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HISTORY OF MARY STUART. 
 
\Jotn im ijimm t^tm ckifunkjiiU 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 MARY STUART, 
 
 QUEEN OF SCOTS. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL AND UNPUBLISHED MS. 
 
 OF 
 
 PROFESSOR PETIT, 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES DE FLANDRE, F.S.A. Scot., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN EDINBURGH. 
 
 "D'aller faire le neutre ou I'indifferent sous pretexte que j'ecris une histoire 
 serait faire au lecteur une illusion trop grossiere." Bossuet. 
 
 " Quand on est malheureux, on n'a pas beaucoup d'amis." 
 
 L'lMP:fiRATRiCE Eugenie. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO., 
 
 1874. 
 
 C^'UW,Lt- 
 UKIV- KM I Y 
 
 f p; s .IvV , 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 A FTER more than two years' labour I lay before English readers my 
 •^ ^ translation of Professor Petit's unpublished work. For any 
 inaccuracies in a History so studded with references, I crave 
 indulgence. 
 
 A few words regarding the portraits may not be out ot place. 
 The one given as frontispiece to the first volume was engraved, at the 
 suggestion of Mr Albert Way, from the miniature, supposed to be by 
 Janet, which is at Windsor Castle, and which, by the gracious permis- 
 sion of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, I have been allowed to copy. 
 The fac-simile of Mary's autograph is from one of the letters in the 
 Balcarres Collection, preserved in the Advocates Library, Edinburgh. 
 The portrait given as frontispiece to the second volume is from the 
 half-testoon of 1562. It was chosen on the recommendation of the 
 author, after a most painstaking search for an authentic portrait. 
 The fac-simile of autograph is from a safe-conduct granted by Mary 
 to Moray in July 1565. The document is in the Register House, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 For most valuable advice in matters of history, and for suggestions 
 as to portraits, autographs, &c., I am much indebted to Mr David 
 Laing, Sir Noel Paton, R.SA., Mr James Drummond, R.S.A., the 
 Queen's librarian, Mr Richard R. Holmes, and Mr Thomas Dickson 
 of the Register House, Edinburgh. In re-reading my MS. I have had 
 very able assistance from my friend Mr Thomas Armstrong, of Trinity 
 College, Dublin. 
 
 I have now merely to add that I trust this work will help to 
 remove all doubt as to the innocence of the much-abused Mary Stuart, 
 
 Queen of Scots. 
 
 Charles de Flandre. 
 
 Edinburgh, October, 1873. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 nPHIS work appeals to thoughtful men, not to those who read only 
 for pleasure. Of Mary Stuart I assert the innocence which is 
 still a problem to many, notwithstanding the works of early writers, 
 and the learned pages of Chalmers, Miss Strickland, Wiesener, Laba- 
 noff, and Hosack. For twenty years M. Mignet in France, Mr Froude 
 in England, and Professor Von Raumer in Germany have swayed the 
 minds of the people, and the few voices raised in Mary's defence 
 have been drowned and lost amid the outcries of her slanderers. 
 Strange it is, but true, that some readers think good taste bids them 
 hold the Queen of Scots guilty. In writing this history, it matters 
 little to me whether the public hold my views or not. I shall be 
 content to have on my side earnest readers who sound the depths of 
 truth in her case. I have done everything in my power to make this 
 book worthy of their attention. For more than ten years I have 
 sought for and read every page on the subject which chance put in my 
 way ; I have ransacked the libraries of Paris, London, and Edinburgh, ' 
 have had very many unpublished letters and manuscripts copied, and 
 I now deliver the work for printing, sure that I have forgotten no 
 weighty documents. 
 
 My heartfelt thanks are due to Her Majesty the Empress Eugenie 
 for the encouragement she has kindly given me. I have to thank Mr 
 David Laing, of Edinburgh, for his great kindness. I must own that 
 I put his patience to severe trials, and yet he was not wearied. I 
 have also to acknowledge the good services of M. Charles de Flandre, 
 of Edinburgh ; to pay the debt of gratitude due to him gives me 
 much pleasure. 
 
 If, in my travels, I have often met with kindliness, nowhere have I 
 found more warmth of heart than in Edinburgh. I have a most lively 
 remembrance of my stay in the native land of Mary Stuart. 
 
 J. A. Petit. 
 
 ROMESCAMPS, (OiSE), FRANCE, 
 
 2/^tk June, 1871. 
 
HISTORY OF MARY STUART. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1542— 1558. 
 
 BIRTH OF MARY STUART — DEATH OF JAMES V. — PROJECTED MARRIAGE OF THE YOUNG QUEEN 
 WITH THE PRINCE OF WALES — STRIFE AMONG THE NOBILITY — THE FRENCH PARTY 
 RISES WITH CARDINAL BEATON — TREASON OF LENNOX — THE TAKING OF EDINBURGH 
 JBY THE ENGLISH — RAVAGES IN SCOTLAND — THE REFORMATION — WISHART — HIS DEATH 
 — MURDER OF CARDINAL BEATON — FRESH INVASION — BATTLE OF PINKIE — MARY AT 
 INCHMAHOME MONASTERY — HER SETTING OUT FOR FRANCE — THE WELCOME ACCORDED 
 HER — FIGHTS AND TROUBLES IN SCOTLAND — ^D'ESSE FORTIFIES LEITH — VOYAGE TO 
 FRANCE OF THE QUEEN-MOTHER WHO BECOMES REGENT. 
 
 npHE unfortunate queen whose life I write, was born in Linlithgow 
 -■- palace on the nth December 1542/ She was the third child of 
 King James V. The first two children, James and Arthur, had. died 
 shortly after birth, and the nobles were grieved that the King left but 
 a daughter to succeed him. The tragic and premature end, however, 
 of that young monarch struck the public mind so strongly, that all the 
 love of the people was at once centred in his daughter. The princesses 
 who preceded her had borne the name of Queen, Queen-Regent, or 
 Queen-Mother. Mary was pre-eminently Queen of Scots. 
 
 She was barely three days old, when, through the death of her 
 father, the most serious disorders sprang up around her cradle. The 
 nobles contended for the Regency, and did so with all the more rabid- 
 ness as they knew its duration would be long. Cardinal Beaton, 
 former minister of James V., and the Earl of Arran, the nearest heir to 
 the Crown, had each his party ; that of the Cardinal was less numerous 
 but more enterprising ; it rested its claim upon a reputed will of King 
 James V. The Earl's party, through its numbers, made up for its 
 want of daring, and was supported by England. The latter party 
 prevailed. The Earl of Arran was elected Regent of Scotland, and 
 
 1 I differ here from the usual opinion in on the nth or 12th December. The date 
 
 order to adopt that of Miss Strickland — Lives of the nth is given by Nau also, Queen 
 
 of Queens of Scotland, Mary I., 8. That Mary's secretary, in the fragment which is 
 
 eminent historian has proved beyond a left us of his History of Scotland. — State Paper 
 
 doubt that Mary can have been born only Ofifice. 
 
 VOL. I. A 
 
2 PROJECTED MARRIAGE OF THE YOUNG QUEEN, 1543- 
 
 the Cardinal, through the sad changeableness of things, passed from 
 the highest honours to a dungeon in Blackness Castle. 
 
 That election was particularly pleasing to Henry VIII. Encour- 
 aged by the triumph of his allies, he tried to bring about the union of 
 England and Scotland by the marriage of the Queen and the Prince of 
 Wales. In consequence thereof. Sir Ralph Sadler was sent to Edin- 
 burgh with full power ; while, to smooth the way for the transaction, 
 Henry VIII. had discharged the Solway Moss prisoners, after having 
 made them promise to speak and act in favour of the alliance.' The 
 negotiations were undertaken with ardour. Both sides seemed to have 
 good intentions, and to be full of a sincere love for peace. It was 
 delightful to think that the end of those disastrous wars which the two 
 nations had been waging against each other for a quarter of a century 
 was nigh, and the happy moment wherein that age of peace might 
 dawn, was hailed with joy. Preliminaries so warmly received and so 
 vigorously carried out were broken by the doing of Henry himself. 
 Not satisfied with obtaining for his son such an alliance, he claimed as 
 his right the guardianship of the young Queen, and the occupation of the 
 royal castles during her minority. That unreasonable demand opened 
 the eyes of the Scots. Sir Adam Otterburn protested against what 
 had been done, and brought over to his side those who were still partial 
 to the betrothal of the young Mary and the English prince. " Our 
 nation," said he to the English envoy, " being a stout nation, will never 
 agree to have an Englishman to be King of Scotland ; and though the 
 whole nobility of the realm would consent to it, the common people, 
 the women with their distaffs, and the very stones in the street, would 
 rise up and rebell against it."^ In the face of that resolution, to yield 
 was the only alternative. As a consummate politician, Henry VIII. 
 seemed outwardly to waive conditions which had given rise to so 
 violent objections ; but he did not cease to carry on intrigues with his 
 partisans, his aim being to secure the persons of both Queen and 
 Cardinal. 3 He succeeded in regaining even the lost ground, and if he 
 did not gain the ascendancy in Scotland, he made the Scots sign a 
 treaty enacting that Mary should marry Prince Edward, and that she 
 should be led into England at the age of ten years.* 
 
 1 Sir John Balfour — Annales of Scotland, pissa, Maria, decimum annum astatis impleverit 
 I., 276, 277 ; Sanderson's History, 10. et undecimum attigerit, statim intra mensem 
 
 2 Sir W. Scott — Biograph. Mem. of Sir Ralph proxime sequentem deducetur in confinia villa 
 Sadler, XI. ^ Herries' Memoirs, 5. Berwikas"— Epist. Reg. Scot. Edin., 1724, tom. 
 
 <* " Conventum, concordatum et conclusum II. 285 ; Rymer, Fcedera Conventiones, &c., 
 est quod, quamprimum dicta illustris Princi- Hagae Comitis, VI., iii., 96. 
 
STRIFE AMONG THE NOBILITY. 3 
 
 The Scots had scarcely signed the treaty ere they began to dishke 
 it. When they came to reflect coolly upon what they had granted, they 
 soon perceived that the negotiation was entirely to the profit of 
 England. The partisans of Cardinal Beaton were the first to com- 
 plain, and the people, naturally changeable, began to regret him whom 
 they formerly looked upon as despotic and ambitious. Universal 
 blame was laid upon the Regent. No one took into consideration that 
 he had but followed the opinion of the majority ; even those who had 
 wished for the treaty were the first to disapprove of it ; they were eager 
 to make the head of the State responsible for the fault which they them- 
 selves had counselled. The Cardinal was not the man to neglect 
 taking advantage of the turn of the public mind. Just out of prison, 
 he headed the re-action with a vigour which did not allow his enemies 
 the time to anticipate his blows. With the consent of the Queen- 
 dowager, he assembled the clergy in an extraordinary session and drew 
 a dark picture of the misfortunes which threatened Scotland : liberty 
 compromised, the old religion sorely assailed, the country hurled into 
 ruin by that ignominious treaty ; thus he carefully stirred up the smoul- 
 dering hatred which existed between the two nations and succeeded in 
 inflaming even the most lukewarm.' 
 
 The eloquence of the former minister, backed by the gold of the 
 clergy, suddenly turned public opinion towards France. Two very 
 distinct parties were formed in Scotland : the one, with the Regent, 
 supported the English alliance and advised its policy; the other, grouped 
 around the Cardinal and the Queen-dowager, trusted to the old alliance 
 which had always united Scotland to France, to break the treaty and 
 marry the young Queen to some French Prince. As the mass is 
 usually fond of boldness in undertaking and swiftness in doing, and as it 
 bears within itself an exhaustless fund of patriotism, it sided of its own 
 accord, and quite naturally, with France. To the latter party Argyll, 
 Huntly and Bothwell, lent their names and their influence. The first 
 effect of that popular movement was to delay the sending of the 
 hostages, and the pretext that Henry had meanwhile seized several 
 Scottish vessels, was laid hold of in order to break with England. The 
 English ambassador was publicly insulted, and the treaty of marriage 
 was set aside by a decree of Parliament.^ 
 
 Days of indecision followed hard upon that first outburst of patriotic 
 zeal. Fears were entertained lest Henry VHL, angered by the 
 
 ^ Buchanan, XV. 6; Spottiswoode, edit. 1851, I. 144. 
 ^ Epist. Reg. Scot., II. 311. 
 
4 FRENCH PARTY RISES WITH CARDINAL BEATON. 
 
 cancelling of the treaty, and by the slight offered to his representa- 
 tive, might seek an unheard-of vengeance. France alone could help 
 Scotland out of the difficulty. All looked for support from that 
 quarter. The Scottish prayer re-echoed throughout France. Noble 
 hearts were moved. The Scots who were in the French service, or 
 who resided in the country, had already set out with the Earl of 
 Lennox, laden with good wishes and with promises ; their presence 
 had sufficed to make Cardinal Beaton's party triumph ; but as the 
 difficulties increased, promises were no longer enough : deeds were 
 wanted. Francis I. did not draw back ; he sent to Scotland a 
 fleet mounting fifty guns and therewith ten thousand crowns.' That 
 contingent of men and money, • entrusted to Lennox with the view of 
 helping the Queen- Dowager, brought about quite another result, owing 
 to the treason of the Earl. 
 
 Lennox had come to Scotland not solely with the wish to fight for 
 Mary of Lorraine ; he had dreamt of reaping honours. The Cardinal 
 had led him to expect them as long as his rivalry with Arran Ip-sted. 
 He had advised him to claim, as first prince of the blood, even the 
 guardianship of the young Queen, to the exclusion of the Earl of Arran 
 whose legitimacy was doubtful,^ and Lennox, proud of that support, 
 had flattered himself that he should soon be, through influence, what he 
 was already by blood, namely : one of the first men in Scotland. The 
 reconciliation of the Earl of Arran with the Cardinal, his conversion to 
 Catholicism, which was, as it were, its guarantee, did away with the 
 services which might be expected from Lennox, and caused the 
 promises to be forgotten. The ambitious lord was overlooked. When 
 little Mary was taken from Linlithgow to Stirling he came to the 
 coronation, perhaps hoping to have the promises realised ; instead of 
 that, however, he saw obscure nobles preferred to him.^ He held 
 during the whole ceremony a secondary position made all the more 
 mortifying by the barren honours which he had previously obtained. 
 Lennox understood that he had been played upon, and without waiting 
 longer, conceiving a like hatred for Queen, Regent, and Cardinal, 
 he disowned all parties in Scotland, and threw himself headlong 
 into the ranks of the enemies of his country. His going over to the 
 English side gave rise to great rejoicings : he was received as an 
 illustrious convert, a deserter from the old cause, a fervent proselyte of 
 the new ; as a man having the power to render triumphant those whom 
 
 1 Diurnal of Occurrents, 28. '^ Joan. Leslaeus. De origine, moribus et re- 
 
 2 Berries' Memoirs, 5. bus gestis Scotorum, Rome 1578, 466. 
 
TAKING OF EDINBURGH BY THE ENGLISH, 1544. 5 
 
 he should support. At that very moment the French assistance arrived. 
 
 Filled with anger, Lennox hurriedly raised an army with the money 
 
 which he had just acquired in a way so unhoped for, and advanced 
 
 towards Edinburgh. That sudden move frightened the Regent beyond 
 
 measure, as his forces were badly organised, scattered, and unreliable. 
 
 The issue of a battle fought under such circumstances was hardly 
 
 doubtful. Conscious of his weakness, he left to the Cardinal the care 
 
 of checking the rebellion. The latter, instead of seeking to stay 
 
 the revolt by exciting fear, entered into a parley with the Earl of 
 
 Lennox and protracted the negotiation so well that the rebellious army 
 
 was obliged to disperse for want of provisions. That failure ruined 
 
 Lennox and lost him his popularity. He took his revenge by driving 
 
 Henry VHL to undertake that untoward campaign which gave so 
 
 melancholy a beginning to the year 1544. 
 
