared to have no reference whatever to a similai act sanctioned by the treaty of Edinburgh, the rati fication of which was expressly avoided by the queen. Its object, however, was precisely the same, namely, to secure the Reformers against any dis- Randolph's. quoted by Keith, p. 239. "The parliament began 26th May, on which day the queen came to it In her robes and crowned." The word was is an interpolation of Chalmers. But as Randolph goes on immediately to say, " The dnke carried the crown, Argyle the sceptre." &c., Chalmers probably thought Mary could not at the same time wear the crown. But the crown of state, carried upon state occasions, wus no doubt different from the crown made expressly to be worn by the reigning queen. Buchanan puts the matter beyond a doubt, for he says, explicitly, " The queen, with the crown on her head, and in her royal robes, went in great pomp to the parliament-house- a new sight tu many * Buchanan'x History, book xrii 160 LIF OF MART agreeable consequences which might arise out of the violences they committed during the first heat of the Reformation. An act of oblivion thus obtained as a free gift from Mary, and not as a consequence of his favourite treaty of Edinburgh, was by no means agreeable to Knox. He assembled some of the leading members of parliament, and urged upon them the necessity of forcing from the queen a ratification of this treaty. Kven the Protestant lords, however, felt how unjust such a demand would be. The Earl of Murray him- sslf, one of Knox's oldest and stanchest friends, re- fused to ask Mary to take this step. Knox, in con- sequence, solemnly renounced Murray's friendship, and a coldness subsisted between them for nearly two years. Foiled in his object, the Reformer had recourse to his usual mode of revenge. He preached another "thundering sermon." The object of this sermon was, to convince the people, that as soon as a parliament was assembled, they had the queen in their power to make her do what they chose. " And is this the thankfulness that ye render unto your God," said he, " to betray his cause when ye have it in your hands to establish it as you please ?" Before concluding, he adverted to the report that her majesty would soon be married, and called upon the nobility, if they regarded the safety of their country, to pre- vent her from forming an alliance with a Papist. " Protestants as well as Papists," says Knox's biographer, " were offended with the freedom of this sermon, and some who had been most familiar with the preacher now shunned his company." There must have been something more than usually bitter and unjust in a discourse which produced such results. It was the occasion of the last and most memorable interview which the Reformer had with Mary. As soon as she was made acquainted with the manner in which he had attacked her, she summoned him to her presence. He was accompanied to the palace QUEEN OF SCOTS. 161 by Lord Ochiltree and some other gentlemen; but John Erskine of Dun, a man of a mild and gentle temper, was the only one allowed to enter Mary's apartment along with Knox. The Reformer found his queen in considerable agitation. She told him she did not believe any prince had ever submitted to the usage she had experienced from him. "I have borne with you," she said, " in all your rigor- ous manner of speaking, both against myself and against my uncles : yea, I have sought your favour by all possible means; I offered unto ye presence and audience whensoever it pleased ye to admonish me ; and yet I cannot be quit of you." She then passionately burst into tears, so that, as Knox says with apparent satisfaction, they could scarce " get handkerchiefs to hold her eyes dry ; for the tears and the howling, besides womanly weeping, stayed her speech." The preacher, when he was allowed to speak, complacently assured her majesty, that when it pleased God to deliver her from that bondage of darkness and error wherein she had been nourished, she would not find the liberty of his tongue offensive. He added, that in the pulpit he was not his own master, but the servant of Him who commanded that he should speak plain, and flatter no flesh upon the face of the earth. Mary told him that she did not wish for his flattery, but begged to know what rank he held in the kingdom to entitle him to interfere with her marriage. Knox, whose self-esteem seldom forsook him, replied, that though neither an earl, lord, nor baron, he was a profitable and useful member of the commonwealth, and that it became him to teach her nobility, who were too partial towards her, their duty. " Therefore, madam," he continued, " to your- self I say that which I spake in public : whensoevei the nobility of this realm shall be content, and con- sent that you be subject to an unlawful husband, they do as much as in them lies to remove Christ, to banish the truth, to betray the freedom of this 3111 162 LIFE OF MARY realm, and perchance shall in the end do small com- fort to yourself." Language so unwarranted and uncalled-for again drew tears from Mary, and Er- skine, affected by her grief, attempted to soften down its harshness. Knox looked on with an unaltered countenance, and comparing his sovereign to his own children, when he saw occasion to chastise them, he said, "Madam, in God's presence I speak. I never delighted in the weeping of any of God's crea- tures ; yea, I can scarcely well abide the tears of mine own boys when mine own hands correct them. Much less can I rejoice in your majesty's weeping ; but, seeing I have offered unto ye no just occasion to be offended, but have spoken the truth as my vo- cation craves of me, I must sustain your majesty's tears rather than dare hurt my conscience, or betray the commonwealth by silence." That he might not be longer under the necessity of sustaining tears he could so ill abide, Mary commanded him to leave her presence, and wait her pleasure in the adjoining room. Here his friends who were expecting him, and who had overheard some of the conversation which had just taken place, perceiving how much he had excited the queen's just indignation, would hardly acknow- ledge him. In his own words, "he stood as one whom men had never seen." His confidence, how- ever, did not forsake him. Observing Mary's maids of honour seated together, and richly dressed, he took the opportunity, that he might not lose his time, of giving them also some gratuitous advice. " Fail ladies," he said, with a smile, " how pleasant were this life of yours, if it should ever abide, and then in the end that we might pass to heaven with this gear: but fie upon that knave, Death, that will come whether we will or not ; and when he has laid on the arrest, then foul worms will be busy with this flesh, be tf never so fair and so tender; and the silly soul I fear shall be so feeble, that it can neither carry with QUEEN OF SCOTS. 33 it gold, garnishing, targeting, pearl, nor precious atones." Shortly afterward Erskine, who had some- what pacified the queen, came to inform him that he was allowed to go home.* As the queen and Knox came just once more into public contact, and that only a few weeks after the date of the above interview, it may be as well to erminate our interference with the affairs of the Reformer in this place. The queen having gone to Stirling, a disturbance took place one Sunday during her absence at the chapel of Holyrood. Some of her domestics and Catholic retainers had assembled for the celebration of worship after the form of the Romish Church. The Presbyterians were at the time dispensing in Edinburgh the Sacrament of the Sup- per, and were consequently more zealous than usual in support of their own cause. Hearing of the Catholic practices carried on at Holyrood, they pro- ceeded thither in a body, burst into the chapel, and drove Ihe priests from the altar. To quell the riot, the comptroller of the household was obliged to ob- tain the assistance of the magistrates, and even then it was not without difficulty that the godly were pre- vailed upon to disperse. Two of their number, who had been more violent than the rest, had indictments served upon them for " forethought felony, hame- sucken, and invasion of the palace." Knox and his friends determined to save these two men from pun- ishment, at whatever risk. The means they adopted to effect their purpose were of the most seditious kind. It was determined to overawe the judges by displaying the power of the accused ; and with this view Knox wrote circular letters to all the principal persons of his persuasion, requesting them to crowd to Edinburgh on the day of trial. He thus assumed to himself the prerogative of calling Mary's subjects together, in direct opposition to one of the acts of the. * Knoz's History of I he Reformation, p. S32, et soq. T \ 161 LIFE OF MARY late parliament. When these letters weie shown to the queen and her privy council, at Stirling, they were unanimously pronounced treasonable, and Knox was summoned to appear before a convention of no- bles, to be held in Edinburgh a few weeks afterward, for the purpose of trying him. It was, however, in- timated to him, that as the queen wished to be lenient, if he would acknowledge nis fault, and throw him- self upon her mercy, little or no punishment would be awarded. He obstinately refused to make the slightest concession, and in consequence nearly lost the friendship of Lord Henries, with whom he had been long intimate. On the day of trial, public curiosity was much ex- cited to know the result. The lords assembled in the council-chamber at Holyrood ; the queen took her seat at the head of the table, and Knox stood un- covered at the foot. The proceedings were opened by Secretary M aitland, who stated the grounds of the accusation, and explained in what manner the law had been infringed. Knox made a declamatory and very unsatisfactory reply. The substance of his de- fence was, that there were lawful and unlawful con- vocations of the people, and that, as the act of parlia- ment could not apply to the assembling of his con- gregation every Sunday, neither could he be held to have transgressed it by writing letters to the heads of his church, calling them together upon a matter of vital importance to their religion. The sophistry of this reasoning was easily seen through. It was answered for the queen, that his sermons were sanc- tioned by government, and that their tendency was supposed to be peaceable ; but that the direct pur pose of the letters in question was to exasperate the minds of the lieges. One passage in particular was read, in which Knox said, alluding to the two per- sons who were indicted, " This fearful summons is directed against them, to make, no doubt, a prepara- tive on a few, that a door may be opened to execute QTJEEN OF SCOTS. 165 cruelty upon a greater multitude." " Is it not trea- son, ray lords," said Mary, " to accuse a prince of cruelty ? I think there be acts of parliament against such whisperers." Knox endeavoured to evade the force of this remark by a very evident quibble. " Madam," he said, " cast up when you list the acts of your parliament, I have offended nothing against them ; for I accuse not in my letter your grace, nor yet your nature, o cruelty. But I affirm yet again, that the pestilent Papists who have inflamed your grace against those poor men at this present are the sons of the Devil, and therefore must obey the desires of their father, who has been a liar and a manslayer from the beginning." More words were spoken on both sides, but nothing further was ad- vanced that bore directly upon the subject in hand. It is worthy of notice, however, that Knox, in the tourse of his defence, actually forgot himself so far as to institute a comparison between Mary and the Roman Nero. At length, having been fully heard, he was ordered to retire, and after some discussion, the vote of guilty or not guilty was put to the nobles. There being a considerable preponderance of Protest- ant lords at the meeting, it was carried that Knox had not committed any breach of the laws. He evinces his triumph on this occasion by remarking spitefully in his history, "That night was neither dancing nor fiddling in the court ; for madam was disappointed of her purpose, whilk was to have had John Knox in her will by vote of her nobility." His acquittal certainly disappointed Mary; but it only served to convince her more and more that bigotry and justice were incompatible. Before concluding this chapter, one of the pecu- liarities of the Scottish Reformer's mind deserves to be noticed. That h - was a strong thinker and a bold man cannot be d -nied ; yet, as has been before remarked, he himself *onfesses that he was much addicted to superstitio. - This weakness, if real. 166 LIFE OF MARY lowers him considerably in the scale of intellect j and if affected, proves that amid all the pretensions of his new doctrines, he still retained a taint of oriestly craft. Alluding to the year of which we speak (1563), he has incorporated into his History the following remarkable passage. " God from heaven, and upon the face of the earth, gave declaration that he was offended at the iniquity that was committed even within this realm ; for upon the 20th day of January there fell wet in great abundance, which in the falling freezed so vehemently, that the earth was but one sheet of ice. The fowls both great and small freezed, and could not fly; many died, and some were taken and laid before the fire, that their feathers might resolve ; and in that same month the sea stood still, as was clearly observed, and neither ebbed nor flowed the space of twenty-four hours. In the month of February, the fifteenth and eighteenth days thereof, were seen in the firmament battles arrayed, spears and other weapons, and as it had been the joining of two armies. These things were not only observed, but also spoken and constantly affirmed by men of Judgment and credit. But the queen and our court made merry."* It would thus appear, that Knox's mind was either a strange compound of strength and imbecility, courage and fear, sound sense and super- stition, or that duplicity was more a part of his char* acter than is generally supposed. onvvx 3112 178 LIFE OF MART insisted upon his seeing her dance ; and when her performance was over, she put the old question, whether she or Mary danced best. Melville answered, "The queen dancit not so high and disposedly as she did." Melville returned to Scotland, " convinced in his judgment," as he says, " that in Elizabeth's conduct there was neither plain-dealing nor uprigh meaning, but great dissimulation, emulation, and fea that Mary's princely qualities should too soon chast her out, and displace her from the kingdom." Sir James, by way of contrast, concludes this sub- ject with the following interesting account of Mary's well-won popularity, prudence, modesty, and good sense. " The queen's majesty, as I have said, after her returning out of France to Scotland, behaved herself so princely, so honourably and discreetly, that her reputation spread in all countries ; and she was determined, and also inclined to continue in that kind of comeliness even to the end of her life, de- siring to hold none in her company but such as were of the best quality and conversation, abhorring all vices and vicious persons, whether they were men or women ; and she requested me to assist her in giving her my good counsel how s>he might use the meetest means to advance her honest intention; and in case she, being yet young, might forget herself in any unseemly gesture or behaviour, that I would warn her thereof with my admonition, to forbear and reform the same ; which commission I refused altogether, saying, that her virtuous actions, her natural judg- ment, and the great experience she had learned in the company of so many notable princes in the court of France, had instructed her so well, and made her so able, as to be an example to all her subjects and servants. But she would not have it so, but said she knew that she had committed divers errors upon no evil meaning, for lack of the admonition of loving friends, because that the most part of courtiers com- monly flatter princes, to win their favour, and wiU QUEEN OF SCOTS 17i> not tell them the verity, fearing to tine their favour ; and therefore she adjured me and commanded me to accept that charge, which I said was a ruinous com- mission, willing her to lay that burden upon her bro- ther, my Lord of Murray, and the Secretary Leth- ington ; but she said that she would not take it in so good a part of them as of me. I said I feared it would cause me, with time, to tine her favour ; but she said it appeared I had an evil opinion of her con- stancy and discretion, which opinion she doubted not but I would alter, after that I had essayed the occupation of that friendly and familiar charge. In the mean time, she made me familiar with all her most urgent affairs ; but chiefly in her dealing with any foreign nation. She showed unto me all her letters, and them that she received from other princes ; and willed me to write unto such princes as I had acquaintance of, and to some of their counsellors ; wherein I forgot not to set out her virtues, and would show her again their answers, and such occurrences as passed at the time between countries, to her great contentment. For she was of a quick spirit, and anxious to know and to get intelligence of the state of other countries; and would be sometimes sad when she was solitary, and glad of the company of them that had travelled in foreign parts."* This testimony in Mary's favour from a contempo- rary author of so much respectability is worth vol- umes of ordinary panegyric. * Melville's Memoirs, p. 110-30. The French historian Castelnau peaics in exactly similar terms. When sent by the King of France as ambassador to Mary, I found that princess," he says, " in the flower of er age, esteemed and adored by her subjects, And sought after by all eighbouring states, insomuch that there was no great fortune or alli- ance that she might not have aspired to, not only because she was the relation and successor of the Queen of England, but because she wa endowed with more graces and perfection of beauty thar any other prin- cess of her tune." Caxtelnau in Jebb, vol. ii. p. 460 180 LIFE OF CHAPTER XII. Mary's Suitors, v.nd the Machinations of her Enemies. MARY had now continued a widow for about three years, but certainly not from a want of advantageous offeis. It was in her power to have formed almost any alliance she chose. There was not a court in Europe, where the importance of a matrimonial con- nexion with the Queen of Scotland and heir-apparent to the English throne was not acknowledged. Ac- cordingly, ambassadors had found their way to Holy- rood palace from all parts of the Continent. The three most influential suitors were, the Duke of An- jou, brother of Mary's late husband, Francis II., and afterward king of France on the death of his other bro- ther Charles IX., the Archduke Charles, of Austria, third son of the emperor Ferdinand, and Don Carlos, of Spain, heir-apparent to all the dominions of his father, Philip II. None of these personages, how- ever, were destined to be successful. The death of the Duke of Guise, and the greater influence which consequently fell into the hands of Catharine de Medicis, made some alteration in the Duke of Anjou's prospects, and diminished his interest with Mary. Besides, it was considered dangerous to marry the brother of a late husband. The Archduke Charles found that his proposals to the Scottish queen ex- cited so much the jealousy of his elder brother Maxi- milian, that it became necessary for him reluctantly to quit the field. It is not improbable that Don Car- los might have been listened to, had not Mary found it necessary, for reasons which will be mentioned immediately, to give up all thoughts of a continental alliance. Had she married Carlos, she might have QVEEN OF SCOTS. 181 saved him fiom the untimely fate indicted by parental cruelty in 1568. Of all the sovereigns who at this time watched Mary's intentions with the most jealous anxiety, none felt so deeply interested in the decision she might ultimately come to as Elizabeth. To hei Mary's marriage was a matter of the very last im poitance. If she connected herself with a powerful Catholic prince, her former claims upon the English throne might be renewed ; and her Scottish armies, assisted by Continental forces, might ultimately de- prive Elizabeth of her crown. Even though Mary did not proceed to such extremities, if she had a Catholic husband, and more especially if there were any children of the marriage, all the Catholics of Europe would rally round her, and her power would be such that her requests would be tantamount to commands. So far as Elizabeth's own interests, and those of the kingdom over which she reigned, were involved, she was called upon to pay all due attention to the proceedings of so formidable a rival as Mary. But the English queen's selfish and invidious policy far overstepped the limits marked out by the laws of self-defence. Having determined against marriage herself, she could not bear to think that the Queen of Scots should be any thing but a " barren stock" also. It made her miserable to know that her power should end with her life, while Mary might become the mother of a long line of kings. She hoped, there- fore, though she did not dare to avow her object, to be able to exert such influence with Murray and the Scottish Reformers, that Mary, by their united machi- nations, might find it impossible ever to form another matrimonial alliance ; and with this view her first step was to inform "her good sister" that if she mar- ried without her consent, she would have little diffi- culty in prevailing upon the parliament of England to set aside her succession. Driven hither and thither by so many contrary 182 LIFE OF MARY opinions and contending interests, it was no easy matter for the Scottish queen to come to a final de- termination upon this subject. Although, in her own words, " not to marry she knew could not be for her, and to defer it long many incommodities might en- sue," she at the same time saw that there were insu- perable reasons against a foreign alliance. The loss of her best and most powerful continental friend, the Duke of Guise, was one of these ; another was the avowed wish of Elizabeth and the English nation ; and the third, and that which weighed most forcibly, the earnest entreaties of her own subjects. The great proportion of the inhabitants of Scotland were now Protestants; and to have attempted to place over them a foreign Catholic prince would have been to have incurred the risk of throwing them at once into the arms of Elizabeth, and of losing their alle- giance for ever. Mary was therefore willing to make a virtue of necessity, and to allow herself to be guided very much by her " good sister's discretion." This concession to the English queen was far from oeing agreeable to Catharine de Medicis and the French court. It seemed to be paving the way for a cessation of that friendship which had so long ex- isted between France and Scotland. Catharine, altering her policy, began to treat Mary with every mark of attention. She paid up the dowry she re- ceived from France, which had fallen into arrears, and requested Mary to exercise as much patronage ind influence in that country as she chose. Eliza- beth, however, had already suggested a husband for her, and, to the astonishment of everybody, had named her favourite minion, Dudley, Earl of Leices- ter. Though the proposal of one of her own sub- jects, and one, too, whom she had raised from com- parative obscurity, was regarded by Mary as little else than an insult, she agreed that two commission- ers upon her part, Murray and Maitland, should meet two of Elizabeth's the Duke of Bedford and Ran- QUEEN OF SCOTS. 