EXECUTION OP MART STITABT. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART, 
 
 QUEEN OF SCOTS. 
 
 By M. DE MARLi:S, 
 
 CONTINUATOR OF DK. LINGARD. 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING FIFTEEN OF MARY'S LETTERS, 
 AND ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
 
 By M. I. RYAN. 
 
 MART STXTART ESCAPES FROM lOCHLEVEN CASTLE.' 
 
 Qui per virtutem peritat, non interit. 
 
 Plaut., in Capiivis. 
 
 Nam virtns mihi 
 
 In astra et ipsos fecit ad supercs iter. 
 
 Sen., de Here. (Elceo. 
 
 FOURTH THOUSAND. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 PATRICK DONAIIOE, 23 FRANICLIN STREET. 
 18^37. 
 
f 
 
 ; 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 
 PATRICK DONAHOE, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 BTEREOTTPED AT THE 
 BOSTON STEREOTTPE FOUNDRY. 
 
PREFATORY. 
 
 The work of M. de Maries has now been 
 some time before the public, and the number 
 of editions through which it has gone speaks 
 forcibly in its favor. 
 
 The author's plain statement of facts, lucid 
 explanations, unanswerable arguments, and logi- 
 cal conclusions will, it is believed, set at rest the 
 vexed question of Mary's innocence or culpability. 
 It proves satisfactorily that Mary's death was 
 sought, as Bishop Milner has asserted, " merely 
 because she was a Catholic, and heir apparent to 
 the crown." 
 
 The size of the volume has precluded the cita- 
 tion of authorities in many instances, but the 
 reader may place implicit confidence in the accu- 
 racy of the author's statements ; whenever prac- 
 1* (5) 
 
6 
 
 PREFATORY. 
 
 ticable the ipsismna verha of the English historian 
 have been preserved. 
 
 Many notes, mostly extracted from works of 
 merit, and elucidatory of points but slightly 
 touched upon, have been added ; and in the 
 Appendix will be found some of Mary's most 
 interesting letters. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Pagb 
 
 IXTllODUCTIOX. . 9 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth of Mary — Troubles during her Minority — She is conveyed 
 to France. . . • 19 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Continuation of Troubles — Reign and Death of Mary, of Eng- 
 land — Elizabeth — Peace of Cateau Cambresis — Marriage 
 of Mary Stuart. 48 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 Hatred of Elizabeth to ]\tary — Her Apostasy — Death of Henry 
 II. — Accession of the Dauphin and Mary 73 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Death of Francis II. — Mary's Return to Scotland. . . .'_^I16 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Eeign of Mary — She marries Darnley 138 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Murder of Rizzio — Assassination of Darnley 162 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 Parties foraied — The Queen is carried off by Bothwell, and 
 forced to marry him. 191 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Conspiracy against Bothwell and Mary — She is confined in a 
 Castle, from whence she escapes — She seeks an Asylum in. 
 
 England, and finds only a Prison 208 
 
 (7) 
 
8 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Trial of Mary — The York Conferences — Attempts to escape 
 discovered 233 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Negotiations with Mary — Troubles in Scotland ~ Execution of 
 Norfolk 264 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Association — Troubles — Conspiracy of Babington — Mary is 
 implicated in it. — Her Trial, Condemnation, and Death. . 292 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Letter No. 
 
 1. — The Queen of Scots to the Archbishop of Glasgow. . 331 
 
 2. — Mary to Elizabeth 332 
 
 3. — Mary to Elizabeth. 338 
 
 4. — Mary to Elizabeth. . " . . . .343 
 6. — Mary to Elizabeth. . . . . . .348 
 
 6. — Mary to Elizabeth. ..... 360 
 
 7. — Mary to Elizabeth. 362 
 
 8. — Mary to Mauvissiere. | .... 370 
 
 9. — Mary to Mauyissiere. ..... 373 
 
 10. — Mary to Mauvissiere. ..... 375 
 
 11. — Mary to the Duke of Guise. . . . .380 
 
 12. — Mary to Pope Sixtus V 383 
 
 13. — Mary to Le Preau, her Almoner. . . .385 
 
 14. Mary to the Duke of Guise. . . . .387 
 15 Mary to the K.ing of France. .... 390 
 
INTRODUCTIOlSr. 
 
 James V., King of Scotland, had freed himself 
 from the odious guardianship of the Earl of 
 Angus, whose devotedness Henry VIII. had pur- 
 chased. This sufficed for the misunderstanding 
 which arose between the two princes ; and as 
 courtiers are in the habit of espousing the quar- 
 rels of their masters, so as to lay claim to their 
 favor, the frontier governors of the two l^ing- 
 doms reciprocally commenced acts of hostility, 
 which would have certainly led to war, had not 
 the amicable intervention of Francis I. prevented 
 it. 'When the uncle and nephew* were recon- 
 ciled, at least in appearance, it was proposed to 
 give as a spouse to the King of Scotland the 
 princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIH. and 
 the unfortunate infanta of Spain, Catharine, 
 whose unfaithful husband had sacrificed her to 
 
 * James was a nephew of Henry, a sister of the latter being hi8 
 mother. 
 
 . (9) 
 
10 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his unbridled lust. Henry at first had seemed 
 to desire this union ; but that was before he had 
 extorted a sentence of divorce from the iniqui- 
 tous judges. The divorce granted, he had mar- 
 ried Anne Boieyn ; and he then feared that the 
 children of Mary, should she marry the king of 
 Scotland, would one day dispute the crown with 
 his own issue by the woman whom he had 
 debauched by seating her on a defiled throne : 
 he refused his consent. 
 
 Offended at this refusal, James resolved to 
 solicit a consort from some one of the continental 
 princes, expecting by this alliance to strengthen 
 himself against the King of England. Henry 
 divined the intention of his nephew, and wished 
 to render it abortive by indu-ect means. He at 
 first endeavored to gain him to his religious 
 views ; if James would adopt these and abjure 
 the faith of his fathers, he could no longer count 
 on an alliance with Catholic princes ; and it was 
 a capital stroke. He sent his agent Barlow to 
 Scotland, as bearer of a dogmatic treatise on the 
 spiritual supremacy of princes. James received 
 the book and the envoy very coldly ; Barlow 
 returned dissatisfied, and revenged himself by 
 abusive language and calumnies on the manner 
 of his reception. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 Henry was not disheartened ; he demanded an 
 interview of his nephew, and designated the city 
 of York as the place of meeting. But James 
 knew the Punic faith of his uncle, and took care 
 not to endanger his personal safety : he replied 
 that he much desired an interview, provided it 
 took place in France, in the presence of Francis 
 I., which proposition Henry on his part rejected. 
 Negotiations were broken off, and James ex- 
 pressed himself for France. The hand of Mary 
 of Bourbon, a French princess, was offered him ; 
 but before concluding the match he wished to 
 see her, and under pretence of joining Francis, 
 who was driving the Imperialists from Provence, 
 whither they had penetrated, he repaired to Di- 
 eppe, saw his intended, and, not finding her to his 
 taste, rapidly pursued his route towards Lyons. 
 He there met Francis, who brought him to Paris. 
 In the midst of the fetes and pleasures with 
 which Francis surrounded him, James entirely 
 forgot Mary of Bourbon. 
 
 He had seen Magdalen of France, daughter 
 of the king, and conceived a violent passion for 
 her. He married her ; but unhappily the health 
 of Magdalen was feeble and delicate : scarcely had 
 she arrived in Scotland ere she fell ill, and three 
 months had not elapsed since her marriage, when 
 
12 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 she beheld the tomb open to receive her. She 
 descended into it with courage, and her resigna- 
 tion at so tender an age increased the regret 
 caused by her loss. For several months James 
 appeared inconsolable. But there is no grief 
 that time does not assuage : the following §iear 
 (1538) he espoused Mary, a princess of Lor- 
 raine, daughter of the Duke of Guise and the 
 Duchess dowager of Longueville.-'^ James in- 
 creased his glory by this alliance, as the virtuous 
 Mary had refused to share with Henry VIII. the 
 brilliant throne of England. 
 
 Henry had seen with grief this intimate alli- 
 ance between Scotland and France. In his 
 designs of conquest and proselytism, he flattered 
 himself, if the King of Scotland had no allies, 
 with being able to compel him without difficulty 
 to acknowledge th^e doctrines which he had en- 
 tailed upon his own kingdom, and perhaps even 
 make of Scotland an English province. But 
 sustained by France, James could resist success- 
 fully ; it was necessary, then, to deprive Scot- 
 land of this support, and afterwards profit by its 
 isolated position to subjugate it. Henry decideiJ 
 at once, if the negotiations which were about 
 to be resumed did not prosper, he would use 
 force, and convert those with his sword whom 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 13 
 
 his controversial work had been unable to 
 pervert. 
 
 Sadler was sent to James on the same secret 
 mission that Barlow had been, and he demanded 
 a special interview with the king, (1540,) which 
 James granted. Sadler showed him a pretend- 
 edly intercepted letter from Cardinal Beaton* to 
 his agent at Rome ; he was using his influence, 
 said Sadler, to subject the royal authority to the 
 temporal power of the pope. The king was 
 pleased to reply that this letter was well known 
 to him, and that before its transmission, which 
 had taken place with his express consent, the 
 cardinal had given him a copy of it. 
 
 " My master," replied Sadler, " blushes at 
 your weakness. You are but the steward of 
 your kingdom, instead of being its sovereign. 
 You need money ; why not seize the goods of 
 the church ? O, in the dissolute manners of 
 your clergy you will find a thousand reasons 
 which should justify you in your own eyes, if 
 you need being justified." 
 
 " Sadler," responded the king, " the goods 
 which Heaven has given me are sufficient. I 
 have no need of usurping the property of others. 
 
 * This cardinal, Archbishop of St. Andrew's and Primate of Scot- 
 land, had succeeded his uncle in the charge of the archiepiscopal see. 
 
 2 
 
14 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 If I were in real need, the clergy, I am certain, 
 would come magnanimously to my assistance ; 
 and if, unfortunately, some members of the clergy 
 profane their holy ministry, there are many oth- 
 ers who merit all our eulogies, and it is not just 
 to punish the innocent with the guilty." 
 
 Henry's envoy then turned to the question of 
 policy. He desired to prove to the King of Scot- 
 land that the alliance of his uncle would be a 
 thousand times more advantageous to him than 
 that of France; for, after the death of Prince 
 Edward, who was in ill health, he would become 
 the heir presumptive to the English throne. 
 Sadler concluded by urging the king to accept 
 the interview at York. The king thanked him 
 for the zeal he showed for his interest, but very 
 ingeniously eluded the invitation to repair to 
 York. 
 
 This invitation was once more renewed, and 
 Henry w^as even induced to believe that his 
 nephew would accept. It is added that in gen- 
 eral the nobles appeared eager enough to enrich 
 themselves at the expense of the clergy, and that 
 this body, which did not wish to be despoiled 
 of their property, opposed them energetically. 
 Meanwhile the cardinal departed for Rome. 
 When Henry heard of his departure he was at 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 first much disquieted, since he imagined that the 
 cardinal had only travelled through France to 
 engage Francis to enter into a league against 
 him. But after having reflected on it, he rejoiced 
 at his departure : he thought it would be easier 
 to triumph over the obstinacy of James, who 
 would be no longer sustained by the presence 
 and influence of this prelate. Impressed with 
 this idea he repaired to Yorkshire, there to await 
 his nephew ; but James persisted in his refusal, 
 for he feared with reason that if once his uncle 
 got him within his clutches, he would not restore 
 him to liberty until after he had constrained him 
 to renounce his alliance with France and decline 
 the spiritual jurisdiction of the pope. Henry 
 returned to London, much irritated at his 
 nephew ; and he refused for a long time to receive 
 the Scottish ambassador, specially charged to offer 
 his master's excuses. 
 
 Henry was fully decided on having recourse 
 to force to obtain from James what he could not 
 draw from him by stratagem ; nevertheless, be- 
 fore commencing the war, he wished to sound 
 the court of France. His agents informed him 
 by letter that notwithstanding all the good will 
 which Francis bore to the King of Scotland, the 
 latter could scarcely expect any assistance from 
 
16 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 him, on account of the embarrassment which the 
 emperor* caused the King of France himself. 
 Upon that Henry no longer hesitated. He or- 
 dered his governors of the frontier to commence 
 hostilities, and soon after, to revenge himself for 
 a check received in the beginning by his arms, 
 he ordered the Duke of Norfolk to assemble an 
 army in York, take the command of it, and 
 immediately invade Scotland. James was not 
 prepared for war ; he commenced negotiations 
 which detained the Duke of Norfolk in York, 
 but in a few days the duke was formally ordered 
 to advance into Scotland. 
 
 The duke obeyed, and had the deplorable 
 advantage of delivering to the flames two de- 
 fenceless cities and twenty villages. After this 
 exploit, the want of provisions obliged him to 
 retire. (1542.) James wished to pursue the Eng- 
 lish, but all his officers remonstrated with him, 
 as — should the same misfortune happen to him 
 as to his father at Flodden Field — his death 
 would leave Scotland exposed to become the 
 prey of his uncle, who would not fail to claim 
 his inheritance as his nearest heir. James 
 yielded only in part to the counsel of his offi- 
 cers : he disbanded the troops collected around 
 
 * Charles V. 
 
INTRODUCTIOxX. 
 
 17 
 
 him, bat immediately proceeded to the western 
 frontier, where he had a body of ten thousand 
 men, whom he ordered to advance into England, 
 and spend as .many days there as Norfolk had 
 passed in Scotland. 
 
 James had to repent of having yielded to mo- 
 mentary wrath. These ten thousand men per- 
 ceived beyond the frontier some English troops, 
 seemingly prepared to dispute the passage ; and 
 whether they refused to fight because they were 
 commanded by an unpopular officer, or that they 
 imagined they were to oppose Norfolk's whole 
 army, they dispersed without having drawn a 
 sword, and fled in every direction. Twenty-four 
 pieces of artillery and all the baggage fell into 
 the hands of the English, and one thousand 
 prisoners, among whom were two earls, five 
 barons, and two hundred knights, were sent to 
 England to attest a victory which had not cost a 
 single man. 
 
 This unexpected disaster grieved the heart of 
 James. He departed ill for Edinburgh, whence 
 he reached the solitary manor of Falkland. 
 Hardly had he arrived, when he was seized with 
 a fever, which, finding him already undermined 
 by chagrin, made rapid progress. He exph'ed 
 2* 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 f 
 
 on the 14th of December, twenty days after the 
 eventful disaster to his arms, and ^ight days 
 after his wife had given birth to a daughter. 
 This daughter, born under such sad auspices, 
 was Mary Stuart, a woman as accomplished as 
 she was unfortunate, upon whom Nature lav- 
 ished all her gifts, upon whom Misfortune wore 
 out all her darts. 
 
LIEE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH OP MA.EY. — TROUBLES DURING HER MINORITY. — SHE 
 IS CONVEYED TO FRANCE. 
 
 The birth of Mary was not celebrated by pub- 
 lic fetes, and no joyful strain made the mountain 
 echoes resound ; she enters into the world, over- 
 whelmed with her mother's tears, opening her 
 eyes before a tomb which awaits its prey, receiv- 
 ing life and losing him who imparted it to her. 
 Scotland's weeds overhang her cradle, funereal 
 crape girds her forehead ; whilst not far off, 
 hostile rivalries, ambitious designs, are being 
 agitated ; at the foot of the tableau Discord 
 brandishes her torches, and the flames of war 
 'light up the scene. Two parties, equally nu- 
 merous and powerful, are formed about the 
 infant royal : the one wishes to subject her coun- 
 try to England, the other to save it by relying 
 
 (19) 
 
20 
 
 LIFE OF MARY. STUART. 
 
 upon France. Henry VIII. had no sooner re- 
 ceived the news of the twofold event which 
 gave a sovereign to Scotland in place of the 
 deceased king, than, immediately abandoning the 
 part of converter, to be assumed thereafter, he 
 conceived the project of adding Scotland to his 
 kingdom, destining the new-born princess as a 
 spouse for his son. If the Scottish Parliament 
 would accept his proposition, he would assume 
 without opposition the government of the king- 
 dom, either as father-in-law or as grand-uncle of 
 the queen. The Earl of Angus and Sir George 
 Douglas, upon whom he had plentifully bestowed, 
 his bounty, the Earls of Cassilis and Glencairn, 
 Lords Maxwdl, Fleming, Somerville, Oliphant, 
 and Gray, who were made prisoners in the un- 
 fortunate affair of Solway Moss, were taken by 
 Henry into his confidence, and all engaged to 
 serve him in his designs : the two former acted 
 through gratitude, the others through the hope 
 of being soon restored to liberty. Nevertheless, 
 Henry did not allow them to depart until he had 
 received hostages from them as guarantees of 
 their return in case they did not' succeed. 
 
 In vain had King James, before dying, ex- 
 pressed in a will his last wishes ; in vain had he 
 recommended his daughter and his spouse to 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 21 
 
 the lords who surrounded him. Hardly had he 
 closed his eyes than his entreaties, his recom- 
 mendations, the promises he had obtained, were 
 all forgotten. To see these courtiers, humble 
 and cringing before their master, become haughty 
 and fierce when this master was no more, one 
 would say that, enemies of all superiority, they 
 wished, by disobedience, to indemnify themselves 
 for the restraint to which they had been sub- 
 jected; to wash themselves, by breaking the 
 idol, of the humiliation of having worshipped it. 
 When, after the king's death, Cardinal Beaton 
 •— called by the French Bethune — made known 
 the will, which conferred the regency upon him- 
 self, three Scottish lords being given him for 
 colleagues, no account was taken of this docu- 
 ment, which some suspected of being forged 
 and substituted, whilst it was rejected by others 
 because it disposed of the regency in favor of 
 persons who were not their choice. Several 
 lords, having met at Edinburgh, appointed regent 
 James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, who was, more- 
 over, regarded as heir presumptive to the throne, 
 in case of the death of the new born. Cardinal 
 Beaton agreed to an arrangement which he could 
 not prevent. It was after this transaction that 
 the two exiles, Angus and Douglas, and the 
 
22 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 prisoners of Solway Moss* arrived at Edin- 
 burgh. 
 
 The English party was strengthened by all 
 those men whose services could be purchased. 
 Nevertheless, there were many amongst them 
 ^ who interested themselves but little for the King 
 of England : they only desired to withdraw safe 
 and sound from his hands those whom they had 
 left as hostages. The French party had at its 
 head the queen mother, the cardinal, the Earls 
 of Huntley, Murray, and Argyle. This party 
 could count more on the cooperation of the 
 members of the clergy, whom the fear of re- 
 ligious innovation would have alone determined 
 even if their chief motive had not been patriot- 
 ism. The nation in general appeared to favor 
 the party of the queen ; for it hated English 
 domination as much as it was attached to France, 
 its ancient and loyal ally. 
 
 The regent was in great embarrassment. The 
 opposition which he had received from Cardinal 
 Beaton would have impelled him from spite to 
 join the English party, had he not otherwise 
 mistrusted Henry's projects. He was well aware 
 that whichever party prevailed, his own rights to 
 the succession of James would be equally en- 
 dangered. Henry, to terminate his hesitation, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 23 
 
 offered him the hand of the Princess Elizabeth 
 for his young son ; but the regent understood 
 that this offer was only made him to prevent his 
 son espousing the young queen herself. This 
 reflection did not prevent him from pronouncing 
 himself in favor of Henry ; he even imprisoned 
 the cardinal, under the pretext that the latter had 
 engaged the Duke of Guise to raise an army and 
 send it to Scotland to sustain the interests of the 
 queen mother against him. (1543.) 
 
 Meanwhile Parliament had been convoked, and 
 had acted upon Henry's propositions. It accepted 
 that which proposed the marriage of Prince Ed- 
 ward and the queen, but rejected all the others, 
 which treated of confiding the queen to his care, 
 as well as the administration of the government 
 and the occupation of all fortified places, during 
 her minority. It was believed that Scottish 
 pride would revolt against such exorbitant preten- 
 sions. Henry, however, persisted ; and when the 
 envoys of the regent informed him of what had 
 passed, he did not dissemble his resentment. 
 He even reproached the Earl of Angus and his 
 adherents, through Sir Ralph Sadler, complain- 
 ing bitterly of having been badly served by 
 them, and accusing them of betraying their 
 promises. 
 
24 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 * Angus responded that his friends and himself 
 had obtained all it was possible to obtain under 
 the present circumstances. He urgently exhorted 
 him to content himself provisorily with what he 
 had obtained ; all the rest, added the earl, will 
 be obtained in time, but we can only proceed 
 slowly. If, nevertheless, he had not patience to 
 wait, he could invade Scotland with an army 
 strong enough to inspire terror ; and in this case 
 the loyal Scot would engage to assist the dan- 
 gerous enemy of his country with all his forces. 
 Henry, who to all his faults joined much obsti- 
 nacy, resisted for three months the advice of the 
 Earl of Angus. Being finally convinced that 
 the longer he delayed his decision, the more time 
 he allowed the French party to gain strength, he 
 signed a treaty of peace between the two king- 
 doms ; it was moreover determined that Mary 
 should espouse Prince Edward, and that so soon 
 as she attained her tenth year she should be con- 
 veyed to England. 
 
 Thus, in disposing of the noble daughter of 
 the kings of Scotland, they wait not for her to 
 form a vow, a desire ; they stipulate for her, and 
 reckon as nought neither her heart, her future 
 affections, nor her repugnances. Such is the 
 condition of kings : in exchange for the supreme 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 25 
 
 power which society confides to them, it is de- 
 sired that they devote themselves more to society 
 than to their families, than to themselves. But 
 Heaven sports with the projects of men : those 
 of the King of England were not to be accom- 
 plished. Undoubtedly, if Mary had become the 
 wife of Edward, her head would have been 
 adorned with a double diadem ; perhaps she 
 would even have given to England an heir to 
 the throne. But assuredly the infant Mary, edu- 
 cated in the midst of a corrupt court, composed 
 entirely of men \vho had sold their consciences 
 for lucre ; delivered to a fanatical husband, who 
 impelled proselytism and converting zeal still 
 farther than his father ; surrounded by seductions 
 in an age when reason could not make itself 
 heard, — Mary would have yielded : she would 
 have abjured the faith of her fathers. Hurried at 
 his instigation from abyss to abyss, she would 
 have embraced the reformed religion, the perisha- 
 ble work of her grand-uncle. It was not thus : 
 God wished the soul of Mary for himself, and in 
 order that she might be worthy of him, he desired 
 to preserve her incontaminate. A few momentary 
 weaknesses, expiated by a long martyrdom, have 
 not hindered her from receiving in the bosom of 
 her Creator the reward of her royal virtues. 
 3 
 
26 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Meanwhile Cardinal Beaton had obtained his 
 liberty from the regent upon certain conditions, 
 and on the other hand Francis had transported 
 assistance in money and ammunition, which 
 augmented the hope cherished by the queen's 
 party. An unforeseen circumstance happened 
 to complicate the various interests which then 
 agitated Scotland. The Earl of Lennox, claim- 
 ing to be the sole heir in case of Mary's decease, 
 demanded the regency, which, according to him, 
 could not belong to the Earl of Arran, who was 
 only an illegitimate son of James IV. The car- 
 dinal appeared disposed in favor of Lennox ; 
 Lennox in his turn assisted the cardinal in ren- 
 dering his party dominant in the northern prov- 
 inces of Scotland, by taking under his special 
 charge the infant royal and transporting it to 
 Stirling Castle, one of the strongest in the 
 country. 
 
 Henry heard of this translation with pain ; he 
 feared that Mary w^ould be sent to France, and 
 he endeavored to prevent it. He offered the 
 regent the assistance of an English army ; he 
 promised him anew the hand of Elizabeth for 
 his son, and for himself the sovereignty of Scot- 
 land beyond the Frith ;* and as the regent did 
 
 * The Frith is the Bavigable outlet of *e River Forth, which 
 laves the walls of Edinburgh. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 27 
 
 not respond to his advances, Henry sided with 
 Lennox, who disagreed with the cardinal, be- 
 cause the cardinal was on terms of agreement 
 with the regent. Lennox, influenced likewise by 
 his passion for Margaret Douglas, daughter of the 
 earl of Angus, and niece of Henry, concluded by 
 joining the partisans of England. They were 
 all bound by an oath, similar to that which for- 
 merly bound the brothers in arms, to live and die 
 for each other. Knowledge of this compact was 
 obtained through a copy of the oath found upon 
 Somerville, who was arrested by the order of the 
 regent; besides this copy was a letter to King 
 Henry, asking assistance of him. 
 
 The regent, being urged then by the pope's 
 legate, Mark Germani, and by the French am- 
 bassador, Labroche, decided unwillingly upon 
 making war. He commenced by convoking Par- 
 liament, which assembled on the 3d of Decem- 
 ber. After a warm discussion, it was declared 
 that the friends of England were traitors to their 
 country, and that the treaty of the 1st of July, 
 was null, either on account of the delay of Henry 
 to ratify it, or because he had permitted and 
 sanctioned the hostile acts of his frontier gov- 
 ernors, and because he had seized many mer- 
 chant ships belonging to the inhabitants of 
 
28 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Edinburgh. Notwithstanding this formal de- 
 claration, the Earl of Arran endeavored to resume 
 negotiations ; but the king, who regarded him 
 as alone culpable, would hear nothing, and during 
 the month of May, (1544,) Seymour, earl of Her- 
 fort, and uncle of Prince Edward, arrived in the 
 Frith with an armed body of ten thousand men. 
 He demanded that the young queen be dehvered 
 to him ; and, upon the regent's refusal, disem- 
 barked his troops, and marched to Edinburgh, 
 where he was joined by a body of five thousand 
 knights, who came from Berwick. The next 
 day he forced the gate of the city, which was 
 delivered up, for four days, to pillage and in- 
 cendiarism. After this noble exploit, and upon 
 the news that the regent was collecting his troops, 
 Seymour gave the order to retreat. He burned, 
 as he passed, the cities of Seaton, Haddington, 
 and Dunbar, whilst his fleet burned Leith and 
 demolished the pier ; he arrived at Berwick with- 
 out having suffered much loss. 
 
 This war lasted nearly three years; on each 
 side were cities ruined, territory devastated, and 
 much blood spilled; yet Henry's demands had 
 not been acceded to. Lennox, on marrying 
 Margaret Douglas, had promised Henry his 
 castle of Dumbarton ; but the indignant garrison 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 2^ 
 
 closed the gates of the fortress, refused to receive 
 Lennox himself, and shortly afterwards delivered 
 the place to the regent. The barbarous Henry, 
 hearkening only to his wrath, ordered the throats 
 of the Scottish hostages, who were confined at 
 Carlisle, to be cut. Surely, if before the war the 
 Scots were opposed to English rule, the manner 
 in which they were treated, and the massacre of 
 the hostages, no longer allowed them to see in 
 Henry but an odious tyrant, an enemy of God 
 and man, seeking to extinguish his unjust resent- 
 ment in the blood of the people. 
 
 Unhappily for Scotland, the King of France 
 was only able to send a small body of troops. 
 Obliged to defend himself at the same time 
 against his eternal enemy, Charles V., and against 
 Henry, his old friend and the perfidious instiga- 
 tor of this war, he had need of all his resources 
 for himself, and was constrained to neglect Scot- 
 land. This was what Henry desired, who, be- 
 sides, to color his aggression, spoke very haugh- 
 tily of his three grievances against Francis ; fo- 
 menting the troubles in Scotland, and furnishing 
 succor of every kind to those whom he styled 
 rebels ; that is to say, to the partisans of the 
 young queen and the regent, the enemies of Eng- 
 lish sovereignty; of wishing to seize Mary, to 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 convey her to France in order to hinder the future 
 union of Scotland and England by the marriage 
 of the heir of the kingdom with Prince Edward ; 
 of having said — and this was Henry's principal 
 charge, being a new prophet, who wished that 
 his opinions and acts should be for the whole 
 world acts of faith — that his marriage with Anne 
 Boleyn was null, and that he had only contracted 
 it by violating his promise not to marry this 
 woman. 
 
 It is true that Barnet published a statement in 
 which it is contended that Francis had declared 
 that Henry's marriage with Catharine, his broth- 
 er's widow, was radically null ; that consequently 
 that of Anne was valid, and that the pope's de- 
 cision in the affair was the consequence of error 
 and injustice. Barnet went farther: Francis, 
 according to him, obligated himself and his suc- 
 cessors to maintain this opinion by arms. As 
 this paper has neither date nor signature, it is 
 presumable that it was fabricated in England, 
 presented, perhaps, to the King of France, and 
 rejected by him ; who, according to the testimony 
 of Cardinal Pole, responded to the warm solici- 
 tations of Henry on the subject of the divorce: 
 " I am and wish to be his friend, hut only to 
 the altar. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 31 
 
 Charles V., who was as dishonest as he was 
 powerful, was much less scrupulous than the 
 King of France, and he was easily persuaded by- 
 Henry ; for since the natural death of Catharine 
 — the emperor's aunt — and the violent death 
 of Anne Boleyn — she was decapitated — there 
 was no longer any subject for misunderstand- 
 ing between them, and nothing should hinder 
 them from uniting against France. The emperor 
 modestly exacted one condition : he wished the 
 Princess Mary, daughter of Catharine, to be re- 
 established in her rank of legitimate daughter of 
 the king, and consequently, in all her rights to 
 the succession. This was placing Henry in great 
 embarrassment ; for this recognition of the rights 
 of the daughter proved explicitly the rights of 
 the mother ; Parliament complaisantly upheld 
 him in this evil course, declaring Mary capable 
 of succeeding, without making any mention of 
 her legitimacy; it was a kind of compromise 
 between the exigencies of the emperor and the 
 old hatred of Henry. It was agreed between 
 them, by the treaty of the 11th of February, 
 1543, that they would jointly summoji Francis 
 I. to renounce his alhance with the Porte, to re- 
 pay all the damage which might have resulted 
 to individual Christians by this impious alii- 
 
33 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 ance * by paying to the King of England the ar- 
 rears of the pension which he claimed from him, 
 and by giving him security for the payment of ex- 
 piring annuities. Finally, if the King of France 
 did not settle these sums in forty days from his 
 acceptance of these conditions, the emperor would 
 reclaim the duchy of Bm-gundy, and the King of 
 England would claim all the possessions of his 
 predecessors in France. 
 
 Francis did not even v,'ish to hear the herald 
 who was sent to notify him of the demand of 
 the allied princes. They expected a refusal, and 
 were prepared for war ; Francis had not believed 
 the danger imminent; besides, he could not pre- 
 vent his kingdom being invaded by Luxembourg 
 and Calais. The emperor, not meeting with 
 any resistance, had penetrated into the heart of 
 Champagne ; but provisions suddenly failed him, 
 and it would have been very easy for Francis to 
 starve him in his camp, and force him to sur- 
 render without fighting, had not the Duchess of 
 
 * It is strange enough to hear Charles Y. and Henry YIII. hold 
 such language — one, who besieged the pope in Home, and caused 
 prayers to be offered up in Spain for his deliverance, the ally of the 
 Bey of Tunis, the assassin of his brothers, the protector of all the sec- 
 tarians of Germany, &c. ; the other, the enraged enemy of Catholi- 
 cism, and the founder of a pretended religion, "which was ■v^■ith him 
 but the worship of the passions. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 33 
 
 Etampes, abusing the silly confidence of the 
 king, given him the advice which saved him and 
 his army. -The treaty of Cressy (September, 
 1544) terminated the war with the emperor. 
 Henry, on his side, made himself master of 
 Boulogne, and returned to England in the fol- 
 lowing winter. Francis resolved to let fall upon 
 Henry the whole weight of his resentment ; he 
 equipped a numerous fleet, and insulted with im- 
 punity the coasts of England, but could not take 
 Calais, or retake Boulogne. 
 
 This bad success, which was unjustly imputed 
 to the general of the French army, had damped 
 the bellicose spirit of the King of France, whilst 
 the King of England was no less tired of a war 
 in which was to be gained neither profit nor 
 honor ; propositions of peace were made, and a 
 brief armistice was concluded, which was prof- 
 ited by to regulate the conditions of the treaty. 
 It was agreed that for the future Francis should 
 pay the pension stipulated in 1526 ; * that commis- 
 
 * This was during the captivity of Francis, after the battle of Pa- 
 via. The French cabinet then purchased peace of England, and the 
 renunciation of its ancient claims, for the sum of two millions of 
 golden crowns, and, moreover, an annual and for life pension of two 
 hundred thousand crows, which would, nevertheless, only commence 
 after the capital of two millions should be paid at convenient pe- 
 riods. 
 
34 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 sioners should be appointed to settle a pretended 
 debt of Henry of six million crowns; that the 
 King of England should restore, in eight years, 
 the city of Boulogne, upon Francis's paying him 
 the sum of two millions of crowns. Thus this 
 was only a monetary treaty, by which Henry, 
 who was supposed to be the richest prince of 
 Europe, sought the whole advantage. (June, 
 1546.) 
 
 Heaven did not permit his cupidity to be 
 glutted in enjoyment, nor his eyes to be gratified 
 by the sight of this gold, for which alone he 
 seemed to have combated for many years. Worn 
 out by pleasures, fatigued by excesses, he scarce- 
 ly supported the weight of his body ; he was, 
 besides, not of an advanced age, — he was only 
 fifty-six years of age, — but he had become so 
 enormously fat that he could no longer sustain 
 himself, and it was only with the assistance of 
 an easy chair on wheels that he could pass from 
 one apartment to another. He had not even 
 strength to sign his despatches ; three secretaries 
 were constantly near him, to attach to docu- 
 ments requiring his signature a dry stamp, bear- 
 ing the name of the king, and to follow the traces 
 marked by the stamp with a pen. To this ex- 
 traordinary corpulence was added an ulcer in the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 35 
 
 thigh, which had more than once threatened his 
 life, and which, at this epoch, defied all the art 
 of the physicians. The acritude of his temper- 
 ament, his habitually irritated state, his sus- 
 picions, his fears of all about him, contributed 
 not a little to increase his malady. He died on 
 the night of the 28th of January, 1547. 
 
 Francis was at St. Germain when he re- 
 ceived the news of Henry's death. He was so 
 much the more grievously affected by it because, 
 being about the same age, — fifty-three years, — 
 he had for a long time feared that his career was 
 about to close. Francis had, in fact, ruined his 
 health in his more tender years by intemperance, 
 and, slowly consumed by the malady, he felt 
 that premature old age would have but a short 
 term; he survived his eldest brother — thus he 
 called the King of England — only two months. 
 " My eldest brother is gone ! " exclaimed he, 
 sighing ; " my turn is not far off." 
 
 The Scots learned the death of Francis with 
 much sorrow ; for they lost a protector, and they 
 knew not if Henry, his successor, would take 
 the same interest in them and their sovereign. 
 It was known, however, that the princes of Lor- 
 raine would have great influence at Paris, the 
 queen mother being the sister of the Duke of 
 
 1 
 
36 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Guise ; and this circumstance gave much hope ; 
 it was known besides that this prince hated 
 the English ; he had, then, a double motive for 
 watching the welfare of Scotland, as much as 
 his own welfare in France would permit him. 
 His protection appeared to be so much the more 
 necessary as Cardinal Beaton, the zealous fol- 
 lower of the house of Stuart, had been treach- 
 erously assassinated. 
 
 Henry VHI. had not forgiven him for with- 
 drawing Mary from his pursuit; and he had not 
 rejected the offer which had been made by Wil- 
 liam Kirkaldi, Wishart, and some others, to 
 deliver him by assassination from the trouble- 
 some prelate, whom he always found in his way. 
 Not to repel a proposition of this kind with the 
 indignation which it would have excited in an 
 honest soul, was to authorize the murder, to 
 order its execution. Nevertheless, two years 
 passed before the commission of the crime ; the 
 prudence and activity of the cardinal had ren- 
 dered abortive all the attempts directed against 
 his life ; but at the end of that time, George 
 Wishart, starting as a preacher, had publicly 
 sought to propagate the new doctrine ; he joined 
 to impiety the spirit of revolt, and with the 
 new gospel he preached insurrection. He was 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 37 
 
 arrested, tried, and condemned, as seditious and 
 heretical ; and from that time the death of the 
 cardinal was sworn anew. Profiting by the 
 negligence of the warder, the murderers entered, 
 about daybreak, the Castle of St. Andrew's, where 
 the cardinal was, and penetrating even to his 
 chamber, there killed him. The assassins were 
 sustained by the partisans of reform, and all to- 
 gether demanded the protection of the King of 
 England : this protection was granted them. 
 
 The Scots had been comprised in the treaty 
 of peace of June, 1546 ; but Henry would not 
 subscribe to any other condition than to abstain 
 from hostility so long as he was not attacked. 
 On his side, the Earl of Arran previously exacted 
 the remittal of the forts which the English occu- 
 pied, and he moreover wished that the assassins 
 of the cardinal should be delivered up to justice. 
 
 After some fruitless negotiations, Arran be- 
 sieged the murderers in St. Andrew's ; but at the 
 commencement of the month of February, 1547, 
 he was obliged to raise the siege, in order to pre- 
 side over the assembly of the three orders of the 
 nation. The death of Henry caused no change, 
 in the policy of the cabinet of St. James, and the 
 Earl of Herfort, created Duke of Somerset and 
 regent of the kingdom, under the title of Pro- 
 4 
 
38 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 lector^ made two treaties with the murderers. In 
 one, the latter engaged to do all in their power 
 to speed the projected union of the Queen of 
 Scotland and the infant King of England, and 
 not to deliver up, under any pretext, possession 
 of the castle without the written consent of the 
 king and the protector. In the other they con- 
 tracted the infamous obligation of joining the 
 English army, which would enter Scotland to 
 seize the person of Mary, and to deliver the 
 castle to English commissioners, as soon as 
 Mary should be in the power of Edward, and 
 the marriage celebrated. 
 
 These disloyal agreements were followed by 
 their desired reward — pensions, largesses, gold ; 
 gold, that agent of corruption, which, for so 
 many ages, the worldly happy have used to re- 
 ward treason, forgetfulness of duties, and bar- 
 tered consciences. 
 
 The governor was fortunately informed of the 
 second treaty ; it was easy for him to divine the 
 rest, and prepare to subvert the intentions of the 
 protector, Somerset. He immediately published 
 a proclamation, calling upon all loyal men to 
 repair, within forty-eight hours, to a place indi- 
 cated, with a month's provision. Scotland, said 
 he, threatened with an invasion by her eternal 
 
\ 
 
 \ 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 39 
 
 enemy, appeals to all her children. For more 
 security, the governor had recourse to the new 
 King of France, Henry IL, in whose name were 
 solemnly renewed the treaties of alliance existing 
 between the two kingdoms ; moreover, prompt 
 assistance in men and money was promised. 
 
 The English lords, who resided upon the fron- 
 tier, being animated by the hope of pillage, an- 
 ticipated the preparing hostilities, and made 
 many irruptions into Scotland. Arran hastened 
 with many troops ; he even proposed besieging 
 Langhope and Cawmyllis, which would serve 
 as exercise grounds and resting points for the 
 aggressors, when he received the happy news 
 that Strozzi, prior of Capua, had brought him 
 several French galleys, laden with troops. A 
 junction having been formed with these, the 
 combined army invested the Castle of St. An- 
 drew's. In a little time the French artillery 
 opened a considerable breach, and the garrison, 
 not wishing to be exposed to the consequences 
 of an assault, surrendered on the sole condition 
 of having their lives spared. The governor de- 
 molished the entire fortification, in order that if, 
 during the course of the war, the castle should 
 refall into the hands of the English, they could 
 not make of it a fortified position. 
 
40 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART, 
 
 In the interim, the regent did not forget the 
 object of the treaties, and when he had concluded 
 his preparations, which was in the month of 
 August, he invaded Scotland with an army of 
 twenty thousand men, whilst a fleet of twenty- 
 four galleys, followed by as many transports, 
 sailed along the coast without losing sight of 
 the army on land. Arran made use of the sig- 
 nals used by one clan* with another, designating 
 Musselburg as the rendezvous; but so many 
 came thither that the governor, whom this mul- 
 titude would have embarrassed, selected only 
 thirty thousand men, and dismissed all the others. 
 He soon set out to arrest the progress of the 
 enemy, and a rencounter of ^avalry took place 
 shortly after at Falside, in which there was noth- 
 ing decisive. The next day, (September 10,) 
 the governor having crossed the River Esk, the 
 protector seized the neighboring eminence, called 
 Pinkencleugh. This double movement caused 
 a great battle, in which Fortune declared herself 
 against the Scots. Victory had appeared at first 
 
 The signals which were formerly used in Scotland to announce 
 a hostile invasion consisted of two lighted torches, attached, in the 
 form of a cross, to tha end of a lance. At this signal every Scot was 
 bound to hasten to arms to aid in repelling the aggression. A Scot- 
 tish tribe was, and is still, designated by the name of elan. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 41 
 
 in their favor, and the English cavalry had been 
 routed ; but the Scottish Highlanders, pursuing 
 them, were themselves soon attacked by fresh 
 and veteran troops, who put them, in their turn, 
 to complete rout The victory was principally 
 determined by a battery which Somerset had 
 planted on an eminence, and, above all, by the 
 artillery from the galleys. The Earl of Huntley, 
 chancellor of Scotland, and Lords Yester and 
 Wemyss were made prisoners. It is said the 
 loss of the vanquished amounted to eight thou- 
 sand men. 
 
 The protector pursued his advantage ; he 
 marched upon Leith, which he delivered up for 
 four days to pillage ; he devastated all the sur- 
 rounding villages ; and, after this singular exploit 
 by a man who wished to gain the Scots to the 
 cause of the King of England, he hastily retired, 
 followed closely by the governor, who had rallied 
 a body of cavalry. This precipitate retreat, after 
 a brilliant victory, surprised the enemies of the 
 English as much as it afflicted their partisans, 
 who were exposed defenceless to the governor's 
 resentment. Somerset was in no need of pro- 
 visions ; the winter had not yet commenced ; and 
 he could not fear the enemy whom he had over- 
 come. "What motive had he then in hurrying far 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 away from the theatre of his glory ? Some be- 
 lieve that, intoxicated with success, he wished to 
 enjoy it before the people of London ; others are 
 of the opinion, perhaps with more reason, that 
 his authority had made many persons discon- 
 tented, at whose head was his own brother, the 
 lord admiral ; that their secret manoeuvres men- 
 aced his power, and that he only returned in order 
 to subvert the plan of his enemies. 
 
 The check received by the Scots did not ren- 
 der them better disposed towards the English 
 than they had previously been ; their antipathy, 
 as might be expected, only increased, and the 
 thought alone of the marriage of their queen with 
 the odious King of England excited as violent 
 murmurs in the thatched cots of the Highland- 
 ers as in the hotels of Edinburgh. It is prob- 
 able, however, that this marriage would have 
 been really advantageous for Scotland ; but how 
 change into sentiments of affection the inveter- 
 ate hatred which the descendants of the Picts 
 had always preserved towards the descendants 
 of the Britons ? How wish that Scotland, which 
 had so often fought for her independence, should 
 become in a day an English province? How 
 think, above all, that the religion of the country 
 — Scotland was yet Catholic — must be altered, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 43 
 
 corrupted, annihilated, by contact with the im- 
 pious doctrines of Henry VIIL, aggravated still 
 by young Edward ? It was not enough to de- 
 liver to this prince the cherished person of their 
 young queen ; it was necessary, besides, that the 
 religion of the passions, created by Henry, should 
 blemish the new and candid soul of Mary. 
 These were thoughts which all the Scots ab- 
 horred. 
 
 Some, and especially the Earl of Huntley, de- 
 scribed the ingenious method which the English 
 put in practice to gain the hearts of the Scots — ' 
 to make war with Scotland, pillage its cities, 
 burn and devastate its lands, massacre its in- 
 habitants ! Surely it was an entirely new mode 
 of causing themselves to be beloved by the peo- 
 ple ; and the protector should undoubtedly con- 
 gratulate himself on the great advantages he 
 gained by the victory. The Earl of Huntley was 
 right, and the protector soon perceived that he 
 had only added with his own hand insuperable 
 obstacles to the obstacles which natural preju- 
 dices opposed to him. 
 
 Many Scottish lords, having assembled at Stir- 
 ling, resolved to invoke the assistance of France, 
 the ancient and faithful ally of Scotland. It 
 was also resolved in this assembly to offer the 
 
44 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 dauphin the hand of the young Maiy, upon whose 
 infantine figure were already to be seen the deli- 
 cate traits of beauty, in her words a touching 
 grace, in her least actions all the goodness of a 
 generous heart. They added, that, for greater 
 security, it would be meet to send Mary to the 
 court of France, where she would be educated 
 under the eyes of the king and her uncles, the Duke 
 of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine. (1547.) 
 
 On his side, the protector, to repair the evil 
 which he had performed on his vandalic expedi- 
 tion to Leith, caused to be circulated through all 
 parts of the kingdom a proclamation, in English 
 and Latin, in which he imputed all the mis- 
 fortunes of the war to the Earl of Arran and his 
 associates. " Scots," said he, " to whom will 
 you marry your young queen? To a foreign 
 prince ? Your country will then become de- 
 pendent on this foreign prince ; you will append 
 it to his crown. Will you give her to one of 
 your peers ? Alas ! you will perpetuate the old 
 quarrel which divides our two kingdoms. For 
 eight ages no occasion so favorable as the present 
 one has offered to crush forever the germ of our 
 divisions. Your young queen and our young 
 king, by uniting their crowns, would preserve to 
 Scotland her laws and liberties : the Scots and 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 45 
 
 English would be henceforth but one people, 
 under the common name of Britons, and there 
 would arise for both a new era of happiness." 
 
 Confiding little in the power of his eloquence, 
 the protector committed the same fault he had 
 already committed ; he wished to sustain his 
 proclamation by arms, and Lord Gray arrived, 
 followed by a powerful army. The city of Dal- 
 keith was reduced to ashes ; that of Haddington 
 was garrisoned by soldiers, who were principally 
 English and Italians. At the moment when 
 Lord Gray was preparing to return to England, 
 a French squadron anchored at Leith, bringing 
 two thousand French and three thousand Ger- 
 man veterans, commanded by the brave D'Esse. 
 Arran joined him with eight thousand men, and 
 the siege of Haddington was soon undertaken and 
 vigorously carried on. Nevertheless, although 
 the breach was already practicable, D'Esse did 
 not wish to assault the place, lest the Scots, yet 
 little inured to discipline, would lose courage in 
 case of evil success; and he preferred turning 
 the siege into a blockade — a more protracted but 
 surer means of reducing the place. 
 
 Whilst the blockade lasted, Arran had con- 
 voked the estates of the kingdom in a monastery 
 
46 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 adjacent to the city. The decision which the 
 lords had taken at Stirling was then fully con- 
 firmed, and a treaty of alliance exchanged be- 
 tween the governor and the French ambassador. 
 Dessoles, Labrosse, and Villegagnon, the com- 
 manders of the squadron, soon set sail with a 
 fair wind, in a southern direction, as if to return 
 directly to France ; but when fairly at sea, and 
 out of sight of land, suddenly changing their 
 course to the north, they proceed to Dumbarton, 
 received on board the queen and all her house- 
 hold,* and after a short voyage, arrived without 
 accident at the port of Brest. (1548.) From this 
 city, where she was received with the acclama- 
 tion of the inhabitants, Mary was conducted to 
 St. Germain en Laye, where the king received 
 her as a cherished and long-expected daughter. 
 Henry II., forgetting or neglecting the advice of 
 his father, who feared the ambition of the princes 
 of Lorraine, and had recommended him to re- 
 move them from power, had placed his confidence 
 
 * The queen was accompanied by four young girls of her own age, 
 who all bore the same name as their mistress, and are called the 
 queen's Maries. They were, Mary Beaton, niece of Cardinal Bea- 
 ton, Mary Fleming, daughter of Lord Fleming, Mary Livingstone, 
 daughter of one of the queen's guardians, and Mary Seaton, daugh- 
 ter of Lord Seaton. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 47 
 
 in the Duke and Cardinal of Guise,* uncles 
 of the young Mary; and they — although they 
 had no particular affection for the young Queen 
 of Scotland, whom they had never seen — ear- 
 nestly desired that she would espouse the dau- 
 phin, because they hoped that she would one day 
 be in their hands a docile instrument, of whom 
 they expected to make use in directing her hus- 
 band, if he ascended the throne. They obtained 
 from the king the formal renewal of the promise 
 made to their sister, the queen dowager of Scot- 
 land, that the marriage of Mary and the dauphin 
 should take place when they arrived at the proper 
 age : meanwhile, they were betrothed with much 
 pomp. 
 
 * Charles, known later ag the Cardinal of Lorraine, and then 
 called Guise, because the old cardinal of Lorraine, his uncle, still 
 lived. 
 
48 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF TROUBLES. — BEIGN AND DEATH OF MARY OF 
 
 ENGLAND. ELIZABETH. — PEACE OF CATEAU CAMBRE8I8. 
 
 MARRIAGE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 It was evident that Mary's departure for 
 France removed from the English every pretext 
 for continuing the war in Scotland. Henry II. 
 declared, besides, to the cabinet of St. James, that, 
 as father and father-in-law of the King and 
 Queen of Scotland, he would oppose any act of 
 hostility on the part of England to that king- 
 dom p he consequently required the protector to 
 abstain therefrom during the minority of the be- 
 trothed. Somerset returned a refusal to the 
 French ambassador ; and to show that he firmly 
 intended to achieve what he had commenced, 
 being irritated besides by the loss of a convoy 
 charged with revictualling Haddington, he sent 
 Shrewsbury into Scotland with an army of 
 twenty-two thousand men. D'Esse, who had 
 too few forces to resist, immediately raised the 
 siege ; but he intrenched himself so well in an 
 advantageous position, that Shrewsbury durst 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 49 
 
 not attack him. The English general brought, 
 it is true, some assistance to the place ; but it 
 was only adding a new sacrifice to losses already- 
 experienced, for, a little while after, Haddington 
 was obliged to surrender ; the forts of Home 
 Castle and Fast Castle also opened their gates, 
 and the Scots, in their turn crossing the borders, 
 penetrated even to Newcastle, and repaid the 
 English for the evil inflicted on them, by burn- 
 ing twenty villages. D'Esse afterwards departed 
 for France, leaving the command to Marshal 
 Termes, who had brought a reenforcement of 
 thirteen hundred men. The new general pur- 
 sued the policy of his predecessor, hazarded 
 nothing, fatigued the English, and destroyed all 
 the ascendency which their former successes had 
 given them. England was, besides, delivered up 
 to intestine dissensions, which threatened the 
 existence of its present government ; so that the 
 protector, obliged to watch around himself to 
 overthrow the hostile plots of his own brother, 
 Seymour, could devote but little attention to 
 Scotland, which was less disposed than ever to 
 submit to the yoke. (1549.) 
 
 Henry II., declaring war in the interim, re- 
 doubled the protector's embarrassment. It is 
 pretended that he had proposed to the council 
 5 
 
50 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 regent to make peace with Scotland, to surrender 
 Boulogne to the King of France for a pecuniary 
 indemnification, to contract with that prince a 
 treaty of alliance, having for its object the assist- 
 ance of the Protestants in Germany, and thus 
 oppose a barrier to the grasping power of the 
 emperor. But the majority of the council reso- 
 lutely opposed the protector. To return the city 
 of Boulogne to the King of France, said they, 
 is to wish England's humiliation and the dis- 
 grace of the king's government. It would be 
 much better to intrust that fortress — if they did 
 not wish to guard it — to the emperor, and offer 
 the crown of Scotland to the Earl of Arran ; 
 France would then cease to threaten Great 
 Britain, and the king would at least have time 
 to prepare all his resources. But the emperor 
 would not accept the gift which they offered 
 him ; he perceived that it would be difficult to 
 maintain it without the assistaru^e of English 
 vessels, which would have cramped his policy 
 and wounded his pride; besides, he had con- 
 cluded a treaty of peace with Henry II., and, 
 although he scrupled little breaking his faith 
 when his interest required it, he desired in this 
 case to appear faithful to his contracts. 
 
 On the other hand, Henry, offended by the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 51 
 
 haughty response of Somerset to his ambassador, 
 sent a considerable army into the Boulonnais, 
 and soon followed in person with more troops, 
 ruined all the fortifications erected by the Eng- 
 lish before the city on the land side, and block- 
 aded the city itself very carefully, expecting that 
 the want of provisions would oblige the garrison 
 to surrender before the end of winter. Thus it 
 would cost neither money nor soldiers to restore 
 the place to the ancient domain. Henry expected 
 that inability, or the troubles which agitated Eng- 
 land, would prevent the protector from assisting 
 the garrison of Boulogne. 
 
 These troubles were caused by the jealousy 
 with which the protector inspired the Earl of 
 Warwick and his friends, by the almost unlim- 
 ited extent of power he had arrogated to himself, 
 and which he had confirmed with the blood of 
 his own brother, shed by the hand of the execu- 
 tioner. They resulted in the overthrow of this 
 despotic authority ; Somerset was arrested, con- 
 ducted to the Tower, tried by Parliament, de- 
 prived of all his offices, and his life was only 
 spared because he was the king's uncle. His 
 property was divided between the principal con- 
 spirators ; but then happened what almost al- 
 ways happens when rivals in power supplant 
 
52 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 each other : the last comers follow the route 
 which they find traced, imitate the policy which 
 they condemned in their predecessors, and thus 
 prepare troubles for themselves from men, who, 
 after having them a day dismissed from their 
 post, only continue their work. They had con- 
 sidered it a crime in Somerset to have counselled 
 the abandonment of Boulogne and peace with 
 Scotland, and these were the first administrative 
 acts of War^dck and his associates. They 
 alleged that the garrison of Boulogne was in 
 need of ammunition and provisions, and that 
 the treasury was drained ; that the emperor had 
 made a special peace, and that the whole w^eight 
 of the war would fall upon Great Britain. Prop- 
 ositions were at first indirectly made on the part 
 of the cabinet of St. James, through the inter- 
 position of a Florentine merchant, named An- 
 tonio Guidotti. He commenced by proposing 
 the pure and simple abandonment of Boulogne, 
 provided the Queen of Scotland would marry 
 King Edward. This proposition was disdain- 
 fully rejected ; it was answered that Mary was 
 already betrothed to the dauphin. Afterwards 
 Guidotti demanded the payment of the pension 
 which Henry VHI. had obtained from Francis I., 
 and the arrears of that pension. " What ! " was 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 53 
 
 exclaimed in the French council, " are we then 
 never to conclude a war with England but with 
 money? Will then neither arms nor arms — 
 ni armes ni bras — avail us ? " The answer 
 made to the second proposition served only to 
 inflame their resentment. Never, said they, will 
 the King of France condescend to pay tribute 
 to a foreign power. When Henry VIII. was 
 promised a pension, or rather, said they, when he 
 extorted it, he availed himself of the temporary 
 necessity of Francis 1. ; Henry II. would now, 
 in his turn, profit by Edward's embarrassment to 
 constrain him to renounce it. The English plen- 
 ipotentiaries then threatened to terminate the 
 conference ; but the French, who perceived their 
 superiority, desired to dictate, and did in fact 
 dictate, the terms of the treaty. (24th of March, 
 1550.) 
 
 It was agreed that there be peace and per- 
 petual union between the two powers ; that 
 Boulogne be restored to the King of France, 
 with all the materiel which was found in it at 
 the time of its capture ; that as remuneration 
 for the fortifications which the English had 
 added to it, Henry 11. should pay two hundred 
 thousand crowns at the time of its delivery, and 
 a like sum five months thereafter ; that Dunglass 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 and Lauder be restored to the Queen of Scot- 
 land, and in case these two fortresses were not 
 in their possession, the English should raze those 
 of Roxburgh and Aymouth ; that Scotland be 
 comprised in the treaty, if the queen's govern- 
 ment signified their acceptance within forty days 
 from its signature ; that the pretensions or claims 
 of England against Scotland and France, as 
 well as those of France and Scotland against 
 England, be mutually reserved. 
 
 The English, who, in their treaties with 
 France, always opposed all conditions not on- 
 erous for the latter, as if they were plaintiffs for 
 an established wrong, regarded that of the 24th 
 of March as a truly national calamity. They 
 could not bear the thought of the reduction to 
 the fifth of the sum of two millions offered by 
 the predecessor of Henry 11. for the evacuation ; 
 they were indignant at having renounced the 
 marriage of Edward and Mary of Scotland ; 
 and they regretted this pension which Henry had 
 demanded and obtained, to abandon his preten- 
 sions to the crown of France, for they regarded 
 as mere form, and of no real weight, the reser- 
 vation of reciprocal rights which terminated the 
 treaty. 
 
 If the English murmured, the orthodox Scots, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 55 
 
 on their side, returned thanks to Providence for 
 having deigned to preserve their young queen 
 from this unlucky union, wherein example would 
 not have failed to corrupt her faith by the ascen- 
 dency which the fanatic Edward would have 
 necessarily had over her. We say orthodox 
 Scots, for the new doctrines had already pene- 
 trated into Scotland ; and those who believed in 
 preserving in its primitive purity the faith of 
 their ancestors, were unaware that Henry's young 
 son impelled even to frenzy his religious en- 
 thusiasm for the creation of his father. He even 
 persecuted his own sister, the Princess Mary, 
 daughter of the unfortunate infanta of Spain, 
 who had educated her in the religion professed 
 by herself. Mary, being tormented by her broth- 
 er's agents, and unprotected, had secretly applied 
 to the emperor.* As the English government 
 had need of the emperor's alliance at that time, 
 to keep up appearances in France, Mary was 
 allowed to enjoy a little liberty of conscience, 
 although the ambassadors of Charles obtained 
 it with difficulty. But after the . treaty of peace 
 of tl\e 24th of March had rendered the friend- 
 
 * Charles V, was cousin german of Mary, the infanta Catharine 
 being the sister of Jane, who married the Archduke Philip, father 
 of Charles V. 
 