 The preparations for it had been made during the winter. The 
 first fine weather saw the Earl of Hertford, with about ten thousand 
 men, hurriedly put to sea, sail for Scotland, and insist on the young 
 Queen being forthwith given into his charge. Finding that the Scots 
 turned a deaf ear to his request, he landed and marched quickly on 
 Edinburgh, after having cut through a small body of men who were try- 
 ing to stop his way. The town was taken, given up to the fury of pillage 
 for four days^ then burnt. As the Regent was advancing at the head 
 of a -numerous army to give battle, Hertford was obliged to retreat, 
 before superior forces should come to prevent him doing so. He 
 ravaged all the country in the direction of Leith, burnt that town, and 
 re-embarking, wasted with fire and sword the banks of the Forth, 
 while the land force under the orders of Evers, burnt Seton, Haddington 
 and Dunbar, and withdrew quietly into England, with immense booty. 
 If ravaging the country gave pleasure to Henry VHL, then that 
 monarch must have been happy, but by that cruel war Henry was 
 rendered odious to Scotsmen, who all drew nearer to the throne ; the 
 Douglasses, for a long time allies of England, returned to their allegiance, 
 and Lennox was shamefully driven away just as he was going to hand 
 over to King Henry the fortified castle of Dunbarton. An act of 
 parliament declared him traitor to the nation, and pronounced against 
 him a sentence of forfeiture." That is what Henry VHL reaped 
 
 ^ Epistolae Regum Scot., app. xviii. In the J. Bellenden, Justice Clerk, which gives a very 
 
 N^gociations relatives au rfegne de Frangois concise account of the customs and of the laws 
 
 II., is found a curious memoir addressed to of Scotland before 1559. It says : En I'acte et 
 
 the king by J. Makgill, clerk of register, and ordonnance iii. de Parlement fait par le feu 
 
6 THE REFORMATION, 1544- 
 
 from his "rough courtship," as the Earl of Huntley called that 
 expedition.' 
 
 The rest of the struggle was but a series of robberies, murders, and 
 partial defeats,^ — the one side plundering the other. The incursion of 
 Ralph Evers and Bryan Layton, and their defeat at Ancrum, are the 
 only facts of importance.. 
 
 At the very time that Scotland fought nobly against an enemy who 
 sought to cut into her territory, and rob her of her freedom, she was 
 internally harrowed by the underhand and progressive march of Pro- 
 testantism. There, as in the other countries of Europe, Luther's fervid 
 and impassioned language had awakened an echo. Henry VHL, 
 whose whole interest, after his apostasy, was to convert Scotland to the 
 new creed, used all efforts, and spent large sums of money to succeed 
 in his designs. He was ere long looked upon as a saviour by the Pro- 
 testants, and in 1543 they wrote him a long letter entreating him to 
 invade Scotland, and unite the two kingdoms under one sceptre and 
 one faith.^ 
 
 The enmities which separated the Scottish nobles had singularly 
 befriended the introduction of Protestantism. That two families were 
 rivals was sufficient cause for each having a different faith. In religion, 
 ambitious houses sought a stepping-stone, and ruined houses thought it 
 might be for them a prop against their fall. Beaton strove in vain 
 against that general tendency : the Reformation gained ground day by 
 day. Preachers rose on all sides, and in great numbers; their language, 
 their bearing, their outward appearance, their whole person was 
 stamped with exaggeration. The people, as yet little civilised, saw 
 grandeur in it, and believed their mighty pretensions to be greatness of 
 mind. George Wishart, the first who was truly celebrated, had been 
 driven into England as soon as he made his appearance. He bore with 
 him into exile a deadly hatred against the Cardinal, and formed with 
 the Laird of Brunton, Henry VHI. consenting, the scheme of killing 
 him whom he looked upon as the scourge of his religion. Having 
 
 roy Jacques, premier de ce nom, et fes actes Hertford into Scotland, Illustrations of the 
 
 XXV. and xxvi. dudit roy, est ddclar^ et ddter- Reign of Queen Mary, 3 ; Diurnal of Occur- 
 
 mine que si aulcun manifestement ou (et) ents 31, sq. The late expedition in Scotland 
 
 notoirement (se) rebelle contre le roy il encourt under the conduit of R. H. the Erie of Hert- 
 
 la peyne de forfaicture, qui est perte de ses vie, ford, reprint of the London edition, 1544, 10 
 
 terres, heritages et Mens quehconque, 258, in n. Balfour, I. 280, 282. Hayne's collection 
 
 the unpublished Documents of the History of of State papers, 43, sq. 
 France. 2 Bannat. Miscel., I. 7-18. 
 
 ^ Journal of the expedition of the Earl of 
 
GEORGE WISHART, 1545. 7 
 
 gone back to Scotland, he continued to preach with a fervour which 
 drew forth frantic applause. Dundee was the scene of his zeal. Every 
 day, and several times a-day, the people assembled to hear him. The 
 magistrates of the town got alarmed, and dreading some mishap, forbade 
 his preaching within their jurisdiction. Notice was given him to that 
 effect, while he was speaking in the public square. On hearing that 
 order he stood for a moment thoughtful, then raising his eyes to heaven, 
 he stretched out his hand over the town, after the example of the 
 Jewish prophets, and loaded the district with the most awful curses. 
 On his leaving, many of the people followed him for some distance, 
 begging him to come back. Wishart would not give way. Lord 
 Marshall and several other Protestant gentlemen offered him, with as little 
 avail, a refuge on their estates. Dundee having been visited with an 
 epidemic shortly after, the vulgar fancied that it was the effect of 
 Wishart's curses. Many fanatics asserted that the evil would cease 
 only on the return of God's martyr. Wishart, informed of those cir- 
 cumstances by his disciples, hurried back to Dundee. He began his 
 ministrations in the outskirts of the town, and took advantage of the 
 plague to prove his divine mission. 
 
 Beaton, all patience at an end, made up his mind to use foul means. 
 A first attempt to seize Wishart's person having failed, he was put 
 on the alert, and never after showed face at his church without a 
 squad of his most trusty followers. That watchfulness did not, how- 
 ever, hinder Bothwell from laying hold of him, and handing him over to 
 the Cardinal.' The preacher was questioned, tried and sentenced to be 
 burned. He underwent the torture with great courage. By way of 
 caution the Cardinal had deemed it good to see the execution with his 
 own eyes, lest the condemned one might escape. Wishart noticed 
 him, and looking upon his enemy's step as a bravado, he gave way 
 to his wrath, and foretold that ere long Beaton, at the very spot of 
 his triumph, should be cast down and humbled, and should end his life 
 in shame. The devotees of the new sect welcomed with prayers the 
 last words of their father, and long quoted them bitterly in order to bear 
 witness to his sanctity. Any man who may stand somewhat aloof from 
 those popular prejudices, and who may besides be acquainted with the 
 mission which Wishart fulfilled to Henry VHL, will see in it nothing 
 but the avowal of a conspiracy, and will acknowledge with a Protestant 
 
 1 Act obliging Patrick, Earl of Bothwell, to deliver up to my Lord Governor, Mr George 
 Wishart. Epist. Reg. Scot., app. xx. 
 
8 MURDER OF CARDINAL BEATON, 1546. 
 
 historian, that Wishart died, not as a prophet, but as a conspirator who 
 reveals the secret.' 
 
 That conspiracy thus prophesied by a fanatic at the stake, was 
 nevertheless fully accomplished. Two months after the death of 
 Wishart, the devotees, " urged on by the Lord," made up their minds to 
 murder the Cardinal. The time was well suited. Part of St Andrews 
 Castle was being rebuilt, and the rest was being repaired ; one of the 
 doors remained open every night for the coming of the workmen ; it was 
 taken possession of at the dawn of day ; the workmen and hirelings who 
 dwelt inside were sent away, and the victim was thus isolated. All 
 that was not done without noise. The prelate, scared, and dreading 
 foul play, had , shut himself up in his room. When the murderers 
 reached his door they found it barred. Called upon to open, he 
 refused ; but seeing that the invaders were making ready to burn him 
 in his room if he persisted in remaining locked up, and that on the 
 contrary, they pledged themselves to spare his life if he put himself 
 into their hands, he withdrew the bolts. No sooner had he done so 
 than two of the butchers, sword in hand, rushed upon him. They 
 would have slain him on the spot, had they not been stopped by 
 Melville, who exclaimed : " This work and judgment of God, although 
 it be secret, yet ought to be done with greater gravity."^ Then turning 
 the point of his sword towards the Cardinal : " Repent thee," said he to 
 him, " of thine former wicked life, but especially of the shedding of the 
 blood of that notable instrument of God, Mr George Wishart, which 
 albeit the flame of fire consumed before men, yet cries it a vengeance 
 upon thee, and we from God are sent to revenge it ; for here before my 
 
 ' Dempster says, in his Historia Ecclesi- towards that period underwent death with 
 
 astica, 598, "that Wyshart being in the plot to heroic constancy, and I cannot help admiring 
 
 take the CardinaVs life, might easily foretel his the early Scottish reformers, Knox, however, 
 
 death." Quotation from Chalmers, The life of excepted. It is a pity that so much energy has 
 
 Mary, III., 339, note u., edit. 1822. Knox, been wasted in so bad a cause. "Multihsretici," 
 
 Hist, of Reform., i. 44, 51-59. Spottiswoode I. says St Augustine, "nomine Christiano animas 
 
 150-162. M'Kenzie,Writers of the Scots Nation, decipientes, multa talia patiuntur sed ideo ex- 
 
 III. 13-17. Tytler (Histoiy of Scotland, edit. cluduntur ab ista mercede, quia non dictum est 
 
 1864, III. 22) treats Wishart as a vulgar con- tantum. Bead, qui persecutionem patiuntur, sed 
 
 spirator ; Keith looks upon his prophecies as additum est. Propter justiciam." St. Aug. 
 
 ridiculous things, 42 ; Stevenson in his His- Serm. Dni. in Monte, lib. i. Certain things are 
 
 tory of the Church and State of Ref. in Scot- said of the Scottish martyr which might liken 
 
 land, writes seriously: " He was endued with him not a little to Montanus : " Quocumque 
 
 many extraordinary graces, particularly with iter faceret secum ahquot mulieres circum- 
 
 the spirit of prophecy." Introduction, 32. ducebat erat enim magus." Davidis 
 
 MacGavin, in his edition of the History of Camerarii De Scotorum fortitudine. Paris, 
 
 Knox, endeavours to prove the contrary: both 163 1, 276. 
 
 in the interest of religion. Several Protestants ^ Knox, History of Reform., i., 61. 
 
MURDER or CARDINAL BEATON, 1546. 9 
 
 God, I protest, that neither the hatred of thy person, the love of thy 
 riches, or the fear of any trouble thou couldst have done to me in 
 particular, moved, or moveth me to strike thee ; but only because thou 
 hast been, and remainest, an obstinate enemy to Christ Jesus and his 
 holy evangel." Having said those words, he several times pierced with 
 his sword the Cardinal, who fell dead at his feet. 
 
 The servants meanwhile had given the alarm. At once, all the 
 inhabitants rose and ran to the castle, with arms of all kinds, to save 
 the Archbishop. " What have you done with my lord Cardinal ? " 
 cried they to the conspirators ; " Where is he ? " " We wish to see my 
 lord Cardinal." " The best thing you can do," replied the assassins, 
 " is to return to your homes, for the man whom you call the Cardinal 
 has had his due reward, and shall not again trouble the universe with 
 his person." Those jeering words roused the multitude, " We shall not 
 go until we have seen him," cried they on all sides. Then the 
 murderers, adding insult to injury, dragged along the bleeding corpse 
 of the Cardinal, and hung it up at the window. At the sight of that, 
 says Knox, with a coarsely cheerful expression, " they went their way 
 without reciting a Requiem ceternam or a reqrdescat in pace, for the 
 repose of his soul." That crime was rejoiced at among the innovators, 
 as much as was the murder of Holophernes among the Jews.' 
 
 Those internal struggles which stirred up Scotland left England 
 quite at rest, and the English cabinet busily followed up its alliance 
 scheme. The murder of the Cardinal seemed to herald a new era. 
 On the death of Henry VHI., the Earl of Hertford, having been made 
 Protector, and created Duke of Somerset, lost no time in communicat- 
 ing with the murderers. He was not ashamed to place them on the 
 footing of a power, and treat with them as with a state, although he 
 knew theni to be deprived of their civil rights.^ On the 9th and 
 
 1 Knox, Reform., I. 60-62. Keith's Church and woordis of James Melven.' Later editors 
 Hist., 43. Gilbert Stuart, Hist, of Reform. suppressed them." Hume, History of the 
 60-63. HoUinshed's Cronicles, II. 231-232. House of Tudor, III. 144, note. Calderwood 
 Buchanan, Rerum Scot., lib. xv. 40, 41. Mac- also says, in his " True history of the Church,'' 
 kenzie, Writers, &c.. III. 26. Memoirs of that "the Lord had stirred up some men of 
 family of Stuarts, 123. Spottiswoode, I. 163- courage to cut him off." Introduction, 2. "This 
 165. " John Knox, says the French editor of act," writes the abridger of Lord Herries, " was 
 Hume the historian, calls James Melvil the highlie commended by all those of the re- 
 gentlest and most modest of men. It is horrid, formed relligion, who (as the original says) did 
 but at same time curious to con over the joy, congratulatt, and feasted amongst themselves," 
 the glee, the rapture which that historian 16. See also the " Historical remarks on the 
 seems to feel in relating that assassination. In assassination of Cardinal Beaton," Tytler, 
 the first edition of his work the following words III., app., 365, sq. 
 
 were printed on the margin : 'The Godly fact ^ Epist. Reg. Scot, II. 344, 347, 349. 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
lo FRESH INVASION, 1547- 
 
 the iith of March 1547, he concluded with them two treaties. By 
 the first they bound themselves to further with all their might the 
 marriage of Mary with young Edward VI., and never to give up St 
 Andrews Castle to a Scotsman during the minority of the Queen. 
 The second bore upon their footing with England, whose policy they 
 were to serve, and whose army they were to keep up." Those treaties, 
 to ensure success, were to be kept hidden ; the utmost secrecy was 
 required to allow the scheme to ripen without endangering its success. 
 Very luckily for Scotland the Regent was warned of those plots laid in 
 darkness. He heard also of the great war preparations that the Pro- 
 tector was making : the plot explained the preparations, and the pre- 
 parations bore out the plot. In the face of that danger, as nigh as it 
 was awful, the Regent evinced a courage until then unknown in him. 
 He ordered the sheriffs and commanders of strongholds to keep horses 
 fully in readiness, so as to make known without delay the approach of 
 the English army, and the direction which it should take. If the 
 attack took place landwards at night, large fires were to be kindled at 
 intervals, chiefly on the heights ; and along the coast, if by the sea, so 
 as .to put the people on the alert, and give them time to resist. Another 
 decree forbade the inhabitants of town or country to leave their dwellings 
 or to carry elsewhere their goods or riches, the common cause of dread 
 and trouble, under pain of confiscation and severe chastisement. He 
 then called for a general rising, waving, from one end of Scotland to the 
 other, the Fiery Cross, a black-edged, oriflamb whose white ground was 
 checkered with red spots. All those from sixteen to sixty, who 
 could bear arms, were obliged to join the rising under pain of death. 
 A proclamation fixed Musselburgh as the meeting place, and sum- 
 moned all to repair thither within forty days, with arms and 
 provisions.^ 
 
 While his immense army was being recruited, the Regent tried to 
 prevent the English bands from making inroads on the borders of Scot- 
 land ; the arrival of L6on Strozzi, with help from France, called him 
 back to Edinburgh, to bethink himself of the means to save the country. 
 The murderers of Cardinal Beaton were first challenged. St Andrews 
 Castle was besieged, and, after a bold stand, taken and razed to the 
 ground.^ 
 
 Late in August, the Duke of Somerset marched forward at the head 
 
 1 Rymer, Actapublica, Foedera VI., iii., 150, 3 Balfour's Annales, I. 287. Spottiswoode, 
 151, and 155. I. 173- Memoirs of Kirkaldy, 42, sq. 
 
 2 Epist. Reg. Scot., app. xlii., xliii. 
 
FRESH INVASION, 1547. 11 
 
 of about twenty thousand men ; ' he crossed the Tweed and made for 
 Edinburgh. The fleet, under Admiral CHnton's orders, numbered 
 about thirty galleys and as many transport ships. It was to act in 
 conjunction with the land forces, and give them help in case of need. 
 The Scottish army reckoned about thirty thousand good troops ; it was 
 well equipped and full of spirit : the Regent had led it to trust in an 
 early and splendid success. 
 