183 dolph, to discuss the expediency of the match. A the conference, which took place at Berwick, it wat stated for Mary, that she could never condescend to marry a newly-created English earl, having so long a list of princes of the blood-royal of the noblest houses of Europe among her suitors; and it was added, boldly, that Elizabeth seemed somewhat de- ficient even in self-respect, when she could think of recommending such a husband for a queen, her kins- woman. It is not at all likely that either Elizabeth or the Earl of Leicester expected or wished any other answer. Elizabeth could hardly have done without her favourite ; and the earl would have fallen into irretrievable disgrace had he 1 dared to confess a pre- ference for any mistress over the one he already had. It was soon after this conference that Randolph, by Elizabeth's directions, repaired to the queen at St. Andrews, to ascertain from her own lips what were her real sentiments on the subject of marriage. He found her living very quietly in a merchant's house, with a small train. She had been wearied with the state and show of a court, and had determined to pass some weeks in her favourite retirement of St. An- drews, more as a subject than a queen. She made Randolph dine and sup with her every day during his visit ; and she frequently, upon these occasions, drank to the health of Elizabeth. When Randolph entered upon matters of business Mary said to him, playfully, 44 1 sent for you to be merry, and to see how like a bourgeoise wife I live with my little troop ; and you will interrupt our pastime with your great and grave matters. I pray ye, sir, if ye be weary here, return home to Edinburgh ; and keep your gravity and great embassade until the queen come thither ; for, I as- sure ye, you shall not get her here, nor I know not myself where she is become. Ye see neither cloth of estate nor such appearance that you may think that there is a queen here ; nor I would not that you should think that I am she at St. Andrews that I was 184 LIFE OF MARY at Edinburgh." Randolph was thus, for the time; fairly bantered out of his diplomatic gravity. But next day he rode abroad with the queen and renewed the subject. Mary then told him that she saw the necessity of marrying, and that she would rather be guided in her choice by England than by France or any other country after Scotland. She frankly added that her reason for paying this deference to Eliza- beth was to obtain an acknowledgment of her right of succession to the English crown. She was making a sacrifice, she said, in renouncing the much more splendid alliances which had been offered her ; and she could not be expected to do so without a return on the part of Elizabeth. Fearful that the crafty Randolph might make a bad use of this open con- fession, she suddenly checked herself;- 1 -" I am a fool," she said, " thus long to talk with you ; you are too subtle for me to deal with." But Randolph, find- ing her in a communicative mood, was unwilling that the conversation should drop so soon. Some further discourse took place, and Mary in conclusion gave utterance to the following sentiments, which do honour both to her head and heart. " How much better were it," said she, " that we two, being queens, so near of kin and neighbours, and being in one isle, should be friends and live together like s' Q tr3, than by strange means divide ourselves to the hurt of us both ; and to say that we may for all that live friends, we may say and prove what we will, but it will pass both our powers. You repute us poor; but yet you have found us cumbersome enough. \Ve have had loss ; ye have taken scaith. Why may it not be be- tween my sister and me, that we, living on peace and assured friendship, may give our minds, that some as notable things may be wrought by us women as by our predecessors have been done before. Let us seek this honour against some other, rather than fall to debate among ourselves."* Keith, p. 269; Chalmers TO!, i. p. 1 QUEEN OF SCOTS. 185 Mary, however, .. u Elizabeth's want of sincerity} 18 -- time convinced of a matrimonial plan of her own, wmTJUpd, therefore, herself, would be considered judicious by alf pitered It will be recollected that during the troubles which ensued soon after Mary's birth, Matthew, Earl of Lennox, having drawn upon himself the suspicion both of the Protestant and Catholic parties in Scot- land, retired into England, where Henry VIII. gave him his niece in marriage. The Lady Margaret Douglas was daughter of the eldest daughter of Henry VII., the Princess Margaret, who, upon the decease of her first husband, James IV., had married the Earl of Angus, of which marriage the Lady Margaret was the issue. Lennox, belonging as he did to the house of Stuart, was himself related to the royal family of Scotland; and his wife, failing the children of Henry VIIL, and the direct line of succession by her mother's first husband James IV., in which line Mary stood, was the legal heir to the crown of England. The first child of this marriage died in infancy. The second, afterward known as Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was born in 1546, and was, consequently, about four years younger than Mary. This disparity in point of years, though unfortunate in another point of view, was not such as to preclude the possibility of an alliance between two persons in whose veins flowed so much of the blood of the Stuarts and the Tudors. Henry VIIL had, along with his niece, bestowed upon Lennox English lands, from which he derived a yearly revenue of fifteen hundred marks. His own estates in Scotland were forfeited, so that he thus came to be considered more an English than a Scot- tish subject. He had long, however, nourished the secret hope of restoring his fortunes in his native land. His wife, who was a woman of an ambitious and intriguing spirit, induced him, at an early period, to educate his son with a view to his aspiring to the 186 LIFE OF MARY hand of the Scottish queen. On the death of Fran- cis II. she went herself to Paris, for the purpose of ingratiating herself with Mary, and securing a fa- vourable opinion for Darnley. Mary probably gave her some hope that she might at a future date take her proposals into serious consideration ; for it ap- pears by some papers still preserved in the British Museum, that few rejoiced more sincerely at the queen's safe arrival in Scotland than Lady Lennox. She is said to have fallen on her knees, and with up- lifted hands thanked God that the Scottish queen had escaped the English ships. For this piece of piety, *nd to show her the necessity of taking less interest in the affairs of Elizabeth's rival, Cecil sent Lady Lennox to prison for some months. Seeing the difficulties which stood in the way of all her other suitors, Mary, in the year 1564, began seriously to think of Darnley. A marriage with him would unite, in the person of the heir of such mar- riage, the rival claims of the Stuarts and the Tudors upon the English succession, failing issue by Eliza- beth ; and it would give to Scotland a native prince of the old royal line. It was difficult to see what reasonable objections could be made to such an alli- ance ; and that she might at all events have an op- portunity of judging for herself, Mary granted the Earl of Lennox permission to return to Scotland in 1564, after an exile of twenty years, and promised to assist him in reclaiming his hereditary rights. Eliza- beth, who was well aware of the ultimate views with which this journey was undertaken, and had certainly no desire to forward their accomplishment, made nevertheless no opposition to it. With her usual sagacity, she calculated that much discord and jea- lousy would arise out of the earl's suit in favour of his son. She knew that the house of Hamilton, whose claims upon the Scottish crown were publicly recognised, looked upon the Lennox family as its worst enemies; and that the haughty nobility o QUEEN OF SCOTS. 187 Scotland would ill brook to see a stripling elevated above the heads of all of them. Besides, the prin- cipal estates of Lennox now lay in England ; and in the words of Robertson, " she hoped by this pledge to keep the negotiation entirely in her own hands, and t-o play the same game of artifice and delay which she had planned out if her recommendation of Lei- cester had been more favourably received." In the parliament which assembled towards the end of the year 1564 Lennox was restored to his estates and honours. Such of his possessions as had passed into the hands of the Earl of Argyle were surren- dered with extreme reluctance; and the Duke of Chatelherault, dreading the marriage with Darnley, continued obstinate in his hatred. The Earl of Mur- ray, too, aware that this new connexion would be ? fatal blow to his influence, set his face against it from the first. Maitland, on the contrary, who felt that he had been hitherto kept too much under by the prime minister, did not anticipate with any regret the decline of his ascendency. The secretary and most of the other members of the privy council were assiduously courted by Lennox. He made presents both to the queen and them of valuable jewels ; but to Murray, whose enmity he knew, he gave nothing.* That Murray's weight in the govern- ment, however, had not yet decreased is apparent from ' Chalmers says (vol. i. p. 120), that the " Countess of Lennox sen' Murray a diamond," which, though true, is not supported by the authority tie quotes, Randolph in Keith, who says (p. 259), " Lennox giveth to the queen and most of the council jewels ; but none to Murray." The authority Chalmers ought to have quoted is Melville (p. 127), who, on his return from his embassy to England, brought some presents with him from Lady Lennox, who was then not aware of the precise state of par ties in Scotland. " My Lady Lennox," says Melville. " sent also tokens , to the queen a ring with a lair diamont; ane emerald to my lord herhus- jand, who was yet in Scotland ; a diamont to my Lord of Murray ; ane rloge or montre (watch) set with diamonts and rubies, to the Secretary Lethington ; a ring with a ruby to my brother Sir Robert ; for she waa still in good hope that her son, my Lord Darnley, should come better speed than the Earl of Leicester, anent the marriage with the queen. SUe was a very wise and discreet matron., and had many favourers in Eng .ml Ibr the time." I P 188 LIFE OF MART his procuring an enactment to gratify the Protestants in the parliament of this year, making the attending of mass, except in the queen's chapel, punishable with loss of goods, lands, and life ; and the Arch- bishop of St. Andrews, having infringed this act, was imprisoned, in spite of Mary's intercession, for some months. Early in 1565 Darnley obtained leave from Eliza- beth to set out for Scotland. His ostensible purpose was to visit his father, and to see the estates to which he had been recently restored; but that his real object was to endeavour to win the good graces of Mary was no secret. Elizabeth's wish being to involve Mary in a quarrel, as well with some of her own nobility as with England, there was much art in the plan she laid for its accomplishment. She con- sented that the Earl of Lennox should go into Scot- land to recover his forfeited estates, and that his son should follow him to share in his father's good for- tune; she even went the length of recommending them both to the especial favour of the Scottish queen ; but of course said not a word of any sus- picions she entertained of the projected alliance. As soon as it should appear that Mary's resolution was taken, she would affect the greatest indignation at the whole proceedings, and pretend that they had been cunningly devised and executed, hoping either to break off the match altogether, or to make Mary's nuptial couch any thing but a bed of roses. Thus was the Scottish queen to be systematically har- assed, and made miserable, to gratify the splenetic jealousy, and lull the selfish terrors, of her sister of England. Darnley, in the midst of a severe snow-storm, travelled with all expedition to Edinburgh. Upon his arrival he found that Mary was at Wemyss Castle in Fife, whither, at his father's desire, he immediately proceeded. The impression which it is said he made upon the queen, at even his first interview, has been QUEEN OF SCOTS. 189 much exaggerated. Chalmers, alluding principally to Robertson's account of this matter, acutely re- marks, " The Scottish historians would have us believe, that Mary fell desperately in love with Darn- ley at first sight ; they would have us suppose, as simply as themselves, that the widowed queen, at the age of twenty-two" (it should have been twenty- three), " who knew the world, and had seen the most accomplished gentlemen in Europe, was a boarding- school miss, who had never till now seen a man." Mary received Darnley frankly, and as one whom she. wished to like ; but she had been too long accus- tomed to admiration to be prepared to surrender her heart at the first glance. It was not Mary's charac- ter to allow herself to be won before she was wooed. She was, no doubt, glad to perceive that Darnley was one of the handsomest young men of the day. She said, playfully, that " he was the lustiest and best, proportioned long man she had seen." She might have said a good deal more ; for all historians agree in noticing the grace of his person, the easy elegance of his carriage, the agreeable regularity of his fea- tures, and the animated expression of his counte- nance, lighted up, as it was, by a pair of dazzling eyes. He excelled, too, in all the showy and manly accomplishments so much in vogue among the young nobility. His riding and dancing were unrivalled ; and to gratify Mary, he avowed, whether real or affected, a great fondness for poetry and music. Melville says, quaintly, " He was of a heigh stat- ure, lang and small, even and brent up; well in- structed from his youth in all honest and comely exercises."* * In confirmation of the fact, that he was " well-instructed," i* nut} be mentioned, that, before he was twelve years old, he wrote a tale, called " Utopia Nova." Some ballads are also ascribed to him ; and Bishop Montague, in his preface to the works of James VI., mentions, that he translated Valerius Maximus into English. His only literary flbrt which seems to have leen preserved is a letter he wrote when about nine years old from Temple Newsome, his father's principal seat in 190 LIFE OF MARY It was not, however, Damley's exterior in which Mary and her subjects were principally interested. The bent which nature and education had given to his mind and character was a much more important subject of consideration. With regard to his reli- gious sentiments, they seem to have sat loosely upon him ; though his mother was a Catholic, he himself professed adherence to the established church of Yorkshire, to his cousin Mary Tudor, Queen of England. It deserve* insertion as a curiosity : " Like as the monument* of ancient authors, most triumphant, moat victorious, and most gracious princess, declare how that a certain excel lent musician, Timotheus Musicus, was wont, with his sweet-propor- tioned and melodious harmony, to inflame Alexander the Great, conqueror and king of Macedonia, to civil wars, with a roost fervent desire, even so I, remembering with myself oftentimes how that (over and besides such manifold benefits as your highness heretofore hath bestowed on me) it hath pleased your most excellent majesty lately to accept a little plot of my simple penning, which I termed Utopia Nova ; for the which, it being base, vile, and maimed, your majesty hath given me a rich chain of gold ; the noise (I say) of such instruments as I hear now and then (although their melody differ much from the sweet strokes and sounds of King Alexander's Timotheus) do not only persuade and move, yea, prick and spur me forward, to endeavour my wits daily (all vanities set apart) to virtuous learning and study, being thereto thus encouraged, so often- times by your majesty's manifold benefits, gifts, and rewards ; but also I am enflamed and stirred, even now my tender age notwithstanding, to be serving your grace, wishing every hair in my head for to be a worthy Holdier of that same-self heart, mind, and stomach, that I am of. Bui whereas I perceive that neither my wit, power, nor years are at this present corresponding unto this, my good will ; these shall be, therefore (most gracious princess), most numbly rendering unto your majesty im- mortal thanks for your rich chain, and other your highness' sundry gifts, given unto me without any my deservings, from time to time. Trusting in God one day of my most bounden duty to endeavour myself, with my faithful hearty service, to remember the same. And being afraid, with these my superfluous words to interturb (God forfend) your highness, whose most excellent majesty is always, and specially now, occupied in most weighty matters, thus I make an end. Praying unto Almighty God most humbly and faithfully to preserve, keep, and defend your majesty, long reigning over us all, your true and faithful subjects, a moat victorious and triumphant princess. Amen. From Temple Newsome, the 28th March, 1554. Your majesty's most bounden and obedient subject and servant, HKNRY DAP.NLEY.* * Ellis's collection of " Original Letters illustrative of English Hm tory.* Second series, vol ii. P. 249 QUEEN OF SCOTS. 19) England.* In Scotland, he saw the necessity of in- gratiating himself with the Reformers ; and he went, the very first Sunday he spent in Edinburgh, to hear Knox preach. But Damley's great misfortune was, that, before he had learned any thing in the school of experience, and in the very heat and fire of youth, he was raised to an eminence which, so far from enabling him to see over the heads of other men, only rendered him giddy, and made his inferiority the more apparent. He was naturally of a head- strong and violent temper, which might perhaps have been tamed down by adversity, but which only ran into wilder waste in the sunshine of prosperity. He was passionately fond of power, without the ability to make a proper use of it. It is not unlikely that, had he continued a subject for some years longer, and associated with men of sound judgment and practical knowledge, he might have divested himself of some of the follies of youth, and acquired a contempt for many of its vices. But his honours came upon him too suddenly ; and the intellectual strength of his character, never very great, was crushed under the load. Conscious of his inability to cope with persons of talent, he sought to gather round him those who were willing to flatter him on account of his rank, or to join him in all kinds of dissipation, with the view of sharing his ill-regulated liberality. Of the duties of a courtier he knew something; but of those of a politician he was profoundly ignorant. The polish of his manners gained him friends at first ; but the reckless freedom with which he gave utterance to his hasty opinions and ill-grounded pre- judices speedily converted them into enemies. He had only been a short time in Scotland, when he remarked to one of the Earl of Murray's brothers, who pointed out to him on the map the earl's lands, * that they were too extensive." Murray was told * Keith, p. 278. 192 LIFE OF MART of this ; and, perceiving what he had to expect when Darnley became king, he took his measures accord- ingly. Mary, whose affliction it was to have hue- bands far inferior to herself in mental qualifications, besought Darnley to be more guarded in future. That he was somewhat violent and self-sufficient she did not feel to be an insuperable objection, consid ering, as she did, the political advantages that might accrue from the alliance. She hoped that time would improve him ; and besides, she did not yet know the full extent of his imperfections, as he had, of course, been anxious to show her only the fairer side of his character. Melville speaks of him, even when he came to be most hated, as a young prince, who failed rather for lack of good counsel than of evil will. " It appeared to be his destiny," says he, " to like better of flatterers and evil company, than of plain speakers and good men ; whilk has been the wreck of many princes, who, with good company, might have produced worthy effects." Randolph himself allows, that for some weeks his "behaviour was very well liked, and there was great promise of him." He had been about a month at court before he ven- tured to propose himself as a husband to Mary ; and at first she gave him but small encouragement, tell- ing him she had not yet made up her mind, and refus- ing to accept of a ring which he offered her.* This was not like one who had fallen in love at first sight. But the queen invariably conducted herself with becoming self-respect towards Darnley, permitting, as Miss Benger remarks, rather than inviting, his attentions. Darnley, thus finding that, though the ball was at his foot, the game was not already won, saw it ne- cessary to engage with his father's assistance as powerful a party as possible to support his preten- *ioiu Sir James Melville was his friend, and spoke Melville's Memoirs, p 114. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 193 m his favour to Mary. All the lords who hated or feared Murray did the same ; among whom were the Earls of Athol and Caithness, and the Lords Ruth- Ten and Hume. A still more useful agent than any of these Darnley found in David Rizzio, who, as the queen's French secretary, and one whose abilities the respected, had a good deal of influence with her. Rizzio knew that for this very reason he was hated by Murray and others of the privy council. He was therefore not ill pleased to find himself sought after fcy her future husband, for he hoped thus to retain kis place at court, and perhaps to rise upon the ruin f some of those who wished his downfall. An ac- cidental illness which overtook Darnley when the queen, with her court, was at Stirling, about the be- ginning of April, 1565, was another circumstance in his favour. At first his complaint was supposed to be a common cold, but in a few days it turned out to be the measles. The natural anxiety which Mary felt for Darnley's recovery induced her to exhibit a tenderer interest in him than she had ever done before. She paid him the most flattering attentions, and continued them unwearingly, though her patient was provokingly attacked by an ague almost imme- diately after his recovery from the measles.* It is worth noticing, that while Mary was thus oc upied in attending to Darnley, the Earl of Bothwell returned to Scotland from his involuntary banish- nent. His former misdemeanors were not yet for- gotten, and he was summoned by the queen and Murray to take his trial in Edinburgh: but not liking to trust himself in the hands of his ancient enemies, * Mary's conduct upon this occasion may be compared with that of Elizabeth to her favourite Essex ; but the Scottish queen's motives were f a far purer and better kind. " When Essex," says Walpole, " acted a fit of sickness, not a day passed without the queen's sending after tr ee him ; and she once went so far as to sit long by him, and order hi* kroths and things.'' " It may be observed," remarks Chalmers, " that Mary was engaged (or rather secretly resolved) to marry Darnley, but Elizabeth onlv flirted with Essex." 3118 Hl LIFE 01 .HuRV he again left the country for six months. He did not depart before giving utterance to several violent threats against Murray and Maitland, and speaking so disrespectfully of the queen, that Randolph says she declared to him, upon her honour, that he should never receive favour at her hands.* The Queen of Scots, being now resolved to bestow her hand on Darnley, sent her secretary, Maitland, to London, to intimate her intentions, and to request Elizabeth's approbation. This was the very last thing Elizabeth meant to give. The matter had now arrived exactly at the point to which she had all along wished to bring it. She had prevailed upon Mary to abandon the idea of a foreign alliance ; she had induced her to throw away some valuable time in ridiculous negotiations concerning the Earl of Leicester; she had consented, first that the Earl of Lennox, and then that his son Darnley, should go into Scotland ; and she did not say a single syllable against it till she had allowed Mary to be persuaded that no marriage in Christendom could be more prudent. It was now that the cloven foot was to betray itself: that her faction was to be called upon to exert itself in Scotland; that the cup was to be dashed from Darnley's lips ; and that Mary was to be involved in the vortex of civil dissension. The historian Cas- telnau, whom Mary at this time sent as her ambas sador to France, and who there obtained their majes ties' consent to the marriage, mentions, that when he returned through England, he found the queen much colder than formerly, complaining that Mary had subtracted her relation and subject, and that she was intending to marry him without her permission and against her approbation. " And yet I am sure," adds Castelnau, "that these words were very far from her heart ; for she used all her efforts, and spa r ed nothing to set this marriage a-going. "f Keith, p. 270. and Chalmers, rol. ii. p. 214, et e tatis/actorily refuted it. Goodall, vol. i. p. 207. * Keith, p. 293 ; Spottiswoode, p. 190. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 203 came entirely subservient to the wishes and com- mands of Elizabeth. He and his friends wrote to request that she would send them, as a proof of her sincerity in the cause, the sum of three thousand pounds to meet the expenses of the current year ; and they would thus be able, they imagined, to carry every thing be fore them, unless Mary received foreign assistance. They likewise suggested that Lord Hume, whose estates lay on the borders, and who was one of the Scottish queen's most faithful ser- vants, should be harassed by some ostensibly acci- dental incursions ; that the Bishop of Dumblane, who was to be sent on an embassy to the Continent, should be delayed in London till " his budgets were rifled by some good slight or other;" and that Both- vvell, whom Mary was about to recall, to obtain his assistance in her present difficulties, should be " kept in good surety" for a time.* To all this Elizabeth replied, that if the lords suffered any inconvenience, " they should not find lack in her to succour them." She hinted, however, that the less money they asked the better, advising them " neither to make greater expense than their security makes necessary, noj less which may bring danger." " This letter," says- Keith, "is an evident demonstration of the English queen's fomenting and supporting a rebellion in Scot- land ; and the rebellious lords knew too well what they had to trust to." One can hardly attempt to unravel, as has been done in the preceding pages, the secret causes which led to the iniquitous rebellion now organized, with- out feeling it almost a duty to express indignation both at the malicious interference of the English queen, and the overweening ambition and ingrati- ude of the Earl of Murray. Mary's conduct since !ier return from France had been almost unexcep- "onable. The only fault, she had committed, and * Keith j>. '294, et seq I.-Q 204 LIFE OF MART the necessity of the times force d it on her, wan yielding too implicitly to the counsels of her brother. These had been in some instances judicious, and in others, the natural severity of his temper had been rebuked by the mildness of Mary ; so that, take it for all in all, no government had ever been more popular in Scotland than hers. Her choice of Lord Darnley for a husband, so far from diminishing the estimation in which she was held by the great body of her subjects, only contributed to raise her in their opinion. For the sake of the political advantages which would result to her country from this alliance, she was willing to forego much more splendid offers; and, though the imperfections of Damley's character might ultimately be the means of destroying her own happiness, his birth and expectations were exactly such as gave him the best right to be the father of James VI. Nor could his religious opinions be ob- jected to, for, whatever they were, they did not influence the queen; indeed, ever since she had known him, she had treated the Protestants with even more than her usual liberality. At the baptism of Lord Livingston's child, she remained and heard a Protestant sermon ; and about the same time she intimated to some of the leaders of the Reformers, that though she was not persuaded of the truth of any religion except of that in which she had been brought up, she would nevertheless allow a con- ference and disputation on the Scriptures in her presence, and also a public preaching from the mouth of Mr. Erskine of Dun, whom she regarded as ** a mild and sweet-natured man, with true honesty and uprightness."* All these things considered, one is at a loss to conceive how, even ir these restless times, any set of men dared to en * into rebellion against Mary. But the selfish and insidious policy jf Elizabeth, the jealousy of the Duke of Chatel * Keith, p 397 OF SCOTS. 205 herault, in whose family rested the succession to the Scottish crown, and who had hoped that his son Arran might have obtained Mary's hand, the envy and rage of the Earl of Argyle, who had been oblifd to surrender to Lennox some of his forfeited estates and, above all, the artful and grasping spirit of Murray, solve the enigma. Whatever opinion may be entertained of Mary's subsequent proceedings it appears but too evident, that the first serious troubles of her reign were forced upon her in spite of her ut- most prudence, by the intrigues of enemies who were only the more dangerous, because they had for a time assumed the disguise of friends. Whatever the hopes or wishes of the conspirators might be, Mary resolved that they should not long have it in their power to make their desire to pre- vent her nuptials a pretext for continuing in arms. On Sunday, the 29th of July, 1565, she celebrated her marriage with Darnley, upon whom she had pre- viously conferred various titles, and among others that of Duke of Albany.* The bans of matrimony were proclaimed in the Canongate church, the palace of Holyrood being in that parish ; and, as Mary and Uarnley were first cousins, a Catholic dispensation had been obtained from the pope. The ceremony was performed, according to the Catholic ritual, in the chapel of Holyrood, between five and six in the morning an hour which appears somewhat strange to modern habits. John Sinclair, dean of Restalrig, and bishop of Brechin, had the honour of presiding on the occasion. It was generally remarked, that a handsomer couple had never been seen in Scotland. Mary was now twenty-three, and at the very height of her beauty, and Darnley, though only nineteen, * Buchanan says, foolishly enough, that the predictions of " wizardly women" contributed much to hasten this marriage. They prophesied, it seems, that if it was consummated before the end of July, it would happy for both ; if not, it would be the source of much misery. R i i pit) that theae predictions were not true. 206 LIFE OF MARY was of a more manly person and appearance than his age would have indicated. The festivities were certainly not such as had attended the queen's first marriage, for the elegancies of life were not under- stood in Scotland as in France ; and, besides, it was a time of trouble when armed men were obliged to stand round the altar. Nevertheless, all due ob- servances and rejoicings lent a dignity to the occa- sion. Mary, in a flowing robe of black, with a wide mourning hood, was led into the chapel by the Earls of Lennox and Athol, who, having conducted her to the altar, retired to bring in the bridegroom. The bishop having united them in the presence of a great attendance of lords and ladies, three rings were put upon the queen's finger the middle one a rich dia- mond. They then knelt together, and many prayers were said over them. At their conclusion, Darnley kissed his bride, and as he did not himself profess the Catholic faith, left her till she should hear mass. She was afterward followed by most of the company to her own apartments, where she laid aside her sable garments, to intimate, that henceforth, as the wife of another, she would forget the grief occa- sioned by the loss of her first husband. In observ- ance of an old custom, as many of the lords as could approach near enough were permitted to assist in unrobing her, by taking out a pin. She was then committed to her ladies, who, having attired her with becoming splendour, brought her to the ball- room, where there was great cheer and dancing till dinner-time. At dinner, Darnley appeared in his loyal robes; and after a great flourish of trumpets, largess was proclaimed among the multitude who surrounded the palace. The Earls of Athol, Morton, and Crawfurd attended the queen as sewer, carver, and cup-bearer ; and the Earls of Eglinton, Cassilis, and Glencairn performed the like offices for Darn- ey. When dinner was over, the dancing was UUJL:I:.\ OF SCOTS. 207 renewed till supper-time, soon after which the com- pany retired for the night.* The rejoicings that attended the commencement of Darnley's career as King of Scotland were but of short duration. Randolph, expressing the senti- ments of Elizabeth and the rebels, hesitated not to say, that " God must either send the king a short end or them a miserable life ; that either he must be taken away or they find some support, that what he intend- eth to others may light upon himself." CHAPTER XIV. Murray's Rebellion. MURRAY had now gone too far to recede, though had he been so inclined, Mary's leniency would wil- lingly have given him the opportunity. Mr. John Hay, who had formerly acted as her ambassador in England, and who was one of her brother's personal friends, was sent to him to declare the good-will which both the Earl of Lennox and Darnley bore towards him. Mary even avowed her readiness to bring to trial any one he would accuse of having conspired against his life ; but he had no evidence to prove that such a conspiracy had ever existed much less to fix the guilt upon any individual. He had made the accusation originally, only the belter to conceal his own nefarious purposes; for Mur- ray well understood the practical application of Machiavel's maxim: " Calumniare audacter aliquid adhaerebit." * Randolph in Robertson, Appendix, .No. XI.; Keith, p 307: Miw Benger, rol. ii. p. 914. f 08 UFK OF MARY Acting in concert with this nobleman, Elizabeth now sent more imperative orders than before for the return of Lennox and Darnley. But the former an- swered, that, considering his wife had been commit- ted to the Tower foi no fault on her part, he thought it unlikely that the climate of England would suit his constitution ; and the latter said, boldly and gal- lantly, that he now acknowledged duty and obe- dience to none but the Queen of Scots, whom he served and honoured; and though Elizabeth chose to be envious of his good fortune, he could not dis- cover why he should leave a country where he found himself so comfortable. Randolph coolly replied, that he hoped to see the wreck and overthrow of a many as were of fhe same mind ; u and so, turning my back to him, without reverence or farewell, 1 went away."* The disaffected lords, on their part as soon as they heard of Mary's marriage, and the proclamations in which she conferred upon her hus- band the rank and title of king, renewed their com- plaints with increased bitterness. The majority of their countrymen, however, saw through their real motives; and even Knox allows it was generally alleged that these complaints were " not for religion, but rather for hatred, envy of sudden promotion 01 dignity, or such worldly causes." The recalling of the Earls Bothwell and Sutherland, and the restoring of Lord Gordon to the forfeited estates and honours of his father, the Earl of Huntly, was another source of exasperation. From the tried fidelity of these noblemen, Mary knew she could depend upon their services ; though Bothwell, personally, as we have already seen, was far from being agreeable to her. To put in the clearest point of view the utter worthlessness of all the grounds of offence which Keith, p. SOS and 304. This was a day or two before Darnlv marriage. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 209 Elizabeth and the Scottish rebels pretended at this time to have against Mary, a short and impartial ac- count of a message sent by the English queen, early in August, 1565, and of the answer it received, will be read here with interest. The person who brought this message was one of Elizabeth's inferior officials, of the name of Tamworth, "a forward, insolent man," says Camden, and, with marked disrespect, chosen for this very reason. He was ordered not to acknowledge Darnley as king, and to give him no title but that which he had borne in England ; but Mary, " having smelt," as Camden adds, " the nature both of the message and of the animal that brought it," would not admit him into her presence. His objections were therefore committed to writing, and the answer given in similar form. On the part of Elizabeth it was stated, that her majesty had found Mary's late proceedings, both towards herself and towards her subjects, very strange, upon diverse grounds. These, as they were brought forward, so were they replied to methodically and seriatim. First, Elizabeth took God to witness that her offer to Mary of any of her own subjects in marriage was made sincerely and lovingly; and that she was grieved to hear that Mary, listening to false counsel, had been made to think otherwise. To this it was answered, that the Queen of Scots did not doubi Elizabeth's sincerity and uprightness in her offer of a husband from England, and that no counsel had been given to induce her to change her opinion. Second, Elizabeth was much surprised, that notwith- standing the offer made by Mary to Sir Nicolas Throckmorton to delay her marriage till the middle of August, that she might have longer time to prevail upon Elizabeth to consent to it, she had consum- mated that marriage, without giving her majesty any intimation, on the 29th of July, and had thereby dis- appointed both Elizabeth and some foreign princes, who thought as strangely of the alliance as she did 3114 210 LIFE OF MARY To this it was answered, that it was true, that though Mary's resolution was fixed before Sir Nico- las Throckmorton came into Scotland, she had never- theless promised to delay her marriage, in the hope that the doubts entertained by Elizabeth as to the propriety of the said marriage might in the mean time be removed ; but that this promise was made expressly on the condition that commissioners should be appomtcd on both sides to discuss the matter; and that, as Elizabeth refused to nominate any such commissioners, Mary was relieved from her promise ; that, further, she had good reasons, known to her- self and her own people, with which no other prince needed to interfere, for consummating her marriage at the time she did; and that with regard to foreign princes tlunking the alliance strange, she had a per- fect knowledge of the opinions, and had obtained the express consent of the principal and greatest princes in Christendom. Third, Elizabeth was astonished how Maiy, in direct opposition to the conditions of the treaty of peace existing between England and Scotland, could detain her majesty's subjects, Len- nox and Darnley, in Scotland having allured them thither under a pretence of suits for lands, but in reality to form an alliance without her majesty's consent and license, an offence so unnatural, that the world spoke of it, and her majesty could not forget it. To this it was answered, that Mary mar- velled not a little at the queen, her good sister, in- sisting any further upon this head ; for she did not understand how it could be found strange that she detained within her realm the person with whom she had joined herself in marriage, or a Scottish earl, whom Elizabeth herself named by his Scottish title the more especially as they both came to her with Elizabeth's consent and letters of recommenda- tion; and that she had no doubt that the world spoke as sound sense would dictate, judging that her detaining them was in no ways prejudicial to any OUEEM OF SCOTS. 211 treaty of peace existing between the two vealms since no annoyance was intended towards Elizabeth, her kingdom, or estate. Fourth, Elizabeth won- dered that Maiy's ambassador, Mr. John Hay, came to ask to be informed of her majesty's objections to the marriage, and of what she wished to be done, but had no authority either to agree to or refuse her requests ; and she therefore supposed that he had been sent more as a piece of empty form than foi any useful purpose. To this it was answered, that Mary, though willing to hear Elizabeth's objections, if any such existed, and to endeavour to remove them, had yet expressly declared that she would make such endeavour only through the medium of commissioners mutually agreed on; and that she was still so convinced of the expediency of the match, that, though now married, she was still willing, if Elizabeth wished it, to have its propriety discussed by such commissioners. Fifth, Elizabeth begged that an explanation might be given of a sen- tence in one of Mary's French letters, which she found somewhat obscured, and which ran thus : " Je n'estimerois jamais que cela vienne de vous, et sans en chercher autre vengeance, j'aurois recours a tous les princes mes allies pour avec moi vous remon strer ce que je vous suis par parentage. Vous savez assez ce que vous avez resolu sur cela." To this it was answered, that Mary, by the whole of her letter, as well as the passage in question, meant no other thing but to express her desire to remain in perfect friendship and good intelligence with the queen her sister, from whom she expected such treatment as reason and nature required from one princess to another, who was her cousin ; and that if, as God forbid, other treatment were received, which Mary would not anticipate, she could do no less than lay her case before other princes, her friends and allies. Sixth, Elizabeth was grieved to see that Mary en- couraged fugitives and offenders from England, and r._ R 212 LIFE OF MART practised other devices within her majesty's realm, and that, in her own kingdom, seduced by false counsellors and malicious information, slip raised up factions among the nobility. To this it was an- swered, that if the Scottish queen really wished to offend Elizabeth, she would not be contented with such paltry practices as those she was accused of towards English subjects ; and that, with regard to her proceedings in her own realm, as she had never interfered with Elizabeth's order of government, not thinking it right that one state should have a finger in the internal policy of another, so she requested that Elizabeth would not meddle with hers, but trust to her discretion, as the person most interested, to preserve peace and quietness. Seventh, Elizabeth warned Mary to take good heed that she did not proceed in her intention to suppress and extirpate the religion already established in Scotland, or to effect the suppression of the Reformed faith in Eng- land ; for that all such designs, consultations, intel- ligences, and devices should be converted to the peril and damage of those that advised and engaged in them. To this it was answered, that Mary could not but marvel at Elizabeth's fears for a religion upon which no innovation had ever been attempted, but for the establishment of which every arrange- ment had been made most agreeable to her Scottish subjects; that as to an intention to interfere with the spiritual faith of England, she never heard of it before; but that, if any practices to such effect could be condescended on, they should instantly be explained and altered ; and that, with regard to her designs, consultations, intelligences, and devices, such as she really engaged in would be found no vainer or more deceitful than those of her neigh- bours. Eighth, and lastly, Elizabeth wished that Mary would not show herself so given to change as to conceive evil of the Earl of Murray, whose just deserts she had so long acknowledged ; for that by QUEEN OF SCOTS. 213 indifference and severity there were plenty exam- ples to prove that many noblemen had been con- strained to take such measures for their own se- curity as they would otherwise never have resorted to; and that these were part of the reasons why Elizabeth was offended with Mary. To this it was answered, that Mary wished her good sister would not meddle with the affairs of her Scottish subjects any more than Mary meddled with the affairs of Elizabeth's English subjects ; but that, if Elizabeth desired any explanation of her conduct towards Murray, it would be willingly given, as soon as Elizabeth explained her motives for committing to the Tower Lady Margaret, Countess of Lennox, mother-in-law and aunt of Mary ; and that, as soon as Elizabeth stated any other grounds of offence, they should be answered as satisfactorily as the above had been.* Having thus triumphantly replied to the English queen's irritating message, Mary, in the true spirit of conciliation, had the magnanimity to propose that the following articles should be mutually agreed upon. On the part of the King and Queen of Scotland, First, That their majesties, being satisfied of the queen their sister's friendship, are content to assure the queen, that during the term of her life, or that of her lawful issue, they will not, directly or indirectly, attempt any thing prejudicial to their sister's title to the crown of England, or in any way disturb the quietness of that kingdom. Second, They will enter into no communication with any subject or subjects of the realm of England, in prejudice of their said sister and her lawful issue, or receive into their pro- tection any subjects of the realm of England, with whom their sister may have occasion to be offended. Third, They will not enter into any league or con- federation with any foreign prince, to the hurt, dam Keith, Appendix, No. vii. p 99, et eq. 214 LIFE OF MARY Age, and displeasure of the queen and realm ol Eng- land. Fourth, They will enter into any such league and confederation with the queen and realm of Eng- land, as shall be for the weal of the princes and sub- jects on both sides. And, Fifth, They will not go about to procure, in any way, alteration, innovation, or change in the religion, laws, or liberties of the realm of England, though it should please God at any time hereafter to call them to the succession of that kingdom. In consideration of these offers, the three following equally reasonable articles were to be agreed to on the part of England : First, That by act of parliament, the succession to the crown, failing Elizabeth and her lawful issue, shall be es- tablished, first, in the person of Mary and her lawful issue, and failing them, in the person of the Countess of Lennox and her lawful issue, as by the law of God and nature entitled to the inheritance of the said crown. Second, That the second offer made by the King and Queen of Scotland be also made on the part of England ; and, Third, That the third offer shall be likewise mutual. To have agreed to these liberal articles would not have suited Elizabeth's policy, and we consequently hear nothing further concerning them. On the 15th of August, 1565, Murray summoned the rebellious nobles to a public meeting at Ayr, where it was resolved that they should assemble together in arms on the 24th. Mary in consequence issued proclamations, calling upon her loyal subjects to come to Edinburgh, with their kin, friends, and house- hold, and provided for fifteen days, on the 25th of August. On that day she left Edinburgh with a nu- merous force, and marched to Linlithgow. Before leaving the capital, measures were taken to prevent the discontented there from turning to advantage the absence of their sovereign. The provost, who was entirely under the management of Knox, and strongly suspected to favour the rebels, was displaced, and a Ul I'.K-V OF SCOTS. 315 more trustworthy civic officer appointed in his stead. Knox himself, a few days before, had been suspended from the discharge of his clerical duties, in conse- quence of a seditious and insulting sermon he de- livered before the young king, who paid him the compliment of attending divine service in St. Giles's church, a Sunday or two after his marriage. In this sermon the preacher, among other things, said, that God had raised to the throne for the sins of the peo- ple, boys and women ; adding, in the words of Scrip- ture, " I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them : children are their op- pressors, and women rule over them." In the same style of allusions grossly personal, he remarked, that " God justly punished Ahab, because he did not cor- rect his idolatrous wife, the harlot Jezabel." It is singular that Knox never thought of objecting to Mary's marriage with Darnley, till he found that his patron, the Earl of Murray, to whom he was now reconciled, did not approve of it. He had said only a few months before that "The queen being at Stirling, order was given to Secretary Lethington to pass to the Queen of England, to declare to that queen, Mary was minded to marry her cousin, the Lord Darnley ; and the rather, because he was so near of blood to both queens; for, by his mother, he was cousin-german to the Queen of Scotland, also of near kindred and the same name by his father; his mother was cousin-german to the Queen of England. Here, mark God's providence : King James V., having lost his two sons, did declare his resolution to make the Earl of Lennox his heir of the crown; but he prevented by sudden death, that design ceased. Then came the Earl of Lennox from France, with intention to marry King James's widow; but thai failed also : he marries Mary Douglas ; and his son, Lord Darnley, marrieth Queen Mary, King James V.'s daughter : and so the king's desire is fulfilled, viz. the crown continueth in the name and in thf; 216 LIFE OF MARY family." Knox had changed his opinion (as even Knox could sometimes do), both when he preached the above-mentioned sermon, and when, towards the end of August, 1565, he said, that the castle of Edin- ourgh was "shooting against the exiled for Christ Jesus' sake."