56 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 ship of the emperor less necessary, the persecu- 
 tion of the Princess Mary recommenced, and 
 messages from the council and letters from her 
 brother rapidly followed ; he, in his proselytic 
 zeal, pretended to have more authority in re- 
 ligious matters than his father had had, and 
 added, that his sincere piety, and the affection 
 he bore his sister, did not allow him to leave her 
 without the means of salvation ; he offered to 
 send her teachers who might dissipate her igno- 
 rance and cause her to recognize her errors. All 
 that Mary could say was useless ; the formal de- 
 mand which the Austrian ambassador made in 
 her favor met with a decided refusal; and as it 
 was rumored that Mary intended to quit the 
 kingdom, a fleet was equipped to intercept her. 
 Two of her chaplains, being judicially prose- 
 cuted, were violently withdrawn from her, and 
 she was obliged to be present at conferences with 
 the pretended doctors of her brother. She was 
 contented with replying, " My soul is God's, and 
 nothing will destroy the faith in my heart." The 
 next day the Austrian ambassador declared per- 
 emptorily that if the promises made to Mary 
 were violated, his master would assist her by 
 force of arms. 
 
 This explicit declaration perplexed the ortho- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 57 
 
 doxy of the council. English merchants had 
 vessels, merchandise, and considerable sums of 
 money in the emperor's dominions ; the govern- 
 ment itself had in Flanders depots of powder 
 and military equipments ; a declaration of war 
 would cause them to lose all. Was not this pur- 
 chasing a conversion at too high a price ? But 
 the conscience of the demoniac Edward was so 
 scrupulous that it would yield to no concession ; 
 to allow his sister to remain in idolatry was of 
 itself to persist in mortal sin to his damnation. 
 The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops 
 of London and Rochester employed all their art 
 to prove to him that, although it was a sin to 
 tolerate sin, this tolerance was, however, pardon- 
 able when all that it was possible to do had been 
 done. Edward reluctantly submitted to the de- 
 cision of the grave doctors ; but he shed abundant 
 tears on considering that his beloved sister would 
 voluntarily lose her soul by obstinately remain- 
 ing in the Catholic religion : it grieved him that 
 he was not allowed to convert her nolens volens^ 
 as had been his intention. 
 
 The three prelates, and the members of the 
 council, very orthodox in their heresy, had prob- 
 ably some remorse for the advice they had given 
 the king. In truth, they only wished to tem- 
 
58 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 porize ; for orders were given that every thing in 
 the Flemish magazines should be removed, and 
 secret notices were circulated amongst the trade 
 that each one might effect the getting in of his 
 funds or merchandise. Meanwhile the ambas- 
 sador was informed that the king would send 
 his answer to the emperor by a special envoy. 
 Edward, in fact, sent Dr. Wotton, who endeav- 
 ored by adroit sophisms to persuade the emperor 
 that the new religion adopted by England was 
 only the Catholic religion reduced to its first 
 principles ; in a word, the religion of the apostles. 
 The council was fully persuaded that Wotton 
 would not convince any one ; but the discussion 
 would gain time, which was all they desired. 
 
 Whilst this was passing at the court of Vien- 
 na, the council redoubled its efforts with Mary ; 
 and this princess, whom Protestant writers have 
 painted in the blackest colors, always repelled 
 with as much firmness as nobility their perfidious 
 insinuations, entreaties, and threats.* The Scots 
 
 * Many of Mary's letters, written to her brother, are extant. 
 *' Give me leave," she says, " to WTite what I think touching your 
 majesty's letters. Indeed they be signed with your own hand ; and 
 nevertheless, in my opinion, not your majesty's in eifect. Because 
 it is well know, that although (our Lord be praised) your majesty 
 hath far more knowledge and greater gifts than any other of your 
 years, yet it is not possible that your highness can be judge in 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 59 
 
 were not ignorant of all these vile manoeuvres em- 
 ployed against an unprotected princess to per- 
 vert her ; and the more odious they appeared, the 
 more they applauded the measures taken to with- 
 draw their young queen from danger. Edward 
 had not yet renounced all hopes of obtaining 
 Mary Stuart. The protector, Somerset, whom a 
 court intrigue had removed from power, had 
 wished to resume his ascendency over the king, 
 who appeared to notice with interest his third 
 daughter. Lady Anne Seymour. He offered her 
 his hand, but the Earl of Warwick and his 
 friends defeated the project by proposing, through 
 the council, to demand for their sovereign the 
 hand of a French princess. 
 
 A brilliant embassy, at the head of which was 
 the Marquis of Northampton, proceeded to France, 
 about the middle of the summer, to invest the 
 
 matters of religion. And therefore I take it, that the matter in 
 your letter proceedeth from such as do wish those things to take 
 place which be most agreeable to themselves; by whose doings 
 (your majesty not offended) I intend not to rule my conscience ! " 
 When they wished to compel her chaplains to use the new liturgy, 
 they declared, after having consulted her, that they would rather suf- 
 fer any thing than act against their conscience ; but a short time 
 after, having promised obedience, Mary, being urged anew, replied, 
 as a religious Christian, that, rather than suffer the least change in 
 the tenets or practice of the religion she professed, she would lay her 
 head upon the block. 
 
60 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 king with the order of the garter, and to demand 
 of him a spouse for the King of England. North- 
 ampton at fu-st named Mary Stuart, and received 
 a positive refusal. He afterwards named the 
 Princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Henry; 
 and without making a positive engagement, 
 Henry acceded to the request, which was, how- 
 ever, postponed until Elizabeth should have com- 
 pleted her twelfth year. 
 
 The queen dowager of Scotland was then in 
 France. On her return, she landed at Ports- 
 mouth, whence she prayed the King of England 
 to allow her to continue her journey by land, 
 which was immediately granted. Orders were 
 at the same time given that she should be re- 
 ceived every where with the greatest honor. The 
 king invited her to pass through London, where 
 he received her with great marks of affection and 
 respect. The queen was equally respectful ; but 
 she persisted no less in her intention not to receive 
 him for a son-in-law. 
 
 Meanwhile the health of the king became more 
 and more enfeebled, (1553 ;) it was foreseen that 
 his death would be a fruitful cause of troubles, 
 because the crown had many aspirants, and the 
 nearest heirs, such as Henry's two daughters, 
 might be set aside on account of religion or ille- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 61 
 
 gitimacy. The ambitious Northumberland, who, 
 since the fall of Somerset, enjoyed all the favor 
 of Edward, — Northumberland, the richest and 
 most powerful of the English lords, — feared not 
 to aspire to the supreme power, not for himself, it 
 is true, but for his son Dudley, to whom had 
 been married, with the king's approbation, Lady 
 Jane Gray, granddaughter of Mary, the sister of 
 Henry VIII.* The will of the latter, and an act 
 of Parliament besides, had declared Mary and 
 Elizabeth presumptive heirs; but the ancient 
 statutes declaring them illegitimate had not been 
 repealed, and it was presumed that such illegiti- 
 macy might be successfully opposed in bar of 
 their claim. These two princesses discarded, the 
 crown would revert to the sisters of Henry VIII., 
 Margareft, widow of James V., King of Scotland, 
 and Mary, widow of Louis XIL, King of France ; 
 but the antipathy of the English for the Scots 
 sufficed to cause the Scottish line to be excluded : 
 there remained then only the descendants of 
 Mary. But Mary had only a daughter, Frances, 
 wife of Lord Gray ; and she consented to yield 
 all her right to her eldest daughter. Lady Jane. 
 
 * It was this Mary who married Louis XII. some months before 
 his death, when she married the Duke of Suffolk, who had loved her 
 prior to her first marriag*. 
 
 6 
 
62 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Northumberland had no difficulty in obtaining 
 from the king an act disinheriting his two sisters ; 
 he had only to represent to him that if Mary 
 ascended the throne she would surely destroy 
 the new religion ; against Elizabeth he alleged 
 the blemish of illegitimacy. Provided with this 
 important document, Northumberland assembled 
 the council in order to have it ratified, and at 
 first met with an obstinate resistance. Many 
 members explained the reason of their opposition 
 before the king himself; but influenced by the 
 threats and promises of Northumberland, all 
 finally ratified the will of the king, who died in 
 a few days after. (6th of July.) 
 
 His death had been expected for a long time, 
 and all the parties were present when it occurred ; 
 yet Northumberland and his friends kept it secret 
 for two or three days, so as to have time to pre- 
 pare for their success. They were encouraged 
 by the French ambassador, Noailles, who made 
 them hope for the assistance of his master. In 
 fact, France did not desire that Mary should 
 ascend the throne, for she only acted by the 
 advice of the emperor; and they feared, with 
 some reason, that he would make her accept of 
 his son for a husband, which would augment the 
 power 9f Austria, already influencing Germany 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 63 
 
 and the Peninsula. On his side, the emperor'a 
 ambassador sustained, with all his power, the 
 interests of Mary. Catholics and Protestants 
 naturally joined the two parties, which were 
 divided into two factions, that of Northumber- 
 land, or Jane Gray, and that of Elizabeth. 
 
 This is not the place to describe the interest- 
 ing events which took place in London — the 
 elevation and fall of the unfortunate Jane, the 
 accession of Mary, her marriage, the conspira- 
 cies which shook her throne, and the part she 
 took in the war which Philip II. made against 
 France. We will only say, that the loss of the 
 battle of St. Quintin's, (1557,) where ten thou- 
 sand English were enrolled in the ranks of the 
 Spanish army, had some influence upon the lot 
 of Mary Stuart, whose marriage, for a long time 
 postponed, but until now retarded by the extreme 
 youth of the future bridegroom, was fixed for an 
 approaching period. Henry wished to interest 
 the Scots in his cause, by whom England would 
 be kept busy whilst he would resist the King of 
 Spain and the emperor in Flanders and Italy. 
 
 Hardly had the Scots learned that Mary had 
 declared war with France, than, feeling their 
 former hatred revive, they flew to arms. The 
 regent and the queen dowager profited by this 
 
64 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 national movement to render popular the idea 
 of making the greatest efforts for France ; never- 
 theless, this enthusiasm was not sustained. En- 
 gagements took place on the frontier; but the 
 secret partisans of England soon represented that 
 the war which had been commenced was for a 
 cause entirely foreign to Scotland, and that they 
 were exposing the welfare of the country without 
 any adequate cause. These arguments, passing 
 from mouth to mouth, gradually cooled their 
 spirits, and the army disbanded. Thus, said 
 Lord Shrewsbury in his governmental report, this 
 enterprise, begun with so much bravery, ended 
 in dishonor and shame. 
 
 But when the Scots were aware that their be- 
 trothed queen was about to become a spouse, 
 that every thing was prepared for the august 
 ceremony, that many Scottish lords, who were 
 invited to be present, had already departed, 
 that the Queen of Scotland would become dau- 
 phiness of France, and the dauphin of France 
 sovereign of Scotland, thoughts of alliance and 
 devotedness were reawakened ; to serve France 
 was to serve the queen and their country. On 
 the other hand, they were not ignorant that the 
 Queen of England had much difficulty in re- 
 straining the discontented in her own kingdom, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 65 
 
 and that, engaged in war with France to please 
 her husband, she could not carry on a war in 
 Scotland with much vigor; this presumption 
 was soon changed into certainty. 
 
 Whilst the Constable Montmorency, an old 
 general, was defeated at St. Quintin's, for not 
 heeding the advice of the Prince of Conde, a 
 young warrior, the Duke of Guise, Mary's uncle, 
 forced the Spaniards in Italy to grant Pope Paul 
 IV. an advantageous peace. The disaster of 
 St. Quintin'^ caused Guise to be recalled ; who, 
 on arriving, received the title of generalissimo. 
 The soldiers received him with transports of joy ; 
 they remembered that Guise, with a handful of 
 brave soldiers, had defended Metz, when almost 
 dismantled, against the emperor commanding in 
 person an army of one hundred thousand men, 
 and that he had obliged them to raise the siege 
 shamefully. With Guise at their head, the troops 
 believed themselves invincible ; and he promised 
 to lead them to the enemy in a short time. 
 
 For more than two ages Calais had been in 
 the possession of the English, and was believed 
 to be impregnable. It had on one side the sea, 
 on the other a morass ; the narrow way which 
 united it to the continent through the morass 
 was intersected by ditches, and provided with 
 6* 
 
66 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 forts. It appeared impossible to approach it, 
 and the English reckoned so well upon the ob- 
 stacles which nature opposed to a land attack, 
 that they had made of the city a vast commercial 
 magazine, as well as a depot for arms, ammu- 
 nition, and artillery. It was this impregnable 
 place of which Guise undertook the conquest. 
 It should be stated that Senarpont, the governor 
 of Boulogne, having had several occasions to re- 
 pair to Calais, had attentively examined the for- 
 tifications of the city, and had drawn a very 
 correct plan of them, though made at intervals. 
 It was known, besides, that as winter approached, 
 the English diminished their garrison, through 
 motives of economy. Admiral Coligni, it is said, 
 first suggested profiting by this security of the 
 English, who, during the middle of winter, least 
 anticipated an attack. " It is," said he, " in the 
 middle of winter that Calais must be surprised." 
 Guise followed this wise advice, and happily 
 executed the project. Twenty-five thousand vet- 
 erans, followed by a considerable train of artillery, 
 left Compiegne on the 1st of January, 1558, and 
 proceeded towards St. Quintin's. Having gone 
 some distance, the army, suddenly changing its 
 direction, proceeded to Calais by forced marches. 
 In six days the advanced works, the castle, the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 67 
 
 port, the city, were in the power of the French. 
 On the 20th of the same month, the place of 
 Guisnes capitulated, and the castle of Ham was 
 evacuated ; and on the 22d the whole canton, 
 forming the county of Oye, submitted to the lot 
 of Guisnes and Calais. 
 
 This little region was well cultivated, and 
 covered with cattle ; the city yielded immense 
 booty. The artillery and ammunition became 
 the property of the government ; precious mova- 
 bles — gold, silver, and jewels — were distributed 
 among the officers and soldiers. Guise kept 
 nothing for himself, but he received in return 
 from a part of the army increased affection and 
 devotedness. 
 
 The news of the loss of Calais resounded at 
 London like a thunder clap, and the entire popu- 
 lation remained stupefied. To mitigate a little 
 the public grief, the ministry ordered Lord Went- 
 worth, governor of Calais, and many officers of 
 the garrison, to appear before a council of war ; 
 but regret was not less smarting than universal. 
 On seeing the consternation which reigned in 
 London, one would have said that the enemy 
 was at the gates of the capital. Queen Mary, 
 whose already languishing health foreboded her 
 end near, said, upon her death bed, that if her 
 
68 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 chest were opened, the word Calais would be 
 found engraven on her heart. The King of 
 Spain, to whom this disaster was attributed, 
 since he had obliged the queen, his wife, to de- 
 clare war against France without any necessity, 
 offered troops to Parliament ; but they mistrusted 
 his sincerity, being convinced that he only wished 
 to retake Calais to keep it for himself. They 
 were contented with equipping vessels to cruise 
 upon the French coast, and endeavor to surprise 
 some of their ports, so as to indemnify them- 
 selves for the loss of the lamented Calais. 
 
 Whilst this event increased the hatred of the 
 English against France, the French, particularly 
 the Parisians, celebrated the triumph of their 
 favorite general by fetes and public rejoicings. 
 The king and all his court desired to take part, 
 and the former even announced to the mayor of 
 Paris that he would sup on Shrove Thursday at 
 the Hotel de Ville. Every thing was immediately 
 prepared to receive such a guest worthily. The 
 floor of the hall was covered with mats, at that 
 time a luxury ; branches of ivy and garlands 
 adorned the ceiling ; and the walls were richly 
 hung with silk stuffs, upon which were seen the es- 
 cutcheons of the king, queen. Guise, and — what 
 must have appeared astonishing — the Duchess 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 69 
 
 of Valentinois. Twenty-five ladies, the wives 
 or daughters of the principal magistrates, were 
 selected to escort the royal family, and twenty- 
 five young men, all of whom were clad in silk, 
 and belonged to the principal families of the cit- 
 izens, waited at table. 
 
 After the supper, where some disorder was 
 caused by the crowd pressing into the hall to see 
 the king and his family, it was desired to have 
 the poet Jodelle's lyric tragedy of Orpheus per- 
 formed ; but the assistants had invaded the 
 theatre in such a manner that the actors could 
 not perform for want of room. " It was," says 
 Brantome, " a tragi-comedy, in which music, 
 dancing, and decorations were combined to 
 words — a thing never before seen in France, for 
 previously the buffoons and players of Bazoche 
 were only spoken of. These beautiful pleasan- 
 tries and fine comedies had been invented and 
 performed in Italy not long before." Catharine 
 de' Medici introduced them in France. The 
 ball immediately replaced Orpheus^ the perform- 
 ance of which was postponed to another day. 
 This fete may be called brilliant for the epoch at 
 which it was given. The art of rendering luxury 
 elegant, and thus augmenting enjoyment, that is, 
 of employing with exquisite taste the resources 
 
70 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 which riches offer, did not yet exist ; but all that 
 was then esteemed — gold, silver, and jewels — 
 had been lavished in adorning the hall and add- 
 ing splendor to dress. 
 
 Catharine de' Medici, surrounded by her maids 
 of honor, animated the dancers by her presence. 
 For a long time disdained by courtiers, who 
 mete out their esteem or deference by the affec- 
 tion of their lord, Catharine, by art, intrigue, and 
 complaisance, finally triumphed over the aversion 
 which the king had for her ; and although he did 
 not show her the tenderness which she might 
 expect as a wife, she exercised considerable au- 
 thority in the administration of affairs, which 
 was what she desired ; for she always had more 
 ambition than attachment for the person of her 
 husband. The Duchess of Valentinois, that 
 famous Diana of Poitiers, who, after having 
 reigned over the heart of Francis I., exercised the 
 same empire over that of Henry, was not far from 
 the queen ; and the queen, who detested her, but 
 who was a profound dissembler, loaded her with 
 testimonials of her good will. But at the side of 
 Catharine was noticed a young princess, upon 
 whom Nature had strewn all her gifts — grace, 
 Deauty, an elegant figure, noble gait, majestic 
 carriage, an expression in all her features, a 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 71 
 
 sweet and bold look, which at once commanded 
 love and respect ; she also attracted all eyes, and 
 the murmur of admiration which arose around 
 her would have informed her of the sentiments 
 she created, had presumption and vanity had 
 access to her heart ; but Mary Stuart had all the 
 innocence of youth, the candor of sixteen, and 
 she remarked not the mute homage which Hen- 
 ry's courtiers paid her. 
 
 May Heaven preserve her in this happy igno- 
 rance, in order that in the midst of a dissolute 
 court, where corruption takes no pains to cover 
 itself with a mask, she may preserve the virtuous 
 principles which have been inculcated to her ! 
 Mary's uncles neither loved nor esteemed Catha- 
 rine de' Medici, and they took care not to confide 
 the education of their niece to her. On her ar- 
 rival in France, she had been placed by them in 
 an institution where she found excellent masters, 
 who, successfully developing the beautiful quali- 
 ties of her heart and mind, returned her to her 
 uncles as virtuous and modest as she was bril- 
 liant. It is said that when scarcely ten years of 
 age she pronounced before the king. Cardinal 
 Lorraine, and many lords, a short Latin discourse, 
 of her own composition, upon the advantages 
 of instruction ; and in an age when the lords 
 
72 
 
 LIFE OP MARY STUART. 
 
 were not devoted to science, the young Queen 
 of Scotland passed justly for a prodigy. 
 
 Meanwhile the Duke of Guise came to Paris 
 to enjoy his triumph and assist at the marriage 
 of his niece. This marriage, which was eagerly 
 desired by the house of Lorraine, was the reward 
 reserved for the conqueror of Calais and the de- 
 fender of Metz. Mary Stuart had not yet com- 
 pleted her sixteenth year, and the dauphin was 
 about the same age ; unfortunately, the feeble 
 and languishing health of the latter foretold an 
 early end. 
 
 The ceremony took place (24th April, 1558) in 
 the church of Our Lady of Paris, [Notre Dame.) 
 The duke performed the functions of grand 
 master of the king's household, instead of the 
 Cojistable of Montmorency, then a Spanish pris- 
 oner. This excited the jealousy of the latter, for 
 he feared that Guise would engross the king's 
 favor ; and the Spaniards, who partly shared his 
 fears on account of the result which would have 
 followed the royal favor being concentrated upon 
 the uncle of the dauphin, permitted the constable 
 to return to France on his parole of honor. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 73 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HATBED OP ELIZABETH TO MARY. — HER APOSTASY. — DEATH OP 
 HENRY II. — ACCESSION OF THE DAUPHIN AND MARY. 
 
 The queen dowager of Scotland had not been 
 present at the marriage of her daughter, cares of 
 government not permitting her to absent herself. 
 The reformers were addicted to the greatest ex- 
 cesses, and unfortunately she could only oppose 
 to them prudence and sweetness ; for they had 
 strength because they comprised a great part of 
 the people, and the most powerful lords of the 
 kingdom had embraced their doctrines. For 
 some years, the highest dignities in the church 
 and the richest benefices were held by illegit- 
 imate * children of the sovereign, or by members 
 of great houses, alike destitute of learning, in- 
 clined to debauch, having all the vices of the 
 
 * It may be proper to observe, that these commendatory abbots and 
 priors received the income, but interfered not with the domestic econ- 
 omy, of the monasteries. Though they seldom took orders, they 
 ranked as clergymen, and by their vices contributed to cover the pro- 
 fession with odium. Patly enough, they became converts to the new 
 doctrines, thus securing to themselves and their heirs the lands of 
 their benefices, or an equivalent. 
 
 7 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 class to which they belonged, and little embar- 
 rassed by the manners and instruction of their 
 inferiors. The pride of these high dignitaries, 
 their negligence in fulfilling their duties, the ex- 
 treme rigor with which they insisted on the re- 
 ceipt of their revenues, were for the people 
 continual subjects for murmurs ; the propagators 
 of new doctrines had only to declaim against 
 the vices and oppression of the clergy to make 
 numerous proselytes. Prelates became alarmed, 
 and the Earl of Arran, then regent or governor 
 of the kingdom, recalled the ancient statutes of 
 Scotland against abettors or preachers of heret- 
 ical doctrines, and added new penalties to them ; 
 but when the queen mother became regent, the 
 reformers respired ; the lords who favored them 
 were of the queen's party, and all were of the 
 opinion that tolerance should be used, if only to 
 show herself grateful. The return from Geneva 
 of John Knox,* the most fiery partisan of reform, 
 
 * " Knox was an apostate priest, and his whole conduct illustrates 
 that observation which the experience of ages has converted into a 
 maxim — Omnis apostata osor acerrimm sui ordinis, (Every apos- 
 tate is the bitterest hater of the order from which he has apostatized.) 
 Joined with the bitterness of the apo*State, he had also the cunning of 
 the tactician. When asked to show the lawfulness of his vocation, he 
 said with a knowing leer, * Buf ! buf ! man, as we are once entered 
 here, let us see who will put us out again.' " — Walter. 
 
LIFE OP MARY STUART. 
 
 75 
 
 caused the zeal of his friends to take a more 
 rapid flight. This man, says Dr. Lingard, who 
 joined to the enthusiasm of an apostle great se- 
 verity of manner and a rude but commanding 
 eloquence, suggested that an assembly of all the 
 reformers should be held ; and through his influ- 
 ence a covenant was prepared, by which all the 
 signers bound themselves to renounce forever 
 the Roman communion, and maintain the pure 
 doctrine of the gospel^ or, rather, what, in their 
 deplorable error, they regarded as this doctrine. 
 
 Knox did not, indeed, seek after the glory of a 
 martyr, but prudently returned to Geneva, whence 
 he issued letters, notices, exhortations, and remon- 
 strances. One thing he earnestly inculcated — 
 the distinction between civil and religious obe- 
 dience. The former was due in civil mat- 
 ters to the civil magistrate ; the latter to God 
 alone : whence he drew this important inference, 
 that, in defiance of the legislature and the sov- 
 ereign, it was their duty to extirpate idolatry 
 wherever they found it, to establish the gospel, 
 and, in defence of their proceedings, to oppose 
 force to force. These principles, which made 
 the insurrection a holy diity^ found many follow- 
 ers, — for the number of those whom the empire 
 of the laws restrains is always very great, — 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 and produced the anticipated results. In an in- 
 finite number of cities and little towns, the pre- 
 tended disciples of the gospel expelled priests, 
 threw down monasteries, and delivered images, 
 sacerdotal ornaments, often the churches them- 
 selves, to the flames. 
 
 The queen mother saw with grief all these 
 disturbances, but durst not punish the authors 
 of them, lest, should a struggle take place be- 
 tween reform and the royal power, the former 
 would not succumb. She wished beside to ap- 
 pear condescending to the lords of the party, 
 since the question of her daughter's marriage 
 was submitted to Parliament, and they had great 
 influence in it. She hoped that, her daughter 
 once received into the royal family of France, 
 the king would send assistance of every kind ; 
 she flattered herself with the idea of soon seeing 
 in Scotland a French army, commanded perhaps 
 by her brother, when it would be easy for her to 
 humble the reformers, and restore the Scots to 
 the worship of their fathers. Parliament grati- 
 fied the queen's desire : not only did it approve 
 of Mary's union with the dauphin, but it also 
 named a deputation to assist at the ceremony. 
 It was in the presence of these deputies that, 
 after having received the nuptial benediction, the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 7* 
 
 young queen bestowed upon her spouse the crown 
 matrimonial, and saluted him as King-Dauphin.* 
 The King of France, in his turn, styled Mary 
 Dauphiness of France and Queen of England^ 
 Ireland^ and Scotland. 
 
 When, after the death of Mary of England, 
 (November, 1558,) her sister Elizabeth ascended 
 the throne, she had received the title of Queen 
 of England and of France. This was the more 
 ridiculous, as she inherited her pretended right 
 from Edward III. or Henry V. But Edward 
 was the grandson, by his mother Isabel, of Philip 
 the Fair ; and yet the question debated between 
 him and Philip of Valois was adjudged in favor 
 of the latter, through a just or erroneous appli- 
 cation of the Salic law.f The second had been 
 
 * According to Scottish custom, if the queen married, her spouse 
 was entitled the queen's husband, but he was not king. Neverthe- 
 less, if the queen wished him to reign with her, she proclaimed hira 
 king in the presence of Parliament, which was called giving the 
 crown matrimonial. It should be remarked, however, that the king 
 could not transfer his crowTi to children by a second wife, although 
 he continued to reign after the death of the first. 
 
 f We have never believed that the Salic law was originally applied 
 to the succession of the throne. This law contained a clause ex- 
 cluding daughters from a share in the Salic landsy by which were 
 designated the lands taken from enemies and distributed by the leader 
 among his vassals, (leudes.) These grants were made under various 
 conditions, one of which — the most essential — consisted in being 
 obliged to follow the king to war. But this service could not be per- 
 
 7* 
 
78 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 crowned, it is true, at Paris, but only by a faction J 
 and the king of a faction is not the king of a state. 
 He had of himself no right to the crown of France ; 
 he had no more in the right of his wife, the daugh- 
 ter of Charles VI. ; and Charles VI., had he not 
 been in a demented state, would not have disin- 
 herited his son, and bestowed the crown upon a 
 stranger because that stranger was his son-in-law. 
 
 Peace negotiations had been commenced with 
 the ministers of Henry II. by the ministers of 
 the new Queen of England and France. Henry 
 did not complain ; but, through revenge, he hon- 
 ored his daughter-in-law with the pompous title 
 of queen of three kingdoms. Elizabeth was 
 secretly alarmed at this proceeding, and she feared 
 that when a favorable occasion would present 
 itself at a future period, Mary Stuart would dis- 
 
 formed by women, and they could not consequently share in the dis- 
 tribution of lands allowed for that purpose ; but it is evident that the 
 cro\vn was not nor could be regarded as a Salic possession. The 
 ancient Britons, who, as well as the inhabitants of the banks of the 
 Khine — the Franks, for instance — had similar customs and laws, 
 because their origin was common, offer in their history many exam- 
 ples of queens who marched at the head of their armies. When the 
 contest arose between Edward and Philip of Valois, Edward's cause 
 would have prospered, had not Robert of Artois inclined the balance 
 in favor of Philip. It is not less true that the Salic law was often 
 applied to the heritage of the throne, and since this epoch it has been 
 regarded as the law of the land. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 79 
 
 pute with her the right to the English crown. 
 Her disquietude was so much the greater as to 
 the communication her ambassador had given to 
 the sovereign pontiff on her advent to the throne. 
 Paul had answered that he could not recognize 
 the hereditary right of an individual who was 
 not the offspring of a legitimate marriage ; that 
 the Queen of Scotland was, in his opinion, the 
 nearest heir of Henry VHI. ; that, moreover, if 
 Elizabeth would submit to his decision, he would 
 have for her all the consideration compatible 
 with justice.* Elizabeth was not ignorant that 
 all Catholics, especially those in France, were 
 persuaded that the marriage of her mother, Anne 
 Boleyn, was null, and that, as an illegitimate 
 daughter, she had no right to the succession of 
 her father; Mary's title, taken by the express 
 order of the King of France, sufficiently demon- 
 
 * Elizabeth had, during her sister's life, abjured Protestantism; 
 she had formally promised her sister, with an oath, that she would 
 maintain the Catholic religion. And when Mary, a few hours before 
 her death, called her to her bedside to hear her profession of faith, 
 she swore and protested that she was a Roman Catholic, and she did 
 it with so much force and apparent sincerity, that the Duke of Feria, 
 ambassador of Philip II., was fully convinced by the hypocritical 
 Elizabeth. "May God," she exclaimed, "cause the earth to open 
 and swallow me up alive, if J am not a good Roman Catholic." She 
 had not yet apostatized when she announced her accession to the 
 pope. 
 
80 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 strated that this prince was of the general opin- 
 ion. Henry even appeared so convinced of 
 the right of his daughter-in-law, that he caused 
 coins to be struck, upon which were the effigies 
 of the two spouses and the coat of arms of 
 France, Scotland, and England. This, perhaps, 
 was the first cause of that deadly hate borne by 
 Elizabeth to Mary — a hatred which the former 
 could sometimes dissemble, but which always 
 devoured her perfidious heart, and could only be 
 glutted in the blood of her unfortunate rival. 
 
 After having made peace with France, which 
 the exhausted state of the finances rendered 
 necessary, (February, 1559,) comprising in the 
 treaty Scotland and her young sovereign, and 
 having allowed in the same treaty the insertion 
 of a clause which reserved all the rights and 
 anterior pretensions of the contracting parties, 
 which permitted her to maintain her title of 
 Queen of France, but also allowed Mary to pre- 
 serve that of Queen of England, Elizabeth — 
 counselled by her minister, Cecil, w^ho, though not 
 a great statesman, was pliant, adroit, cunning, 
 and unscrupulous, and consequently an excellent 
 minister for a queen without religious or political 
 faith — immediately prepared to maintain her 
 usurped rights by every means. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 81 
 
 She had at first to oppose the general discon- 
 tent which the treaty of Cateau Cambresis caused, 
 when the conditions of it became known. Philip 
 II., as ally of England, required the restoration 
 of Calais, which Henry had distinctly refused; 
 then he declared that he would not agree to peace 
 whilst England was satisfied without this con- 
 dition. On the contrary, he offered to carry on 
 the war for six years more, provided England 
 would engage not to make peace. This propo- 
 sition embarrassed Cecil ; for to renounce Calais 
 was to expose himself to the hatred of the Eng- 
 lish nation, and to continue the war he had 
 neither disciplined troops nor money in the ex- 
 chequer ; above all, religious quarrels caused the 
 greatest disorder, and before making war abroad 
 it was necessary to establish peace at home. 
 Cecil had simply recommended the ambassadors, 
 without giving any precise instructions, to obtain 
 all they could. It was then agreed by the pleni- 
 potentiaries that the King of France should re- 
 turn Calais at the end of eight years, and that, in 
 default of the execution of this clause, he should 
 pay to England the sum of five hundred thou- 
 sand crowns. This article was evidently only 
 inserted to save the queen's honor and attract 
 the attention of the English nation ; for it was 
 
82 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 specified in the following article, that if, in the 
 interval of these eight years, any act of hostility 
 took place between the contracting parties, Eliza- 
 beth would lose all her rights to the restoration 
 of Calais. The English did not mistake the 
 sense of this clause, which left the King of France 
 master of the execution of the preceding one ; 
 this prince, indeed, could not fail to have in that 
 long space of time a plausible pretext for com- 
 plaining of the infraction of the treaty ; and if 
 Elizabeth's ministers did not furnish him with a 
 pretext, could he not create one himself? Cecil 
 imagined a means of calming by flattery the 
 popular resentment : to divert public attention, 
 he summoned Lord Wentworth, ex-governor of 
 Calais, the commander of the fort, and another 
 officer, before a council of war, upon the accusa- 
 tion of treason. The first was acquitted; the 
 two others, after long trials, underwent a nomi- 
 nal condemnation, for the sentence of the council 
 was never put in execution ; but Cecil had at- 
 tained his proposed end, and the queen was not 
 really displeased with the treaty, since through 
 it she had been treated with, as Queen of Eng- 
 land, by one who was better able to contest the 
 title with her. 
 
 To suppress the discontent, the queen and her 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 83 
 
 minister determined to restore the Protestant 
 religion in England, and secretly favor the prog- 
 ress of reform in Scotland. It is said that 
 Elizabeth hesitated some days, some hours, per- 
 haps an instant ; for it is more than probable 
 that she was in reality neither Protestant nor 
 Catholic, and at that time equally indifferent to 
 all mode of worship. Meanwhile, the Catholics, 
 completely deceived by her public professions, did 
 not imagine that she was only a hypocrite, but 
 believed she acted from conviction. Protestants 
 judged her more properly ; they thought she 
 feigned sentiments not heartfelt, and although 
 they blamed her for having had recourse to this 
 indelicate stratagem, they hoped that, having the 
 power, she would restore the reformed worship 
 in England. They thought that the moment the 
 pope refused to recognize her on account of her 
 birth, the moment the Catholics, in England and 
 elsewhere, beheld in the Queen of Scotland the 
 Catholic heiress to the throne of England, she 
 w^ould hasten to abjure a religion which repudi- 
 ated her as illegitimate, to embrace the friendly 
 doctrines which would sustain her upon the 
 throne. So far Elizabeth had left the two parties 
 in uncertainty ; for if, on one side, she continued 
 to assist at mass, if she celebrated the obsequies 
 
84 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 of her sister according to the form of the Catho- 
 lic ritual, if she ordered in the same form a 
 funeral service for the repose of the soul of 
 Charles V., on the other hand, she recalled the 
 reformers from exile, she restored those to lib- 
 erty who were imprisoned on account of their 
 religion-, she forbade the Bishop of Carlisle, who 
 was about to say mass in the royal chapel, to 
 elevate the consecrated Host in her presence. 
 
 These equivocal acts, these ambiguous meas- 
 ures, deceived only those who did not reflect; 
 but it was soon impossible to continue the illu- 
 sion. Parliament being occupied with the reli- 
 gious question in such a manner as to relieve all 
 doubt. In spite of the opposition of the Catho- 
 lic members of Parliament, in spite of the declared 
 resistance of the clergy, the two Houses passed a 
 bill, containing — save some slight amendments 
 — the reenaction of the acts of Henry VIH. and 
 Edward VL, with the declaration that the Book 
 of Common Prayer be wholly and exclusively 
 used in all churches; that aU the spiritual au- 
 thority of foreign bishops should cease in the 
 kingdom ; and that the right of punishing or 
 repressing error, schism, heresy, should remain 
 annexed to the crown, .with power to delegate 
 this right in whole or in part. Penalties of im- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 85 
 
 prisonment, perpetual confinement, and even 
 death, were found lavished in this bill; and un- 
 fortunately, they were but too often applied dur- 
 ing the reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 Elizabeth had taken a decided step, by estab- 
 lishing the sovereignty of reform in England ; 
 but to revenge herself fully on Henry II. and the 
 innocent Mary, it was necessary to harass Scot- 
 land, and — notwithstanding that peace was con- 
 cluded, and the treaty sworn upon the gospel to 
 preserve all the conditions of it — to lend a help- 
 ing hand to the reformers, in order that they 
 might obtain the preeminence. The queen moth- 
 er, reckoning on the assistance of France, had 
 commenced to act against the reformers, and 
 they had attempted to oppose force to force, 
 according to the doctrine of their patriarch, John 
 Knox: it is doubtful whether they would have 
 succeeded without the assistance of Elizabeth 
 and some favorable circumstances. Reform had 
 gained, it is true, many proselytes among the 
 nobility ; but we should not believe with Prot- 
 estant writers, or rather as these writers state, — 
 for they do not believe it, — that these neophytes 
 formed the most enlightened part of the nation, 
 and that they only decided thus because the 
 8 
 
86 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 reformed religion was a wise religion, friendly 
 to wise liberty > 
 
 These enlightened men, who adopted a wise 
 religion, were the same nobles, who, like their 
 ancestors, had constantly struggled against the 
 sovereign power ; they were these eternal favor- 
 ers of feudal despotism, who wished to rise above 
 the law, and whom every politic curb, moral and 
 religious, clogged and fatigued; they were these 
 cadets, these illegitimate children, whom favor 
 provided with ecclesiastical benefices, although 
 they were the most ignorant of all men, and 
 who, by engaging in this movement, expected to 
 gain on the one hand what they had lost on the 
 other ; they were, in fine, young or even old deb- 
 auchees, delivered up to all the passions, aban- 
 doning, without regret, a severe religion, which 
 preached true reform, for a broad and accommo- 
 dating religion, which freed them, with a single 
 stroke, from all that was displeasing in the 
 former. 
 
 Of the number of these virtuous neophytes 
 was an illegitimate son of James V., the prior 
 of St. Andrew's, and destined for the church, 
 known first as Lord Stuart, and later as the Earl 
 of Murray, who, though loaded with favors by 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 87 
 
 his sister, the generous Mary, became her perse- 
 cutor, her denunciator, almost an assassin. This 
 Lord Stuart was one of the most influential 
 leaders of the Congregation ; for by this name 
 was designated the assembly of the Protestant 
 party. The reformers had thought for k long 
 time that Mary's union with the presumptive 
 heir of the French crown would bring many ad- 
 vantages to the Catholics ; and as they consented 
 to this alliance, wishing to compound the matter 
 with their consciences, they engaged by a cove- 
 nant, prior to the opening of the parliamentary 
 session, " to serve even unto death the cause of 
 their divine Master, [they were known under 
 the name of the Lord's Congregation^] to sus- 
 tain and defend the ministers of the gospel ; 
 also to mutually defend each other, abandon the 
 Congregation of Satan — the Catholic church — 
 and pursue with all their strength this same 
 church, its abominable acts, and its idolatrous 
 practices." One can scarcely conceive how the 
 most enlightened^ wisest^ and most virtuous men 
 of their time^ as Protestants call them, could have 
 carried their frenzy so far — even supposing that 
 the Catholic Church presented some abuses — 
 as to declare abominable and satanical the re- 
 ligion which had instructed and civilized the 
 
^8 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 world, which had overturned the altars of pagan- 
 ism, whose morality tends only to the happiness 
 of men ; the religion in which their fathers and 
 ancestors died, in which they themselves were 
 born, and from which they only withdrew be- 
 cause 'they neglected its precepts. The Earls of 
 Argyle, Morton, and Glencairn were at the head 
 of the Congregationalists. 
 
 When the Catholics learned the purport of 
 this covenant, they regarded it as a declaration 
 of war, and an apostate named Walter Milne, 
 a fiery reformed preacher, being found guilty of 
 seditious language, was placed in the pillory. 
 The reformers raged, and the efforts of the 
 regent to pacify them proved ineffectual. The 
 Archbishop of St. Andrew's convoked a national 
 council, by which was published an abstract of 
 doctrine in explanation of the tenets misrepre- 
 sented by the missionaries. The congregational 
 lords did not yield, and established the new ser- 
 vice in Perth. The regent ordered the Protestant 
 preachers to appear at Stirling, to answer this 
 infraction of the law. Knox arrived from Ge- 
 neva before the day appointed for the trial, and 
 probably hindered those summoned from appear- 
 ing at Stirling. 
 
 On the appointed day, (May 10, 1559,) the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 89! 
 
 preachers, not being present, were condemned 
 for non-appearance. On receiving the news 
 Knox ascended the pulpit, vomited forth sarcasm 
 and injury, excited the people to revolt, and tho 
 docile populace defaced the ornaments of the 
 church, demolished the magnificent edifice of 
 the Charter House, with several other convents, 
 and delivered to the flames whatever was used 
 in Catholic worship. 
 
 The enlightened reformers, as they are yet 
 called by Scottish writers of the present day, 
 censured these excesses, " although the people 
 were partly right in committing them ; " for the 
 Catholics, who were undoubtedly very ignorant, 
 wrongfully regarded churches — the house of the 
 Lord — as sacred edifices, venerable in them- 
 selves, and which should be adorned with all 
 that is most rich and magnificent in nature. 
 They befieved that if the powerful on earth 
 adorn their palaces with silver, gold, and precious 
 stones, it was but right that the temple of the 
 living God should have its share of these riches. 
 In the eyes of the reformers, who had received 
 all their education, wisdom, and knowledge from 
 Heaven, churches were only heaps of stone, 
 earth, or wood, which, after the divine service 
 was concluded, had no claim to veneration, so 
 8* 
 
90 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 that probably, according to them, a church after 
 service might become a place of meeting, a pub- 
 lic house, a ball room, or perhaps worse. A very 
 just consequence of these strange principles was, 
 that it was necessary to destroy, or at least com- 
 pletely deface, the Catholic churches. 
 
 Alas ! this miserable doctrine, by which the 
 populace was excited and misled, served only to 
 palliate- the real motive of the reformers, who 
 aimed at destroying Catholicism by depriving 
 the Catholics of their ministers. " Let us pull 
 down the nests,^^ said John Knox, the grand master 
 of Scottish reform, " and the rooks loill fly o^." 
 
 The regent, accompanied by the Earl of Ar- 
 ran, the Duke of Chastelherault, and the Earl 
 of Huntley, advanced towards Perth ; unfortu- 
 nately, she had few troops, and could depend 
 but little on AiTan, whose versatile humor she 
 knew. Instead of fighting, negotiations com- 
 menced ; but in all the negotiations the ad- 
 vantage was always on the side of the Con- 
 gregationalists. Their successes were even so 
 rapid and decisive that in a few days many 
 cities, the capital included, were entered by 
 the insurgents. Meanwhile Henry sent to the 
 queen a veteran corps of French troops; the 
 congregational forces dispersed gradually; roy- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 91 
 
 •alist lords joined the royal standard, and Mary- 
 reentered Edinburgh. It was then that the Eng- 
 lish ministry, or rather Cecil, who directed it, 
 judged the moment opportune to execute the 
 plan he had formed to sustain the revolt of the 
 reformers. If the reformers triumphed over the 
 royal authority, Elizabeth could easily com- 
 pel the Queen of Scotland to renounce her pre- 
 tensions ; the French influence in the country 
 would be abolished, reform would be estab- 
 lished throughout the kingdom, and the crown 
 would most • probably pass to that of the heir 
 of the Protestant branch of the house of Stu- 
 art.* The schemes of Cecil did not end here. 
 He hoped that the new sovereign would marry 
 Elizabeth, by which both kingdoms would be 
 united under one crown. It appeared even 
 that this plan of Cecil had been communicated 
 to the Scottish reformers and to the congrega- 
 tional lords, and that it had been fully adopted. 
 
 » The Earl of Arran, Duke of Chastelherault, of the house of 
 Hamilton, was the nearest legitimate heir of James V. Lord James 
 Stuart was his illegitimate son, but Cecil preferred Arran : neverthe- 
 less, he would have preferred Lord James, had not Arran's weakness, 
 inconstancy, and ambition been well known. It appeared, besides, 
 that Arran desired to be crowned by revolt, since Henry, a very short 
 time before his death, had ordered him to be arrested and held for 
 trial. 
 
92 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Elizabeth herself, in her instructions to Lord 
 Shrewsbury, says expressly that he projected 
 wresting the crown from Mary, but that she was 
 opposed to it. 
 
 Cecil's plan had been approved of by the Con- 
 gregation, but that was not sufficient ; promises 
 of assistance could not be opposed to the real 
 aid which the regent had received and was still 
 expecting from France, whence considerable ar- 
 maments covered the whole coast. Henry, in- 
 deed, died prematurely, (July, 1559,) of a wound 
 received at a tournament ; but the reformers 
 gained nothing by his death ; Mary's husband 
 ascended the throne, and the princes of Lorraine 
 commanded the French troops in the king's name. 
 Knox urged Cecil, representing that if the re- 
 formers did not receive powerful assistance from 
 Elizabeth, they would be compelled to make 
 peace with the queen at all hazard. Cecil, be- 
 coming alarmed, communicated Knox's letters to 
 his mistress, whom, to his great surprise, he found 
 very undecided. Elizabeth cordially hated Knox. 
 The latter had, at Frankfort as well as at Geneva, 
 boldly declared himself against the Anglican 
 liturgy, and moreover he had maintained that 
 women were incapable of governing. Less was 
 needed to excite against him the animosity of. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 93 
 
 this princess, who was no less devoted to the lit- 
 urgy of her father than she was confident of her 
 own capacity to wear the crown. Besides, 
 she deemed it unworthy of a crowned head 
 to foment rebellion among the subjects of a 
 neighboring and friendly sovereign ; and she re- 
 spected the oaths which she had so recently 
 taken to preserve peace with the Queen of Scot- 
 land, and to refuse an asylum to Scottish rebels, 
 much less afford them assistance. 
 
 The sophist Cecil easily overcame the scruples 
 of his mistress. The Queen of England had, 
 he maintained, a better right to the superiority 
 over Scotland, than Mary Stuart had to the pos- 
 session of the Scottish crown. That granted, 
 he did not urge her to interfere between subjects 
 and their natural prince, but between the mesne 
 lords and their vassals. It was the duty of a 
 sovereign to protect the latter against the tyran- 
 ny of the former. And as these arguments 
 made not a strong enough impression upon the 
 queen's mind, Cecil appealed to her apprehen- 
 sions and jealousy. He depicted the King and 
 Queen of France and Scotland as declared en- 
 emies, who looked on her as illegitimate, and 
 who would never allow her a moment of repose, 
 so long as they retained a footing in Scotland. 
 
94 
 
 LIFE OP MARY STUART. 
 
 This last and all-powerful consideration ex- 
 torted a reluctant consent from the queen ; Cecil 
 did the rest. 
 
 To deceive the public, three commissioners were 
 appointed to reestablish order on the frontiers. 
 The Earl of Northumberland, a Catholic and Jac- 
 obite, was named, together with Sir James Sadler 
 and Sir James Croft ; but these latter alone were 
 admitted into the secret. They were specially 
 authorized to urge the Scottish reformers to the 
 resumption of hostilities ; to supply them with 
 money ; to promise them every kind of aid which 
 could be furnished without a manifest breach of 
 the peace ; and to induce them, if it was possi- 
 ble, to depose Mary, and transfer the crown to 
 the house of Hamilton. The Duke of Chastel- 
 herault, indeed, the head of that house, had 
 hitherto been faithful to the cause of his sover- 
 eign ; but his weakness, inconstancy, and am- 
 bition were well known : there could be no 
 doubt that his allegiance would yield to the 
 temptation of a crown for his descendants ; and 
 with that view it was resolved to hasten the 
 return to Scotland of his eldest son, now called 
 the Earl of Arran, and who served in Paris as 
 colonel of the Scottish guards. Warned by the 
 English ambassador, Throckmorton, who did 
 
'LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 95 
 
 not hold at that time a very honorable mission, 
 Arran secretly escaped to Geneva, from whence 
 he \vi*ote a letter to Elizabeth, couched in the 
 most ardent language. Elizabeth appeared at 
 first highly displeased. " It seemeth," she says, 
 " very strange that the Earl of Arran maketh 
 mention in his letters that he hath cause to thank 
 us for the offers made to hym by us. We be in 
 doubt what to thynk, and do much mislyke that 
 any such occasion should be gyven by any man- 
 ner of message done to hym." It appears that 
 Cecil had not confided to Elizabeth his ulterior 
 projects, and that the offer to which Arran re- 
 ferred was the hand of Elizabeth herself, in the 
 event of success in the war against the regent. 
 Be that as it may, the earl came from Geneva 
 to London incognito ; was admitted to a secret 
 interview with Elizabeth, and to several confer- 
 ences with Cecil ; and then continued his jour- 
 ney to Scotland, until, with the assistance of 
 Sadler and Croft, he reached his father's castle 
 of Hamilton. 
 
 Meanwhile the commissioners had not re- 
 mained inactive, and the congregational lords 
 only demanded to he convinced that their cause 
 was just. Sadler and Croft undertook this easy 
 task. Was not the cause in effect eminently 
 
96 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART* 
 
 Christian and patriotic which had for its object 
 the extirpation of idolatry^ and the liberation of 
 the country from all foreign sway ? These were, 
 undoubtedly, two very meritorious things in the 
 eyes of the Congregationalists, and they were 
 altogether disposed to procure the double glory 
 of destroying Catholic worship and depriving 
 their queen of the throne. The English commis- 
 sioners urged the folly of postponing the attempt 
 until the regent should have acquired a decided 
 superiority by the aid of the Duke of Guise. At 
 the same time, the report which they artfully 
 circulated, that the French cabinet had deter- 
 mined to annex Scotland as a province to France, 
 made a deep impression on the public mind ; a 
 promise of neutrality was obtained from the Duke 
 of Chastelherault, and several Catholic lords en- 
 gaged to draw their swords in defence of the 
 liberties of their country. 
 
 The insurgents desired to demonstrate by ar- 
 guments, more or less captious, that they were 
 right in taking up arms against the lawful au- 
 thority. Every rebel wishes to have a motive 
 when he revolts ; he is only wrong when he 
 yields. The Scottish reformers contended, in 
 justification of their criminal aggression, that 
 the regent had committed two breaches of the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 97 
 
 capitulation of Edinburgh : 1. By having allowed 
 mass to be celebrated in Holyrood Chapel ; 2. By 
 having received reenforcements from France. 
 Arran, whose arrival had been hitherto concealed, 
 suddenly appeared before the Congregationalists ; 
 and, as the news of his being the destined hus- 
 band of Elizabeth had gained circulation, he was 
 received with extraordinary honors. Two thou- 
 sand pounds sterling, distributed seasonably, ren- 
 dered the lords very complaisant. 
 
 The regent, however, appeared ready to face 
 the storm. She offered peace, on the basis of 
 real liberty of conscience ; but at the same time 
 she informed them that she would defend her 
 daughter's rights by every means in her power. 
 Her offers were rejected : Chastelherault openly 
 joined the Congregation; and the insurgents, 
 being briskly urged by the English commission- 
 ers, as well as the enthusiastic Knox, moved in 
 considerable force towards Edinburgh. The re- 
 gent had fortified the city and port of Leith, 
 whither she retired with her defenders; so that 
 the rebels entered the capital without opposition, 
 where two parties were formed, the one under the 
 presidency of Chastelherault, for the despatch of 
 political business, the other under that of Kno:?^, 
 for the regulation of spiritual concerns. 
 9 
 
98 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART, 
 
 The first party pronounced it expedient, the 
 second lawful, to take from the regent the exer- 
 cise of her authority : her deprivation "vvas pro- 
 claimed by sound of trumpet ; and she herself, as 
 well as her aiders and abettors, were declared 
 enemies to the country. The regent was still 
 supported by the Earl of Huntley, lord chancel- 
 lor, the earls marischal and Bothwell, and most 
 of the bishops. Her force amounted to between 
 two and three thousand Scottish and French 
 veterans, whose superior discipline and experi- 
 ence rendered them more than a match for the 
 bravery and enthusiasm of the ten thousand con- 
 gregational soldiers. In an attack on the city 
 of Leith, the latter were repulsed with some loss. 
 
 Sadler and Croft, the two vile agents, — they 
 cannot be called commissioners, — ex<^laimed, 
 " Good ! good ! Blood has flown, and it will yet 
 flow for a long time." But in Knox and Cecil 
 it created a well-founded doubt of the ultimate 
 result. Knox, in the most urgent terms, de- 
 manded the aid of t^vo thousand English troops ; 
 and, anticipating the objection which might be 
 drawn from the existence of peace betr^^een the 
 two crowns, he suggested that they should serve 
 as volunteers, in apparent opposition to the will 
 of their sovereign, and under a sentence of out- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 99 
 
 lawry and treason. Cecil did not appear to be a 
 man who would recoil from any proposition, no 
 matter how perfidious it was ; he recoiled, how- 
 ever, before that of Knox, not daring to carry 
 duplicity to such an extent, or rather fearing that 
 the queen would oppose this measure, and that 
 his favor would suffer by it. He knew that his 
 mistress, if to-day she was more than man^ would 
 to-morroio be less than woman* 
 
 In truth, if Elizabeth was jealous of the Queen 
 of Scotland, she was also jealous of her own 
 reputation ; willing to injure her rival by every 
 means in her power, but unwilling to be con- 
 sidered as the abettor of insurrection and treason. 
 She had hitherto been induced to approve of the 
 plans of her disloyal minister ; but it had required 
 all his art, all the intrigues of his confidential 
 friends, to obtain her consent. Elizabeth, be- 
 sides, knew well that to favor the revolt of sub- 
 jects against their sovereign is not a becoming 
 part for another sovereign. Might not the Queen 
 of England, whose legitimacy was contested, 
 teach the English, by placing the example of the 
 Scots before them, how a mutinous people might 
 take advantage of their strength, overturn the 
 
 * An expression made use of by Cecil himself to characterize 
 Elizabeth. 
 
100 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 throne, elevate a second upon the wreck of 
 the first, and — to arrive at this point — pass 
 through all the phases of disorder, immorality, 
 and anarchy? 
 
 One of Cecil's most useful auxiliaries v^as 
 Throckmorton, the ambassador to France ; who, 
 by his conduct, which was a continual violation 
 of the law of nations, was unworthy of this title. 
 He transmitted reports often apocryphal, almost 
 always exaggerated, and by suggesting as from 
 himself to Cecil that advice which Cecil durst 
 not openly tender to the queen, succeeded in 
 confirming her jealousy, and keeping alive her 
 apprehensions. He requested permission to re- 
 turn home, ostensibly on account of his wife's 
 illness, in reality to inform the queen " that when- 
 soever the French should make an end with Scot- 
 land, they would begin with England." Eliza- 
 beth, becoming alarmed, authorized Cecil to aid 
 the Congregationalists with advice and money ; 
 but bad news arrived from Scotland. The insur- 
 gents had attacked the garrison of Leith, and 
 been repulsed. They were even so frightened 
 that, although the royalists had returned to Leith, 
 they disbanded and fled; nor did they slacken 
 their speed until they had reached Stirling, a dis- 
 tance of thirty miles. There Knox reproached 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 101 
 
 them so bitterly with their cowardice that they 
 burned with shame for having fled. Their cour- 
 age especially revived when they received prom- 
 ises of money to pay, and of officers to discipline, 
 their forces ; and were assured that a fleet should 
 be equipped to intercept all communication be- 
 tween Leith and France. 
 
 In return for these promises, Cecil required 
 that the insurgents should send to London an 
 accredited agent with a petition for support, that 
 the queen might afterwards have some instru- 
 ment to produce in justification of her conduct. 
 The insurgents deputed Maitland, a statesman 
 of great abilities, who had been the regent's sec- 
 retary, but, lately deserting to the Congregation- 
 alists, had betrayed to them the secrets of his late 
 mistress. He presented to Elizabeth a petition, 
 which had been previously drawn up by Cecil 
 and approved by herself, which Sadler showed to 
 Maitland as his own composition, and in which 
 the Scots were made to speak so as to deceive 
 foreign diplomacy and conceal the share Eng- 
 land had taken in these manoeuvres. This peti- 
 tion was drawn up with so much art, that Mait- 
 land acknowledged it was preferable to that 
 which he had brought with him. 
 
 De Noailles, the French ambassador, on learn- 
 9* 
 
102 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 ing that Maitland was seen to enter Throckmor- 
 ton's lodgings, demanded an explanation of the 
 warlike preparations on the Thames and in the 
 northern counties. The perfidious Elizabeth per- 
 sonally assured him of her determination to 
 maintain the peace of Cateau Cambresis ; and as 
 Noailles did not appear fully convinced, she 
 added, " May the malediction of Heaven fall 
 upon the head of the one who first violates the 
 treaty I " Elizabeth did not believe herself bound 
 more by this terrible imprecation than if she had 
 sworn by the Styx or the three Parcse. Noailles, 
 however, was not deceived ; he immediately de- 
 nounced her hostile intention to the regent and 
 the King of France. 
 
 The Congregationalists, encouraged by the 
 assurances of Cecil, had called a general meeting 
 at Stirling ; but before their arrival, a detachment 
 from the garrison of Leith suddenly seized the 
 place. From Stirling the royalists went in pur- 
 suit of the Earl of Arran and Lord James. Ar- 
 rived at the promontory of Kingcraig, a fleet was 
 perceived sailing towards the coast, and soon after 
 the English colors were displayed. The guns of 
 the fleet being turned upon the royalists, they im- 
 mediately began to retrace their steps; and it is 
 a proof of their superior discipline, that, during a 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 103 
 
 retreat of six days through a hostile country, they 
 suffered but inconsiderable loss. 
 
 Elizabeth had the impudence, not to deny this 
 act of hostility, but to contend that the fleet's 
 only mission was to supply Berwick with pro- 
 visions, that stress of weather had driven the 
 vessels into the Frith, and that the jealousy or 
 the mistake of the French commanders who fired 
 on the English from the batteries at Leith, Brunt 
 Island, and Inchkeith, had compelled the admiral 
 to make reprisals in his own defence. This spe- 
 cious tale, though officially attested, was not even 
 believed in England. Noailles openly complained 
 of the notorious falsity of the allegations con- 
 tained in the note sent to him, and insisted that 
 Admiral Winter should be brought before a 
 commission of inquiry. The commission was 
 appointed, and the affair smothered over, without 
 France finding cause to complain. Cecil knew 
 well that this court would have enough of diffi- 
 culty to extricate itself, even in France, from the 
 embarrassments which he created. 
 
 Soon after the death of Henry IL, Elizabeth's 
 minister undertook to excite in that country dis- 
 sensions similar to those which he had fomented 
 in Scotland, by arming the princes of the blood 
 and the Calvinists against their new monarch. 
 