 Before putting it to the arbitrament of the sword, the Duke of 
 Somerset endeavoured to use the power of reason on the Scots, and 
 make them share his views. He issued a manifesto stating that nature 
 had formed the island for one single empire ; that, cut off from all 
 communication with foreign states, and girt by the sea, nature had 
 pointed out to its inhabitants the path of happiness and security ; that 
 the education and the customs of the people seemed to have an under- 
 standing with nature ; that, having the same language, the same laws, 
 and the same manners, one might expect them to live under the 
 same government ; that fortune had removed all obstacles and pre- 
 pared an expedient by which they might enrol themselves under one 
 banner ; that there would then be no grounds for the jealousy, as 
 regards honour or interest, to which two rival nations are usually so 
 much exposed ; that the crown of Scotland had descended to a princess 
 and that of England to a prince ; that luckily these two sovereigns 
 suited one another in rank and age ; that the enmity which had been 
 kindled between the two nations by past injuries, would be extinguished 
 as soon as a solid and lasting peace had on both sides inspired confidence ; 
 that the remembrance of their first misfortunes, which now embittered 
 their mutual hatred, would serve only to make them the more cherish a 
 state of happiness and quiet so long unknown to their forefathers ; that 
 when hostilities had ceased, the Scottish nobility, in place of being per- 
 petually at war as they always had been, would learn to cultivate the 
 arts of peace -and soften down their nature into a love of homely order 
 and quiet ; that such a state of things was desirable for both kingdoms, 
 but above all for Scotland, which had been desolated by foreign and 
 internal wars, and had run the risk of losing her freedom through 
 
 ^ Tytler the historian reckons 14,200 men. sand were footmen and pioneers," iii. 56. 
 
 According to Patten's account : " The English Patten's account, loc. cit. in Tytler, gives a 
 
 force,"says he, "consisted in all of fourteen thou- larger number. He allows the Duke of 
 
 sand two hundred men, of which four thousand Somerset 4000 men, the Earl of Warwick 3000, 
 
 weremen-at-armsanddemi-lances,twothousand Lord Dacres 3000, Sir Francis Bryan 2000, Sir 
 
 light horse, and two hundred Spanish Cara- Ralph Evers4ooo, John Bren I40o,etc. Dalyel's 
 
 bineers mounted. The remaining eight thou- Fragments of Scottish History, par. iv., 26. 
 
12 FRESH INVASION, i547- 
 
 the^fforts of her richest or most powerful Inhabitant: that England, while 
 claiming her right of superiority, was not averse to waive her claims in 
 favour of future peace : that an indissoluble union must be concluded upon 
 quite equal conditions ; in short, that apart from all these motives a posi- 
 tive engagement had been entered into to bring about this alliance, and 
 that the honour and good faith of the nation bound it to keep promises 
 which its interest and security imperatively required it to fulfil- 
 Those reasons, not altogether unjust, were set aside, and war became 
 unavoidable. The Earl of Arran, warned of Somerset's approach, 
 entrenched himself on a rising ground near Musselburgh, and ordered a 
 body of cavalry to scour the neighbourhood and annoy the English. 
 The damage done by those nomad troops was so much the more 
 vexatious to Somerset as it was unforeseen, and as Arran's men avoided, 
 by flight, all serious engagements. The English general could protect 
 himself only by copying the tactics of his opponents, and by ordering 
 his cavalry to attack them, no matter where. They met in the field of 
 Falside, with heavy losses on both sides, especially on that of the Scots. 
 That success increased the courage of the English without lessening 
 the intrepidity of their foes. Somerset shared the joy of his men and 
 thanked his cavalry. He exhorted his soldiers to show the same 
 ardour in the general battle soon to be fought. 
 
 Although the Protector, as if sure of victory, seemed cool and 
 collected in the face of his army, he was really a prey to the most 
 painful anxiety. Spies had informed him how strongly his enemy's 
 camp was fortified ; how the position, number and spirits of the Scots 
 made them almost sure of victory. Somerset, knowing how much 
 reports are usually exaggerated, and how little faith can be put in 
 accounts which fear and hurry equally tend to pervert, thought it would 
 not be safe for him to act until he himself had examined the Scottish 
 army. Together with the Earl of Warwick he devoted himself to that 
 risky business, and was thus enabled to convince himself that the state- 
 ments of his scouts were true. The situation of the English army was 
 becoming precarious ; their provisions would be exhausted before those 
 of the Scots, and it was difificult to revictual in a hostile country ; if the 
 Regent's army kept its position until attacked, it would be necessary 
 sooner or later to wage a battle, the issue of which did not seem 
 doubtful. As the Earl of Huntly had formerly proposed to him to settle 
 the dispute by pitting twenty men against twenty, or ten against ten, so 
 as to avoid bloodshed, the Protector, after that comparatively peaceful 
 offer, judged it not unworthy of him to think of coming to terms. He 
 
BATTLE OF PINKIE, 1547. 13 
 
 therefore sent the Earl of Arran a letter in which he proposed to 
 withdraw from the kingdom, and to make good the injury done by his 
 army, provided the Scots promised not to give their Queen to any 
 foreign prince, but to allow her to choose a husband for herself when 
 she reached the age of discretion. 
 
 That letter, which will always bring credit upon Somerset's memory, 
 seemed so moderate that the Scots suspected a ruse and threw it 
 aside. The sad result was to lead them to believe that the English 
 forces were exhausted, and that they sought to spare themselves the 
 shame of a defeat by concealing flight under cover of a treaty. That 
 mad idea brought about the ruin of those who stupidly conceived it, for 
 Somerset turned off towards the sea with the view of falling back upon 
 the fleet, and the Scots fancying he was retreating, went down into the 
 field, crossed the Esk, and drew themselves up in battle array. Down 
 the marshes by the river, Angus led the vanguard and the Regent 
 the main body ; the rear guard was under Huntly's orders. Four 
 thousand archers, from the Highlands and Ireland, in the following of 
 Argyll, shielded the right. Thus arranged, the Scottish army pushed 
 on along the shore with the view of taking Pinkie Hill, occupying the 
 ground around St Michael's Church, and crushing the English force. 
 They had not time enough. Passing in front of the fleet, the Scots 
 had to run the gauntlet of a most deadly fire, the vanguard faring worst ; 
 the English cannon made enormous breaches in their ranks, and the 
 rest of the army dared not advance. The Highlanders, as yet little 
 civilised, knew artillery only from hearsay ; they stuck to the cross-bows 
 of their fathers. Terrified by the cannon, they could neither go forward 
 nor go back. While they wavered, the English horse rushed upon 
 them full speed, and not a soul could have escaped, had not the newly 
 ploughed, and, in some places, miry and impracticable ground broken 
 the charge of the cavalry. The sudden attack of the horsemen restored 
 courage to the Scots ; they had before them a foe to overthrow, and 
 were no. longer exposed to the ravages of artillery. They fell furiously 
 on their enemies, and scattered them, the leader of the English, Lord 
 Grey, being badly wounded. Had the Scots had horses enough, it 
 was all over with the English ; but that help failed them, and Lord 
 Grey was enabled to get behind the closely wedged masses of foot and 
 rally his cavalry who were in disorder. 
 
 Before giving Angus time to look about him, Warwick sent 
 against him a large body of archers and fusiliers. The galling fire of 
 the musketry, with a shower of arrows and the guns of the galleys, told 
 
14 BATTLE OF PINKIE, 1547. 
 
 greatly, but the gaps were at once filled up : the Scottish stubbornness 
 wearied the guns. On a signal from Somerset a battery placed on the 
 heights began to play on them. It poured on the front of the Scottish 
 army. The firing from the vessels slackened for a moment, then burst 
 out violently. The Scots, caught at once in front and flank, fell terror- 
 stricken in whole columns. The position was no longer tenable. The 
 Earl of Angus ordered his men to take an oblique direction, and to go 
 and support the centre which the Regent commanded in person. The 
 swiftness with which that evolution was executed led the Scottish army 
 to believe that the vanguard was routed. Fright seized upon the 
 ranks, and the whole army fled in disorder. The English cavalry, 
 which had had time to re-form at the foot of the hill, chased the fugi- 
 tives, drove them into the Esk, and did great havock. That was on 
 the lOth of September 1547. 
 
 That spot, where Scottish blood was again to be shed one century 
 later for its kings, is now very much changed. In that same place where 
 the war-cry resounded and where blood was spilt in torrents, there now 
 extend fruitful orchards studded with peaceful cottages ; the old 
 church of St Michael has crumbled away; the old hill still stands, but, 
 instead of threatening the neighbourhood, it enhances its beauty. When, 
 from the top, one looks down upon the Esk flowing through the willows 
 and the green swards, and past Fisherrow, till it falls into the Forth, it 
 is hard to picture to one's self the horrors 5f war on a soil so well fitted 
 for husbandry.' 
 
 Two days before Somerset had, against all hope, gained that glorious 
 victory, the Earl of Lennox, who had gone over to the enemy, and Lord 
 Warton entered Scotland by the West Marches, at the head of five thou- 
 sand foot soldiers and eight hundred horse. On the 20th, they had 
 taken Annan, after a bold struggle, and lorded it over the country lying 
 round about. Scotland was lost, had not the fear of being supplanted 
 at court driven the Duke of Somerset to return hurriedly to London, 
 after garrisoning Droughty Castle." 
 
 Those baneful strifes had disheartened the nation ; they believed 
 they had all to fear from the English ; the scared people shared the 
 pangs of those who ruled them : Chancellor Huntly was a prisoner, the 
 most powerful lords had been killed, and the Regent was rallying, as 
 
 ^ Patten's Expedition into Scotland under I. 124-158. Sir John Hayward, Kennet II. 
 
 the Duke of Somerset, forming the IV. part and De Thou, Edit, varior. app. au liv. iii. 
 
 of Dalyel's Fragments of Scottish History. Buchanan, XV. 44-51. 
 
 The battle of Musselborough, Teulet., N^go- " Holinshed, II. 241. 
 ciations relatives k I'Ecosse au XVI"., Si^cle, 
 
MARY AT INCHMAHOME MONASTERY, 1547. 15 
 
 best he could, the remains of his fine army. Lest matters should turn 
 out still worse, little Mary was carried from Stirling Castle to the 
 Monastery of Inchmahome, which stands in the lake of Menteith, one 
 of the wildest districts in Scotland. The child took with her four little 
 girls of her own age, who, being of the same name, were called the four 
 Marys. Far from turmoil the little colony gave itself up to play and to 
 study. Their unvarying walks have remained legendary ; there is still 
 shown on the edge of the lake a . hawthorn, under whose branches the 
 merry band liked to come and rest after gambolling over the heather 
 and the rocks. On getting back to the monastery, they were taught 
 Latin and modern languages, and initiated early into the habits of 
 society. The poor artless children little dreamt that they were the cause 
 of the misfortunes which laid their country waste, and that while play was 
 all their thought, the whole world was taken up with their future.' 
 
 In the difficulties of his position the Regent put on a bolder front 
 than might have been expected from his nature. The defeat of his army 
 had not unmanned him ; in his belief the mischief could yet be repaired. 
 He therefore caused the much-coveted hand of the young Queen to be 
 offered to the King of France in exchange for aid. The offer was 
 accepted, and Andre de Montalembert, Seigneur d'Essd, was sent to 
 Scotland with six thousand men and artillery.'' That relief came 
 quite opportunely. The Regent had spent three months before 
 Broughty Castle, without being able to take it. Luckier than he, the 
 English had laid hold of Haddington Castle, had strengthened them- 
 selves there, and made it the starting point for their plundering. Lauder 
 Castle had also given in. So low-spirited were the Scots that five 
 hundred English horsemen were allowed to scour the country without 
 hindrance, and to carry their inroads even to the gates of Edinburgh. 
 The commander of the French forces found it somewhat hard to infuse 
 fresh courage into those whom he came to succour. After some delay, 
 brought about by the wavering state of the public mind, he and the 
 Earl of Arran bent their steps towards Haddington.' 
 
 Here Mary's betrothal was entered on."* The Scots resolved 
 
 ' Conffius Jebb. Bell, 44. Chalmers, I. 5. gatheryns, brave soldiours and ware lyke, and 
 
 Strickland, I. 21, 22. they make very great bragges." — Boyvyle to 
 
 ^ Les Vies de plusieurs grands Capitaines the Earl of Shrewsbury, Stevenson's illustra- 
 
 Frangois, par M. de Pavie, Baron de Forque- tions, 24. 
 
 nauls, feuillet 320. " Please it your lordship to ^ Diurnal of Occurrents, 45. Spottiswoode, 
 
 be advertised that there be Fraunche galleys I. 176. 
 
 and other shippes of Fraunce at Leight, and ^ The Queen Dowager of Scotland to the 
 
 hath set a land v. or vj. ml. men, whiche men Due d'Aumale, 6th July. Teulet, I. 179. 
 be Italians and Gascans and of al other 
 
1 6 MARY SETS OUT FOR FRANCE, 1543. 
 
 to cast aside the English alhance ; they owed that nation too great a 
 grudge to hand over to it the daughter of James V., as well as the sove- 
 reignty of Scotland. The battle of Pinkie was by no means forgotten, and 
 " that way of wooing " the young Queen nettled the Scottish mind. The 
 French wished Mary to be sent to France at once. They based their claim 
 upon reasons which they deemed the best : the lasting alliance of the 
 two peoples would be drawn closer ; French help would ever be at hand ; 
 Scotland would retain her laws, manners, customs and freedom. The 
 Queen Dowager headed that party. The Scottish Protestants took 
 quite another view. In their opinion, the French alliance would bring 
 on a long war with England; thence endless mishaps and wretchedness : 
 the English would have to be driven back, the French to be kept up 
 and borne with ; the national self-love would be wounded, the noblest 
 of the Scots thrown back into the second rank, and often bound to 
 lavish their cares upon foreigners, at times too hard to please. The 
 Regent sided now with the one, and then with the other, just as it 
 suited his purpose. Henry II. bought him over by giving him an 
 estate worth 12,000 livres a-year and the title of Duke of Chatelleraut. 
 From that moment he openly stood by France, foreseeing that the 
 English would tire of the war on losing the hope of getting the Queen. 
 Her departure was fixed upon.' 
 
 Mary Stuart's political life was begun. No one thenceforward was 
 to remain heedless of her destiny ; her lot was to excite around her 
 very opposite passions. The English and the Scots had fought desper- 
 ately over her cradle ; the struggle was about to be prolonged, and till the 
 end of her life, even when war shall have ceased, Mary will be pursued 
 by the brutal policy of jealous neighbours. Her setting out for France 
 was not free from danger. The Protector, aware of the Scottish under- 
 hand dealing, had sent several vessels to seize the Princess, and it was 
 only by a manoeuvre that Admiral de Villegagnon and his four galliots 
 managed to elude them. On leaving the Forth he steered as if for 
 France, but scarcely was he out of sight when he changed his route, 
 made for the north, rounded the Orkneys, and cast anchor at the foot of 
 Dunbarton Castle. The spies were put off their scent, and while 
 Villegagnon was believed to be in his own country, and little Mary to 
 be safe at Dunbarton, whither she had been taken, the same ship 
 carried them quietly towards the French shores.^ In order that the 
 
 1 Burnet, History of Reform., i., vol. T. = Histoire de la Guerre d'Escosse. Jan de 
 
 198. Beaugud. Maitland Club reprint, chap, xj., 
 
 29, 30. 
 
THE WELCOME GIVEN TO MARY IN FRANCE, 1548. 17 
 
 pangs of separation and exile might be lightened for the child, her 
 mother had given her as companions the four Marys and eight other 
 young girls of the same age^' so that Mary found on board and abroad 
 something of a homely atmosphere. The flotilla, after a stormy passage, 
 touched Roscoff at Morlaix point, on the 20th of August. 
 
 Mary, on landing, was made the object of assiduous care. In honour of 
 her, they set free the chief criminals who had groaned in the State prisons, 
 in some cases, for many a day, and often, for the suspected crime of treason 
 or heresy." At St. Germain, the princes and princesses surrounded the 
 child, lavishing thousands of caresses upon her, and cheering her to their 
 utmost. The King, then absent, had written to M. de Humieres not 
 to go out of the way before the arrival of the young Queen. In a few 
 days Mary was as free in France as she had been in Scotland.^ 
 
 She was at St Germain while the English fleet was still looking out 
 for her at sea. The English admiral was amazed to learn how, and at 
 what risk Villegagnon had been able to escape. After that, he no 
 longer needed to cruise about ; he nearcd the coast, and landed in Fife- 
 shire; driven back with loss by James Stewart, he re-embarked hurriedly, 
 and sailed for Montrose, where he lost two-thirds of his followers. 
 