* From Linlithgow Mary advanced, with an increas- ing force, first to Stirling, and then to Glasgow. Here she was within a short distance of the rebel army, which, mustering about 1200 strong, had taken its position at Paisley ; " a fine pleasant village,** says Keith, "five miles W.S.W. from Glasgow." But Murray, not venturing to attack the royalists. made a circuit of some distance, and, by a forced march, arrived unexpectedly at Edinburgh, where he doped to increase his force. In this hope he was grievously disappointed. Finding that the provost, who was taken by surprise, had not sufficient strength to keep him without the walls, he entered the city by the west port, and immediately despatched messen- gers for assistance in every direction, and, by beat of drum, called upon all men who wished to receive wages " for the defence of the glory of God" to join his standard. But Knox confesses that few or none re- sorted to him, and that he got little or no support in Edinburgh ; although the preacher himself did all he could for his patron by prayers and exhortations, ir which he denominated the rebels " the best part of the nobility, and chief members of the Congrega- tion.'^ The truth is, that the current of populai opinion ran directly in favour of Mary ; for the godly earl's real motives were well understood. As soon as the queen was made aware that she had missed her enemies, she marched back in pursuit of them at the head of 5000 men, as far as Callander. Murray could only fly from a power which he knew * M'Crie's Life of Knox, rol. li. p. 100 ; and Tytler's Inquiry v < p. 362 and 367. * Knox * *> QUKKN OF SCOTS. 217 he was not able to withstand. Alarmed by Mary'g speedy return, he left Edinburgh, and again passing her on the road, led his followers to Lanark and from thence to Hamilton. With indomitable perseverance the queen retraced her steps to Glasgow, expecting Murray would make an attempt upon that city. But finding there was no safety for him in this part of Scotland he suddenly turned off towards the south, and with as little delay as possible retired into Dumfriesshire. Here, being near the borders, h.6 expected that Elizabeth would send him succour from England, and at all events he could at any time make good his retreat into that country. The prin- cipal noblemen with him were the Duke of Chatelhe- rault, the Earls of Argyle, Glencairn, and Rothes, and the Lords Boyd and Ochiltree. Morton and Maitland remained with the queen ; but the fidelity of both is much to be suspected, though the command of the main body of the royal army was intrusted to the former. The Earl of Lennox led the van, and the queen herself rode with her officers in a suit of light armour, carrying pistols at her saddle-bow; "her courage," says Knox, " manlike, and always in- creasing." She did not think it worth while to follow Murray into Dumfriesshire, but preferred leading hei army through Fife to St. Andrews, taking possession on the way, of Castle Campbell, the seat of the rebe' lord Argyle. Elizabeth in the mean time was far from being inattentive to the interests of her servants in Scot land. Randolph wrote to Cecil, that if she would assist them with men and more money, he doubted not but one country would receive both the queens by which he meant, that the rebels would thus be able to fulfil their design of sending Mary prisonei nto England.* The Earl of Bedford informed hi? mistress of the arrival of her friends on the borders, ' Keith, Appendix, p Qfi4. 218 LIFE OF MARY and hinted to her that their cause was evidently not very popular in Scotland, and that their force was much inferior to that of Mary. Elizabeth's letter, ir, answer, is as artful a piece of writing as has ever proceeded even from a female pen. Afraid that she might go too far in assisting the losing party, she re- solved to make it be believed that she acted against them, while in truth she secretly encouraged and supported them. With this view she wrote to Bed- ford, that in consequence of his representations as well as those of Randolph and others, she sent him three thousand pounds ; one thousand of which was to be paid immediately to Murray in the most private way possible, and as if it came from Bedford himself. The remainder was to be kept till occasion required its expenditure. "And where we perceive," she continued, " by your sundry letters, the earnest re- quest of the said Earl of Murray and his associates, that they might have at least 300 of our soldiers to aid them ; and that you also write, that though we would not command you to give them aid, yet if we would but wink at your doing herein, and seem to blame you for attempting such things as you with the help of others should bring about, you doubt not but things would do well, we are content, and do authorize you, if you shall see it necessary for their defence, to let them (as of your own adventure and without notification that you have any direction therein from us) to have the number of 300 soldiers, wherein you shall so precisely deal with them that they may perceive your care to be such as if it should otherwise appear, your danger should be so great as all the friends you have could not be able to save you towards us. And so we assure you our con- science moveth us to charge you so to proceed with them; and yet we would not that either of these were known to be our act, but rather to be covered with your own desire and attempt." Having further mentioned that she had written lately to Mary, to QUEEN O* SCOTS. 219 assure that princess of her esteem and good-will, Elizabeth boldly affixed her signature to this nvumo- rable record of unblushing duplicity.* But Mary was not to be lulled into dangerous security. All her operations during this campaign were, as Robertson has remarked, " concerted with wisdom, executed with vigour, and attended with success." At St. Andrews she issued a proclama- tion, exposing the hollowness of the grounds upon which arms had been taken up against her, and showing that religion was only made a cloak to cover other more ungodly designs. Alluding, in particular, to the Earl of Murray, upon whom she had bestowed so many benefits, this proclamation stated that his insatiable ambition was not to be .satisfied with heaping riches upon riches, and honour upon honour, unless he should also continue to have, as he had too long had, the q^een and the whole realm in his own hands, to be used and governed at his pleasure. " By letters sent from themselves to us," Mary says, " they make plain profession that the establishment of religion will not content them, but we must perforce be governed by such council as it shall please them to appoint unto us." " The like," she adds, " was never demanded of any our most noble progenitors heretofore, yea, not even of governors or regents ; but the prince or such as oc- cupied his place, ever chose his council of such as he thought most fit for the purpose. When we our- selves were of less age, and at our first arrival in our realm, we had free choice of our council at our plea- sure ; and now, when we are at oui full majority shall we be brought back to the state of pupils and minors, or be put under tutelage ? So long as some of them bore the whole swing with us themselves, this matter was never called in question ; but now, when they cannot be longer permitted to do and undo * Robertson, Appendix to vol. i. Nos. XII. and XIII 220 LIFE OF MARY all things of tneir appetite, they will put a bridle in our mouths, and give us a council chosen after their phantasy ! To speak it in plain language, they would be king themselves ; or, at the least, leaving to us the bare name and title, take to themselves the whole use and administration oi the kingdom."* After levying a small fine of two hundred marks from the town of Dundee, which had given some countenance to the malecontents, Mary and Darnley returned to Edinburgh. They there received such accounts of the increasing strength of the rebels as induced them to determine on marching southwards. Biggar was named as the place of rendezvous foi the lieges ; and they flocked in such crowds to join the standard of their sovereign, that the queen was enabled to advance towards the borders at the head of an army of 18,000 men. Before this greatly su- perior force Murray and his partisans^including his 300 English soldiers, retired to Carlisle. He was closely followed thither, upon which his troops dispersed and he himself and his friends sought refuge by fly- ing farther into England. Mary, after visiting the castle of Lochmaben, left Bothwell with some troops to watch the borders ; and on the 18th of October returned to Edinburgh with the rest of her army.f Of the rebellious nobles thus forced into exile, tht Duke of Chatelherault alone was able or willing to make his peace immediately. He and his sons wen pardoned on condition of their living abroad ; a de- gree of leniency extended to them by Mary, in oppo- sition to the wishes of the house of Lennox, which was anxious for the entire ruin of the Hamiltons.l Murray and the rest being kindly received by Bed- ford, fixed their residence at Newcastle, whence the earl himself and the abbot of Kilwinning were de- puted to proceed to the English court, and lay the * Keith, Appendix, p. 114. t Keith, p. 316 ; and Chalmers, vol. i. p. 156 I Chalmers, vol. i. p. 156. QUKKN OF SCOTS. 221 state of their affairs before Elizabeth, upon whose patronage they conceived they had peculiar claims. It wab, however, no part of Elizabeth's policy to be- friend in their adversity those with whom she had associated herself in more prosperous days. As .soon as she heard that Murray was on his way to her court, she wrote to stop him, and to inform him that it was not meet for him to have any " open dealing" with her. But at Bedford's earnest entreaty he was allowed to continue his journey, the object of which he said was to make some proposals for the "common cause."* It was, nevertheless, a long while before he could obtain an audience of the queen ; and when that honour was at length conceded to him, she had the confidence to ask him with an unruffled countenance, how he, being a rebel to her sister of Scotland, durst have the boldness to come within her realm? Murray, in reply, ventured to speak of the support he had all along received from her; but as this was betraying her policy to her Continental neighbours, it exasperated her to such u degree, that she declared he and his friends should never obtain any thing from her but scorn and neglect, unless he made a public recantation of such an assertion. With this demand both the earl and the abbot had the meanness to comply ; and though Sir Nicolas Throckmorton interfered in their be- half, and openly avowed that he had been sent into Scotland expressly to make offers of assistance to the rebel lords, he could not save them from the degradation which Elizabeth inflicted. They ap- peared before her when she was surrounded by th- French and Spanish ambassadors, and impiously affirmed, upon their knees, that her majesty had never moved them to any opposition or resistance against their own queen. As soon as they ha(^ uttered this falsehood Elizabeth said to them, " Now Chalmers, vol i p. 157; and Keith, p. 319. 222 LIFE OF MARY ye have told the truth ; for neither did I nor any in my name stir you up against your queen. Youi abominable treason may serve for example to my own subjects to rebel against me. Therefore, get ye out of my presence ; ye are but unworthy traitors."* Sir James Melville, speaking of this affair, says, with his usual quaintness, that " Mary chasit the rebel lords here and there, till at length they were compellit to flee into England for refuge, to her that had prom- ised, by her ambassadors, to wair (expend) her croun in their defence, in case they were driven to any strait for their opposition to the said marriage." " But Elizabeth," he adds, " handlit the matter sae subtilly and the other twa sae blaitly, that she triumphed both over them and the ambassadors." The deputation returned quite chop-fallen to their friends at New- castle, where they lived for some time in great pov- erty, and very wretchedly. Such were the more immediate results of this piece of juggling on the part of Elizabeth, and justly unsuccessful rebellion on that of Murray. CHAPTER XV. The Earl of Morten's Plot. HITHERTO Mary's government had been prosperous and popular. Various difficulties had, no doubt, sur- rounded her ; but, by a prudence and perseverance beyond her sex and age, she had so successfully en- countered them, that she fixed herself more firmly than ever on the throne of her ancestors. The mis- fortunes, however, in which all the intrigues of her enemies vainly attempted to involve her, it was Mary's fate to bring upon herself by an act innocent in sc * Keith, p. 319; Melville, p. 135 OF SCOTS. 223 far as regarded her own private feelings, and praise* worthy in its intention to increase and secure the power and happiness of her country. This act was her marriage with Darnley. From this fatal con- nexion all Mary's miseries took their origin ; and as the sunshine which has as yet lighted heron her course begins to gleam upon it with a sicklier ray, they who have esteemed her in the blaze of her prosperity will peruse the remainder of her melancholy story with a deeper and a tenderer interest. Let it at the same time be remembered, that the present Memoirs come not from the pen of a partisan, but are dictated by a sacred desire to discover and preserve the truth. Mary's weaknesses shall not be concealed ; but surely, while the common frailties of humanity thus become the subjects of history, justice imposes the nobler and the more delightful duty of asserting the talents and vindicating the virtues of Scotland's fairest queen. It was evident that public affairs could not long continue in the position in which they now stood. With the Earl of Murray and the Hamiltons, the greater number of Mary's most experienced coun- sellors were in a state of banishment. At the head of those who remained was the crafty Earl of Mor- ton, who, though he affected outward allegiance, secretly longed for the return of his old allies and friends of the Protestant party. It was not, indeed, without some show of reason that the professors of the Reformed faith considered their religion to be exposed at the present crisis to hazard. The king now openly supported Popery; the most powerful of the lords of the Congregation were in disgrace; several of the Catholic nobility had lately been re- stored to their honours ; some of the Popish ecclesi- astics had by Mary's influence been allowed to resume their place in parliament ; and, above all, ambassa- dors arrived from the French king and her Continenta. friends, for the express purpose of advising the queen 324 LIFE OF MARY to grant no terms to the expatriated nobles, and oi making her acquainted with the objects of the Holy League which had been recently formed. This was the league between Charles IX. and his sister the Queen of Spain, with the consent of her husband Philip, and Pope Pius IV., and at the instigation of Catharine de Medicis and the Duke of Alva, to se- cure at whatever cost the suppression of the Reforma- tion throughout Europe. So great a variety of cir- cumstances all seeming to favour the old superstition alarmed the Protestants not a little ; but this alarm was unnecessarily exaggerated, and Mary's inten- tions, which were not known at the time, have been misrepresented since. Robertson has asserted that Mary "instantly joined" the Continental confederacy, and was willing to go any length for the restoration of Popery. He would thus have us believe that she was a direct party to the horrible massacre of the Hugonots in France ; and that she would have spared no bloodshed to re- establish in Scotland that form of worship which she herself in conjunction with her parliament had ex- pressly abrogated. Robertson goes further, and maintains, with a degree of absurdity so glaring that we are at a loss to understand why it should never before have been exposed, that " to this fatal resolu tion (that of joining the anti-protestant confederacy) may be imputed all the subsequent calamities of Mary's life." Why a secret contract which Mary might have made with an ambassadoi from France, the terms or effects of which were never known or felt in any corner of Scotland, should have produced " all her subsequent calamities," must remain an enigma to those who do not possess the same re- markable facility of tracing effects to their causes which seems to have been enjoyed by Dr. Robertson. But it is extremely doubtful that Mary ever gave either her consent or approbation to this league. Robertson's authorities upon the subject by no means <*UEEN OK SCOTS. 225 bear him out in his assertions. He affirms, that " she allowed mass to be celebrated in different parts of the kingdom ; and declared that she would have mass free for all men who would he'ar it." But the first part of this information is supplied by the Englishman Bedford, who was not then in Scotland, and the second rests upon the authority of the insidious Ran- dolph. Robertson likewise mentions, that Black- wood, in his " Martyre de JWime," says, " that the queen intended to have procured in the approaching parliament, if not the re-establishment of the Catho- lic religion, at least something for the ease of Catho- lics." But this announcement of what was intended is so very unimportant, that even if true it requires no refutation ; the more especially, as Blackwood goes on to say, though Robertson stops short, that this M something for the ease of Catholics" was only to be a request that the Protestants would be more tolerant.* Robertson however adds, that "Mary herself, in a letter to the Archbishop of Glasgow, her ambassador in France, acknowledges 'that in that parliament slic intended to have done some good with respect to restoring the old religion. 1 " For this quotation from Mary's letter Robertson refers to Keith ; but upon making the reference, it will be found that he has somewhat unaccountably garbled the original. All that Mary wrote to her ambassador concerning the parliament was, that " the spiritual estate is placed therein in the ancient manner, tend- ing to have done some good anent restonng the old religion, and to have proceeded against our rebels according to their demerits."! The different shade of meaning which Robertson has given to this pas- sage is rather singular. Havingthus seen the weakness of these preliminary arguments against Mary's willingness to countenance the Reformed faith, it only remains to be inquired, **1 15 Blackwood in Jebb, vol. ii p. 304. t Keith, p. 331. 229 LIFE OF MART whether she was a party to the confederacy formed at Bayonne. It will be recollected, that the measures concocted by this confederacy were of the most san- guinary and savage description. It was resolved, "by treacb ry and circumvention, by fire and the sword, uttfc/ly to exterminate the Protestants over Christendom." It might very fairly be asked, and the question would carry with it its own answer, whether such a scheme, uncertain as its results were, and sure to produce in the mean time civil war and confusion wherever its execution was attempted, was at all consistent either with Mary's established policy, or her so earnestly cherished hopes of succession to the English crown ? Robertson, however, says, " she instantly joined the confederacy ;" and Dr. Gilbert Stuart, an historian of greater research and more impartiality, allows himself to believe the same thing. These writers ground their belief on what they have found in Sir James Melville and in Keith. But the former gives us not the slightest reason to suppose that Mary had any thing to do with the league, although he allows that the representations of the French ambassador tended to harden her heart to- wards the Earl of Murray and the other rebels.* It would even appear, by his Memoirs, that Mary was never asked to become a party to the confederacy ; for Sir James simply states that the ambassadors came " with a commission to stay the queen in nowise to agree with the lords Protestants that were banished." Conaeus, in his Life of Mary, leaves entirely the same impression, and rather strengthens it.f As to Keith, he nowhere goes the length of Robertson or Stuart, merely remarking that the letters from France tended much to hinder the cause of the banished lords. He gives, it is true, in his appendix, an ex- tract of a letter from Randolph to Cecil, in which we find it stated, on the very dubious authority of the * Melville's Memoirs, p. 147 t CODMB in Jebb, vol. ii. p. M. QU'BEN OF SCOTS. 227 English resident, that the " ban to introduce Popery through all Christendom was signed by Queen Mary." But if Mary had actually done so, it would have been with the utmost secrecy, and surely, above all, she would have concealed such a step from the spy of Elizabeth. This letter is given at full length by Robertson ; and on perusing the whole, it ex- pressly appears that Randolph spoke only from liearsay ; for he adds, " If the copy of his ban may be gotten, it shall be sent as I conveniently may." In the same letter he mentions that most of the nobles had been asked to attend mass, in compliment to the foreign ambassadors, and that they had all refused ; enumerating, among others, Fleming, Livingstone, Lindsay, Huntly, and Bothwell ; " and of them all, Bothwell is the stoutest, but worst thought of." These lords must have had little dread of the conse- quences, else they would not have ventured to refuse. The truth is, Randolph's common practice was, to convert into a fact every report which he knew would be agreeable to Cecil and his mistress ; and so little reliance did they place upon the accuracy of his in- formation that it does not appear Elizabeth ever took any notice of his statement regarding the ban, which she would eagerly have done had it been true. So much, therefore, for Robertson's declaration, that " to this fatal resolution may be imputed all the subse- quent calamities of Mary's life." They would have been few, indeed, had they taken their origin in any countenance she gave to the ferocious wickedness of Continental bigotry.