104 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 The traitor Throckmorton, who deserved a halter, 
 had an interview with Antoine de Bourbon, 
 King of Navarre and brother of the Prince of 
 Conde. He stated, in general terms, the esteem 
 which Elizabeth had for him, and the danger 
 which the reformed religion would experience 
 under the administration of the house of Guise ; 
 and he allowed him to foresee, as possible, his 
 being put in possession of the kingdom of Na- 
 varre. Antoine, who was an undecided prince, 
 and poorly qualified to act as a party leader, 
 answered evasively. The result of Throckmor- 
 ton's intrigues was the formation of an associa- 
 tion between the King of Navarre, Conde, 
 Admiral Coligni, Dandelot, and the Cardinal of 
 Chastillon, the three latter nephews of Constable 
 Montmorency. 
 
 But when Throckmorton departed for London, 
 as we have seen, he was followed by the misera- 
 ble La Renaudie, the apparent head of the con- 
 spiracy formed against the Duke of Guise. This 
 adventurer did not hesitate to expose his life in a 
 career, where, in case of failure, the halter would 
 be his reward, in case of success a vile salary, 
 the only reward worthy of conspirators, assas- 
 sins, and traitors. Will it be believed that Eliz- 
 abeth did not disdain seeing La Renaudie, 
 
LIFE OP MARY STUART. 
 
 105 
 
 informing him of her wishes for the success of 
 the enterprise, and promising him assistance ? * 
 
 What, then, was the enterprise in which Eliz- 
 abeth so nobly joined ? Its object was to attack 
 the court suddenly, seize the king and queen, — 
 Mary Stuart was Elizabeth's coveted prey, — 
 and elevate the Prince of Conde to the throne, 
 after having assassinated the Cardinal of Lor- 
 raine and the Duke of Guise. At the same time 
 the Queen of England ordered the Duke of 
 Norfolk — whom she had formerly charged with 
 the derisive mission of inquiring into the aggres- 
 sion of Admiral Winter — to conclude a treaty 
 with the Congregation. The French ambassa- 
 dor opposed it with all his power ; he even offered 
 to withdraw from Scotland the greater part of 
 the French forces, and to refer the matters in 
 dispute, between the reformers and their sov- 
 ereign to the arbitration of Elizabeth herself. 
 Elizabeth was careful not to accept the arbitra- 
 tion, the result of which would have been opposed 
 to her ulterior projects-, and the treaty was con- 
 cluded by Norfolk. It was stipulated that an 
 
 * This La Renaudie was a native of the province of Perigord ; he 
 had been pursued for the commission of mayhem, and had for a long 
 time sought an asylum without the kingdom. He returned to be a 
 conspirator. 
 
106 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 English army should remain in Scotland until 
 the French were expelled from that kingdom, 
 and that the Scots should never consent to the 
 union of their crown with that of France, should 
 aid Elizabeth with four thousand men in case of 
 invasion, and should give her hostages for their 
 fidelity to these engagements. 
 
 In the mean time the English minister did not 
 lose sight of France, and he exerted himself the 
 more to assist the reformers to overturn the house 
 of Guise, because he feared that the Guise, if 
 triumphant, would send an army into Scotland ; 
 for the cardinal and duke had been proclaimed 
 sole ministers by Francis II., and there was every 
 reason to believe that they would not suffer the 
 kingdom of their niece to devolve to her jealous 
 rival. The enterprise was difficult, for, besides 
 the qualities which please the multitude, the 
 Guise possessed those which subdue rebels — 
 courage and talents. The duke, modest, gener- 
 ous, passionate for glory, discreet, provident, the 
 bravest soldier, the most skilful general, excelled 
 all his contemporaries by as much as merit and 
 science excel blind routine. The cardinal, en- 
 dowed with great penetration, was very learned 
 in theology, politics, administrative and financial 
 affairs : not less eloquent than Knox, his dicourse 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 107 
 
 was more attractive, and his style more engaging. 
 In fine, it would have been difficult to make a 
 better choice of a minister and of a general, 
 equally worthy of the royal confidence. 
 
 The Guise appeared like firm Colossi, relied 
 on, as they were, by the clergy, nobility, and 
 people ; the first through zeal for religion, the 
 existence of which was threatened by impious 
 innovators ; the second because, ruined by the 
 wars of the preceding reigns, they needed the 
 reestablishment of their fortunes ; the third be- 
 cause they only desired to be freed from the 
 subsidies which would naturally be maintained, 
 if not increased, so long as the war would last. 
 The disturbers were, nevertheless, not discour- 
 aged, but secretly agitated all classes, especially 
 seeking for enemies of the throne. The cardinal, 
 having been informed of the plans of the con- 
 spirators, had succeeded in removing the King 
 of Navarre by proposing to him to conduct the 
 Princess Elizabeth of France to Spain, who 
 was promised by the treaty of Cateau Cambre- 
 sis to Philip IL, and not to his son Don Carlos, 
 as some are pleased to repeat, in order to load 
 the memory of Philip with a new outrage ; but 
 the Prince of Conde and the nephews of Mont- 
 morency still remained ; moreover, the reformers 
 
108 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 had a numerous party in Parliament, and they had 
 assassins in their pay besides. Parliament, hur- 
 ried away by the factious eloquence of some of 
 its members, and desirous of maintaining their 
 usurped claims to the administration of the 
 kingdom, served the cause of reform by their 
 remonstrances, without being aware of it ; but 
 the reformers wished to employ more expeditious 
 means. 
 
 They had employed Captain Mazeres, a brave 
 man, but a fanatic, to assassinate the Duke of 
 Guise. His proceedings appearing suspicious, 
 he was arrested and brought before the duke, 
 who, beholding him armed with a very long 
 sword, expressed great surprise that a man who 
 had given proof in war of valor and address, 
 should have chosen a sw^ord the length of which 
 rendered it very troublesome to handle. " My 
 lord," said the captain to him, " I have already 
 experienced this, and that more than once ; but 
 to speak candidly, when I consider your valor 
 and enraged presence, I have not the courage to 
 attack you close at hand, and I therefore resolved 
 to deal with you at a distance ; so that if, in- 
 stead of this sword, I could have borne a pike, I 
 would have done so, so terrible and formidable 
 is your presence to me." This singular harangue 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 109 
 
 did not displease the Duke of Guise, who, natu- 
 rally magnanimous, pardoned the captain.* The 
 attempt of Parliament against the Guise was 
 not so serious, and was unravelled in a manner 
 amusing enough. This respectable body had 
 determined to address to the king humble re- 
 monstrances against the exorbitant power of 
 the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lor- 
 raine ; and to give more weight to these re- 
 monstrances, they decided that the entire Par- 
 
 * It was the destiny of Guise to perish by the hand of an assassin. 
 It is known that he was killed on the 18th of February, 1563, whilst 
 besieging Orleans, by the Calvinist Poltrot de Mere. During the 
 preceding year, a noble Anc/evm had been arrested, who intended to 
 assassinate him, whilst at the siege of Rouen. The queen mother, 
 Catharine de' Medici, being informed of the design of this man, 
 secretly informed the duke of it. He caused him to be brought in 
 his presence, and reproached him with his criminal intention, demand- 
 ing of him why he wished his life. The Angevin, confounded, cast 
 himself at the feet of the Prince of Lorraine, and implored his mercy ; 
 he confessed that he had been persuaded that, by killing him, he 
 would have delivered his religion of its most dangerous enemy. 
 " Well ! " answered Guise, " compare my religion with yours. 
 Yours counsels you to kill me without hearing me, whilst mine com- 
 mands me to pardon you." 
 
 These are the same sentiments which we find paraphrased in those 
 beautiful verses of Alzire, which Guzman addresses to his murderer, 
 Zamore : — 
 
 "Des dieux que nous servons connais la difference : 
 
 Les tiens font command^ le meurtre et la vengeance ; 
 
 Et le mien, quand ton bras vient de m'assassiner, 
 
 M'ordonne de te plaindre et de te pardonner." 
 
 10 
 
110 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 liament, with the president at their head, should 
 present them in person to their sovereign. 
 Francis, who was, as is known, a pupil of the 
 famous Amyot, at that time Abbot of Bellozane, 
 and afterwards Bishop of Auxerre, was very 
 fond of Latin poetry, and Mary Stuart partook 
 of this taste. At the moment when Parliament 
 was announced, the two young consorts were 
 reading together Virgil's Bucolics. The cardinal, 
 who had previously learned the hour and object 
 of this visit, and who wished to be present to 
 protect his interest, took care to be in the king's 
 apartment. He, casting his eyes towards the 
 balcony, perceived the long, black robes of the 
 magistrates. " My uncle," exclaimed he, ad- 
 dressing the cardinal, "what is all that crowd 
 there for ? " " What is it ? " replied the car- 
 dinal ; " Pecus omne magistri ; " a double allusion 
 to a passage in the Bucolics which the king had 
 before him, and to the name of the first president, 
 Le Maistre. " Ah, well ! what is he doing with 
 all his flock ? " then said the queen, continuing 
 the allusion. " Really, madam," replied the car- 
 dinal, " he comes to prove to the king that I and 
 my brother also are but brutes." How these 
 remonstrances were received remains yet to be 
 seen : the king was pleased to reply that he was 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Ill 
 
 very well satisfied with the services of his two 
 uncles. 
 
 In the interim, the 15th of March was ap- 
 pointed for the execution of the conspiracy.' The 
 court being at Blois, and the Guise having ac- 
 companied the king thither, the rendezvous of 
 the conspirators was named at the same place. 
 They hoped to surprise the Guise, who appeared 
 to suspect nothing; nevertheless, they had no- 
 ticed something extraordinary, and had vague 
 fears of a conspiracy ; they removed the court 
 from Blois to Amboise, where there was a castle 
 which could be suddenly protected. A friend of 
 La Renaudie, to whom he had confided the plot, 
 becoming alarmed at the evils which the success 
 of the conspiracy would cause to France, hap- 
 pily believed that he was conscientiously bound 
 to inform the two brothers of it. Linieres, one 
 of the conspirators mentioned by the informer, 
 had several brothers in the service of the queen 
 mother ; a large reward engaged him to betray 
 his friends. Thus forewarned, the ministers pre- 
 pared their measures. The cardinal desired the 
 assistance of troops ; but the duke, although con- 
 ceding that the arrival of troops would render 
 the conspiracy abortive, feared that the conspira- 
 tors would not be surprised : he wished, on the 
 
112 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 contrary, that they should be taken in the perpe- 
 tration of the crime. 
 
 La Renaudie, on learning that the king had 
 repaired to Amboise, postponed the execution 
 of the project from the 15th to the 16th. He 
 was ignorant that the Princes of Lorraine, hav- 
 ing been informed of his plan, had taken decisive 
 precautions'; he was killed before his arrival at 
 Amboise, and his body suspended on a gibbet. 
 All those who were seized — and the number 
 was great — underwent the same punishment. 
 The Chancellor Olivier, who Avas strongly sus- 
 pected of favoring reform, obtained an amnesty 
 from the king for all the rebels who had not been 
 executed ; but such was the blind obstinacy of 
 these vii-tuous reformers, who, to serve their 
 religion, became assassins, that some of them 
 endeavored to penetrate by night into the city 
 and seize the castle. Guise, becoming furious, 
 revoked the amnesty, and many of the reformers 
 perished. The Prince of Conde was detained a 
 prisoner, not under a direct accusation, but upon 
 strong suspicion. Conde complained and de- 
 manded a trial, upon which the king granted 
 him an audience before the whole court. He 
 pleaded his own cause \\dth much confidence, 
 and concluded by formally defying any one to 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 113 
 
 accuse him of having dared to excite the French 
 to revolt against their king. It was, however, 
 certain that he was in Amboise with a great 
 number of his partisans, and that if La Re- 
 naudie's attack had succeeded, he would have 
 headed the conspirators. But this la.ct, which 
 public opinion regarded as proved, had not 
 been juridically established. Thus the matter 
 rested. 
 
 When Elizabeth learned the failure of the 
 conspiracy of A mboise, she began to waver ; but 
 she was assured that a civil war would inevita- 
 bly follow, and that it would be both honorable 
 and profitable for her to interfere. Consequently 
 she permitted the publication of a most extraor- 
 dinary state paper, entitled A Declaration of 
 Peace, but intended as a justification of war. 
 " She was," she said, " the ally and friend of the 
 King and Queen of France, but the enemy of 
 their ministers ; she took up arms to oppose their 
 ambitious ends, and she would not lay them 
 down so long as a French soldier remained in 
 Scotland." An English army, under Lord Gray, 
 crossed the frontier, and having joined the in- 
 surgents, besieged Leith ; but, on one side, the 
 vigorous defence of the besieged retarded the oper- 
 ation of the besiegers ; on the other hand, they 
 10* 
 
114 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 were restrained by the contradictory orders which 
 the queen continually sent them. 
 
 Elizabeth was hurried away almost in spite of 
 herself. When an evil course is pursued, each 
 step is a fault, and from fault to fault a point is 
 reached which affrights one at his position. At 
 first she only consented to supply the insurgents 
 with money ; afterwards her fleet appeared in the 
 Frith ; her pride so far revolted from treating with 
 rebels ; soon these rebels, the subjects of another 
 sovereign, obtained from her a formal treaty. 
 Subsequently, she made protestations to the 
 Queen of Scotland of her fidelity to her engage- 
 ments, and she received, she encouraged him who 
 repaired to Scotland to dethrone his sovereign ; 
 she gave, through her ambassador at Paris, the 
 most positive assurance that peace would be 
 maintained, and this unworthy ambassador fo-* 
 mented the revolt, and protected the rebels ; final- 
 ly, in her last proclamation she styled herself 
 the friend of the King and Queen of France, and 
 her army besieged Leith — the only place remain- 
 ing to the Queen of Scotland — under pretence 
 of expelling thence the French, who were the 
 only defenders of this queen. It is not, then, 
 astonishing, that the operations of the siege were 
 paralyzed by the irresolute and contradictory 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 115 
 
 humors of the. queen. Thus she commanded her 
 general to prefer negotiation to arms ; rejected a 
 new project of accommodation ; permitted the 
 French envoy to treat with the Scottish lords ; 
 ordered the siege to be vigorously carried on ; and 
 then reproached her ministers with having extort- 
 ed her consent to what, she feared, must prove a 
 miserable failure. Her conjectures were partly 
 verified. Lord Gray made a general assault, in 
 which he was energetically repulsed, with the 
 loss of one thousand men. (1560.) 
 
 Elizabeth almost rejoiced at a result which she 
 had foreseen, and after a stormy debate with 
 Cecil, she insisted that he should proceed to 
 Scotland, and extinguish by negotiation the flame 
 which he had enkindled. Cecil submitted with 
 an evil grace, and a preliminary treaty was signed 
 at Berwick, between the French envoys and him- 
 self, on the 14th of June, 1560, at the moment 
 when the news was received of the death of the 
 regent, a princess of distinguished talents and 
 moderation, who had sacrificed her health of 
 body and peace of mind in sxipport of her daugh- 
 ter's interests. During her indisposition, she was 
 received wdthin the Castle of Edinburgh, through 
 the humanity of Lord Erskine, who held that for- 
 tress by a commission from the three estates, and 
 
116 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 professed to observe the most scrupulous neutrali- 
 ty during the contest. From her death bed, Mary- 
 sent for the chiefs of the two opposite parties, 
 recommended to their care the weal of -the king- 
 dom and the rights of the sovereign, and saluting 
 each of the lords, and giving her hand to the 
 commoners, she publicly forgave every injury 
 which she had received, and asked forgiveness of 
 those whom she had offended. She expired, 
 regretted by the Catholics and royalists, and 
 esteemed by her very opponents. Knox alone 
 endeavored to slander her memory ; but his poi- 
 sonous venom recoiled upon himself. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DEATH OF FRANCIS II. — MARY'S RETURN TO SCOTLAND. 
 
 The French commissioners. Randan and 
 Montluc, had been empowered to grant an am- 
 nesty to the insurgents, provided they would 
 return to their duty. The offer was accepted; 
 but at the same time demands were made, which, 
 whilst allowing a nominal supremacy to the 
 sovereign, tended to transfer the exercise of the 
 royal authority to the lords of the Congregation. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 117 
 
 At first the commissioners defended with spirit 
 the rights of the crown ; but necessity compelled, 
 them to submit to more than their powers would 
 justify : and it was ultimately agreed that, after 
 the removal of the French troops, a convention 
 of the three estates should be held ; that out of the 
 twenty-four persons named by the convention, 
 the queen should select seven, the estates five, to 
 be intrusted with the government of the realm. 
 To these conditions was appended a demand by 
 the Congregation, that the new worship be the 
 established faith. But on this point the com- 
 missioners refused to yield, and Cecil himself 
 Approved of their refusal. 
 
 A second treaty between the French and 
 English commissioners was at length concluded. 
 Francis and Mary recognized the rights of Eliza- 
 beth to the crown (5f England ; and it was stipu- 
 lated that, as the French king and queen had 
 made several concessions to their Scottish sub- 
 jects, at the petition of the English queen, so 
 they should ratify those concessions whenever 
 the Scots themselves had fulfilled the conditions 
 on which they had been granted. Elizabeth was 
 eager to ratify a treaty, the sixth clause of which 
 was a formal recognition of her claims; but her 
 eagerness was met with equal reluctance on the 
 
118 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 part of Francis and Mary, who based their re- 
 fusal on the want of authority in their com- 
 missioners, and the subsequent misconduct of 
 their Scottish subjects. The lords of the Con- 
 gregation had called a convention of the estates 
 without the royal commission ; had abolished 
 throughout the realm the worship hitherto estab- 
 lished by law ; and had refused compensation to 
 the clergy, who had suffered losses during the late 
 insurrection* — three points in direct contradiction 
 to the treaty of Edinburgh. They had even sent 
 an embassy to Elizabeth, as if they possessed the 
 
 * The reformers, who had the majority in the convention, con- 
 demned the Catholic worship and all its accessories, and they in- 
 cluded the new principles in a profession of faith digested by Knox 
 and his friends. Scottish reform differed essentially from Anglican- 
 ism, as by the latter the reigning sovereign is constituted sovereign 
 pontiff, the visible head of the church ; the former neither allows the 
 king nor his officers to interfere in religious affairs, which are regu- 
 lated by a general assembly, composed of members of the church 
 itself. No more was hierarchy recognized ; the priest has no supe- 
 rior in the priesthood, God being the only superior. As the ecclesi- 
 astical reformers exhibited much indifference for terrestrial honors 
 and dignities, the convention judged that gross revenues would be 
 useless to them. It confined them to an annual salary, and the lords, 
 who had for a long time coveted the property of the clergy, appropri- 
 ated to themselves all their effects without the slightest scruple. In 
 vain did Knox and his associates propose founding with the wealth 
 of the Catholic clergy a national church, hospitals, public schools, and 
 universities. The lords had not seized to restore, and they ingen- 
 iously eluded legislating upon Knox's proposition. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 119 
 
 sovereign authority; and what perhaps proved 
 more offensive to the pride of the French cabinet, 
 that embassy consisted of peers, whilst only a 
 single knight had been deputed to their own 
 sovereign. When Throckmorton required that 
 Francis and Mary should ratify the treaty, they 
 replied that the Scots had not fulfilled any of 
 the conditions of the treaty ; that they had acted 
 as if they formed a republic independent of the 
 sovereign ; that Elizabeth continued to support 
 them in their disobedience ; and that she had 
 already broken the ancient treaty, by admitting 
 into her kingdom, and into her presence, the 
 deputies of the Congregation, without the pre- 
 vious consent of their sovereign to this odious 
 proceeding. 
 
 It is more than probable that after this re- 
 sponse, which thwarted EHzabeth the more as 
 her conduct had caused her to be reproached by 
 the King of Spain,* that if Francis had lived the 
 war would have been renewed, and that, pre- 
 
 * The King of Spain, Philip II., had formally represented to Eliza- 
 beth the injury she had done to her reputation, and even to the cause 
 of sovereigns, by sustaining and aiding the rebel subjects of another 
 prince. Many members of the council had approved of these obser- 
 vations, and opposed Cecil, whom they accused of inveigling the queen 
 into a wrong course. Arundel, Parry, and others belonged to this 
 party, which was designated by the name of Philippiana. 
 
120 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 dominated over as he was by Mary, he would 
 have led to Scotland an army sufficient to sub- 
 due the rebels, and cause Elizabeth to tremble 
 anew upon her throne. Unfortunately for Mary, 
 and undoubtedly also for Scotland, which now 
 bears the yoke of England, her ancient and im- 
 placable rival, Francis, a weak and sickly prince, 
 died on the 6th of December, 1560, of an im- 
 posthume in the ear. It is said that this mal- 
 ady was of a nature to cause death ; but it is very 
 doubtful whether it would have proved mortal 
 so soon when no grievous symptom had yet por- 
 tended such a result. The report was circulated 
 that Ambrose Pare, his surgeon, had poisoned 
 the wound, in order to save the Prince of Conde, 
 the avowed leader of the Calvinist party. This 
 prince, having been accused of high treason, had 
 been brought before a select committee of the 
 French Parliament, and condemned to death. In 
 vain had his pardon been solicited ; in vain had 
 Eleanor de Reye, his wife, cast herself at the 
 king's feet ; he had resisted the prayers and tears 
 of the weeping princess. " Your husband," said 
 he to her, " wished to kill me, in order to possess 
 my crown." The Guise appeared no less in- 
 flexible. The 10th of December was the day 
 appointed for the execution, and the king died 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 121 
 
 four days before. This death, which occurred so 
 opportunely, gave rise to suspicions which have 
 never been resolved. Ambrose Pare was a Cal- 
 vinist, and favored Montmorency : he is accused 
 of having wished to serve the interests of his 
 party ; but Protestant writers represent Pare as 
 a man incapable of having conceived the thought 
 of such a crime. Certain it is, that no investiga- 
 tion was held, although the rumor of poison was 
 generally circulated. 
 
 Catharine de' Medici had little love for Francis, 
 all her affection being concentrated upon the 
 Duke of Anjou, her younger son; she hated 
 Mary especially, because, jealous of excess of 
 power, she had no influence in administrative 
 affairs ; whilst Francis lived, her situation could 
 not change, since Francis obeyed Mary, who, in 
 turn, obeyed her uncles : the death of her son 
 caused her, then, few regrets as a mother; it 
 served her ambition as a queen; for, rid of her 
 daughter-in-law, whose interest, youth, and beau- 
 ty she envied, reckoning on the assistance of a 
 powerful party, formed by all discontented per- 
 sons, Calvin ists or Catholics, she would reign in 
 the name of the ten-year-old king. She at first 
 had had some doubts, but she was fully reassured 
 by Chancellor de L'Hopital. " The estates," 
 11 
 
122 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 said he to her, " are assembled, and the parties 
 present: declared enemies of each other, they 
 will become reconciled that the regency may be 
 offered to you — the Guise, lest the power pass 
 to the house of Conde ; the Conde, that the 
 Guise may not obtain it. Then, instead of 
 being the instrument of either party, you will 
 rule over them, and by opposing them to each 
 other, will render them harmless." 
 
 The predictions of L'Hopital were fully veri- 
 fied, success even surpassing Catharine's hopes ; 
 for the moment Francis expired, the two parties 
 spontaneously regarded her as the lawful regent, 
 applying to her to interest her in their preten- 
 sions ; the Guise urging her to order the execu- 
 tion, the King of Navarre asking the life of his 
 brother, so that she was in fact the regent with- 
 out the inters^ention of the estates ; but she took 
 care not to sacrifice Conde to the resentment of 
 the Guise. In her system of balancing the 
 power of the parties, she needed a man whom 
 she might oppose to the Princes of Lorraine, 
 and the feeble King of Navarre was not equal 
 to the task. The Prince of Conde was set at 
 liberty ; the King of Navarre was appointed 
 lieutenant general of the kingdom ; the Guise 
 preserved their credit at court and in the king- 
 dom : Catharine ruled over all. 
 
LIPE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 123 
 
 Catharine had great accomplishments and 
 great faults. Beautiful, of tall statuxei, of a pre- 
 possessing yet majestic exterior,. .%J^vays sur- 
 rounded by a numerous train of ladies of the 
 best families in the kingdom, amusing them and 
 herself by fetes, dances, concerts, hunting or 
 fishing parties, a lover and protector of the arts, 
 affable towards all, she had succeeded — notwith- 
 standing the estrangement of Henry II. from her 
 — by force of perseverance and address in render- 
 ing herself the object of universal homage ; but 
 it is supposed that all these amiable qualities, 
 which rendered her so attractive, were the fruit 
 of profound dissimulation, rather than of her 
 natural disposition. The only person with whom 
 she could or would not dissemble was her daugh- 
 ter-in-law. Catharine had the weakness of the 
 Queen of England ; she desired to be consid- 
 ered beautiful. She suffered much from contrast 
 with young persons of remarkable beauty ; but it 
 is pretended that she made them serve her ends, 
 by captivating by their means lords whom she 
 wished to entice. Moreover, Catharine did not 
 fear on their part any usurpation of power ; where- 
 as it would be easy for a young queen whom 
 she must acknowledge beautiful, despite her 
 jealousy, to deprive her, by her charms, enhanced 
 
124 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 by regal eclat, and the enchantment of power, 
 of all the hearts she might have wished to attach 
 to herself. In reality, during her husband's life, 
 Catharine had no determined system ; during 
 the reign of her eldest son, she constantly found 
 the Guise in the career she would pursue. Thus 
 she appeared only inconsistent and heedless, 
 always allowing herself to be controlled by 
 events. Sometimes she favored the reformers, 
 receiving and reading their writings ; sometimes, 
 becoming reconciled to the Guise, she revealed 
 the projects of the Calvinists to them. When 
 the Guise believed that they had no need of her 
 assistance, they scorned her ; then she returned 
 to the Calvinists, whose doctrines, moreover, 
 frightened her little ; for after the assassination 
 of Guise, when the princes' party became all- 
 powerful, as they spoke to her of the dangers 
 which religion encountered, she answered with 
 an inconceivable and scandalous levity, " Well, 
 gentlemen, we will pray to God in French ! " 
 
 The death of Francis II., who left no children, 
 had burst the links which united France to Scot- 
 land, and with it vanished the principal motive 
 which Cecil had alleged to justify his proceed- 
 ings. Mary, who did not suspect the duplicity 
 of the English minister, believed that she might 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 125 
 
 assume without molestation the government of 
 her native kingdom ; but Cecil's intention was to 
 create so many obstacles that she could not 
 return to Scotland, at least for a long time. If 
 she married again, which was very likely, as she 
 was but eighteen years of age, her new husband 
 would surely revive her rights to the throne of 
 England. Admiral Winter continued to cruise 
 in the Frith ; and Randolph, Elizabeth's agent, 
 was instructed to remind the lords of the Congre- 
 gation of their obligations to Elizabeth ; to ad- 
 vise the conclusion of a perpetual league with 
 England during the absence of Queen Mary ; 
 and to suggest a form of association, which 
 should have for its chief object to comp' 1 her to 
 marry one of her own subjects. 
 
 Elizabeth had no reason to complain of the 
 backwardness of the Scots. Chastelherault, Ar- 
 gyle, Morton, and Glencairn tendered her their 
 services ; the disloyal Maitland even promised 
 to betray to Cecil the plans and motions of Mary 
 and her friends ; and Lord James, returning 
 through England from France, — whither he had 
 been to assure his sister of his fraternal attach- 
 ment, — advised Elizabeth to intercept her on the 
 sea and make her a prisoner. In fact, the Scots, 
 undoubtedly becoming better as they became 
 11* 
 
126 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 reformed, had at this time singular ideas of 
 honor and fidehty to their engagements. It 
 might be said that they had a very correct idea 
 of personal interest, which at all times sacrifices, 
 ■Qnscrupulously, probity, duty, and affection. 
 
 Mary, no longer receiving at Paris the respect 
 and attention which had been lavished on her 
 hitherto, and which became more necessary since 
 the early death of her spouse, had departed for 
 Lorraine, to spend the winter there. In her 
 grieij which was nowise affected, as some wri- 
 ters h^ive said, whose pens are always dipped in 
 gall, I>lary sought to beguile her sorrow by ex- 
 pressing it in Latin verse.* She composed ele- 
 gies in honor of her husband.f Elizabeth's 
 
 * It ha^. been stated in writings ttnworthy of confidence — indi- 
 gested collections of false traditions, satires, and calumnies — that 
 Mary had < ulpable intrigues at the court of France. They are base 
 forgeries, v-hich Brantdme himself, that cjTiical slanderer of all the 
 women of h^s time, has not dared to affirm. 
 
 t Ah, why should she not have regretted Francis ? If not through 
 conjugal love, at least through her own interest. She lost a husband 
 who had for her an absohite deference, and which, with the SAvay she 
 had over him, she would have constantly maintained ; she lost the 
 most beautiful crown of Europe at an age when vain enjoyments are 
 most felt ; she irrevocably lost the means of causing her positive 
 rights to the English crown to be established by arms ; she lost a 
 country where she had been educated, the society of enlightened 
 men, the advantage of climate, for a country which repelled her, and 
 where, under a sky always cold and cloudy, the men were like half 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 127 
 
 agents followed her even to her retreat, to de- 
 mand the ratification of the treaty, the work of 
 Cecil. To the Earl of Bedford, Mewtas, and 
 Throckmorton she always made the same reply — 
 that since the death of Francis, her uncles had 
 refused to give her advice, that they might not 
 be said to interfere with the concerns of Scot- 
 land ; that on a subject which so deeply affected 
 the rights of her crown and the interests of the 
 Scottish people, she neither desired nor could 
 she be expected to answer without the advice 
 of her council ; but that, on her return to her 
 dominions, she would consult the estates, and do 
 whatever she should judge proper.* 
 
 Mary's refusal irritated Elizabeth, and con- 
 firmed her in the suspicions which had been 
 previously suggested by Cecil and his friends ; 
 and when M. D'Oyselles requested permission 
 for Mary to pass through England to Scotland, 
 
 savages. These were, it seems, sufficient reasons for Mary to have 
 no need of pretence when she showed grief and tears. 
 
 * Of Mary's conduct after her husband's death, we have the nota- 
 ble testimony of Throckmorton, the English ambassador in Paris : 
 *' Since the death of the king, the Queen of Scotland carries herself 
 so honorably, wisely, and discreetly, that methinks it were to be 
 wished by all wise men and her majesty's good subjects, that the one 
 of these two queens of the Isle of Britain were transformed into the 
 shape of a man, to make so happy a marriage, that there might 
 thereby be a unity of the whole isle." 
 
128 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 (1561,) she refused him in so vehement a tone, 
 and with such reproachful expressions, as to be- 
 tray the exacerbation of her mind. Throckmor- 
 ton soon afterwards waited on the Scottish queen 
 to justify the conduct of his sovereign. When 
 Mary saw him, she ordered her attendants to re- 
 tire ; "that," said she, "if, like the Queen of 
 England, I cannot command my temper, I may 
 at least have fewer spectators of my weakness;" 
 and when Throckmorton had declared the object 
 of his visit, she calmly replied, " Your mistress 
 reproaches me with my youth — it is a defect 
 which time will cure — but she might reproach 
 me with my folly, if, young as I am, without 
 husband or council, I should take on myself to 
 ratify the treaty. When I have consulted the 
 estates of my realm, I will return a definite an- 
 swer. I only repent of having had the weakness 
 to ask of your sovereign a favor which I did not 
 need. I came to France in defiance of Edward 
 VI. ; I will return to Scotland in defiance of his 
 sister. I want nothing of her but her friendship ; 
 if she chooses, she may have me a loving kins- 
 woman and a useful rieighbor ; for it is not my 
 intention to intrigue with the discontented in her 
 kingdom, as she intrigues with the discontented 
 in mine." 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 129 
 
 K this answer had been faithfully transmitted 
 to EUzabeth, she would perhaps have entered 
 into herself, and — blushing at the more than 
 equivocal conduct she had hitherto exhibited — 
 have made a treaty with Mary, which, dictated 
 in good faith, would have had some chance of 
 continuance ; but the officious and base Trock- 
 morton transmitted to Elizabeth the answer of 
 the Queen of Scotland so altered and disguised 
 as only to determine her to adopt what Lord 
 James, Morton, and Maitland had recommended : 
 to seize her good sister on the route, and conduct 
 her to England. A fleet was soon collected in 
 the waters of the Thames, and ordered to cruise 
 in the Channel, under pretext of clearing it from 
 pirates. The Queen of Scotland was informed 
 of it, and demanded an explanation. Elizabeth 
 herself wrote to her, that at the request of the 
 King of Spain she had sent a few barks to sea 
 to cruise after certain Scottish pirates. Mary 
 was not diverted from her purpose ; but confid- 
 ing in Providence, she fearlessly, but not without 
 regret, made preparations for her departure. 
 
 O, why was not Catharine touched by the 
 tears which her unjust rigor caused to be shed ? 
 All those who saw Mary, all those who could 
 hear her plaints, were afflicted with her, and 
 
130 
 
 LIFE OF MARV STUART. 
 
 blamed Catharine. "What had she then to fear 
 from this young queen, who, content to live in a 
 country she loved, appeared entirely averse to 
 ambition for power ? And it was true that 
 Mary had not loved the throne upon which she 
 had been seated, because, from the height of this 
 throne, she could dictate her pleasure over a vast 
 empire ; she loved it rather through levity, be- 
 cause, young^ amiable, and beautiful, she was, as 
 it were, upon a pedestal, from which she re- 
 ceived the incense which all the French lords 
 burned before her. If through flattery she ob- 
 tained from the king all that she asked, it was 
 to please her uncles, whom she loved and re- 
 spected, particularly the Cardinal "of Lorraine, 
 who joined to the talents of a statesman all the 
 grace of a delicate and witty courtier, besides 
 the charm of a conversation always full of 
 happy sallies. She had not known her father ; 
 she could only preserve of her mother a vague 
 and confused remembrance, for at the age of 
 six years she had been separated from her, and 
 since that time had not seen her ; and moreover 
 her tender and sensible heart had need of love. 
 Her uncles had supplied the place of parents, 
 whom she had not : she cherished them, respected 
 them, had unlimited confidence in them; and 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 131 
 
 when they besought her to sustain, through her 
 ascendency, the advice which they gave the king, 
 Mary did it joyfully, because she firmly believed 
 that her uncles wished only what was just. 
 
 But Catharine saw only in the young queen 
 an odious rival, who would be a useful and pow- 
 erful auxiliary for the Guise, by drawing into 
 their party this swarm of lords and knights who 
 surrounded her, in order that, fashioned by expe- 
 rience to the manoeuvres of the court, or learning 
 with age to love power for its own gratifications, 
 she might place herself at the head of this party 
 by the influence she would exercise over the new 
 sovereign. Charles IX., notwithstanding what 
 has been said by Protestant writers, and their 
 worthy competitors the pretended philosophers 
 of the nineteenth century, had been endowed by 
 Heaven with good qualities ; a bad education 
 had corrupted them, and his defects were in- 
 creased. Thus his passion bci^ame real fury at 
 the least contradiction ; should his brother's 
 widow gain the ascendency over him, as would 
 have probably happened, Catharine would have 
 been forever excluded from power. When Ma- 
 ry's departure had been mentioned for the first 
 time, Charles had strenuously opposed it: he 
 was then only twelve years of age ; yet he de- 
 
132 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 manded her as a wife from his mother. "When 
 they represented to him that there existed be- 
 tween her and himself bonds of affinity which 
 rendered their marriage impossible, he replied, 
 " Well, I will go to Rome, cast myself at the 
 pope's feet, and the pope will give me Mary." 
 
 Assuredly the Queen of Scotland had not 
 sought to create this penchant ; but Catharine 
 appeared to believe it, that she might reproach 
 her, and the more Charles persisted in wishing 
 to hinder this departure which afflicted him, the 
 more Catharine sought to hasten it, and mean- 
 while destroy this growing passion of her son. 
 We will say nothing of the unworthy distrac- 
 tions which she is accused of having furnished 
 the young prince, so as to occupy his mind other- 
 wise; we will s:)eak*only of the calumnies con- 
 cerning Mary which she circulated around her 
 son, in order that, this envenomed discourse would 
 be borne from all parts to the ears of the king, as 
 repeated by so' many echoes. It was by these 
 means that she finally obtained his consent to her 
 departure. 
 
 At length came the doleful day when Mary, 
 leaving France forever, entered upon a career 
 of misfortune. At the commencement of the 
 month of August, Mary Stuart, in the bloom of 
 
ADIEU, FRANCE, ADIEU t 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 135 
 
 youth, beautiful, and rich in knowledge, — Mary, 
 with a cultivated mind and a generous heart, — 
 left the Louvre, her eyes moist with tears, and 
 departed for Calais, accompanied by her uncles 
 and many French and Scottish lords. Two 
 galleys and four transports awaited her at Calais, 
 to receive herself, suite, and baggage. She as- 
 cended the deck of the royal galley, (15th of 
 August, 1561 ;) and as long as the coast remained 
 in sight, her eyes were constantly directed to- 
 wards the land in which she had lived from her 
 childhood, and had reigned as queen. In propor- 
 tion as the downs of the coast seemed to sink be- 
 fore her eyes, a dolorous sensation descended from 
 her forehead, and spread over all her features as 
 a veil of mourning. It has been said, that by 
 degrees the last ray of hope was extinguished. 
 " Adieu, France, adieu ! " exclaimed she, raising 
 her hands to heaven, as if to offer Him the sacri- 
 fice of all her affections. 
 
 The night was calm and still, but sleep had 
 deserted her eyelids, for repose was not in her 
 heart. The next day Mary was on deck before 
 sunrise, and she still sought with her eyes this 
 cherished land, this land of her adoption, which 
 she yet seemed to discern through the clouds 
 which overhung the waters. But a thick fog soon 
 
136 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 arising enveloped her galley in gloom. " O, it 
 is all over," exclaimed she again. " France ! 
 France ! I shall never see you more." * 
 
 The mist which deprived the Queen of Scot- 
 land of the sight of land, which she coasted near 
 enough in order to shun a rencontre with the 
 small English harks despatched by Elizabeth to 
 clear the seas from pu'ates, favored the progress 
 of the galleys, which passed near the English 
 
 * Tradition informs us that it was then that Mary composed the 
 following song : — 
 
 ** Adieu, plaisant pays de France, 
 0 ma patrie 
 La plus cherie, 
 Qui as nourri ma jeune enfiance I 
 
 Adieu, France ! Adieu, mes beaux jours 1 
 
 La nef qui dejoint mes amours 
 
 N'a ici de moi que la moiti6 ; 
 
 Une parte te reste ; elle est tienne : 
 
 Je la fie a ton amiti6. 
 
 Pour que de I'autre il te souvienne I " 
 
 Thou pleasant land of France, farewell 1 
 
 Cherished with love 
 
 All lands above, 
 Nurse of my infancy, farewell 1 
 
 Dear France, and happier days, adieu I 
 The sail that wafts me far from you, 
 Bears but my half away ; the rest 
 Thine own, and thine alone shall be: 
 This of its faith the pledge and test — 
 To love and to remember thee. 
 
 I 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 187 
 
 squadron without being perceived. Of the four 
 transports, one only escaped ; the three others 
 were taken by the English admiral, (19th of 
 August,) but the galleys slipped through his grasp. 
 The minister Cecil, who was greatly discon- 
 certed at an occurrence which had only placed 
 in his power the queen's mules instead of the 
 queen herself, wrote to Throckmorton not to fail 
 to publish at Paris that the admiral, who was 
 cruising in the Channel to cleanse it from pirates, 
 had met the queen's galleys, and offered them the 
 accustomed salute — which was entirely false; 
 in reality, the admiral, in addition to what Cecil 
 had stated, had stopped the vessels, but only to 
 make a thorough examination of them; they 
 even detained one which appeared suspicious — 
 that one on which was found the Earl of Egling- 
 ton, one of the queen's officers. 
 
 Mary approached her own land with mingled 
 emotions of hope and apprehension. How would 
 she be received at Edinburgh ? Would she find 
 there faithful friends, or would her native soil 
 refuse to receive its sovereign ? To disappoint 
 the machinations of her enemies, she had ar- 
 rived a fortnight before the appointed time, 
 so that no preparation had been made for her 
 reception. But scarcely had the news of her 
 12* 
 
138 
 
 LIFE OP MARY STUART. 
 
 arrival been received at the capital, than the whole 
 population of Edinburgh flocked to her — peers, 
 nobles, citizens, mechanics, the clergy, children, 
 old men, every one ; and as she appeared, unan- 
 imous acclamations made the air resound with 
 the name of Mary. Her fears and suspicions 
 were dispelled, to give place to the most lively 
 joy. It is agreeable to a sovereign to be loved ; 
 and never did any king on earth receive more 
 marks of love than the Scottish people gave on 
 this memorable day to their amiable sovereign. 
 Ah, may she enjoy for a long time the happiness 
 which she experiences. May it please Heaven 
 that this radiant day be succeeded by one as 
 radiant. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 KEIGN OF MARY. — SHE MARRIES DARNLEY. 
 
 Mary, upon ascending the throne, was aware 
 that she could hope for but little assistance from 
 France, distracted as it was by civil war. She 
 therefore determined, by the advice of her uncles, 
 to subdue by conciliation, if possible, the hostility 
 of her former opponents. Her principal ministers 
 were Lord James Stuart, although she was not 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 139 
 
 ignorant that he had promised Elizabeth to dis- 
 close to her all the state secrets, and the apostate 
 • Maitland, who had been her private secretary, 
 and had betrayed her: she counted on gaining 
 the latter through generosity; and it must be 
 acknowledged that, if Lord James remained 
 treacherous, as his correspondence with Robert 
 Dudley proves,. Maitland, in his correspondence 
 with Cecil, although he appears very desirous of 
 obtaining the favor of Elizabeth, is not the less 
 zealous protector of his sovereign, sustaining her 
 interests with as much zeal as ability. In fact, 
 Lord James and Maitland possessed the com- 
 plete confidence of the Congregationalists, and 
 it was evident that if Mary could attach them to 
 her interests, she would have much less to fear 
 from the Congregation. It appeared, also, that 
 Mary, who speedily forgot an injury, sincerely 
 desired to live on good terms with Elizabeth. 
 Her letters were frank ; but Elizabeth always 
 answered reservedly, because she could regard 
 Mary only as a rival, always ready at the least 
 accident to dispute her right to the crown. 
 Wherefore she continued to insist that Mary 
 should ratify the treaty of Leith, particularly that 
 article which not only recognized the right of 
 EHzabeth, but also precluded the Scottish queen 
 
140 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 from assuming the arms or title of England. To 
 the first of these points Mary offered no objec- 
 tion; but she contended that to assent to the' 
 second would be a virtual renunciation of her 
 birthright, and an allowance of the claim made 
 to the succession by the house of Suffolk. Cecil 
 suggested that Mary, on her part, should ac- 
 knowledge the right to the crown of England to 
 be vested in Elizabeth and the lawful heirs of 
 her body ; and that Elizabeth should declare, on 
 the other, that failing her own issue, the succes- 
 sion belonged of right to the Queen of Scotland. 
 With this arrangement the latter was satisfied ; 
 but the consent of Elizabeth could not be ob- 
 tained : Cecil proposed a conference between the 
 two queens in a northern county. Mary assented 
 to the proposal ; but Elizabeth, after having ap- 
 peared to desire this interview, would not consent 
 to it. Cecil was obliged to allege pretext upon pre- 
 text in excuse of his sovereign — roads rendered 
 impassable by the rains, the royal houses between 
 London and York out of repair, and the want 
 of time to make the necessary provision of wine, 
 fowl, and poultry.* Elizabeth's true reason Cecil 
 
 * It was on the 20th of June that Cecil gave this pitiable excuse, 
 and the conference was not to have taken place until the month of 
 August. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 141 
 
 could not declare ; it was the Queen of Eng- 
 land's feminine jealousy, which made her dread 
 to appear less young, less amiable, and less beau- 
 tiful than the Queen of Scotland; and Eliza- 
 beth probably foresaw that, appearing with all 
 her charms in the northern counties, Mary would 
 exercise a very great influence over all minds ; 
 she was aware that in that section Mary's rights 
 were generally judged better than her own. 
 
 Meanwhile Mary was far from being as happy 
 as the enthusiastic reception she had met with 
 on her arrival seemed to declare.* She had been 
 brought up in the Catholic religion, and had come 
 fully decided to persevere in its doctrines, and 
 regularly observe the precepts of the church. The 
 day after her arrival in Edinburgh, she ordered 
 that the ma^s be offered up in her chapel by a 
 Catholic priest ; and this same people, who had 
 proclaimed her sovereign with shouts of frantic 
 
 * On landing, she had at first repaired to Holyrood Palace, from 
 whence herself and suite were conducted to Edinburgh on miserable 
 country hackneys, covered with dilapidated harness ; and when, in- 
 voluntarily reverting to the past, she inwardly compared the misera- 
 ble animals with the superb horses she had in France, and the rude 
 and blackened walls of Holyrood with the rich apartments of the 
 Louvre, she refrained with difficulty from testifying her regret. The 
 affection which the people exhibited for her consoled her for every 
 thing ; but, unhappily, it did not last. 
 
142 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 joy, not wishing that she should enjoy the liberty 
 of conscience they themselves claimed, rushed 
 to the palace, and would have massacred the 
 priest, without the intervention of Lord James 
 Stuart. 
 
 Meanwhile Mary, as is acknowledged even by 
 her enemies, displayed in the commencement of 
 her reign prudence seemingly incompatible with 
 her youth, (she was only in her nineteenth year.) 
 It is true that nature had lavished upon her 
 all those exterior gifts which please, captivate, or 
 inspire men with awe ; she was of a beautiful 
 figure, and her graceful motion did not detract 
 from her noble and majestic carriage ; her fea- 
 tures expressed the benevolence of her character, 
 and her physiognomy was bewitching. By the 
 ease of her manners, and her affability, she cap- 
 tivated hearts ; but to sustain herself amidst all 
 the rival or hostile parties which her sudden 
 arrival had disconcerted, she had often to act 
 against her will, and more than once to overcome 
 conscientious scruples, which reproached her with 
 making concessions to the dissenters, without 
 which she would not have been allowed to pos- 
 sess the throne a single day. She acted in every 
 thing that concerned religious matters by the 
 advice of Maitland, and her brother, whom she 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 143 
 
 had at first created prior of St. Andrew's, and 
 afterwards Earl of Marr. 
 
 Despite Mary's efforts to maintain internal 
 tranquillity, despite her condescension to those 
 who each day demanded new sacrifices, despite 
 even the conciliatory measures taken by Mait- 
 land to gain the lords of the Congregation to the 
 queen's government, there existed an intracta- 
 ble class of men, whom nothing could reclaim; 
 these were the reformed preachers, men of great 
 speeches, who found every thing defective in the 
 church of Rome, announced themselves as apos- 
 tles of a better religion, — ■ the pure doctrine of the 
 gospelj — and who, to show the sweetness of 
 their evangelic virtues, delivered themselves up 
 to all the excesses of intolerance, which fright- 
 ened not even the idea of crime. It is known 
 that the tolerance of these great reformers is only 
 for the people, who are always right when they 
 arise against obdurate men who reject their 
 doctrines; they never ascended the pulpit with- 
 out declaiming against the queen with such vio- 
 lence that it was only surprising that, after their 
 sermons, a hundred arms, armed with poniards, 
 did not snatch the life of this impious woman, 
 the agent of Satan, the enemy of true Christianity ; 
 for thus they styled Mary. 
 
144 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 The queen sent for John Knox, the virulent 
 patriarch of reform. "John Knox," said she to 
 him, with angelic sweetness, " why do you pur- 
 sue me so virulently ? What have I done that 
 you should seek to ahenate the hearts of my 
 subjects from me ? Does your religion order you 
 to be unmerciful to those who have, in your 
 opinion, the misfortune not to agree in your doc- 
 trines ? Ah, I myself have this misfortune ; but 
 does that make me your enemy ? Have I en- 
 deavored to use against you the royal authority ? 
 Go ; you will lose nothing in opinion by show- 
 ing yourself more moderate in what you call the 
 accomplishment of your duty." Knox stam- 
 mered some excuse, made vague promises, and 
 did not change. He considered it a crime in the 
 queen not to have ratified the religious system 
 adopted by Parliament in 1560, and the confisca- 
 tion of the goods of the clergy, a stringent acces- 
 sory of this system. The Earl of Marr, who 
 appeared at that time to have for his sister as 
 much affection as he had previously shown aver- 
 sion and hatred, sustained her with all his influ- 
 ence against the venomous manoeuvres of Knox 
 and his friends, which for a long time rendered 
 Knox and the earl almost enemies. The queen, 
 grateful for what her brother did for her, granted 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 145 
 
 him her entire friendship, and loaded him, mean- 
 while, with favors. To have named him the 
 Earl of Marr was not sufficient; she created 
 him Earl of Murray, whose great wealth had 
 been annexed to the crown, and whose party she 
 wished to detach in her brother's favor. But 
 this grant met with sharp opposition in the Earl 
 of Huntley, the most powerful lord of Northern 
 Scotland. 
 
 This earl seized the greater part of Murray's 
 domains ; he was of the small number of peers 
 who had rejected the doctrines of reform, and it 
 seemed that this conformity of religious opinions 
 should have established a close alliance between 
 the queen and himself ; it was not so. It is 
 contended that Huntley offered the queen to 
 join her, on her arrival, with twenty thousand 
 men, if she desired to reestablish the Catholic 
 religion, and that the queen refused this power- 
 ful assistance because she did not wish to involve 
 Scotland in civil war. But it is very doubtful 
 whether this proposition was made, for it is very 
 probable that the Guise would have urgently 
 counselled their niece to accept it. What seems 
 more likely is, that Huntley openly aspired to 
 conquer his independence, and that the queen 
 sought to diminish a power, which, at first 
 13 
 
146 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 rivalling, would have, perhaps, finally become 
 dominant. 
 
 A judicial penalty inflicted by Sir John Gor- 
 don, son of the earl, for some abuses of power, 
 became for Huntley, if not a legitimate cause 
 for resistance and revolt, at least a plausible pre- 
 text ; for nothing was easier than to contend that 
 Sir John Gordon had transcended his authority. 
 The queen, not wishing to allow the earl time to 
 make much preparation, advanced at the head 
 of a small body of troops, and took the northern 
 route, sometimes passing the night under a tent, 
 sometimes accepting hospitality in the besmoked 
 manor of some noble countryman. As she was 
 naturally gay, and above all very affable, she 
 often mingled with her warriors, laughed with 
 them at disappointments in travelling, and filled 
 them with a devotedness which rendered them 
 invincible. The earl was startled by the queen's 
 apparition, and he repaired to her, protesting his 
 submission ; but when Mary's little army ap- 
 peared before Inverness, the governor refused her 
 entrance, although Inverness was a royal castle. 
 The fortress was immediately invested, and the 
 garrison forced to surrender; the governor, hav- 
 ing been tried by a court martial, was condemned 
 to death as a traitor and executed. In the mean 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 147 
 
 time Sir John Gordon, who had escaped from 
 prison, armed all his father's vassals, and ad- 
 vanced towards Aberdeen, where the queen was. 
 Huntley joined his son. 
 
 The new Earl of Murray was brave, and above 
 all an excellent general. He located his little 
 band in an advantageous position, and placed in 
 front the northern clans, composed of men whom 
 he had called upon, and who had responded to 
 the appeal, but of whose courage he was doubt- 
 ful. What he had foreseen occurred : the clans 
 opposed only a feeble resistance to Gordon's 
 soldiers, and retreated towards Murray's select 
 battalion. Gordon's troops pursued them, throw- 
 ing away their lances and drawing their swords ; 
 and — as in all pursuits — their ranks became 
 disordered. Being attacked at this moment by 
 Murray, Gordon's troops in vain attempted to 
 rally ; pressed more and more, they fell back. 
 The clans which had fled at first, on seeing for- 
 tune change, returned to the charge, and finished 
 by routing their enemies, (1562.) Huntley, who 
 was very fat and heavily armed, fell from his 
 horse, and was crushed to death by the retreating 
 army ; according to some versions, he died of 
 despair. His son was made prisoner and be- 
 headed ; a decree branded the earl's memory ; 
 
148 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Murray was placed in possession of the new 
 domains, and the queen returned to Edinburgh, 
 leaving all the northern barons filled with terror 
 by the activity of her measures, and the success 
 of her arms. 
 
 Very soon after, the politic Maitland departed 
 for London, ostensibly to recommend to Eliza- 
 beth a peace between her and Charles IX., in 
 reality to watch the proceedings of the English 
 Parliament. The House of Commons voted an 
 address to Elizabeth, requesting her to marry ; 
 there was likewise a similar proceeding spoken 
 of in Scotland with respect to Mary ; for the 
 Scots, as well as the English, desired that the 
 queen should have a direct successor, and that 
 each of them should name one in case of their 
 not having children. They reminded Elizabeth 
 of the attempt of foreign powers to set up a 
 competitor against herself, and of the danger to 
 the reformed faith, if a Catholic should succeed. 
 These remarks were evidently pointed at Mary 
 Stuart ; but the interests of that princess were 
 protected, if not by justice, at least by the ca- 
 price of Elizabeth, who resented the interference 
 of the Commons in a concern which she deemed 
 exclusively her own. She received the petition 
 reluctantly, and when reminded of an answer, 
 
LIFE OP MARY STUART. 
 
 149 
 
 she replied sharply and in an unsatisfactory- 
 manner. 
 
 Mary received no address, but she knew that 
 the Scots were desirous that she should marry 
 again ; and she herself was not averse. On the 
 one hand her uncles proposed to her the King 
 of Navarre ; on the other was presented the 
 Archduke of Austria. The King of Navarre, 
 Antoine de Bourbon, was the head of the Cal- 
 vinist party ; the Guise offered him the throne 
 of Scotland, with that of England in perspec- 
 tive, and Antoine wavered. But he was married 
 to Jane D' Albert, who had borne him children, 
 which was a great obstacle to another marriage. 
 The legate, it is true, had intimated that the 
 marriage might be easily broken, as Jane was 
 heretical : Antoine recoiled before the obstacles ; 
 not so Charles of Austria. 
 
 This prince, son of the Emperor Ferdinand, 
 had formerly demanded the hand of Elizabeth, 
 who, after having hesitated for a long time, ac- 
 cording to custom, concluded by alleging consci- 
 entious scruples, which would not permit her to 
 tolerate in her palace the celebration of idola- 
 trous worship.* And this more than strange 
 
 * The emperor had demanded liberty for his son to have a Cath- 
 olic chapel. 
 
 13* 
 
150 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 response disgusted the Austrian prince, who 
 thought of the Queen of Scotland on learning 
 the death of Francis II. The Cardinal of Lor- 
 raine, to whom he applied, favored this demand, 
 the success of which would have probably caused 
 a triple or even a quadruple alliance between 
 France, Austria, Scotland, and Spain. But 
 Mary, who, though she reckoned little on the 
 friendship of Elizabeth, wished, however, to be 
 on good terms with her, believed it proper to 
 communicate to her the proposal of the arch- 
 duke. Elizabeth's jealousy was reawakened 
 more brisk than ever. Cecil devised two plans, 
 which were immediately earned into effect. By 
 the first, Elizabeth, who believed herself the 
 most beautiful woman on earth, was brought 
 forward as a rival to Mary : nor did her vanity 
 entertain a doubt that the archduke would prefer 
 her charms and her crown to those of her Scot- 
 tish sister. But was she, the haughty Elizabeth, 
 to make the proposal ? Cecil, who every where 
 had spies in his pay, treated with the Duke of 
 Wirtemberg ; and that prince, as of himself, so- 
 licited the emperor to renew the treaty between 
 his son and the English queen. But Ferdinand 
 answered coldly that the Queen of England had 
 already made him the dupe of her selfish and 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 151 
 
 insincere policy ; and that he would not expose 
 himself to similar treatment a second time. 
 
 The other plan was to induce Mary, by threats 
 and promises, to refuse the archduke. Cecil sent 
 Randolph to Scotland, with instructions to read 
 to her a long lecture on the choice of a husband. 
 Elizabeth, he told her, preferred a single life; 
 but was neither surprised nor displeased that her 
 younger sister should entertain thoughts of 
 marriage. But she should bear in mind, that 
 her destined husband should have three recom- 
 mendations : he should be one whom she could 
 love ; one whom her subjects could approve ; 
 and one who was likely to preserve and augment 
 the friendship existing between the two crowns. 
 Was Charles of Austria such a person ? Would 
 he have been proposed by the Cardinal of Lor- 
 raine, if he had not promised to be the enemy 
 of England ? The Queen of Scotland should 
 recollect that the success of her claim to the suc- 
 cession depended on the choice of her husband. 
 
 " Whom shall I take, then, for a husband, to 
 please Elizabeth ? " exclaimed the queen, whom 
 the ambiguity of Randolph's discourse had a 
 little ruffled. The envoy replied with a mys- 
 terious air that Elizabeth wished her to marry 
 an English nobleman ; he declined explaining 
 
152 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 himself further to Mary, but the great secret 
 was first revealed to the Earl of Mm-ray. Mait- 
 land was also informed of it, and testified much 
 surprise when he learned that the Engfish lord, 
 destined by Efizabeth to share the throne with 
 Mary, was no other than Sir Robert Dudley, 
 better known afterwards as the Earl of Leices- 
 ter. Maitland's surprise was natural ; no one 
 was ignorant in London or England that Robert 
 Dudley was the favored lover of the queen; 
 that the most dishonorable reports were in cir- 
 culation respecting her conduct ; and that, with 
 a cynical indifference for public opinion, Eliza- 
 beth took no pains to conceal the impropriety 
 of her conduct. Maitland thence concluded that 
 Elizabeth did not wish the queen to marry, for 
 most assuredly she would not be separated from 
 the man who for two years hindered her from 
 yielding to the wishes of her subjects. Lastly, 
 when this was officially communicated to Mary, 
 she answered haughtily that the Queen of Scot- 
 land, queen dowager of France, could not be- 
 come the wife of a mere subject. 
 