 Although less lucky at Haddington,-* the French and Scots else- 
 where gained some important advantages. As the strong position of 
 the place rendered the storming of it impossible, a regular siege was 
 necessary. It was carried on vigorously, and the citadel was soon 
 invested.5 Sir Robert Bowes and Thomas Palmer, who were in the 
 field from the beginning of the operations, conceiived the bold idea of 
 marching . against the besiegers, overthrowing them, and entering the 
 castle with provisions, before the French could send reinforcements. 
 They were themselves taken by surprise, and massacred. The honour 
 of that day was gained by Count d' Andelot.^ Several other attempts to 
 raise the blockade of the castle succeeded no better. The Highlanders 
 did wonders ; bare-footed, ill fed, badly clad and poorly armed, they 
 everywhere caused more annoyance to the English than did the rest of 
 
 1 Balfour's Annales I. 292. Hz sont deux milles homines de guerre dedans 
 
 " Ribier, Mdmoires et Lettres d'Etat, Miss et troys cans chevaulx." D'Essd to the Duke 
 
 Benger I. 121. d'Aumale, 6th July. Teulet, I. 182. 
 3 Miss Strickland I. 27. ' Beaugud, 43, sq.— " On n 'a jamais vu de 
 
 * D'Oysel to the Duke d' Aumale, 6th July. soldatz plus ddterminez qu'estoit celuy-cy 
 
 Teulet I. 180. (d'Andelot) lorsqu'il en fesoit profession." 
 
 s " Avons tenement et de si prhs assidgez Henry Second, ou les choses las plus mdmor- 
 
 les enemys que, depuis la premier jour, ilz ables arriv&s sous son Reygne, 15, recto MS. 
 
 n'ont jamais osd faire sortya sur nous ; et sy Biblioth. de Rouen, U. 121. Hollinshed's 
 
 sont nos tranchdes k quatre pas pr^s du fossd. Croniclas II. 247. 
 
 VOL. I. C 
 
i8 FIGHTS AND TROUBLES IN SCOTLAND, 1548. 
 
 the allied troops. They were everywhere ; they guarded against 
 . surprise, and raised the alarm in an instant. The swiftness of their 
 movements is almost beyond belief; they outstripped even the best 
 mounted cavalry. Some of those sturdy mountaineers were seen to take 
 advantage of the sorties from the garrison, rush on the soldiers, seize 
 them, and carry them off One of them gave a singular instance of 
 steadfastness by allowing his neck to be bitten and torn, rather than let 
 go his hold. Such behaviour made an impression on the troops, and 
 d'Ess^ rewarded it handsomely.' 
 
 Those daily scuffles brought about no definite result ; they were but 
 a series of small fights wherein victories and repulses were balanced. 
 The situation seemed always the same, only discipline became more 
 lax, and success on the French side was more rare and less signal. 
 The soldiers had become plunderers ; after having welcomed them as 
 deliverers, the Scots now looked upon them as foes. The swaggering 
 airs which they had on their arrival in Scotland, put up with for a time 
 through necessity, were now the object of general scorn, and, when in a 
 hot engagement the French got the worst of it, the Scots, without 
 heeding the paltry successes which they had themselves achieved, 
 rejoiced that their defenders should have got " so sound a drubbing." " 
 D'Esse also was less watchful. The English, to the number of three 
 hundred, managed to enter the place. That help allowed the resistance 
 to be carried on until the arrival of the Earl of Shrewsbury, who was 
 marching forward at the head of seventeen thousand men,^ The allied 
 army withdrew at his approach. The Earl poured men and assistance 
 into the town, and then began to pursue the French towards Edin- 
 burgh, where he found them advantageously posted. He did not 
 deem it right to attack them, but, retracing his steps, returned to 
 England without any other advantage than that of having relieved 
 Haddington. 
 
 An unfortunate accident nearly put an end to the little harmony 
 which still existed between the Scots and French. On his return 
 from his expedition, d'Esse wished to give his men some rest, perhaps 
 even to put them into winter quarters. It was in the month of October, 
 
 ' Burnet Reforni., I. 200 De Thou, iv. August :-" Hast, hast, hast, for thy lyf, with 
 
 392, edit. 1604. spede. I kepe the passage of Dunde . . . 
 
 Teulet I. 282. " Si bien frott^s." and troble the contreth here as moche as 
 
 His emissaries apprized him accurately of I maye, to discorage theyre goyng towardes 
 
 the state of public opinion in Scotland ; his the camp." Sir John Luttrell to the Earl of 
 
 way was traced out to him before-hand ; one Shrewsbury. Stevenson's Illustrations, 
 of his spies wrote to him this note, dated 8th 
 
D'ESSE FORTIFIES LEITH, 1548. 19 
 
 and the frost was beginning to bite. Edinburgh seemed to him more 
 suited for the purpose than any other town ; victuals were plentiful, and 
 to billet troops there was easy. The bad faith of a Frenchman gave 
 rise to a violent scuffle in which the eldest son of the Provost, several 
 persons of quality, and a few harmless citizens lost their lives. The 
 people, incensed at such conduct, took up arms. That riot gave the 
 Scots grounds for venting their wrath, and for showing the hatred 
 which they had so long had at heart. To divert the mind of the 
 people no doubt, d'Esse made for Haddington ; but hardly had he left 
 Edinburgh, when the townsmen slew the French sick and wounded who 
 had not been able to take part in the expedition.' It took all d'Essd's 
 firmness to prevent reprisals. Owing to those misunderstandings, the 
 war had degenerated into marauding inroads, as injurious to the Scots as 
 to the French. The fortune of the former and the honour of the latter 
 were equally compromised, and both sides anxiously watched each other 
 without daring to attack the common enemy, or doing so only very 
 lightly. D'Essd felt that strange state of affairs more than any one, and 
 sought to arouse, the public mind by some brilliant deed. Chance soon 
 afforded him the occasion which he yearned for. In an engagement with 
 a company of hostile scouts, he killed two hundred of their men, made 
 sixty prisoners, and, that very night, pounced upon Haddington. The 
 sentries were killed, the outworks cleared, the gates knocked in, and 
 shouts of victory arose. The uproar was for a time, as it were, drowned 
 by a loud report from a cannon of large calibre fired by a French 
 deserter. The effect produced by that discharge was disastrous. The 
 compact crowd was within a few yards of the gun, and nearly a hundred 
 victims fell. Confusion ensued. Cries arose ; but it was impossible to 
 tell whether they were shouts of victory, or the moanings of the 
 wounded. The tumult gave the English time to look about them and 
 drive away their adversaries.^ 
 
 Beaten off at that point, d'Esse went to fortify Leith.^ It was at 
 that time a straggling town of little extent : a few houses on the sea- 
 side, and two winding streets opening out on the plain. Thanks to 
 d'Ess6's care, it soon became an important town. The French general 
 
 1 Teulet I. 231. Rapport de St. Mauris. be strengthened on account of its situation. 
 
 " Buchanan, xv. Histoire de la Guerre That fact makes good the remark of the 
 
 d' Escosse, Jan de Beaugud, II., ch. 25, Ambassador Daniel Barbaro, that the Scots 
 
 26. " non sono atti ne h fortificare ne k defendere 
 
 ' It is astonishing that Leith was not forti- i forti." Relazione de Ambasciatori Venez. 
 
 fied in the Sixteenth Century. That port was, Biblioth. de Rouen, MS. U. 95, Tome II. 
 
 however, one of those which most needed to docum. 2. 
 
20 TREATY OF BOULOGNE, 1550. 
 
 intended to retake Droughty citadel also, and to settle there. The order 
 of the Queen to enter England made him give up that idea, so he pushed 
 on as far as Newcastle without any hindrance, took much booty, and, on 
 his return, made Inchkeith castle capitulate.' 
 
 That was his last campaign. The Queen-mother seeing that the 
 French troops did more harm to the Scots than to the English, began 
 to hate d'Esse, and did not conceal it. She wrote to the King of 
 France that the officers and soldiers were very insolent, that they ill- 
 treated the Scots, and made the French name odious. The King 
 called d'Ess6 back, and, in his stead, sent de Thermes accompanied by 
 Montluc. De Thermes was an illustrious and prudent warrior. Montluc, 
 Bishop of Valence, had been ambassador at Constantinople, and bore 
 the reputation of great wisdom. That churchman, whom all parties 
 praised equally, was to be the Chancellor ; the King hoped that his 
 wisdom would bring about a reconciliation between Scotland and 
 France; but the ill-will of the "nobles and the hatred of which, in all 
 such cases, a foreigner is the object, were so strong, that it was deemed 
 meet to recall him to France. 
 
 The following year was little propitious to the English. De Thermes 
 took Broughty Castle, managed to isolate Haddington, and put his foes 
 in a sad plight. Lord Dacres had taken the place of Bowes, and the 
 Earl of Rutland that of Lord Grey; and affairs went on as well as ever. 
 The situation of Haddington was desperate ; the country around was 
 barren and waste ; disease decimated the troops, provisions were 
 getting scarce, and the garrison could no longer hold their own without 
 help ; any relief must come from England, and an army was wanted to 
 be the convoy. The difficulty seemed so serious that the English 
 abandoned Haddington Castle, after dismantling it." They now held 
 only one stronghold in Scotland : that was Lauder. De Thermes 
 headed his army at the assault on that last bulwark of English power, 
 and was on the point of making himself master of it, when he heard of 
 the treaty of Boulogne, which ceded it along with Douglas Castle to 
 the Scots. 3 
 
 Engaged as the Scots were in those quarrels with England, they 
 were still stirring and seeking to renew their power. The Regent was 
 weak, the Queen-mother exclusive, and the reformers ambitious and 
 revolutionary. The people shared the new ideas, and were generally 
 
 1 Balfour's Annales, I. 295. Beaugu^, in, ^ Rymgr, Fcedera, &c. VI., iii. 182, 183. 
 
 ^'2- lUust. of the Reign of Queen Mary, various 
 
 ' Balfour's Annales, I. 296. letters, 38, 52. 
 
THE QUEEN-MOTHER GOES TO FRANCE; 1550. 21 
 
 persuaded that some great event was being hatched. The Queen-mother 
 thought that, under the circumstances, and in view of the difficulties 
 which might arise, she had nothing better to do than seek advice from 
 her family and the King of France. She concealed the true object 
 of her journey, and gave as her reason that she wished to see her little 
 Mary. She arrived on the 19th of September at Dieppe, followed by de 
 Thermes, La Chapelle and a number of French and Scottish officers, 
 and on the 25th, with tears of joy, kissed the little exile. Great 
 rejoicings took place at Rouen. On the ist of October the King made 
 his entrance into the town with unusual state.' The whole court was 
 there. The King was accompanied by the Dauphin, and followed by 
 the lovely " S6n6chale," and numerous princesses, whose graceful bearing 
 " awoke the delighted admiration of the people, who knew not whether 
 more to admire the beautyof their faces, or the richness of their garments."" 
 Honours were heaped upon the nobles who returned from beyond the 
 Channel ; poetry sang their triumphs, and yet little Mary was not for- 
 gotten amid the mirth of the people ; it was delightful to think that, 
 through that child, Scotland, even England, might soon be united to 
 France, and that God in His own good time would bring about a 
 change in Scottish affairs " whereby the Dauphin should be King of 
 Scotland, and wield a triple sceptre over the nations ; " and to that the 
 poet adds the earnest prayer " that France and England may one day 
 be united. "3 In spite of her extreme youth, Mary was very far advanced 
 in her studies. Henry H. insisted that her education should be com- 
 plete ; he gave her the best masters, and the child made wonderful 
 progress. At that early period she already spoke Latin correctly,-* and 
 wrote rather pretty verses. Those who had access to her were 
 delighted to find the young girl very graceful and clever. 
 
 The society of her charming daughter did not make the Queen- 
 mother lose sight of her object. She had several private interviews with 
 the King, and returned to Edinburgh only when she had settled what 
 concerned the Regency. She passed through England on her way back. 
 The relations between Scotland and that country had been broken off 
 
 1 Extr. des Reg. de rH6tel de ville de Rouen. Que dire vrai je puisse qu'il viendra 
 Bibliot. pub. MS. I., No. 134, 137. Ung jour qu' k France Albyon se joindra. 
 
 2 Franc. Michel, Les Ecossais en France et Entred de Henri II. k Rouen. Edit, des 
 les Frangais en Ecosse, I. 473. Biblioph. Normands 1868, XIV., XV. 
 
 affin * Mr de Montaiglon has pubHshed for the 
 
 Que son Roy fust nostre Frangoys daulphin Warton Club, a series of Latin exercises 
 
 Et bitissoit lors une trinitd written by Marie Stuart, during 1553, 1554. 
 
 De sceptre uny en une Majesty. Small 8vo, 1855. 
 
22 THE QU'EEN-MOTHER RETURNS TO SCOTLAND, 1551. . 
 
 since the invasion, and the Queen-mother was anxious to get out of that 
 doubtful condition, which was neither war nor peace. Edward VI. 
 received her in London with great magnificence, showed her the trea- 
 sures of the crown, the splendour and the monuments of his capital, the 
 riches which were at the disposal of English Queens, and all that was 
 likely to act upon the mind, or touch the heart of the illustrious traveller. 
 Then he asked her why she would not give him her daughter, accord- 
 ing to the promise which the Scottish nation had made. It would also 
 be a great boon for the two nations, urged he, while neither France nor 
 Scotland could hope for any good from their intended alliance ; on the 
 contrary, he should consider as his mortal foe the prince who might gain 
 the hand of the heiress of Scotland. The Queen-mother replied that all 
 blame in the matter must be laid to the charge of the Protector, who by 
 a war as impolitic as it was cruel, had estranged the mind of the Scots, 
 and forced them to give their Queen to France in exchange for help.' 
 The King seemed satisfied, and sent a guard of honour to escort the 
 Queen-mother as far as the Borders. 
 
 The Regent was rejoiced at her return. He had felt how difficult 
 it was to rule a state ; he seemed tired of it. From his state of 
 mind the Queen-mother hoped he would give up the Regency in her 
 favour, and begged him to do so. All tends to the belief that the Earl 
 of Arran, by nature peaceful and fond of repose, would have willingly 
 resigned, especially since he had been made Duke of Chatelleraut, had 
 there not been opposition to his doing so on the part of his brother, the 
 Archbishop of St Andrews, who was the most ambitious prelate in Scot- 
 land. That unexpected resistance vexed and puzzled the Queen-mother. 
 It was necessary to avoid an open quarrel which might lead the nation to 
 think the government divided. The Queen-mother resolved to be patient; 
 but in order to leave the Regent no excuse, she communicated a threaten- 
 ing letter written about him by the French court. The Earl on his side 
 was weighing matters most carefully ; he owed as much to France as to 
 Scotland, and the dukedom of Chatelleraut forced him to act consider- 
 ately. The Queen-mother since her return had perceptibly gained ground 
 in public favour ; her affability and her sweetness drew the people to 
 her, and the Presbyterians themselves were almost siding with her.'' 
 The Archbishop having fallen seriously ill, the Earl, freed from his 
 influence, promised to abdicate, and in spite of his brother's reproaches, 
 did so during April 1554.^ 
 
 1 Leslaeus de Rebus Scotorum, 512, 513. 3 Buchanan, xvi. Keith, 58, 59- 
 
 ° Balfour's Annales, I, 300. 
 
THE QUEEN-MOTHER BECOMES REGENT, 1554. 23 
 
 This time a change was tried which proves the genius of the Queen- 
 mother, and shows the new life which she sought to infuse into the 
 kingdom. Until then, every soldier had to throw aside the mattock 
 to wield the claymore at the bidding of his chief, and was obliged to 
 carry provisions sufficient for the probable length of the campaign.' 
 Thence great inconvenience ; for the soldier was obliged to leave 
 when the war was prolonged. The Queen-mother, now Regent, con- 
 sidered that kind of organization detestable. On the advice of d'Oysel, 
 she resolved to form a regular army. A general tax levied in Scot- 
 land was to cover the cost of that standing force, which shortly was 
 to place Scotland in the first rank, and enable her to struggle with 
 more success against England. It is not possible to ascertain how 
 much the country might have gained by adopting the plan. The 
 Scots are by nature brave ; their usefulness in the field would have 
 been doubled by habits of discipline, and by drill. Unluckily the stub- 
 bornness of some nobles, and the stupid blindness of the mass, which 
 dislikes change, caused a scheme so skilfully planned to fail.^ 
 
 The nobles did not follow the Regent's advice to invade England 
 while that country was at strife with France. The Scottish nobility 
 liked better to neglect their own interests than to be useful to the 
 French. The States, assembled at Newbattle, openly pronounced 
 against all aggression.^ Their refusal displeased the Regent, but did 
 not make her give up her plan. As her proposal had given rise to dis- 
 content, and as she could not re-open the subject, she had recourse to a 
 ruse ; she ordered d'Oysel to rebuild the fortifications at Aymouth, 
 contrary to clause v. of the treaty of the 24th of March 1550. The 
 Berwick garrison made an attack to hinder the undertaking ; that was 
 exactly what the Regent wanted ; she availed herself of the opportunity 
 to protest against that violence, and to blame the English for the 
 breaking of the truce. It was all in vain. D'Oysel was censured, 
 recalled, and peace was not broken.^ 
 
 ^ Diurnal passim. lUust. of the reign of Q. ' Keith, 71. Leslie, X. 531. Buchanan, xvi. 
 