* * Or. Stuart, in support of his statements on this subject, quotes, in addition to the authorities already mentioned, Mezeray. "Histoire de France," tome iii., and Thuanus, "Historia sni Tempori8, n iib. xxxvii. But we suspect he has done so at random ; for on referring to these works, we have been unable to discover any thing which bears upon the matter. Chal- mers, who is in general acute and explicit enough says that these ambas- sadors came " to advise the queen not to pardon the expatriated nobles ;" vol. ii. p. 158. Laing, who writes with so mi ch apparent candour and real ability against Mary that he almost makes " the worse appear the better reason,'' has avoided falling into the gross error of Robertson I S 228 LIFE OF MARY There does not, then, exist a shadow of proof that Mary contemplated the subversion of the Reformed religion in Scotland, though it may safely be admitted that she was greatly perplexed what course to pur- sue towards the expatriated rebels. On the one hand, Elizabeth petitioned in their behalf, well knowing she could depend on their co-operation as soon as they were again in power; and her petition was warmly supported by Murray's friends in Scotland, some for the sake of religion, many for their own private interests, and a few because they believed his re- turn would be for the good of the country. On the other hand, the Catholic party was delighted to be rid of such formidable adversaries, and their wishes were enforced by those of Mary's uncle, the Cardinal of Lorraine. Besides, though disposed to be lenient almost to a fault, she cannot but have felt just indig- nation against men who had so grossly abused her kindness, and insulted her authority. It was in the midst of these contending opinions and interests, that a parliament was summoned, first for the 4th of Feb- ruary, 1566, and afterward prorogued till the 7th of March, at which it was determined that, in one way or other, the subject should be set at rest. The mat- ter would then most probably have terminated un- favourably for Murray, had not the whole affair as- sumed a new feature, and been hurried on to an un- expected and violent conclusion, under influences on which it would have been difficult to have calculated. Mary had been Darnley's wife only a few months, when a painful conviction was forced upon her of the error she had committed in so far as regarded her own happiness, in uniting her fortunes with a youth so weak, headstrong, and inexperienced. The hom- "It would be unjust" he says, "to suppose, that, upon acceding to the Holy League, for the preservation of the Catholic faith, she was apprized of the full extent of the design to exterminate the Protestants by a gene- ral massacre throughout Christendom ; but the instructions from her ancle rendered her inexorable towards the banished lords." Preliminary Dissertation, to <* History of Scotland, vol. L p. ft. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 229 age, whether real or affected, which before his mar- riage Darnley paid to Mary, his personal graces and accomplishments, and the care he took to keep as much as possible in the background the numerous defects of his character, had succeeded in securing for him a place in Mary's heart, and, what he consid- ered of greater importance, a share of her throne- But as soon as the object of his ambition was obtained the mask was thrown aside. He broke out into a thousand excesses, offended almost all the nobility, and forgetting or misunderstanding the kind of men he had to deal with, cherished a wild and boy- ish desire to make his own will law. He changed from the Protestant to the Catholic religion ; but the Catholics had no confidence in him, while John Knox and the Reformers lifted up their voices loudly against his apostacy. He was addicted to great in- temperance in his pleasures ; was passionately fond of his hounds and hawks, grossly licentious, and much given to drinking. Upon one occasion, his indul- gence in this latter vice made him so far forget him- self, that at a civic banquet where the queen and he were present, he dared to speak to her so brutally, that she left the place in tears.* But there were other causes besides the imperfec- tions of Damley's character which served to sow dissension between him and his young wife. It would be wrong to say that they were mutually jea- lous of each other's love of power, for this would be to put Mary, who was queen in her own right, on an equality with her husband, who had no title to any authority beyond what she chose to confer on him. In the first ardour of her affection, how- ever, she permitted him, with the confiding gene- rosity of sincere attachment, to carry every thing his own way ; and he was too conceited and selfish to appreciate as it deserved the value of the trust she thus reposed in him. " All honour," says Randolph. * Keith. D. 328 and 328. 230 LIFE OF MART " that may be attributed unto any man by a wife, he hath it wholly and fully, all praise that may be spoken of him, he lacketh not from herself, aU dignities that she can endow him with are already given and granted. No man pleaseth her that con- tenteth not him. And what may I say more ] She hath given over unto him her whole will, to be ruled and guided as himself best liketh."* This was nothing more than the conduct naturally to be ex pected from a woman who warmly loved her husband, and who, in the ingenuous integrity of her heart, believed him worthy of her love. Had this indeed been the case, no evil consequences could have re- sulted from the excess of kindness she lavished on him ; but with all his fair exterior, Darnley was in- capable of understanding or estimating aright the mind and dispositions of Mary Stuart. Had he even in part answered the expectations she had formed of him, had he listened to the prudent counsels of Sir James Melville, and others whom Mary requested he would associate near his person, and had he con- tinued those affectionate attentions which she had a right to expect, but had far too proud a spirit to ask, he might have obtained from her every honour he desired. But what she felt that slighted love did not call upon her to yield it was in vain to expect to win from her by force or fear ; and the consequence was, that about this time, what was technically termed the crown-matrimonial became a great source of dis- sension between herself and her husband. On the day that Mary gave her hand to Darnley, she conferred upon him the title of King of Scotland; and his name in all public writs was signed, in some before and in others after her own. The public coin of the realm issued subsequent to the marriage also contained his name.f But though Darnley had the * Goodall, rol. i. p. 222. t Several of these pennies, as they were called, both of gold and silver, remain to this day ; and some of them have been already noticed. In QUEEN OF SCOTS. 231 title, and to a certain extent the authority of a king, it was never Mary's intention to surrender to him an influence in the administration greater than her own. This was the object, however, at which his discon- tented and restless spirit aimed, and it was to achieve it that he demanded the crown-matrimonial, a term used only by Scottish historians, by many of whom its exact import does not appear to have been under- stood. In its more limited acceptation, it seems to have conferred upon the husband who married a wife of superior rank the whole of her power and dignity so long as their union continued. Thus, if a countess married an esquire, he might become, by the marriage-contract, a matrimonial earl; and during the life of the countess, her authority was vested in her husband as entirely as if he had been an earl by birth. But it was in a more extended sense that Darnley was anxious for this matrimonial dignity. Knowing it to be consistent with the laws of Scotland that a person who married an heiress should keep possession of her estate, not only during his wife's life but till his own death, he was desirous of having a sovereign sway secured in his own per- son, even though Mary died without issue. In the first warmth of her attachment to Darnley, the queen might have been willing, with the consent of parlia- ment, to gratify his ambition; but as soon as his unstable and ill-regulated temper betrayed itself, she felt that she was called upon, both for her own sake and that of the country, to refuse his request. Deceml>er, 1565, there was stamped a silver penny, called the Mary rial, bearing on one side a tree, with the motto, Dot gloria vires; and the cir- cumscription, ExsuTgat Dens, et dissipentur inimici ejus ; and on the other, Maria et Henricus, Dei Gratia, Regina et Rex Scotorum. Speak- inffof this coin, Keith says, that " the famous ewe-tree of Crookston, the inheritance of the family of Darnley, in the parish of Paisley, is made the reverse of this new coin ; and the inscription about the tree, Dot gloria vires, is no doubt with a view to reflect honour on the Lennox family. This tree," he adds, " which stands to this day, is of so large a trunk, and o well spread in its branches, that it is seen at several miles' distance " -Keith, p. 337, and Appendix, p. 118. It stands no longer. 232 LIFE OF MARY The more opposition Darnley experienced the more anxious he became, as is frequently the case, to accomplish his wishes. It was now for the first time that he found Rizzio' s friendship fail him. That Italian, whom the bigotry of the Reformers and the ignorant prejudices of more recent historians have buried under a weight of undeserved abuse, was one of the most faithful servants Mary ever had. He approved of her marriage with Darnley for state reasons, and had in consequence incurred the hatred of Murray and his party, while Darnley, on the con- trary, had courted and supported him. But Rizzio loved his mistress too well to wish to see her husband become her master. His motives, it is true, may not have been altogether disinterested. He knew he was a favourite with Mary, and that he would re- tain his situation at court so long as her influence was paramount ; but he had not the same confidence in the wayward and vacillating Darnley, who was too conceited to submit to be ruled, and too weak to be allowed to govern. The consequence naturally was, that a coldness took place between them, and that the consideration with which Mary continued to treat Rizzio, as her foreign secretary, only served to increase Darnley's disaffection. Such was the state of matters, when the Earl of Morton, secretly supported by Maitland, and more openly by the Lords Ruthven and Lindsay, deter- mined on making use of Darnley's discontent to for- ward his own private interests and those of some of his political friends. His object was, in the first place, to strengthen his own party in the government by securing the return of Murray, Argyle, Rothes, and the other banished lords ; and, in the second, to prevent certain enactments from being passed in the approaching parliament, by which Mary intended to restore to her ecclesiastics a considerable portion of church lands, which he himself and other rapacious noblemen had unjustly appropriated. These posses- QUEEN OF SCOTS. 233 sions were to be retained only by saving the rebels from the threatened forfeitures, and thus securing a majority in parliament. But Mary, with a firmness which was the result of correct views of good govern- ment, was now finally resolved not to pardon Mur- ray and his accomplices. For offences of a far less serious nature, Elizabeth was every month sending her subjects to the block ; and it would have argued imbecility and fickleness in the Queen of Scots so soon to have forgotten the treachery of her own and her husband's enemies. There was scarcely one of her ministers, except Rizzio, who had the courage and the good sense to confirm her in these senti- ments ; and he continued to retain his own opinion both in this affair and that of the crown-matrimonial, notwithstanding the open threats of Darnley, the mysterious insinuations of Morton, and the attempt at bribery on the part of Murray. This last noble- man, who had played the hypocrite so abjectly be- fore Elizabeth and her court, did not scruple, in his selfish humility, to offer his respects and to send presents to one whom he had always been accus- tomed to call, in the language of his historian Bu- chanan, "an upstart fellow," "a base miscreant," " a contemptible mushroom," and to whom he had never before given any thing but " a sour look."* It may therefore be said, that there were at this time four powerful parties connected with Scotland ; Mary was at the head of one, Morton of another, Darnley of a third, and Murray of the fourth. But so long as the queen retained her ascendency, the other three factions could have little hope of arriving at their respective objects. Mutually to strengthen each other, a coalition very naturally suggested itself, founded upon the principle of a reci- procity of benefits. The idea was soon matured, and the plan of operations concocted with a secrecy Buchanan's Hurtory ; Melville's Memoirs Keith, p. 325. 234 LIFE OF MARY and callous cruelty worthy of Morton. The usual expedient was adopted, of drawing up and signing a formal bond or set of articles which were entered into between Henry, King of Scotland, and James, Earl of Murray, Archibald, Earl of Argyle, Andrew, Earl of Rothes, Robert, Lord Boyd, Andrew, Lord Ochiltree, and certain others "remaining in Eng- land ;" in which it was stipulated, on the part of the lords, that at the first parliament which should be held after their return, they should take such steps as would secure to Darnley a grant of the crown matrimonial for all the days of his life ; and that, whoever opposed this grant, they should "seek, pursue, and extirpate out of the realm of Scotland, or take and slay them," language, it will be ob- served, which had a more direct application to Mary than to any one else. On the part of Darnley, and in return for these favours, it was declared, that he should not allow, inasmuch as in him lay, any for- feiture to be led against them ; and that, as soon as he obtained the crown-matrimonial he should give them a free remission for all crimes, taking every means to remove and punish any one who opposed such remission.* In plain language, these articles implied neither more nor less than high-treason, and place Darnley's character, both as a husband and a man, in the very worst point of view, showing him as a husband to be wofully deficient in natural affection, and as a man to be destitute of honour and incapable of gratitude. Morton's intrigues having proceeded thus far, there seemed to be only one other step necessary to secure for him the accomplishment of his purposes. Mary, strong in the integrity of her own intentions, and in the popularity of her administration, did not suspect the secret machinations which were carried on around her; and of this over-degree of confidence * Goodall, vol. i. p.227. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 23f in the stability of her resources Morton determined to take advantage. He saw that a change in the government must be effected at whatever risk, though he knew that nothing but a sudden and violent mea- sure could bring it about. It was now February: parliament was to meet on the 7th of March, and on the 12th the trial of the absent lords was to come on ; and after they had been forfeited, the church-lands would be restored to their rightful owners. If Mary's person, however, could be seized, if her principal anti-protestant ministers could be removed from about her, and if Darnley could be invested for a time with the supreme command, these disagree able consequences might be averted, and the parlia- ment might be either prorogued or intimidated into submission. But without a shadow of justice to have openly ventured upon putting the queen in ward would have been too daring and dangerous. A scheme therefore was formed, by which, under the pretence of caring for her personal safety, and pro- tecting the best interests of the country, she was to De kept as long as they should think necessary from exercising her own independent authority. By this scheme it was resolved to make David Rizzio the victim and the scapegoat of the conspiracy. Morton and his accomplices well knew that Rizzio was generally hated throughout Scotland. The Re- formers, in particular, exaggerating his influence with the queen, delighted in representing him as the minion of the pope and the servant of antichrist, and there were no terms of abuse too gross which they did not direct against the unfortunate Italian. It would, therefore, give a popular effect to the whole enterprise, were it to be believed that it was under- taken principally for the sake of ridding the country from so hateful an interloper. Many historians, con- founding the effect with the cause, have been puzzled to explain why Rizzio's murder should have led so immediately to the return of Murray and his friends : 236 LIFE OF MART they forget that it was, on the contrary, a determi- nation to secure their return, and to discover a plau- sible pretext for retaining Mary a prisoner in her own palace, that led to the murder. In the mean time, Rizzio was not without some apprehensions for his personal safety. The Scots, though they seldom evince much reluctance to se- cure their own advancement in foreign countries, are of all nations the most averse to allow strangers to interfere with their affairs at home. Aware that they have little enough for themselves, they cannot bear to see any part of what they consider their birth- right given away to aliens, however deserving. Rizzio's abilities, and consequent favour with the queen, were the means of placing in his hands so much power and wealth, that he incurred the hatred and envy of almost every one about court. In the homely but expressive language of Melville, " some of the nobility would gloom upon him, and some of them would shoulder him and shoot him by, when they entered in the chamber, and found him alwayt, speaking with her majesty." Buchanan, that able but most prejudiced and disingenuous historian, ex- pressing the prevalent sentiments of the day, says that ** the low birth and indigent condition of this man placed him in a station in which he ought naturally to have remained unknown to posterity; but that which fortune called him to act and to suffer in Scotland obliges history to descend from its dignity to record his adventures." As if " low birth and indigent con- dition" have ever been, or will ever be, barriers suffi- cient to shut out genius and talent from the road to greatness. But Rizzio was in truth far from being of that officious, conceited, and encroaching disposi- tion which Buchanan has ascribed to him. Sir James Melville, who knew him well, gives quite an opposite impression of his character. He mentions, that, not without some fear, Rizzio lamented his state to him, and asked his counsel > w to conduct himself. Sii QUEEN OF SCOTS. 237 James told him, that strangers ought to be cautious how they meddled too far in the affairs of foreign countries; for that, though he was her majesty's Con- tinental secretary, it was suspected a great deal of Scottish business also passed through his hands. " I advised him," says Melville, " when the nobili ty were present, to give them place, and pray the queen's majesty to be content therewith ; and showed him for an example, how I had been in so great favour with the Elector Palatine that he caused set me at his own table, and the board being drawn, used to confer with me in presence of his whole court Whereat divers of them took great indignation against me, which, so soon as I perceived, I -e- quested him to let me sit from his own table wi'h the rest of his gentlemen, and no more to confer with me in their presence, but to send a page for me, any time that he had leisure, to come to him in his chamber ; which I obtained, and that way made my master not to be hated, nor myself to be envied ; and willed him to do the like, which he did, and said unto me afterward, that the queen would not suffer him, but would needs have him to use himself in the old manner." Melville then spoke to Mary herself upon the subject, and she expressly told him, that Signor David Rizzio "meddled no further but in her French writings and affairs, as her other French secretary had done before."* Rizzio's religion was another reason why he was so very unpopular. It was confidently asserted that he was in the pay of the pope ; and that he was in close correspondence with the Cardinal of Lorraine. Be this as it may, the support he undoubtedly gave, so far as lay in his power, to the Scottish Catholics was of itself enough, in these times of bigotry, to make his assassination be considered almost a virtue. Besides, there were some more personal and private * Melville's Memoirs, p. 132 and 133. 238 LIFE OF MARY grounds for Morton and his friends wishing to get rid of the secretary- There is a remarkable passage in Blackwood's Martyre de Marie, by which it would appear, that it was not the original intention of the conspirators to assassinate Rizzio, but merely to se- cure the person of Mary ; and that it was in conse- quence of Rizzio's fidelity to the queen, and refusal to sanction such a proceeding, that they afterward changed their plan. " The Earl of Morton," says Blackwood, " had apartments in the royal palace.* There lodged there also her majesty's secretary, David Rizzio, a Piedmontese, and a man of great experience, and well versed in affairs of state. He was much respected by his mistress, not for any beauty or external grace that was in him, being rather old, ugly, austere, and disagreeable, but for his great fidelity, wisdom, and prudence, and on ac- count of several other good qualities which adorned his mind. But, on the other hand, his master (the king) hated him greatly, both because he had laboured to effect the re-establishment of the house of Hamilton" (the Duke of Chatelherault, it will be recollected, was the only one of the rebels who had been pardoned), " and because he had not only re- fused to become a party to, but had even revealed to the queen a certain conspiracy that had been con- cluded on between his highness and the rebels, by which it was resolved to shut up her majesty in a castle, under good and sure guard, that Darnley might gain for himself all authority, and the entire government of the kingdom. My Lord Ruthven, the head of this conspiracy, entertained the greatest ill- will against the poor secretary, because he had nei- ther dared nor been able to conceal from her majesty, that he had found Ruthven and all the conspirators assembled together in council in a small closet, and * We translate from the original French of an edition of the Martyrt if. la Rayiic tTEscossc, printed at Antwerp in the year 1583, which v nearly agrees with the edition in Jebb, vol. ii. p. 202. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 239 had heard her husband express himself with especial violence and chagrin. Besides, Morton, fearing greatly the foresight and penetration of this man, whom he knew to be entirely opposed to his designs, resolved to accomplish his death, and in so doing comply with the advice which had been given him by the English court." This is a passage of much interest, and puts in a clear and strong point of view the treasonable designs of this formidable con- sphvcy.* CHAPTER XVI. The Assassination of David Rizzio. Ir was on the evening of Saturday the 9th of March, 1566,f that the conspirators determined to strike the blow which was either to make or mat them.J The retainers of Morton, and the othei lords his accomplic'-s, assembled secretly in the neighbourhood of the palace, to the number of nearly fire hundred. They were all armed, and when it became dark, Morton, who took the command, led * Buchanan alone, or all the Scottish historians, has dared to insinuate the probability of an illicit intercourse having subsisted between Mar} and Rizzio ; and the calumny is too self-evidently raise to merit a mo ment's notice. Every respectable writer reprobates so disgusting t piece of scandal, however unfavourably inclined towards Mary in othei respects. Camden, Castelnau, Robertson, Hume, Tytler, I.ning, and Dr stuart, all of whom think it worth while to advert to the subject ir notes, out the falsehood of Buchanan's assertion beyond the most dis tant shadow of a doubt. Indeed, it is paying it too great a compliment tc advert to it at all. t Miss Benger, oddly enough, says, it was on Saturday the 6th of April ; a mistake into which no other historian with whom we are ac- quainted has fallen. Miss Benger's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 233. | The parliament had met upon the 7th, and Mary had opened it in person, unattended by Darnley, who refused to give it his counte- nance ; bat no business of importance had as yet been transacted. 240 LIFE OF MARY them into the interior court of Holy rood House,which, in his capacity of lord high chancellor of the king;, dom, he was able to do without much difficulty 01 suspicion. It had been arranged, that he should remain to guard the entry to the palace, while Ruthven, with a select party, was to proceed to the queen's chamber. Patrick Lord Ruthven was ex actly the sort of person suited for a deed of cow- ardice and cruelty, being by nature cursed with dis- positions which preferred bigotry to religion, and barbarism to refinement. He was now in the forty- sixth year of his age, and had been for some months confined to a sick-bed by a dangerous disease.