 Mary had too much penetration not to divine 
 Elizabeth's real design ; but not wishing to ap- 
 pear to reject disdainfully her sister's offer, she 
 added that, after mature reflection, she had 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 153 
 
 decided on marrying Sir Robert, on condition 
 that Elizabeth would recognize her publicly, and 
 cause her to be recognized by Parliament, as her 
 heir, in case she died without children. Mary 
 knew that this condition would not be accepted. 
 (1564.) 
 
 Meanwhile she had partly responded to the 
 desires of the Queen of England by refusing, be- 
 sides, the archduke, the Prince of Asturia, the 
 Dukes of Anjou, Nemours, Orleans, and Ferrara. 
 The Earl of Murray entertained the views of the 
 Queen of England ; he is represented as aspiring 
 to the succession for himself or for his children, 
 and was consequently interested in opposing her 
 sister's marriage ; some even go so far as to say, 
 that he had entertained a criminal passion for 
 his sister, which, not being sated, was changed 
 afterwards into a dreadful feeling of hatred. 
 
 In the interim, the English Parliament was 
 occupied with the succession ; all parties had 
 agreed that the next heir was to be sought among 
 the descendants either of Margaret, the elder, or 
 of Mary, the younger, sister of Henry VIII. ; the 
 former had espoused James IV., King of Scot- 
 land, and grandfather of Mary ; the latter had 
 been three months queen of France by her 
 marriage with Louis XII. ; she had afterwards 
 
154 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 0 
 
 married the Duke of Suffolk. Mary was, un- 
 doubtedly, the rightful representative of Mar- 
 garet; but there were some who preferred the 
 Countess of Lennox, the daughter of Queen Mar- 
 garet by her second husband, the Earl of Angus. 
 Margaret Douglas — this daughters name — had 
 been brought up at court under the eyes of her 
 uncle, who, washing to reward the Earl of Len- 
 nox, who had been the leader of the English 
 party after the death of James V., gave her to 
 him as a wife, with considerable lands. From 
 this marriage issued several children, the eldest 
 of whom bore the name of Lord Darnley. It 
 was represented to Mary that a marriage with 
 him would be worthy of her, for the Earl of 
 Lennox was a near relation of the Stuarts, and 
 his wife was the niece of Hemy VIII. Darnley, 
 besides, would satisfy the requirements of Eliza- 
 beth, since he had been born in her dominions, 
 and was heir to the lands which his father held 
 of the English crown ; and it would strengthen 
 her claim to the succession, since all the rights 
 of the descendants of Margaret, in both lines, 
 would centre in her and her husband. The idea 
 had been first suggested to Mary by the Countess 
 of Lennox, and she had adopted it. Not doubt- 
 ing that Elizabeth would approve of it, she im- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 155 
 
 mediately informed her of it. But if Elizabeth's 
 conduct had been enigmatical before, it became 
 from this period inexplicable. On the one hand, 
 she wrote to Mary not to admit the Earl of Len- 
 nox into her dominions ; on the other, she per- 
 mitted the earl to proceed to Scotland, and even 
 gave him a letter of recommendation to Mary ; 
 and afterwards complained of the gracious recep- 
 tion which he had experienced in consequence of 
 her own request. In like manner she proposed 
 anew Sir Robert Dudley, whom she had created 
 Earl of Leicester, that he might appear more 
 worthy of a royal consort ; but then she opposed 
 a new obstacle to his success, by allowing Darn- 
 ley to proceed to the Scottish court, on a pre- 
 tended visit to his father. 
 
 Some persons believe that the Queen of Eng- 
 land permitted Darnley to proceed to Scotland in 
 the hope that his presence at Holyrood would 
 ruin him in Mary's opinion. Darnley was of tall 
 stature, fine form, and engaging exterior, but he 
 had neither penetration, nor wit, nor prudence ; 
 and a woman like Mary would perceive herself 
 too much his superior to condescend to such a 
 •anion. Elizabeth was mistaken if such was her 
 expectation ; Mary was enamoured at first sight, 
 and only regarded the exterior. Nevertheless, 
 
156 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 when, after some days, he made a proposal of 
 marriage to her, she reproached him with his pre- 
 sumption, refused his proffered ring, and so dis- 
 concerted him, that he knew not what to reply ; 
 but Elizabeth aided him without being aware of 
 it. She wrote imperiously to Mary that if she 
 expected to have any inquiry made into her claim 
 to the succession, she must either marry Leices- 
 ter or engage to remain a widow. 
 
 Mary, on receiving this letter, burst into tears, 
 for her good sister^ s object was then divulged: 
 Elizabeth neither wished nor intended her to suc- 
 ceed to the English crown herself, nor have issua 
 to perpetuate her right. But the Queen of Scot- 
 land had too much spirit to submit to the dictates 
 of a stranger. Thenceforward she beheld Darnley 
 with a more favorable eye ; and as the advice of 
 her friends concurred with her own inclinations, 
 she informed Elizabeth that she had resolved on 
 sharing her throne with Darnley. Elizabeth was 
 revenged upon the Countess of Lennox, in which 
 she exhibited much littleness. When the con- 
 duct of this great queen — of whom the English 
 are so proud — is narrowly examined, very little 
 character is manifested. She ordered Lennox 
 and his son to return to England, under penalty 
 of forfeiture ; and, as if the Catholics were the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 157 
 
 cause of this marriage, it was resolved to treat 
 them with additional severity. The unprincipled 
 Throckmorton was sent to Scotland, where he 
 begged and threatened, yet was not able to sub- 
 due the resolution of Mary. He then directed 
 his remonstrances to the disaffected lords, and 
 stimulated them to rebellion, with the hope of 
 assistance from England. 
 
 At the head of the malcontents was the Earl 
 of Murray, who opposed his sister's marriage with 
 Darnley, either because he felt for her more than 
 fraternal love, or because this marriage would 
 destroy his hopes. His associates were the Duke 
 of Chastelherault, who feared that the marriage 
 of the queen with Darnley would give the as- 
 cendency to the rival house of Lennox ; the Earl 
 of Argyle, who had been compelled to restore to 
 the father of Darnley the forfeited property of the 
 family ; and many of the lords, who had fought 
 under the same standard during the war of 
 the reformation. Murray retired from the court 
 under the same conscientious scruples which 
 Elizabeth had alleged against the Archduke of 
 Austria, and a plan was formed to surprise Mary, 
 Lennox, and Darnley, confine the first in the 
 Castle of Lochleven, and murder the two latter, 
 or at least deliver them up to Elizabeth, who, 
 14 
 
158 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 probably, would not have them better treated. 
 The Earl of Murray would be placed at the head 
 of the new government. 
 
 Mary, having received timely warning of the 
 conspiracy to intercept her on the route, escaped 
 by departing some hours before the time ap- 
 pointed by the conspirators. They, being frus- 
 trated in their attempt, repaired to Stirling, where 
 they signed a covenant, in which they bound 
 themselves by oath for the performance of their 
 engagements ; declaring, moreover, that they 
 wished to serve their sovereign faithfully — bitter 
 decision. The following day they sent a mes- 
 sage to Elizabeth to remind her of her promises 
 of assistance, and to urge her to fulfil them 
 speedily. Mary, on her side, lost no time. On 
 her arrival in Edinburgh, she appealed to her 
 faithful subjects, and they assembled in such 
 large numbers that she had nothing to fear from 
 the conspirators. The banns were published, and 
 Darnley, successively created Earl of Ross and 
 Duke of Albany, became Mary's consort, (19th 
 of July, 1565.) Mary I who, then, has said, that 
 in contracting this unlucky marriage, you dug 
 the grave of Darnley and your own! You did 
 not know your Scots ; you knew not to what 
 lengths almost savage men might be impelled by 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 159 
 
 ambition and a desire for vengeance ; you knew 
 not this Elizabeth, who had sworn your death, 
 because your life, your existence, as long as it 
 lasted, reproached her with her usurpation ; this 
 Elizabeth, the falsest, the most perfidious, the 
 most inconsistent, and the most deeply corrupted 
 of women ! 
 
 Cecil was disconcerted by the news of the 
 marriage. He wished to declare war, but he had 
 no pretext ; he determined to threaten and in- 
 timidate. A considerable sum of money was 
 sent to Murray ; a reenforcement of two thousand 
 men reached Berwick ; the Earls of Shrewsbury 
 and Bedford were commissioned to act as the 
 queen's commissioners, or lieutenants, in the 
 northern counties. Bedford was even authorized 
 to make — but at his own expense, for Elizabeth 
 was not a prodigal — an incursion into Scotland. 
 At the same time, Tamworth, a new envoy, was 
 despatched to Mary, furnished with complaints, 
 remonstrances, and threats. Tamworth fulfilled 
 his mission with so much zeal, that the queen, 
 irritated at his audacity, had him arrested and 
 confined in the Castle of Dunbar, because he had 
 presumed to traverse her dominions without a 
 passport. She informed Randolph, that if he 
 
160 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 continued to intrigue with her subjects, she would 
 put him under arrest; she also charged him to 
 inform his mistress that the Queen of Scotland 
 begged her to be content with the government 
 of England, and to leave Scotland to the care of 
 its own sovereign. 
 
 This did not suffice to disband Murray's fac- 
 tion, which was already in arms. Mary, at the 
 head of eighteen thousand men, drove the insur- 
 gents before her in spite of the predictions of 
 Randolph, who had predicted before the marriage 
 that it would cost the life of Darnley, whom 
 many of the conspirators had sworn to kill or 
 perish in the attempt. " If the queen," — Eliza- 
 beth, — he added, " will aid them, they doubt 
 not that in a short time one country will contain 
 two queens " — by which he intimated that the 
 Queen of Scotland would be sent a prisoner to 
 England. Murray, avoiding meeting the army, 
 rapidly advanced towards Edinburgh, reckoning 
 on the insurrection of the inhabitants ; but they 
 remained faithful to the queen, and he was con- 
 strained to retire, because the castle threatened to 
 attack his forces. Pursued without relaxation, 
 the insurgents successively evacuated Hamilton 
 and Dumfries ; and having no longer any chance 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART* 
 
 161 
 
 of safety, the leaders dispersed their bands, and 
 escaped to England,* 
 
 Here the hostile intervention of England was 
 too openly exhibited for it to be successfully 
 denied ; nevertheless, Elizabeth undertook it. 
 When Murray and some of his companions had 
 arrived at London, she at first refused to see 
 them ; and when she permitted them to appear 
 before her, it was in the presence of the French 
 and Spanish ambassadors. A comical scene had 
 been prepared in advance : Murray and the oth- 
 ers, on entering, fell upon their knees before the 
 queen, and lying to truth and their consciences, 
 declared, in a humble and confused tone, that 
 the queen was innocent of the conspiracy, — by 
 which they acknowledged themselves guilty, — 
 and had never advised them to disobey their 
 sovereign. It was then Elizabeth's part. " Ye 
 have now spoken irutli^'' said she ; " get from my 
 presence., traitors as ye are." As a reward for 
 this meanness, Murray obtained from her a small 
 pittance for his support at Berwick, which he 
 chose, or which was assigned him, as a residence ; 
 
 * This expedition of the insurgents is called by the characteristic 
 name of Run-about raid, which signifies a predatory incursion. It 
 is also called the raid of Beith, because the insurgents had desig- 
 nated the church of Beith as the first rendervous. 
 
 14* 
 
16)3 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 he was, however, obliged to say that he received 
 it from his Scottish friends; it was necessary 
 that the comedy should be continued even to the 
 end. Finally, what happened on this occasion 
 happens at all theatrical performances : the spec- 
 tators listen, are amused at what they hear, and 
 retire fully convinced that they have been only 
 present at a play. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 MURDER OF RIZZIO. — ASSASSINATION OF DARNLEY. 
 
 In triumphing over her rebellious subjects, 
 Mary had not overcome all her enemies ; there 
 remained to her one more dangerous, more im- 
 portunate, in the husband, or rather the tyrant, 
 she had chosen. So few interviews had preceded 
 the marriage, that she had not noticed any of his 
 defects. Experience alone convinced her that he 
 was naturally capricious in his temper, violent in 
 his passions, implacable in his resentments. He 
 had aheady contracted habits of ebriety, which 
 led him occasionally into the most scandalous 
 excesses, and made him forget, even in public, 
 the respect due to his consort. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 163 
 
 Besides this coarse vice, he was extravagantly- 
 ambitious, and lacked the necessary courage to 
 sustain the acts in which she had engaged him. 
 Also, when Mary convoked Parliament for the 
 twofold purpose of attainting, among the rebel 
 refugees in England, those who were the most 
 culpable, and to obtain liberty of conscience for 
 those who professed the same religion as herself, 
 Darnley demanded that the Duke of Chastel- 
 herault and his relations should be included in 
 the attainder ; by that the rival house of Hamil- 
 ton would have lost their claims to the succession 
 in case the queen had no children, which would 
 have rendered him presumptive heir after his 
 father. To this demand he added another, the 
 object of which had been between the queen and 
 himself an endless subject for bickering: he 
 wished that the crown matrimonial be granted 
 him.* 
 
 * The right which the queen gives her husband to wear the crown 
 as herself, and share with her the royal authority, is called the matri- 
 monial right. Mary had ordered that the title of king should be 
 given him during her life, and that decrees should be drawn up in the 
 name of the two consorts, Henry and Mary, King and Queen of 
 Scotland ; but this was only mere form, which conferred on Darnley 
 no real authority. This crown had been decreed to Francis II., the 
 queen's first husband ; and it could not be otherwise, for the dauphin 
 of France could not be the subject of his wife. Darnley wished to 
 have the same rank, which would have given him the right to govern 
 
164 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Mary was deaf to the entreaties, complaints, 
 and menaces of her husband ; she had ah*eady 
 done for him more than he merited, and she was 
 determined to refuse this last concession without 
 the consent of Parliament. Darnley, being much 
 irritated, and imagining that the opposition of 
 Mary had been prompted by her counsellors, and 
 especially by an Italian, named David R-izzio, 
 who, through his knowledge of foreign languages, 
 conformity of religious opinions, and amenity 
 of manners, had arisen to the post of private 
 secretary, swore to have vengeance upon Rizzio,* 
 
 Scotland in case of his wife's death, -mthout, nevertheless, having 
 the power to transfer this right to children, whom he might have by 
 a second wife. It was this croAvn that the Prince of Orange received 
 when he dethroned his father-in-law, and his wife Mary assumed the 
 diadem. 
 
 * Rizzio, a native of Piedmont, had come to Scotland in the suite 
 of the ambassador of the Duke of Savoy. This minister had recom- 
 mended him to the queen, who appointed him one of the pages of the 
 chamber, and not a domestic, as some writers have stated. On the 
 departure of the French interpreter, Raulet, Rizzio was appointed in 
 his place. Adroit, discreet, and faithfiJ, he obtained the queen's 
 confidence, who, on her marriage, appointed him keeper of the privy 
 purse to the king and queen. It is said that when Damley aspired 
 to the queen's hand, he had sought the friendship or countenance 
 of Rizzio, who possessed great influence, and who, it appears, pleaded 
 for him. Certain vmters have published that Rizzio only pleased 
 Mary by his talents for music, — which she loved passionately, — and 
 that the humble musician was loved by his royal mistress. This is a 
 shameful calumny, which the most enraged enemies of this unfor- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 165 
 
 by having him assassinated ; and as the unfor- 
 tunate Rizzio was both a foreigner and a Cath- 
 olic, which excited the jealousy of courtiers and 
 preachers, Darnley thought it would be easy to 
 procure accomplices. He sought and obtained 
 
 tunate princess did not dare to assert during her life. It was men- 
 tioned for the first time in a letter of the Earl of Bedford to Randolph, 
 and in a narrative of this event supposed to have been written by 
 Lord Ruthven. But it should not be forgotten that Bedford had 
 been sent by Elizabeth to direct and sustain the insurrection upon the 
 frontier ; that Randolph, who, despite the formal notice and threats 
 of the queen, had continued to intrigue, had been ignominiously ex- 
 pelled the kingdom ; that Lord Ruthven was one of the principal 
 actors in Murray's conspiracy. Nevertheless, the statement he made 
 to Cecil was not published until after his death, from which it may be 
 well believed that it was either forged or altered by Cecil himself ; 
 and he has so constantly given sufficient proofs of his dishonesty, that 
 we are justified in attributing a fraudulent alteration or addition to 
 him. Besides, Rizzio was old and very ugly ; the queen was then in 
 the zenith of her beauty. What likelihood of her forgetting herself 
 in this case ? What she loved in Rizzio was his tried devotedness ; 
 but a queen need not repay devotedness with love. When, many 
 months after, Mary, in full council, summoned Darnley to state unre- 
 servedly all his complaints against her, and in which she told him not 
 to spare her, Darnley said nothing of Rizzio. Finally, the reformer 
 Knox, who, to show the superiority of his doctrines over those of the 
 Catholics, seized, Christian-like, all occasions to injure the latter, 
 particularly the queen, — this charitable Knox, who would have pur- 
 chased at a high price the pleasure of alleging a deed of this kind 
 against the queen, has not said a single word in regard to it. From 
 all these considerations, we hesitate not to reject as calumnious an 
 imputation which nothing otherwise justifies. Mr. Chalmers has 
 proved that he was never one of the queen's musicians. 
 
166 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 them among the lords who had taken part in the 
 conspiracy, but who had not betrayed themselves 
 by any overt act of cooperation ; of this number 
 were Morton, Ruthven, Lindsay, and Maitland. 
 
 The Duke of Chastelherault was pardoned by 
 Mary (1556) on the sole condition of passing 
 some years on the continent, which elcited a 
 violent resentment in Darnley. The perfidious 
 Maitland, who perceived that his fate was in 
 some manner linked to that of the exiles, — a 
 single word from whom would accuse him, — 
 Morton, and others believed the occasion favor- 
 able to induce the king to make common cause 
 with them. The first suggestion was made by 
 George Douglas, the brother of Morton ; and as 
 Douglas knew the king's sentiments with re- 
 spect to Rizzio, he insinuated to him that the 
 queen had transferred her affections to Rizzio ; 
 that it was by the advice of this odious favorite 
 that she had pardoned Hamilton, who had retired 
 from the kingdom, and that she so persistingly 
 refused him the matrimonial crown. Therefore 
 the only expedient for him to obtain his just 
 rights, was to call to his aid the expatriated lords. 
 
 This thoughtless prince must have known that 
 these lords were his enemies, and that if they 
 had sought a refuge in England, it was because 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 167 
 
 they wished to take his life, though their project 
 had not succeeded ; in spite of such antecedents, 
 he did not hesitate to confide in men who only 
 opened their arms to stifle him in their embrace. 
 Two bonds were prepared and subscribed, the 
 one by Darnley, the other by Argyle, Murray, 
 Rothes, Boyd, and Ochiltree, in the name of all 
 the conspirators. Darnley engaged to prevent 
 their attainder, to obtain their pardon, to sup- 
 port their religion, and to aid them in all their 
 just quarrels ; they to become his true subjects, 
 friends to his friends, and enemies to his ene- 
 mies ; to obtain for him the crown matrimonial 
 during the whole of his life ; for that purpose to 
 defend him at all points ; to maintain his just 
 claim to the succession in case of Mary's de- 
 cease ; to extirpate, or slay, every gainsayer ; and 
 to use their influence with the Queen of Eng- 
 land in favor of his mother, the Countess of 
 Lennox, and his brother. 
 
 These engagements were followed by another 
 still more atrocious, in which Darnley avowed 
 his determination to bring to punishment divers 
 persons, especially an Italian called David, who 
 abused the queen's confidence. It is believed 
 that the other persons thus devoted to slaughter 
 were the Earls of Huntley, Bothwell, and Athol, 
 
168 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 liords Fleming and Livingston, and Sir James 
 Balfour. It was said in this infernal bond that, 
 in case of any difficulty in pursuing these indi- 
 viduals by lawful means, " to take and slay them 
 wherever they might be found." Darnley thence- 
 forth bound himself and his heirs to save scath- 
 less all earls, lords, barons, and others, who should 
 aid him in this enterprise. 
 
 The conspirators carefully circulated reports 
 that the evangel ivas in danger^ that Rizzio was 
 an emissary of the pope, and that Mary had 
 signed the holy league, by which, it was pre- 
 tended, the Catholic princes bound themselves to 
 exterminate the Protestants by a general mas- 
 sacre. The fact was, that Mary had received a 
 message from the sovereign pontiff, who exhorted 
 her, as was meet, to persevere in the faith, rec- 
 ommended to her care the Catholics of her realm, 
 and besought her to send some Scottish prelate 
 to the Council of Trent. But if the conspira- 
 tors had only told what was true, they would not 
 have succeeded so easily in perverting opinion. 
 As the leading members of the Presbyterian 
 church were among the conspirators, a proclama- 
 tion of the Assembly * appeared, ordering a gen- 
 
 * A convocation, convention, or council of ministers and ruling 
 elders, delegated from each presbytery. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 169 
 
 eral fast to be kept from one Sunday to another, 
 on the week of the opening of Parliament ; and, 
 as if to prepare their minds for scenes of blood, 
 or a revolution in the government, the service 
 for each day was composed of select lessons 
 from the Old Testament, descriptive of the extir- 
 pation of idolatry, the chastisement of wicked 
 princes, and the visitations of God on his people, 
 whenever they neglected the admonitions of the 
 prophets. 
 
 On the fourth day of this fast, (Thursday, 7th 
 of March,) the queen opened the Parliament. 
 The bill of attainder was drawn by the lords of 
 the articles ; and the Thursday following was 
 appointed for action upon it. But on Saturday, 
 Morton, Chancellor Morton, whom party spirit 
 had led into the ranks of the assassins, followed 
 by eighty armed men, took possession of the 
 gates of the palace. Mary, who was in an ad- 
 vanced state of pregnancy, was at the time 
 seated at table in the closet of her bed chamber, 
 with the commendator of Holyrood house and 
 the Countess of Argyle, her bastard brother and 
 sister, Erskine, captain of the guard, Rizzio, the 
 secretary, and Beton, master of the household, 
 were in attendance, and not at table with her, as 
 malevolent persons have said. The king entered 
 15 
 
170 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 by a private staircase, seated himself next the 
 queen, and put his arm around her waist. Lord 
 Ruthven, armed cap-d-pie, — he had not even the 
 courage to attack a defenceless man except un- 
 der a helmet and cuirass, — followed the king ; 
 the master of Ruthven, George Douglas, Ballen- 
 tyne, and Kerr came immediately after Ruth- 
 ven. Mary, alarmed at the sight of Ruthven, 
 ordered him to leave the room, under penalty of 
 treason ; but he replied, that his business was 
 with Rizzio, who, fearing for his life, sprang be- 
 hind the queen, exclaiming, " Justitia ! Justitia 
 He hoped that the respect due the sovereign 
 would protect him against the murderers ; but, 
 not regarding the prayers of the queen, nor her 
 situation at a time when too much emotion 
 might endanger her life, and that of the child in 
 her womb, George Douglas, snatching the king's 
 dirk, struck over the queen's shoulder, and left 
 the weapon sticking in the back of Rizzio. 
 Ballentyne, meanwhile, threatened the queen 
 herself with his dagger, and Kerr presented a 
 pistol to her breast. In the struggle the table 
 was overturned ; and the assassins, dragging 
 their victim through the bed chamber and ante- 
 chamber, despatched him at the head of the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 171 
 
 staircase, and left him pierced with fifty-six 
 wounds* 
 
 Mary's friends, ignorant of the affray in the 
 closet, had all hurried to the palace gates to 
 oppose the entry of Morton and his band. But 
 they were obliged to retreat, and remain in a 
 chamber, whence they were not permitted to 
 depart until about two in the morning.f The 
 queen, dismayed and weeping, had not ceased 
 to ask the pardon of her unfortunate secretary. 
 When she learned his death, she checked her tears. 
 " Now," said she, " is the time for revenge." 
 
 Meanwhile, Darnley, of his own authority, 
 dissolved the Parliament the next day, (10th of 
 March,) and before evening was joined by Mur- 
 ray and the exiles from Berwick. On Monday 
 morning all the conspirators met for consultation ; 
 
 * In Sir Walter Scott's History of Scotland, it is stated that the 
 closet and bed chamber are yet in the same condition that they were 
 then left in, and that the floor near the private staircase bears visible 
 traces of the blood of Rizzio. This may be so, but we do not vouch 
 for it. 
 
 f It is contended that Rizzio had received many secret warnings 
 of what was plotting against him, and that he had despised them. 
 Sir James Melville informed him, to no purpose, of the dangers 
 which menaced a foreigner in every country, when he enjoyed the 
 sovereign's favor so as to excite the jealousy of the natives. He did 
 not regard these warnings, and perished, the victim of misplaced 
 confidence. 
 
172 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 and it was determined to confine the queen in 
 the Castle of Edinburgh or Stirling, until she had 
 sanctioned all their proceedings, established the 
 reformed religion by law, and given to her hus- 
 band the crown matrimonial, so ardently desired 
 by him. In the interim, Murray and Morton 
 would govern Scotland in Darnley's nameT The 
 weakness of the latter, however, made the plan 
 miscarry. As fickle as he was violent, pusillani- 
 mous as cruel, he was himself frightened at what 
 he had ordered. The queen, when alone with 
 him, remarking his trouble, remorse, and fear, 
 easily resumed the ascendency which strong souls 
 have over weak minds, as the famous Eleonore 
 Galigai said at a later period in reply to the 
 judges who demanded of her what witchcraft 
 she had made use of to captivate the mind of 
 Mary de' Medici. Darnley, confused and repent- 
 ant, promised to remain true to the queen, and 
 oppose with her those whom he himself had 
 urged to the commission of crime. On the night 
 of the 12th, the queen and her husband, attended 
 by a single captain of the guards and two 
 domestics, escaped together from Holyrood 
 Palace, and reached in safety the Castle of 
 Dunbar, whence they issued a proclamation, 
 which, in a short time, caused a great number 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 173 
 
 of royalists to assemble around their sov- 
 ereign. 
 
 Six days after her flight from Holyrood, the 
 queen returned towards Edinburgh, and the con- 
 spirators trembled in their turn. By an adroit 
 act of policy, tending to deprive the murderers 
 of their auxiliaries, Mary proclaimed the pardon 
 of Murray, Glencairn, and all those who were 
 compromised by the run-about raid ; Morton and 
 his accomplices fled to England. It is worthy 
 of remark, that whilst Elizabeth governed this 
 country, no Scot had sought an asylum there in 
 vain. No matter what his crime, he was sure 
 of finding, if not avowed protection, at least se- 
 cret assistance. On this occasion, Elizabeth had 
 been informed of the conspiracy some time be- 
 fore its execution ; she had even sent three hun- 
 dred pounds to Murray on his departure from 
 Berwick. The same day on which the king and 
 queen escaped from Edinburgh, that noble spy, 
 the Earl of Bedford, who was ignorant of this 
 circumstance, wrote to Cecil, exulting that " every 
 thing now would go well." But when Bedford, 
 informed by Morton of the turn things had taken 
 through the defection of Darnley, in his turn in- 
 formed the queen of it, she hastened to congratu- 
 late her sister of Scotland ; and as Mary in 
 15* 
 
174 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 reply required that she should not afford an 
 asylum to murderers, this excellent sister ordered 
 them to quit her dominions ; but they were 
 privately informed that England was large, and 
 that they had nothing to fear, if they did not 
 obtrude themselves on the notice of the public. 
 The Spanish ambassador, Gusman de Silva, in 
 the despatches which he transmitted to his court 
 at this period, asserts that the murder of Rizzio 
 had been decided upon at London; that eight 
 thousand crowns had been paid to the conspira- 
 tors ; and that Elizabeth's ministers only awaited 
 the moment of Mary's dethronement to sub- 
 stitute their mistress for her. 
 
 Mary, on resuming power, resumed also her 
 indulgent bounty ; and although she knew well 
 the part her husband had taken in the murder of 
 Rizzio, she affected to accept his justification. 
 Unfortunately, Darnley did not amend ; he was 
 incapable of appreciating a generous proceeding, 
 and misunderstanding continued between the 
 two consorts, although Mary appeared perfectly 
 reconciled. As the time of her delivery ap- 
 proached, she took up her residence at the Castle 
 of Edinburgh. Elizabeth and Murray, England 
 and Scotland, looked forward with suspense and 
 anxiety to the result. Mary might have an heir 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 175 • 
 
 to her throne and her pretensions ; perhaps, con- 
 sidering the distressing scenes through which she 
 had passed, the approaching crisis would prove 
 fatal. Elizabeth and Murray hoped, desired; 
 but Heaven did not permit their wishes to be 
 accomplished : the queen was happily delivered 
 of a son, and this son lived to reign over the two 
 kingdoms. 
 
 Elizabeth had ordered Randolph to tarry in 
 the neighborhood of Berwick, and to transmit, 
 without the least delay, the news of the event, 
 whatever it was ; and Randolph acquitted him- 
 self of his commission with his accustomed zeal. 
 When the courier arrived at London, Elizabeth 
 was dancing gayly at Greenwich. Cecil imme- 
 diately repaired thither, to inform her of the bad 
 news which Randolph sent. As if struck by a 
 thunderbolt, she dropped into an arm chair, re- 
 clined her head upon her hand, and appeared 
 for some time absorbed in painful and profound 
 thought. One of her maids of honor inquiring 
 what was the matter, she replied, passionately, 
 " Ah, have you not heard that the Queen of 
 Scotland has a fine boy ? and I am but barren 
 stock." By the next day her feelings were suf- 
 ficiently subdued for her to express the satisfac- 
 tion which the happy deliverance of Mary and 
 
176 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 the birth of her son caused her to experience. 
 She even dissembled so far as to accept, with 
 gi-eat apparent joy, the office of godmother at the 
 baptism, and appointed the Earl of Bedford to 
 represent her at the ceremony. 
 
 The birth of the Scottish prince, to whom was 
 given the name of James, was hailed with joy by 
 the numerous advocates of the Scottish line in 
 England; many, who had appeared indifferent 
 as long as Mary remained childless, came for- 
 ward in support of her cause. Elizabeth, jealous 
 of the good fortune of her sister queen, earnestly 
 resolved to marry, that she also might have issue 
 to inherit the crown. But it sufficed that both 
 Houses of Parliament addi-essed her on the sub- 
 ject that she should only think of it with indig- 
 nation. Besides her ordinary irresolution, which 
 did not permit her to have any fixed determina- 
 tion, Elizabeth much feared death. She did not 
 wish the word to be pronounced before her, nor 
 any object to be in her presence that might re- 
 call to her mind that she must die. It is very 
 probable that this was the principal motive which 
 prevented her from marrying. Should she have 
 children, those children would have been her 
 heirs, waiting impatiently for her death ; recalling 
 to her mind a hundred times a day and resound- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 177 
 
 ing in her ears those terrible words — her death* 
 Nevertheless, the king gained nothing by the 
 death of Rizzio. Instead of obtaining the mat- 
 rimonial crown, and with it the sovereign au- 
 thority, he found himself without power and 
 influence, an object of scorn to some and of 
 aversion to others. Yet he would have sacri- 
 ficed the esteem of every one to have enjoyed the 
 supreme rule ; but the queen was less disposed 
 than ever to yield him a jot, being convinced in 
 advance, that he would make bad use of it. 
 Mary, though she might forgive, could not forget 
 the outrage which he had offered her. She also 
 formed a new administration without taking his 
 advice, or rather against his will : to Huntley, 
 whom she had appointed chancellor, and Both- 
 well, hereditary admiral of Scotland, she added 
 her brother Murray, and the Earl of Argyle, who 
 had married the sister of Murray. There existed, 
 indeed, several causes of dissension between 
 Murray and Bothwell ; but she prevailed on them 
 
 * On one occasion, Elizabeth, objecting to marriage, said, "I will 
 not be buried whilst I am living, as my sister was. Do I not know, 
 how, during her life, every one hastened to me at Hatfield ? I am 
 not now inclined to see such travellers." The meaning of her "not 
 choosing that her grave should be dug whilst yet alive," is here ex- 
 plicitly defined. Mr. D 'Israeli's opinion, that it was ob nescio quam 
 muliebrem impotentiam, is a shallow subterfuge. 
 
178 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 to be reconciled, and, at their joint intercession, 
 pardoned Maitland, notwithstanding the warm 
 opposition of Darnley. Irritated at being with- 
 out influence, he threatened Murray to kill him, 
 but soon after absenting himself from court, re- 
 fused to return, until the queen had dismissed 
 three of the chief officers of state. Darnley even 
 declared that he intended to leave the kingdom, 
 and the Earl of Lennox, who was unable to dis- 
 suade him from this foolish purpose, wrote to 
 the queen, at whose invitation he reluctantly 
 consented to return to Edinburgh. 
 
 On his arrival, Mary led him before the as- 
 sembled council, and, holding him by the hand, 
 solicited him to detail his complaints, and not to 
 spare her^ if she were the cause of offence. Darn- 
 ley formally declared that the queen had given 
 him no cause for complaint, which caused the 
 members of the council to say — as in a copy of 
 the statement sent by ^Maitland to the Arch- 
 bishop of Glasgow — that he not only had no 
 cause for complaint, but he would, on the con- 
 tran,', consider himself one of the most fortunate 
 princes in Christendom, could he but know his 
 own happiness. On his return to Stirling he 
 acquainted the queen by letter, that what he com- 
 plained of was want of authority and the neglect 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 179 
 
 of the nobility. Mary replied, that the first pro- 
 ceeded from his own fault, since he had employed 
 the authority with which she first intrusted him 
 against herself; and that he could not expect the 
 nobility to love and honor a prince who never 
 sought their affection or respect. 
 
 The queen, with the lords of the council, re- 
 paired to Jedburgh, to hold the court called Justice 
 in eyre* Soon after her arrival she was seized 
 with a dangerous fever ; and so slender were the 
 hopes of her recovery, that the lords were in read- 
 iness to proceed to Edinburgh and regulate the 
 government. Darnley would have been, un- 
 doubtedly, excluded from power, and the regency 
 confided to Murray, in the event of the queen's 
 death. On the ninth day, a salutary crisis took 
 place, the symptoms became more favorable, and 
 she began to recover slowly. We only refer here 
 to the Queen of Scotland's sickness, to add 
 another example to all those furnished by long 
 experience of the efficacy of religious succor in 
 every situation of life. By her piety, composure, 
 and resignation, the young and beautiful Queen 
 of Scotland edified all those who saw her. How 
 many reasons had she not to cling to this life, 
 from which she appeared about to depart at the 
 
 ♦ A court of itinerant justices. 
 
180 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 moment of its enjoyment! Ah, she had sacri- 
 ficed all she had, all she hoped for, without an 
 effort, and without a murmur. She only prayed 
 Heaven to accept the sacrifice in expiation of all 
 her faults. In letters full of unction, she recom- 
 mended her son to the King of France and the 
 Queen of England. She conjured the lords, 
 whom she had summoned to her bed side, to live 
 in harmony with each other, to watch carefully 
 over the education of the young prince, and as a 
 last favor, she earnestly solicited them to grant 
 liberty of conscience to those 'who professed 
 the Catholic faith, — so much calumniated, — in 
 which she wished to die ; a holy religion, which 
 mitigated the bitterness of her last moments, 
 because it taught her to hope in the divine mercy. 
 
 "When the queen was sufficiently recovered to 
 be able to ride on horseback, she proceeded along 
 the banks of the Tweed as far as the Castle of 
 Craigmiller. The king, who had only been once 
 to see her at Jedbm-gh, repaired to the castle ; but 
 no advance was made towards a reconciliation. 
 He was too proud to submit, and Mary had too 
 much experience to yield to him. In fact, the 
 yet unsteady state of her health, which had prob- 
 ably only been altered by chagrin and uneasiness, 
 gave her an air of sadness which Darnley mistook 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 181 
 
 for aversion, inspired by himself. He only be- 
 came more peevish ; he did not perceive that 
 this melancholy, which all the features of his 
 wife expressed, was caused by himself : she then 
 believed him incorrigible, and was often heard to 
 exclaim, weeping, " O that the fever at Jedburgh 
 had caused my death ! " 
 
 Murray and Maitland attentively observed the 
 moral situation of the queen. As soon as the 
 king departed, being well persuaded that the queen 
 would willingly agree to a divorce, by which she 
 would be separated from a man who had so cru- 
 elly offended her, they formed a plan to obtain 
 this divorce, subsequently to which they would 
 obtain an act of Parliament confirmative of the 
 grants made by the queen to many lords. The 
 design was communicated to Huntley, the Earl 
 of Argyle, and Bothwell, who all approved of it. 
 They waited in a body on Mary, when Maitland 
 reminded her of the injuries she had received 
 from Darnley, and what she had yet to expect 
 from him. He spoke of a divorce as the only 
 means of freeing herself from slavery, and at the 
 same time of delivering the kingdom from a 
 prince who might compromise it in future. 
 
 Mary at first discovered no disapprobation of 
 the proposal ; her first thought was that of the 
 16 
 
182 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 captive whose chain is broken by a friendly hand ; 
 she replied that she would consent to a divorce 
 if legally obtained and unprejudicial to her son's 
 rights. But reflecting upon the consequences 
 of such a proceeding, aware, perhaps, of the re- 
 ports in circulation of her liaison with Rizzio, and 
 those which were being circulated of her in con- 
 nection with one of the five persons who were pres- 
 ent,* she asked if it would not be better for her 
 
 * Mary's enemies appear to believe — for it cannot be possible that 
 they believe so unlikely a thing — that for tvfo or three months pre- 
 vious she had been living in the most shameful adulteiy with the 
 Earl of Bothwell. This man, whose name was James Hepburn, — 
 aged from forty to forty-five years, and head of the powerful house 
 of Hepburn, — exercised much* authority in the county of Berwick 
 and in Eastern Lothian ; he had at first declared against reform, and 
 assisted the queen regent. When Mary returned from France, he 
 appeared devoted to her cause ; he was at Holyrood when the mur- 
 derers of Rizzio arrived there, and he himself was in danger because 
 he was believed to be attached to the queen, and wished to hinder the 
 conspirators from executing their nefarious project. Mary, naturally 
 grateful, showed her good will to those who served her faithfully. 
 The reformed preachers, Knox and others, drew scandal therefrom, 
 or rather an opportunity for creating scandal ; and they did create it. 
 But what appearance of truth was in their allegations ? Bothwell's 
 morals were very corrupt ; his very licentious conduct was little cal- 
 culated to win hearts ; he was slovenly in his habits, vulgar in his 
 language, and he was married. Buchanan became the officious echo 
 of this malignancy — we say boldly of this calumny; for how can the 
 expression given above be reconciled with the answer of Damley to 
 his wife's summons, an answer made in the presence of the lords of 
 the council, and reported conformably to the text by Maitland, in his 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 183 
 
 to spend some time in France with her relations. 
 " Perhaps," she added, " Darnley, thus abandoned 
 to himself, might learn to reform. In any case, 
 I wish ye to do nothing through which any spot 
 may be laid to my honor or conscience ; and 
 therefore, I pray you, rather let the matter be in 
 the state that it is, abiding until God in his 
 goodness put redress thereto." * 
 
 Mary's answer disconcerted the five lords, who 
 
 letter to the Archbishop of Glasgow. He freely declared that " the 
 queen had never given him any cause for discontent." Many other 
 documents confirm Maitland's report. The queen's detractors have 
 attached much importance to a visit which she made from Jedburgh 
 to Hermitage Castle, distant about six leagues. Bothwell, her lieu- 
 tenant on the frontier, resided in this castle ; he had been wounded 
 in the hand, in attempting to arrest an outlaw named John Elliot of 
 the Warren, "it is said that she left the very instant she was informed 
 of this accident, and Chalmers has proved that she allowed eight 
 days to pass before her visit ; and that she went and returned the 
 same day, which proves that she spent very little time at the castle. 
 In fact, it is very presumable that Mary's visit to Bothwell was only 
 for a political purpose. The frontier was infested by Elizabeth's em- 
 issaries ; Bothwell was a faithful servant, and she was surrounded by 
 suspicious persons whom she durst not trust. "Very probably impor- 
 tant interests were connected with the arrest of Elliot. It is certain 
 that she sent Bothwell " a masse of papers " the next day. 
 
 * There is no doubt of this conversation having taken place. At 
 the investigation of the murder of Darnley, Argyle and Huntley re- 
 lated it conformably to the text, to prove that MuiTay was the original 
 instigator of the plot. Murray himself did not make any defence, 
 and, by passing the charge over in silence, implicity acknowledged 
 its truth. 
 
184 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 had confidently hoped to have gained the queen's 
 consent,* and they could not conceive how — 
 with all the reasons for hatred and discontent that 
 her husband had given her — she had refused 
 so determinedly. They then reverted to another 
 scheme, which had been previously agitated — 
 that of the assassination of the king. Bothwell 
 undertook the execution of the crime ; the oth- 
 ers obligated themselves to protect him from the 
 consequences. Sir James Balfour, who joined 
 the five lords, proposed signing a bond, in which 
 the king was styled a young fool and a proud 
 tyrant ; that the signers were determined to pre- 
 vent him from obtaining the rule over them ; 
 obligated themselves to remove him by some 
 expedient or other ; and that each should regard 
 the means employed — be they what they might 
 — as his own deed. This instrument was signed 
 by Huntley, Argyle, Bothwell, Maitland, and 
 
 * It appears evident to us that if she had so far forgotten her duty, 
 as Buchanan supposes, the queen, whose passion would have prob- 
 ably predominated, would have eagerly seized the proffered means to 
 regain her liberty. Besides, can it be supposed that Bothwell would 
 not have foreseen and used all the ascendency he would have had over 
 her, to gain her consent in advance ? And if she had refused Both- 
 well in advance, would he have peimitted a proposition to be made 
 which he knew would be declined ? We will return to this subject in 
 order to justify the memory of the unfortunate Mary from the hor- 
 rible imputation of having ordered the murder of her husband. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 185 
 
 Balfour. It is doubted whether Murray added 
 his name. He sought to leave an issue by which 
 to escape in case of the failure of the project. 
 He ivould neither help nor hinder, as one of the 
 witnesses declared upon the judicial investi- 
 gation.* 
 
 From Craigmiller, the queen proceeded to 
 Stirling, where the royal infant was baptized. 
 Darnley was in the castle, but was not present 
 at the ceremony, which was performed with great 
 pomp. His absence is attributed to the order 
 Bedford had received from his mistress not to 
 give him the title of king, and to the court of 
 France having instructed its agent, Le Croc, to 
 have no communication with him until he was 
 reconciled to the queen. The conspirators, sec- 
 onded by Bedford, seized this opportunity to ask 
 the pardon of Morton and his seventy-six asso- 
 ciates. It is well to observe that when the five 
 lords proposed the divorce to the queen, they 
 
 * The result of Ormiston's confession — as reported by Laing — is, 
 that all the lords who were at Craigmiller, all those who were there 
 with the queen, had determined on the death of Darnley. Murray, 
 however, always maintained that he signed no bond. The witness, 
 Paris, whose deposition was calculated to propitiate Murray, said, 
 " II ne veult n'ayder ne nuire.^' Yet that amounts to an acknowl- 
 edgment that Murray was privy to the plot, and would place no ob- 
 stacle in its way. 
 
 16** 
 
186 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 made the return of Morton an indispensable con- 
 dition, being assured of his wish to cooperate 
 with all the other exiles in any measures they 
 determined upon. Mary yielded only to their 
 renewed solicitations, and pardoned them on the 
 express condition that they should not return to 
 Scotland during the two following years. In a 
 few days they again solicited in their favor, and 
 Mary finally consented for them to return to 
 their native country, provided they did not ap- 
 proach within seven miles of the court.* 
 
 Whether Darnley was dissatisfied with this 
 measure, which increased the number of his ene- 
 mies in Scotland, or that he really feared for his 
 life, he immediately left Stirling for his father's 
 residence in Glasgow. Bothwell and Maitland 
 hastened to meet Morton, (1567,) and had a 
 secret conference with him at Whittingham, 
 near the Lannermoor Hills ; the murder of Darn- 
 ley was the subject of their deliberation. On 
 separating, Morton proceeded to St. Andrew's ; 
 the others returned to Edinburgh, accompanied 
 by Archibald Douglas, who was soon after re- 
 manded by Maitland to Morton with this mes- 
 sage : " Tell the Earl of Morton that the queen 
 
 * George Douglas and Kers were alone excepted from the amnesty. 
 Lord Ruthven had died in England. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 187 
 
 will not hear spoken of what concerns him ; " 
 and when Archibald complained of the obscurity 
 of these words, Maitland only added, " Go and 
 repeat them to the earl ; he will understand you 
 perfectly." 
 
 This message, which Archibald Douglas 
 thought so unintelligible, is thus explained. If 
 Morton's avowals, made at a later period, may 
 be believed, he refused at the Whittingham con- 
 ference to concur in the execution of the con- 
 spiracy against the life of Darnley, unless the 
 queen's written order or consent was forwarded 
 to him. Bothwell promised him this document, 
 and, as he was unable to fulfil his promise, 
 Maitland sent the enigmatical message. The 
 result of all these odious manoeuvres was, that 
 Morton, who feared not to cooperate openly in 
 the murder of Rizzio, when he had the king's 
 warrant, feared to engage in the murder of the 
 king without the queen's warrant ; that Both- 
 well, to overcome his scruples, promised him this 
 warrant, alleging that the queen would consent 
 to the murder, although she knew nothing of it ; 
 and that afterwards they would tell him the 
 queen would not give the document. It is no 
 less certain that Morton was aware of the plot, 
 and did not reveal it; that if he did not act 
 
188 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 himself, he permitted, or caused to act as his 
 substitute, this same Archibald Douglas, a re- 
 formed minister at Glasgow, noted for his auda- 
 city, immorality, and frightful libertinism ; that, 
 like Maitland, he foresaw that the assassination 
 of Darnley would render Bothwell odious to the 
 nation ; that the Queen of Scotland, an accom- 
 plice or not of Bothwell, would share in the pub- 
 lic hatred ; that both would be ruined, and they 
 themselves, profiting by their loss, would rise in 
 power and share the regency. 
 
 Although it cannot be doubted that Murray 
 knew all the details of the conspiracy, he had 
 taken the precaution to be absent from Edin- 
 burgh some time before its execution, and with- 
 drew to the county of Fife, in order to induce the 
 Scots to believe that he was an entire stranger 
 to the acts which would in a short time frighten 
 them by their hideous character. 
 
 The small pox happened to be prevalent in 
 Glasgow, and Darnley took the infection. Mary 
 was soon informed of it, and sent her own phy- 
 sician to her husband, with a message that she 
 would shortly visit him herself. She fulfilled her 
 promise ; their former affection seemed to revive ; 
 the generous Mary forgot all the injuries she had 
 received from him, and they mutually promised 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 189 
 
 to think no more of the past. As soon as he was 
 able to travel, the queen returned with him to 
 Edinburgh, and, that he might enjoy a purer air 
 than that of the capital, placed him in a house 
 belonging to the provost of St. Mary's, known as 
 the Kirk of Field. 
 
 The conspirators, noticing that harmony was 
 fully reestablished between the two consorts, — ; 
 at least apparently, — began to fear for them- 
 selves. In one of those effusions of the soul 
 which ordinarily follow a reconciliation, Darnley 
 might speak of all that preceded the murder of 
 Rizzio ; Mary might, on her part, speak of the 
 proposition made to her to be divorced from him ; 
 and if the two consorts united their resentment, 
 there would be no safety for them in Scotland. 
 The queen, indeed, visited her husband daily, 
 gave him the most tender marks of esteem, and 
 frequently slept in the room under his bed cham- 
 ber. It was then urgent on the conspirators to 
 hasten the execution of their plan, if they wished 
 to prevent their own destruction. 
 
 It was known that the queen had promised to 
 be present on the night of the 9th of February, 
 at a masked ball in honor of the marriage of two 
 of her servants. That night was therefore chosen 
 by the conspirators for the execution of their 
 
190 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 plot. They had procured false keys, by means 
 of which they had gained access to the cellar 
 of the house through a door in the city wall. 
 Thither they transported a great quantity of 
 gunpowder, and, after having made the neces- 
 sary excavations, placed it under the an- 
 gles of the house and especially under the bed 
 chamber. 
 
 On the 9th of February, the queen went, as 
 usual, to the Kirk of Field, with a numerous reti- 
 nue. She remained in her husband's company 
 from six until ten or eleven o'clock, and at her 
 departure kissed him, and taking a ring from her 
 finger, put it on his. She then returned to Holy- 
 rood by the light of torches. About two o'clock 
 in the morning, Bothwell, wrapped in a large 
 cloak, arrived by stealth at Kirk of Field, where 
 his agents were before him. Two of the latter 
 entered the house and fired the train with a slow 
 match. As the match burned slowly, it is said 
 that the impatient Bothwell, fearing that it had 
 become extinguished, wished to enter the build- 
 ing to relight it. He was with difficulty re- 
 strained, when an instant after the explosion took 
 place. The palace and city were shaken, and 
 it was soon ascertained that the Kirk of Field 
 had been blown up from the very foundation; 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 191 
 
 the corpse of the king and that of his page, Tay- 
 lor, were found in the garden, whilst those of 
 three men and a boy were buried in the ruins.* 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PARTIES PORMED. — THE atJEEN IS CARRIED OFF BY BOTH"WELL, 
 AND FORCED TO MARRY HIM. 
 
 This horrible assassination excited grief and 
 indignation in Edinburgh. Bothwell was first 
 suspected, and as the queen did not withhold 
 her favor from him, she herself was not spared. 
 To satisfy public opinion, she should have de- 
 livered up the malefactors to justice. But did 
 she know these malefactors ? Besides, was not 
 she herself an accomplice of the malefactors ? 
 This is a question which has been keenly dis- 
 cussed between Mary's detractors and friends. 
 
 * To explain how the bodies of the king and Taylor had not been 
 injured by the explosion, although both were lifeless, many persons 
 are of opinion that they were first either strangled or smothered, and 
 then thrown into the garden. Others only say that the bodies were 
 preserved from injury by the beds. But how, then, would the beds 
 have been found broken to pieces ? and they must have been, since the 
 entire building was blown up. Besides, is it not evident that the beds 
 lifted by the explosion would have been crushed against the upper 
 floors ? — See Mary's statement in Appendix, No. 1. 
 
192 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 But both have more than once allowed passion 
 and feeling to predominate over discussion ; so 
 that some in their blind hatred, others in their 
 zealous flights, have been equally led into error 
 or exaggeration. It should be observed, however, 
 that in the murder of Darnley, there was nothing, 
 absolutely nothing, in Mary's conduct to engen- 
 der a single suspicion ; in her subsequent conduct 
 there are facts which may be converted against 
 her, although, on the other hand, they are ex- 
 plained by the difficulties and embarrassments 
 of her position. 
 
 " It is acknowledged by all, that the queen 
 acted, at first, as an innocent woman would have 
 acted.* She lamented the fate of a husband to 
 whom she had been so lately reconciled. She 
 expressed a suspicion that it had been intended 
 to involve her in the same destruction ; and she 
 repeatedly announced her resolution to take am- 
 ple vengeance on the authors of so flagitious a 
 crime. Her chamber was hung in black ; the 
 light of the day was excluded ; and in darkness 
 and solitude she received the few who were ad- 
 mitted to off'er their respects and condolence. 
 Letters describing the manner of the murder, 
 the state of her mind, and the measures she 
 
 * Dr. Lingard. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 193 
 
 intended to pursue, were written to the foreign 
 courts ; and a proclamation was issued, offering 
 rewards in money and land for the discovery 
 and apprehension of the murderers, with a full 
 pardon to any one of the party who would ac- 
 cuse his accomplices. ... In Edinburgh, 
 inquiries were made ; much was discovered to 
 implicate Bothwell and his servants as the actual 
 assassins, and the charge was openly brought 
 against him in anonymous ' bills,' affixed, during 
 the darkness of the night, in the most public part 
 of the city. In a few days, the Earl of Lennox, 
 the father of Darnley, came forward, and a cor- 
 respondence of some interest took place between 
 him and the queen. At his request, she sum- 
 moned a Parliament : Bothwell and some others 
 were accused by him of the murder. But on the 
 eve of 'the assize' Lennox wrote from Stirling 
 to request an adjournment. . . . The Earl 
 of Murray with his usual caution, had solicited 
 leave to travel, and, intrusting his interests to 
 the care of Bothwell, departed from Edinburgh 
 on his way to France. 
 
 " Whatever motives Lennox might allege for 
 his absence, it is evident that he was intimidated 
 by the superior power of Bothwell, and by the 
 association in his support On this account he 
 17 
 
194 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 had already solicited the mediation of the Queen 
 of England ; and Elizabeth instantly despatched 
 a messenger to Scotland with a letter, which did 
 equal honor to her head and her heart* Had it 
 been perused by Mary before the trial, it would 
 probably have opened her eyes to the abyss which 
 yawned before her ; but there is reason to believe 
 that it was not suffered to reach the hands of 
 that unfortunate princess until after the acquittal 
 of the accused. 
 
 " The provost of Berwick, the bearer of the 
 letter, had reached Holyrood House at an early 
 hour in the morning. But the object of his mis- 
 sion was already known; he was treated with 
 incivility, and could procure no one to inform 
 Mary of his arrival. After a delay of some hours, 
 Maitland toolt the letter, and returned with an 
 answer, that the queen was still in bed, and that 
 no one durst disturb her repose. Bothwell im- 
 mediately proceeded to the Tolbooth, surrounded 
 by two hundred soldiers and four thousand gen- 
 tlemen. Maitland rode by his side; Morton 
 accompanied him, and supported his cause ; the 
 
 * To her head, in good place ; but to her heart ! We have very 
 little faith in the heart of Elizabeth ; the most wicked woman, with 
 genius, will affect to have the best heart in the world. Thus it was 
 mth Elizabeth. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 195 
 
 Earl of Argyle presided as hereditary justiciary 
 of Scotland. A motion to postpone the trial for 
 forty days was made and rejected; and as no 
 prosecutor appeared, the jury, having heard the 
 indictment, returned a verdict in favor of the ac- 
 cused. He immediately affixed a paper to the 
 cross, in which he reasserted his innocence, and 
 offered to fight, in single combat, against any 
 native of Scotland, France, or England, who 
 would dare to charge him with the murder. 
 [Kirkaldi of the Grange, Murray of Tullibardin, 
 and Lord Lindsay of the Byres, successively ac- 
 cepted this challenge ; but Bothwell always found 
 some pretext by which to elude the combat.] 
 
 " To clear herself from suspicion, it was in- 
 cumbent on the queen to bring the real assassins 
 to justice. This had been remarked to her by 
 Elizabeth ; it had been urged in the most im- 
 pressive terms by her ambassador at Paris, and 
 it had, on more than one occasion, been acknowl- 
 edged by Mary herself. But how, her adver- 
 saries ask, did she proceed ? She refused the 
 reasonable petition of her father-in-law; sh6 
 granted Bothwell a collusive trial ; and she per- 
 sisted in maintaining his innocence on the credit 
 of an acquittal, which, to every impartial ob- 
 server, furnished additional confirmation of his 
 
196 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 guilt. Would she have acted in a manner so 
 fatal to her reputation, had she not been impelled 
 by some powerful motive, such as consciousness 
 of crime, or a licentious passion for the person 
 of the murderer? In reply, her advocates re- 
 mark, that she was a young and defenceless 
 woman in the hands of a faction ; that she could 
 receive no information, could adopt no measure, 
 but through the medium of her council ; and that 
 this council was composed -of the very persons 
 who had planned the murder, or directed its exe- 
 cution, or given bonds to screen the perpetrators 
 from punishment. It was no wonder, then, if 
 under such circumstances, and surrounded by 
 such interested and unprincipled advisers, she 
 was taught to believe that Bothwell was inno- 
 cent, that the accusation had been suggested by 
 the malice of his enemies, and that Lennox re- 
 quested a delay because he found himself unable 
 to substantiate the charge.* 
 
 * We are far from believing Mary guilty of complicity ; but we do 
 not believe her here entirely uLndeser\-ing of reproach. It is very true 
 that she was surrounded only by the accomplices of Bothwell ; but 
 she was aware that these men had been upon all occasions her en- 
 raged enemies: she should then have been on her guard against 
 them. Had she been but an ordinary woman, she would have had 
 no means of escaping from the influence of the confederates ; but she 
 had shown sufficient detemiination under other circumstances to 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 197 
 
 " Two days after the trial the Parliament was 
 opened, and its proceedings appear to cast some 
 light on the real object of those who had pro- 
 cured the death of Darnley. Though Mary had 
 reigned but a short time, she liad already be- 
 stowed, at the solicitation of her ministers, two 
 thirds of the property of the crown on them and 
 their adherents. They held, however, these ac- 
 quisitions by a precarious tenure, as the law of 
 Scotland gave the sovereign the power of revok- 
 ing all such grants at any time, before he or she 
 had reached the age of twenty- five years. It 
 was known that the late king had expressed him- 
 self with much warmth against the improvident 
 bounty of his wife. During the preceding April, 
 Mary had made a partial revocation ; and, as 
 
 justify one in expecting more from her in the most trying position in 
 which she had yet been placed. Why did she, in this case,oppose Len- 
 nox ? Lennox and his friends, sustained by the queen, would have 
 certainly been supported by the people, who, in spite of the verdict 
 of acquittal, obstinately persisted in regarding Bothwell as the real 
 assassin of Darnley. Besides, why permit a verdict to be rendered 
 in the absence of the accuser, especially when so short a time was 
 allowed him to collect his evidence ? (He was notified on the 28th of 
 March for the 12th of April.) If Bothwell was actually innocent, 
 what had he to fear from a postponed trial ? Alas ! when Mary her- 
 self was subsequently accused by Murray, Morton, and Maitland, 
 those miserable accomplices of Bothwell, how she regretted not hav- 
 ing shown more determination in aiding Lennox to ferret out and 
 convict the murderers of her husband ! 
 
 17* 
 
198 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 the present was the last year in which she 
 could exercise that right, there could be little 
 doubt that Darnley, had he lived, would have 
 urged her to a general act of resumption. The 
 great object of the lords was to take away the 
 very possibility of such a measure. In the short 
 space of three days, the lands forfeited by Hunt- 
 ley were restored, the grants made to Murray, 
 Bothwell, Morton, Crawford, Caithness, Rothes, 
 Semple, Herries, Maitland, and others, were con- 
 firmed ; and the power of revocation was taken 
 both from the queen and her successors. In ad- 
 dition, the act abolishing the papal jurisdiction, 
 which had been made by the convention in 1560, 
 but had never received the royal assent, was now 
 ratified ; but to it was appended, probably to 
 silence the objections of the queen, a permission 
 for all Scotsmen to serve God according to the 
 dictates of their own consciences. 
 