 Mary, 40, and passim. Balfour's Annales I. 308. 
 
 ^ Balfour'sAnnalesI.305. HoUinshed Cron., * Buchanan, etc., loc. cit. Gilbert Stuart, 
 
 II. 274. Gilbert Stuart, Hist, of Ref., 105, 106. Hist, of Ref., 112. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 1558— 1560. 
 
 MARY STUART'S EDUCATION — HER DISPOSITION AND HER TALENTS — PROJECT OF MARRIAGE — 
 DISCUSSION AND CONTRARY OPINIONS — MARY STUART'S MARRIAGE — DUPLICITY OF THE 
 FRENCH COURT— PLAGUES AND FLOODS— ARRIVAL OF JOHN KNOX IN SCOTLAND — 
 WASTE CAUSED BY THE REFORMERS — THEIR BAD FAITH — SIEGE OF LEITH — THE 
 BESIEGED REDUCED TO THE LAST EXTREMITY — TREATY OF EDINBURGH — EXIGENCIES 
 OF THE PROTESTANTS — KNOX ESTABLISHES THE REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND— CON- 
 SPIRACY OF AMBOISE— MISSION OF CHEVALIER DE SEURE — DEATH OF FRANCIS II. 
 
 ly /TARY was on the verge of her sixteenth year, and was not yet 
 ^^■'- married. No woman of that period equalled her in grace, 
 loveHness or wit. Her natural charms were enhanced by that polite- 
 ness of language, exquisite tone of feeling and nobleness of bearing, 
 which made the Court of the Valois the first in Europe, Her progress 
 had been very rapid. Sprung from the blood of the Stuarts and the 
 Guises, she had within her the brilliant qualities of those great houses. 
 From her earliest youth she gave signs of what she was to be in after 
 years : proud, generous, chivalrous and unselfish. At the age of ten 
 her courage was " already so high and so noble," that she could not 
 suffer to be " basely treated or kept in tutelage." " Your daughter," 
 wrote the Cardinal de Lorraine, from whom I borrow these details, " has 
 grown so tall, and every day increases so much in goodness, beauty, 
 wisdom and virtue, that she is most accomplished and perfect in all 
 honourable and noble things, and her like is not now to be seen in this 
 kingdom in any station whatever. . . . The King so delights in her 
 that he spends much time in talking with her, and she cleverly enter- 
 tains him with good and wise talk, quite as well as a woman of twenty- 
 five." ' She had as masters and admirers, Buchanan, Fauchet, Pasquier, 
 
 ' . . . " desja si haulte et si noble . . . dition et quality qu'elle puisse estre . . . le Roy 
 
 bassement traictde ni tenue en euratelle." y prend tel goust qu'il passe bien son temps k 
 
 " Vostre fille est tellement crue et croist tous deviser avec elle I'espace d'une heure et elle le 
 
 les jours en grandeur, bontd, beautd, saigesse scet aussi bien entretenir de bons et saiges 
 
 et vertus que c'est la plus parfaicte et accom- propos, comme feroit une femme de vingt-cinq 
 
 plie en toutes choses honnestes et vertueuses ans." Cardinal de Lorraine to the Queen- 
 
 qu'il est possible, et ne se voit aujourd'hui Dowager of Scotland, 25tli February 1553. 
 
 rien de tel en ce royaulme, soit en fille noble Balcar. pap. and Prince Labanoff, I. 9, 
 
 ou aultre de quelque basse ou moyenne con- 10. 
 
MARY'S DISPOSITION AND TALENTS, 1558. 25 
 
 and Ronsard, and was the centre of attraction in the most brilliant court 
 of Europe. 
 
 In the midst of that cheerful and lettered court, Mary acquired 
 those bewitching airs and enticing manners, which were in later years 
 to lead to such grievous woes. " You have," says Brantome, " a group 
 of human goddesses, the one more beautiful than the other ; each lord, 
 each gentleman chats with her whom he likes most, whilst the King 
 entertains the Queen, his sister, the Queen Dauphin (Mary Stuart) and 
 the princesses." ' Among those divinities figured Marguerite de 
 Navarre, Marguerite de Savoie, the great " S6nechale" Diane de Poitiers 
 and Anne d'Este, princess of Ferrara, " who, more than all ladies of 
 Christendom, excelled in beauty, accomplishments, charming conversa- 
 tion and good humour." " 
 
 Little Mary soon attracted notice even amid such a galaxy of radiant 
 stars ; she was much noticed by the " Sendchale," and was always one 
 of the royal party in their walks ; ^ she often went with Diane to 
 Amboise or Fontainebleau . The King, in his excursions, was accom- 
 panied by a number of young lords eager to win golden opinions from 
 the princesses. Fontainebleau was the spot set apart for rural 
 rejoicings ; in summer, the King and his Court played at tennis or tilting 
 at the ring ; in winter, they had hunting, sliding, snow-balling, dances 
 and masked balls.'* Happy times which the cares of an obscure policy 
 had not yet saddened. Catherine de M^dicis, who " had more intel- 
 ligence than was needful to govern a quiet State,"^ kept aloof from those 
 circles of gallantry, 
 
 Mary Stuart created great enthusiasm when, dressed as a Highland 
 maiden " with satin snood and silken plaid," she sang, accompanying 
 herself on the lute, Scottish melodies, or verses of her own composition.^ 
 With auburn locks and beaming eye, and of gentle, sweet and pleasing 
 language, her delicate exterior produced upon those who saw her an 
 impression not to be resisted. " Our Scottish young girl-Queen has 
 
 ^ " Lk setrouvoient une foule de ddesses hu- * MS. Hist, of Henry II., 2, sq. 
 
 maines les unes plus belles que les autres ; ° MS. Hist, of Henry II., 4. 
 
 chaque seigneur et gentilhomme entretenait ^ " Etant habillde k la sauuage comme ie lay 
 
 celle qu'il aymait le mieux, tandis que le roy veue, et k la barbaresque mode des sauuages 
 
 entretenait la reyne, madame sa soeur, la reyne de son pays, elle paroissoit en un corps mortel 
 
 Dauphine (Marie Stuart) et les princesses." et I'habit barbare et grossier, une vraye Ddesse. 
 
 — Brant6me. Discours sur les dames Ceux qui I'ont veue ainsi habilMe le pourront 
 
 galantes. ainsi confesser en toute vdritd, et ceux qui I'ont 
 
 2 MS. History of Henry II., already quoted, veue ou pourront avoir veu son portraict estant 
 
 II, ainsi habillde.'' Brant6me, Discours sur Marie 
 
 J Prince Labanoff, I., 32. Stuart. 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
26 
 
 MARY'S DISPOSITION AND TALENTS, 1558. 
 
 only to smile to turn all brains,"' said Catherine de Medicis, a witness 
 of all those triumphs.^ 
 
 She won the love of the people themselves. It is said, that in a 
 procession, one Corpus Christi day, a poor woman, struck with the 
 loveliness of Mary, walking gravely with a cierge in her hand, could not 
 help asking if she were not an angel. ^ 
 
 Though sprightly, Mary could look upon matters seriously. Her 
 youthful godliness had attracted the notice of the Cardinal de Lorraine."^ 
 When not enjoying her hours of recreation she was of a grave and 
 thoughtful disposition. The Queen-Regent had early initiated her in 
 the secrets of the Government of Scotland ; by her discretion she 
 justified the confidence which her mother placed in her ; guilelessly, 
 she submitted her opinions to the same kind ear, wrote in favour of 
 certain Scottish noblemen, and in her letters gave evidence of a 
 shrewd mind, a sound judgment and a truly royal heart. Her 
 private amusements betokened feelings above her age. Besides 
 music, poetry and painting,^ Mary gave much time to embroidery. 
 She often spent her leisure hours in composing emblems, as was 
 then the custom in the French Court ; and that occupation, at a 
 later period, enabled her to depict her feelings with as much force 
 as truth. 
 
 1 " Notre petite reinette dcossaise n'a qu*k 
 sourire pour tourner toutes les tetes." 
 
 2 A volume could be written on the beauty 
 of Mary Stuart, and on the influence which 
 that unfortunate Queen exercised at the Court 
 of France : 
 
 "Aspice quantum honos frontis, quae gratia blandis 
 Interfusa genis, quam mitis flaroma decoris 
 Fulguret ex oculis." . . . — Buchanan. 
 
 " Toy qui as veu I'excellence de celle 
 Qui rend le ciel sur I'Escosse enuieux 
 Dy hardiment : contentez-vous, mes yeux, 
 Vous ne verrez iamais chose plus belle. 
 
 " En vostre esprit le ciel s'est surmont^. 
 Nature et I'art ont en vostre beaut^ 
 Mis tout le beau dont la beauty s'assemble." — J. DU Bellat. 
 
 " Num studiis, genere atque opibus, num denique forma in- 
 venient aliam que se huic componere possit." 
 
 Michel L'Hospita-l. 
 
 "Toute la beaute 
 Qui est et qui sera et a jamais este 
 Pres de la sienne est laide, et la mfere nature 
 Ne composa jamais si belle creature." — Ronsard. 
 
 " Etiam post tcediosi carceris molestiam, pristinum oris decus 
 
 ac pulchritudo quo tot homines in sui amoris (sic) rapuerat, in"- 
 tegre adhuc relucebant." — De Thou. 
 
 "Vox DIanae ! God save that sweet face." — ^J. Knox. 
 
 " EUe n'estoit pas seulement la plus belle, mais la plus polie 
 de tout son sexe, dans la langue et dans la belle galanterie." 
 
 Castelnao. 
 
 "Surtoutelle aimoit la Poesie . . . elle se mesloit d'estre 
 Poete et composoit des vers dont j'en ay veu aucuns de beaux 
 et tres bien faits. . . . De plus elle escriiioit fort bien en Prose, 
 et sur tout en lettres que j'ay veues et trfes-^loquentes et 
 hautes. Toutefois quand elle devisoit avec aucun, elle estoit 
 de fort doux, mignard et fort agr^able langage, et auec une 
 bonne majestd, mesMe pourtant avec une fort discrette et 
 modeste priuaut^ et surtout avec une fort belle grace." 
 
 BrantQme. 
 
 "Maria Stuarta Regina Scotise foemina fuit, in quara omnia 
 sua ornamenta videntur contulisse Natura, Fortuna, Virtus. 
 Nam eo fuit habitu corporis, ea bonorum affluentia, ea mentis 
 bonitate, ut a tribus ilUs videatur suscepta contentio, ederent- 
 ne mundo Natura pulchriorem, Fortuna fosliciorem, an virtus 
 meliorem. Audiui k multis, iisque sanfe in hoc genere 
 benfe lynceis, quicquid viderant in Anglia, Gallia, Italia, Ger- 
 mania, Flandria pulchri et venusti, id totum, quantum et 
 quantulum erat, prae hac conformatione membrorum, hac ve- 
 nustate, hac Maiestate, hac huius Reginae suauitate penitCis 
 sorduisse." — Obert Earnest.' Jebb I. 385. 
 
 3 Bell's Life of Queen Mary, I., 70. 
 * Prince Labanoff, I., 36. 
 ® Bishop Keith, 180, note. 
 
MARY'S DISPOSITION AND T^ENTS, 1558. 27 
 
 At the death of Francis II., she was embroidering the woody night- 
 shade with this motto : Duke meum tegit terra ; amid the troubles of 
 Government, it was a vessel beaten by the winds and waves with the 
 inscription : n2inquam nisi rectam ; she embroidered a lion at the birth 
 of her only son with : tinum quidem sed leonem ; during her imprison- 
 ment, she worked at a caged bird which a hawk wished to seize, and 
 the poor Queen thus expressed her fears : il mal me prene et me 
 spavanta deggio ; then it was a crown with the adage : aliamque 
 moratur, a heavenly one ; ' and many others not less expressive.^ 
 
 She was passionately fond, of dancing and hunting, and indulged in 
 them perhaps to excess. In the ball-room she outshone the other prin- 
 cesses, and for a long time shared with Anne d'Este the praises of the 
 onlookers ; later on, in a galliarde, she danced to the satisfaction of the 
 whole assembly. At the hunt she kept pace with the most daring 
 horsemen. It is related, that in one of the royal hunts, Mary, carried 
 away by the fire of her disposition, and unable to reckon the risk, 
 rushed forward full speed through a clump of large trees ; a branch 
 caught her dress, threw her, and the horse kept on its course. Several 
 gentlemen passed near her without noticing her. When at length the 
 accident was known, and help was at hand, she was found standing on 
 the grass, busy settling her hair which the violence of the shock had 
 dishevelled, and as soon as her horse was brought she re-mounted, 
 laughing at her mishap.^ 
 
 That young lady, so cheerful and playful, whose delicate hand 
 awakes the sweet melodies of Scotland, sometimes breaks in a steed 
 which quivers under her, reads Homer and Virgil, Ariosto and 
 Petrarch, and draws around her the men whom literature and science 
 honour; she argues'' in Latin with Master Fran9ois du Faix, rector 
 of the University, for having dared to say thai liberal arts ought to be 
 forbidden to women : that he is wrong, she proves by arguments at 
 once full of force and grace, and above all by an eloquence which 
 entices and leads captive the audience. And who are the judges who 
 pronounce in her favour ? Michel de I'Hdpital, Pierre de Ronsard, 
 Etienne Jodelle, Joachim du Bellay, Bai'f, Amyot, Brant6me, all the 
 illustrious men who were the ornament of French literature at that time. 
 The enthusiasm which she must have called forth is easily understood 
 
 > It may also be understood as relating to ^ Bell's Life of Queen Mary, I., 52. 
 
 that of England. ^ At thirteen or fourteen. — Brantome. 
 
 2 Mackenzie, the Writers, &c., III., 329, 331. 
 
2 8 PROJECT OF MARRIAGE, 1558. 
 
 ..." a Queen indeed by beauty, wit, and also talent, Mary was the 
 pride of France."' Such was the wife intended for Francis II. 
 
 That alliance, desirable as it was, gave rise to warm debates. 
 Although the marriage had been long contemplated," people rejoiced 
 that it was not being hurried on, the embarrassments resulting there- 
 from making it be dreaded as much as the qualities of the young 
 Queen made it be longed for. 
 
 The Lorraine princes insisted on the alliance. They pleaded a 
 great addition to the power of France while holding Scotland, the 
 rights over England which that union would confer, the impossibility of 
 finding in Europe a more advantageous match, and, lastly, the accom- 
 plishments of the Princess. The Constable de Montmorency was by 
 no means of that opinion ; resting on the inconveniences offered by the 
 alliance of two nations distant from one another and different in 
 customs, on the restless spirit of Scotland, on the need of keeping an 
 army there, a policy which Spain, notwithstanding its rich possessions, 
 had difficulty in keeping up, he thought it was better to have the Queen 
 married to a trustworthy French lord, and to send them both to 
 Scotland. 3 That opinion, if not exactly in harmony with the manners 
 of the time, was at least confirmed by the result. Spain was a great 
 problem, for after a glorious reign it was almost without resources. The 
 Constable put great reliance on that example ; but it served only to raise 
 suspicions against him, his opposition being attributed to his jealousy of 
 the Guises. 
 
 The King then addressed the members of the Parliament of Scot- 
 land ; he reminded them of the long alliance which had always existed 
 between Scotland and France, and which he had himself tried to 
 uphold and strengthen since the first day of his reign, of the ad- 
 vantage which the .two nations derived from it, and the chance of 
 drawing it closer by the wedding of young Mary with the French 
 Dauphin, both at a marriageable age ; he begged them also to send 
 commissioners empowered to carry out what might seem best ; and 
 pointed out to them a happy future from that alliance.* James Beaton, 
 Bishop of Glasgow ; David Panter, Bishop of Ross, First Secretary of 
 State ; Robert Reid, President of the Ecclesiastical Session ; Gilbert 
 Kennedy, Grand Treasurer ; Lord Fleming, Grand Chamberlain ; 
 George Lesley, Earl of Rothes, of the Privy Council ; Lord Seton, Prior 
 
 1 Mennechet, Cours de Littdrature, I., 353. ^ Melvil 15. Robertson, I., 156. 
 
 " D'Oysel to Mr de Dacks, Teulet, I., ^ Lesley, De rebus gestis at moribus Scoto- 
 294. rum, X., S33, sq. 
 
MARY STUART'S MARRIAGE, 1558. 29 
 
 of St Andrews, natural brother of the Queen ; James Stewart and John 
 Erskine of Dun, Provost of Montrose,' were chosen to represent the 
 ParHament at the Queen's marriage. 
 