* Though scarcely able to walk, he nevertheless un- dertook to head the assassins. He wore a helmet, and a complete suit of armour concealed under a loose robe.f Mary, altogether unsuspicious of the tragedy about to be performed, sat down to supper as usual at seven o'clock. There were with her only her illegitimate sister, the Countess of Argyle, her brother the Lord Robert Stuart, and her foreign secretary, David Rizzio. Beaton, her master of the household, Ers- kine, an inferior attendant, and one or two other ser- vants of the privy chamber, were in waiting at a side-table : or, in the words of Stranguage, " tasting the meat taken from the queen's table at the cupboard, as the servants of the piivy chamber used to do."J It is a curious and interesting fact, that notwithstand- ing all the changes which time has wrought on the palace of Holyrood, the very cabinet in which Mary supped on this eventful evening, as well as the ad- joining rooms and passages through which the con- spirators came, still exist, in nearly the same state in which they were in the year 1566. The principal * This disease was " an inflammation of the liver, and a consurap tton of the kidneys." Keith, Appendix, p. 119. t Blackwood in Jebb, vol. ii. p. 204 ; Goodall, vol. i. p. 393 ) Straiiguage, p. 33 ; Crawford's Memoirs, p. 9. OF SCOTS. 241 staircase in the north-west tower leads up to the queen's chamber of presence ; passing through this apartment, a door opens into Mary's bedroom where her own bed yet stands, although its furniture is now almost in tatters. It was in the small closet or cabi- net off her bedroom, containing one window, and only about twelve feet square, that Mary sat at sup- per on the 9th of March, two hundred and sixty-five years ago. Communicating with Darnley's chamber immediately beneath, there was and is a private pas- sage into Mary's bedroom, by which it could be entered without previously passing through the pres- ence-chamber. The approach to this passage from the queen's room is concealed by a piece of wainscot, little more than a yard square, which hangs upon hinges in the wall, and opens on a trap-stair. It had keen originally proposed to seize Rizzio in his own apartment ; but this plan was abandoned, for two reasons ; first, because it was less certain, since it was often late before Rizzio retired for the night, since he sometimes did not sleep in his own room at all, but in that of another Italian belonging to the queen's household, named Signor Francis, and since there were back-doors and windows, through which he might have effected his escape ; and, second, be- cause it would not have so much intimidated Mary, and would have made it necessary to employ another party to secure her person the chief object of the conspirators.* To ascertain whether there was any thing to hinder the execution of their design, Darnley about eight 'clock went up the private stairs, and entering the small room where his wife was supping sat down familiarly beside her. He found, as he expected, his victim Rizzio in attendance, who, indeed, owing to bad health and the little estimation in which he was held by the populace, seldom went beyond the pre- 31 16 * Keith. Appendix, p. ISt 242 LIFE OF MARY 3incts of the palace.* He was dressed this evening in a loose robe-de-chambre of furred damask, with a satin doublet, and a hose of russet velvet ; and he wore a rich jewel about his neck, which was never heard of after his death. f The conspirators, having allowed sufficient time to elapse to be satisfied that all was as they wished, followed the king up the pri- vate way, which they chose in order to avoid any of the domestics who might have been in the presence- chamber, and given an alarm. They were headed by the Lord Ruthven, and George Douglas, an ille- gitimate son of the late Earl of Angus, and the bas. tard brother of Darnley's mother, the Lady Lenox ; a person of the most profligate habits, and an apt instrumen'. in the hands of the Earl of Morton. These men, followed by as many of their accomplices as could crowd into the small room where Mary sat, entered abruptly and without leave ; while the re- maindfr, to the number of nearly twoscore, col- lected in her bedroom. Ruthven, with his heavy armour rattling upon his lank and exhausted frame, and looking as grim and fearful as an animated corpse, stalked into the room first, and threw himself uncere- moniously into a chair. The queen with indignant amazement demanded the meaning of this insolent intrusion, adding, that he came with the countenance and in the garb of one who had no good deed in his mind. Turning his hollow eyes upon Rizzio, Ruth- ven answered, that he intended evil only to the vil- lain who stood near her. On hearing these words, Rizzio saw that his doom was fixed, and lost all presence of mind; but Mary, through whose veins flowed the heroic blood of James V. and his warlike ancestors, retained her self-possession. She turned jo her husband and called upon him for protection ; Out perceiving that he was disposed to remain a * Conaeuain Jebb, vol. ii. p. 25. 1 Robertson's Appenaixto vol. i. No x. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 248 passive spectator of the scene, she ordered Ruthven to withdraw Binder pain of treason, promising, that if Rizzio was accused of any crime, it should be in- quired into by the parliament then assembled. Ruth- ven replied only by heaping upon the unfortunate secretary a load of abuse ; and in conclusion declared the determination of the conspirators to make them- selves masters of Rizzio's person. Rizzio, scarcely knowing what he did, pressed close into the recess at the window, with his dagger drawn in one hand, and clasping the folds of Mary's gown with the other. In spite of every threat, he remained standing behind her, and continually exclaiming in his native lan- guage, and in great agitation, Giustizia! Giustizia! Mary's own person was thus exposed to considerable danger, and the assassins desired Darnley to take his wife in his arms and remove her out of the way. The confusion and terror of the scene now increased a hundredfold ; the master of the household and the three or four servants of the privy-chamber at- tempted to turn Lord Ruthven out of the room ; his followers, rushing to his support, overturned the sup- per-table, threw down the dishes and the candles, and with hideous oaths announced their resolution to murder Rizzio. Their own impetuosity might have frustrated their design ; for, had not the Countess of Argyle caught one of the candles in her hand as it was falling, they would have been involved in darkness, and their victim might have escaped. The first man who struck Rizzio was George Douglas. Swords and daggers had been drawn, and pistols had been presented at him and at the queen ; but no blow was given, till Douglas, seizing the dirk which Darnley wore at his side, stabbed Rizzio over Mary's shoulder, though at the moment she was no aware of what he had done. The unhappy Italian was then forcibly dragged out into the bedroom, and through the presence-chamber, where the con- spirators, gathering about him, speedily completed r T - I 4 LIFE OF MARV the bloody deed, leaving in his body no fewer than fifty-six wounds. He lay weltering in his gore at the door of *.he presence-chamber for some time- and a few large dusky spots, whether occasioned by his blood or not, are to this day pointed out, which stain that part of the floor. The body was after ward thrown down the stairs, and carried from the palace to the porter's lodge, with the king's dagger still sticking in his side. He was obscurely buried next day ; but subsequently more honourably, near the royal vault in Holyrood chapel.* Such was the unhappy end of one who, having come into Scotland poor and unbefriended, had been raised, through the queen's penetration and his own talents, to an honourable office, the duties of which he discharged with fidelity. If his rise was sudden, his fall was more so ; for up to the very day of his assassination many of the Scottish nobility, says Buchanan, " sought his friendship, courted him, ad- mired his judgment, walked before his lodgings, and observed his levee." But death no sooner put an end to his influence than the memory of the once- * Keith, p. 330; Appendix, p. 119; Melville's Memoirs, p. 148; Bu- chanan's History of Scotland, book xvii. ; Martyre de Marie, in Jebb, vol. ii. p. 204 ; Knox, p. 392; Holinshed's Chronicles, p. 382; Robert- sou, appendix to vol. i. No. xv. Some historians have maintained that Rizzio was actually despatched in Mary's presence ; but this is not the fact, for Mary remained ignorant of his fate till next day. In a letter which the Earl of Bedford and Randolph wrote to the privy council of England, giving an account of this murder, and which has been pub- lished in the first series of " Ellis's Original Letters, illustrative of Eng- lish History" (vol. ii. p. 207), we find these words: " He was not slain in the queen's presence, as was said." Holinshed and others are equally explicit. It has been likewise said, that it was not intended t* have killed him that evening, but to have tried him next day, and then to have hanged or beheaded him publicly. That there is no foundation for this assertion is proved by the authorities quoted above ; and to these may be added the letter from Morton and Ruthven to Throckmorton, and " the bond of assurance for the murder to be committed" granted by Darnley to the conspirators on the 1st of March, both preserved by Goodall, vol. i. p. 264 and 266. That the conspirators meant, as others have Insisted, to take advantage of the situation in which Mary then was, and terrify her into a miscarriage, which might have ended in her death, is unsupported by any evidence; nor can we see what purpose* uch a design would hare answored. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 245 envied Italian was calumniated upon all hands, Knox even speaks approvingly of his murder (as he had formerly done of that of Cardinal Beaton), as- suring us that he was slain by those whom " God raised up to do the same" an error indicating a distorted moral perception, from the reproach con- sequent on which his biographer, M'Crie, has un- successfully endeavoured to defend him.* The Reformer adds to his notice of Rizzio a story which suits well the superstitious character of the times, and which Buchanan has repeated. He mentions that there was a certain John Daniot, a French priest and a reputed conjurer, who told Rizzio " to beware of a bastard." Rizzio, supposing he alluded to the Earl of Murray, answered, that no bastard should have much power in Scotland so long as he lived ; but the prophecy was considered to be ful- filled, when it was known that the bastard Douglas was the first who stabbed him.f In the mean time the Earl of Morton, who had been left below to guard the gates, being informed that Rizzio was slain, and that Ruthven and Darnley retained possession of the queen's person, made an attempt to seize several of the nobility who lodged in the palace, and whom he knew to be un- favourable to his design of restoring the banished lords. Whether it was his intention to have put them also to death it is difficult to say ; but it is at all events not likely that he would have treated them with much leniency. The noblemen in question, however, who were the Earls of Huntly, Bothwell, and Athol, the Lords Fleming and Livingstone, and Sir James Balfour, contrived, not without much dif- ficulty, to effect their escape. The two first let themselves down by ropes at a back window ; Athol, who was supping in the town with Maitland, was Vide M'Crie'* Life of Knox, rol. i. p. 47 t Knox, p. 339 ; Buchanan, book xrii 246 LIFE OF MART apprized of his danger, and did not return to Holy- rood that night. He or some of the fugitive! hastened to the provost of Edinburgh, and informed him of the treasonable proceedings at the palace. The alarm-bell was immediately rung ; and the civic authorities, attended by five or six hundred of the loyal citizens, hastened down to Holyrood, and called upon the queen to show herself and assure them of her safety. But Mary, who was kept a prisoner in the closet in which she had supped, was not allowed to answer this summons, the conspira- tors well knowing what would have been the conse- quences. On the contrary, as she herself afterward wrote to her ambassador in France, she was ' ex- tremely threatened by the traitors, who, in her face, declared that if she spoke to the townspeople the>- would cut her in collops and cast her over the walls.^ Darnley went to the window, and informed the crowd that he and the queen were well, and did not require their assistance ; and Morton and Ruthven told them that no harm had been done, and besought them to return home, which, upon these assurances, they consented to do. A scene of mutual recrimination now took place between Mary and her husband, which was pro- longed by the rude and gross behaviour of Ruthven. That barbarian, returning to the queen's apartment, after having imbrued his hands in the blood of Riz- zio, called for a cup of wine, and having seated him- self, drained it to the dregs, while Mary stood be- side him. Being somewhat recovered from the extreme terror she had felt when she saw her secre- tary dragged away by the assassins, she rebuked Ruthven for his unmannerly conduct ; but he only added insulting language to the crimes he had already committed. Perceiving, however, that her majesty was again growing sick and ill (and even without considering, what the conspirators weL knew, that she was in the seventh month of h" QUEEN OF SCOTS. 247 pregnancy, her indisposition will excite little won- der), he proposed to the king that they should re- tire, taking care to station a sufficiently strong guard at the door of Mary's chamber. "All that night," says Mary, " we were detained in cap- tivity within our chamber, and not permitted to have intercommunion scarcely with our servant- women."* Next morning, although it was Sunday, the con- spirators issued a proclamation in the king's name, and without asking the queen's leave, proroguing the parliament, and commanding all the temporal and spiritual lords who had come to attend it to retire from Edinburgh. Illegal as it was, this proc- lamation was obeyed; for Morton and his accom- plices had the executive power in their own hands, and Mary's more faithful subjects were taken so much by surprise that they were unable to offer any immediate resistance. Mary herself was still kept in strict confinement ; and the only attempt she could make to escape, which was through the assist- ance of Sir James Melville, failed. Sir James was allowed to leave the palace early on the forenoon of Sunday ; and as he passed towards the outer gate Mary happened to be looking over her window, and called upon him imploringly for help. "I drew near unto the window," says Melville, " and asked what help lay in my power, for that I should give. She said, ' Go to the Provost of Edinburgh, and bid him, in my name, convene the town with speed, and come and relieve me out of these traitors' hands ; but run fast, for they will stay you.' " The words were scarcely spoken, before some of the guards came up, and challenged Sir James. He told them, he " was only passing to the preaching in St. Giles's kirk ;" and they allowed him to proceed. He went direct to the provost, and delivered his commission * Keith, p. 332, and Appendix, 126' 248 LIFE OF MARY from the queen ; but the provost protested he did not know how to act, for he had received contrary com- mands from the king; and besides, the people, he said, were not disposed to take up arms to revenge Rizzio's death. Sir James was therefore reluctantly obliged to send word to Mary, by one of her ladies, that he could not effect her release. In the course of the day Mary was made acquainted with Rizzio's fate, and she lamented the death of her faithful ser- vant with tears. Between seven and eight in the evening, the Earls of Murray and Rothes, with the other banished lords, arrived from England. During the whole of the night and all next day the quee was kept as close a prisoner as before. Morton and his accomplices, however, now found themselves in a dilemma. They had succeeded in bringing home their rebel friends, in proroguing or dissolving the parliament, in conferring upon Darnley all the power he wished, in murdering Rizzio, and in chasing from court the nobles who had formed part of the administration along with him. But to effect these purposes they had grossly insulted their law- ful sovereign, and had turned her own palace into a prison, constituting themselves her jailers. Having achieved all their more immediate objects, the only remaining question was what were they to do with the queen ! If they were to set her at liberty, could they expect that she would tamely forget the indig- nities they had offered her, or quietly submit to the new state of things they had established ? Had they, on the other hand, any sufficient grounds for proceeding to further extremities against her? Would the country allow a sovereign whose reign had been hitherto so prosperous to be at once de- prived of her crown and authority ?* Daring as these * That something of the kind was actually contemplated we learn from Mary herself. " In their council," she says in the letter already quoted " they thought it moat expedient we should be warded in our castle of Stirling, there to remain till we had approved in parliament all their wickJed enterprises established their religion, and given to the king th- QUEEN OF SCOTS. 249 en were, they could hardly venture upon a measure so odious. Besides, Darnley, always vacillating and always contemptible, was beginning to think he had 5 one too far ; and, influenced by something like re- turning affection for his beautiful consort, who was probably in a month or two to make him a father, he insisted that the matter should now be allowed to rest where it was, provided Mary would promise to receive into favour the lords who had returned from banishment, and would grant a deed of oblivion to all who had taken a part in the recent assassination. Morton, Ruthven, Murray, and the rest were ex tremely unwilling to consent to so precarious an ar rangement ; but Darnley overruled their objections. On Monday evening articles were drawn up for theii security, which he undertook to get subscribed by the queen ; and trusting to his promises, all the con- spirators, including the lords who had just returned, withdrew themselves and their retainers from Holy rood House, and went to sup at the Earl of Morton's.* As soon as Mary found herself alone with Darnley she urged with all the force of her superior mind every argument she could think of, to convince hirr how much he erred in associating himself with the existing cabal. She was not aware of the full ex tent to which he was implicated in their transactions for he had assured her that he was not to blame foi Rizzio's murder, and as yet she believed him inno- cent of comriving it. She spoke to him, therefore with the confidence of an affectionate wife, with the winning eloquence of a lovely woman, and with the force and dignity of an injured queen. She at length satisfied him that his best hopes of advancement rested in her, and not on men who, having first rown-matrimonial and the whole government of our realm ; or else, by all appearance, firmly purposed to have put us to death, or detained us > perpetual captivity." Keith, Appendix, p. 132. * Rutbven'a " Discourse" concerning the murder of Rizzio, in Keith, Appendix, p. 138 250 LIFE OF MARY renounced allegiance to their lawful queen, undertook to confer upon him a degree of power which was not theirs to bestow. Darnley further learned from Mary that Huntly, Bothwell, Athol, and others had already risen in her behalf; and yielding to her repre- sentations and entreaties, he consented that they should immediately make their escape together. At midnight, accompanied only by the captain of the guard and two others, they left the palace and rode to Dunbar without stopping. In a few days Mary, having been joined by more than one-half of her nobility, found herself at the head of a powerful army. The conspirators, on the other hand, seeing themselves betrayed by Darnley and little supported by the country, were hardly able to offer even the shadow of resistance to the queen. Still further to diminish the little strength they had, Mary resolved to make a distinction between the old and the new rebels ; and influenced by reasons on which Morton had little calculated, she consented to pardon Murray, Argyle, and others, who immediately resorted to her and were received into favour. After remain- ing in Dunbar only five days, she marched back in triumph to Edinburgh, and the conspirators fled in all directions to avoid the punishment they so justly deserved. Morton, Maitland, Ruthven, and Lindsay betook themselves to Newcastle, where, for aught that is known to the contrary, they occupied the verj lodgings which Murray and his accomplices had pos sessed a week or two before. The whole face of affairs was now altered ; and Mary, who for some days had suffered so much, wa. once more queen of Scotland. " And such a changt you should have seen," says Archbishop Spottiswood " that they who the night preceding did vaunt of the fact (Rizzio's murder) as a godly and memorable act, affirming, some truly, some falsely, that they were present thereat, did, on the morrow, forswear all hat before they had affirmed " But it was not in -IUEEN OF SCOTS. 251 Mary's nature to be cruel, and her resentments were never of long continuance. Two persons only were put to death for their share in Rizzio's slaughter, and these were men of little note. Before the end of the year most of the principal delinquents, as will be seen in the sequel, were allowed to return to court. Lord Ruthveu, however, died at Newcastle of his old disease, a month or two after his flight thither. His death occasioned little regret, and his name lives in history only as that of a titled murderer.* CHAPTER XVII. The Birth of James VI. MARY'S vigorous conduct had again put her in pos- session of that rightful authority of which so lawless an attempt had been made to deprive her ; but though restored to power, she was far from being likewise restored to happiness. The painful conviction was now at length forced upon her, that she had not in all the world one real friend. She felt that the neces- sities of her situation forced her to associate in her councils men who were the slaves of ambition, and whose heartless courtesies were offered to her only until a prospect of higher advantages held out a temptation to transfer them to another. She had not been long in her own kingdom before Bothwell and others contemplated seizing her person and assassi- nating her prime minister, the Earl of Murray : she had hardly succeeded in frustrating these designs, when Murray himself directed his strength against her ; and now, still more recently, the husband foi * Keith, p. 3J4 ; Stuart's History of Scotland, p. 138, et aeq. 252 LIFE OF MARY whose sake she had raised armies to chase her bro- ther from the country, had aimed at making him. self independent, and, to ingratiate himself with traitors, had scrupled not to engage in a deed of wan- ton cruelty, personally insulting to his wife and sovereign. Ignorant where to turn for repose and safety, Mary began to lose much of the natural vivacity and buoy- ancy of her temper, and to feel that in those turbu- lent times she was endowed with too little of that dissimulation which enabled her sister Elizabeth to steer so successfully among the rocks and shoals of government. In a letter written about this period to one of her female relations in France, she says, touchingly, " It will grieve you to hear how entirely, 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 perplexities." " She was sad and pensive," says Sir James Melville, " for the late foul act committed in her presence so irreverently. So many great sighs she would give that it was pity to hear her, and over few were careful to comfort her." But the per- fidy of her nobles Mary could have borne ; it was the disaffection and wickedness of her husband that afflicted her most. Anxious to believe that he told her the truth, when he asserted that he was not im- plicated in the murder of Rizzio, she rejoiced to see him issue a proclamation, declaring that he was neither " a partaker in, nor privy to, David's slaughter." But the truth was too notorious to be kept long con- cealed. Randolph wrote to Cecil on the 4th of April, 1566 " The queen hath seen all the covenants and bands that passed between the king and the lords, and now findeth that his declaration before her and council, of his innocency of the death of David, was false, and is grievously offended that by their means he should seek to come to the crown-matrimonial." Hence sprang the grief which, in secret, preyed so QUEEN OF SCOTS. 