 " The next proceeding unfolds to us another 
 and important part of the original conspiracy. 
 When Bothwell undertook to murder the hus- 
 band, he appears to have demanded, as the price 
 of his services, the hand of the widow. On 
 the day after the dissolution of Parliament, 
 twenty-four of the principal peers, comprising 
 as well those who had been distinguished by 
 
LIFE or MARY STUART. 
 
 199 
 
 their loyalty as those who had repeatedly borne 
 arms against their sovereign, assembled and sub- 
 scribed a new bond. They were made to assert 
 their belief of the innocence of Bothwell ; they 
 obliged themselves to defend him against all 
 calumniators, with their bodies, heritages, and 
 goods ; and they promised upon their consciences, 
 and as they would answer to the eternal God, to 
 promote a marriage between him and the queen, 
 as soon as it could be done by law, and she 
 might think convenient ; and for that purpose to 
 aid him with their votes, their lives, and their 
 goods, against all mortals whomsoever. A more 
 disgraceful association does not sully the page 
 of history. 
 
 " The next day, Mary rode to Stirling. * * * 
 On her return, she had reached the Foulbriggs, 
 half a mile from the Castle of Edinburgh, when 
 she was met by Bothwell at the head of one 
 thousand horse. To resist would have been 
 fruitless ; and the queen, with her attendants, 
 the Earl of Huntley, Maitland, and Melville, was 
 conducted to the Castle of Dunbar. On the fol- 
 lowing morning Huntley and Maitland were 
 liberated ; the queen was detained ten days 
 longer ; nor did she leave the walls of Dunbar 
 until she had consented to become the wife of 
 Bothwell. 
 
200 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 " To explain this extraordinary transaction, 
 her enemies represent it as a collusion between 
 the parties. They had long been lovers ; they 
 wished to marry ; and a show of violence was 
 made to save the reputation of the queen.* It 
 is, however, but fair to listen to her own story. 
 Mary tells us, that previously to her visit to Stir- 
 ling, Bothwell had dropped some hints of mar- 
 riage, but received so resolute an answer as 
 convinced him that force alone could win her 
 consent. On her return towards Edinburgh, he 
 seized her person, and conducted her against her 
 will to Dunbar. There he renewed his suit with 
 more earnestness, conjured her to attribute his 
 violence to the ardor of his affection, and laid 
 before her the bond of the lords with their respec- 
 tive signatures. Mary perused it with astonish- 
 
 * It is worthy of remark that this collusion was not spoken of by 
 Mary's enemies until many months afterwards. In their different 
 proclamations, and in the act of Parliament against Bothwell, they 
 considered her captivity as real, and effected by superior force. To 
 prove the collusion, they produced a paper said to have been written 
 or signed by her, and purporting to be a license to the lords to sub- 
 scribe the bond on the 20th of April. Now, if this license was gen- 
 uine, no appearance of force would have been necessary; she had 
 already declared to the whole nobility of Scotland that she was will- 
 ing to marry the earl. If it was not, how can we assent to an hypothe- 
 sis, the framers of which were compelled to commit an act of forgery 
 for its support. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 201 
 
 ment and dismay ; yet her repugnance was not 
 subdued. It did not arise, if we may believe 
 her own assertion, from any suspicion that the 
 earl had been guilty of the murder of Darnley, 
 — she had been taught, by all around her, to be- 
 lieve the charge groundless and vexatious, — but 
 she considered the match unequal, and the pro- 
 posal premature ; and she wished, before she 
 entered on another marriage, to take the advice 
 of her friends, both at home and abroad. She 
 had at first cherished a hope that the news of 
 the outrage would summon an army of loyal 
 subjects to rescue her from her prison ; but day 
 passed after day ; no sword was drawn in her 
 cause, no attempt made in her favor ; the apathy 
 of the lords proved to her that the bond was 
 genuine, and that she was a captive in the hands 
 of an audacious subject. Bothwell insensibly 
 assumed a more decisive tone ; ' nor did he ceise 
 till, by persuasion and importunate sute, accom- 
 panied with force, he had driven her to end the 
 work.'* The meaning of the words 'accompa- 
 nied with force,' she has not explained : Melville, 
 her servant and fellow-prisoner, assures us that 
 it was the violation of her person. f 
 
 * Anderson, L 89, 102. 
 
 t Melville's testimony is corroborated by that of Mary's enemies, 
 
202 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 " Bothwell now left the fortress ; but it was 
 to conduct the captive queen from one prison to 
 another, from the Castle of Dunbar to that of 
 Edinburgh. Here she pleaded for time, that she 
 might obtain the consent of the King of France, 
 and of her relations of the house of Guise. But 
 his ambition was too impatient to run the hazard 
 of delay. The only remaining obstacle, his ex- 
 isting marriage with Janet Gordon, sister to the 
 Earl of Huntley, was in a few days removed. 
 Both had already sued for a divorce, she on the 
 ground of adultery in the consistorial, he on that 
 of consanguinity in the archiepiscopal court : in 
 both a favorable judgment was pronounced ; and 
 it was hoped that the objections of the Protes- 
 tants would be silenced by the decision of the 
 one, those of the Catholics by that of the other. 
 Exactly one month after his trial, Bothwell led 
 the queen to the Court of Session, where, in the 
 presence of the judges, she forgave him the 
 forcible abduction of her person, and declared 
 that he had restored her to the full enjoyment of 
 liberty : the next day she created him Duke of 
 Orkney ; and having granted a pardon to the 
 
 who say she was compelled " to become his bedfellow by force, fear, 
 and, (as by many conjectures may well be suspected,) by other ex- 
 traordinary and imlawful means." 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 203 
 
 lords who had subscribed the bond, was married 
 to him by a reformed minister, in the hall of 
 Holyrood House, (15th of May.) Still, however, 
 she remained a prisoner. Guards continually 
 watched the passages leading to her apartments : 
 no person could obtain access to her, except in 
 the presence of Both well ; and the harsh treat- 
 ment which she daily experienced convined her 
 that she had given herself a cruel and imperious 
 master. The unhappy queen was often discov- 
 ered in tears. Her present sufferings taught her 
 to perceive and lament her past indiscretion : 
 she could have no idea of that long train of evils 
 with which it was to be followed." 
 
 The foregoing is a very correct narration of 
 the facts which preceded, accompanied, or fol- 
 lowed the death of Darnley ; and the historian 
 whom we have cited allows the reader to draw 
 his own conclusion in the great question of Ma- 
 ry's culpability. We will not imitate the Eng- 
 lish historian in his reserve, probably caused by 
 circumstances of which he should be the only 
 judge ; and we fear not to say, with the greatest 
 conviction, that it appears demonstrated to us 
 that Mary was entirely innocent of the .murder 
 of Darnley ; but after the death of her unfor- 
 tunate consort, she might be reproached with 
 
204 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 great weakness towards him whom public opin- 
 ion had designated as the assassin. 
 
 It is certain that Murray, Maitland, and three 
 others, one of whom was Bothwell, proposed a 
 divorce to her ; that at first the idea of recover- 
 ing her liberty pleased her ; but a moment after 
 she repelled the insidious offer, and in so per- 
 emptory a manner, that this first plan of the con- 
 spirators was abandoned, and they resolved upon 
 a second, the murder of Darnley. Now, we ask, 
 can it be belived that there exists, that there 
 could exist, a woman, who, dissatisfied with her 
 husband, and able to be separated from him by 
 a legal divorce, would choose rather to be sep- 
 arated by assassination ? If we then reflect 
 that this woman had been educated wdth much 
 care, that she was firmly attached to the Catholic 
 religion, and that she was queen, the thing will 
 appear yet more unlikely. The pages of history 
 are full of examples of divorce between sover- 
 eigns : how many marriages have been annulled 
 on account of relationship, distant enough ! 
 Mary Stuart and Darnley were both grandchil- 
 dren of Margaret, sister of Henry VIII., and 
 consequently cousin-germans. Supposing that 
 ]\Iary had had any scruple about pronouncing a 
 divorce, as contrary to her religious principles, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 205 
 
 this scruple would have vanished before a de- 
 cision of the church pronouncing the nullity of 
 the marriage. But to refuse a divorce and order 
 assassination ! that would be too horrible ; it 
 would be necessary to be a tiger in wrath, and 
 Mary was only reproached with exhibiting too 
 much goodness. We do not hesitate, then, to 
 say that it is false that Mary knew of the second 
 plan of the conspirators, and still more so that 
 she aided it. 
 
 The lords themselves, before concluding on the 
 assassination, had endeavored to obtain what 
 they desired by more pleasant means — to deprive 
 Darnley of the power to injure them ; and for 
 that purpose he must either be reduced to his 
 former station or be assassinated. Darnley had 
 blamed his w^ife much for having alienated, by 
 concessions, the greater part of the royal domain. 
 He urged her to revoke those grants. The di- 
 vorce would have left Darnley without influence, 
 and Mary's liberal disposition was well enough 
 known to allow the belief that, left to herself, 
 she would by no means dream of using her priv- 
 ilege : should this fail, it would be necessary to 
 use some other means. And what the lords 
 would have done — prefer divorce to assassina- 
 tion — Darnley' s consort, the queen, would not 
 18 
 
206 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 have desired! she would have preferred assas- 
 sination to a divorce! No, it is not possible; 
 Mary was not bloodthirsty. 
 
 If Mary had absolutely wished the death of 
 her husband, would she not have made use of 
 other means than that employed ? Darnley was 
 ill, the small pox often very dangerous or mortal. 
 Instead of sending him her physician, of repair- 
 ing herself to Glasgow to administ'er to his com- 
 fort, would she not have permitted the malady 
 to take its course, to which, perhaps, he would 
 have succumbed; and if nature triumphed over 
 the disease, could she not have found in Scot- 
 land some infamous Locuste, whose black art 
 would have struck the victim, without leaving it 
 to be seen by what hand the blow was given? 
 
 We should not forget that Mary had passed 
 the evening with her husband ; that from thence 
 she had gone to the ball, where she remained 
 until the explosion took place. What ! it would 
 have been with an infernal project in her soul, 
 her heart filled with an execrable desire, that 
 Mary would have appeared at this place of 
 amusement ! By taking part in a fete given on 
 the occasion of a marriage, she would have per- 
 formed the overture in the execution of a crime, 
 by which her own marriage would be destroyed. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 207 
 
 No ; so much villany enters not suddenly into 
 the human heart. 
 
 "We do not believe that Bothwell was loved 
 by the queen during Darnley's life, but it appears 
 to us that she was aware of his love ; perhaps 
 she had shown him marks of gratitude, which 
 Bothwell, in his presumption, took for a more 
 tender feeling. When public opinion accused 
 Bothwell of the crime, she might have been igno- 
 rant of it, for she only knew what passed abroad 
 through the medium of Bothwell's associates ; 
 but the moment Lennox appeared as his accuser, 
 her duty, we have already said, was to join him. 
 It is possible that she did not believe Bothwell 
 guilty ; but he was accused, and an innocent 
 person is seldom accused. Mary must have at 
 least doubted, and in so grave a matter her 
 doubts should have been resolved. A. verdict of 
 acquittal awarded in the absence of proof, be- 
 cause the accuser has not had time for prepara- 
 tion, proves absolutely nothing. in favor of the 
 innocence of the accused ; the precipitation with 
 which the verdict was rendered, the force dis- 
 played by Bothwell, and the peremptory defect 
 in the examination, are, on the contrary, veritable 
 charges. 
 
 And Mary consented to become the wife of 
 
208 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 such a man ! O, let us commiserate, deplore the 
 blind passion which inveigled her. It is, un- 
 doubtedly, probable, that when Bothwell held her 
 captive in the Castle of Dunbar, he used violence 
 towards her, which violence was yet another 
 crime ; and when he conducted her to the court 
 of assizes, that she might declare that she par- 
 doned him, she should have demanded revenge ; 
 she should have remembered that she was a 
 queen, only three months a widow, and that he, 
 whom she loaded with favors, had been accused 
 of murder, and was not exculpated. 
 
 We will say no more on this point, as it is 
 the only stain on the whole life of Mary, and she 
 expiated it so painfully that we have only place 
 in our heart for compassion. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONSPIRACY AGAINST BOTHWELL AND MARY. — SHE IS CON- 
 PINED IN A CASTLE, FROM "VN'HENCE SHE ESCAPES. — SHE 
 SEEKS AN ASYLUM IN ENGLAND, AND FINDS ONLY A PRISON. 
 
 Of the twenty -four lords who signed the bond 
 in favor of Bothwell's marriage, there were many, 
 who, though not in the secret of the murder, had 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 209 
 
 been induced to do so through fear or interest ; 
 but when they saw that, in contempt of the clause 
 added to the recommendation they had made 
 the queen to marry Bothwell,* he had violently 
 possessed himself of her person, they repented of 
 their condescension, and held many meetings 
 to concert measures to wrest from Bothwell his 
 usurped power. Those who had been privy to 
 the plot, such as Morton and Maitland, were also - 
 convinced, that unless they joined the former in 
 overthrowing Bothwell, they would be regarded 
 as his accomplices, and made to share his in- 
 famy. The Earls of Morton, Marr, and Atho), 
 Lords Home, Semple, and Lindsay, the Lairds 
 of TuUibardin and Grange, met at Stirling, and 
 were joined by the Lords of Montrose, Glencairn, 
 Ruthven, and Sinclair. 
 
 Receiving timely warning of their project, the 
 queen and her husband escaped by a rapid flight 
 to Dunbar.f The conspirators then took the 
 
 * This clause was thus expressed : "As soon as it could be done 
 by law, and she might think convenient." 
 
 t Laing, nevertheless, relates, according to a letter of Beton, that 
 Bothwell escaped in the morning from Borth^nick, whereas Mary re- 
 mained there all day, and at night rode away in male attire, and was 
 met by Bothwell at a short distance, who conveyed her to Dunbar. 
 If this is true, it proves that the queen was unwilling to be separated 
 from Bothwell. 
 
 18* 
 
210 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 road to Edinburgh, and entered masters of it. 
 They immediately published a proclamation, in 
 which they accused the earl of the murder of 
 Darnley, the treasonable seizure and marriage 
 of the queen, and an intention of gaining posses- 
 sion of the young prince, that he might murder 
 the heir apparent, as he had already murdered 
 his father. A few days after, (15th of June,) 
 Bothwell, having collected his friends, met the 
 numerous body of insurgents on Carberry Hill, 
 a short distance from the capital. The two 
 armies remained in sight from nine in the morn- 
 ing until night. The French agent, Le Croc, 
 interposed his mediation. It is said that the 
 queen would have given the signal to engage, 
 but amongst those who had taken arms in her 
 defence, there was a great number who were 
 little disposed to fight for Bothwell. She was 
 aware that the Hamiltons had levied troops to 
 come to her assistance, but they were yet far off. 
 The queen then offered a full and general pardon 
 to the insurgents, provided they disbanded their 
 forces : they replied, requiring of her to come over 
 to the nobility, and leave Bothwell to suffer the 
 punishment of his crime. 
 
 It appears that the queen would not consent, 
 by which her cause was ruined. Bothwell offered 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 211 
 
 to fight in single combat with Morton, or any- 
 one of his accusers. His challenge was accepted ; 
 but Bothwell, taken at his word, found some 
 means to release himself without drawing his 
 sword. At length it was agreed that Bothwell 
 should retire without molestation ; that the queen 
 should return to Edinburgh, and that the con- 
 spirators should pay to her that honor and obedi- 
 ence which was due to the sovereign. After the 
 departure of Bothwell, she gave her hand to Kir- 
 kaldy of Grange, and was by him conducted into 
 the midst of his colleagues ; in whose name Mor- 
 ton, bending his knee, said, " This, madam, is 
 the place where you ought to be ; and we will 
 honor, serve, and obey you, as ever the nobility 
 of this realm did any of your progenitors." This 
 was but bitter derision, for her dethronement and 
 the establishment of a regency had been already 
 determined upon; and it is evident that Both- 
 well, in defending himself, would not have failed 
 to accuse Murray, Morton, Maitland, and others.* 
 
 * Some days after, to satisfy public opinion and quiet the murmurs 
 caused by the impunity granted to Bothwell, the confederates pretend- 
 ed to pursue him. It was ascertained that he had taken refuge at Ler- 
 wick, upon the sea shore, and Kirkaldy of the Grange was sent from 
 Edinburgh to Lerwck •with two vessels ; Bothwell's vessel left the 
 bay as Kirkaldy was entering it. Not daring to return to Scotland, 
 and likewise fearing that he would be delivered up by the continental 
 
212 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 An hour had scarcely elapsed, when the queen 
 perceived that she was a prisoner in the hands 
 of her inveterate enemies. On entering Edin- 
 burgh, she was met by an excited populace ; her 
 ears were assaited with frightful imprecations, 
 whilst before her eyes was waved a banner, rep- 
 resenting the inanimate body of her husband, 
 and her son on his knees, exclaiming, " O my 
 Gody revenge my cause I " The queen expected 
 to be conducted to the palace ; but they lodged, 
 or rather confined, her in a chamber of the house 
 of the provost, with orders that no one, not 
 even her maids, should have access to her. For 
 
 powers, Bothwell, it is said, became a pirate — a noble manner of 
 crowning his life. Danish vessels having attacked and forced him to 
 yield, he was conducted to the Castle of Malmay, where he was closely 
 confined. He died there in November or December, 1607. We are 
 assured that upon his death bed he acknowledged himself guilty of 
 the assassination of Damley, designating Murray and Morton as his 
 accomplices ; he added, that the queen was wholly innocent of the 
 crime. This declaration from such a man as Bothwell would deserve 
 little confidence, were it not confirmed by a thousand other presump- 
 tions from higher sources. It is less easy to prove that Mary was 
 not informed by Bothwell himself, when he was in power, of his com- 
 mission of the crime. If Bothwell acknowledged it, Mary had not 
 the same horror for the murderer that the Empress Eudoxia had for 
 the assassin of Valentinian, her husband. This parvenu to the em- 
 pire, after having assassinated the emperor, and compelled the em- 
 press to marry him, boasted of what he had done. Eudoxia incited 
 the Vandals to come to Rome, and Maximus was stoned to death by 
 the people. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 213 
 
 twenty-two hours the unfortunate queen was a 
 prey to the most lively anguish. From the street 
 she was often seen at the casement of the cham- 
 ber calling upon the citizens of Edinburgh to 
 come to her assistance, and, bathed in tears, and. 
 her hair and clothes in disorder, conjuring those 
 who could hear her to deliver her.* 
 
 The insurgents, before putting their project 
 into execution, had sought to secure the coopera- 
 tion of the Queen of England, but she formally 
 refused to send them troops ; she only permitted 
 the Earl of Bedford to stop at Berwick and from 
 thence protect the insurgents ; but Cecil went 
 
 * In Keith's old English may be read the description of the de- 
 plorable state in which the monsters — who knew well that she was 
 innocent of the murder, since it was their own work — left the un- 
 fortunate Marj' during the night of the 16th and all the next day ; 
 they affected to treat her with so much cruelty only to make the peo- 
 ple believe that they were firmly persuaded that she was guilty, and 
 thus avert from themselves any suspicion which might be directed to- 
 wards them. " Sche came yesterday to ane windo of hir chalmer, 
 that lukkit on the hiegait, and cryit forth on the pepill, quhow sche 
 was haldin, and keepit be hir awin subjects, quha had betrayit hir. 
 Sche came to the said windo smidrie tymes in sa miserable a stait, 
 hir hairs hangand about hir loggs, and hir breest, yea the maist pairt 
 of all hir bodie, fra the waist up, bair and discoverit, that na man 
 could luk upon hir bot sche movit him to pitie and compassion. For 
 my ain part I was satisfeit to heir of it, and meight not suffer to 
 see it." According to Laing, Mary accused Maitland and Kirkaldy ; 
 Randolph, who is surely not suspected, reproached them with it very 
 plainly. 
 
214 
 
 LIFE Of MARY STUART. 
 
 much farther, and, although he made no exact 
 engagements, he urged the confederate lords with 
 all his influence to overthrow Bothwell, if they 
 did not wish to be considered his accomplices. 
 When Elizabeth, however, learned what was 
 passing, she appeared very much incensed. The 
 insult offered to the Queen of Scotland was, she 
 contended, common to every crowned head ; it 
 resulted from the doctrines of Knox, which she 
 had so often condemned : it required immediate 
 and exemplary punishment, that subjects might 
 learn to respect the persons of their sovereigns. 
 She sent Throckmorton to Scotland to demand 
 Mary's liberation, to pray the queen to pardon 
 the rebels, and to ask formally that the young 
 prince should be confided to his godmother and 
 sent to England, as the only place where his life 
 would be in safety. 
 
 This was, perhaps, the only time that Eliza- 
 beth was sincere ; and unfortunately, the perfid- 
 ious Cecil rendered of no avail the good wishes 
 of his mistress. When Throckmorton arrived 
 in Edinburgh, the queen was no longer there. 
 The conspirators, who had remarked among the 
 citizens and mechanics of the capital a return of 
 affection for Mary, — a return caused by her 
 lamentations, and perhaps by the barbarous treat- 
 
Life of mary stuart. 
 
 215 
 
 ment she had to undergo, — judged it apropos 
 to remove Mary from the capital, as the only 
 means of preventing the reaction which they 
 feared. About nine o'clock in the evening, on 
 the day after that on which Morton had sworn 
 on his knees to serve and obey her, she was con- 
 ducted to Holyrood, whence, in about an hour, 
 they transferred her under escort to the Castle of 
 Lochleven, situated in the middle of a lake. 
 Morton rode on one side of the queen, the Earl 
 of Athol on the other ; and at some distance 
 from Edinburgh, they delivered her to the custody 
 of Lindsay and Ruthven, by whom she was led 
 to prison. The castle belonged to William 
 Douglas, uterine brother of Murray, and heir 
 presumptive to Morton. 
 
 Throckmorton implored the queen's liberty, 
 yet consented to wait for an answer until all the 
 lords should be assembled at Edinburgh. He 
 then asked permission to see the queen, but ac- 
 quiesced in a refusal when informed that a 
 similar request from the French ambassador had 
 been refused ; but whilst letters passed between 
 him and Cecil, the lords devised three instru- 
 ments, which were forwarded to the brutal Lind- 
 say for the queen's signature. The first con- 
 tained her abdication in favor of he? son; the 
 
216 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 second, Murray's appointment to the regency ; 
 and the third, the appointment of a council of 
 lords to govern the kingdom in case of the ab- 
 sence or death of the regent. With Lindsay 
 was, sent Robert Melville, with letters both from 
 Throckmorton and some of the conspirators, who 
 pretended to be her secret friends^ advising her 
 to consent without hesitation, because no deeds 
 executed under such circumstances could be con- 
 sidered binding in law. That was true, but the 
 confederates confidently hoped that her situation 
 would never change. 
 
 She had not yet read all these letters when 
 Lindsay entered abruptly and presented her the 
 three instruments, ordering her to sign them, if 
 she did not wish to perish on the scaffold as the 
 assassin of her husband. The unhappy queen 
 burst into tears, but the insensible Scot was not 
 affected by her tears ; so that, believii^ her life 
 threatened, she took the pen and signed. " They 
 threatened to kill me if I did not sig-n,''^ (lis m^ont 
 menacee de me tuer, sije ne st/gnoj/s,) wTote Mary 
 herself, a short time after. The prince was 
 anointed and crowned immediately after the sig- 
 nature, and Murray hastened to leave France, 
 whither he had repaired before the sentence of 
 Bothwell. But before assuming the regency, he 
 
BELIEYINa HEB LIFE THREATENED, SHE TOOK THE FEN AND SIGNED. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 219 
 
 visited the queen in her prison, that he might say- 
 that the queen had conjured him to accept the 
 regency. Murray owed every thing to his sister ; 
 she had pardoned his revolt, she had returned 
 favors for his ingratitude. When liis arrival was 
 announced, she believed for an instant that she 
 had reclaimed him to her, and a gleam of hope 
 illumined her heart. But in vain did she load 
 him with tender caresses, in vain she wept, in 
 vain she bathed his hands with her burning tears. 
 Murray was armed with rigor, harshness, bar- 
 barity ; he loaded the unfortunate woman with 
 reproaches, and — what can be neither written 
 nor read without indignation and disgust — this 
 miserable Murray, the principal instigator of 
 Darnley's assassination, durst show his sister the 
 bar and the scaffold in perspective. The next 
 morning he again saw her, and this time appeared 
 to pity her misfortunes ; and the poor Mary, em- 
 bracing him with every effusion of gratitude, 
 conjured him to accept the regency, the only 
 means, she said, of saving her own life and that 
 of her son. It was to draw from his sister this 
 request that Murray had appeared to relent after 
 having terrified her by his gloomy threats. He as- 
 sented, after several refusals ; and, before leaving, 
 he recommended her to use great circumspection, 
 
220 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 and particularly not to attempt to escape, or 
 raise any disturbance against the government, as 
 it would be then out of his power to screen her 
 from punishment. In a note which he addressed 
 (22d of August) to the ambassadors of foreign 
 powers, he states that, moved by the tears and 
 prayers of his sister, no less that through obedi- 
 ence to her, he had consented to be burdened 
 with the weight of the regency. 
 
 The confederates, after the example of Murray, 
 made public declarations, which they often re- 
 newed, and in which they called falsehood and 
 deceit to the aid of their disingenuous conduct, 
 to palliate all that was odious in it. They pre- 
 tended they had offered Mary to obey her as 
 their sovereign, provided she would abandon 
 Bothwell to justice ; that, upon her refusal, they 
 had placed her in confinement, hoping that re- 
 flection would wean from her heart that guilty 
 passion she had indulged ; but instead of exhib- 
 iting signs of repentance, . her obstinacy only 
 seemed to increase, which endangered the safety 
 of the young prince, of the lords, and of the 
 state. Mary replied to these allegations by a 
 manifesto, in which she proposed a convention 
 of the three estates, to submit to them the ques- 
 tions of the punishment of the murderer, and 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 221 
 
 the validity of her marriage, promising to abide 
 by their determination. It should be remarked 
 that Throckmorton had been ordered to request 
 this reunion of the three estates, but his request 
 would not be heard. 
 
 It was only at the end of some months, (4th 
 of December,) when a resolution was taken to 
 accuse Mary of adultery and murder, that an 
 important discovery was spoken of for the first 
 time, which was, however, said to have been 
 made as soon as the 20th of June. It concerned 
 a silver casket which Mary had inherited from 
 her first husband, and which, it is said, she had 
 given to Bothwell : this casket, according to 
 Morton, who had become the possessor of it, was 
 taken upon the person of a servant of Both\vell, 
 named Dalgleish, and in this casket — this is 
 Morton's statement — many letters from Mary 
 to Bothwell, in her own handwriting, were found, 
 proving an intimacy between them prior to the 
 death of Darnley, and the consent of the queen 
 to this death, and successively her marriage with 
 the murderer.* The act of accusation was based 
 upon the pretended result of the letters, and 
 
 * We will in another place revert to these letters, which, it is evi- 
 dent, were fabricated by Murray and his associates, and which the 
 queen asserted were false. 
 
 19* 
 
222 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Parliament adopted it without discussion, on 
 the 10th of the same month; to this act was 
 added another forfeiture against Bothwell. Let 
 us remark, however, among the offences charged 
 against him, this one : " The violence he em- 
 ployed, contrary to law, to compel his sovereign 
 to marry him." 
 
 This Parliament, the worthy precursor of the 
 Long English Parliament, and of the French Na- 
 tional Convention, was so blinded by hatred that 
 it was not perceived that the two acts were 
 irreconcilable. If the letters upon which the 
 first act was based were genuine, if she really 
 entertained secret relations with Bothwell before 
 the murder, it is fully evident that her removal 
 and marriage were voluntary, and that Bothwell 
 had had no need of using violence. Neverthe- 
 less, the fact of violence having been used ap- 
 peared fully established, by all the documents 
 emanating from the confederate lords since they 
 had taken up arms ; it was only to deliver the 
 queen from acts of violence that they had re- 
 united ; whence followed the natural result, that 
 the letters were not genuine. Otherwise, was 
 there ever a more iniquitous manner of proceed- 
 ing known ? When the guilt of the vilest crim- 
 inal is wished to be established by papers attrib- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 223 
 
 uted to him, those papers are produced in his 
 presence, he is allowed to disprove them if he 
 can, and it is only when their authenticity has 
 been fully established that they are admitted as 
 evidence. Here, not only was she condemned 
 without a hearing, but condemned on the evi- 
 dence of letters which had not been avowed, and 
 which bore on their face unequivocal signs of 
 forgery. 
 
 Meanwhile the queen still- groaned in close 
 confinement, under the jealous eye of Lady 
 Douglas, the mother of the regent, and the strict 
 surveillance of Sir William Douglas, the propri- 
 etor of Lochleven. There Mary seemed totally 
 forgotten ; in vain, to recover her liberty, had she 
 offered Murray and the council to ratify all their 
 acts. They had resolved that she should never 
 leave her prison alive. Nevertheless their will 
 was not to be accomplished, and her beauty, 
 affable manners, and even her misfortunes were 
 resources which her enemies could not deprive 
 her of. George Douglas, the brother of William, 
 being moved with pity at the sight of so many 
 misfortunes, and from compassion to a more ten- 
 der sentiment, undertook to effect her escape, 
 even at the peril of his life. By previous con- 
 cert with Beton, a trusty servant of the queen, 
 
224 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 who remained in a village adjacent to Lochleven, 
 a laundress was introduced into the queen's 
 chamber, who immediately exchanged clothes 
 with the woman, and carrying on her head a 
 bundle of linen, fortunately left the castle, and 
 took a seat in the bateau which had brought the 
 laundress, (25th of March; 1568.) Unfortunately, 
 one of the rowers, with all the m-banity of a 
 sailor of the 16th century, wished to put his hand 
 beneath her mufflet, when, to protect herself from 
 this indiscreet act, she raised her arm, regardless 
 of the consequences. One of the rowers imme- 
 diately exclaimed, " That is neither the arm nor 
 the hand of a washerwoman." Mary, being 
 recognized, was conducted back to the castle ; 
 George Douglas was obliged to fly to escape 
 the wrath of his brother and the regent ; but he 
 confided the success of the thwarted scheme to 
 an orphan boy of sixteen years of age, a relation 
 of the Douglas family, known as the little 
 Douglas. 
 
 Lady Douglas and Sir William redoubled 
 their vigilance ; the former carried with her every 
 evening while she supped the keys of the castle, 
 and took great care to take them to her chamber. 
 Five weeks had already elapsed since George's 
 attempt ; the youth was not suspected, and the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 225 
 
 keys were laid upon the table whilst Lady Doug- 
 las took her supper. The youth adroitly took 
 the keys, called the queen and one of her maids 
 named Kennedy, led them without accident out 
 of the castle, locked the door after them, and 
 threw the keys into the lake. The two fugitives 
 entered a bateau, which had been in readiness for 
 some days ; the preconcerted signal was given, 
 and the oars being vigorously plied across the lake, 
 they arrived safely on the beach, where they were 
 received by George Douglas and Beton. Mary 
 slept that night at Niddry, in a house belonging 
 to Lord Seaton, and the next day at an early 
 hour repaired to Hamilton Castle. There her 
 first act was to revoke the resignation of the 
 crown, which had been violently forced from her 
 in the prison of Lochleven, (3d of May.) The 
 news of the queen's deliverance spread with 
 rapidity through the whole of Scotland, and the 
 people received her with enthusiasm ; for though 
 easily led away, if left to themselves, they sel- 
 dom fail to return to justice in a short time. All 
 revolutions, in which the people serve only as 
 the instrument, actually profit but a small num- 
 ber of individuals. The Scottish people knew 
 well that Morton, Maitland, and all the other 
 lords had only wished to overthrow Bothwell to 
 
226 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 divide the spoils, and that Murray had only 
 accused his sister to obtain the power and reign 
 in the name of a two-year-old infant. On the 
 other hand, the people remembered the beauty, 
 grace, and goodness of Mary; her misfortunes 
 also pleaded for her ; as to her errors and wrongs, 
 she had sufficiently expiated them. 
 
 The royalists crowded from all parts around 
 their sovereign, who, in five or six days, was at 
 the head of a numerous confederacy ; nine earls, 
 nine bishops, eighteen lords, and an infinite num- 
 ber of gentlemen, offered her their congratula- 
 tions and services. It was then only, says An- 
 derson, that the queen was informed of the whole 
 truth relative to the murder of her second hus- 
 band and the guilt of her third ; she also offered 
 her brother, who happened to be at Glasgow, to 
 submit the cause of all their dissensions to a free 
 Parliament, and to deliver up to justice any per- 
 son whom he accused of the murder of Darnley, 
 provided he would act likewise' with those whom 
 she might accuse. Morton and Maitland, much 
 alarmed, proclaimed all of Mary's adherents trai- 
 tors ; and Murray, fully determined to maintain 
 his usurpation, collected a small but disciplined 
 band of followers. Followed by Morton, whose 
 military talents he was acquainted with, and 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 227 
 
 Kirkaldy, a warrior of tried valor, he took a po- 
 sition on the heights of Langside, (13th of May,) 
 at the base of which the queen must pass on her 
 way to Dumbarton. 
 
 The Hamiltons, who formed the vanguard of 
 the royalist army, consulting only their zeal, 
 charged to force a passage. Their attack was 
 fierce and the defence obstinate ; the victory was 
 undecided when Morton attacked the royalists in 
 flank. This manoeuvre, being vigorously exe- 
 cuted, decided the contest, and the royalist army 
 was completely routed. The queen beheld from 
 Crookstone Castle the evil success of her arms, 
 and fearing that she would be retaken by her 
 enemies, she immediately mounted on horseback, 
 and, accompanied by Lord Herries and several 
 servants, rode, without stopping, to the abbey of 
 Dundrennan, in Galloway, sixty miles from the 
 unlucky field of battle. She was hotly pursued, 
 but not overtaken.* 
 
 The next evening she resumed her flight, and 
 the morning after declared her intention of seek- 
 ing an asylum from her good, sister of England. 
 Her friends in vain opposed this fatal determina- 
 tion; they recalled to her mind the causes of 
 rivalry which existed between her and the Queen 
 
 * See Appendix, No. 2. 
 
228 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 of England, the constant bad faith of the latter, 
 the assistance she had not ceased to furnish to 
 the Scottish rebels, and the jealousy which had 
 marked all her proceedings. They showed her 
 that it was easy to cross to France, where she 
 would be sure of finding, if not actual immedi- 
 ate assistance, at least the most favorable recep- 
 tion. Mary was immovable : it has been said 
 an invisible hand impelled her to her own ruin. 
 The Archbishop of St. Andrew's conjured her, on 
 his knees, not to persist in a project the lament- 
 able consequences of which he foresaw; Lord 
 Herries and others joined the prelate. Mary ap- 
 peared convinced by the letters of Elizabeth to 
 her, that she would find protection, safety, and 
 benevolence in England. She had received from 
 Queen Elizabeth, long previously, a diamond 
 ring, with the assurance that this ring would be 
 a sign of alliance between the two sisters; and 
 that if the Queen of Scotland ever needed assist- 
 ance, she would only have to send her the ring. 
 It was the means Mary took; Beton set out for 
 London, commissioned by Mary to present the 
 ring to the queen, whilst Mary herself, crossing 
 the Solway Frith in a fishing boat, landed almost 
 alone in the harbor of Workington, (16th of May,) 
 whence she proceeded to Carlisle. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 229 
 
 Mary's arrival in England was regarded by- 
 Cecil as a great victory; the prey which they 
 had so long hunted had at last voluntarily cast 
 herself into their toils ; it was only necessary that 
 she should be disengaged from them. But how 
 he could give to his inimical designs an appear- 
 ance of justice, was a grave matter of discussion 
 in the council. To permit Mary to proceed to 
 the continent, or obtain the assistance of a for- 
 eign prince, would be to risk all the advantages 
 obtained by the treaty of Leith ; if it was advisa- 
 ble to restore her the Scottish sceptre, it ought to 
 be by Elizabeth's influence alone, and under re- 
 strictions which would leave her only a nominal 
 authority ; but to detain her in captivity for life 
 would be the most conducive to the interest of 
 the Queen of England and that of the reformed 
 religion. Cecil was commissioned to accomplish 
 this object. 
 
 As to the queen, it would be difficult to say 
 what was her real intention ; for she changed so 
 often in this affair as in others, that it may be 
 boldly affirmed that she was never of the same 
 opinion more than a single day. When she was 
 informed of the revolt of the confederates, she 
 favored Mary's cause, because the insurrection 
 of the Scottish lords might prove a bad enough 
 20 
 
230 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 example for the English lords. In defending 
 Mary, she indirectly defended herself; she de- 
 manded her liberty, and even refused to Murray 
 the title of regent, and to the young prince that 
 of king; but her minister rendered illusory all 
 the measures she ordered to be taken, and acted 
 nearly in an inverse sense. She was well aware 
 that the Scots had complied with nought of what 
 she had demanded, and she did not appear to 
 notice it ; all her zeal was extinguished ; the 
 ministers did as they listed, and Mary remained 
 a prisoner. She now only saw in a proscribed 
 princess, who asked an asylum of her, an odious 
 rival, who had claims to her own crown, and 
 who was her superior in beauty, if her friends 
 must be believed ; who was at least undeniably 
 younger ; who had a son, who would, one day, 
 probably, occupy the English throne : she would 
 not receive her as a friend ; she would let Cecil 
 act and approve every thing, provided appear- 
 ances were saved. 
 
 Cecil was the very man to conduct so dishon- 
 orable an intrigue, with one great advantage — 
 never did a minister possess a more crafty mind, 
 nor one more fruitful in resources. He com- 
 menced by assuring Mary that Elizabeth would 
 endeavor to reinstate her on her throne, provided 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 231 
 
 she would reject any other alliance, particularly 
 that of France. If she would consent to that, 
 they promised to employ themselves earnestly 
 with her position, and would first endeavor to 
 prevail upon her subjects to recognize her rights 
 without effusion of blood ; in case negotiations 
 were useless, they would have recourse to arms ; 
 yet it was necessary that the Queen of Scot- 
 land should first justify herself of the accusations 
 which had been laid to her charge. Mary as- 
 sented to the latter condition, and to perform it, 
 demanded an interview with Elizabeth 
 
 Cecil had not calculated upon this ; an inter- 
 view between the two queens might have the 
 most grievous consequences for Murray and his 
 associates, perhaps even for their English friends ; 
 and the scrupulous Cecil persuaded the scrupu- 
 lous Elizabeth that a virgin queen, as she was, 
 should not admit into her presence a queen 
 accused of adultery and murder, and the virgin 
 Elizabeth yielded unresistingly to this unan- 
 swerable argument. It was agreed that Mary 
 should first of all be required to disprove the 
 accusations of her enemies before an English 
 council or commission ; it could be required, for 
 the crown of Scotland, since the time of Edward 
 II., was subject to that of England. Mary tri- 
 
232: 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 umphantly answered all the sophisms of Cecil. 
 She declared that she was an independent queen ; 
 that she would never recognize supremacy in any 
 other sovereign ; and that she intended to return 
 to Scotland, or cross over to France. It was 
 decreed that Mary should not leave England. 
 At first her demand was evaded, then positively 
 refused. 
 
 Mary then repented of not having followed the 
 wise advice of the Archbishop of St. Andrew's ; 
 but the evil was done, and she must be resigned. 
 Nevertheless, she complained with no less force 
 than bitterness of having been deceived. It was 
 only after the positive assurances that Elizabeth 
 had given her whilst she was still a prisoner at 
 Lochleven, that she determined on proceeding 
 to England rather than to France. It was very 
 extraordinary that Elizabeth would refuse to see 
 a queen, her relation, under the frivolous pretext 
 of an unproved accusation, after having several 
 times admitted to her presence Murray, the bas- 
 tard son of James ; Murray, who was guilty of 
 crimes deserving death. Moreover, it must not 
 be expected that she would answer her accusers 
 in prison ; they were her subjects, not her equals. 
 Mary insisted on being restored to liberty. 
 
 Mary was right in complaining ; but her com- 
 
LIFE OP MARY STUART. 
 
 233 
 
 plaints only reached Elizabeth through the un* 
 worthy voice of Cecil ; she was not heard. Poor 
 Mary ! she did not suspect that between herself 
 and the infamous minister of a false and treach- 
 erous queen a war to the knife had commenced ; 
 but in this struggle of the strong with the weak, 
 neither equity, nor reason, nor good faith could 
 triumph over force. The English ministers, after 
 long consultation, decided that Mary could not 
 be received at court until she had fully estab- 
 lished her innocence, and that her request to leave 
 the kingdom could not be granted, ivithout great 
 danger to the kingdom and to religion. But, as it 
 would be easy for her to escape from Carlisle, it 
 was determined that she should be immediately 
 removed to Bolton. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 T«IAL OF MARY. THE YORK CONFERENCES. — ATTEMPTS TO 
 
 ESCAFE DISCOVERED. 
 
 To show grounds in the eyes of the public for 
 so unjust a decision, the ministers alleged that 
 Mary had, on the occasion of her first marriage, 
 asserted her right to the throne of England, and 
 that if she was at liberty, she would not fail to 
 20* 
 
234 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 do SO still ; that her advent to the throne, if it 
 took place, would infallibly ruin the cause of 
 Protestantism in Great Britain. The Enghsh 
 ministers, therefore, persisted in requiring a trial, 
 hoping to find means, if not to condemn her, at 
 least to destroy her reputation. Mary indig- 
 nantly repelled the idea of such a trial, as deroga- 
 tory to her dignity. At length the subtlety of 
 Cecil suggested an expedient, which equally 
 served his purpose — a trial, not of Mary, but 
 of her enemies ; who, if they could justify their 
 conduct to the satisfaction of certain Enghsh 
 commissioners, should be allowed to retain their 
 estates and Jionors ; if not, should be abandoned 
 to the justice or the mercy of their sovereign. 
 Elizabeth would then engage, upon certain con- 
 ditions, to reduce the Scots to obedience. 
 
 One of these conditions was, that Mary should 
 abolish the mass in Scotland, and introduce 
 English reform instead of the Presbyterian or 
 republican kirk. Lord Herries urgently coun- 
 selled Mary to agree to this condition. Sixteen 
 lords of the queen's party* were consulted on the 
 
 * Among the Scottish lords, some desired that Mary, having been 
 released from Bothwell, should resume her rights and sceptre ; these 
 were called the queen's lords. Those who, on the contrary, approved 
 of the coronation of the king and the regency of Murray, were styled 
 the king's lords. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 235 
 
 subject, and they answered, that they referred the 
 decision to Mary's prudence,* who gave a con- 
 ditional consent. In her private instructions to 
 her commissioners, she herself says, " Although I 
 have been brought up in the religion which has 
 been for so long that of my kingdom, ... I 
 will follow the counsel of my dearest sister^ 
 . . . and endeavor, as much as in me lieth, to 
 introduce this opinion — Anglican reform — into 
 my realm." Let us not blame Mary too much 
 for this act of weakness, which she afterwards 
 deplored, effacing her fault by bitter repentance. 
 
 Mary accepted this hard condition, involving, 
 as it did, Cecil's pjan. It was not without much 
 repugnance that she gave her consent ; she her- 
 self had to overcome the opposition and en- 
 treaties of her most faithful counsellors, who only 
 beheld in the minister's plan a snare skilfully 
 laid. But in order to be a judge of the motives 
 which determined her, it must not be forgotten 
 that she was in the flower of her age, unjustly 
 
 * It would have been better not to have answered. How could 
 they refer such a matter to the prudence of a young woman, who had 
 only lately committed imprudences, sometimes through goodness, 
 sometimes through weakness ; of a woman, who, burning with the 
 very natural desire at her age to terminate an unjust captivity, and 
 who, not having had much experience, would naturally seize with 
 avidity every means offered her to break her chains ? 
 
236 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 detained a captive by the Queen of England, 
 and that she hoped by concessions to hasten the 
 moment of her restoration to liberty. The city 
 of York was selected as the place of conference. 
 
 Mary, undoubtedly, only consented to this con- 
 ference on the formal promise, that when it 
 would be terminated, she would be replaced 
 upon the throne. Here is a new proof of Eng- 
 lish ministerial loyalty ; a promise of a similar 
 nature, but of an opposite tendency, was made to 
 Murray. Be that as it may, the English com- 
 missioners were the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl 
 of Sussex, and Sir Ralph Sadler, the confidant 
 of Cecil. The Queen of Scotland was repre- 
 sented by Leslie, Bishop of Ross, Lords Living- 
 stone, Boyd, and Herries, and three others. 
 Murray appeared in person, with Morton, Lind- 
 say, the Bishop of Orkney, and the Abbot of 
 Dumfermlin, aided by Maitland and five other 
 counsellors. Mary at first insisted that Eliza- 
 beth's promise to replace her on the throne should 
 be expressed in the powers given to her commis- 
 sioners ; and Murray required a confirmation of 
 the promise made by the ministry, that, in the 
 event of Mary's conviction, she should not be 
 allowed to return to Scotland. These contradic- 
 tory demands showed the duplicity of the Eng- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 237 
 
 lish ministry, which was evinced to a certainty 
 by both being granted. 
 
 Mary's commissioners, as plaintiffs, set forth 
 the charges against Murray and his associates ; 
 that they had risen in arms against their sover- 
 eign, had traitorously confined her in Lochleven, 
 and had, by intimidation, compelled her to sign 
 her abdication. Instead of attempting, as was 
 expected, to justify himself by alleging that his 
 sister had taken part in the murder of Darnley, 
 Murray demanded to communicate in secret to 
 the commissioners the proofs which he had in 
 his possession of her guilt. He alleged that, 
 laboring under a capital accusation, he did not 
 wish to make use of these proofs against his 
 sovereign without being previously assured of 
 their efficacy. He then laid before the commis- 
 sioners a translation of eight letters purporting to 
 have been written by the queen to Bothwell, 
 some previous, others subsequent, to the death of 
 Darnley ; two marriage contracts ; and a collec- 
 tion of amatory sonnets, composed by Mary and 
 addressed to her paramour. The commissioners 
 did not give Murray a definite answer ; but, at 
 his request, they wrote to Elizabeth for additional 
 instructions. 
 
 In every country where any principles of 
 
238 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 justice exist, when papers attributed to a party- 
 are produced in a trial, and especially in a crim- 
 inal trial, and use is desired to be made of them 
 against their author, they are first shown to him, 
 that they may be allowed or contested, and in 
 this latter case be proved ; for it is only after 
 the authenticity of a paper has been established 
 in some manner that its contents can have any 
 weight in law. IVIurray in this case communi- 
 cates-.the papers in private, and the commission- 
 ers should not have received them. If these 
 letters were genuine, what had Murray to fear 
 by producing them ? Was it because he wished 
 to spare his sister a public exposure? Was 
 it not upon their evidence he contended that she 
 would be condemned ? In the hypothesis of the 
 genuineness of these letters, would not their pro- 
 duction have caused Mary or her commissioners 
 to have instantly ended the trial ? Would not 
 Mary have borne any thing rather than suffer 
 these letters to see the light ? No ; these letters 
 were never the production of Mary ; with that 
 proof in his possession, Murray would have 
 silenced his sister the first day. And then, why 
 not produce the originals ? Why a translation, 
 perhaps very incorrect ? This is not the mode 
 of action taken when the truth is advanced. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 239 
 
 The application of the English commissioners 
 to their sovereign, asking of her supplementary- 
 instructions, necessarily delayed the proceedings : 
 in order that the delay might not be remarked, 
 or that the cause of it might not be suspected, 
 Murray replied to the charge. He, as well as 
 his friends, he said, had taken up arms against 
 Bothwell, not against the queen ; the queen had 
 been imprisoned because she would not separate 
 her cause from that of Bothwell ; he had ac- 
 cepted, not extorted, her resignation. Mary's 
 commi^ioners annihilated this feeble defence. 
 Murray and his accomplices, says Anderson, 
 afterwards acknowledged that their answer was 
 but a fictitious plea. They had sworn, however, 
 to proceed uprightly, to regard neither affection 
 nor hatred, to speak without malice and without 
 human respect, and to say only what they would 
 say in God's presence. But what is an oath to 
 men who laugh at the most sacred promises ? 
 
 In the mean time, the king's lords, and the 
 queen's lords, — at whose head was Chastel- 
 herault, who had returned from France, — ear- 
 nestly desired a compromise. Murray knew well 
 that a charge of murder against the queen would 
 be rebuffed by a similar charge against all his 
 associates ; and he was well aware of the 
 
240 
 
 LIFE OP MARY STUART. 
 
 feebleness of his proofs, as for proofs he had 
 only these letters, which would evidently be de- 
 nied, whilst the queen could furnish very strong 
 evidence. The Earl of Sussex, one of the Eng- 
 lish commissioners, had said in express terms, 
 " If the queen's adversaries accuse her of murder 
 by producing her letters, she will deny them and 
 accuse the most of them of manifest consent to 
 the murder, which will be difficult to be denied ; 
 so that, both sides considered, the queen's proofs, 
 I believe, will make her cause prevail." If Mur- 
 ray then reflected upon the consequences, the 
 fact could not be concealed that if he failed he 
 would be delivered to the vengeance of his justly 
 irritated sister ; that, even in case he succeeded, 
 the sickly state of the young prince portended ap- 
 proaching death, by which he would gain noth- 
 ing, as the crown would pass rightfully to the 
 head of Chastelherault, his mortal enemy. 
 
 Hence Murray desired to abandon his proofs 
 against the queen, declare her innocent by act of 
 Parliament, and allow her a considerable revenue 
 from Scotland, provided she would confirm her 
 abdication and the regency, and in case she 
 wished to retain the title of queen, consent to 
 reside in England. Chastelherault, on the con- 
 trary, fearing the intrigues of Murray and the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 241 
 
 pretensions of the house of Lennox, wished that 
 the crown should be restored to Mary, that the 
 prince should be educated under the care of 
 Elizabeth, and that in the interim the govern- 
 ment should be administered by a council or 
 committee of noblemen, in which every man 
 should have that place which became his rank. 
 This was reserving the first place for himself, 
 which caused the Earl of Sussex to remark, that 
 all these men occupied themselves very little 
 about the queen and the prince, her son, but 
 they thought much of their own interests. 
 
 Maitland was commissioned by Murray to 
 prevail on Mary to accede to his terms. He first 
 assured the queen that he had only repaired to 
 York to serve her ; he then endeavored to make 
 her sensible of the advantages of a compromise. 
 The complaisant Maitland afterwards suggested 
 to the Duke of Norfolk, on behalf of the regent, 
 a marriage with Mary, assuring him in private 
 that she was entirely innocent. He also inti- 
 mated that a prompt arrangement would prevent 
 the ministers from producing the defamatory 
 documents. Lastly, he attempted to persuade 
 the Bishop of Ross, that if Mary would confirm 
 the abdication made at Lochleven, and marry 
 21 
 
 \ 
 
242 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 the Duke of Norfolk, the Queen of England 
 would reinstate her on the throne. 
 
 The ministers were fully acquainted with the 
 state of the conferences at York, the increasing 
 embarrassment of Murray, as the moment ap- 
 proached to prefer the charges, the project of the 
 Duke of Norfolk's marriage, and the multiplied 
 intrigues of Maitland. This determined Cecil, 
 instead of sending Murray a direct reply, to 
 remove the conference to Westminster, that he 
 might manage it to his liking by his immediate 
 action. Under pretence that the points referred 
 to in the discussion could not be elucidated by 
 letter, Cecil required two commissioners from 
 each party, accompanied by Sir Ralph Sadler, 
 to repair to Westminster, that the queen might 
 receive the necessary information by word of 
 mouth. Thus closed the York conferences. 
 
 Murray had obtained leave to follow his com- 
 missioners to London, and he was even admitted 
 to the presence of Elizabeth. This was an un- 
 worthy violation of promises already made ; 
 Mary also, who had hoped until now, saw a 
 mysterious plot devised for her ruin. She wrote 
 to her commissioners to require of the Queen of 
 England that she might be confronted with her 
 accuser in the presence of all the nobility and 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 243 
 
 foreign ambassadors ; and if so equitable a re- 
 quest was refused, they were enjoined to declare 
 that their powers were withdrawn. The unfor- 
 tunate Mary divined too well that the scandalous 
 partiality of the government for Murray would 
 end by giving the fatal stroke to her rights. 
 The infamous Cecil promised Murray that the 
 Queen of Scotland should never recover her 
 authority, and that, if he commenced his suit, 
 judgment would be pronounced in his favor. 
 
 Thus encouraged, Murray brought forward his 
 charge, according to which Mary conceived, 
 counselled, and ordered her husband to be assas- 
 sinated, and afterwards her son, so as to place 
 the crown upon the head of the murderer, (1st 
 of December.) Mary's commissioners then re- 
 quested of the queen, since she had admitted 
 Murray into her presence, to give an audience 
 to the Queen of Scots, that she might prove 
 her innocence. The virgin Elizabeth answered, 
 coldly, that this demand would require mature 
 and grave reflection. When we write or read 
 the recital of so many acts of injustice, duplicity, 
 and perfidy, it is consoling to think that there 
 exists a God, a rewarder and an avenger. An 
 Elizabeth, because she is a queen ; a Cecil, be- 
 cause he is the minister of this impious queen ; 
 
244 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 a Murray, a Morton, a Maitland, because they 
 are in power — may escape the justice of men ; 
 and their crimes will not be atoned for after- 
 wards ! and their noble victim, offering to Heav- 
 en the sacrifice of her afflictions, will find after 
 her but nought ! and her insensible ashes will 
 mingle with the insensible ashes of her execu- 
 tioners ! O, no ! that will not be ; God, the 
 avenger. Eternity, are there : I feel them in my 
 heart. 
 
 Mary's commissioners fulfilled their mission 
 with courage and perseverance, but their efforts 
 were fruitless. Then, by the advice of Chastel- 
 herault and the French and Spanish ambassa- 
 dors, they declared the conference dissolved. But 
 Cecil refused to accept their declaration, on the 
 ground that they had misunderstood the queen's 
 answ^er. Not to create difficulties, the commis- 
 sioners rectified what Cecil termed inaccuracy ; 
 but three days had elapsed, and during the inter- 
 val of the 6th to the 9th of December, Murray 
 had laid before the commissioners the pretended 
 papers. Cecil immediately summoned the lead- 
 ers of the English nobility, that they might per- 
 form their part by the letters produced by Murray. 
 When these papers had been sufficiently ex- 
 amined, Cecil did not ask the English lords to 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 245 
 
 declare their opinion or pronounce on the authen- 
 ticity of these writings. They were merely told 
 that Mary had demanded an audience with Eliza- 
 beth to reply to the charge ; but he added, that 
 Elizabeth feared that her modesty — what mock- 
 ery ! — would suffer from such an interview. 
 No one durst express their disapprobation, and 
 Mary's commissioners were informed that, under 
 the present circumstances, nothing but a glorious 
 justification could save their mistress from in- 
 famy ; but that this justification could not take 
 place before a maiden queen ! 
 
 It does not appear to have ever been Cecil's 
 intention to obtain a final decision. He only 
 wished to get possession of the letters produced, 
 that Mary, aware that their publication or sup- 
 pression depended upon Elizabeth, would yield 
 more easily to what he required of her; but 
 Mary's resolution disconcerted Cecil and his 
 associates. She demanded that copies of the 
 papers should be given to her commissioners, 
 that she might examine them, and even promised 
 to name among her accusers two of the murder- 
 ers of her husband, (Morton and Maitland,) pro- 
 vided she was allowed access to Elizabeth. The 
 Bishop of Ross having obtained an audience from 
 the latter, (7th of January, 1569,) to obtain a 
 21* 
 
246 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 copy of the papers, Elizabeth informed him that 
 Mary would do well to resign her crown, and 
 peaceably end her days in England. The bishop 
 replied, that his mistress would not consent to 
 this sacrifice ; but Elizabeth persisted in her re- 
 fusal, and the interview terminated. Murray and 
 his associates departed for Scotland, bearing a 
 declaration, that as nothing could be proved 
 against them which could sully their reputation 
 or honor, so no sufficient reason had been given 
 why Elizabeth should entertain any evil opinion 
 of the conduct of the queen, her good sister. 
 The Bishop of Ross then demanded that his mis- 
 tress be treated with the same courtesy that had 
 been extended to Murray ; if she was to be de- 
 tained a captive in England, he wished to protest 
 in her name against the validity of any act which 
 should be subscribed by her whilst she was under 
 restraint. 
 
 Mary's enemies contend that if at the York 
 conference Mary had maintained a decided 
 superiority over her accusers, she yielded this 
 advantage at Westminster, by refusing to offer 
 any defence except before the queen. Cecil had 
 said that Mary would not have so earnestly de- 
 manded admittance to the presence of Elizabeth, 
 had she not known that her request would be 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 247 
 
 refused. To this objection it is triumphantly 
 answered that Mary only claimed what was just 
 and reasonable ; that it was more than strange 
 that she was confined two hundred miles from 
 the place of trial, whilst Murray was present, and 
 obtained from the queen as many private audi- 
 ences as he requested. It is certain that Cecil, 
 no longer knowing to what means to recur, broke 
 up the conference without concluding any thing, 
 and that he always evaded the request which 
 Mary made for a copy of the papers. 
 
 It is recollected that Maitland had spoken to 
 Mary of a mamage with the Duke of Norfolk. 
 The duke, whether he feared incurring the wrath 
 of Elizabeth, or that he attached very little im- 
 portance to Maitland's proposition, made no 
 advances ; but Murray, before his departure, re- 
 newed this intrigue. He sent Robert Melville 
 to his sister, and waited in person on the duke. 
 The only means, he said, of securing the tran- 
 quillity of the two kingdoms, was the marriage 
 of the Queen of Scots with a Protestant lord, and 
 no other could so easily gain the assent of all 
 parties as the duke. Norfolk answered, that he 
 could not determine without consulting his sov- 
 ereign ; Mary, that she would give no answer 
 whilst she remained a captive. If her liberty and 
 
248 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 authority were restored to her, she would listen 
 to his advice, and always prove a good sister. 
 