 After having made the Queen and the Dauphin swear that no 
 change should be made in the laws and manners of Scotland, the treaty 
 was signed on the following conditions : the eldest son born of the 
 marriage should be King of France ; if there were only daughters, 
 the eldest should.be Queen of Scotland with a dowry of four hundred 
 thousand crowns as a princess of France ; Mary might re-marry only 
 with the consent of the French and Scottish States ; the Dauphin should 
 take the title and bear the arms of King of Scotland, and in case of 
 death, should leave to his widow a dower of sixty thousand livres 
 tournois.^ 
 
 The nuptials were celebrated on the 24th of April, and gave satisfac- 
 tion to all. 3 Early in the morning the Provost of the Merchants and the 
 Aldermen, in yellow and crimson costume, the King's Procureur, the 
 Receivers and Controllers in full dress, assembled at the Hotel de Ville. 
 At nine o'clock they came down together from the Hotel, and marched 
 forward with great ceremony, between two rows of archers and cross- 
 bow-men, as far as Notre Dame. The Cathedral was lavishly orna- 
 mented. The door-way bore the arms of France and of Scotland ; 
 the mosaic of the choir and nave, and the approaches also, were 
 covered with Turkey carpets. At about eleven, the drums began to 
 beat, and the trumpets to sound opposite the Bishop's palace, where 
 the King had slept, and soon after, the august betrothed appeared. 
 The Bishop of Paris came to receive them at the entrance of the 
 Cathedral, and there the marriage was solemnised by Cardinal de 
 Bourbon. 
 
 The procession was brilliant, and the general effect fairy-like ; but it 
 was after the marriage, when the wedded pair left the platform erected 
 opposite the porch, and entered the basilica, that the imposing ceremony 
 was seen in all its magnificence. At the back, in the choir, sat the 
 Members of Parliament, with scarlet gowns and fur hoods ; in front, on 
 the left side, the Officers of Justice and of the Mint. On leaving the 
 church the procession was headed by Cardinal de Bourbon, Archbishop 
 of Rouen and the Bishop of Paris, followed by a band of musicians in 
 
 1 Bishop Keith, 72. De Thou, xx. cence this marriage was solemnised." — Udall, 
 
 ^ Bishop Keith, 74. the Historic and Life of Mary Queen of Scots, 
 
 ^ " One cannot declare with what applause Preface. That author, except in his preface, 
 
 of all the people, with what congratulation of is a barefaced plagiarist, who has constantly 
 
 all the neighbour princes, with what magnifi- copied Camden, without quoting Jiim. 
 
30 MARY STUART'S MARRIAGE, 1558. 
 
 red and yellow livery ; then came the hundred gentlemen of the King's 
 household, in full dress. The Pope's Legate, Monsignor de Trivulse, and 
 the Cardinals de Lorraine, Guise, Meudon, and Lenoncourt, walked 
 before the happy couple. The Dauphin was led by the King of 
 Navarre, accompanied by the Bishop of Orleans and his brother of 
 Angouleme ; the Queen of Scots by King Henry IL and the Duke de 
 Lorraine. She wore a dress of velvet, covered with jewels and 
 trimmed with lace, and a crown set with pearls and diamonds worth 
 about five hundred thousand crowns. Two young girls carried her 
 train. On seeing her thus adorned, as she advanced between the 
 princes as Queen of the World, more than one maiden would likely 
 have wished to take her place. Alas ! why must so brilliant a dawn 
 have so gloomy an evening ! how. little we know what we do when 
 we envy the lot of others ! 
 
 The procession was closed by the Queens of France and Navarre, 
 led by the Prince de Cond6, and followed by the princesses and ladies 
 in great numbers. 
 
 Outside the cathedral the streets were thronged, for, in addition to 
 the curious, crowds of persons rushed forward to share the royal 
 bounty.' 
 
 The afternoon was spent in great rejoicings ; dancing followed 
 feasting, and the play the dance. There were, says the chronicler 
 who transmits us those details, triumphs greater than those of Cssar ; 
 those who were present can bear witness to it. First were the seven 
 planets, with their mythological emblems ; they sang melodies and 
 words composed for the occasion. Twenty-five beautiful horses, or 
 rather basket horses, caparisoned with gold and silver cloth, each 
 ridden by a young prince, and led by a lacquey, followed them ; 
 then came a chariot of antique form, with musicians discoursing elo- 
 quent music, and drawn by two handsome white steeds with traces of 
 silver cloth ; they were followed by twelve unicorns mounted by young 
 princes so richly clad that it seemed as if gold and silver cloth cost 
 nothing. After them two other white horses, yoked to a triumphal car, 
 upon which sat the nine muses, around whom were young girls in rich 
 attire, making the air resound with sweet symphonies. Those various 
 spectacles had taken two long hours to pass by. Until then the members 
 of the royal family had taken no part in the festival ; their turn came, and 
 
 1 " Ce faict fut gect^ grande somme d'or et claimed) le dit mariage en criant k haulte voix : 
 
 d'argent k grandes poigndes sur le peuple par Largesse ! largesse ! largesse ! " Mariage de 
 
 ung herault de France, lequel prononga (pro- Marie Stuart, Teulet, I., 307. 
 
DUPLICITY OF THE FRENCH COURT. 31 
 
 it was with admiration mingled with astonishment that the bystanders 
 saw issuing from the Chambre des Reqtdies six beautiful ships with masts 
 and sails of silver. They seemed, as they advanced under full sail, 
 to be wafted along by the breath of genii. On each ship were two 
 chairs, and on one of them a prince dressed in gold cloth and masked. 
 As they passed the marble table where the ladies were, the princes 
 who were in the ships took, the one the Queen, another the bride, the 
 next the Queen of Navarre : then Madame Elisabeth, Madame Mar- 
 guerite and Madame Claude, the king's second daughter. They seated 
 them by their sides, and the procession passed on. That was the end 
 of the festival." 
 
 Those lovely days lost somewhat of their brilliancy when Bertrandi, 
 Keeper of the Seals, claimed from the Scottish envoys the crown and 
 the other insignia of sovereign authority, wishing the Dauphin thence- 
 forth to be recognised as King of Scotland, just as Philip of Spain had 
 been recognised King of England after marrying Queen Mary. They 
 replied that they had received no order, and that they could not grant 
 his request. All that could be obtained from them was the promise that 
 they should support the interests of France in presence of the States 
 of Scotland.^ Four of them never again set eyes upon their country ; 
 they died suddenly at short intervals, and the report spread that 
 they had been poisoned.^ 
 
 Before the ambassadors were so basely treated, Mary had been 
 treacherously dealt with, and forced to sign iniquitous acts. The first 
 was a gift, pure and simple, of Scotland to the Kings of France, should 
 she happen to die childless. The motives assigned when demanding 
 this concession were the long alliance of the two peoples, and the 
 services rendered to Scotland by the Kings of France, especially by 
 Henry II. The second stipulated that in case that transfer should be 
 denied by the Scottish nation, she gave up Scotland to the crown of 
 France until one million pieces of gold should be paid. Lastly, the 
 third made her declare that the two former acts were the expression of 
 her free will, notwithstanding all other declarations to the contrary 
 which she might eventually make to please the Scottish Parliament.'' 
 The last clause is especially revolting, inasmuch as it would hinder 
 
 1 Mariage du Dauphin, Teulet, I., 302-311. ' Diurnal of Occur., 268; De Thou, Book 
 
 De Thou, XX. xx. ; Herries' Memoirs, 33 ; Buchanan, xvi., 
 
 ^ Manifesto of the Lords of the Congrega- 17. 
 
 tion, Teulet, II., 10 ; Keith, 72-75; Buchanan, * Bishop Keith, 73, 74 ; Archives de I'Em- 
 
 xvi., 16 ; Lesley, 542. pire ; Trdsor des Chartes, j. 679. No. 59, 60. 
 
32 PLAGUES AND FLOODS, 1558. 
 
 Mary, on her reaching a mature age, from ever retracting that grave 
 decision wrung from her youth and inexperience. 
 
 That year (1558) was most unlucky, and one might almost have been 
 tempted to believe that heaven had formed a league with human passions 
 to ruin everything. The plagues which had ravaged Italy (1557)' 
 after having afflicted Spain,^ burst over England and Scotland with 
 fresh impetuosity. The inhabitants of towns and villages were equally 
 terrified. Already astonished at the boldness of the new doctrines, 
 they were for a time as if seized with stupor in presence of the plague with 
 which they were being visited. It was a strange confusion. Lightning 
 did frightful damage. Steeples were torn down, leaden roofs twisted 
 and whirled afar, houses levelled, and entire villages destroyed. Over- 
 flowing rivers, in their headlong torrents, carried away the ruins of build- 
 ings and uprooted trees. Hurricanes, frequent and terrible, lifted men off 
 their feet, and dashed them against walls. Hailstones of enormous size 
 fell. Worse than all, a fever which nothing could arrest, and which cut off 
 those whom distress had spared, was rife : such was the state of affairs.^ 
 
 At the same time that the enraged elements were piling up ruins, in- 
 cendiaries were at work. Revolts were frequent and furious. Pro- 
 testantism, while rousing the minds, had unbridled the passions ; people 
 rushed into all sorts of. excesses. The Proselytes of Scotland, more 
 hot-brained than those of England, were rabid to destroy Romish 
 idolatry. All means were considered justifiable ; to kill or banish 
 priests, slander their manners, mutilate statues, destroy monasteries 
 and churches, and burn holy things, seemed acts praiseworthy and 
 pleasing to God. The irritated Catholics had recourse to violence, 
 but all was in vain ; the Protestants united to resist, and formed a 
 " Congregation." The two camps were henceforth separate, and vied 
 in bad faith and animosity.* 
 
 The arrival of Knox was the signal for still greater desolation. 
 After sounding from Geneva his first blast of the trumpet against the mon- 
 strous regimen of women,' he was coming to spread among the people of 
 
 1 De Rabutin's Memoirs, ad ann. 1557. masterpiece of bad taste. Besides, everyone 
 
 2 De Thou, xix. knows that those gentlemen by no means 
 ' Burnett's Reform., ii., vol. IV., 865 ; Bal- piqued themselves on atheism ; and Dr Whit- 
 four's Annales, I., 312 ; Spottiswoode, I., 135, aker, who seems to have been at their school 
 136; Lesley, 540. for style, calls the apostle of the Reformation, 
 
 * De Thou, xxi.; Buchanan, xvi., 21; J. Knox, truthfully, though somewhat rudely, 
 
 Camden's Hist. Eliz., Edit. Elzev., 31, 32 ; " Son of violence and barbarism, religious 
 
 Stevenson's History of Church and State of Sachem of religious Mohawks." 
 Scotland, 47. The act of Congregation is found ^ M'Gavin's edit., 439-461.. 
 
 in the note, and in Bishop Keith, 66. It is a 
 
JOHN KNOX ARRIVES IN SCOTLAND, 1559. 33 
 
 Scotland the hatred with which his soul was filled. His violent 
 speeches were always followed by some ravage. Not satisfied 
 with establishing his doctrine, he worked hard for a revolution. 
 His insolence was very great, and the deeds resulting therefrom were 
 very wild. 
 
 The Protestants had in the first place asked for liberty of conscience, 
 which they held for not more than a week, when they themselves 
 became persecutors. In that short time horrible villanies were com- 
 mitted. Knox, who on another occasion said — ■" Pull downe the nests, 
 that the crowes might not build again," was pleased with these riots, as 
 if they had been good deeds, and wrote thus on the 23d June, in a 
 letter addressed to Mrs Anne Locke : — " They were content to take 
 assurance for eight days, permitting unto us freedom of religion in mean- 
 time. In the whilk the abbay of Lindores, a place of black Monkes, 
 distant from St Andrewis twelve myles, we reformed, their altars 
 overthrew we, their idols, vestments of idolatrie, and mass books we 
 burnt in their presence, and commanded them to cast away their monkish 
 habits."' That conduct at length wearied the Regent ; such excesses 
 were unbearable. The court of France was getting anxious, and looked 
 for news every fifth or sixth day.^ Mary was deeply moved ; her 
 natural gentleness made her intercede with Chatelleraut for the guilty. 
 She desired him to use all means which lenity could suggest to bring 
 the Protestants back to a behaviour more worthy of themselves, and less 
 insulting to the Catholics.^ 
 
 The Regent, convinced that the Reformers would set down to weak- 
 ness any further endurance of such a state of things, took up arms. 
 They vainly tried to make peace at Perth. The one side accused the 
 other of bad faith ; the last connecting link between the two parties was 
 broken ; war alone could restore peace. The Protestants began with 
 pamphlets against "the generation of the Antichrist, the pestilent prelates, 
 and their shavelings within Scotland," and promised remission of sins 
 to those who should follow them. Their sole delight was to destroy. 
 They sacked Crail and Anstruther, came down upon Perth, devastated 
 Stirling, and pushed forward as far as Edinburgh. Their joy was 
 great ; the inhabitants had anticipated their wishes by pillaging the 
 
 ' Extract of a letter from J. Knox to Mrs ^ Ndgoc. 19. She wrote on the 24th of the 
 
 Anne Locke. M'Crie's Life of Knox, Appendix same month to Lord James Stewart, Prior of 
 
 VIL St Andrews, an energetic letter, which Spot- 
 
 " N^gociations, Lettres et Pieces diverses tiswoode has quoted, I., 289. It is not in the 
 
 relatives au R^gne de Frangois 1 1., in the unpub- Prince Labanoff collection, 
 lished documents of the History of France, 14. 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
34 BAD FAITH OF THE REFORMERS, 1559. 
 
 churches and monasteries, and now they threw open for them the gates 
 of the city.' 
 
 From Dunbar Castle, where the Regent had shut herself up, she 
 gave forth that Lord James had placed himself at the head of 
 the Protestants only to reach the throne. Desertions in the Pro- 
 testant camp resulted. ' Scarcity of money and food discouraged those 
 left, and when the Regent besieged Edinburgh, the Protestants surren- 
 dered without resistance.' Peace was barely concluded when the bad 
 faith of the Protestants made war necessary. Before leaving Edin- 
 burgh, " the saints " circulated among the people an untrue copy of the 
 capitulation. They had kept in it nothing but the articles which were 
 favourable to themselves, and had introduced a clause which put an end 
 to the former rule. The clause said " that idolatry should not be erected 
 where it was at that day suppressed. 3" 
 
 A peace founded on such a treaty could not last ; every one felt it, 
 and openly made preparations anew. The death of Henry II. gave 
 the rebels hope of a free pardon ; they rose in a body, and came to 
 besiege Edinburgh. They were but a short time before the town. 
 Those bands of rioters, daily varying in strength, had not time to 
 take the usual precautions. Hunger soon dispersed them ; the French 
 troops, too, under de la Brosse and Bothwell, were inured to war and 
 well victualled. The insurgents were almost always worsted."* 
 
 In despair, the Scottish rebels sought aid south of the border. Had 
 Mary been still upon the English throne, the seditious would have had a 
 bad time of it ; but in her stead there was a crafty and bold princess, a 
 friend of the Protestants through policy, an illegitimate daughter and 
 unlawful Queen, who hated Mary, and coveted her kingdom.^ She was 
 a Queen quite fitted for the occasion. She made the treaty of Ber- 
 wick with the rebels, and pledged herself to aid them.^ Sure of that 
 
 ^ Knox, Reform, i., 120, sq., M'Crie edit, » N^goc. 319. 
 
 1841, IS9, 165, et passim; Bishop Keith, 84, « " Now our people of the Reformed reUi- 
 
 87, 9ij 93; 94 ; Teulet, I, 327, sq. ; Burnet, II., gion, having correspondence with this Queen 
 
 965, 970 ; G. Stuart, 152, 153, 159, 167 ; Bal- of England, and having obtained assurance of 
 
 four's Annates, I., 312, 317. protection from her, they are both encouradged 
 
 2 D'Oysel to G. de Noailles, 2Sth and 30th in there profession, and to propogat and man- 
 July, Teulet. I., 335, 337. tain it by the sword ; where upon we shall 
 
 * Knox, Reform, ii., 136; David Hume, now sie nothing but rebellions and factions 
 
 Hist, of Eng., House of Tudor, c. xv. burst out lyke a flame of fyre."— Merries' Me- 
 
 ^ In the "Illustrations of the Reign of moirs, 36. L'Aubespine wrote to the King 
 
 Queen Mary," Ti, under the title, " Intelli- (23d February 1559) that she "faisoit espaule 
 
 gence out of Scotland," may be seen the dis- aux dits rebelles."— N^goc, 274. Elizabeth 
 
 turbances which occurred during that wretched denies that, in a letter to the Regent of Scotland, 
 
 y^^''- 7th August, Teulet, I, 340, and in an inter- 
 
SIEGE OF LEITH, 1560. 35 
 
 aid, they advanced to deprive the Regent of the government of Scot- 
 land, considering her an " idolatress, a vehement maintainer of all super- 
 stition and idolatry."' The French resisted, and the attempt failed. 
 