253 deeply upon Mary's health and spirits. Few things are more calculated to distress a generous mind than to discover that the object of its affections is un- worthy the love which has been lavished upon it. The young and graceful Darnley, laying at Mary's feet the real or pretended homage of his heart, was a very different person from the headstrong and designing king, colleaguing with her rebels, assassinating hei faithful servant, and endeavouring to snatch the crown from her head. " That very power," says Robert son, " which, with liberal and unsuspicious fondness she had conferred upon him, he had employed to insult her authority, to limit her prerogative, and to endanger her person : such an outrage it was impos sible any woman could bear or forgive." Yet Mary looked upon these injuries, coming as they did from the man whom she had chosen to be the future com- panion of her life, " more in sorrow than in anger ;" and though she shed many a bitter tear over his un- worthiness, she did not cease to love him. In the midst of these anxieties, the time for the queen's delivery drew near. After a short excursion to Stirling and the neighbourhood, in which she was accompanied by Darnley, Murray, Bothwell, and others, she returned to Edinburgh, and by the advice of her privy council went to reside in the castle, as the place of greatest security, till she should present the country with an heir to the throne. During the months of April and May she lived there very quietly, amusing herself with her work and her books, and occasionally walking out, for she had no wheeled carriage. She occupied herself, too, in endeavour- ing to reconcile those of her nobility whom contrary interests and other circumstances had disunited. It cost her no little trouble to prevail upon the two most faithful of her ministers, the Earl of Huntly her chancellor, and Bothwell her lord high admiral, to- submit to the returning influence of their old enemy the Earl of Murray. It was especially galling n- 254 LIFE OF MARY them that Murray and Argyle were the only persona in addition to the king allowed to reside in the castle with Mary. But it was her own wish to have her husband and her brothers beside her on the present occasion : and no representations made by Bothwell or Huntly could alter her resolution. Yet these two jarls went the length of assuring the queen that Murray had entered into a new conspiracy w'.th Mor- ton, and that they would probably put in ward both herself and her infant, as soon as it was born. Sur- rounded as Mary was by traitors, she could not know whether this information was true or not ; but her returning affection for Murray prevailed over every other consideration.* Elizabeth was all this time narrowly watching the progress of affairs in Scotland. Murray's restora tion to favour pleased her much ; and, to reconcile Morton and his friends to the failure of their plots, she secretly countenanced and protected them. With her usual duplicity, however, she sent to Edinburgli Henry Killigrew, to congratulate Mary on her late escape, and to assure her that she would give direc- tions to remove Morton out of England. She like- wise recalled Randolph, of whose seditious practices Mary had complained ; but as if to be even with the Scottish queen, she commanded Killigrew to demand the reason why a certain person of the name of Ruxby, a rebel and a papist, had been protected in Scotland? It would have been better for Elizabeth had she allowed this subject to rest. Though Ruxby feigned himself a refugee from England on account of religion, he had in reality been privately sent to Scotland by Elizabeth herself andher secretary Cecil. The object of his mission was to find out whether Mary carried on any secret correspondence with the English Catho) cs. For this purpose he was to pre- * Melville's Memoirs, p 194 ; Goodail, vol. i. p. 286 ; Chalmers, voi U. p. JM. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 255 tend that he was a zealous supporter of her right and title to the crown of England ; and that he had some influence with the English Catholics, all of whom, he was to assert, thought as he did. Having thus ingratiated himself with Mary, he was imme- diately to betray any discoveries he might make to Cecil. The scheme was ingeniously enough con- trived; coming as an avowed enemy to Elizaheth, and she herself actually supplying credentials to that effect, no suspicion was for some time entertained of his real designs. That he was able to learn any thing which could afford the English queen reason- able ground of offence is not likely ; for though seve- ral communications in cipher passed between him and Cecil, their contents were never made public. Shortly before Killigrew's arrival, Ruxby's real char- acter had been accidentally discovered ; and when the ambassador, more for the sake of aiding than of hindering the spy in the prosecution of his object, made a pro forma request that he should not be har- boured any longer, Mary instantly ordered him to be apprehended, and all his writings and ciphers to be seized and examined. The indubitable evidence which they afforded of Elizabeth's systematic cun- ning forced a smile from Mary, and might have brought a blush to the cheek of her rival. The Queen of Scots, however, did not condescend to give any utterance to the feelings which this affair must have inspired ; and nothing further is known of Elizabeth's disgraced and detected minion.* Early in June, perceiving that the time of her de- livery was at hand, Mary wrote letters to her princi- pal nobility requiring them to come to Edinburgh during that juncture. She then made her will which she caused to be thrice transcribed ; one copy was sent to France, a second committed to the charge of her privy council, and the third she kept herself. * Melville's Memoirs, p. 15C Keith, p. 337 256 I.Il i: OF MARY The day preceding her delivery, she wiote with her own hand a letter to Elizabeth announcing the event, but leaving a blank "to be filled," says Melville, " either with a son or a daughter, as it might please God to grant unto her." On Wednesday, the 19th day of June, 1566, be- tween nine and ten in the morning, the queen was safely delivered of a son. The intelligence was re- ceived every where throughout Scotland, with sin- cere demonstrations of joy. "As the birth of a prince," says Keith, " was one of the greatest of bless- ings that God could bestow upon this poor divided land, so was the same most thankfully acknowledged by all ranks of people, according as the welcome news thereof reached their ears." In Edinburgh, the triumph continued for several days ; and upon the first intimation of the event, all the nobility in the town, accompanied by most of the citizens, went in solemn procession to the high church, and offered up thanksgiving for so signal a mercy shown to the queen and the whole realm. When the news was conveyed to England, it was far from being heard with so much satisfaction. It was between eleven and twelve on the morning of the 19th, that the Lady Boyne came to Sir James Mel- ville, and told him that their prayers being granted, he must carry Mary's letter to London with all dili- gence. " It struck twelve hours," says Sir James. " when I took my horse, and I was at Berwick that same night. The fourth day after I was in London," a degree of despatch very unusual in those times. Melville found Elizabeth at Greenwich, " where her majesty was in great merriness, and dancing after supper. But so soon as the secretary Cecil sounded the news in her ear of the prince's birth, all merri- ness was laid aside for that night ; every one that was present marvelling what might move so sudden a changement. For the queen sat down with her hand upon her haffet (cheek), and bursting out to QUEEN OF SCOTS. 257 some of her ladies, how that the Queen 01 Scotland was lighter of a fair son, and that she was but a bar- ren stock." Next morning, Elizabeth gave Melville a formal audience, at which, having had time for prepa- ration, she endeavoured to dissemble her real feel- ings; though by overacting her part, she made them only the more apparent. She told him gravely, that the joyful news he brought her had recovered her out of a heavy sickness, which had held her for fif- teen days ! ** Then I requested her majesty," says Melville, " to be a gossip unto the queen, for our comers are called gossips in England, which she granted gladly to be. Then I said her majesty would have a fair occasion to see the queen, which she had so oft desired. At this she smiled, and said that she would wish that her estate and affairs might permit her ; and promised to send both honourable lords and ladies to supply her room."* CHAPTER XVIII. Afary't Treatment of Darnley, and alleged Love for the Eu\ of BothweU. As soon as she had sufficiently recovered to be able to quit the castle, Mary resolved on leaving the fatigues of government behind, and going for some time into the country. Her infant son was intrusted to the care of the Earl of Mar as his governor, and the Lady Mar as his governess. The time was not yet arrived to make arrangements regarding bis edu- cation ; but the general assembly had already sent a deputation to the queen, to entreat that she would 3117 * Melville's Memoin, p. 168. 258 LIFE OF MARY allow him to be brought up in the Reformed religion. To this request Mary avoided giving any positive answer; but she condescendingly took the intent from the nurse, and put it into the arms of some of the divines. A prayer was pronounced over it ; and Spottiswood assures us, that, at the conclusion, the child gave an inarticulate murmur, which the de- lighted Presbyterians construed to be an Amen It was the seat of the Earl of Mar at Alloa that the queen first visited. Being not yet equal to the fatigues of horseback, she went on board a vessel at Newhaven, and sailed up the Forth. She was ac- companied by Murray and others of her nobility.* Buchanan, whose constant malice and misrepresenta- tion become at times almost ludicrous, says, " Not long after her delivery, on a day very early, accom- panied by very few that were privy of her council, she went down to the waterside at a place called the Newhaven ; and while all marvelled whither she went in such haste, she suddenly entered into a ship there prepared for her. With a train of thieves, all honest men wondering at it, she betook herself to sea, taking not one other with her." " When she was in the ship," he says elsewhere, " among pirates and thieves, she could abide at the pump, and joyed to handle the boisterous cables."f It is thus this trustworthy historian describes a sail of a few hours, enjoyed by Mary and her court. Darnley, who, though not very contented either with himself or any one els>e, was about this time much in the queen's company, went to Alloa by land, and remained with Mary the greater part of the time she continued at the Earl of Mar's. The uneasiness he suffered, and the peevish complaints to which he was continually giving utterance, were occasioned by the want of deference, with which he found him- * Keith, p. 545 ; and Chalmers, rol. i. p. 180. t Buchanan's History, book xviii ; his " Detection," in Andnrson Collections, vol. ii. p. 6 ; and bis " Oration," p. 44. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 259 self treated by all Mary's ministers. But the genera! odium into which he had fallen was entirely to be attributed to his own folly. Between him and tha Earl of Murray there had long existed a deadly hatred against each other; in associating himself with Morton, and plotting against Huntly and Both- well, he had irremediably offended these noblemen ; and in deserting Morton and his faction, he had for ever lost the friendship of the only men who seemed willing to regard him with any favour. The distress- ing consciousness of neglect occasioned by his own misconduct was thus forced upon him wherever he turned; and instead of teaching him a lesson of humility, it only served to sour his temper, and per- vert his feelings. The queen was deeply grieved to see him so universally hated ; and anxiously endea- voured to make herself the connecting link between him and her incensed nobility. This was all she could do ; for, even although she had wished it, she could not have dismissed, to please him, such of her ministers as he considered obnoxious; a measure so unconstitutional would have led to a second rebellion. But she hoped by treating her husband kindly, and showing him every attention herself, to make it be understood that she expected others would be equally respectful. Having spent some days together at > lloa, Mary and Darnley went to Peebles-shire to enjoy the amusement of hunting; but finding little sport, they returned on the 20th of August to Edin- burgh. Thence they went to Stirling, taking the young prince with them, whom they established in Stirling Castle. Bothwell, in the mean time, in his capacity of lieutenant of the borders, was in some of the southern shires attending the duties of his charge.* It is necessary to detail these facts thus minutely, as Mary's principal calumniator, Buchanan, endeavours 1 Chalmers, vol. i. p. 181, et soq. ; Ooodall, vol. i. p. 292, et aeq. T. U 260 LIFE OF MART to establish, by a tissue of falsehoods, that im mediately after her delivery, or perhaps before it, she conceived a criminal attachment for Bothwell This absurdity has gained credit with several later writers, and particularly with Robertson, whose knowledge of Mary's motions and domestic arrange- ments at the period of which we speak, appears to have been very superficial. Yet he may be regarded as even a more dangerous enemy than the former. Buchanan's virulence and evident party spirit cany their own contradiction along with them ; while Robertson, not venturing to go the same lengths (though guided in his belief entirely by Buchanan), imparts to the authority on which he trusts a greater air of plausibility, by softening down the violence of the original to suit the calmer tone of professedly unprejudiced history. In the progress of these Me- moirs, it will not be difficult to show that Rob- ertson's affected candour, or too hastily formed be- lief, is as little to be depended on as Buchanan's undisguised malice. Buchanan wishes it to be believed, in the first place, that Mary entertained a guilty love for Rizzio. He then proceeds to assert, that in little more than three months after his barbarous assassination, she had fallen no less violently in love with Bothwell, although, in the mean time, she had been employed in giving birth to her first child, by a husband whom he allows she doted on nine or ten months before. To bolster up this story, he perverts facts with the most reckless indifference. One specimen of his style we have already seen in his account of the queen's voyage to Alloa ; and proceeding with his narrative, we find him positively asserting in the sequel, that for the two or three following months, Mary was constantly in the company of Bothwell, and of Bothwell alone, knowing, as he must have done all the while, that Murray and Darnley, Both- well's principal enemies, were her chief associates, 3UEEN OF SCOTS. 261 and that Bothwell spent most of the time in a distant part of the kingdom. Robertson dates, even more confidently than Bu- chanan, the commencement of Mary's love for Both- well at a period prior to her delivery. But, upon this hypothesis, it is surely odd that Murray and Argyle were permitted by the queen to reside in the castle previous to and during her confinement, while the same favour was peremptorily refused to Bothwell and it is no less odd, that shortly after her delivery, Secretary Maitland, at the intercession of the Earl of Athol, was received once more into favour, in direct opposition to the wishes of Bothwell. It is no doubt possible, that notwithstanding this presump- tive evidence to the contrary, Mary may at this very time have had a violent love for Bothwell ; but are we to give credit to the improbability, merely because Buchanan was the slave of party feeling, and Rob- ertson disposed to be credulous ? Are the detected fabrications of the one entitled to any better consid- eration than the gratuitous suppositions of the other 1 " Strange and surprisingly wild," says Keith, " are the accounts given by Knox, but more especially by Buchanan, concerning the king and queen about this time. I shall not reckon it worth while to transcribe them here ; and the best and shortest confutation I could propose of them is, to leave my readers the trouble, or rather satisfaction, to compare the same with the just now mentioned abstracts (of despatches from Randolph to Cecil), and the three following authentic letters," from the French and Scottish am- bassadors and the queen's privy council.* Robert- son, it is true, after having asserted, that " Bothwell all this while was the queen's prime confidant," and that he had acquired a " sway over her heart," pro- ceeds to confess, that " such delicate transitions of passion can be discerned only by those who are * Keith, p. 845. 262 LIFE OF MARY admitted near the persons of the parties, and who can view the secret workings of the heart with calm and acute observation." " Neither Knox nor Buchanan," he adds, "enjoyed these advantages. Their humble station allowed them only a distant access to the queen and her favourite; and the ardour of their zeal and the violence of their prejudices rendered their opinions rash, precipitate, and inaccurate." This is apparently so explicit and fair, that the only wonder is, upon what grounds Robertson ventured to make his accusation of Mary, having thus shown how little dependence was to be placed on the only authorities which supported him in it. It appears, that he came to his conclusions by a process of his own, which rendered him independent both of Knor. and Bschanan. " Subsequent historians," he says, " can judge of the reality of this reciprocal passion only by its effects" Robertson must of course have been aware that he thus opened the gate to a flood of uncertainty, seeing that the same effects may spring from a hundred different causes. If a man be found dead, before looking for his murderer, it is always proper to inquire whether he has been mur- dered. Be* : des, if effects are to be made the crite- rion by which to form an opinion, the greatest care must be taken that they be not misrepresented. Mary must not be said to have been a great deal in Bothwell's company, at a time she was almost never with him, and she must not be described as being seldom with her husband, at a time they were con- stantly together. Laing is another and still later writer, who has produced a very able piece of special pleading against Mary, in which a false colouring is continually given to facts. " After her delivery," he says, " she removed secretly from the castle, and was followed by Darnley to Alloa, Stirling, Meggetland, and back again to Edh burgh, as if she were desirous to escape from the pres ence of hei husband." That Darnleyyo//o7f Mar) QUEEN OF SCOTS. 263 is an assumption of Mr. Laing's own. Conceited as the young king was, he would rather never have stirred out of his chamber again than have condescended to follow so perseveringly one who wished to avoid him, first to Alloa, then to Stirling, then into Peebles- shire, then back again to Edinburgh, and once more to Stirling. The only correct part of Laing's state- ment is, that Mary chose to go by water to Alloa, while Darnley preferred travelling by land ; perhaps, because he wished to hunt by the way, or call at the seats of some of the nobility. The distance alto- gether was only twenty miles ; and the notion that Mary removed " secretly" from the castle, for the im- portant purpose of taking an excursion to Alloa, is absolutely ludicrous. In support of his assertion that Mary had lost her heart to Bothwell, Laing pro- ceeds to mention that, shortly after the assassination of Rizzio, the earl, for his successful services, was loaded with favours and preferment. That Mary should have conferred some reward upon a nobleman whose power and fidelity were the chief means of preserving her on a tottering throne, is not at all unlikely; but to make that reward appear dispro- portioned to the occasion, Laing misdates the time when most of Bothwell's offices of trust were be- stowed upon him. Several of them were his by hereditary right, such as those of lord high admiral, and the sheriffships of Berwick, Haddington, and Edinburgh. Part of his authority on the borders he had acquired during the time of the late queen-regent, Mary's mother, having been made her lieutenant, and keeper of Hermitage Castle, in 1558; and it was immediately after his restoration to favour, during the continuance of Murray's rebellion, that he was appointed lieutenant of the West and Middle Marches, a situation which implied the superiority of the ab- beys of Melrose and Haddington.* The only addi- * Knox, p. 386; Anderson, vol. i. p. 90; Tytler, rol. ii. p. 30; Chal- n>ern vol. ii p. 906. 307. 864 LIFE OF MARY tion made to Bothwell's possessions and titles, in consequence of his services after Rizzio's death, was that of the castle and lordship of Dunbar, togethei with a grant of some crown-lands.* There is another circumstance connected with Bothwell which we omitted to mention before, but which may with propriety be stated here. At the period of which we write, when he is accused of being engaged in a criminal intercourse with Mary, he had been only two or three months married to a wife every way deserving of his love. Three weeks before the death of Rizzio, he had espoused, in the thirty-sixth year of his age, the Lady Jane Gordon, the sister of his friend, the Earl of Huntly. She was just twenty, and was possessed of an elegant and cultivated understanding. They were married at Holyrood on the 22d of February, 1566, after the manner of the Reformed persuasion, in direct oppo- sition to Mary's wishes. She entertained them, how- ever, at a banquet on the first day ; and the feasting and rejoicings continued for a week. " The queen desired," says Knox, " that the marriage might be made in the chapel at the mass, which the Earl Bothwell would in no ways grant."! Was there any love existing at this time between Mary and her minister? Robertson and Laing seem to think there was. Choosing to judge of Mary's feelings towards Bothwell by effects, not of effects by feelings, they quote several passages from the letters of one or two of the foreign ambassadors then in Scotland, which mention that Bothwell possessed great influ ence at court. That these ambassadors report n * Knox, p. 396 ; and Chalmers, p. 219. t Knox, p. 393; Chalmers, vol. ii. p. 206 and 318; Laing, vol. i. p. 359. In the first edition of Ty tier's ' Vindication," Bothwell, being con- founded with th former earl, his father, was said to be about fifty-nine at this period. In the second edition, Tytler partly corrected his error, bat not eniirel y ; for he stated Boihwell's age to be forty-three when he married. Chalmers, who is seldom wrong in the matter of date*, h* settled Ike question. QUEEN OF SCOTS. 269 more than the truth may be very safely granted; though certainly there is no evidence to show that he enjoyed so much weight as Murray, 01 more than Huntly. Yet he deserved better than the former, for he had hitherto, with one exception, continued as faithful to Mary as he had previously been to her mother. The letters alluded to only repeat what Randolph had mentioned six months before. So early as October, 1565, only two months after Mary's marriage with Darnley, and when her love for him remained at its height, Randolph wrote to Cecil ; " My Lord Bothwell, for his great virtue, doth now all, next to the Earl of Athol."