 It must not be imagined that Murray acted on 
 this occasion for his sister's interest; it was his 
 own. He knew that the queen's lords had as- 
 sembled on the borders, to prevent him from 
 reentering the kingdom ; and that many English 
 lords of the northern counties were leagued to- 
 gether to intercept him in Yorkshire. Through 
 the message of Robert Melville, he induced his 
 sister to believe that he was eager to restore her 
 to liberty, and he obtained in exchange an order 
 from her to the Scottish lords not to oppose his 
 passage. Mary was then at Rippon ; Elizabeth, 
 who had permitted Murray and his accomplices 
 to return to Scotland, should have — to show 
 herself just, supposing that she had the right to 
 constitute herself judge of the Queen of Scot- 
 land — allowed her the same privilege. But in- 
 stead thereof, and as if Mary had been her subject, 
 and guilty towards her, Elizabeth redoubled her 
 severity. Not believing her prey sufficiently 
 guarded, she had her transferred to the heart of 
 England, placed her at first under the care of the 
 Earl of Shrewsbury, transported her from castle 
 to castle, and sent her later to Tutbury, where 
 she was imprisoned in a house built of wood, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 249 
 
 originally designed for a hunting seat, and sur- 
 rounded by a lofty wall, which in a great meas- 
 ure excluded the sun.* 
 
 A description of this residence is given in one 
 of Mary's letters, published in the Life of Lord 
 Egerton. She had but two small rooms [petites 
 chambrettes) for herself and maids ; the walls were 
 pierced with fissures, the plaster having in many 
 places separated from the timber; and though 
 they intrenched themselves behind screens, cur- 
 tains, and blankets, they were always ill with 
 colds. She had no place where she could walk 
 under cover in the house ; and no rooms, to 
 which she could retire, but two little closets, 
 (petits trous,) about seven feet square, looking on 
 the w^all. The house was crowded with guards, 
 valets, &c., without any convenience for. so nu- 
 merous a family, and the privies under her win- 
 dow exhaled an infectious odor which could not 
 be removed. 
 
 It was from this horrible abode that she wrote 
 many letters to Elizabeth, which, if she had not 
 carried egotism so far as to render her a stranger 
 to every sentiment of humanity, would have 
 moved her to compassion, and caused her to re- 
 gret her past severity. Foreign powers com- 
 
 * See Appendix, No. 10. 
 
350 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 plained; but Elizabeth answered, that she should 
 be praised for her indulgence, instead of being 
 blamed for severity ; for she had, to Mary^s inter- 
 est, suppressed documents which would have 
 covered her with everlasting infamy. 
 
 Meanwhile, several English lords, who had 
 approved of the plan of a marriage between 
 Mary and Norfolk, resumed the project, and 
 finally obtained the duke's consent; he had at 
 first obstinately refused, because he feared the 
 vindictive Elizabeth. When the question of the 
 marriage was first me'ntioned, Elizabeth spoke in 
 such a manner as to make him understand that 
 it could not take place without her consent ; and 
 the duke answered as lightly, that he v/ould never 
 marry a woman whose husband cannot sleep 
 securely on his pilloiv. Nevertheless, as on one 
 side this union flattered his vanity, and on the 
 other he noticed among the lords who urged him 
 the Earl of Leicester and the famous Throck- 
 morton, he gave his unqualified consent. 
 
 A letter, signed by Norfolk and the Earls of 
 Leicester, Arundel, and Pembroke, Avas sent to 
 the Queen of Scotland, in which they proposed 
 restoring her to her throne, and recognizing her 
 rights to the succession in England, on condition 
 that she would never impugn the right of EUza- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 251 
 
 beth, or her direct heirs ; that she would conclude 
 a perpetual league, offensive and defensive, with 
 England ; that she would pardon her revolted 
 subjects, and marry the Duke of Norfolk. Mary 
 answered, that she would willingly agree to every 
 thing, provided they would obtain the queen's 
 consent to the marriage ; for by marrying Darn- 
 ley against the Queen of England's wish, she 
 had been constantly unhappy. 
 
 When the liberation of Mary was next dis- 
 cussed in the English cabinet, the four lords pro- 
 posed the articles which had been submitted by 
 them to Mary ; but they suppressed the one re- 
 specting the marriage, until Maitland, who was 
 to disclose the project to Elizabeth, should arrive 
 from Scotland. The plan was generally ap- 
 proved; Cecil formally promised not to oppose 
 it, although he nevertheless refused to second it. 
 Lords Boyd and Wood were sent to Scotland, 
 the former to obtain the consent of the queen^s 
 lords, the latter that of Murray, who, in reality, 
 by no means desired the success of a plan which 
 would deprive him of the regency. Norfolk now 
 showed as much eagerness as he had previously 
 shown indifference ; he commenced an active but 
 secret correspondence with Mary, through the 
 agency of the Bishop of Ross, expecting that 
 
252 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Elizabeth would know nothing of what was 
 passing. He was deceived : the treacherous 
 Wood revealed all to Elizabeth before his de- 
 parture. On the other hand, Bothwell remitted 
 from Denmark his consent to a divorce ; the 
 Kings of France and Spain, as likewise the Eng- 
 lish nobility, approved of every thing; nothing 
 remained but that the articles should be ratified 
 by the regent and Elizabeth. 
 
 Murray assembled the Scottish Parliament, 
 and while he affected to speak in favor of Mary's 
 liberation, employed all his influence to prevent 
 it. Parliament would not even consent to the 
 appointment of a committee to examine the ques- 
 tion of the validity or nullity of Bothwell's mar- 
 riage. Maitland, who did not doubt the perfidy 
 of the regent, then feared for himself, and deemed 
 it prudent to seek an asylum with his friend, the 
 Earl of Athol. Murray did not lose a moment 
 in transmitting to Elizabeth the decision of the 
 Scottish Parliament. He informed her by letter 
 that the Scots would never consent to receive 
 Mary. His messenger found Elizabeth at Farn- 
 ham, (13th of August,) and the news she received 
 rendered her doubly discontented ; at first, be- 
 cause she was tired of having Mary on her hands, 
 and would fain allow her to depart for Scotland, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 253 
 
 provided she had nothing to fear for herself; 
 then, because she perceived by Mun-ay's letter 
 that the project of Norfolk's marriage had been 
 concealed from her. 
 
 As the contents of the message had transpired, 
 Leicester was urgently pressed to explain the 
 whole matter to Elizabeth, who, on leaving the 
 table, advised Norfolk to beioare on what pillow 
 he should rest his head. This expression was not 
 reassuring. Leicester was urged anew ; he still 
 promised, yet delayed. It was only after some 
 days that, fearing for his own security, he im- 
 agined the melodramatic scene by which his 
 pardon would be assured. 
 
 The court having proceeded from Farnham to 
 Tichfield, Leicester kept his bed, and the queen 
 was informed that he was dangerously ill. The 
 virgin queen hastened to visit him, and as she 
 sat by his bedside, the sick man, in a feeble and 
 trembling voice, interrupted by sobs, informed 
 her that, before dying, he wished to ask pardon 
 for the ingratitude and disloyalty he was guilty 
 of, in having wished to marry her rival to one of 
 her subjects. Leicester, as he expected, easily 
 obtained pardon, and survived. Norfolk was 
 severely reprimanded, and forbidden, under pen- 
 alty of treason, ever more to entertain the project. 
 
254 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 The duke cheerfully assented ; but perceiving that 
 the courtiers, especially Leicester, avoided him, 
 he set out for his castle of Kenninghall, in Nor- 
 folk. The queen, who suspected him of treach- 
 ery, peremptorily ordered him to return without 
 delay. 
 
 The regent, in the interim, wishing to appre- 
 nend Maitland and baffle his intrigues in Mary's 
 favor, invited him to attend a council at Stirling. 
 An order was given for his arrest, and the sus- 
 picious, crafty Maitland was insnared. Murray 
 appointed a day for his trial ; he wished to in- 
 timidate and compel him to become Norfolk's 
 accuser. Maitland refused, and Murray did not 
 hesitate to assume the character which the for- 
 mer rejected at the peril of his life. He sent 
 the duke's letters to Elizabeth, protesting that 
 he had only appeared to assent to the project 
 through motives of personal safety. These vile 
 manoeuvres caused the Duke of Chastelherault 
 to say, " Murray aims higher than is supposed ; 
 he desires the crown. May Heaven grant that he 
 may find in the path he enters what so many 
 others have found before him." 
 
 Norfolk was sent to the Tower, Leicester, 
 Arundel, and Pembroke, excluded from the royal 
 presence, and the Bishop of Ross, Lord Lumley, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 255 
 
 and some others, placed under arrest. The prose- 
 cution was no less vigorously carried on than if 
 it concerned a direct outrage against the person 
 of Elizabeth ; but the customary means * of ob- 
 taining proofs or confessions only produced the 
 conviction, that the proceedings of the accused 
 might have offended the susceptibility of the 
 Queen of England, but that there was not a 
 shadow of disloyalty or treason in them. Seri- 
 ous fears, arising from the situation of the 
 northern counties, distracted the attention of 
 Elizabeth and her ministers from a deed which 
 would have been performed as they had originally 
 agreed, to devote it wholly to the insurrection 
 which had broken out in the remote provinces. 
 
 The Queen of Scots had friends in Northum- 
 berland and the neighboring counties. The spec- 
 tacle of a young princess, the victim of her 
 confidence in the promises of Elizabeth, and the 
 captive of her who should have been her pro- 
 tectress, deeply moved generous men. The 
 charms of her conversation, and the elegance 
 
 * Questions were proposed to each individual in private, and he 
 was informed that his only hope of mercy depended on the truth of 
 his replies. These confessions were afterwards compared, discrepan- 
 cies explained, and new questions suggested. Thus every suspicious 
 circumstance was sifted, and the innocence or guilt of the parties de- 
 termined upon. 
 
256 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 and sweetness of her manners, added necessarily 
 to the interest which her misfortunes inspired. 
 All those who, even without knowing her, con- 
 tended that her right to the English throne was 
 legitimate, detested the selfish policy which 
 sought to weaken that right by the most odious 
 calumny ; Catholics, in fine, regarded her as a * 
 martyr, suffering for her attachment to the faith 
 of her fathers. A great number of English lords 
 had offered her their services ; these she had 
 refused by the advice of Norfolk. But the dis- 
 grace of that lord extinguished all her hopes, and 
 when Huntingdon and Hereford, her declared 
 enemies, were appointed her jailers, she was agi- 
 tated with violent apprehensions for her life. 
 She despatched secret messages to the Earl of 
 Westmoreland, the brother-in-law of Norfolk, 
 and to the Earl of Northumberland, who had 
 been appointed by the council ; and through 
 these she informed of her situation all those 
 who had formerly tendered their services to her. 
 The Earl of Sussex had communicated to the 
 two former the alarms he had felt respecting the 
 moral situation of the northern counties, and 
 they had succeeded by their answers in dissi- 
 pating his suspicions. Some imprudent acts 
 and untimely demonstrations of Mary's friends 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 257 
 
 revived their suspicions ; and when Sussex had 
 written to the two earls to repair to York, and 
 was refused by them, suspicion became certainty. 
 
 The two earls, notified by the order of Sus- 
 sex that their conduct was suspected, believed 
 they would not be able to escape the danger 
 threatened by the court without taking up arms 
 against it. At Branspeth Castle they were joined 
 by some hundreds of followers, and on the 16th 
 of November unfurled their banner. The design 
 of the insurgents was to proceed to Tutbury, 
 to liberate the Queen of Scotland, and to compel 
 Elizabeth to recognize her as presumptive heir. A 
 proclamation was addressed to Catholics, calling 
 on them to obtain redress for their grievances, 
 restore the ancient worship, and protect the no- 
 bility of the realm from utter ruin. The two 
 earls expected much from this proclamation ; for, 
 according to Sadler, whom we cannot suspect, 
 there were not in all this country ten gentlemen 
 sincerely attached to reform. Nevertheless, this 
 proclamation had very little effect ; the Catholics 
 — for what reason is unknown — ranging them- 
 selves under the standard of Sussex. When the 
 insurgents arrived at Clifford, they held a coun- 
 cil of war. The Spanish ambassador had in- 
 formed them that they must not expect assistance 
 22* 
 
258 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 from his master, but that they might, neverthe- 
 less, apply directly to the Duke of Alva, in 
 Flanders. The insurgents then abandoned their 
 design of liberating the Queen of Scots, and 
 with seven thousand men hastened back to 
 Raby Castle. From thence they took possession 
 of Hartlepool, in order to have free communica- 
 tion with the Spanish Netherlands ; but the 
 Duke of Alva excused himself under various 
 pretexts from sending the assistance demanded 
 of him, and it even appears that he hindered 
 Philip 11. from interfering. On the 27th of the 
 same month, the Queen of Scots was transferred 
 from Tutbury to Coventry. 
 
 The indifference of the Catholics to the cause 
 of the insurgents, and the refusal of the Duke 
 of Alva, disconcerted the two earls, who could 
 only count upon their own resources : even these 
 resources would soon fail them, for desertion 
 each day thinned their ranks. Nevertheless, Sus- 
 sex feared to attack them, because he had but 
 little confidence in his troops, which were com- 
 posed almost wholly of Catholics. He therefore 
 waited for the arrival of the Earl of Warwick, 
 who headed an army of twelve thousand men. 
 At the approach of the royal army, the insur- 
 gents lost all confidence, and hastily retreated 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 259 
 
 to Hexham, where the infantry dispersed. The 
 cavalry, numbering about five hundred men, 
 crossed into Scotland through Liddisdale. Eliz- 
 abeth demanded the surrender of the fugitives, 
 but the Scots on the frontier braved the threats 
 of Elizabeth and the orders of Murray. A trai- 
 tor, — the only one, — Hector Graeme, of Harlow, 
 delivered up the Earl of Northumberland to 
 Murray, who confined him in the Castle of 
 Lochleven, and offered Elizabeth, it is said, to 
 exchange him for his sister. The remonstrances 
 of the foreign ambassadors, prompted by the 
 Bishop of Ross, prevented this shameful exchange, 
 in which Elizabeth and Murray would have re- 
 ciprocally furnished a victim. Westmoreland, 
 and all the other chiefs of the insurgents, who 
 were at first saved by the courageous resistance 
 of the frontier clans, escaped to the continent. 
 
 Elizabeth's vengeance was terrible ; all those 
 who could be accused of having taken part in 
 the insurrection were despoiled of their property, 
 tortured, and put to death. Some were pardoned 
 after a long captivity, on taking the oath of su- 
 premacy.* When all had been punished, Eliza- 
 beth published a proclamation, in which she is 
 
 * The oath by which the King or Queen of England was recognized 
 as the supreme head of the church of England. 
 
260 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 made to say, that she " did not mean to molest 
 any one for religious opinions, so long as those 
 opinions did not conflict with the laws of the 
 realm, which enforced the frequentation of divine 
 service in the ordinary churches,^'' 
 
 The failure of the two earls had not discour- 
 aged all of Mary's friends. One of the most 
 zealous for her deliverance was Leonard Dacres, 
 head of the noble family of the Dacres of Gillis- 
 land. At the commencement of the rebellion 
 he had left the court to raise men, avowedly for 
 the service of Elizabeth, but actually to join the 
 insurgents. When he perceived their cause des- 
 perate, he fell upon their rear guard, made a 
 number of prisoners, and thus obtained among 
 his neighbors the reputation of a devoted loyal- 
 ist. But the ministers were not duped by his 
 conduct, and the Earl of Sussex was ordered to 
 arrest him on a charge of high treason, (Janu- 
 ary, 1570.) 
 
 Leonard Dacres was upon his guard ; he be- 
 came aware of his pursuit, and within a month 
 we find him at the head of a numerous body of 
 troops, three thousand borderers having ranged 
 themselves under his banner.* An engagement 
 took place on the banks of the Gelt on the 22d 
 
 * The banner of Dacres was covered with scallop shells. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 261 
 
 of February, between Dacres's forces and the 
 royal army. Leonard did not evince less ability 
 than courage, but he was obliged to yield to 
 much superior forces; he escaped to Scotland, 
 from whence he proceeded to Flanders. 
 
 A month previous the Scottish regent had 
 died, and according to the unchristian-like but 
 partly excusable wish of the Duke of Chastel- 
 herault, Providence had sent him what so many 
 others had met in the same career of usurpation. 
 The regent had confiscated the property of many 
 members of the Hamilton family. One of them, 
 Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, was despoiled, not 
 only of his own domains, but also, by an atro- 
 cious act of injustice, of what formed his wife's 
 dower. The latter was given to a favorite of 
 Murray, and the new proprietor, presenting him- 
 self unexpectedly at the house of the woman, 
 drove her ignominiously forth, without giving her 
 time to assume her apparel. This treatment 
 made such an impression upon this unfortunate 
 victim that she lost her reason, and died in a 
 very short time afterwards. Her husband swore 
 that he would be revenged, not upon ths favorite, 
 but on Murray himself. He arranged his meas- 
 ures so well, that one day, as the regent was 
 passing through the town of Linlithgow, he en- 
 
1^69 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 tered a house which was unoccupied at the time, 
 and shot him with a carabine. The regent's suite 
 advanced to the house from which the shot was 
 fired ; but, before they had forced an entrance, 
 the murderer had mounted a race horse which he 
 had ready near by, and gained the road. He was 
 pursued, but not overtaken ; the regent died dur- 
 ing the night.* 
 
 The queen's followers hoped for a moment ; 
 Chastelherault and the Earls of Argyle and Hunt- 
 ley assumed the government in the queen's name. 
 Kirkaldy, who, as well as Maitland, had definitely 
 joined Mary's party, admitted them into Edin- 
 burgh, of which place he held the command. 
 This triumph was of short duration ; Elizabeth, 
 under pretence of punishing the frontier clans, 
 who had afforded an asylum to the state rebels, — 
 she who had so often given an asylum to the 
 Scottish rebels, — ordered two armies to set out j 
 one commanded by Sussex, the other by Lord 
 Scroop. Morton, for w^hom Heaven reserved 
 
 * Robertson of Dalmeny thus sums up Murray's character: 
 "Murray, who practised more deeply in hypocrisy than perhaps any 
 man that has lived ; whose mind was steeled equally against human- 
 ity, honor, and truth ; who walked in darkness ; who smiled in the 
 midst of iniquity ; and who covered all his actions with the cloak of 
 religion, is to be handed down as an impostor of the first magnitude 
 to all future times." 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 263 
 
 the reward so well merited by his crimes, joined 
 the foreign invaders with all Murray's followers, 
 and a great part of Scotland was overrun, fire 
 and sword in hand. The Bishop of Ross and 
 the French ambassador induced Elizabeth to 
 recall her troops ; she even appeared to waver 
 between the choice of a successor to Murray 
 and the restoration of Mary to her throne. But 
 she had offered too many injuries * to Mary not 
 to fear that if she was restored to liberty, she 
 would seek to be revenged, and that, assisted by 
 France and Spain, she would succeed ; and as 
 if she had the right to command in Scotland, 
 she notified the Scots to elect a regent in the 
 place of Murray. Lennox, the grandfather of 
 the prince, was chosen. 
 
 The Queen of England was probably decided 
 by the publication of a bull of Pope Pius V , in 
 the beginning of the month of May. The bull 
 declared her guilty of heresy, deprived her of her 
 pretended rights to the crown, and absolved the 
 English from the oath of allegiance. A copy of 
 it was aflfixed during the night to the gate of the 
 Bishop of London's residence, by a gentleman 
 named Felton, who was executed shortly after ; 
 
 * Forgiveness to the injiired doth belong ; 
 They never pardon who commit the wrong." 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 and although the queen affected to turn the 
 pope's decree into ridicule, it proved the source 
 of considerable alarm, because she believed its 
 execution was connected with some plan of for- 
 eign invasion. Under these circumstances, her 
 hatred and jealousy could but increase against 
 the innocent Mary. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 NEGOTIATIONS WITH MARY. — TROUBLES IN SCOTLAND. — EXE- 
 CUTION OF NORFOLK. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mary by her pressing solicita- 
 tions, her English friends by their entreaties, and 
 the Kings of France and Spain by their remon- 
 strances, finally obtained from Elizabeth (Sep- 
 tember 1570) a promise to name the conditions 
 on which she would liberate her captive. Nego- 
 tiations for this purpose were commenced by the 
 English ministers with the Queen of Scotland. 
 The followers of the latter were the more eager 
 to obtain her liberty at any price, because they 
 were aware that there existed among her coun- 
 sellors a powerful party, who declared the murder 
 of the Queen of Scotland the only means of 
 
LIFE OF MARV STUART. 
 
 265 
 
 restoring peace to England. This means was 
 rejected by Elizabeth, not through motives of 
 humanity, for she ardently desired the death of 
 Mary, but through decency, that it might not be 
 said she had shed the blood of her nearest rela- 
 tion. Hence she offered the regent, Lennox, to 
 deliver Mary to him, provided he would engage 
 that she should be made way with ; and hence 
 the Earl of Shrewsbury was ordered to put her 
 to death on the first attempt her friends should 
 make to rescue her. 
 
 Cecil and Maitland repaired to Chatsworth, 
 where Mary was then confined, and during the 
 negotiation, which continued a fortnight, Mary 
 proved herself a match for these wily statesmen. 
 Nevertheless, the so natural desire of regaining 
 her liberty induced her to subscribe to all their 
 demands, except what concerned her religious 
 principles. The consent of the Scots was alone 
 necessary : the king's lords, with Morton at their 
 head, anived about the middle of February, 
 (1571,) and contended before Elizabeth that sub- 
 jects had the right to depose illegitimate or im- 
 moral sovereigns ; an uncourtly doctrine, to which 
 she listened with bad enough grace, and which 
 did not incline her in their favor. The discussion 
 which took place a month after with the queen's 
 23 
 
266 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 lords referred only to the securities to be given 
 by the Queen of Scots on reascending the 
 throne. 
 
 Elizabeth, who had appeared interested in 
 terminating this affair promptly, resumed her 
 usual irresolution at the moment for action. 
 She hesitated so long, that no one knew to what 
 her subterfuges would lead. " Believe me," said 
 Leicester himself, " no one in England can say 
 which way it will go." Cecil, who had been 
 raised to the peerage, under the title of Baron 
 Burleigh, relieved his mistress of her embarrass- 
 ment. The commissioners of the king's lords 
 were recalled, in the name of the prince, — later, 
 James VL, — under pretence that they had not 
 sufficient powers. This revocation was the work 
 of Burleigh, who, on the other hand, favored with 
 all his influence the proposition of marriage made 
 to Elizabeth in the name of the Duke of Anjou, 
 brother of Charles IX. 
 
 Soon after the separation of commissioners, 
 Parliament commenced its session. One of the 
 first bills proposed, and which, after having 
 passed both houses, received the royal sanction, 
 declared it high treason in any one to claim a 
 right to the crown during the queen's life ; or to 
 assert that it belonged to any other person than 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 267 
 
 the queen ; or call the queen a heretic or usurper ; 
 or to deny the right of Parliament to regulate 
 the order of succession and the heritage of the 
 crown. 
 
 The death of Murray was far from having 
 restored calm to Scotland ; the parties, more ex- 
 asperated than ever against each other, since 
 Elizabeth had recalled her troops, waged the 
 most fearful war. The soldiers of Lennox sur- 
 prised the Castle of Dumbarton, which was con- 
 sidered impregnable. Among the prisoners was 
 the Archbishop of St. Andrew's, who had taken 
 refuge there from the pursuit of the regent's par- 
 tisans: the prelate perished on a gibbet. This 
 crime involved many others ; many acts of vio- 
 lence, committed by way of retaliation, were 
 followed by new massacres. Even children, it is 
 said, fought in the streets, with stones, sticks, and 
 knives, for King James or Queen Mary. To 
 complete the confusion, each party convoked a 
 Parliament ; the queen's at Edinburgh, the king's 
 at Stirling. 
 
 Kirkaldy formed the project of terminating, by 
 a decisive stroke, this direful contest. He con- 
 ceived the plan of seizing Stirling by a coup de 
 main; and it is presumed that, if he had com- 
 manded the expedition in person, he would have 
 
268 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 completely succeeded ; he confided it to Fairny 
 Herst, Scott of Buccleuch, and Claude Hamil- 
 ton. These three chiefs set out with about five 
 hundred knights, and were admitted into the 
 city at very early morn, by a native of Stirling, 
 named Bell. Detachments were immediately 
 placed in the houses occupied by the king's lords, 
 who, surprised at this sudden attack, surrendered 
 without resistance ; the Earl of Marr alone de- 
 fended himself valiantly, which gave the others 
 time to rally. The regent Lennox was made 
 prisoner, and Claude Hamilton ordered him to 
 be executed, which order was obeyed, amidst 
 cries of ^'■Remember the archbishop 
 
 Hamilton and his friends were, however, 
 obliged to retire before the superior forces which 
 had rallied around the Earl of Marr, who, on 
 account of the services rendered by him, was 
 appointed regent of the kingdom. Mary's parti- 
 sans, reduced to a small number, established 
 themselves in Edinburgh, where Kirkaldy con- 
 tinued to command in the queen's name, whilst, 
 in the north, a band of Highlanders, under the 
 command of Sir Adam Gordon, essayed defend- 
 ing the interests she had embraced. Mary's 
 cause was not abandoned in England, although 
 all previous attempts had failed. Parliament, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 269 
 
 not content with proscribing hei pretensions to 
 the crown, had passed a bill which subjected 
 CathoUcs to such conditions, and such severe 
 penalties for each infraction of them, that they 
 were placed in the alternative of not being able 
 to remain in England without offence to their 
 consciences, or of removing from it without 
 losing their fortunes. Other provisos affected 
 those who had filled posts during the preceding 
 reign, although they were not Catholics; the 
 spirit of discontent pervaded the majority of the 
 nation. Harassed by the intolerance of the new 
 laws. Catholics, suspected Protestants, men de- 
 prived of their places, those whose property had 
 been confiscated, the discontented of all classes, 
 took the desperate resolution of defending their 
 interests at the peril of their lives, rather than be 
 thrown into prison and forfeit their property to 
 the queen. A leader was needed, and they cast 
 their eyes upon the Duke of Norfolk, whom the 
 vindictive Elizabeth still detained in the Tower. 
 
 Unfortunately, one of the Queen of Scotland's 
 servants, named Bailly, was arrested at Dover, as 
 the bearer of a packet of letters, some of which, 
 the address excepted, were written in cipher. 
 Lord Cobham, to whom they had been sent, 
 confided them for some hours to the Bishop of 
 23* 
 
270 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Ross, who was adroit enough to substitute in 
 their place others, the contents of which were 
 unimportant. Bailly, having been examined, 
 confessed what he knew concerning the con- 
 spiracy ; he finished by declaring it was the trea- 
 son of a certain Brown, who carried to the council 
 a bag of money he had received from the secre- 
 tary of Norfolk to bring to Bannister. In the 
 bag were found letters which proved that this 
 money was destined for Lord Herries, the agent 
 and counsellor of the Queen of Scotland. Di- 
 vers individuals, even the Bishop of Ross, were 
 arrested, and the torture, or f«ar of the torture, 
 made them avow what the ministers wished to 
 know.* 
 
 It was ascertained that there had been several 
 plans to effect Mary's release ; that on many 
 occasions she had asked and obtained the advice 
 of Norfolk ; that the money sent to Bannister 
 had been forwarded to Norfolk by the French 
 ambassador; that through the mediation of Ru- 
 
 * The Bishop of Ross claimed the ambassadorial privilege, but was 
 not hearkened to. He alleged that, when Randolph and Tamworth 
 were convicted of having assisted the Scottish rebels. Queen Mary 
 had been contented with ordering them to leave the kingdom. This 
 argument was peremptory; but Burleigh resolved the difficulty, by 
 informing the bishop that he must either answer or be put to the 
 rack. ^ 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 271 
 
 dolphi, negotiations had been established be- 
 tween the duke, on one side, and the King of 
 Spain, Duke of Alva, and the pope, on the other ; 
 that Mary, despairing of redress from Elizabeth, 
 with whom she had exhausted every means in 
 her power, had instructed Rudolphi to act for her 
 at foreign courts, and that the duke had reviewed, 
 approved, and corrected these instructio;is ; that 
 Philip II. had offered her for a husband Don 
 John of Austria, but that she preferred the Duke 
 of Norfolk, provided he would agree to restore 
 the Catholic faith ; that of the two projects pre- 
 sented to Norfolk by Rudolphi, one aimed at the 
 arrest of Elizabeth on her way to the House of 
 Lords, the other to collect the greatest possible 
 number of troops, and effect a union with the 
 Duke of Alva, who would land at Harwich with 
 ten thousand veterans. 
 
 The first victim devoted by the ministers to 
 j^^geance was, as is well known, the Duke of 
 Norfolk, whom the queen had not pardoned for 
 persisting in seeking to marry the Queen of 
 Scotland. On the 14th of January, 1572, the 
 Earl of Shrewsbury, having been appointed lord 
 high steward, summoned twenty-six peers, se- 
 lected by the ministers, to attend within two days, 
 in "Westminster Hall, to determine on the duke's 
 
272 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 fate. The duke was charged with imagining 
 and compassing the death of his sovereign : 1. 
 By seeking to many the Queen of Scots, al- 
 though he knew that she claimed the crown of 
 England to the exclusion of Elizabeth ; 2. By 
 soliciting foreign powers to invade the realm: 
 3. By fm*nishing money to be employed by the 
 queen's enemies. It is impossible to describe the 
 entire injustice of this mode of proceeding. The 
 accused was only informed of his trial the eve 
 before he was arraigned ; for eighteen months he 
 had held no communication with his friends, and 
 only learned the charges against him by hearing 
 the indictment from the bar ; and they even had 
 the cruelty to refuse him counsel. Norfolk, not- 
 withstanding, defended himself courageously, and 
 with talent, which, always expressed in a moder- 
 ate tone, contrasted singularly with the virulence 
 of the crown advocates. His condemnation, how- 
 ever, had been determined in advance ; he heardj 
 it with calmness and resignation. 
 
 Elizabeth signed the warrant for his execution 
 on Saturday, the 11th of February; the next 
 day she revoked it. The ^ruel Burleigh then 
 drew an alarming description of the danger her 
 clemenr y might produce ; she spent nearly two 
 months in continual hesitation. At last, on the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 273 
 
 9th of April the warrant was signed anew, and 
 anew revoked in the middle of the night.. Bur- 
 leigh returned to the charge. The death of 
 Norfolk should precede that of a nobler victim ; 
 for, it was said, the axe must be laid to the root : 
 so long as the Queen of Scots exists, there will 
 be no secmity for the crown and life of the 
 Queen of England. To these insinuations Eliz- 
 abeth replied, " Can I put to death the bird, 
 which, to escape the talons of the vulture, has 
 fled to my feet for protection ? " Burleigh had 
 at his disposal the most servile Parliament that 
 ever was ; he always employed it as a last re- 
 source when he wished to put an end to the 
 irresolution of his mistress. 
 
 The Commons, having resolved that the ex- 
 istence of Norfolk was incompatible with the 
 queen's safety, determined that an energetic ad- 
 dress should be presented to the crown, (28th of 
 May:) it was unnecessary. Burleigh had a 
 third time obtained the signature of Elizabeth, 
 (31st of May,) and as it was not revoked, the 
 unfortunate duke was led to the scaffold, (June 
 2,) after a cruel agony of five months. 
 
 Both houses, rivalling each other in injustice 
 and barbarity, then resolved to proceed against 
 the Queen of Scotland by bill of attainder — an 
 
274 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 infernal procedure, established by the most sav- 
 age despotism to declare one attainted without 
 a hearing, without previous information, and 
 upon presumptive evidence. The queen forbade 
 them proceeding with this bill, but the Commons 
 did not obey. She repeated her prohibition, 
 when Burleigh adopted another plan, by present- 
 ing a bill which declared Mary incapable of 
 succeeding. The queen interdicted anew to the 
 two houses any interference with the inheritance 
 of the crown ; and as, in spite of this prohibition, 
 the bill had passed both houses, she prorogued 
 the Parliament. She nevertheless consented that 
 commissioners should be appointed to complain 
 to Mary of the part she had taken in the con- 
 spiracy, who replied, that in yielding her consent 
 to the proposed marriage, she had had no hostile 
 intention towards the queen ; that her correspond- 
 ence with Rudolphi had been strictly confined 
 to pecuniary transactions, and that all she had 
 demanded from foreign powers was to assist her 
 faithful Scottish subjects. 
 
 Meanwhile the base Morton added a floweret 
 to his wreath. The Earl of Northumberland 
 was still confined in the Castle of Lochleven. 
 Morton, during his exile in England, had received 
 favors from the earl ; the countess, trusting to 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 275 
 
 the generosity which her husband's former favors 
 might have produced, offered two thousand 
 pounds for his ransom, which sum was deposited 
 at Antwerp. But Morton, in the interim, treated 
 with the Queen of England, who advanced an 
 equal, or perhaps a larger sum ; so that the un- 
 fortunate earl, on leaving Lochleven, was con- 
 ducted to Berwick, and from thence to York, 
 where he was beheaded without delay or trial. 
 
 All these bloody catastrophes recalled to Mary 
 the lot which awaited herself. She passed days 
 and nights in pangs of terror, every instant 
 seeming to feel the dagger of the assassin on the 
 way to her heart ; and her fears were not devoid 
 of foundation. When the month of August 
 (1572) had arrived, and the mournful news of 
 the night of the 24th had been received at Lon- 
 don, Burleigh and his adherents redoubled their 
 efforts to persuade the queen that the massacre of 
 the French Protestants was only a prelude to 
 the massacre of the English Protestants. To 
 anticipate this event, there was but one means : 
 to put to death the Queen of Scots and her 
 associates. Elizabeth was not convinced of the 
 necessity, or even of the efficacy, of this step ; 
 but above all, she did not yet wish to soil her 
 hands with the blood of her relation. ' She 
 
276 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 determined to despatch Killegrew to Scotland, 
 ostensibly to reconcile the two parties, in reality 
 with the secret mission to offer the regent to 
 deliver the Queen of Scots to him, provided she 
 would be treated as she deserved^ and rendered 
 incapable of ever returning to England. 
 
 The Earl of Marr nobly rejected the insinua- 
 tions of Killegrew ; he sincerely desired to rees- 
 tablish peace in Scotland, to heal the wounds of 
 civil war, to cause the fusion of the two parties, 
 not to pander to the jealousy or fears of the 
 Queen of England. He sought to rally all the 
 Scots around the standard of his royal pupil, 
 being persuaded that if Mary ever recovered her 
 liberty, it would be easy to reconcile the interests 
 of the mother and son. On the arrival of the 
 English envoy, he was concluding a treaty for 
 the surrender of Edinburgh Castle, when unfor- 
 tunately he visited the Earl of ^lorton at Dalkeith. 
 Whilst here being taken suddenly indisposed, 
 he returned to Stirling, and died in a few days. 
 Morton was strongly suspected of having poi- 
 soned him ; at least, owing to English interest, 
 he succeeded to his post. 
 
 The new^ regent pursued an entirely different 
 policy from that of the Earl of Marr ; he de- 
 manded the unconditional surrender of the Castle 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. . 277 
 
 of Edinburgh, (23d of February, 1573.) Kir- 
 kaldy, Hume, and Maitland refused to place 
 themselves at the mercy of their declared enemy, 
 and upon their refusal, Drury, the marshal of 
 Berwick, arrived in the port of Leith with an 
 English army and a considerable train of artil- 
 lery. After a siege of thirty-four days, the be- 
 sieged surrendered to Drury and the Queen of 
 England ; the noble Elizabeth delivered them to 
 the regent, and the regent had Kirkaldy executed. 
 Maitland was poisoned, as the Queen of Scots 
 asserts ; or he poisoned himself, to escape the lot 
 which awaited him. Kirkaldy was considered 
 the bravest soldier and best general in Scotland ; 
 Maitland, the best statesman : both had repeat- 
 edly changed their party, and only received what 
 they merited ; but it was not from Morton, who 
 was more culpable than they, that they should 
 have received it. 
 
 Many years passed without any favorable 
 change taking place in the situation of the 
 Queen of Scotland ; each day, on the contrary, 
 augmented them. Since the fall of Edinburgh, 
 the regent, always sustained by the soldiers and 
 money of Elizabeth, had compelled the principal 
 lords of the queen's party to recognize his title, 
 and submit to the authority of the king ; the 
 24 
 
278 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Duke of Chastelherault and the Earl of Huntley 
 laid down their arms, and Morton reigned as 
 sovereign over Scotland, whilst the queen, a cap- 
 tive, experienced all the horrors of the most 
 rigorous imprisonment. The number of her do- 
 mestics was diminished, the allowance of her 
 table reduced ; no stranger could obtain access 
 to her presence without the express permission 
 of Elizabeth ; and her correspondence was exam- 
 ined and often retained by the agents of the 
 ministry. Her ignorance of passing events, the 
 perpetual anxiety of her mind, the refusal to 
 allow her the enjoyment of air and exercise, all 
 contributed to impair her health ; and all the 
 petitions she addressed to Elizabeth for a miti- 
 gation of the rigor of her confinement were 
 evaded, or remained unanswered. 
 
 Elizabeth, on her side, was not tranquil ; she 
 had been so often told that the hberty of the 
 Queen of Scotland was incompatible with her 
 own security, that she lived in continual terror, 
 fearing every one and distrusting even her most 
 zealous subjects ; Burleigh himself and the Earl 
 of Shrewsbury were not more exempt than oth- 
 ers from suspicion. She particularly dreaded the 
 power of Mary's charms, and the impression they 
 might make upon Shrewsbury ; therefore she had 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 279 
 
 surrounded him with assistant officials, who, 
 under pretence of lightening his unpleasant du- 
 ties, in fact only watched his conduct to report 
 it to the queen. It was with profound terror 
 that she learned of the Prince of Orange (Feb- 
 ruary, 1577) that the brother of Philip IL, the 
 famous Don John of Austria, not only intended 
 to subdue the Netherlands, but also to invade 
 England, that he might marry the Queen of 
 Scotland, in whose name, and by the assistance 
 of whose friends, he would contend for the Eng- 
 lish crown. This project was not entirely de- 
 void of foundation. Gregory XIIL, the successor 
 of Pius v., had solicited the King of Spain to 
 unite with him to liberate Mary Stuart and 
 establish the Catholic religion throughout Great 
 Britain. Philip, it is true, would not act openly, 
 but he did not oppose the scheme of his illegiti- 
 mate brother. The sovereign pontiff would fur- 
 nish, it was said, six thousand regular troops, 
 and other precautions would be taken to secure 
 the success of the expedition ; but it appears 
 that the project existed only on paper, and no 
 attempt was made to carry it into execution. 
 
 Meanwhile Morton, by his continually increas- 
 ing avi^ty, excited violent murmurs among the 
 Scots, and his acquiescence in all the desires of 
 
280 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 Elizabeth rendered him extremely odious. He 
 had altered the currency, multiplied confiscations, 
 and appropriated to himself the ecclesiastical 
 benefices ; he showed himself, besides, so servile 
 and base towards England, that, because an 
 afiray had taken place on the borders between 
 the inhabitants of the two countries, he even 
 humbled himself so far as to make public ex- 
 cuses to Elizabeth's envoy. A great part of the 
 nobility, having assembled in convention, decided 
 on placing James, then ten years of age, at the 
 head of the government ; and Morton was com- 
 pelled to resign his authority, (December, 1577.) 
 But three months had scarcely elapsed, when, 
 gaining admittance to Stirling Castle, he seized 
 the person of the king, and placed himself at the 
 head of the council, in which position he resumed, 
 as minister, the authority he had no longer as 
 regent. Athol, the chief author of the late 
 change, being invited by Morton to an enter- 
 tainment as a sign of reconciliation, died five or 
 six days after from poison. 
 
 Secure of the ascendency, Morton now gave 
 the reins to his avarice and resentment ; and the 
 chiefs of the house of Hamilton were compelled 
 to leave the kingdom, their property being seized 
 by Morton, (1579.) But if divine justice appears 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 281 
 
 sometimes slow in striking, its blows are not less 
 terrible for that. James was warmly attached to 
 two youths, one of whom, but recently arrived 
 from France, was the nephew of the Earl of 
 Lennox ; the king created him earl, then duke, 
 and loaded him with honors ; and Lennox in- 
 sinuated to the king that Morton intended to 
 convey him to England. The other favorite was 
 Captain James Stewart, second son of Lord 
 Ochiltree ; he hated Morton, of whom his family 
 had reason to complain, and urged the king to 
 rid himself of an odious guardian ; meanwhile 
 he procured proof of Morton's complicity in the 
 assassination of Darnley, and when he had ob- 
 tained it, brought a formal accusation against 
 him, (December 31, 1581.) When Elizabeth 
 was informed of this event, she sent her agent 
 Randolph to Scotland, who made great efforts 
 to save the accused ; but he had the awkwardness 
 to accuse Lennox of being leagued with foreign 
 princes to invade England, by which he only irri- 
 tated against his protege men already disposed 
 to treat him with the same rigor he had so often 
 displayed towards others. 
 
 To support the manoeuvres of her worthy rep- 
 resentative Randolph, who, in the two preceding 
 missions, had only been ordered to leave the 
 24* 
 
282 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 realm, and who, in the third, had to fly precipi- 
 tately to escape being hung, Elizabeth despatched 
 to the borders a body of troops, with orders to 
 repair where they were needed, in order to assist 
 her parly in Scotland.* But as her agent did not 
 succeed in exciting the Scots to rebellion, Eliza- 
 beth, through shame, countermanded her troops, 
 who returned to England. It was proved on the 
 « trial, that Morton had participated in the Whit- 
 tingham meeting ; that his cousin and intimate 
 friend Archibald Douglas, and his servant Bin- 
 ning, were actually employed ; that Queen Mary, 
 when she joined the rebels at Carberry Hill, had 
 told him, to his face, that he was one of the mur- 
 derers. The manrent^ or bond by which Both- 
 well was protected from the punishment of the 
 murder, was also produced, and a declaration 
 of Bothwell, made upon his death bed. (1576.) f ^ 
 Morton was unanimously declared guilty, and 
 condemned to be hung ; the king, however, com- 
 muted the punishment to that of decapitation. 
 
 * "For relief of hir partie in Scotland, and (if) need be." 
 
 t In this declaration, Bothwell affirmed that the queen was inno- 
 cent, and named all his accooiplices. It is believed that the King of 
 Denmark sent a copy of this declaration to Elizabeth, who judged it 
 apropos to suppress it. It appears, according to Camden, that Both- 
 well always affirmed, on oath, that the queen was ignorant of the 
 plot : reginam minime consciam fuisse scepe contestatus est. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 283 
 
 Morton acknowledged that he had been soli- 
 cited by Bothwell and Douglas to take part in 
 the conspiracy, and that he had refused, because, 
 although Bothwell alleged the queen's consent, 
 he had no written proof of it. Camden con- 
 tends that his real confession was, that he had 
 demanded the queen's written order before join- 
 ing the conspiracy, and that Bothwell had replied 
 that such an order could not be produced, for the 
 deed must take place without her knowledge. 
 Walter Scott, in his History of Scotland, con- 
 tends that he died courageously, and with truly 
 Christian courage. It is true, that, when on the 
 scaffold, he threw himself on his face, manifest- 
 ing by his groans, sobs, and violent contortions 
 of his limbs, much agitation and anguish of soul ; 
 which caused the ministers — Protestant — who 
 accompanied him to say, that these violent con- 
 vulsions were evident signs of the inward and 
 mighty working of the Spirit of God. It would 
 have been desirable for these ministers to have 
 explained their meaning, for we can only see 
 therein the convulsions of despair ; it happens 
 only too often that a man terrified at his crimes, 
 and not daring to hope for the divine mercy, 
 abandons himself to a reprobate rage when his 
 term of life is about to close. 
 
284 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 After the condemnation of Morton and the 
 enthroning of James, it appeared that Elizabeth 
 would no longer be able to retain the Queen 
 of Scotland a prisoner. She was not ignorant 
 that a party was intriguing with the young king 
 that he might claim his mother's liberty; that 
 the King of Spain and the pope had furnished 
 assistance in money; and that the project had 
 been entertained of associating Mary and her 
 son on the Scottish throne. There was, then, 
 urgent necessity for forming a party to hinder 
 this event, which, by reconciling the son to the 
 mother, would have presented two enemies in- 
 stead of one. The infernal policy of Burleigh 
 assisted Elizabeth, by organizing a new revolu- 
 tion in Scotland. The Earl of Gowrie invited 
 the king (August, 1582) to visit him at his cas- 
 tle of E/Uthven, whither the king unsuspectingly 
 repaired, and was detained a prisoner. James 
 Stewart, a short time previous created Earl of 
 Arran, was thrown into prison, and Lennox 
 escaped to France, where he died of a broken 
 heart ; or, as some say, of poison. The lords of the 
 English faction then ruled without hinderance. 
 
 When the Queen of Scotland heard this griev- 
 ous news, she wrote from her bed, to which she 
 was confined by illness, a touching letter to Eliza- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 285 
 
 beth ; but she had no feeling for any one but her- 
 self. Mary's condition was not improved ; and 
 although she was really ill, no comfort was offered 
 her. In the interim, the King of France, who 
 was interested in the English faction not gov- 
 erning Scotland, in order that Elizabeth, obliged 
 to divide her attention, might be less occupied in 
 assisting the French Huguenots, sent La Motte 
 Fenelon to Scotland to aid the young king to 
 recover his liberty, and effect as soon as possible 
 the association project. Elizabeth, on her side, 
 sent (January, 1583) Bowes and Davidson to 
 oppose the measures of the French ambassador ; 
 but James, with a vigor beyond his years, pre- 
 tended a desire to see St. Andrew's, repaired to 
 that city, entered the castle, and closed the gates, 
 thus preventing his guards from entering. He 
 then appealed to the nobility, and appeared so 
 determined to preserve the power and liberty he 
 had regained, that Gowrie and his friends durst 
 make no attempt to deprive him of it. 
 
 The news of this revolution revived Mary's 
 hopes ; but it was always her misfortune to have 
 for protectors men who consulted their own in- 
 terest before all else. The Duke of Guise, the 
 Archbishop of Glasgow, and many other im- 
 portant personages, assembled at Paris, and 
 
j486 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 devised a plan for Mary's liberation, which could 
 not fail to succeed: Guise should land on the 
 southern coast ; James, with all his forces, should 
 enter the northern counties ; and the English 
 friends of the house of Stuart should be sum- 
 moned to the aid of the injured queen. James, 
 to whom this plan was communicated, approved 
 of it without hesitation ; but Mary, to whom the 
 French ambassador communicated it, feared that 
 on the first attempt made for her deliverance, her 
 wardens would put her to death; she would 
 rather seek to obtain her liberty by concession 
 and negotiation. She wrote to Elizabeth that 
 she wished to transfer all her rights to her son ; 
 renewed the offers heretofore made ; and proposed 
 a league of perpetual amity. Elizabeth, deeply 
 moved, seemed to acquiesce ; her ministers made 
 no objection; but an obstacle came whence it 
 was least expected. Henry HI. had ordered his 
 ambassador, Castelnau, to follow ostensibly the 
 instructions of the Queen of Scotland, but to 
 oppose in reality any treaty, which, by freeing 
 Elizabeth from any apprehension on the part of 
 Scotland, would leave her at liberty to support 
 the Protestants of France. 
 
 This policy of Henry HI. cannot be too much 
 blamed, pressed on one side as he was by a 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 287 
 
 league, which, under a religious pretext, was 
 devoted to Philip's interest, and on the other by 
 the Huguenots, who were supported by their 
 English friends. It is unfortunate that the effects 
 of it should have reacted on poor Mary, who 
 finally beheld the cup of promise dashed for the 
 tenth time from her lips. On her side, the Eng- 
 lish queen, although determined on still retaining 
 her prisoner, experienced considerable disquie- 
 tude, more especially as she was threatened with- 
 out knowing who threatened her. She learned, 
 through her spies, of the Duke of Guise's pro- 
 jects in favor of her relation, of his connection 
 with James, and of the hopes he based upon a 
 great number of English subjects. To prevent 
 the evil which she feared, she increased the num- 
 ber of her spies, distributed money freely, em- 
 ployed every where agents, the provocators of 
 troubles and revolts, laid snares for the Catholics 
 of her kingdom, augmented the severity of the 
 penal laws, and permitted one party of her 
 subjects to persecute the other in her name. 
 The scaffolds at that time (1584) were drenched 
 with blood, and men of all classes suffered the 
 frightful punishment of traitors. Meanwhile, her 
 minister Walsingham was intriguing in Scot- 
 land, and paid the preachers to excite the spirit 
 
288 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 of insurrection, the nobles to arm their vassals, 
 and the people to join the insurgents. 
 
 The king, who perceived that his crown was 
 still aimed at, by an ordinance of the 2d of 
 March enjoined on all persons concerned in the 
 " raid of Ruthven " to quit the kingdom without 
 delay. Gowrie promised obedience, but joined 
 the Earls of Angus and Marr, his accomplices ; 
 about the middle of April, they appeared at the 
 head of a body of insurgents. Five days after, 
 (April 18,) the insurgents were routed, pursued 
 and dispersed ; and Gowrie, being taken prisoner, 
 was delivered to justice. The good Elizabeth 
 had determined to assist the rebels, but the French 
 ambassador strongly remonstrated; the order re- 
 mained unexecuted, and was soon after revoked, 
 on learning that Gowrie had been executed as a 
 traitor. Angus and Marr escaped to England, 
 and Walsingham solicited their pardon in Eliza- 
 beth's name ; but the Scottish Parliament con- 
 demned them as rebels, and confiscated their 
 property. This vigorous act was a death blow 
 to the English faction in Scotland. 
 
 In the mean time, Elizabeth desired a recon- 
 ciliation, and her minister Walsingham, all of 
 whose plans had been baffled, advised her to 
 accept Mary's proposition. James then sent his 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 289 
 
 favorite Gray, master of Marr, to London ; Nau, 
 Mary's French secretary, repaired thither also. 
 The French ambassador was authorized to offer 
 his mediation ; when, unfortunately, a Scottish 
 Jesuit, named Creighton, returning to Scotland, 
 was taken by a Danish cruiser, which conveyed 
 him to England. There, contrary to the most 
 simple conception of the law of nations, although 
 he was a foreigner, a native of a country with 
 which they were at peace, that he came from a 
 country equally friendly, that he was neither 
 accused nor guilty of any hostile act towards 
 England, himself and a priest, also a Scot, who 
 accompanied him, were examined. Tortures, or 
 the fear of the rack, made them disclose all the 
 particulars of the invasion projected two years 
 before, and of which the prospect alone caused 
 Elizabeth so much alarm. 
 
 It is not necessary to say that Burleigh and 
 his friends improved the opportunity to agitate 
 the mind of their capricious and feeble mistress 
 with new and unfounded apprehensions ; and 
 a plan of association was even composed, the 
 members of which bound themselves to pursue 
 unto death, not only every one who should at- 
 tempt, but also every person in whose favor any 
 other should attempt, the life of the queen. The 
 25 
 
290 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 latter clause was evidently directed against the 
 Queen of Scots, whose life was thus placed 
 at the mercy of the first murderer who would 
 deprive her of it ; for a plot had only to be pre- 
 tended, to justify the assassin. When the plan 
 of the association was shown to Mary, she read 
 it as her death warrant; for she did not doubt 
 the enmity of Elizabeth, and placed little depend- 
 ance on her son, who, now arrived at the age 
 when generous sentiments are developed, — he 
 was seventeen, — showed no real attachment, ex- 
 cept to his pleasures or interests, and who added 
 profound dissimulation to this cool selfishness. 
 In his negotiations with Guise, the King of 
 Spain, and the pope, he expressed a strong par- 
 tiality for the Catholic worship, and an excessive 
 tenderness for his mother, whom he wished to 
 liberate at the peril of his life ; but money was 
 always needed to levy troops, equip them, and pay 
 agents. By these protestations he obtained con- 
 siderable assistance in money ; but his sincerity 
 was at last doubted ; their liberality ceased, and 
 he determined to play a similar game with Eliza- 
 beth. His ambassador Gray was ordered not 
 to join the secretary of Mary, but to negotiate 
 apart. Gray was a Catholic, at least in appear- 
 ance, and had always professed the greatest 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 291 
 
 attachment to Mary's cause. He was at first 
 received coldly enough by Elizabeth, and still 
 more so by her ministers ; but by assisting at the 
 Anglican service, acting in opposition to Nau, 
 and revealing to Elizabeth all that he knew of 
 the plans formed for Mary's deliverance, he so 
 gained her confidence as to obtain a sum of 
 money from her for his master, with the promise 
 of a larger sum, in proportion to the services 
 that James might render her; that is to say, 
 if James would aid in delivering her from her 
 prisoner, or at least consent that she should be 
 rid of her. 
 
 The English Parliament assembled in autumn, 
 and one of the first subjects with which it was 
 occupied was the confirmation, by statute, of the 
 association for the queen's safety. It was pro- 
 posed that, in case of invasion, or any attempt 
 against the queen, the individual by or for whom 
 the attempt was made should forfeit all right to 
 the succession, and should be pursued to death 
 by all the queen's subjects. Elizabeth felt the 
 scandalous injustice of this measm-e, and in a 
 message proposed sundry amendments. The 
 bill, which finally passed, provided that, before 
 pursuing' to death any individual, that individual 
 should have been declared privy to the crime by 
 
292 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 a commission of twenty-four members ; by the 
 same bill Mary and her descendants were de- 
 clared incapable of succeeding, in case the queen 
 perished by a violent death ; and the articles of 
 the association already subscribed were ordered 
 to be explained according to the provisions of 
 the present statute. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ASSOCIATION. — TROUBLES. — CONSPIRACY OF BABINGTON. — MARY 
 IS IMPLICATED IN IT. — HER TRIAL, CONDEMNATION, AND DEATH. 
 
 The unfortunate Queen of Scotland had 
 passed the whole winter (1584—1585) in the 
 most cruel disquietude ; her agony had already 
 commenced.* The ratification of the plan of 
 association by Parliament ; her removal from the 
 Castle of Sheffield, where she was under the 
 warden ship of the Earl of Shrewsbury, to the 
 old and ruinous manor of Tutbury, where Sir 
 Amias Paulet, a dependent of Leicester, was 
 her jailer ; the suspicions thrown out that she 
 
 * " A more weary and distressing course of oppression, mingled 
 from time to time with deceitful glimmerings of delusive hope, is 
 hardly to be found in history." — Sir Walter Scott. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 293 
 
 knew the plans of many conspirators who had 
 been tried ; the silence or evasive replies of Eliz- 
 abeth, — all contributed to agitate her mind with 
 sadness, grief, and alarm. To these subjects, 
 fraught with fear for the future, was at length 
 joined the conviction that her son had no affec- 
 tion for her. After she had discovered Gray's 
 treason, she had written to James, complaining 
 of the conduct of his favorite. James answered 
 her in a disrespectful manner, concluding by say- 
 ing that she was only the queen mother, that she 
 had no right to interfere in the affairs of the 
 realm, and that she had only a title without au- 
 thority. This letter opened Mary's eyes to the 
 hopelessness of her situation. Abandoned by - 
 her own son, upon whom could she henceforth 
 rely ? At first she formed the resolution of dis- 
 owning him, and of transferring all her own 
 rights to some prince capable of defending them ; 
 but she made to Heaven a sacrifice of her resent- 
 ment, and Heaven, who wished yet to prove her, 
 sent her new trials. A young man, a Catholic 
 recusant, and suspected of being a priest, was 
 sent to Tutbury and confined in a room adjoin- 
 ing the queen's chamber. She saw him many 
 times dragged to the chapel to assist at the An- 
 glican service, and, at the end of three weeks, he 
 25* 
 
294 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 was hanged before her window.* This sinister 
 event only confirmed her in the opinion that her 
 own life was sought. " In this sinister opinion 
 I have been not a little confirmed by the treat- 
 ment of this priest, who, after having been so 
 much tormented, was hanged on the wall before 
 my windows." Influenced by this dismal idea, 
 she wrote to Elizabeth, beseeching her for liberty 
 and life. " I beg of you, madam," wrote she to 
 her, after a preamble in which she appears con- 
 vinced that the aim of the association was her 
 death, — "I beg of you, with clasped hands, to 
 free me from this long and miserable captivity. 
 Name the conditions ; I will submit to them, 
 whatever they may be, provided my conscience 
 be safe ; if my past offers are not sufficient for 
 your security, take from me all right to the suc- 
 cession. I am content. I have no doubt of 
 your sincerity and truth. Yet when they have 
 murdered me without your knowledge, who can 
 repair the injury to me ? * * *. If my re- 
 ligion is what is aimed at by my enemies, I am 
 ready, by the grace of God, to bow my head 
 under the axe, to shed my blood in the face of 
 all Christian nations. I shall esteem it a happi- 
 
 * See Appendix, No. 10. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 295 
 
 ness to be the first victim. This is not an idle 
 boast : you know that I am not out of danger." 
 