 The arrival of the English fleet emboldened the rebels, and exas- 
 perated the others in a like degree. The French entrenched themselves 
 in Leith, and determined to fight hard. The English besieged the town, 
 and tried to bombard it. As their artillery was not numerous,^ they 
 concentrated their fire on St Anthony's tower. The walls soon fell. The 
 position of the besieged was now serious. To divert the attention of the 
 besiegers, they made a vigorous sortie, and killed six hundred of the men 
 In the trenches. The rebels now attempted a general assault, but their 
 loss was great. They were driven back beyond their entrenchments, 
 and their guns were spiked. ^ 
 
 The success of the French was short. Martigues, on his arrival, 
 had told them that the Marquis d'Elboeuf would soon come to their 
 relief with a large army. The fleet by which he was accompanied was 
 beaten back by a storm towards the coast of Holland, and forced to 
 return to Dieppe.* They waited, but d'Elboeuf did not appear. When 
 they learned the fate of the fleet, they had just narrowly escaped ruin. 
 Leith had caught fire, and the flames, after blowing up a magazine, 
 had threatened to burn the whole town. Many of the French flung 
 aside their arms, and worked to stop the spread of the flames. They 
 shewed great courage and patience, for in addition to the fury of the 
 conflagration, they had to stand the murderous fire of the English 
 artillery.^ 
 
 view granted to G. de Noailles (Teulet, I, 343) en telle rage at fureur qu'ilz font clairement 
 
 she said, in order to justify herself, " qu'il pour- cognoistre qu'ilz n'ont plus de rdv&ence k Dieu 
 
 roit bien estre qu' aucun de ses ministres, ni au prince." — Teulet, I., 333. 
 
 dont il y en avoit d'assez fols, auroient tenu ^ Bishop Keith, 106 ; Spottiswoode, I, 300 ; 
 
 des propos mal safees aux Escossois, mais Knox, Reform, ii., 162. 
 
 qu'elle avoit mandd d'en enquerir et envoyd un ^ They had twenty-four guns. Francis II. 
 
 homme exprfes pour les radresser." On another to the Bishop of Limoges, 21st May 1560. — N6- 
 
 occasion, 29th September, she said that " c'es- goc, 380. 
 
 toit une mallebouche" (a calumny), Ibid i^i> ; ' The Illustrations of the reign of Queen 
 
 see also 362 sq., 367, 380, 397, 407, and sq. ; Mary contain the account of the assault, 82, 
 
 and Vol. II, 15 sq., &c. " Pour ma part," 83, and an extract of the wages allowed to 
 
 wrote d'Oysel to G. de Noailles (31st June) the captains, 85, sq. Sadler's Papers have a 
 
 "je ne puis comprendre en mon esprit qu'ilz quantity of particulars relative to the troubles 
 
 ne tendent de droit fil ou autrement k I'encontre which disturbed Scotland in 1559 and 1560, 
 
 de I'authoritd pour s'en investir, s'ilz peuvent. Vol. I., from 375; Teulet, II., 131 ; Bishop 
 
 soubz prAexte de la dicte Relligion," — Teulet, Keith, 115, sq. 126 ; Camden, pars I., 41; Nd- 
 
 I, 325. " Nous sommes enveloppdz de tant goc. 377-385. 
 
 de troubles," he again wrote on the 22d July, '' Camden, I., 37. 
 
 " pour les depportemens de noz Protes- ' Herries' Memoirs, 49 ; Diurnal of Occur., 
 
 tants, qu'il n'est possible de plus, estant entrez 272, 276. 
 
36 TREATY OF EDINBURGH, 1560. 
 
 That was only the beginning of misfortunes, for shortly after the 
 Regent died regretted by all/ Mourning and hunger went hand in hand. 
 The English were well supplied, and could hold out for a long time ; but 
 the provisions of the French were exhausted. Sorties brought them no 
 gain, whilst each day spent in those ever-recurring strifes was a day lost. 
 People were more anxious to live than to conquer ; the dread of starva- 
 tion was their only thought ; officers and soldiers lived for a long time 
 upon the shell-fish left on the beach by the ebb of the tide. They 
 gathered that wretched food at the risk of their lives, and that, only when 
 the besiegers gave them leisure to do so. At the time of the attack, the 
 soldiers, without having broken their fast, rushed upon the enemy, but 
 unfortunately after the exhausting fight, they had no food to strengthen 
 them, and although wearied out they were obliged to search for the means 
 whereby to live. Reduced to that extremity, and forsaken by France, 
 the garrison must have lost courage had not the treaty of Edinburgh 
 come to deliver them. That treaty, concluded by Montluc and the 
 Count de la Rochefoucauld- Randan, was in two parts. The articles 
 concerning the rebels were — that the French troops should withdraw 
 from Scotland within twenty days in ships sent by the Queen of Eng- 
 land ; that the fortifications of Leith and those which the French had 
 built at Aymouth should be razed to the ground ; that the King and 
 Queen of France and Scotland should grant to the rebels an amnesty 
 to be confirmed by the States of Scotland. As far as France and Eng- 
 land were concerned, it was decreed that in all times coming the King 
 and Queen of France and Scotland should abstain from taking the title 
 and arms of King and Queen of England ; that a congress should be 
 held in London between the Commissioners of the two kingdoms to give 
 due and final reparation for the injuries done to Elizabeth, and that 
 in case of misunderstanding, the King of Spain should be taken as 
 arbiter.'' 
 
 The part which related to the rebels was strictly observed ; the 
 
 1 Bishop Keith, 127-130. Secretary of State to 1' Aubespine (28th July 
 
 ^ Rymer VI., p. iv., 104 sq. Haynes' State 1560) " comme vous pourrez veoir tarn iniquis 
 
 Papers I. 329 sq., 341, 351 sq. Dr Forbes, conditionibus, que cela faict mal au coeur k 
 
 Public Transactions of the Reign of Queen qui le veoyt ; mais de ce maulvais passaige il 
 
 Elizabeth, I., 460 sq. Knox, Reform, ii. 199 en falloit sortir en quelque fa^on et saulver 
 
 sq. In the " Rdcit de I'Eveque de Valence," quatre mille hommes des plus vaillans du 
 
 Ndgoc, 292-414, may be seen the difficulties monde qui estoyent perdus et n'y avoit plus 
 
 which he had to encounter before arriving moyen de les secourir ni exempter du p^ril 
 
 at any agreement. The treaty of Edinburgh ou ils estoyent ; ce n'a point estd peu faict 
 
 excited in France a feeling of deep sorrow : de les tirer de la gueulle des loups. Ndgoc, 
 
 " Nous nous sommes appoinctez,'' wrote the 444. 
 
EXIGENCIES OF THE PROTESTANTS, 1560. 37 
 
 same cannot be said of the articles which referred to Elizabeth. The 
 Lorrain princes, willing at first to sign,' refused ever afterwards to 
 acknowledge the mediation of so ambitious a queen. In Paris, as in 
 London, people wavered as to the course they should pursue, in the 
 face of the difficulties which were starting up on all sides ; not that bad 
 faith was used on either side ; but the one party was suspicious of the 
 other. Elizabeth thought that Mary had so readily given up her title 
 of Queen of England, only that she might the better conceal her 
 ambitious designs ; Mary, on the contrary, thought that the English 
 envoys had inserted in all times coming, only to force upon her, formal 
 and entire exclusion for ever. 
 
 The treaty affected the government of Scotland also. It had been 
 decided that the administration should lie with twelve members, seven 
 chosen by the Queen, and the rest by the States, and that with them 
 should rest full power in the absence of the sovereigns.'' It was clear 
 that this arrangement tended to unite the two parties which had for 
 a long time, and in the face of each other, been on a footing of civil 
 war ; but the good which one might expect from it was nullified 
 by the obstinacy of the Protestants. They presented to the States, 
 assembled partly by their manoeuvres, a petition filled with abuse of 
 Rome ; and not satisfied with asking the sanction of their doctrines, 
 they went so far as cruelly to demand that severe measures be taken 
 against the Catholics. Their reasons were that the clergy was com- 
 posed only of a set of vile thieves, murderers, seditionaries, traitors and 
 men who ought to be driven forth from among honest men. A Con- 
 fession of Faith was drawn out and generally adopted. Mass was done 
 away with. He who said mass or took part in its performance was liable 
 to forfeiture of his goods, and in case of a second offence, to banish- 
 ment or death. 3 Knox was the source of all those cruelties. He went 
 further, and wished to despoil the churches of their property. The clergy 
 gave in a defence to Parliament ; but no heed was taken of the com- 
 plaints. Disgusted with such proceedings, and expecting nothing from so 
 iniquitous a court of justice, the Bishops who sat in the States withdrew 
 in silence. That sudden withdrawal made Parliament uneasy. In it 
 there were still some conscientious men, enemies of persecution, and by 
 
 1 There is found in the " N^gociations " = N^goc, 424 and 464. Teulet II. 147. 
 
 a ratification in form of the Treaty of Edin- ' Knox, Reform, iii. Calderwood, The True 
 
 burgh. Perhaps it was only a project ; that History of the Church, 14 sq. Ndgoc. 466, 
 
 at least is what the subsequent demands 467. 
 of Queen Elizabeth lead one to suppose. Nd- 
 goc. 478. 
 
38 KNOX ESTABLISHES THE REFORMATION, 1560. 
 
 their advice the Bishops were summoned to appear. No one obeyed 
 the summons which was offensive to the noblest feelings ; all of them 
 treated with scorn the orders from such an assembly. It was then 
 declared that no one having come forward, the Catholic clergy considered 
 itself perfectly satisfied. 
 
 After that, it is by no means difficult to guess the welcome which 
 Sir James Sandilands received at the court of France, when he asked 
 the Queen to ratify those acts which were at once offensive to right, 
 propriety and conviction. He was received with angry words,' and the 
 Reformers having nothing more to expect from an apparent submission, 
 immediately carried out their plans. Universal pillage ensued ; in a 
 few days the clergy was reduced to beggary. That coup de main, while 
 depriving the nobles of every hope of pardon from France, filled them 
 with doubt and perplexity ; the less bold, who had tolerated but not 
 approved of the excesses committed, began to repent their weakness ; 
 the others continued to act for their personal interest only, ready to 
 stop when their avarice should be glutted. The Book of Discipline 
 increased their hesitation ; they had stolen the goods of the Catholic 
 clergy, and those very goods were about to slip from their grasp to 
 endow the Protestant clergy. Strife must have arisen among the 
 Reformers, had not the fear of France kept them united. Threatened 
 from that quarter, they buried their hate, and sent Morton, Glencairn 
 and Lethington to Elizabeth to renew the English alliance.^ 
 
 Those political struggles did not check Knox, who still acted 
 with the same boldness. Defying Catholics and Protestants, he de- 
 spoiled the former and oppressed the latter with an iron hand. On 
 his arrival he had stirred up their passions, now he curbed them 
 and made their lawless force serve his plan. Bolder than Henry 
 VOL, he abolished at one blow all ecclesiastical authority ; he brought 
 down the highest dignitaries of the Church to a level with the lowest, 
 while he kept for himself a wider sphere and greater power.^ The 
 result was a religious democratic republic rather than a hierarchy, as 
 he made the people the rulers of the Church. There was no form of 
 consecration ; the candidate was examined upon the fundamental points 
 of the faith, and upon the differences between Romish idolatry and 
 the Presbyterian Church. If the examination was sufficient, the candi- 
 
 1 Knox, Reform iii. 222. Bishop Keith, 153, ''David Hume, House of Tudor, IV., 
 
 154. N^goc. 468, 475. "His message was 172. 
 
 treated with comempt." Stevenson's History ^ Whitaker (I. 272) has called him "the 
 
 of the Church, 55. Antipope of Scotland." A very suitable epithet. 
 
CONSPIRACY OF AMBOISE, 1560. 39 
 
 date was made minister without any other formahty. He at once 
 entered on his duties, administered baptism and communion, preached 
 and explained the Scriptures. Deacons collected and distributed the 
 alms of the new church. The hamlets, where there was no minister, 
 had a person to read the Bible to the old, and explain the Catechism of 
 Geneva to the young. 
 
 The political organization was on a par with the religious organiza- 
 tion. Both were formed against the will of the legitimate sovereigns, 
 and at the instigation of England. The court of France felt that its 
 power was on the wane, and that after having waived its claims to Eng- 
 land, it would soon be forced to abandon its rights over Scotland, and 
 it was too busy with its own affairs to meddle with external politics. 
 The same men who were sowing confusion throughout Scotland, 
 threatened France with a similar fate. A vast conspiracy, as yet 
 unknown, brooded in every soul ; the whole country was a prey to 
 vague uneasiness, the harbinger of great changes. The partisans of 
 the new ideas tossed high their heads and dared to defy power. The 
 Guises at the head of the government endeavoured to keep up their 
 fortune and their faith by inspiring terror ; punishments were of daily 
 occurrence. Some Protestants met death nobly ; others abandoned 
 their property and their country, and sought an asylum in foreign lands. 
 A deep sadness reigned in the provinces ; meanwhile the court, free 
 from foreboding, was left by the Guises in ignorance of what was going 
 on, and when the towns and villages were filled with dread, the King and 
 Queen were hunting or amusing themselves with some other favourite 
 pastime. 
 
 The health of the young King having become impaired, the 
 physicians resolved to give him a change of air, and the court accord- 
 ingly went to spend some time at Blois. Meanwhile the report was 
 spread that the King was seized with leprosy, and that he had been 
 ordered to bathe in the blood of-little children. That rumour quickly 
 gained ground among people who, by former punishments, were led to 
 accept and believe the most frightful stories ; and upon the whole line 
 of the royal procession, instead of the usual thronging of the crowd, 
 there was nothing but loneliness ; the few faces which ventured to 
 appear, showed fear rather than joy and cheerfulness. The young 
 sovereigns were startled ; " What have I done," exclaimed Francis II., 
 " to be thus hated and detested ? I am shunned ; my people look upon 
 me with horror ; it is not thus that the French are in the habit of receiv- 
 ing their King ; Oh! my uncle of Guise, they abhor you, and not me." 
 
40 CONSPIRACY OF AMBOISE, 1560. 
 
 The time of their stay at Blois Castle was full of alarm ; the usual 
 mirth and gaiety was gone, giving place to bitter cares. The news from 
 the outside was very far from reassuring ; the people were at length con- 
 vinced that the Reformers were seeking to seize the King's person, to 
 overthrow the Guises, and make the Protestant Prince de Cond6, 
 Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. At the head of the conspiracy 
 was Godefroi de Barri, Seigneur de la Renaudie, who according to 
 Brantome, owed his life to the Duke de Guise. Banished from France 
 for forgery, he had retired to Geneva, where he embraced Calvinism. 
 His interest in that cause made him undertake long journeys. When 
 he had made sure of the help of his co-religionists, he had recourse to 
 the Duke de Guise, whose ruin he was plotting, and obtained from his 
 kindness leave to return to France ; but in place of dwelling there 
 peaceably, he travelled through the South, under the name of Laforet, 
 intriguing with the Reformers, and exciting them to revolt. On his 
 invitation a large number of Protestants formed themselves into a 
 conventicle at Nantes. La Renaudie drew for them a picture of the evils 
 by which they were overwhelmed, and of the mishaps which threatened 
 them from the Guises, if a prompt and efficacious remedy were not 
 applied. " This," said he to them, " is the opinion of the principal juris- 
 consults, and of the most celebrated Protestant theologians ; one may, 
 without offending one's conscience or violating the royal majesty, use 
 force to overturn the illegal and tyrannical rule of the Guises, provided 
 that be done under the leadership of one or several princes of the 
 blood, called by law to the administration of the kingdom, when the 
 King is incapable of governing. Well, if there came forward to-day a 
 prince of the blood who should consent to make lawful your enterprise 
 and to direct your courage, should you refuse to own him as chief?" 
 All replied they would accept him, and would march under his 
 orders. La Renaudie mentioned the Prince de Conde. At that name, 
 dear to the Protestants, the confederates are filled with joy ; they grasp 
 each other by the hand, affectionately embrace, and swear not to return 
 to their hearths, until they have overthrown the Guises. After choos- 
 ing their chiefs, and allotting to each his share in the expedition, they 
 separate. 
 