* Was Mary in love with Bothwell at this date 1 Or was it with the Earl of Athol 1 And did she postpone her attachment to Bothwell till he should prove his for her by becom- ing the husband of the Lady Jane Gordon 1 We proceed with our narrative. Having spent some time with Darnley at Stirling, Mary returned to Edinburgh for the despatch of public business, on the llth or 12th of September. She wished Darnley to accompany her ; but as he could not, or would not, act with either Murray's or Hunt- ley's party, he refused. On the 21st she came again to Stirling; but was recalled once more to Edin- burgh, by her privy council, on the 23d. She left the French ambassador, Le Croc, with the wayward Darnley, hoping that his wisdom and experience might be of benefit to him.f The distinction which, from this period up to the hour of his death, Darnley constantly made between his feelings for Mary her- self and for her ministers is very striking. With Mary he was always willing to associate, and she had the same desire to be as much as she could with him; but with the conditions he exacted, and by which alone she was to purchase much of his com- pany, it was impossible for her to comply. She * Chalmert, vol. ii. p. 217. t Ibid. vol. 1. p. 183 and 184. 266 LIFE OF MARY might as well have given up her crown at once as have dismissed all those officers of state with whom Darnley had quarrelled. The truth is, her husband's situation was a very unfortunate one. His own imbecility and unlawful ambition had brought upon him general odium ; but if he had possessed a stronger mind, or a greater stock of hypocrisy, he might have re-established himself in the good graces of at least a part of the Scottish nobility. But he had neither the prudence to disguise his sentiments, nor the ability to maintain them. "He had not learned," says Chalmers, " to smile, and smile, and be a villain. He was still very young, and still very inexperienced ; and the queen could not easilj govern without the aid of those odious men," his enemies. Mary had been only a few days in Edinburgh when she received a letter from the Earl of Lennox, Darnley's father, which afflicted her not a little. Lennox, who resided principally at Glasgow, had gone to Stirling to visit his son ; and Darnley had there communicated to him a design his present dis- contents had suggested, which was to leave the country and proceed to the Continent. Both Len- nox and Le Croc, "a wise, aged gentleman," as Holinshed calls him, had done all they could to divert him from so mad a purpose ; but his resolution seemed to be fixed. Mary immediately laid her father-in-law's letter before her privy council, who " took a resolution to talk with the king, that they might learn from himself the occasion of this hasty deliberation of his, if any such he had; and like- wise that they might thereby be enabled to advise her majesty after what manner she should comport herself in this conjuncture."* On the evening of the very day that this resolution was adopted (the 29th of September), Darnley himself arrived at ' Mmilland's official letter to Catharine de Medici*, In Keith, p. 348 QUEEN OF SCOTS. 26? Holyrood; but being informed that the Earls of Argyle, Mui ray, and Rothes were with the queen, he declared he would not enter the palace till they departed.* The queen took this petulant behaviour as mildly as possible ; and, glad of his arrival, even condescended to go forth from the palace to meet her husband, and conducted him to her own apart- ment, where they spent the night together-! Next day Mary prevailed upon her husband to attend a meeting of her council. They requested to be informed by the king, whether he had actually resolved to depart out of the realm, and if he had, what were the motives that influenced him, and the objects he had in view. They added, " that if he could complain of any of the subjects of the realm, be they of what quality soever, the fault should be immediately repaired to his satisfaction." Mary herself took him by the hand, and speaking affec- '.ionately to him, " besought him, for God's sake, to declare if she had given him any occasion for this resolution.''^ She had a clear conscience, she said, that in all her life she had done no action which could any ways prejudge either his or her own honour ; but, nevertheless, that as she might, per- haps, have given him offence without design, she was willing to make amends, as far as he should require ; and therefore "prayed him not to dissemble the occasion of his displeasure, if any he had, nor to spare her in the least manner.^ Darnley answered distinctly, that he had no fault to find with the queen ; but he was either unable or unwilling to explain further. With the stubborn discontent of a petted child, he would neither say one thing nor another neither confess nor deny. Without agree- * These noblemen, it may be observe/I, instead of being the friends, were the personal and political enemies of Bothwell, with whom Dtrnley mw less displeased than with them. t Goodall, vol. i. p. 284 ; Keith, p. 348. t Le Croc's Letter in Keith, p. 348. $ Maitland's Letter in Keith, p 340 263 LIFE OF MARY ing to alter his determination, whatever it might b and it was, perhaps, after all, only a trick contrived to work upon Mary's affections, and intimidate her into his wishes, he at length took his leave. Upon going away, he said to the queen, " Farewell, madam ; you shall not see my face 'for a long while." He next bade Le Croc farewell ; and then turning coldly to the lords of the council, he said, " Gentlemen, adieu."* Shortly afterward Mary received a letter from Darnley, in which he complained of two things. "One is," says Maitland, "that her majesty trusts him not with so much authority, nor is at such pains to advance him and make him be honoured in the nation, as she at first was. And the other point is. that nobody attends him, and that the nobility desert his company. To these two points the queen has made answer, that if the case be so he ought to blame himself, not her ; for that in the beginning she had conferred so much honour upon him as came after- ward to render herself very uneasy, the credit and reputation wherein she had placed him having served as a shadow to those who have most heinously offended her majesty; but, howsoever, that she has, notwithstanding this, continued to show him such respect, that although they who did perpetrate the murder of her faithful servant bad entered her chamber with his knowledge, having followed him close at the back, and had named him the chief of their enterprise, yet would she never accuse him thereof but did always excuse him, and was willing to appear as if she believed it not. And then as to his being not attended, the fault thereof must be charged upon himself, since she has always made an offer to him of her own servants. And for the nobility, they come to court, and pay deference and ^, according as they have any matters to do, * Keith, idem, p. 346 and 349 QUEEN OF SCOTS. 269 and as they receive a kindly countenance ; but that he is at no pains to gain them and make himself be- loved by them, having gone so far as to prohibit these noblemen to enter 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 desire to be followed and attended by them, he must, in the first place, make them to love him, and to this purpose must render himself amiable to them; without which, it will prove a most difficult task for her majesty 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."* No answer or explanation could be more satis- factory; and the whole affair exhibits a highly favourable view of Mary's conduct and character. Le Croc accordingly says, in the letter already quoted, " I never saw her majesty so much beloved, esteemed, and honoured; nor so great a harmony among all her subjects as at present is by her wise conduct, for I cannot perceive the smallest difference or division." That Darnley ever seriously intended to quit the country, it has been said, is extremely uncertain. It would appear, however, according to Knox, that he still harboured some chimerical design of making himself independent of Mary; and with this view he treacherously wrote to the pope and the kings of Spain and France, misrepresenting the state of affairs, and offering with their assistance to re- establish the Catholic religion. Copies of these let- ters, Knox adds, fell into Mary's hands, who, of course, took steps to prevent their meeting with any attention at the Continental courts.f But be this matter as it may (and its truth rests upon lather doubtful authority, since we find no mention of it * Keith, idem, p. 350 t Knox, p 399. 270 LIFE OF MARY either by the lords of privy council or the French ambassador), it is certain that Darnley's determina- tion, hastily formed, was as hastily abandoned.* Shortly after her husband's departure from Edin- burgh, the queen, attended by her officers of state, set out upon a progress towards the borders, with * The turn which Buchanan gives to the whole of this affair, in the work he libellously calls a " History," scarcely deserves notice. " In the mean time," he veraciously writes, in his Eighteenth Hook, " the king finding no place Tor favour with his wife, is sent away with injuries and reproaches ; and though he often tried her spirit, yet by no offices of observance could he obtain to be admitted to conjugal familiarity as be- fore ; whereupon he retired in discontent to Stirling." In his " Detec- tion," he is still more ludicrously false. " In the mean time," he writes, " the king, commanded out of sight, and with injuries and miseries ban- ished from her, kept himself close with a few of his servants at Stirling for, alas ! what should he else do ? He could not creep into any piece of grace with the queen, nor could get so much as to obtain his daily neccs sary expenses, to find his servants and horses. And finally, with brawl ings lightly rising for every small trifle, and quarrels usually picked, he was chased out ol her presence ; yet his heart, obstinately fixed in loving her, could not be restrained, but he must needs come back to Edinburgh of purpose, with all kind of serviceable humbleness to get some entry into her former favour, and to recover the kind society of marriage : who once again, with most dishonourable disdain excluded, once again returns from whence he came, there, as in solitary desert, to bewail his wolul miseries." Anderson, vol. ii. p. 9. Another equally honest record of these times, commonly known by the name of " Murray's or Cecil's Journal," 1 the former having supplied the information to the latter, to answer his own views at a subsequent period, says, " At this time, the king coming from Stirling, was repulsed with chiding." The same Journal mentions, that on the 24th of September, Mary lodged in the Chequer-house, and met with Bothwell; a story which Buchanan dis- custingly amplifies in his Detection, though the privy council records prove that the queen lodged in her palace of Holyrood on the 24th with her privy touncil and officers of state in attendance. As to Buchanan's complaint, that the king was stinted in his necessary expenses, the treasurer's ac- counts clearly show its falsehood. " The fact is," says Chalmers, " that he was allowed to order, by himself, payments in money and furnish- tnents of necessaries from the public treasurer. And the treasurer's ac- counts show that lie was amply furnished with necessaries at the very lime when those calumnious statements were asserted by men who knew them to be untrue. On two days alone, the 13th and 31st of August, the treasurer, by the king and queen's order, was supplied with a vast number of articles for the king's use alone, amounting to 3002., which is more than the queen had for six months, even including the necessaries which she had during her confinement." Chalmers, vol. i. p. 186. These mi- nute details would be unworthy of attention, did they not serve to prove the difficulty of determining whether Buchanan's patron, who was also Mary's prime minister, or the historian himself, possessed the superioi talent for misrepresentatia a QUEEN OF SCOTS. 27 1 the view, in particular, of holding justice-courts at Jedburgh. The southern marches of Scotland were almost always in a state of insubordination. The recent encouragement which the secret practices, first of Murray and afterward of Morton, both aided by Elizabeth, had given to the turbulent spirit of the borderers, called loudly for the interference of the law. Mary had intended to hold assizes in Liddis- dale in August, but on account of the harvest, post- poned leaving Edinburgh till October. On the 6th or 7th of that month she sent forward Bothwell, her lieutenant, to make the necessary preparations for her arrival, and on the 8th the queen and her court set out, the noblemen and gentlemen of the southern shires having been summoned to meet her with their retainers at Melrose. On the 10th she arrived at Jedburgh. There, or it may have been on her way from Melrose, she received the disagreeable news, that on the very day she left Edinburgh, her lieu- tenant's authority had been insulted by some of the unruly borderers, and that soon after his reaching his castle of Hermitage, a place of strength about eighteen miles from Jedburgh, he had been severely and dangerously wounded. Different historians assign different reasons for the attack made on Bothwell. Some say that Morton had bought ovei the tribe of Elliots to revenge his present disgrace upon one whom he considered an enemy. Others, with greater probability, assert that it was only a riot occasioned by thieves, whose lawless proceed- ings Bothwell wished to punish. But whichever statement be correct, the report of what had actually taken place was, as usual, a good deal exaggerated when it reached Mary. Being engaged, however, with public business at Jedburgh, she was prevented for several days from ascertaining the precise truth for herself. Finding that she had leisure on the 16th of the month, and being informed that her lieutenant was still confined with his wounds, she paid him th 272 LIFE OF MARY compliment, or rather discharged the duty, of riding across the country with some attendants, both to inquire into the state of his health and to karn to what extent her authority had been insulted in his person. She remained with him only an hour or two, and returned to Jedburgh the same evening.* The above simple statement of facts, so natural in themselves, and so completely authenticated, ac- quires additional interest when compared with the common version of this story, which Buchanan and his follower Robertson have contrived to render pre- valent. " When the news that Bothwell was in great danger of his life," says Buchanan, " was brought to the queen at Borthwick, though the winter was very sharp, she flew in haste, first to Melrose, then to Jed- burgh. There, though she received certain intel- ligence that Bothwell was alive, yet, being impatient of delay, and not able to forbear, though in such a bad time of the year, notwithstanding the difficulty of the way and the danger of robbers, she put her- self on her journey with such attendants as hardly any honest man, though he was but of a mean con- dition, would trust his life and fortune to. From thence she returned again to Jedburgh, and there she was mighty diligent in making great preparations for Bothwell's being brought thither. "f The whole of this is a tissue of wilful misrepresentation. No one unacquainted with Buchanan's character would read the statement without supposing that Mary pro- ceeded direct from Borthwick to Hermitage- ( Castle, scarcely stopping an hour by the way. Now, if Mary heard of Bothwell's accident at Borthwick (which is scarcely possible), it must have been, at the latest, on the 9th of October, or more probably on the evening of the 8th ; but, so far from being in a * Birrel's Diary ; Keith, p. 331; Goodall, rol. 1. p. 308; Chalmers, TO!. L p. 190, vol. ii. p. 109 and 224. f Buchanan's History, book xviii ; and in hi " Detection" he repeat* the same story with still more venom dUEEN OF SCOTS. 273 hurry in consequence, it appears by the privy council register that she did not reach Jedburgh till the 10th, and, by the privy seal register, that she did not visit Hermitage Castle till the 16th of the month.* Had she really ridden from Borthwick to the Hermitage and back again to Jedburgh in one day, she would have performed a journey of nearly seventy miles, which she could not have done even though she had wished it. As to her employing herself, on her re- turn to Jedburgh, " in making great preparations foi BothwelFs being brought thither," she certainly must have made extremely good use of her time, for she returned on the evening of the 16th, and next day she was taken dangerously ill. The motives which induced Buchanan to propagate falsehood concern- ing Mary are sufficiently known ; but, being known, Robertson ought to have been well convinced of the truth of his allegations before he drew inferences upon such authority. But the doctor had laid down the principle that he was to judge of Mary's love for Bothwell by its effects ; and it became, therefore, con- venient for him to assert that her visit to Hermitage Castle was one of those effects. " Mary instantly flew thither," he says, " with an impatience which strongly marks the anxiety of a lover, but little suiting the dignity of a queen." Now " instantly" must mean that she allowed at all events six and probably seven days to elapse ; and that too after being informed of the danger one of the most powerful and best affectioned of her nobility had incurred in her behalf. Robert- son must have thought it strange that she staid only an hour or two at the castle. " Upon her finding Bothwell slightly wounded," says Tytler, " was it love that made her in such a violent haste to re- turn back the same night to Jedburgh, by the same bad roads and tedious miles ? Surely, if love had in any degree possessed her heart, it must have sup- * Both of these registers are quoted by Chalmers, vol. i. p. 181 3118 274 LIFE OF MARY plied her with many plausible reasons for passing that night in her lover's company, without exposing her- self to the inconveniences of an uncomfortable journey, and the inclemencies of the night air at that season." If Mary had been blamed for an over- degree of callousness and indifference, there would have been almost more justice in the censure. With honest warmth Chalmers remarks, that ' the records and the facts laugh at Robertson's false dates and frothy declamation."* On the 17th of October Mary was seized with a severe and dangerous fever, and for ten days her life was esteemed in great danger ; indeed it was at one time reported at Edinburgh that she was dead. The fever was accompanied with fainting or convulsion- fits, of an unusual and alarming description. They frequently lasted for three or four hours ; and during their continuance she was, to all appearance, lifeless. Her body was motionless ; her eyes closed ; hei mouth fast ; her feet and arms stiff and cold. Upon coming out of these, she suffered the most dreadful * Miss Benger's observations upon this subject are judicious and forcible " It was not till the 16lh the queen, with her officers of state, passed to Her- mitage Castle, twenty miles distant, whether to confer with Bothwell on business respectins the motives for the late outrage on his person, or purely as a visit of friendship and condolence, a respectful, and, as it should seem, well-merited acknowledgment of his loyal services, must be left to conjecture. It is, however, not improbable, 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 Both well's 'lips whether he ascribed the attack on his person to that nobleman's instigation. In Morton's behalf she had long been importuned by Murray, by Elizabeth, and Maitland, and, at a proper time, meant to yield to their solicitations ; but the discovery of a new treason would have altered her proceedings : to ascertain the fact was, therefore, of importance. By whatever con suit-rations Mary was induced to pay this visit, there appears not (when calumny is discarded), any specific ground for the suspicion that she then felt for Bothwell d warmer 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 Hermilhce Castle merely to say one kind word to the loyal servant whose blood had lately flowed in her service, he had, two years before, made a far greater effort to gratify a female friend, when she rode to Callander to assist at the baptism of Lord Li ving- none's child, regardless of the danger which awaited her from Murray and his party." Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 289 We hove dwelt too loug on calumny unsupported by any respectaUe evidence QUEEN OF SCOTS 276 pain, her whole frame being collapsed, and her limbs drawn writhingly together. She was at length so much reduced, that she herself began to despair of recovery. She summoned together the noblemen who were with her, in particular Murray, Huntly, Rothes, and Bothwell, and gave them what she be- lieved to be her dying advice and instructions. Both- well was not at Jedburgh when the queen was taken ill, nor did he show any greater haste to proceed thither when he heard of her sickness than she had done to visit him, it being the 24th of October before he left Hermitage Castle.* After requesting her coun- cil to pray for her, and professing her willingness to submit to the will of Heaven, Mary recommended her son to their especial care. She entreated that they would give every attention to his education, suffering none to approach him whose example might pervert his manners or his mind, and studying to bring him up in all virtue and godliness. She strongly advised the same toleration to be continued in matters of religion which she had practised ; and she concluded by requesting that suitable provision should be made for the servants of her household, to whom Mary was scrupulously attentive, and by all of whom she was much beloved. Fortunately, however, after an opportunity had been thus afforded her of evincing her strength of mind and willing- ness to meet death, the violence of her disease abated, and her youth and good constitution tri- umphed over the attack. Darnley, who was with his father at Glasgow, prob- ably did not hear of the queen's illness till one or two days after its commencement ; but as soon as lie was made acquainted with her extreme danger, he determined on going to see her. Here again we discover the marked distinction that characterized Darnley's conduct towards his wife and towards her nobility. With Mary herself he had no quarrel ; and though his love for her was not so strong and * Chalmers, vol. ii. p. 294 i x 276 LIFE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOT8. pure as it should have been, and was easily forgotten when it stood in the way of his own selfish wishes, he never lost any opportunity of evincing his desire to continue on a friendly footing with her. When he last parted from her at Holyrood, he had said that she should not see him for a long while ; but, startled into better feelings by her unexpected illness, he came to visit her at Jedburgh, on the 28th of Octo- ber. The queen was by this time better ; but hei convalescence being still uncertain, Darnley's ar- rival was far from being agreeable to her ministers. Should Mary die, one or other of them would be ap- pointed regent, an office to which they knew that Darnley, as father to the young prince, had strong claims. It was their interest, therefore, to sow dis- sension in every possible way between the queen and her husband; and they trembled lest the remain- ing affection they entertained for each other might be again rekindled into a more ardent flame. Mary, when cool and dispassionate, they knew they could manage easily; but Mary, when in love, chose, like most other women, to have her own way. They received Darnley on the present occasion so forbid- dingly, and gave him so little countenance, that having spent a day and a night with Mary, he was glad again to take his departure, and leave her to carry on the business of the state, surrounded by those designing and factious men who were weaving the web of her ruin. On the 9th of November the queen with her court left Jedburgh and went to Kelso, where she remained two days. She proceeded thence to Berwick, at- tended by not fewer than 800 knights and gentlemen on horseback. From Berwick she rode to Dunbar, and from Dunbar, by Tantallan, to Craigmillar, where she arrived on the 20th of November, 1666, and re- mained for three weeks, during which time an oc rmrrence of importance took place. END OF VOL. I UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below TJAN27 3 11949 7 195Q MAY 2 6 J 95a JUL6 1950 JUL311950 DEC 4 ' 195* NOV ? 185* :,0 3 19641 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A 000 993 529 7 ll * S5 C I DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK CARD , ij H 2 University Research Library O CO tti *>