 Elizabeth, no longer afraid of James, who had 
 basely become her dependant, did not answer 
 Mary's letter, and left her to the care of Paulet, 
 whose fanaticism and religious frenzy she well 
 knew. A short time after she concluded a treaty 
 with James, (5th of July, 1586,) by which they 
 reciprocally engaged to defend the reformed re- 
 ligion against the efforts of Catholic princes, and 
 to assist each other in case of foreign invasion. 
 In this treaty no mention was made of the 
 Queen of Scots, whose misfortunes were finally 
 drawing to a close. It has been said that her 
 servants and her own friends, by their impru- 
 dence, combined with her vehement adversaries 
 in hurrying her to the scaffold. They were 
 not only disunited among themselves, but a great 
 number of traitors had crept in among her loyal 
 defenders, 
 
 Morgan and Paget acted as administrators of 
 the queen's dower in France. The former had 
 been implicated in a conspiracy against Eliza- 
 beth, and though there was no proof, she forgot 
 herself so far as to say that she would give ten 
 thousand pounds for his head. When she sent 
 the order of the garter to the French king, she 
 
296 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 demanded in return the person of Morgan. The 
 feeble Henry III. durst not refuse ; but judgmg 
 that if he obeyed the request of Elizabeth, his 
 condescension would do him no honor, he adopt- 
 ed a middle course, confined Morgan in the Bas- 
 tile, and sent his papers to the queen. Morgan 
 employed the time in prison in planning schemes 
 of revenge, and with the aid of Paget corre- 
 sponded with Mary, and sought agents and 
 accomplices in every part of England. The 
 minister Walsingham suspected him, corrupted 
 the fidelity of his agents, and encouraged him in 
 his schemes, he himself secretly placing at his 
 disposal various means of success. This pro- 
 ceeding concealed a perfidious object: Morgan 
 corresponded with Mary's two secretaries, Nau 
 and Curie ; the wily Walsingham thought that 
 the unfortunate princess might be compromised 
 by some imprudence so that the statute of the 
 association would apply to her. Morgan em- 
 ployed as bearer of despatches one Pooley, who 
 was in the service of a daughter of Walsing- 
 ham ; and his principal agents in England were 
 Gifford and Greatley, two men who had studied 
 in the English seminaries, and who were both in 
 the pay of the government. Morgan had rec- 
 ommended them in the strongest terms to Mary, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 297 
 
 and she had given them her confidence. We 
 need not say that through these three men 
 Walsingham was very punctually informed of 
 all that passed. 
 
 There was yet a fourth agent, who called him- 
 self Fortescue, and assumed the garb of an 
 officer. Maude insinuated himself so far into 
 his confidence that he learned that he was a 
 Catholic priest, named John Ballard, whose ob- 
 ject was to sound the disposition of his hosts, 
 and seek assistance and friends for the exiles. 
 The Spanish ambassador Mendoza, who was at 
 Paris, having only given vague promises oi 
 cooperation on the part of his master, Ballard 
 was sent by Morgan and Paget to England, to 
 see there Savage and Babington. The former 
 was an officer who had served in the wars of 
 Flanders, and who had undertaken to kill Eliza- 
 beth ; the latter was a rich young man of good 
 family, from the county of Derby, who had 
 always professed a chivalric enthusiasm for the 
 Queen of Scotland. 
 
 When Babington learned from Ballard that 
 Savage had engaged to murder the queen, he 
 said that the death of Elizabeth was too impor- 
 tant an affair to be confided to the trust of a 
 single individual. He proposed that six gentle- 
 
298 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 men should be appointed to that service, whilst 
 others should deliver the Queen of Scotland ; 
 and he undertook to propose the affair to several 
 faithful friends, who would joyfully seize the 
 occasion to serve the captive queen, and deliver 
 their brethren from persecution. All these de- 
 tails were minutely transmitted to Walsingham 
 by Maude and Pooley ; and that artful minister, 
 whilst he smiled at the infatuation of the youths, 
 who had thus entangled themselves in the toils, 
 was busily employed in weaving a new intrigue, 
 and planning the ruin of a more illustrious vic- 
 tim. Gifford repaired, by order of Walsingham, 
 to the neighborhood of Chertsey ; secured, by a 
 bribe, the services of a man who carried beer to 
 the castle in which Mary was confined ; and 
 opened a correspondence with the two secreta- 
 ries, Nau and Curie. A few days after Babing- 
 ton received from the hands of an unknown 
 messenger a note, written by Gifford in Mary's 
 cipher. In this pretended billet of Mary, she 
 complained to Babington of having discontinued 
 his services, and requested him to forward to 
 Chertsey a package which he had received from 
 the French ambassador. 
 
 Babington suspected nought, and rejoicing in 
 being useful to Mary, he sent her the packet with 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 299 
 
 a letter from himself. Gifford forwarded the 
 letter and packet to Walsingham. The papers 
 were deciphered by Thomas Philipps, and tran- 
 scribed in the minister's bureau :. the original, or 
 perhaps only a copy, was returned to Gifford, 
 and by him forwarded to Chertsey. Mary's an- 
 swer to Babington was likewise deciphered and 
 transcribed in Walsingham's bureau, before being 
 sent to its address. When use was made of 
 these letters, at a later period, in order that Mary 
 might be implicated in the conspiracy, many 
 persons doubted their real contents. Ballard, 
 who by his conduct showed himself so little 
 worthy of the sacred character with' which he 
 was invested, apprehensive of immediate danger, 
 or induced by the hope of a commensurate re- 
 ward, offered to disclose the whole proceeding to 
 Walsingham ; but the queen's letter was deci- 
 phered, his services were not wanted, and he was 
 arrested as a seminary priest, (4th of August.) 
 The alarm spread among the conspirators, many 
 of whom fled. 
 
 Walsingham then judged it proper to inform 
 the queen of his proceedings. She, being alarmed, 
 praised his ingenuity, but condemned his confi- 
 dence ; it was, she said, tempting divine Provi- 
 dence ; exposing her life to imminent danger ; 
 
300 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 and she immediately gave orders that all the 
 conspirators should be arrested. These orders 
 becoming known, the guilty fled, but were all 
 taken, some in dwellings in which they were 
 concealed, others in the provinces. Edward 
 Windsor was the only one who had the good 
 fortune to escape the pursuivants. There were 
 different gradations in their guilt. Babington 
 was in reality an assassin, since he approved of 
 Savage's project; others had refused to imbrue 
 their hands in the queen's blood, but offered to 
 undertake Mary's liberation ; others still, equally 
 condemning both projects, committed the crime 
 of not denouncing their friends. Babington ap- 
 pears to have had little generosity, for his decla- 
 rations alone formed the principal proof upon 
 which his fellow accused were convicted. It is 
 believed that he entertained, or was promised, 
 hopes of pardon. They were all condemned to 
 suffer the frightful punishment of traitors.* As 
 
 * This punishment was indeed horrible, and worthy of being em- 
 ployed by the most ferocious people. When the executioner had 
 received the victim from the hands of the sheriii, he had him held by 
 his assistants ; then taking a large cutlass in his right hand, he split 
 open his chest, taking great care not to sever the arteries ; afterwards, 
 introducing his hand into the wound, he drew forth the heart of the 
 unfortunate condemned, who almost always had time, before expiring, 
 to see his heart and entrails in the hands of the executioner. Often, 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 301 
 
 two days were allotted for their execution, and 
 it was remarked on the first day that the rank 
 and youth of the condemned, by exciting public 
 pity, had made the punishment inflicted on them 
 seem the more horrible, on the second day life 
 was allowed to be extinct before the bodies were 
 delivered to the executioner. Some days before 
 the arrest of Babington, — that is, about the com- 
 mencement of the month of August, — Sir Amias 
 Paulet had been ordered to seize the papers of 
 the Queen of Scotland, and he had promised to 
 perform the commission with the grace of God. 
 The first day that Mary took an airing, he con- 
 ducted her by force to Tixal, restricted her to a 
 particular corner of the house, and debarred her 
 from the use of pen, ink, and paper. About the 
 end of the month she was allowed to return to 
 Chertsey, and entering her apartment, observed 
 that her cabinets were standing open, and that 
 her money, seals, and papers were gone. For 
 some moments she preserved an indignant silence ; 
 then turning to Paulet with an air of dignity, she 
 said, " There yet remain two things, sir, which 
 you cannot deprive me of : the right which the 
 
 •when the condemned was a Catholic, the executioner cut the rope 
 quickly after the drop, so that the sufferer, whilst yet alive, under- 
 went a double punishment. 
 
 26 
 
302 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 royal blood that flows in my veins gives me to 
 the crown of England, and the attachment which 
 binds my heart to the religion of my fathers." 
 
 Meanwhile Elizabeth, not being able to decide 
 alone on the fate of Mary, consulted her faithful 
 counsellors. Some endeavored to save her life ; 
 they pleaded her advanced age, — she was in 
 her 45th year, — her corporal infirmities, con- 
 tracted during her captivity, and the probability 
 that she would succumb in a short time under 
 the rigor of a protracted confinement. The 
 greater number, however, maintained that Mary's 
 death was necessary for the security of their 
 religion ; and these balanced between the two 
 opposite opinions of Leicester, who recommended 
 the sure but silent operation of poison, and of 
 Walsingham, who contended that the reputation 
 of their sovereign required the solemnity of a 
 public trial. The latter advice prevailed ; and a 
 commission was issued to forty-seven peers, 
 privy counsellors, and judges, all chosen from the 
 most devoted of Elizabeth's subjects, to investi- 
 gate the conduct of Mary, " commonly called 
 Queen of Scotland and Queen Dowager of 
 France," and to pronounce judgment according 
 to the provisions of an act passed in the twenty- 
 seventh year of the queen's reign, (the statute of 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 303 
 
 the association.) Thirty-six members of this 
 commission, accompanied by the crown advo- 
 cates, repaired to the Castle of Fotheringay, 
 whither Mary had been transferred some days 
 before. She received them without testifying 
 any surprise, heard the explanation of the object 
 of their visit, but energetically refused to recog- 
 nize their authority. " Your authority," said 
 she to them, " is derived from the Queen of 
 England, but the Queen of England is not my 
 superior ; I am an independent sovereign, and I 
 will not dishonor the crown of Scotland by con- 
 senting to appear as a criminal before an English 
 court of justice." The commissioners separated, 
 dissatisfied and perplexed. In the solitude and 
 silence of the night, she vividly recalled to mind 
 the extraordinary scene which had taken place ; 
 she above all remembered, and to her sorrow, 
 the remark of Hatton, that her refusal to recog- 
 nize the jurisdiction of the court arose only from 
 consciousness of guilt. In the morning she con- 
 sented to plead for the sake of her reputation, 
 but on condition that her protest against the 
 authority of the court should be previously ad- 
 mitted. This, after some demur, was granted. 
 
 This concession of Mary was a great impru- 
 dence, for by it she committed herself defence- 
 
304 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 less to men among whom she had not a single 
 friend, and who surely would not be deterred by 
 a vain protestation, for the decision of which there 
 would be no judges. If she had relied on her 
 quality of sovereign, and said to her pretended 
 judges, "You are the stronger; you can hang 
 me, but you cannot judge me," perhaps they 
 would not have dared go farther ; in consenting 
 to her trial, she consented to her condemnation. 
 Under the circumstances in which she was placed, 
 though they might assert, yet it would be almost 
 impossible to prove her innocence. She was 
 alone, friendless, unpractised in judicial forms, 
 without papers, or witnesses, or counsel, with 
 no knowledge of the Babington conspiracy but 
 what they had v/ished her to know, and unable 
 to divine upon what the charge rested ; how 
 could she oppose this array of statesmen, jurists, 
 and lawyers, leagued together to crush her? 
 Nevertheless, Mary defended herself with spirit 
 and dignity ; and before no tribunal would the 
 most vile accused have been condemned on 
 the feeble proofs alleged against the Queen of 
 Scotland. 
 
 The accusation may be divided into two 
 heads : contravention to the association statute 
 by conspiring with foreigners and traitors to pro- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 305 
 
 cure — 1. The invasion of the realm; 2. The 
 death of the queen. 
 
 To establish the first part, a great number of 
 letters, intercepted or found in her cabinet, were 
 produced; if these letters were genuine, they 
 showed that she had approved of the plan of 
 invasion devised at Paris, and that she had 
 even offered to aid its execution by inducing her 
 friends in Scotland to take up arms and seize 
 the person of James* Mary denied these charges, 
 which she treated as frivolous, and said that, as 
 the equal and not the subject of Elizabeth, she 
 had of right sought every means to recover her 
 liberty, which they had deprived her of, by abus- 
 ing her confidence and good faith ; she had always 
 offered conditions to Elizabeth, which even she 
 had pronounced reasonable, and that all her 
 propositions having been rejected, she had ac- 
 cepted the offers of assistance which had been 
 tendered her by her friends. 
 
 The second part of the charge she vehemently 
 denied. The crown advocates read a copy of 
 Babington's letter, in which appeared this pas- 
 sage : " For the despatch of the usurper, from 
 obedience of whom, by the excommunication of 
 her, we are made free, there be six noble gentle- 
 men, all my private friends, who, for the zeal they 
 26* 
 
806 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 bear to the Catholic cause and your majesty's 
 service, will undertake the tragical execution." 
 Then was read a copy of the supposed reply, in 
 which the queen was made to say, " When the 
 forces are in readiness both within and without 
 the realm, then shall it be time to set the six gen- 
 tlemen on work, taking good order that, on the 
 accomplishment of their design, I may be sud- 
 denly transported out of this place." It is worthy 
 of remark that in this trial, as well as in that 
 which Mary had undergone concerning Darnley's 
 assassination, copies were only employed, and the 
 originals not produced, in spite of the most formal 
 and legitimate demands. 
 
 Mary contended that she had never received 
 such a letter from Babington ; that she had never 
 sent him such a reply ; and that, instead of has- 
 tening the execution of Babington, they should 
 have produced him as a witness against her. 
 The lawyers replied, by opposing to that the con- 
 fessions of Babington, Nau, and Cm*le, that they 
 believed the copies were faithful transcripts of 
 the originals.* But where were these originals? 
 "What could hinder Mary's accusers from pro- 
 ducing them ? Babington had avowed the charge 
 in the hope of being pardoned ; Nau was a timid 
 
 * See Appmdix, No. 11. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 307 
 
 man, whom they had likewise frightened by the 
 sight of tortures. " Moreover, Nau," said Mary, 
 " may have written this letter in my name,* but 
 without my knowledge and against my will." 
 Mary demanded to be confronted with them in 
 the presence of Parliament, or before the queen. 
 The presiding officer of the commission, not be- 
 ing able, or desiring not to answer, or obeying 
 secret orders, adjourned the assembly from the 
 15th to the 2oth of October, and from the 
 Castle of Fotheringay to the Star Chamber at 
 Westminster. 
 
 On that day the two secretaries appeared ; but 
 it was in Mary's absence that the commissioners 
 unanimously declared her convicted of having 
 devised and arranged many plots against the 
 queen's person, in contravention to the statute ; 
 and although this statute declared Mary and her 
 descendants incapable of succeeding, the com- 
 missioners added, that the sentence should in 
 no way derogate from the rights of James, King 
 of Scotland. 
 
 This last clause, determined upon in advance, 
 had been inserted to hinder the King of Scotland 
 from taking up arms to save his mother ; he had 
 
 * Dr. Lingard makes Nau to have previously to this time com- 
 mitted a similar offence. 
 
308 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 sufficiently shown how little affection he had for 
 her, and now that his right to the succession was 
 recognized, what mattered it to him whether his 
 mother died or was saved ? James only loved 
 money; Mary could then expect no assistance 
 from any one. The King of Spain was occu- 
 pied in maintaining his ground in Flanders, and 
 the King of France in defending his throne 
 against the league. Elizabeth was the supreme 
 arbiter of her lot ; the death warrant was offered 
 for her signature ; her indecision could not save 
 Mary, but prolong her cruel agony. What re- 
 strained Elizabeth was the stain which the blood 
 of the Queen of Scotland would imprint upon 
 her name. 
 
 Meanwhile, Parliament, which had been pro- 
 rogued from the 15th of October, assembled, and 
 the proceedings at Fotheringay were submitted 
 to it. They were not only found very correct, 
 but the sentence appeared so worthy of the in- 
 struction which had preceded it, that both houses 
 united in a petition for it to be carried promptly 
 into execution, (12th of November,) as if the least 
 delay would place the throne and religion in 
 danger. Elizabeth demanded some time for 
 deliberation, but she inquired particularly if no 
 expedient could be resorted to, which would in- 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 309 
 
 sure her life, without carrying the sentence into 
 execution. She was answered, that no expedi- 
 ent was possible. They did not understand, or 
 did not wish to understand her ; she also made 
 the following strange response : " If I should say 
 to you, that I meant not to grant your petition, 
 by my faith, I should say unto you more, per- 
 haps, than I mean. And if I should say that I 
 mean to grant it, I should tell you more than is 
 fit for you to know. Tims I must deliver to you 
 an anstver answerless.^^ 
 
 Lord Buckhurst was charged with the sad task 
 of announcing to Mary her condemnation ; he 
 bade her not to hope for mercy, as her attach- 
 ment to the Catholic faith rendered her life in- 
 compatible with the security of the established 
 religion, and offered her the aid of a bishop or 
 dean of the reformed church* to prepare her for ^ 
 death. The queen replied, that she was ready to 
 shed her blood for her religion ; that, moreover, 
 
 * In a critique, in the Edinburgh Review, upon Hallam's Consti- 
 tutional History, the writer thus truly describes the founders of this ' 
 church : *' A king, whose character may be best described by saying, 
 that he was despotism itself personified ; unprincipled ministers ; a 
 rapacious aristocracy ; a servile Parliament. Such were the instru- 
 ments by which England was delivered from the yoke of Rome. The 
 work which had been begun by Henry, the murderer of his wives, 
 was continued by Somerset, the murderer of his brother, and com- 
 pleted by Elizabeth, the murderer of her guest." 
 
810 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 she had no need of the assistance of an ecclesi- 
 astic of the reformed religion ; that she only re- 
 quested that they would not deprive her of the 
 services of her almoner, which request was reluc- 
 tantly granted, but only for a short time. She 
 employed the time in writing two important 
 letters, one to the sovereign pontiff,* the other to 
 the Archbishop of Glasgow. On the following 
 day, the fanatical Paulet said harshly to her, that 
 being dead according to law, she had no right to 
 the insignia of royalty ; and he believed he was 
 doing a praiseworthy act when he covered him- 
 self rudely and sat down in her presence. This 
 act of rudeness was sensibly felt by the unfor- 
 tunate queen. 
 
 On the 19th of December, she addressed her 
 last requests to Elizabeth. They were, that she 
 might be allowed to send to her son a jewel and 
 her blessing ; that her corpse might be conveyed 
 to France, and deposited near that of her mother ; 
 that her servants might be allowed to retain the 
 small bequests which she intended to make them ; 
 and that she might be executed in public. In 
 this letter she carefully avoided every expression 
 which might be interpreted as a petition for 
 mercy. After having given thanks to Heaven 
 
 * See Ap]jendix, No. 12. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 311 
 
 for giving her strength to support so much in- 
 justice, Mary conchided with these words : " Do 
 not accuse me of presumption, if, on abandoning 
 this world and preparing for a better, I warn you 
 that you will one day have to render an account, 
 as well as those who go before you." It is said 
 that Elizabeth shed tears, and answered nothing; 
 but it is more probable that this letter never 
 reached her. 
 
 Meanwhile, Henry HI., though he sincerely 
 hated the house of Guise, could not see with 
 indifference the head of a princess, who had worn 
 the crown of France, fall beneath the axe of the 
 executioner. He sent an ambassador extraordi- 
 nary, who was detained by various obstacles, 
 and who obtained no answer. After his depart- 
 ure, the resident ambassador wished to resume 
 negotiations ; but they pretended the discovery 
 of a conspiracy in which he himself was impli- 
 cated ; his secretary was arrested, and his papers 
 seized. After the death of the queen, apologies 
 were offered ; false information was alleged, and 
 the ambassador and his master were loaded with 
 compliments and praise. Henry III. was, in- 
 deed, somewhat feared. The King of Scotland 
 interceded eagerly, and joined menaces to en- 
 treaties ; . but if he was sincere, he committed the 
 
312 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 inexcusable fault of employing the same Gray, 
 whose perfidy had akeady rendered a former 
 negotiation abortive. In public. Gray solicited 
 earnestly ; in private, he urged Elizabeth with 
 all his power to immolate her victim, and inti- 
 mated that James would not be sorry to be rid 
 of his mother.* 
 
 After the publication of the sentence, Eliza- 
 beth spent two months in a state of apparent 
 irresolution ; but she was often heard to lament 
 that among the thousands of men who professed 
 attachment for her, not one would spare her the 
 necessity of dipping her hands in the queen's 
 blood. Once she even said, " Surely Paulet and 
 Drury " — the latter had been lately appointed 
 additional keeper of ]Mary — " might ease me 
 of this burden. Walsingham and yourself," said 
 
 * "Meantime, vrhile the hated object of her guilty purpose was 
 submitting to her hard destiny with the dignity of a queen and the 
 resignation of a martyr, Elizabeth was distracted with gloomy and 
 perplexing thoughts. She gave herself up to solitariness, sat mute, 
 and was frequently heard to sigh deeply, and mutter to herself, Aut 
 fer, aut feri — Either bear with her, or strike home ; alluding, says 
 Camden, to a certain emblem, Xe feriari, feri — Strike, lest thou 
 be stricken. In this temper of her mind there was one at her elbow 
 to prompt dark counsels, which, however, were but little needed. 
 Mortua non mordet — The dead bite not — was a well-timed saw, 
 whispered in her ear by the treacherous Master of Gray." — Walter's 
 Journal of Mary's Cajjtivity. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 313 
 
 she to Davison, her secretary, " must sound their 
 disposition." Elizabeth had already endeavored 
 to excite the imagination and devotedness of 
 Paulet by writing a letter to him, in which she 
 loads him with praise and flattery, styling him 
 my Amias, my most faithful servant, and promis- 
 ing him an extraordinary reward, non omnibus 
 datum. 
 
 In compliance with the queen's wishes, a let- 
 ter was forwarded to Paulet and Drury, in which 
 they were informed that the queen complained 
 of their lack of zeal, otherwise they would have 
 already terminated the captive's days. Had they 
 not taken the oath of association ? What mo- 
 tive should restrain them, now that Mary was 
 tried and condemned ? Paulet answered imme- 
 diately that his goods and life were at the queen's 
 disposal, but that he would not shed another's 
 blood without being authorized by law or war- 
 rant. On the 1st of February, Elizabeth for- 
 bade Davison taking the executioner's warrant 
 to the chancellor ; and when she learned that the 
 seal had been already affixed, she expressed her 
 surprise and her persuasion that the death of the 
 Scottish queen might be better accomplished by 
 some other expedient. The following day she 
 repeated the same language ; and when she saw 
 27 
 
314 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 the answer of Patilet, he was no longer her 
 Amias, her most faithful servant, but a precise 
 and dainty fellow^ who promised much and per- 
 formed nothing, who would perjure himself in 
 order to shift the blame from his own shoulders 
 upon hers. 
 
 Davison now felt alarmed. From the ambigu- 
 ous language of the queen, ^le knew not whether 
 to detain or to forward the waiTant ; and, to ex- 
 onerate himself, he delivered it to Lord Bur- 
 leigh, from whom he had received it originally. 
 That noble assembled a council, (4th of Febru- 
 ary,) by which it was decided that the queen had 
 done all that could be expected of her, and that 
 it was now the duty of the council to assume 
 the responsibility of the execution. Conse- 
 quently the secretary of the council was ordered 
 to expedite the warrant. On the 7th, Earl Mar- 
 shal Shrewsbury was announced to the Queen 
 of Scots ; his presence at Fotheringay instantly 
 suggested the fatal object of his visit. The 
 queen immediately rose from her bed, dressed, 
 and seated herself near a small table, after hav- 
 ing ranged her servants and women on each side. 
 The earl entered uncovered, followed by the Earl 
 of Kent, the sheriff, and several gentlemen of the 
 county. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 315 
 
 Mary heard the warrant read without exhibit- 
 ing any emotion. The reading concluded, she 
 crossed herself, and said the day she had desired 
 had at last arrived ; she could not terminate the 
 twenty years of captivity she had undergone in 
 a more glorious manner than by shedding her 
 blood for her religion. She then enumerated the 
 wrongs she had suffered, the offers which she had 
 made, and the artifices employed by her enemies; 
 and in conclusion, placing her hand on a Testa- 
 ment which was on the table, she added, " As 
 for the death of the queen, your sovereign, I call 
 God to witness that I never imagined it, never 
 sought it, nor ever consented to it." " That 
 book," said the fanatical Kent, " is a popish Tes- 
 tament, and therefore the oath is null." " It is a 
 Catholic Testament," rejoined the queen; "for 
 that reason I esteem it the more, and for the 
 same reason you should regard my oath as the 
 most sacred I can take." Kent then exhorted 
 her to renounce all papistical superstition, save 
 her soul, and accept the spiritual assistance of 
 the Dean of Peterborough, a learned theologian. 
 Mary requested that they would allow her that 
 of her almoner, which was harshly refused, on 
 the ground that to yield to her request would be 
 to expose the welfare of the souls of the com- 
 
316 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 missioners in another world, and their personal 
 safety in this. A desultory conversation fol- 
 lowed ; afterwards, turning towards Shrewsbury, 
 she inquired when she was to suffer ; to which 
 the earl answered, with considerable agitation, 
 " To-morrow morning, at eight o'clock." It is 
 said that when the earl was about to withdraw, 
 Mary inquired what had become of Nau, and on 
 learning that he was still in prison, she exclaimed 
 that Nau was the cause of her death, and that 
 he had brought her to the scaffold to save his 
 own life. She had nevertheless heard her sen- 
 tence with such calmness and dignity as to strike 
 the beholders with respect and pity. 
 
 When the earls had departed, all her attend- 
 ants burst into groans and sobs ; but she imposed 
 silence on them, saying, " This is not the time to 
 weep, but to rejoice. In a few hom-s all my 
 misfortunes will be over. My enemies may now 
 say what they please ; but the Earl of Kent has 
 betrayed the secret, that my religion is the real 
 cause of my death. Be then resigned, and leave 
 me to my devotions." She immediately com- 
 menced praying, and after some time was called 
 to supper. She ate sparingly, but before leaving 
 the table, drank the health of her servants, who 
 asked her pardon on their knees for any faults 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 317 
 
 they had committed in her service. She forgave 
 them cheerfully, asking forgiveness of them in 
 her turn, if she had at any time treated them 
 
 their future conduct, and, it is said, again men- 
 tioned her conviction that Nau was the cause of 
 her death. 
 
 Mary passed a part of the last night of her 
 life in regulating her domestic affairs, in making 
 her will, and in writing three letters, one to her 
 confessor, one to her cousin of Guise, and the 
 other to the King of France. She then occu- 
 pied herself with various exercises of devotion, 
 with her two maids of honor, Jane Kennedy and 
 Elspeth Curie. About four in the morning she 
 retired to rest, but was observed not to sleep. 
 Her lips were in constant motion, and her mind 
 seemed absorbed in prayer.* At early dawn she 
 
 ♦ It was during these solemn moments that tradition says she com- 
 posed the following rhythmical prayer, the touching pathos and sim- 
 plicity of which go to every heart : — 
 
 0 Domine Deus, 0 my Lord and my God, 
 
 unkindly. She then gave them some advice for 
 
 Speravi in Te ; 
 0 care mi Jesu, 
 
 All my hopes are in Thee ; 
 
 Nunc libera me. 
 
 In my need, dearest Jesu, 
 0 succor thou me ! 
 
 In durS catena, 
 In miserSL poena,, 
 Desidero Te ! 
 
 'Midst fetters deep-galling. 
 
 'Midst ills deep-inthralling. 
 My heart yearns for Thee ! 
 
 27* 
 
318 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 summoned her servants, read her will to them, 
 distributed among them her money and clothes, 
 and bade them adieu, kissing the women, and 
 giving the men her hand to kiss. Weeping, they 
 followed her into her oratory, where she took her 
 place in front of the altar ; they knelt down and 
 prayed behind her. 
 
 About seven o'clock the doors of the great 
 hall of the castle were thrown open. A scaffold 
 had been erected in the middle, which was cov- 
 ered with black serge, and surrounded with a 
 low railing. The gentlemen of the county en- 
 tered, with their attendants ; these and Paulet's 
 guard augmented the number of spectators to 
 about two hundred. A little before eight o'clock 
 a message was sent to the queen, who answered 
 that she would be ready in half an hour. At 
 the expiration of that time, Andrews, the sheriff, 
 entered the oratory ; the queen immediately 
 arose, taking the crucifix from the altar in her 
 right hand, and carrying her prayer book in her 
 left. Her servants wished to follow her, but 
 were forbidden ; they insisted ; but the queen 
 
 Languendo, gemendo, AYbile in anguish I languish, 
 
 Et genuflectendo, Thus kneeling before Thee, 
 
 Adoro, imploro, I adore, I implore Thee, 
 Ut liberes me! In my need succor me! 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART, 
 
 319 
 
 bade them desist, and, turning, gave them her 
 blessing. They received it on their knees, some 
 kissing her hands, others her mantle. The door 
 closed, and a burst of lamentation from those 
 within resounded through the hall. 
 
 Mary was now joined by the earls and her 
 wardens. At the foot of the staircase she was 
 met by Melville, the steward of her household, 
 who had been excluded from her presence for 
 several weeks. This old and faithful servant 
 cast himself on his knees before her, and, wring- 
 ing his hands, exclaimed, " Ah, madam, unhappy 
 that I am I was ever man on earth the bearer of 
 such sorrow as I shall be when I report that my 
 good and gracious queen and mistress was be- 
 headed in England ? " Here grief impeded his 
 utterance. " Good Melville," said the queen to 
 him, " cease to lament ; thou hast rather cause 
 to joy than mourn ; for this day shalt thou see 
 the end of Mary Stuart's troubles. Know that 
 this world is but vanity and vexation of spirit. 
 Bear witness, I pray you, that I die a true woman 
 to my religion, firm in my fidelity to Scotland, 
 and unchanged in my affection to France. May 
 God forgive them that have long thirsted for my 
 blood, as the hart doth for brooks of water. O 
 God! thou art the author of truth, and truth 
 
820 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 itself. Thou knowest the inner chamber of my 
 thoughts, and that I always wished the union 
 of England and Scotland. Commend me to 
 my son, and tell him that I have done nothing 
 prejudicial to the dignity or independence of his 
 crown, or favorable to the pretended superiority 
 of our enemies." Then bursting into tears, she 
 said, " Good Melville, adieu ! " and kissing him, 
 " Once again, good Melville, farewell, and pray 
 for thy mistress and queen." It was, it is said, 
 the first time in her life that she had been known 
 to address any one by the pronoun thou. 
 
 After this affecting scene, she made her last 
 request, that her servants might be present at her 
 death. But Kent objected that they would be 
 troublesome by their grief and lamentations; 
 might practise some superstitious mummery; 
 perhaps might dip their handkerchiefs in her 
 grace^s blood.* " My lords," said Mary, " I will 
 give my word for them. They shall deserve no 
 blame. Surely your mistress, being a maiden 
 queen, will vouchsafe, in regard of womanhood, 
 that I may have some of my women about me 
 at my death." Receiving no answer, she con- 
 tinued : " You might, I think, grant me a far 
 
 • The wicked Kent used the expression her grace, instead of her - 
 mcyesty, to show that he did not consider her a queen. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 321 
 
 greater courtesy were I a woman of lesser call- 
 ing than the Queen of Scots." The two earls 
 still remaining silent, she asked, with vehemence, 
 " Am I not the cousin of your queen, a descend- 
 ant of the blood royal of Henry VII., a married 
 queen of France, and the anointed queen of 
 Scotland ? " The fanaticism of the Earl of 
 Kent and the attendant lords could not with- 
 stand so commanding an appeal; and it was 
 resolved to admit four of her men and two of 
 her women servants. She selected her steward, 
 Melville, and her physician, apothecary, and sur- 
 geon, with her maids, Kennedy and Curie. 
 
 The melancholy procession now moved for- 
 ward, headed by the sheriff and his officers ; next 
 followed the wardens, Paulet and Drury, and the 
 two earls; lastly came the queen, clad in her 
 richest dress, with Melville bearing her train. 
 Her headdress was of fine lawn, edged with 
 rich lace, with a veil of the same, thrown back 
 and reaching to the ground. She wore a mantle 
 of black printed satin, lined with black taffeta, 
 and faced with sables, with a long train and 
 open sleeves hanging to the ground. The but- 
 tons were of jet, in the form of acorns, and set 
 round with pearls ; the collar d Vltalienne. Her 
 purpoint (surcoat) was of black figured satin, 
 
322 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 and under it a bodice, unlaced on the back, of 
 crimson satin, with the skirt of crimson velvet. 
 A pomander chain with a cross of gold was sus- 
 pended from her neck, and a pair of beads from 
 her waist. 
 
 Mary entered the hall with a firm and assured 
 step, and did not shrink at the sight of the scaf- 
 fold, the fatal block, and the executioner. To 
 aid her in mounting the scaffold, Paulet offered 
 his arm. " I thank you, sir," said Mary ; " it is 
 the last trouble I shall give you, and the most 
 acceptable service you have ever rendered me." 
 She seated herself in the place prepared for her. 
 On her right stood the two earls, on her left the 
 sheriff and Beale, the clerk of the council, in 
 front the executioner from the Tower, in a suit 
 of black velvet, and his assistant, also clad in 
 black. The warrant for her execution was then 
 read by Beale, and immediately after Mary ad- 
 dressed the assembly in a firm and audible voice. 
 " Gentlemen," said she, " I would have you re- 
 member, that I am a sovereign princess, not sub- 
 ject to the Parliament of England, but brought 
 hither to suffer by injustice and violence. I thank 
 God, however, for giving me this opportunity to 
 make a public profession of my faith. I declare 
 that I die, as I have lived, in the bosom of the 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 323 
 
 Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church ; I de- 
 clare, besides, that I have never imagined, nor 
 compassed, nor consented to, any plot against the 
 life of the Queen of England,* to whom I have 
 never wished any harm. I pardon all those 
 who have pursued me so implacably for twenty 
 years " 
 
 Fletcher, Dean of Peterborough, whom the 
 Earl of Kent considered a great theologian, but 
 who, on this fatal day, showed only a bitter, im- 
 perious, and unjust zeal, hastily interrupted the 
 
 * It is possible that after twenty years' captivity, as severe as it 
 was unjust, Mary Stuart desired the death of Elizabeth, as likely to 
 restore her to liberty ; but the question was not if she had that desire, 
 but if she had really kno^vn and favored Babington's project. The 
 negative appears to be the manifest conclusion. The whole testi- 
 mony against her consists in a copy of a letter pretended to have 
 been written by her ; but the simple copy of a non-produced paper is 
 without weight in law. The declaration of Babington, who does not 
 affirm, but who only believes that the copy resembles the original 
 letter, can but create a simple doubt, which is destroyed by the posi- 
 tive denial of Mary. The declaration of the secretary Nau — a decla- 
 ration which was not refuted, because this man was never confronted 
 with her whom he accused — merits very little confidence, especially 
 when it is considered that during the queen's last moments, Nau 
 tranquilly awaited in Walsingham's residence an opportunity to re- 
 turn to France. Sir Walter Scott, in his History of Scotland, although 
 he shows himself on all occasions an enemy to Catholics, says ex- 
 pressly that the proofs alleged against the Queen of Scots were such 
 that the life of the nlest criminal would not have beeii endangered 
 by them, and, nevertheless, the commissioners had the base cruelty 
 to condemn a queen. 
 
324 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 queen to inform her, in a brutal tone, that his 
 mistress, Queen Elizabeth, although compelled to 
 execute justice on her body, was careful of the 
 welfare of her soul ; that she had sent him to bring 
 her to the true fold of Christ, out of the commu- 
 nion of which church if she remained, she must 
 be damned ; that she might yet find mercy before 
 God, if she would repent of her wickedness, ac- 
 knowledge the justice of her punishment, and 
 profess her gratitude for the favors she had re- 
 ceived from Elizabeth. 
 
 Mary repeatedly requested Dr. Fletcher not to 
 trouble himself and her. " O my God ! " said 
 she, " why have you permitted this man to oc- 
 cupy these bitter moments ! Ah, since you yet 
 reserve this trial for me, at least give me strength 
 to bear it without a murmur." He persisted : 
 she turned aside. Then this madman, making 
 the circuit of the scaffold, again addressed her in 
 front.* Shrewsbury partly concluded this scan- 
 dalous scene by ordering Fletcher to pray. He 
 obeyed with ill grace, and his prayer was only a 
 continuation of his exhortation. 
 
 * Such treatment as this on the part of a dignitary of the church 
 could only have been the effect of instruction from his superiors. 
 There are evidences that he hoped by brutality like this to commend 
 himself at court. He was shortly after made Bishop of London. — 
 Robertson. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 325 
 
 Mary did not listen, but prayed fervently, and 
 recited in a loud voice, and in the Latin language, 
 long passages from the book of Psalms. When 
 the dean had concluded, she prayed in English 
 for the Catholic Church, for her son, and for 
 Elizabeth, and protested her innocence for the 
 last time, praying Heaven to refuse her mercy 
 if she spoke not the truth. " I pray Thee that 
 my soul may be perpetually deprived of all par- 
 ticipation in your mercy and grace, and of the 
 hoped-for and expected fruit of the death and 
 passion of your most dear Son ! " On conclud- 
 ing her prayer, she held up the crucifix, and ex- 
 claimed, " As thy arms, O my Saviour, were 
 extended on the cross, so receive me into the 
 arms of thy mercy, and pardon all my sins I " 
 
 All those present, though Protestants with the 
 exception of Mary's servants, being moved with a 
 holy respect, awaited in mournful silence the close 
 of this terrible drama. The Earl of Kent alone 
 had the heinous courage to insult Mary's religious 
 sentiments by crying out to her to lay aside such 
 popish trumperies. At this moment the two 
 maids of honor, bathed in tears, commenced un- 
 robing their mistress ; but the executioners, fearful 
 of losing their usual perquisites, hastily inter- 
 28 
 
326 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 fered.* The queen at first remonstrated ; but a 
 moment after receiving this humiliation, she 
 submitted to their rudeness, observing to the 
 earls with a smile, that she was not accustomed 
 to undress in the presence of so numerous a 
 company, nor be served by such valets. 
 
 At the sight of their sovereign in so forlorn a 
 condition, Mary's attendants could no longer 
 suppress their feelings : but she made them an 
 expressive sign to keep silence, gave them her 
 blessing, and solicited their prayers. Kennedy 
 then taking a handkerchief, edged with gold, 
 pinned it over her eyes : the executioners, hold- 
 ing her by the arms, led her to the block, on 
 which would close her doom ; and the queen, 
 kneeling down, said repeatedly, " Into thy hands, 
 O Loi'd, I commend my spirit." At this mo- 
 ment sobs and groans burst from the spectators, 
 and disconcerted the headsman. He trembled, 
 missed his aim, and inflicted a deep wound in 
 the lower part of the skull. The queen remained 
 motionless ; and at the third stroke her head was 
 severed from her body. When the executioner 
 held it up, the muscles of the face were so 
 strongly convulsed, that the features of the Queen 
 
 * All these articles were claimed by the executioner, but were 
 relinquished by him for a sum of money. 
 
LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 327 
 
 of Scots could be with difficulty recognized. 
 " God save Queen Elizabeth ! " cried the execu- 
 tioner, as usual, holding up the bloody head. 
 (8th of February, 1587.)* 
 
 " So perish all her enemies ! " subjoined Dean 
 Fletcher, who at this moment undoubtedly forgot 
 that he was a minister of a reUgion of peace, 
 benevolence, and love — of a religion which 
 teaches us to pardon our enemies, that we, in our 
 turn, may obtain pardon for our sins. Fletch- 
 er's voice would have found no echo in the hall, 
 had not the savage Kent responded, " So perish 
 all enemies of the gospel I " These demoniac 
 words died away under the arched roof of the 
 hall. Every one retired sadly, wiping away by 
 stealth the tears of which malevolence would 
 have made a crime ; it would have been a crime, 
 indeed, to have dared lament and admire the un- 
 fortunate, the noble Mary Stuart ! 
 
 Father Southwell, the celebrated Jesuit and 
 
 * The queen's corpse was embalmed the same day in the presence 
 of Paulet and the sheriff, and deposited in a leaden coffin, which 
 was left in the same hall until the 1st of August, when it was in- 
 terred with pomp in the abbey church of Peterborough. Twenty-five 
 years later it was transferred to Westminster, by order of James, 
 October 11, 1612. 
 
328 
 
 LIFE OF MARY STUART. 
 
 poet, who was a martyr to his faith under Eliza- 
 beth, (1595,) has left an Elegy on Mary's death, 
 an extract from which may not be unacceptable 
 to the reader : — 
 
 Alive a queen, now dead I am a saint ; 
 
 Once Mary called, my name now Martjrr is : 
 From earthly rule debarred by long restraint, 
 
 Now do I reign supreme in heavenly bliss. 
 
 The scaffold was my couch, where ease I found, 
 
 The block a pillow to my sainted rest ; 
 The headsman cast me in a blissful swound ; 
 
 His axe cut off sad cares from cumbered breast. 
 
 Rue not my death — rejoice at my repose ; 
 
 It was no death to me, but to my woe : 
 The bud was opened to let out the rose. 
 
 The chain unloos'd to let the captive go. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 28* 
 
 (329) 
 
APPENDIX* 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 The Queen of Scots to the Archbishop of 
 Glasgow. 
 
 Most Reverend Father in God and trusty- 
 counsellor : We greet ye well. We have re- 
 ceived this morning your letters of the 27th of 
 January, by your servant Robert Drury, contain- 
 ing in one part such advertisement as we find by 
 effect to be ever true, though the success has not 
 altogether been such as the authors of that mis- 
 chievous fact had preconceived in their minds, 
 and would have put in execution, if God in his 
 mercy had not preserved us ; and reserved us, as 
 we trust, to the end that we may take a vigorous 
 vengeance of that mischievous deed, which ere 
 
 * The letters here given are selected from Professor Walter's 
 Journal of Mary Queen of Scots^ Captivity. They are mostly 
 translated from the French. 
 
 (331) 
 
332 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 it should remain unpunished, we had rather lose 
 life and all. The matter is horrible, and so 
 strange, that we believe the like was never heard 
 of in any country. This night past, being the 
 9th of February, a little after two hours from 
 midnight, the house wherein the king was lodged 
 was, in an instant, blown into the air, he lying 
 sleeping in his bed, and with such vehemency, 
 that of the whole lodging, walls and all, there is 
 nothing remaining, no, not a stone above another, 
 but all either carried far away, or dung in dross 
 [reduced to dust] to the very ground stone. It 
 must be done by force of powder, and appears 
 to have been a mine. By whom it has been 
 done, or in what manner, appears not as yet. 
 We doubt not but according to the diligence our 
 council has begun already to use, the certainty of 
 all shall be usit [made known] shortly ; and the 
 same being discovered, which we wot God will 
 never suffer to lie hid, we hope to punish the 
 same with such rigor as shall serve for example 
 of this cruelty to all ages to come. "Whoever 
 have taken this wicked enterprise in hand, we 
 assure ourselves it was dressed [prepared] as well 
 for us as for the king ; for we lay the most part of 
 all the last week in that same lodging, and were 
 there accompanied by the most part of the lords 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 333 
 
 that were in this town. That same night, at 
 midnight, and of very chance, we tarried not all 
 night, by reason of some mask in the abbey ; but 
 we believe it was not chance, but God, that put 
 it in our head. We have despatched this bearer 
 upon the sudden, and, therefore, write to you 
 but shortly. The rest of your letter we shall an- 
 swer at more leisure, within four or five days, by 
 your own servant. And so, for the present, we 
 commit you to Almighty God. 
 
 Marie R. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the 11th day of February, 1567. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Mary to Elizabeth. 
 
 Madam, my good Sister : I believe you are 
 not ignorant how long it is since certain of 
 my subjects, whom, from being the least in my 
 kingdom, I raised to be the greatest, have endeav- 
 ored to involve me in trouble, and have made it 
 apparent what was their aim from the beginning. 
 You know how they proposed to seize me and 
 the late king my husband, from which attempt 
 it pleased God to deliver us, and to permit us to 
 drive them out of the country; where, at your 
 
334 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 request, I received them afterwards, though on 
 their return they committed another crime in 
 holding me a prisoner, and killing in my presence 
 a servant of mine, I being at the time far ad- 
 vanced in a state of pregnancy. It again pleased 
 God that I should escape from their hands ; and, 
 as before stated, I not only pardoned them, but 
 received them again into favor. Not contented, 
 however, with so many tokens of kindness, they 
 have, notwithstanding their promises, devised, 
 promoted, subscribed to, and aided in the com- 
 mission of a crime, for the purpose of falsely 
 charging it upon me, as I hope clearly to make 
 appear to you. Under this pretext, they took 
 arms against me, and accusing me of bad coun- 
 sel, they pretended a desire to see me delivered 
 from bad company, in order to show me various 
 things that required reformation. Conscious of 
 my innocence, and desirous to avoid the shedding 
 of blood, I committed myself to their hands, be- 
 ing willing to reform whatever was amiss. They 
 immediately seized upon me, and committed me 
 to prison. When I reproached them w4th a 
 breach of their promise, and required to be in- 
 formed why they thus treated me, they all kept 
 away from my presence : I then demanded to be 
 heard in council ; this was refused me. In short, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 335 
 
 they sought in every way to annoy me; they 
 deprived me of all my servants, except two wo- 
 men, a cook, and a surgeon. They threatened 
 to kill me if I did not sign an abdication of my 
 crown ; which the fear of immediate death caused 
 me to do, as I have declared before the whole 
 nobility, upon testimony I hope to show you. 
 After this, they again called me to account, ac- 
 cusing and proceeding against me in Parliament, 
 without condescending to give me any reason 
 for the same, without granting me a hearing, 
 without allowing me an advocate to speak for 
 me, compelling every one to acquiesce in their 
 ^ false usurpation of my power, pillaging me of 
 all I had in the world; never permitting me 
 either to write or speak, that I might not expose 
 their falsehoods and their wicked machinations. 
 At last, it has pleased God to deliver me from 
 them, at the very moment they were meditating 
 to put me to death, in order more firmly to 
 insure their usurpations. In the mean time, I 
 repeatedly offered to answer any thing they had 
 to allege against me, and to assist them in bring- 
 ing the guilty to punishment. At last, it has 
 pleased God to religase me, to the great joy of all 
 my subjects, except Murray, Morton, the Humes, 
 Glencairn, Marr, and Semple, to whom, after the 
 
336 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 whole nobility had flocked to me from all quar- 
 ters, I sent to say, that, notwithstanding their 
 ingratitude and cruelty to me, I willingly invited 
 them to return to their duty, offering them se- 
 curity for their lives and their fortunes, and prom- 
 ising them to call a Parliament for the adjust- 
 ment of every difficulty. Twice did I send to 
 them. They seized and imprisoned my messen- 
 gers, and issued proclamations, declaring all who 
 assisted me traitors, and enemies of their country. 
 A second time did I send to them, proposing an 
 accommodation ; again they seized my messen- 
 ger. I sent to demand a safe conduct for my 
 Lord Boyd, whom I commissioned to treat with 
 them, anxious that no blood should be shed on 
 my account. They refused, saying, that, unless 
 all my followers returned to their duty to the 
 regent, and to my son, whom they style king, we 
 should be abandoned to our fate. At this inso- 
 lence all my nobility were greatly offended, and 
 expressed their attachment to me more warmly 
 than ever. I was, therefore, in hopes, that, in 
 the course of time, and with your power, this 
 faction would gradually be reduced. In the mean 
 time, as they threatened another act of violence 
 against me, swearing that they would effect their 
 purpose, or perish in the attempt, I set forward 
 
APPENDIX. 337 
 
 to Dumbarton, passing at the distance of two 
 miles from them, my nobility accompanying me 
 in battle array, being interposed between me and 
 the rebels. At this moment an effort was made 
 to cut off my passage, and seize my person. My 
 troops seeing this, and irritated at an advantage 
 sought to be gained by the rebels in point of 
 position, engaged them without order, so that it 
 was the will of Heaven they should be discom- 
 fited, and that many should be slain and taken 
 prisoners ; some, who were taken, in their retreat, 
 were cruelly put to death. The pursuit was im- 
 mediately suspended, in order to seize me on the 
 way to Dumbarton, and bodies of troops were 
 despatched in every direction to take me, dead 
 or alive. But God, of his infinite goodness, has 
 preserved me ; I escaped to my Lord Herries ; 
 who, with other gentlemen, has come with me 
 into your country. We feel assured, that, when 
 you are informed of the cruelty of my enemies, 
 and of the manner in which they have treated 
 me, you v/ill, agreeably to the natural kindness 
 of your disposition, and the faith which I have 
 in you, not only receive me for the security of 
 my life, but aid and assist me in my just cause. 
 For this purpose, I mean also to have recourse 
 to other princes, to interest them in my behalf. 
 29 
 
338 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I beg as soon as possible that you will send 
 for me, for I am in a very pitiable condition, not 
 merely for a queen, but for a gentlewoman. I 
 have nothing in the world but what I had on 
 my person when I escaped, having travelled sixty 
 miles across the country the first day, and not 
 daring to proceed afterwards but in the night 
 time. All the particulars I hope to declare in 
 your presence, if it please you to have pity, as I 
 trust you will, upon my extreme misfortune. I 
 forbear stating more of my grievances at present, 
 in order not to importune you. I pray God to 
 give you health, and a long and happy life; and 
 to me patient resignation, and that solace which 
 I hope to receive from your sympathy and in- 
 dulgence. 
 
 Your most faithful and affectionate good sister 
 and cousin, and escaped prisoner, 
 
 Marie R. 
 From "Workington, this VI th day of May y (1568.) 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Mary to Elizabeth, 
 
 Madam, my good Sister: I thank you for 
 the desir© which you have to hear the justifica- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 339 
 
 tion of niy honor, as it is a subject that concerns 
 all princes, and particularly yourself, to whom I 
 have the honor to be so nearly allied by blood ; 
 but it does appear to me, that they who persuade 
 you that my reception will turn to your dishonor, 
 maintain the very contrary. But, ah, madam, 
 when did you ever hear of a prince blamed for 
 listening in person to the complaints of those 
 who grieve at being falsely accused ? Banish 
 from your mind, madam, the idea that I am 
 come here for the safety of my life ; neither Scot- 
 land nor the world have renounced me. I am 
 come to reclaim my honor, and to sue for aid to 
 chastise my false accusers ; not to answer them 
 as their equals, but to accuse them before you, 
 whom I have chosen among all other princes, as 
 my nearest relative and perfect friend ; doing 
 you, as I wish to think, an honor in naming 
 you the restorer of a queen, who was desirous to 
 receive this benefit at your hands, and to be 
 grateful for the same dming my whole life, prov- 
 ing my innocence before your very eyes, and 
 convincing you how falsely they have dealt with 
 me. But I see, to my deep regret, that things 
 are interpreted otherwise. As to what you tell 
 me, that you are counselled, by persons of high 
 consideration, to be upon your guard in this 
 
340 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 affair, God forbid that I should be the cause of 
 your dishonor ; my intention being the very con- 
 trary. You will, therefore, be pleased, since my 
 affairs demand such great despatch, to do what 
 other princes would in like case perform ; and in 
 order to avoid any blame in that regard, permit 
 me to have recourse to those who will receive 
 me without any fears of this kind. Take any 
 guarantee from me you think fit, that, if here- 
 after required, — which I think it can never be, — 
 I may surrender myself and my cause into your 
 hands. But now, let me be restored to my state, 
 replaced in my honors, and vindicated in the 
 eyes of the world. Then will I come to lay my 
 cause before you, and to justify my honor, and 
 that from the friendship which I bear you, and 
 not under the humiliating necessity of replying 
 to my false subjects, and that without the credit, 
 as it appears to me, which is given to those who 
 are unworthy of the same. First, extend to me 
 your favor and suitable aid, and then see if I am 
 worthy of the same. Should the reverse prove 
 true, and my demands be found unjust, or to 
 your prejudice or dishonor, it will then be time to 
 discharge yourself of me, and to allow me to seek 
 my fortune elsewhere, without hinderance or mol- 
 estation. For, being innocent, as thank God, I 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 341 
 
 know myself to be, do not wrong me by keeping 
 me here in prison, and transferring me, as it were, 
 from one prison to another, encouraging my 
 enemies to persevere in their false and obstinate 
 accusations, and striking terror into my friends, 
 and disinclining them to afford me the aid they 
 had promised. All the good and the honorable 
 are on my side ; by any delay I may lose them, 
 or they may be induced to change, and then 
 should I have to begin the whole work anew. 
 
 Through my regard for you, I have pardoned 
 those who now seek my ruin, of which I may be 
 compelled before Heaven to accuse you ; and 
 fearful I am that these delays of yours may make 
 me lose all. Excuse my frankness ; but I owe 
 it to myself to speak to you without reserve. 
 You have received into your presence a bastard 
 brother of mine, who is a fugitive from me and 
 from justice ; and you refuse the same favor to 
 me, though I come to you in the justice of my 
 cause, and which I fear is retarded on account 
 of that very justice ; it is an old-fashioned way 
 of patching up a bad cause, to stop the mouth of 
 defenders. I know it was the object of John 
 Wood's commission to procure this delay, the 
 surest- remedy of an unjust cause, and of their 
 usurped authority. I, therefore, entreat you, 
 29* 
 
342 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 either to aid my cause, and lay me under an ex- 
 ternal obligation, or to remain neuter, and permit 
 me to do the best for myself elsewhere ; for by 
 protracting things, you will do more to ruin me 
 than all my enemies together. If you are in 
 dread of blame, at least, through the confidence 
 I have reposed in you, neither stir for me nor 
 against me. Leave me at full liberty to vindi- 
 cate my honor ; for here 1 neither can nor will 
 answer their false accusations. My desire is, in 
 a kind and friendly way, to come and justify my- 
 self towards you, not in the form of a trial with 
 my subjects, unless their hands were tied. No, 
 madam, there is nothing in common between me 
 and my rebel subjects ; and as to treating with 
 them here as my equals, I would rather undergo 
 death itself than submit to such indignity. 
 
 And now, laying aside the language of a good 
 sister, let me beg of you, madam, by your honor, 
 to send back my Lord Herries to me without 
 delay, with assurances of that aid and support 
 which he has requested on my part. I have been 
 all this time without any answer from yourself 
 or him, or any assurance thereupon. I have also 
 to request of you, that, as I came freely to render 
 myself into your hands, where I have been so 
 long without any certitude, to command my Lord 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 343 
 
 Scrope to permit my subjects, to the number of 
 one, two, or three, to have liberty to come and 
 return, that I may not be deprived of all intelli- 
 gence with my subjects; otherwise, this would 
 be to cut oft" my defence, and to condemn me 
 unheard. Would to God you could have known 
 in few words what I intended to say ; I would 
 not have detained you so long. I do not blame 
 you for this conduct towards me ; but I hope, in 
 spite of all their specious offers and falsely-col- 
 ored discourses, you will find me a more advan- 
 tageous friend to you than they can be. I will 
 enter into particulars only by word of mouth. 
 And so I make an end of my humble recorn- 
 mendations to your good grace, praying God to 
 grant you, madam, my good sister, good health 
 and long life. 
 
 Your very good sister and cousin, 
 
 Marie R. 
 
 From Carlisle, {June llih, 1568.) 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Mai'i/ to Elizabeths 
 
 Madam : Though the necessity of my cause 
 makes me importunate, yet I trust that, upon 
 
344 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 reflection, you will not find me unreasonable. 
 Impartial minds, not moved by the feelings by 
 which you are actuated, Avould think that I do 
 no other than as my cause requires. Madam, I 
 do not believe that, of yourself, you are devoid 
 of good inclination towards me ; but there are 
 those who influence your mind ; for I must havo 
 taken leave of my senses not to perceive a very 
 poor fm'therance of my affairs since my coming 
 hither. I thought I had already said enough to 
 you relative to the inconveniences which delay 
 brings to m}^ cause, and the advantage which it 
 gives to my rebellious subjects, who, I am told, 
 intend holdinsr a Parliament next month. Anci 
 then the dishonor done, to listen to their request 
 to have commissioners sent to be heard against 
 me, as if I were the meanest subject. What I 
 asked of you, madam, was permission to come 
 to your presence, and make my statement to you 
 relative to the falsehoods they have set forth 
 against me. If I could not clear myself of the 
 same, then you might discharge yourself of my 
 cause. But that my subjects should be allowed 
 to come as my agents and accuse me, of that I 
 cannot allow. If you find it against your honor 
 to admit me to your presence, suffer me at least 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 345 
 
 to go into France, where I have a dowry for my 
 support. 
 
 There are many things that move me to fear, 
 that I shall 1iave to do in this country with oth- 
 ers than w^ith you. But inasmuch as nothing 
 followed upon my last complaint, I hold my 
 peace. Happen what may, I had as lief abide 
 my fortune, as to seek it and not find it. Fur- 
 ther, it pleased you to give license to my subjects 
 to go and come ; this has been refused me by 
 my Lord Scrope and Knollys, as they say by 
 yom* command, because I would not depart 
 hence to your charge till I had answer to this 
 letter ; though I showed them that you required 
 my answer upon the two points contained in 
 your letter. The one is, to let you briefly under- 
 stand, that I desire to come to you to make my 
 complaint, which being heard, I would declare 
 to you my innocency, and then require your aid. 
 And for lack thereof, I cannot but make my 
 complaint to God, that 1 am not heard in my 
 just quarrel ; and to appeal to other princes to 
 have respect thereto, as my case requires ; and to 
 you, madam, first of all, when you shall have 
 examined your conscience, -and have him for 
 witness. Again, as to cQming further into your 
 
346 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 country, and not come to your presence, I must 
 esteem that as no favor, but, on the contrary, 
 take it as a thing forced. In the mean time, 1 
 beseech you to return to me my Lord Herries, 
 for I cannot be without him, having none of my 
 council here ; and also to suffer me, if it please 
 you, without further delay, to depart hence, 
 whithersoever it be, out of this country. I am 
 sure you will not deny me this simple request, 
 for your honor's sake : the naturaj goodness of 
 your heart cannot determine otherwise. Seeing 
 that of my own accord I am come hither, let me 
 depart again with yours. And if God permit 
 my cause to prosper, I shall be bound to you for 
 it ; and if it happen otherwise, yet I cannot 
 blame you. 
 
 As for my Lord Fleming, since upon my credit 
 you have suffered him to go to his home, I war- 
 rant you he will pass no farther, but will return 
 when it shall please you. Provided you trust 
 me, 1 will not, to die for it, deceive you. With 
 respect to Dumbarton, I answer not for that, 
 should my Lord Fleming be in the Tower ; for 
 they that are within it will not fail to receive 
 succors, if I do not* assure them of yours. No, 
 they would not, though you should impute to 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 me the consequences ; for my charge to them has 
 been, to have more respect to my servants and 
 my estate than to my life. 
 
 Good sister, be of another mind. Win the 
 heart, and all shall be yours and at your com- 
 mand. I thought to have satisfied you wholly, 
 if I might but have seen you. Alas ! do not as 
 the serpent doth that stoppeth his hearing, for I 
 am no enchanter, but your sister and natural 
 cousin. Had not Caesar disdained to hear or 
 redress the complaint of an applicant, he had 
 not died as he did. Why should princes' ears be 
 stopped, seeing they are painted in large ; mean- 
 ing that they should hear all, and be well ad- 
 vised before they answer. I am not of the nature 
 of the basilisk, and less of the chameleon, to turn 
 you to my likeness ; and though I were so dan- 
 gerous and cursed as men say, you are suf- 
 ficiently armed with constancy and with justice, 
 which I beg of God to give you his grace to use 
 well, with long and happy life. 
 
 Your good sister and cousin, 
 
 Marie R. 
 
 Carlisle, this 5th of Juhj, 1568. 
 
348 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 . No. 5. 
 
 Mary to Elizabeth* 
 
 Madam : The late conspiracies in Scotland 
 against my poor child, and my fears for the con- 
 sequence, grounded on my self-experience, call 
 upon me to employ the remainder of my life and 
 strength, fully to discharge my heart of my just 
 complaints, which I do in the present letter. I 
 trust that as long as you survive me, it may 
 serve as an eternal testimony, and be engraven 
 on your conscience, as well for my acquittance 
 to posterity, as for the shame and confusion of 
 all those, who, under your connivance, have up 
 to this hour so cruelly and unworthily treated 
 me, and reduced me to the extremity in which I 
 
 * "Mary's letters," says Robertson of Dalmeny, "are numerous, 
 able, and eloquent. Among tliem is particularly to be mentioned the 
 letter to Elizabeth on occasion of the captivity of her son, and the 
 machinations against herself and him, abetted by the English queen. 
 No person can read that letter without a certain degree of astonish- 
 ment. It is difficult to say, whether the pathetic, or the grand, shine 
 most conspicuous. To it the admirers of Mary may refer, as a ground 
 of their panegyric, whether considered in reference to the greatness 
 of mind which it displays, the solemnity that reigns throughout, the 
 piety which it breathes, the chain of arguments which is maintained, 
 the eloquence with which it glows, or the bold and just reproach with 
 which it fearlessly brands the English queen." 
 
APPENDIX. 349 
 
 am. But as their designs and practices, detes- 
 table as they are, have always prevailed against 
 my just remonstrances and honest deportment, 
 and as the power which you have in your hands 
 has always been your justification in the eyes of 
 men, I will have recourse to the living God, our 
 only Judge, who, under him, has established us 
 equally and immediately for the government of 
 his people. I will invoke him, in the extremity 
 of this my pressing affliction, to render to you 
 and to myself (as he will do in the last judg- 
 ment) the due of our merits and demerits, one 
 towards the other. And remember, madam, 
 that from him we can disguise nothing by the 
 paint and poKcy of the world ; though my ene- 
 mies, under you, have been able, for a time, to 
 cover from the eyes of men, peradventure from 
 your own, their subtle inventions. In his name, 
 and as it were before him, seated between you 
 and myself, I would remind you, that by means 
 of the agents, spies, and secret messengers, sent 
 in your name into Scotland, while I was there, 
 my subjects were corrupted and encouraged to 
 rebel against me, to make attempts against my 
 person ; in a word, to speak, undertake, and exe- 
 cute all that led to the troubles which have be- 
 fallen my country. 
 
 30 
 
350 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 During my imprisonment in Lochleven, the 
 late Throgmorton counselled me on your part to 
 sign that abdication, which he told me it was 
 advisable to do, assuring me that it would not 
 be valid. And nowhere in Christendom has it 
 since been held as valid, or maintained as such, 
 except by you, even to the assisting the authors of 
 it by open force. On your conscience, madam, 
 would you have recognized an equal liberty and 
 power in your own subjects ? And yet by the 
 same men has my authority been transferred to 
 my son, and that too when he was incapable of 
 exercising it. And when I afterwards sought 
 lawfully to assure him of the same, he being of 
 an age to act for himself, it was suddenly wrested 
 from him, and assigned over to two or three trai- 
 tors, who, having taken from him the effective- 
 ness of it, will take from him, as they have from 
 me, both the name and title, and perhaps his 
 life, if God does not provide for his preservation. 
 
 When I had escaped from Lochleven, and was 
 ready to give battle to the rebels, I remitted to 
 you by a gentleman express a diamond ring, 
 which I had formerly received as a token from 
 you, under the assurance of being succored by 
 you against my rebellious subjects ; nay, more, 
 that should I seek refuge with you, you would 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 351 
 
 come to the very frontier to assist me ; and this 
 was confirmed to me by divers messengers. 
 
 This promise, coming from your lips, and 
 being repeated by you, (though I had oftentimes 
 found myself abused by your ministers,) made 
 me place such trust in you, that when my army 
 was routed, I came directly to throw myself into 
 your arms, had I been permitted so to do. But 
 while I was deliberating about repairing to you, 
 there was I arrested half way, surrounded by 
 guards, secured in strong places, and at last re- 
 duced, all shame set aside, to the captivity in 
 which I am now languishing, after the thousand 
 deaths which I have akeady suffered from it. I 
 know that you will allege against me what 
 passed between the late Duke of Norfolk and 
 myself. I maintain that there was nothing there- 
 in to your prejudice, nor against the public good 
 of your realm ; and that the treaty was sanc- 
 tioned by the advice and signatures of the first 
 men then in your council, with the assurance of 
 obtaining your approval. For a long time I 
 have been trying whether patience would soften 
 the rigor and ill treatment which for these ten 
 years past they have made me suffer. I have 
 strictly followed the order prescribed me in my 
 captivity in this house, as well in regard to the 
 
352 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 number and quality of the servants retained by 
 me, dismissing the others, as for my diet and 
 ordinary exercise for my health. I am living till 
 the present as quietly and peaceably as one 
 much inferior to myself, submitting, in order to 
 take away every shadow of distrust, to remain 
 without any intelligence of my son and my 
 country, which by no right or reason could be 
 denied me, especially in regard to my child, whom 
 they labored in every way to prejudice against 
 me, in order to weaken us by our disunion. 
 
 In conclusion, a more unworthy treatment 
 from day to day, in spite of all my efforts not to 
 deserve it, together with my too long, useless, 
 and pitiful patience, have reduced me so low 
 that my enemies, in their habit of treating me 
 ill, have brought themselves to think that they 
 have the right of proscription for so treating me, 
 not as a prisoner, which in reason I cannot be, 
 but as some slave, whose life and death depended 
 solely upon their tyranny. 
 
 I cannot, madam, submit to it any longer. 
 Either dying, I must discover the authors of my 
 death, or, living, attempt, under your protection, 
 to put an end to the cruelties, calumnies, and 
 traitorous designs of my enemies, in order to 
 insure me, for the remainder of my days, some- 
 
APPENDIX. 353 
 
 what more of rest and repose. To take away 
 the pretended occasions of difference between 
 us, inform yourself, if you please, of the truth 
 of all that has been reported to you relative to 
 my conduct ; review the depositions of the 
 strangers taken in Ireland ; let those of the Jes- 
 uits recently executed be represented to you; 
 give liberty to those who would undertake to 
 charge me publicly, and permit me to enter upon 
 my defence. If any evil be found in me, let me 
 suffer, which I shall do with patience when I 
 know the occasion of it; if any good, through 
 the high charge wherewith you are invested be- 
 fore God and man, suffer me not to be worse 
 treated for it. The vilest criminals in your 
 prisons, born under your jurisdiction, are admit- 
 ted to their justification, and their accusers and 
 their accusations are always declared to them. 
 Why, then, shall not the same order have place 
 towards me, a sovereign queen, your nearest rel- 
 ative and lawful heir? This last relation in 
 which I stand to you has, methinks, been hither- 
 to the principal cause of all the calumnies de- 
 vised against me by my enemies, to keep us in 
 division, by insinuating between us their own 
 unjust pretensions. But, alas ! they have but 
 little reason at present for thus tormenting me ; 
 30* 
 
354 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 for I protest to you, upon mine honor, that I look 
 this day for no other kingdom than that of my 
 God, for which I feel that he is disposing me by 
 those best of all preparations — suffering and 
 affliction. There can be little temptation for me 
 to ambition a crown w^hich hitherto has been to 
 me but a crown of thorns. 
 
 This, then, will be to you a monition to acquit 
 your conscience towards my child, as to what 
 shall belong to him after your death. In the 
 mean time, do not countenance the continual 
 practices and secret conspiracies which our ene- 
 mies in this realm are daily devising for the ad- 
 vancement of their pretensions. 
 
 And now, madam, with all that freedom of 
 speech which I foresee may in some sort offend 
 you, though it be nought but the truth, you will, 
 I doubt not, find it more strange that I now come 
 to you with a request of far greater importance, 
 and yet very easy for you to grant me. It is 
 that, not having been able hitherto, by accommo- 
 dating myself patiently for so long a time to the 
 rigorous treatment of this captivity, and my 
 carrying myself in all respects, even the least 
 that regard you, to obtain any assurance of your 
 good favor, or give you thereby some earnest of 
 my entire affection towards you ; and every hope 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 355 
 
 being taken away of better treatment for tho 
 short time that is still left me to live, I suppli- 
 cate you, by the bitter passion of our Saviour 
 and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to allow me to 
 withdraw out of this realm into some place of 
 repose ; to seek out some comfort for my poor 
 body, worn out as it is by continual sorrow, and 
 with liberty of conscience to prepare my soul for 
 God, who is daily calling me to himself. 
 
 Believe me, madam, or rather believe the 
 physicians whom you sent me this last summer, 
 as they have witnessed that I am not long for 
 this world, so as to give you any foundation for 
 jealousy or distrust of me. And yet you are 
 free to receive from me such assurances, as well 
 as just and reasonable conditions, as you may 
 think necessary. In your hands is the power, 
 and, as the strongest, you may still doom me to 
 a confinement which I little wish to escape. As 
 you have had sufficient experience of my obser- 
 vance of my simple promises, nay, sometimes to 
 my prejudice, as I showed you upon this point 
 two years ago. Recollect, if you please, what I 
 then wrote to you, that nothing can bind my 
 heart to you so strongly as kindness ; and yet 
 you continue to keep my poor body languishing 
 between four walls, and that without the pros- 
 
856 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 pcct of relief; ignorant, it should seem, of the 
 fact that persons of my rank and disposition are 
 incapable of being gained over or forced into 
 compliance by any rigor. This imprisonment 
 of yours, founded on no right or justice, has 
 already destroyed my body, whose end you will 
 shortly see, and which will prevent my enemies 
 from much longer glutting their cruelty upon 
 me ; as for my soul, that is my own, free and 
 untrammelled ; all your power cannot make that 
 captive. Allow it, then, some breathing place, 
 for aspiring a little more freely after its salvation, 
 which is all it now seeks, indifferent to all the 
 pomps and vanities of the world. It cannot, 
 methinks, be any great satisfaction, honor, or 
 advantage to you, to see my enemies trample 
 me under their feet, and humble me in the dust 
 under your very eyes ; whereas, if in this extrem- 
 ity, however late it may be, you release me from 
 their grasp, you would bind me and all who 
 belong to me in the strong bonds of affection, 
 and more particularly my poor child, whom by 
 such a measure you may, perchance, assure to 
 yourself forever. I shall not cease to importune 
 you with this request till it be granted me; and 
 on this I pray you to let me know your inten- 
 tion, having now waited your pleasure for more 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 357 
 
 than two years, to renew my entreaties for it, 
 which I am compelled to do by the state of my 
 health, which is worse than you, perhaps, have 
 been led to imagine. In the mean time, provide, 
 if you please, for the bettering of my treatment, 
 that I may no longer suffer as I have done. Re- 
 mit me not to the discretion of any other what- 
 ever, but do you yourself, to whom alone (as I 
 wrote to you lately) I wish henceforward to 
 stand indebted for all the good or all the evil 
 that I am to receive in your country. Do me 
 this favor, to let me have your determination in 
 writing, or the French ambassador for me. As 
 to abiding by what the Earl of Shrewsbury or 
 others may say or write to you, I have had too 
 much experience to place any reliance on them ; 
 their slightest notion or fancy being sufficient to 
 change to-morrow what may be done to-day. 
 
 Besides this, in reply to what I lately wrote to 
 those of your council, you have given me to 
 understand that I should not address myself to 
 them, but to you alone. It is surely not reason- 
 able that these men should ill-treat me merely 
 and solely to extend their credit and authority, 
 as they have lately done by these new restric- 
 tions, and whereby, contrary, I doubt not, to 
 your intentions, I have been most unworthily 
 
358 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 tre^ed. This gives me occasion to suspect that 
 some of my enemies in your council have ex- 
 pressly contrived that the rest should remain 
 ignorant of my just complaints, fearing, perhaps, 
 that their compeers would not lend themselves 
 to the wicked attempt against my life, or that, 
 if they had knowledge of the same, they would 
 oppose it for your honor, and through a sense of 
 duty towards you. In a word, two things I 
 have formally to requke : the one, that, approach- 
 ing as I am the term of my mortal career, I may 
 have near me for my consolation some honora- 
 ble churchman, to remind me daily of the course 
 I have to finish, that I may order my life accord- 
 ing to my faith, in which I am firmly resolved 
 to live and die. This is a last duty, not denied 
 to the lowest and most wetched of mortals. 
 The liberty of freely exercising their religion is 
 what you grant to all foreign ambassadors, as 
 Catholic kings do in return to yours. As for 
 myself, I never forced my own subjects to any 
 thing contrary to their religion, though I had full 
 power and authority over them ; and that I, in 
 this my extremity, should be deprived of such 
 freedom is a thing that you cannot in justice 
 require. And w^hat advantage will redound to 
 you if you refuse me this request ? I trust that 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 359 
 
 God will excuse me, if, being in this manner 
 oppressed by you, I cease not to render him such 
 dutiful homage as in my heart I am permitted 
 to do. Besides this, you are setting a very bad 
 example to the other princes of Christendom, 
 teaching them to employ the same rigor towards 
 their subjects that you show towards a sovereign 
 queen and your nearest relative, and which I am 
 and shall never cease to be, in despite of my 
 enemies. 
 
 I have no wish now to importune you on the 
 augmentation of my establishment, with which, 
 for the short time of life that remains to me, I 
 can well dispense. All that I ask of you, then, 
 is two waiting women, to attend me during my 
 sickness, declaring before God that they are very 
 necessary for me, and that it is no more than 
 might be asked by a poor creature among the 
 common people. In the name of God, grant 
 me this request, and thereby show that my ene- 
 mies have not so much credit wdth you against 
 me as to exercise their vengeance and cruelty in 
 a point of so little moment, and connected with 
 a simple office of humanity. 
 
 Resume, madam, the ancient pledges of your 
 good nature ; be again in heart and disposition 
 what you were before ; bind your relations to 
 
360 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 yourself, and grant me the satisfaction, ere I die^ 
 to see every thing amicably adjusted between us, 
 so that my soul, when delivered from this body, 
 may not be compelled to pour forthwith lamen- 
 tations before God for the wrongs you will have 
 suffered to be done me here below; but rather, 
 that, being in unison and peace with you, it may 
 quit this captivity, to set forwards towards Him 
 whom I pray to inspire you with a sense of my 
 just and reasonable complaints. 
 
 Your very disconsolate nearest relation and 
 affectionate cousin, Marie R. 
 
 At Sheffield, this 28th of Novetnber, (1582.) 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Marp to Elizabeth* 
 
 April 30, 1584. 
 
 * * * The countess told me, as nearly as I 
 can recollect, in the following words : That you 
 were as vain, and had as lofty an opinion of 
 yom* beauty, as if you had been some heaven- 
 
 * This celebrated letter was written by Mary to Elizabeth, in com- 
 pliance with a request from the latter to give a faithful statement of 
 whatever Lady Shrewsbury had said in her hearing to the prejudice 
 of her character. That part of it is given in which Lady S. is sup- 
 posed to describe Elizabeth's excessive vanity. 
 
APPENDIX. 361 
 
 born goddess. That you took so much delight 
 in' unmeasured flattery, as to be led to avow that 
 there were people who durst not look you 
 straight in the face, as it shone like the sun. 
 That she and the other ladies of the court found 
 it necessary to administer flattery to you in the 
 most extravagant doses. That at the last visit 
 which she and the late Countess of Lennox paid 
 you, in repeating the dose they durst not look at 
 one another, lest they should burst with laughter 
 at the falsehoods they told you ; and on her 
 return she begged of me to scold her daughter, 
 to keep her from again committing herself ; that 
 as to her daughter Talbot, she durst not go to 
 you with her, as she could never keep from 
 laughing outright in your face. The same Lady 
 Talbot, when she went to give her attendance 
 upon you, and took the oath as one of your 
 maids of honor, returned here again as soon as 
 she could, begging that I would allow her to 
 transfer her services to myself. At first I refused, 
 but at last, moved by her tears, I consented. 
 She then told me that for no consideration in 
 the world would she remain in your service, or 
 be about your person, as she was afraid that, 
 w^hen you were angry, you would treat her as 
 you had done her cousin Skedmar, whose finger 
 31 
 
362 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 you broke, and then made the court believe that 
 a candlestick had fallen down upon it ; and that 
 to another servant you had given a furious stroke 
 of a knife upon the hand. In a word, as to these 
 last points, and stories of the same kind, that 
 you were made a fool of, and mimicked by them, 
 as in a comedy. They said that my women, 
 upon hearing these farces, would enact them 
 over together ; upon perceiving which, I swear to 
 you that I forbade my women from joining any 
 more with them. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Mary to Elizabeth. 
 
 Madam : Upon occasion of a very unfortu- 
 nate and lamentable occurrence, which took 
 place the day before yesterday in this house, 
 within ten paces of my chamber, and almost in 
 full view of my windows, namely, the violent 
 death of a poor young man, a Catholic, as it is 
 said, imprisoned here so near me these three 
 weeks, and solely on account of his religion, as 
 the violence publicly exercised against him de- 
 monstrates, it is necessary for me to represent 
 to you how much I consider this event as import- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 363 
 
 ing me to take heed to my safety, with respect 
 to any person who may be appointed to be my 
 guard here. Madam, whether this man were 
 reduced to the extremity of making away with 
 himself, as some say, whether his days were 
 shortened by violence, or whether he was the 
 victim of bad treatment, I have seen him at 
 different times dragged by force across the court 
 of this castle, to go against his conscience to the 
 place of their worship — a thing which might have 
 been done elsewhere, at least, than in my pres- 
 ence, and in this house, which you have not, I 
 suppose, destined to be a common jail, if there 
 be any respect for me who profess the same 
 religion. If such violence has been used against 
 a poor simple man purely on the score of his 
 religion, without allegation, as far as I can learn, 
 of any crime, his life or death being a thing of 
 no profit or interest to any one whatever, I leave 
 you to judge, then, what I may expect from such 
 zealots of puritanism — I, in whose death they 
 have placed the whole gain of their cause, and 
 the surest road to come at the usurpation of my 
 crown. But I pray you not to think that I 
 attribute this to Sir Ralph Sadler, as, in my 
 conscience, I judge him to be an honorable gen- 
 tleman, and so upright before God and you, that 
 
364 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I am not afraid of his knowingly committing 
 any wicked action. 
 
 For these puritans to say they have no eye to 
 futm*e hopes, is a mere fable, under which they 
 conceal the corruptness — the purity, as they call 
 it — of their intentions ; which is, to make the 
 monarchy elective for the time to come, by means 
 of the present destruction of your blood, and 
 of the legal succession in me. I verily think I 
 should not have been this day alive, had you 
 been inclined to believe one of them, one, too, 
 who holds a high office near you, [Burghley,] 
 whom the Countess of Shrewsbury once told me 
 you had reproached, because, if you had followed 
 his counsel, you would have stained your hands 
 with my blood. Calling to mind, therefore, the 
 practices tending to the same effect, as revealed 
 to me by that countess, and those w^hich were 
 set on . foot against me in this last Parliament, 
 thwarted by none but yourself, and also the secret 
 conspiracy of the Association, made to effect a 
 general massacre both of me and of those of my 
 religion, which is the principal object of this 
 faction, — without giving themselves any trouble 
 about the inconveniences and dangers into which 
 they might precipitate you, — I supplicate you 
 most earnestly, madam, to grant me, on any 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 365 
 
 condition whatever without prejudice to my 
 conscience, a deliverance out of this long and 
 miserable captivity. In place of being sincerely 
 and faithfully dealt with here, endeavoring as I 
 have done to accommodate myself to your in- 
 tentions, all I hear of are new retrenchments, 
 orders, and restrictions. These things would 
 annoy me the more, were it not for the entire 
 confidence I have placed in your natural good 
 disposition, your promises, and the hope that I 
 have of seeing them carried into effect. 
 
 I should, therefore, be glad to know whether 
 this rude treatment and these restrictions proceed 
 from your command. I defy my enemies to 
 allege any thing on my part to deserve them. 
 But I see but too clearly, that so long as I remain 
 in this country, however strict a guard you may 
 set upon me, whatever sincerity I may practise 
 with you, however I make it a duty to let you 
 see clearly into all my actions and behavior to- 
 wards you, — in short, if, as the saying is, I were 
 to divide myself into four quarters to please you, 
 — my enemies would never permit you to be in 
 peace with me, nor to receive peace from you. 
 To me will they impute whatever is to your dis- 
 content, not only here, but in all Christendom ; 
 and when a pretext fails them, they will not fail 
 31* 
 
366 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 to invent one, to keep you in perpetual disgust 
 of me, and myself in continual turmoil and ap- 
 prehension. For instance, they say that Parry 
 disguised his wicked design as being done in my 
 cause. How can I better acquit myself of this, 
 and of all such practices, than by publicly declar- 
 ing that all such persons are my mortal enemies ? 
 If the advantageous offers I have made you for 
 my deliverance were, as you were pleased to 
 acknowledge, such that nothing more could be 
 desired, do me the honor to let me know what 
 more you desire now, be it even the deprivation 
 of all right to the succession to the crown, if you 
 think that this may be conducive to your safety. 
 
 For God's sake take care, that, step by step, 
 you do not permit this puritan faction to grow 
 to such a head in number, force, and usurpation, 
 that, if you do not provide in time, you may find 
 it no longer in your power to secure to me either 
 my right or my life. Without doubt, they will 
 at last give you the law themselves. Recollect 
 that in the book formerly read to me by the 
 Countess of Shrewsbury, they boldly affirm that 
 it is not in your power to name any Catholic 
 your heir. It will be for them, then, to elect an 
 heir by force, in any manner they presume ; and 
 what is this but to compel me, at last, in spite 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 367 
 
 of myself, to submit to their mercy both my life 
 and my right after you in the succession to the 
 crown ? I have informed you that I was content 
 to yield to you ; but, happen what may, I never 
 will do the same to any subject of yours. There- 
 fore, madam, take heed, if you please, to whom 
 you commit me, while I await your resolution as 
 to my deliverance. Your own safety is at stake. 
 When they have me in their hands, and at their 
 disposal, one great obstacle is removed out of 
 the way. 
 
 I have no doubt your intention towards me 
 is sincere ; I have no distrust of your word. But 
 when, contrary to your intention, and without 
 your knowledge, my life shall be taken from me, 
 who will be able to repair the loss ? To go far- 
 ther : who is there among them that would think 
 he had done any thing unjust or unworthy of 
 himself, as you stated in your last, in executing 
 what he has promised and sworn in the Associa- 
 tion, namely, to ruin by all means all those in 
 whose favor any thing sliould be attempted 
 against your person ? The examination of Parry, 
 who, it is said, was once their spy, will be of 
 service to them in this respect. Consider to 
 what issue these things indirectly tend ; it is a 
 secret, oligarchical plot, masked under the spe- 
 
368 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 cious title of an Association for your preserva- 
 tion. I never approved of this plot ; on the 
 contrary, I always cried out against it, being 
 bound, as I repeat it, to study your preservation, 
 which is no less dear to me than to any subject 
 you have. 
 
 And here, permit me to say freely to you, and 
 that in declaration of the perfect interest I take 
 in your safety, that it is very dangerous for you 
 to suffer your subjects to be so persecuted and 
 harassed against their conscience, solely on the 
 score of .religion. The despau' that may thence 
 arise in the breasts of many, in perceiving before 
 your eyes irretrievable ruin, may produce fatal 
 and incalculable effects, as in the case of the 
 poor man here, if it be true that he made away 
 with himself. My secretary has told me, that he 
 has heard from your own mouth, that it never 
 was your intention that any of your subjects 
 should suffer solely for religion and conscience' 
 sake. So long as this was observed in the first 
 years of your reign, you had great tranquillity, 
 no person being charged with crimes against you. 
 For God's sake, madam, keep that holy resolu- 
 tion, worthy of you, and of all those of your rank. 
 The example of our age throughout all Christen- 
 dom has given you sufficient proofs how little 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 369 
 
 human force can do in the matter of religion, 
 whose spirit is from above. For my part, should 
 it come to pass that an open attack were made 
 upon my religion, I am, by the grace of God, 
 perfectly ready to lay down my neck under the 
 axe, and shed my blood before all Christendom ; 
 and I should esteem it a great happiness to be 
 among the foremost. I do not say this through 
 vain-glory, as if I were at any great distance 
 from danger. 
 
 Once more, then, madam, I beseech you to 
 put an end to my sufferings, and to deliver me, 
 in the manner it shall please you, from this mis- 
 erable prison ; which I may now, more justly 
 than ever, call a prison, and worse, seeing such 
 deeds committed here. Let me languish here no 
 longer merely to prolong the persecution against 
 me, solely for having the honor to be one of 
 your nearest relatives by blood. It would be a 
 very great cruelty to make me undergo so many 
 evils because I have preserved that honor un- 
 blemished from my birth. I wait your answer 
 and final resolution, nothing now remaining but 
 my life to offer you, after all other conditions 
 proposed to obtain my deliverance. Humbly 
 kissing your hands, I pray God that he may 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 have you, madam, my good sister, in his holy 
 keeping. 
 
 Your very humble and very affectionate 
 Sister and cousin, 
 
 Marie R. 
 
 From TuTBURY, (April Sth, 1585.) 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Mary to Mauvissiere. 
 
 May 23, 1585. 
 
 Believe me, M. Mauvissiere, my enemies 
 endeavor in every possible manner to derive 
 advantage from the divisions which they sow 
 every where, in the sam^e manner as I remember 
 they formerly spread a report that the queen 
 mother (Catharine de Pvledicis) hated me ex- 
 tremely, on account of my bad conduct and 
 disobedience to her while I was in France ; and 
 yet she lately gave very good testimony in my 
 favor at audient^es w^hich Lord Glasgow and 
 Lord Seton had with her. And I truly believe 
 that none of her own daughters ever showed 
 her more honor, deference, and obedience in all 
 things. Do me the favor to thank her, on my 
 part, for the assurances which she gave those 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 371 
 
 ambassadors of her entire attachment to me and 
 my son, and that I will, as long as I live, do 
 my utmost to deserve it. Entreat her most ear- 
 nestly to take care of my poor child, and of my 
 wretched state. 
 
 As to my liberty, I wish to enjoy it out of 
 England ; or, if I consented to remain here, that 
 it should be more ample and favorable than was 
 proposed last year, when, in order to deliver my 
 son from the hands of the rebels, I was obliged 
 to oifer my person as security. With respect to 
 your journey to Scotland, I have, according to 
 your advice, appeared rather to doubt of it than 
 to desire it, in order that they may more readily 
 agree to it ; but then I have urged that you might 
 be permitted to visit me by the way, as this is 
 one of the principal parts of your commission ; 
 and by this means could you not bring Archibald 
 Douglas with you ? You will make arrange- 
 ments with him respecting all that he has written 
 to me, and what you have written in his favor. 
 Meantime, do you and he be on your guard 
 against Walsingham ; for, notwithstanding all 
 the fine speeches which he makes to you, I know 
 that he will not spare me, nor any of my friends, 
 if he can find any thing against me. On the 
 condition that my son is safe, I will willingly 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 suffer the worst that they can do to me here, 
 both in changing my keeper and restricting my 
 liberty. My resolution, therefore, is to labor by 
 all means for the liberty and safety of myself and 
 son, and to bring about a good understanding 
 with the Queen of England. With a view to 
 this object, we must direct all our plans and 
 actions to the satisfaction of Elizabeth, in order 
 that we may obtain, under her protection, the 
 confirmation of our right of succession to the 
 crown. However, till I see the treaty before me, 
 I will not suffer myself to be deceived by idle 
 hopes, or exalt those rebels over the head of my 
 son, and throw him by their means at the feet of 
 the queen. In a word, I will have something 
 in my left hand before I throw away what I have 
 in the right. And now, as the lord treasurer 
 has received from me an answer such as he 
 desires, (that is to say, resolute, sincere, and un- 
 equivocal,) it is now his business, and that of the 
 other counsellors, to show the sincerity of them- 
 selves and of their queen towards me, who re- 
 main in their hands as pledge and security for my 
 offers and promises, for which I can receive no 
 equivalent from them ; and yet I want something 
 more than fair speeches. Nau shall be ready to 
 accompany you to Scotland. * * * 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 373 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Mary to Mauvissiere. 
 
 July lOth, 1585. 
 
 Sir : I am happy to inform you that my health 
 is pretty good, notwithstanding the arbitrary 
 manner and increase of rigor with which I am 
 treated by this warden of mine. I find myself 
 in very great perplexity in regard to my abode 
 in this house, if it be intended that I should 
 pass the next winter. The timber work of the 
 house, as I before told you, is in a wetched con- 
 dition. The wind enters my chamber on all 
 sides, so that I do not know how it will be in 
 my power to preserve the little health I have 
 regained during the rigors of the coming season. 
 My physician, who is in a good deal of concern 
 on this point, expressly says, that he will give 
 up all hope of curing me if I am not provided 
 with a better lodging. While he watched me, 
 during my last indisposition, he found my cham- 
 ber exceedingly cold during the night time, not- 
 withstanding the stoves and continual fire there, 
 and the warmth of the season of the year. If 
 such be the case now, I leave you to judge how 
 it will be in the middle of winter; this house 
 32 
 
374 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 being situated upon a hill in the middle of a 
 plain about two miles in circumference, exposed 
 to all the winds and inclemency of the season. 
 There are a hundred peasants in the very village 
 at the foot of the castle better lodged than I 
 am ; my whole accommodation consisting of two 
 small, wretched rooms, and some closets not fit 
 for any thing (if I must say it) but water closets. 
 I have no place for recreation, no covered walk 
 to take the air in the daytime ; in a word, of all 
 the lodgings I have had in England, this is the 
 most unhealthy and inconvenient. I ara willing 
 to believe that the queen, my good sister, will 
 not think me troublesome in making these re- 
 monstrances, to which pure necessity compels 
 me. For six months past, no care has been 
 taken to remedy these inconveniences, and yet I 
 have remained silent and patient ; in testimony 
 of w^hich I refer to my warden. I thank you 
 affectionately for the duty you have shown in 
 consoling me upon the delay of the treaty for 
 my liberty. I doubt not you have informed me 
 of the true reasons alleged for it ; they are the 
 very counterpart of the excuses in times past — at 
 one time a revolution in Scotland, at another 
 some new trouble in France, and then again the 
 discovery of some conspiracy at home; in a 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 375 
 
 word, the smallest incident that can come to pass 
 in Christendom is converted into cause sufficient. 
 The whole thing amounts to this, — as the chil- 
 dren say, — they will be content when every body 
 else is agreed. 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 Mary to Mauvissiere. 
 
 September 23, 1585. 
 
 Foreseeing that it will be too late before I 
 receive your answer to my last communication, 
 I will, without waiting for it, lay my just com- 
 plaint before you, that Sir Amias Paulet, in 
 reply to my memorial respecting my lodging, 
 attendants, &c., has delivered to me an answer 
 which is, in fact, a plain refusal. Although these 
 things appear to my good sister the Queen of 
 England but trifling, and of no moment, they 
 are, nevertheless, of great importance as regards 
 the preservation of my life and health, and of all 
 whom I have left to console me within the walls of 
 my prison. I see, however, daily, that they desire 
 to reduce me to the utmost extremity ; for if my 
 necessities were not so urgent, I would not trou- 
 ble her with so many petitions, remonstrances, 
 and entreaties, which to me appears paying a 
 
376 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 very high price for them. It is also most pain 
 ful to me, that, in return for the duty which I 
 have voluntarily imposed upon myself to submit 
 to the queen's* pleasure in all things, so little re- 
 gard is paid to her honor and my comfort by my 
 present mode of treatment. 
 
 In order that you may be fully acquainted 
 with all the particulars, in order to represent 
 them in my name to the queen, who, I believe, 
 has never been properly informed of them, I shall 
 observe, first, in regard to my lodging, that my 
 residence is a place enclosed with walls, situated 
 on an eminence, and consequently exposed to 
 all the winds and storms of heaven. Within 
 this enclosure there is, like as at Vincennes, a 
 very old hunting seat, built of wood and plaster, 
 with chinks on all sides, with the uprights, the 
 chinks between which are not properly filled up, 
 and the plaster dilapidated in numberless places. 
 The house is about six yards distant from the 
 walls, and so low that the terrace on the other 
 side is as high as the house itself, so that neither 
 the sun nor the fresh air can penetrate it on that 
 side. The damp, however, is so great there, that 
 every article of furniture is covered with mouldi- 
 ness in the space of four days. You may judge 
 for yourself how this must affect my health. In 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 S77 
 
 a word, the rooms for the most part are fit rather 
 for a dungeon for the lowest and most abject 
 crhiiinal, than for a residence of a person of my 
 rank, or even of a much inferior one. No gen- 
 tleman in this country, yea, no inferior, I am 
 convinced, would wish to accommodate me worse 
 than themselves ; he would consider it as a pun- 
 ishment and tyranny if he were shut up a twelve- 
 month in such a habitation, so confined and un- 
 comfortable as that in which I am constrained 
 to dwell. I have for my own accommodation 
 only wretched little rooms, and so cold, that 
 w^ere it not for the protection of the curtains and 
 tapestries which I have had put up, I could not 
 endure it by day, and still less at night. In fact, 
 there is scarcely one of those who have nursed 
 me during my illness, who has escaped without 
 some sickness, fluxion, or cold. Sir Amias Pau- 
 iet will bear v/itness, that during this time three 
 of my women were laid up at once. Nay, my 
 physician himself, who has also come in for a 
 share, has several times declared, that if I re- 
 mained in this house he could not undertake the 
 charge of ray health during the ensuing winter. 
 For even if they were to furbish it up, or repair 
 and enlarge it, I should never be able to live 
 32* 
 
378 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 here, as there is nothing on earth that I can stand 
 less than the least damp air. 
 
 With respect to the house which it is proposed 
 I should inhabit during the said alterations, it 
 adjoins that which I have described, and even, 
 according to Sir Amias Paulet's statement, will 
 not accommodate my people. I have, however, 
 several reasons to fear inhabiting such a lone 
 dwelling, but will say nothing respecting it here. 
 
 In regard to other conveniences, I much want 
 an additional room, into which I can sometimes 
 retire, as I have no place where I can be alone, 
 except two little dark holes which are towards 
 the wall, and the largest is scarcely three yards 
 square. If I desire to go out either on foot or 
 in my chair to get a little fresh air, there being 
 no open space on the top of the hill, I have 
 scarcely a quarter of an acre left me, in the 
 neighborhood of the stables, which INIr. Somer 
 has had ploughed during the last winter, and 
 encompassed with a wooden fence, and which 
 deserves the name of pigsty rather than of a 
 garden. There is scarcely a sheepfold in any 
 field which is not more agreeable. 
 
 With regard to horse exercise, the roads are 
 so bad, as I experienced last winter, from the 
 effects of snow and rain, that one cannot go even 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 379 
 
 a mile in a carriage, and I am at last obliged to 
 have recourse to my feet. 
 
 I must also acquaint you (though I am 
 ashamed to do so) that this house is so* filled 
 with the lowest people, that, notwithstanding 
 every effort, it is impossible long to maiiitain 
 order ; and as there are no sewers, I am ex- 
 posed to a constant stench, and when they are 
 emptied every Saturday, " Je ne recoy pas les plus 
 plaisantes cassolettes,''^ 
 
 I must add one thing in conclusion, and to 
 which respect is paid even to persons in an infe- 
 rior station, especially during illness : this place 
 was my first prison in this realm, and I suffered 
 here so much rigor, insult, and indignity, that I 
 have ever since looked on it as wretched and 
 unfortunate, and wrote to the Queen of England 
 before I came here. In this gloomy notion I 
 have been confirmed by the circumstance that 
 the priest, after he had been cruelly tortured, was 
 hanged on the wall opposite my windows, as I 
 have already written to M. Mauvissiere ; and 
 about four or five days ago, another poor man 
 was found drowned in the well, though I will not 
 compare this with the other. 
 
 I have lost my good Rally — she was my best 
 comfort in my misfortune; another of my un- 
 
380 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 happy people has died since, and several still 
 suffer much from sickness. 
 
 Being destitute of all conveniences and com- 
 forts here, nothing but Elizabeth's promise that 
 I should be well treated has hitherto sustained 
 rrjy patience ; otherwise, I should never have set 
 my foot into it, unless I had been dragged hither 
 by force, as force alone shall induce me to remain 
 here. Should I die, I ascribe my death to this 
 residence, and to those who keep me here, in 
 order, as it seems, to make me doubt the good 
 will of the queen, my sister ; for what may I 
 expect in important matters, if I am treated so 
 in trifling and unimportant ones, and faith is not 
 kept with me even in them ? 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 Mary to the Duke of Guise. 
 
 October 5, 1586. 
 
 My good Cousin : If God, and you after him, 
 do not find means to succor your poor cousin 
 now, all is over. This bearer will tell you how I 
 am treated by all, even by my two secretaries. 
 For God's sake assist them, and save them if 
 you can. They are to accuse me of a design to 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 381 
 
 trouble the state, and of having laid plots against 
 the queen, or, at least, ot having consented to 
 them. I have declared what is true, that I know 
 not what the matter in hand is. They say they 
 have seized certain letters of mine to one Bab- 
 ington, and to Charles Paget and his brother, 
 which prove this conspiracy ; and that Nau and 
 Curie have acknowledged to it. I declare they 
 can do no such thing ; except they force them 
 by the torture to declare more than they know. 
 This is all they have told me about the matter. 
 But I know by means of letters, that they 
 threaten you much, you and your league, and 
 are strengthening their party by means of certain 
 princes, who will tolerate their religion. I have 
 declared to them, that, as to myself, I am resolved 
 to die in mine, as she [Elizabeth] protested she 
 would do for the Protestant. Whatever, there- 
 fore, you may hear, my good cousin, by these 
 disseminators of false reports, assure yourself, 
 that, by the grace of God^ I will die in the Cath- 
 olic faith, and in firmly maintaining its cause. 
 The House of Lorraine know what it is to pour 
 "forth their blood for the faith, and I will not dis- 
 honor that house. Cause prayers to be offered 
 for me to Almighty God ; have my poor remains, 
 
382 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 when brought from hence, interred in holy ground, 
 and have compassion on my poor, destitute ser- 
 vants ; for they have robbed me of every thing 
 here, and I lay my account to be despatched 
 with poison, or some other such secret death. 
 But although I am become nearly maimed by 
 their bad treatment, my right hand, since this 
 late event, having so swollen and become so 
 painful, that I can scarcely hold the pen or assist 
 myself to my food, yet my courage shall not 
 fail me ; in the hope that He who has made me 
 what I am will give me grace to die in his cause. 
 This is the only honor I desire in this world, in 
 order to obtain the mercy of God in another. 
 It is my desire that my body may be buried at 
 Rheims, by the side of my late good mother, 
 and my heart beside the late king, my lord. 
 Further particulars you may hear from the bearer 
 of this. Should it appear that, at the present 
 time, there is any wish to see me restored, and 
 to avenge my cause, — which indeed is the com- 
 mon cause, — I should think it very wonderful ; 
 for to me every thing on this point seems doubt- 
 ful and wavering. Adieu, my good cousin ; com- 
 municate the contents of this to my ambassador. 
 If my son does not concur now in avenging 
 
APPENOrX. 
 
 3B3 
 
 his mother, then I give him wholly up ; and I beg 
 that you and all my relations will do the same* 
 Your good cousin, 
 
 Marie R. 
 
 From FOTHEKTNGAY. 
 
 Ko. 12. 
 
 Mary to Pope Sixtus V. 
 
 November 23, 1586. 
 
 Most Holy Father : I humbly approach your 
 holiness, to ask your benediction, and to beg 
 leave to state what has befallen me. The very 
 day on which the present, I have been ordered 
 by persons sent from the Queen of England to 
 prepare for death. If I am allowed to see my 
 almoner, or any Catholic priest, it is my intention 
 to comply with the proper forms as established 
 in the holy church. I have, however, reason to 
 fear that this will be refused me ; therefore, lowly 
 at your feet, most holy father, do I confess my- 
 self a sinner in the sight of God, and through 
 your prayers implore his mercy and compassion 
 upon my soul ; between which and the justice 
 of God I interpose the blood of Jesus Christ, 
 crucified for me and for all sinners, of whom I 
 confess myself to be the most unworthy, consid- 
 
384 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ering the graces I have received, and which I 
 have so ill employed and so ineffectually corre- 
 sponded to. This would render me unworthy 
 of pardon, were not his saving grace promised 
 to all who feel the weight of sin, and groan in 
 anguish of spirit ; and did not his mercy encour- 
 age us to approach him, in that tender invitation, 
 " Come to me, all you that labor and are heavily 
 laden, and you shall find rest to your souls." 
 Then, like another prodigal son, do I hasten to 
 be received into his paternal embrace, to be par- 
 doned for the offences of the past, and to be freed 
 from the burden of sin. And here also do I ful- 
 fil what I most earnestly desire ; and that is, to 
 offer willingly at the foot of the cross my life 
 and my blood for the maintenance of the Catho- 
 lic church of God, and in proof of the sincere 
 love which I bear the same, and without the res- 
 toration of which I should no longer desire to 
 live.* 
 
 * " She proceeds," says Dr. Lingard, " to recommend to the 
 pontiff the conversion of her son to the Catholic faith, for which 
 purpose she wishes him to employ the cooperation of the King of 
 Spain, the only prince who has really aided her during her captiAity. 
 If James should continue obstinate, she leaves all her right in the 
 crown of England to the disposal of the pope and of that monarch. 
 Should he repent, she requires of him to look on Philip and the 
 princes of the house of Guise as his nearest relatives, and hopes, as 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 385 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Mary to Le PreaUy her Almoner, 
 
 February 7, 1587. 
 
 They have been battling with me to-day on 
 my religion, persisting on my receiving consola- 
 tion from their heretical teachers. You will 
 learn from Bourgoin and the others that, at 
 least, I have faithfully made protestation of my 
 faith, in which I wish to die. I requested to 
 have you with me, to make my confession and 
 receive my sacrament, which was cruelly refused 
 me, as well as my request to have my body 
 transported into France, and free power to make 
 my will, or to write any thing but by their hands, 
 and under the good pleasure of their mistress. 
 
 the last blessing she can wish for on earth, that he may marry the 
 infanta of Spain." I have called the reader's attention to this letter 
 for the follomng reason : For many years after the death of Mary, 
 it was believed that, on the eve of her execution, she made a will, by 
 which she left the kingdom of England to Philip of Spain, in case 
 her son did not become a Catholic; and that Cardinal Laurea and 
 Lewis Owen, Bishop of Cassano, had attested that it was in the 
 handwriting of the queen. This ^ill, however, could never be dis- 
 covered. In my opinion there can be little doubt that the report 
 arose from misconception, and that the real will was this letter ; and 
 what confirms this conjecture is, that at the end of it there is sub- 
 joined an attestation of Lewis Owen, Bishop of Cassano, that the 
 handwriting is that of Mary, Queen of Scots. 
 
 33 
 
386 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 In defect of this, I now confess the grievousness 
 of my sins in general, as I had intended to do 
 to you in particular ; beseeching you, in the name 
 of God, to watch and pray this night with me, 
 for the satisfaction of my sins, and to send me 
 your absolution and pardon of all my offences 
 towards yourself. I will endeavor to see you in 
 their presence, as they have granted me to do in 
 regard to my chamberlain ; and if that be per- 
 mitted me, I will, upon my knees, in presence 
 of all, ask your blessing. Point out to me the 
 most proper prayers for this night and for to-mor- 
 row morning. The time is short, and I have no 
 leisure to write ; but I will recommend you with 
 the rest, and, above all, your benefices shall be 
 assured to you, and I will recommend you to 
 the king. I have time for no more. Advise me, 
 in writing, of whatever you shall think condu- 
 cive to my salvation. 
 
 I will send you some little parting token of 
 my remembrance.* 
 
 * At the foot of the letter is the word Remember, which, by a 
 singular coincidence, was the parting word addressed by Mary's 
 grandson, Charles I., to his almoner. Bishop Juxton, by whom he 
 was attended on the scaffold. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 387 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 Mary to the Duke of Guise. 
 
 February 7, 1587. 
 
 My good Cousin : As you are among the 
 dearest to me in the world, I write to bid you 
 my last adieu. By the unjust judgment of my 
 enemies, I am upon the point of suffering death 
 as none of our race ever before suffered, and 
 least of all one in my station. Yet, my good 
 cousin, render thanks to God for the same. Sit- 
 uated as I was, I was useless to the world in the 
 cause of God and his church. But I hope that 
 my death will testify my constancy in the faith, 
 and my readiness to die for the maintenance and 
 restoration of the Catholic church in this unfor- 
 tunate island. Though heretofore executioner 
 has never dipped hand in our blood, yet let not 
 your cheek redden at the thought, my good 
 friend ; for this judgment of heretics and of the 
 enemies of the church — men who have no juris- 
 diction over me, a free queen — will prove accept- 
 able in the sight of God, and profitable to the 
 children of his church. Were I one of them, 
 one of the children of delusion, I should not 
 suffer this blow. All of our house have been 
 
888 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 objects of persecution to this sect, as witness 
 your good father, with whom I hope to be 
 received into the mercies of the just Judge. I 
 recommend to you the care of my poor attend- 
 ants, and the discharge of any debts that I may 
 leave behind me. I also beg you to cause masses 
 to be said for the repose of my soul, and to make 
 provision for an annual dirge for the same ob- 
 ject; the means for this purpose, as well as my 
 last wishes in this regard, will be conveyed to 
 you by these my poor helpless attendants, the 
 eye witnesses of this my last tragedy. May 
 God prosper you, your wife, children, brothers, 
 and cousins, and especially our head, my good 
 brother and cousin, and all his; the blessing of 
 God and that which I should give to my child 
 be on you and yours, whom I recommend to 
 God, no less than my own unfortunate and ill- 
 advised child. You will also receive from my 
 people certain tokens from me, in order to remind 
 you to cause prayers to be said for the soul of 
 your poor cousin, destitute as she is of all aid 
 and counsel but that of God, who is graciously 
 pleased to give me strength and courage singly 
 to resist the wolves that are howling around me ; 
 glory be to his name I Mark one thing ; give 
 credence to what will be told you by the person 
 
APPENDIX. 389 
 
 who gives you a ruby ring from me ; I can 
 answer for it on my conscience that you will be 
 told the truth of what I have directed, especially 
 as to what concerns my poor attendants, aisd the 
 share which is to come to each. I recommend 
 to you this person for her simple sincerity and 
 honesty, that she may be placed in some good 
 situation. I have chosen her as the least partial, 
 and who will report my orders most simply and 
 sincerely. But do not let it be known that I 
 had given her any thing to reveal to you in pri- 
 vate ; I should be sorry to raise any jealousy 
 among the poor things. I have suffered much 
 for these last two years, and more, far more than 
 I have let you know, and that for the best of 
 reasons. But God be praised for all ! It is my 
 parting prayer that he would give you his grace 
 to persevere in the love and service of his church 
 as long as you live ; and never may this glory 
 depart from our race, that all, men as well as 
 women, may be ready to shed their blood to 
 maintain the cause of our faith, all worldly con- 
 siderations set aside. As for myself, I hold my- 
 self born, both on the paternal and maternal 
 side, so to offer my blood; from this I never 
 have had, nor have at this moment, the slightest 
 intention to degenerate. May Jesus, who was 
 33* 
 
390 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 crucified for us, render us worthy of the volun- 
 tary ofiering of our bodies to his glory, and to 
 this also may the intercession of all the holy 
 saints and martyrs avail. 
 
 From your affectionate cousin and perfect 
 friend, Marie R. 
 
 P. S. In order to degrade me, they had caused 
 my canopy of state to be pulled down. I caused 
 to be put up in place of my coat of arms the 
 figure of the crucifixion of my blessed Saviour, 
 and pointed it out to their notice. They were 
 more kind after that. But of this and many 
 other things you will be duly informed. Once 
 more, farewell ! 
 
 Xo. 15. 
 
 Mary to the Xing' of France* 
 
 Thaxks be to God, he has given me courage 
 to meet death without fear; and with perfect 
 truth T protest that I meet it innocent of crime. 
 Even had I been an English subject, I should 
 have been justified in my attempts to regain 
 that liberty which was withheld from me by 
 
 * This letter, of which the conclusion only is here given, is dated 
 " Wednesday, two hours after midnight." 
 
APPEx\DIX. 
 
 391 
 
 injustice. I die for the Catholic religion, and 
 for maintaining the right given me by Heaven to 
 inherit the crown of England ; these are the 
 true grounds of my condemnation. This bearer 
 and his companions will bear witness to you as 
 to my deportment in this my last scene. It 
 remains that I beg of you, as the Most Christian 
 king, my brother-in-law, and who have always 
 done me so much honor as to declare that you 
 love me, now to give me a proof of it, by recom- 
 pensing my afflicted servants, and by causing 
 prayers and the holy sacrifice of the altar to be 
 offered up for a queen who likew^ise bore the 
 title of Most Christian, and who now dies in the 
 profession of the one true Catholic faith. 
 
TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 Patrick Donahoe, in presenting to the Clergy, Laity, and Trade 
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 Protestant Opinions. 
 
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 the autiior, they certainly cannot charge him with any ambitious, dishonest, or 
 unholy motive, because, as far as distinctions on eartii are concerned, he had 
 gained all that man can have in the ministry, as far as preferment is concerned 
 in the Episcopal Clnirch. He was one of its bishops for more than twenty 
 years ; and, in entering the Church of Rome, he acquires no distinction. He, 
 being a married man, cannot ever be a priest in that Church. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, we think that all nmst at least give him credit for honesty and sin- 
 cerity in the course which he has pursued. The work is carefully and elabo- 
 rately written, and indicates throughout the fervency of a Christian spirit. Wa 
 commend it to the perusal of all Cliristians, that they may fully comprehend the 
 motives which induced the step which the author has taken, and the reasons 
 whicli led him into the Catholic Church." 
 
 This is a plain and lucid statement of the difficulties which beset the mind 
 of Bishop Ives during his niuiistry in the Episcopal Church, and of the satis- 
 faction that he has felt since his union with the Church of Rome. He has 
 given the highest evidence of the sincerity of his convictions, whatever our 
 opinion may be of their soundness. A bishop, loved, honored, and respected, 
 he has sacrificed position and fortune in the pursuit of what he believed to be 
 the truth. Being a person of learning, also, not misled by a partial view of the 
 question, his book commands the calm investigation of every mind solicitous 
 for tile truth. — PhUa. City Rem. 
 
DONAHOE'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE CROSS AND THE SHAMROCK; or, How 
 
 to Defend the Faith. An Irish-American Catholic Tale, descriptive 
 of the temptations, sufferings, trials, and triumphs of the Children 
 of St. Patrick in the Great llepublic of Washington. A Book for 
 the entertainment and special instruction of the Catholic Male and 
 Female Servants of the United States. 12mo., cloth, 50 cents 
 
 Opinions of the Press. 
 
 A simple but touching record of the trials and temptations to which, too often, 
 the Irish Catholic is exposed on arriving in the Great American Republic. But 
 ths faith which has supported him in so many trials at home, which has been a 
 lamp unto his feet and as a staff in his hands, fails him not here. The " Cross 
 and the Shamrock " triumph over the assault of man and devil, of Protestant 
 poormaster and Evangelical philanthrophist — the latter the worst devil of the 
 two. Of the former we have a specimen in Van Stingey, — a Yankee Mr. Bum- 
 ble,— and quite a gem in his way ; but our limited space forbids us to make 
 extracts. We have nuich pleasure in recommending this little work to out 
 readers. — Montreal True Witness. 
 
 The author of this excellent tale is evidently an earnest man. Impressed 
 with a strong sense of the wrongs which the poor Irish at service too often en- 
 dure, he has aimed to depict these in such a manner as may excite the attention 
 of careless employers, and point out to the sufferers themselves the rewards of 
 patience and perseverance. The characters are very well sketched, though the 
 incidents recording them are not very artistically arranged. The book is a prize 
 to our Irish Catholic readers, notwithstanding its little defects of form. — CatA- 
 olic Telegraph. 
 
 LOSS AND GAIN; or, the Story of a Convert. By 
 the Very Reverend John Henry Newman, D. D., Rector of the 
 Catholic University of Ireland, &c. 12mo., cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 We were in England when this work first appeared, and well remember the 
 sensation it caused. The former friends of Mr. Newman were greatly scandal- 
 ized as well as offended by it. It proved, they said, such a deterioration on his 
 part. TJiat he sliould absolutely jest at the ecclesiological and liturgical foppe- 
 ries of their party, astounded them. They could never believe Newman would 
 sink so low. We knew one young man, who had been a great admirer of Mr. 
 Newman, who wrote an answer to the twenty-seven questions which Willia 
 Bent Reding. He was going to publish the answer in the English Churchman, 
 we believe ; but somehow one or two points were not quite clear to him, and 
 he reserved the paper till he had examined them a little further ; he pursued the 
 examination till he became a Catholic. There never was a livelier or truer pic- 
 ture of any state of society than " Loss and Gain " gives of the university clasa 
 in England. Dealing largely in satire, it has the great merit of absolute freedom 
 from exaggeration, and is at the same time one of the wittiest stories, and the 
 most devoid of malice that ever was i)enned. It is addressed to a very high order 
 of mind — too high for mere popularity; but it will gain admirers forever, we 
 should think ; yes, even when it is itself the only relic (like Fielding's novels in 
 profane liteiature) of the social state it Ae^cxihes. — Metropolitan Catholic Mag- 
 aiine. 
 
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 St. Joseph's Manual. 
 
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 The merits of this Book, among the many which liave been published as well 
 in Europe as America, are its peculiar adaptation to the wants of families, as of 
 individuals, for public as well as private devotion ; for those who live remote 
 from Churches, and cannot be present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Sun- 
 days and Ilolydays, as for those who enjoy greater privileges. It may be styled 
 a volume of prayer and religious instruction, since it not only contains devotions, 
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 Treasury of Prayer. 
 
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 The London Catholic Standard says of tliis work : Wo have been much pleased 
 with tliis excellent Praj er Book, which appears to us one of the most perfect yet 
 published, and whicli reunites many features not found in former publications of 
 the kind. Tlie occasional prayers are aduiira!)ly selected ; for instance, we find 
 one ' for a merchant or trader,' another ' to obtain the spirit of prayer ' another 
 * for grace to conquer our i)asriions,' another to be used ' after a day cl toil.' 
 There are also prayers used by various holy persons ; for instance, those of St. 
 Bonaventure, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Ignatius, &,c. j the pr<nyer 
 of Solomon for wisdom, the prayer of Manasses, of Jonas, of Job, &c. There 
 are several litanies, hymns, visits, and special devotions. The forms of examina- 
 tion of conscience strike us as remarkal)!y practical and wisely composed. 'J'here 
 are numerous instructions suited to the young and to converts, which make it a 
 book suitable for spiritual reading as well as j)rayer j and the points of doctrine 
 disputed by Protestants, such as the Real Presence, Confession, &c,, are headed 
 with proofs from Scripture." 
 
 The Dublin Tdegrajih sa^ : This is a most elegant, complete, and compen- 
 dious companion to the Holy Altar. In addition to the devotions contained in the 
 ordinary book of prayer, we have here the Devotions of the Bona Mors, Visits to 
 the Blessed Sacrament, Devotions of the Month of Mary, Devotions for the Forty 
 Hours' Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, together with the Way of the Cross; 
 and all this in so convenient and agreeable a size and shape as to be easily placed 
 in a lady's pocket. The title is well bestowed ; fur it is, indeed, a Treasury of 
 Prayer, and a complete library of practical piety." 
 
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DONAHOE'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
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 ■■ Every Number of this beautiful collection will be complete in itself, 
 and -wiii contain the Life of a Saint, embellished \rith a splendid en- 
 graving. The following volumes are in preparation : — 
 
 Vol. 1. Life of our Blessed Redeemer. 
 Vol. 2. Life of the Blessed Virgin. 
 Vol. 3. Life of St James the Apostle. 
 Vol. 4. Life of St. Anne, Mother of 
 
 the Blessed Virgin. 
 VoL 5. Life of St. Bernard. 
 Vol. 6. Life of St. Clare. 
 Vol. 7. Life of St Philip Neri. 
 Vol. 8. Life of St. Philomena. 
 Vol. 9. Life of St. Anton v. 
 Vol. 10. Life of St. Monica. 
 Vol. 11. Life of SL Augiistine. 
 Vol. IQ. Life of St. Elizabeth. 
 
 Vol. 14. Life of SL Theresa. 
 Vol. 15. Life of St. Laurence OToole. 
 Vol. 16. Life of St.Catharine of Sienna. 
 Vol. 17. Life of Blessed Peter Claver, 
 S. J. 
 
 VoL 18. Life of St. Bridget, Patroness 
 
 of Ireland. 
 Vol. 19. Life of St. Patrick, Patron of 
 
 Ireland. 
 
 Vol. 20. Life of St, Mary Magdalene. 
 Vol. 21. Life of St. Vincent de Paul. 
 Vol. 22. Life of St. Winefride. 
 Vol. 23. Life of St. Francis Xavier. 
 VoL 24. Life of St. Columbkille. 
 
 VoL 13. Life of St. Columbanus. 
 
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 printed in the best manner, on fine paper. 
 
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