 La Renaudie hastened to Paris to inform the Prince of what had 
 taken place. He put up at the house of an advocate, his friend, named 
 Pierre Avenelles, whose house became at once the regular meeting 
 place of the Reformers. An unwonted thronging surprised the advocate, 
 who expressed his astonishment to La Renaudie. The latter trusting in 
 
CONSPIRACY OF AMBOISE, 1560. 41 
 
 his host made known to him part of the design. Avenelles, at first 
 overjoyed, asked to share the dangers ; but on the morrow, terrified at 
 seeing his house become the centre of so serious a conspiracy, he sneaked 
 away under pretext of business, and ran to Blois, to give information to 
 the Cardinal. Although people were fully convinced at court, that 
 something was brewing in secret, no importance was attached to Pierre 
 Avenelles' warning ; it was beyond belief that a man branded by the 
 laws, as La Renaudie was, should have influence enough over the 
 nobility and people to get up such a conspiracy. Avenelles insisted : 
 " Ere twelve days have past," said he to the Cardinal, " you shall 
 perish a victim to your unbelief, if you do not promptly raise all the forces 
 of the State to surprise and crush the numerous bands of conspirators 
 that are setting out from all the provinces of the kingdom." The Duke 
 de Guise brought all his genius into play to avert the danger. He had 
 the royal family taken to the Castle of Amboise ; he then ordered the 
 Lieutenants of the provinces to arrest all armed men whose steps were 
 directed towards Blois, surrounded himself with brave men, on whose 
 fidelity he could rely, and, in order to sow division among his adver- 
 saries, published a royal edict granting a general amnesty to the Pro- 
 testants of any age or condition whatever, save the preachers and the 
 original conspirators. 
 
 That measure made them hesitate; but they were too far committed 
 to turn back. La Renaudie again calls a meeting and the plot gains 
 fresh life. The vigilance of the Duke de Guise, whose life and influence 
 were at stake, gradually increased as the hour for action was drawing 
 nigh, and, when it came, the Count de Sancerre defeated the B^arn 
 troops. The Duke de Nemours surprised Castelnau, and made him 
 prisoner, and La Renaudie, while trying to relieve him, met face to 
 face in the wood, his young cousin the Baron de Pardaillon. Heedless 
 of nature's ties, they rushed upon one another. La Renaudie, though 
 wounded, twice passed his sword through his cousin, and in his turn 
 fell by the bullet of a page. His body was dragged to Amboise and 
 fastened to a gibbet with this inscription : La Renaudie dit Laforit, chef 
 des rebelles ; he was afterwards quartered. The plot was crushed, but 
 a vengeance was to come, greater than the crime. It was one of the 
 most bloody. 
 
 Hundreds of prisoners were hanged in the public squares, at the gates 
 of the town, and on the battlements and trees near the castle ; others, 
 tied to long poles, were thrown into the Loire. General was the terror 
 that followed. Protestant bands who had come too late for the out- 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
42 CONSPIRACY OF AMBOISE, 1560. 
 
 break reached Amboise only to share a like fate. The streets of the 
 town and the highways were blocked up with corpses ; the Duke de 
 Guise ordered his men to massacre the fugitives lurking in the woods. 
 No mercy was shown. 
 
 To render their punishment more solemn, the Duke wished that 
 the chiefs should be questioned and executed in presence of the 
 Court. They affirmed that they had by no means conspired against 
 the King, but only against the Guises, whom they called " infringers of 
 the laws, oppressors of the nation, and usurpers of the royal authority." 
 " If it is a crime to have taken up arms against them," said Castelnau, 
 " I glory in being guilty, and in dying for upholding so just a cause." 
 Standing on the scaffold, they assert their innocence, and their hatred 
 of the Guises. One of them, Villemongey, whose head is last to fall, 
 dips his hands in the blood of his companions, and raising them to- 
 wards heaven, cried " Great God ! behold the innocent blood of 
 my brethren : that blood cries for vengeance ; thou wilt not leave their 
 deaths unpunished." The number of those who perished, in those 
 fierce reprisals is reckoned at twelve hundred.' 
 
 On the following day the Court, glutted with blood and carnage, 
 sought amusement at Chenonceau, and received a splendid ovation, 
 with which " it must not be doubted that his Majesty, the Queens, 
 princes, ladies and lords, were very much pleased and satisfied."^ 
 
 As soon as the Court of France had banished fear and resumed the 
 course of affairs, it complained to Throckmorton, Elizabeth's ambassa- 
 dor, that it was suffering injury through the English policy in Scotland.^ 
 The ambassador sent to Mary Stuart attributed the disorders to the 
 non-observance of the treaty of Edinburgh, and demanded that it be 
 ratified. Mary, with more sense, answered that the strained situation 
 was the natural consequence of the treaty of Berwick, which, without 
 her consent, and in defiance of her rights, her rebellious subjects had 
 concluded with the envoys of the English government ; and as the 
 ambassador, bound down by his mandate, could not decide, the Cheva- 
 
 ■■ Histoire de TEmeute d' Amboise, Dan- s With reference to her conduct towards the 
 
 iou. Archives de I'Hist. de France, IV. ig-33; Scots, the King had already addressed the 
 
 De Thou, xxiv. ; La Popehni^re Hist., Book following jeering remark to Elizabeth : — "Qu'il 
 
 vi. ; Mezerai, Pierre Mathieu, Brantome. est inaccoustum^ que les roys d'Angleterre 
 
 2 " II ne faut doubter que sa maiest^, les usent de tant de charitd k I'endroit des Es- 
 
 Roynes, princes, dames et seigneurs furent cossois, qu'ils hayssoient naturellement, si ce 
 
 fort contens et satisfaits." Les Triomphes n'estoit plus pour espdrance d'en tirer quelque 
 
 faictz k I'entrde de Frangoys II. et de Marye fruit et utility que pour amytid qu'ils leur 
 
 Stuart au Chasteau de Chenonceau, Rdimpres- portent et envie de les conserver." — Ndgoc. 
 
 sion du Prince Gahtzin, 1 8. 324. 
 
DEATH OF FRANCIS II., 1560. 43 
 
 Her de Seure was charged to acquaint Elizabeth with the matter. A 
 conference with the minister Cecil being of no effect, he asked an 
 audience, which the Queen of England, more haughty than Mary 
 Stuart had been, reluctantly granted.' 
 
 She sent for him, however, on the following day, and received him 
 with a dejected air, an embarrassed countenance and altered ex- 
 pression."" The ambassador laid open the state of affairs in France, 
 and the views of the Court. She listened to all without interrupting 
 him. Her reply was studied. Protesting sincerity in her intentions 
 and frankness in her friendship, she coldly put forward, one by one, her 
 grievances, and becoming fervid, appealed to God's Judgment regarding 
 the negotiation so badly managed.^ From that, the ambassador be- 
 lieved that the Queen favoured the French Huguenots.* 
 
 Things in France were on the eve of change. The King had long 
 been pale and sickly, but his health till then had given rise to little 
 anxiety. What was in him merely a defect of constitution was attri- 
 buted to premature development. Towards the middle of November 
 he fell seriously ill, seized with a violent headache. After trying all 
 remedies, the doctors advised trepanning as the only chance of safety. 
 On so grave an occasion, none of them, unfortunately, remained suf- 
 ficiently master of himself to risk the operation. Growing weaker 
 every day, the King died on the 5th of December, at the age of seventeen 
 years and ten months, having reigned only seventeen months and a 
 halfs 
 
 1 Ndgoc. 539. " De Thou, xxvi. There may be seen in 
 
 ' Ndgoc. 540. Book iii., 225, the insulting words which 
 
 ' Negoc. 541. Knox wrote in his History of the Reforma- 
 
 - Ndgoc. 541. De Seure to Cardina de Lor- tion regarding the death of the young 
 
 raine, 24th Sept. 1560. King. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 1561. 
 
 FUNERAL OF FRANCIS II.— PARTY INTRIGUES— CONDUCT OF CATHERINE DE M^DICIS— OF 
 MARY STUART— HER MOURNING — HER DISINTERESTEDNESS— SUITORS CONTENDING 
 FOR HER HAND— INTERVIEW WITH BEDFORD — MARY RETIRES TO RHEIMS — NEGOCIA- 
 TIONS TO MARRY HER TO A SPANISH PRINCE — THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT— ARRIVAL OF 
 LORD JAMES STEWART— HIS UNDERSTANDING WITH CECIL AND ELIZABETH— EXCESSES 
 OF THE REFORMERS— MARY ASKS A SAFE-CONDUCT — ELIZABETH REFUSES IT— THROCK- 
 MORTON AND MARY— DEPARTURE AND FAREWELL OF MARY STUART. 
 
 DEATH is a great teacher, and much to be pitied is he who under- 
 standeth him not. By death the silver cord is loosed which 
 bound the soul and body ; in life, interest, caprice and frivolity 
 estrange and part the dearest friends : in either case, he who was 
 lately loved is cruelly forsaken. 
 
 Hardly was the King cut off, when ambition set to work. Catherine 
 de M^dicis attentively watched the progress of the malady, and with 
 inward joy saw death draw near. Her hope grew day by day, and 
 hour by hour, as the end of the King drew nigh. She longed to reign 
 during the minority of a young son, free from the guardianship of the 
 Guises. On the eve of the King's death, she wrote a purely political 
 letter, in which not a tear was shed over her suffering son.' 
 
 On the morrow a most rueful sight was seen, when the Guises de- 
 serted the room of the dead, to rush, after the Mddicis, to the Court of 
 the new King, and left to servants the care of the funeral, which, ten 
 days after, was conducted without pomp, by the old Bishop of Senlis.^ 
 Mary alone, amid all those ambitious ones, wept, and her tears flowed more 
 freely when she saw her husband forsaken by those who ought to have 
 bewailed him. She spent the whole of the first night beside the body 
 of her consort, and on the following day, to lessen Catherine's jealousy, 
 and show that she renounced all the grandeurs of the throne, handed 
 over the jewels which she had worn as Queen of France.^ She then 
 betook herself to a room of mourning, and there remained, plunged in 
 
 1 Catherine de M^dicis to William Desaulx, lard. Bishop of Senlis, in the Archives of the 
 
 Sieurde Villefrancon, 4th Dec. 1560. Ndgoc. Oise. 
 
 73°- ^ Inventory of the rings of the Crown, certifi- 
 
 " Ndgoc. 735. Note in reference to Guil- cation and receipts. Ndgoc, 741-744. 
 
CATHERINE DE MEDICIS AND MARY STUART, 1561. 45 
 
 grief. Few had access to that chamber of sorrow. The Queen- 
 mother, the King Charles IX., the King of Navarre, the Constable de 
 Montmorency, and her uncles the Princes of Lorraine, alone were 
 admitted to sympathize with her, to the exclusion of every foreign 
 ambassador. She appeared in public only on the 15th, to accompany 
 the body to St Denis." 
 
 While Mary, entirely given up to mourning, dwelt in silence and in 
 retirement, she was the talk of all Europe. England feared her ; Spain, r 
 Austria, Sweden, and Denmark sought her alliance. Her conduct after 
 the King's death called forth universal admiration.^ She had been seen 
 merry at Court, and now she was known to be sad, grave, reserved, and 
 whiling away her time by putting into verse the story of her sad life. The 
 conduct of the ministers of Francis II. contrasted strongly with that of the 
 young Queen. Visit succeeded visit at Orleans, and Throckmorton 
 reported them faithfully to Elizabeth. The Earl of Bedford was charged 
 by her to offer Mary her condolence. Mary received him most graciously ; 
 but at the very first word which had reference to the ratification of the 
 treaty of Edinburgh, she replied that, removed as she was from her 
 uncles and from the Scottish lords, she could do nothing. That refusal, 
 although formal, was made in terms so pleasing, that the ambassador 
 was struck with admiration in presence of the young Queen. ^ 
 
 That success of Mary brought about her ruin as far as Catherine de 
 Medicis was concerned. Haughty, imperious, and a prey to envy, she 
 could not forget Mary's past glory. She eagerly seized every oppor- 
 tunity of humbling her. In a moment of passion, the Queen of Scots, 
 while Queen of France, had called her a Florentine tradeswoman. 
 From that day the Italian had sworn her ruin, and if she had hidden 
 her anger, it was only that she might the more surely prepare her 
 revenge. The 5th of December was for her a day of triumph ; she 
 had at length the power to feed her hatred, and from that moment she 
 took advantage of everything to crush her rival. The rest of the 
 Court did not share her anger ; and the young King himself was 
 attached to his sister-in-law. The Italian put an end to that kindly 
 feeling. Mary Stuart, filled with loathing, was driven to set out for 
 Rheims, where her uncle, the Archbishop, and her aunt, the Abbess of 
 
 ^ Miss Strickland, I. 139. lye, as I cannot but feare her progresse." — 
 
 ^ An unknown writer has witten from Or- Letter from some unknowTi person to Sir R. 
 
 leans, at the end of December : — "The Quene Dudley. Stevenson's Illustrations, 84; and 
 
 of Scotland, her Majestie's cosen, dothe carrye Throckmorton, Tytler, III., 138. Edition 1864. 
 
 herself so honorably, advisedlye, anddiscryte- ' ' Ndgoc. 830; Tytler, III., 143. 
 
46 MARY RETIRES TO RHEIMS, 1561. 
 
 St Pierre-les-Dames, lived. Her departure from the Court caused uni- 
 versal regret ; every one appeared sorrowful from her absence ; courtiers 
 spoke their grief in touching elegies ; and the people, obliged to dis- 
 tinguish her from Catherine de Medicis, being no longer able to call 
 her Queen of France, and not wishing to name her merely Queen of 
 Scots, gave her, from her mourning costume, the title of Reine Blanche, 
 which allowed her to be still taken for a French queen." 
 
 A new vista now opened up before the kind though persecuted 
 Mary. Heartily welcomed by the holy maidens of the convent, she 
 soon became as one of themselves ; the peaceful life and the mystic 
 perfume enveloping the people and the place, delighted her extremely. 
 In that gentle solitude she felt happy. There she no longer dreaded 
 the spies of Elizabeth and the Mddicis ; she was alone with God, nature 
 and her sisters, surrounded by respect, loved and cherished by all. 
 
 It was not Mary's lot long to enjoy that peaceful state ; for parties 
 were endeavouring to draw her again into politics. Spain was the 
 most persistent in its claims; Philip II., though thwarted, renewed the 
 attack. That prince was the most powerful king in the universe. 
 Master of Spain and the Low Countries ; obeyed by Italy ; strong by 
 his armies, the most powerful of the time ; rich by the spoils of America ; 
 a friend of the Guises and of the English Catholics ; dreaded by Europe, 
 and aspiring to universal monarchy, he wanted but Scotland to crush 
 the English Protestants, and its Queen to adorn the Spanish Court.^ 
 Don Carlos was smitten with Mary Stuart, whose rare beauty he knew 
 only from a portrait. ^ 
 
 For several weeks, policy taxed its ingenuity to deceive. Each one 
 acted under a borrowed exterior. Catherine allowed people to believe 
 in an intended marriage between Mary Stuart and Charles IX., while 
 she secretly worked to obtain for her son the hand of a princess of 
 Spain ; the Cardinal, as cunning as Catherine, urged the departure of 
 his niece, all the while detaining her in the hope of wedding her to 
 Don Carlos ; and amid those intrigues, whe«^ein her destiny was at 
 stake, Mary, alone of good faith, yielded witK indifference to the 
 wishes of her family. 
 
 On the 3d of March Catherine charged her ambassador to bring 
 about quietly the marriage of Don Carlos with the^yOung Margaret, 
 and to break off the one which the Guises had artfully arranged 
 
 1 Chalmers, I., 67; Miss Strickland, I., 135. ^ The Catholic Queen to Catherine de 
 
 2 Louise de Bretagne to Catherine de M^di- Mddicis, Negoc, 805. 
 cis, Ndgoc, 803. 
 
THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT, 1561. 47 
 
 ( " manigancd ") for Mary Stuart.' In the letters of that period, the 
 widow of Francis II. is usually styled gentilhomme.'' For a moment, 
 Catherine, disquieted by the interest taken in Mary Stuart, fancied she 
 was about to fail. She wrote (ist April) to her ambassador a letter in 
 which her anxiety is clearly seen. " I have fully understood," said she, 
 " the increasing concern taken in the gentilhomme, a thing which dis- 
 pleases me so much that I wish and desire that my daughter and you 
 should do all you can to break it off, or bring about delay, if nothing 
 better can be done."^ The Queens of Europe conspired against Mary. 
 Seeing the princess so quiet in the midst of those ambitious struggles, 
 people were at a loss to guess whether she was unaware of those 
 manoeuvres, or, having resolved to renounce the throne for ever, she 
 despised them. 
 
 The Scottish Parliament did not know what attitude was the right 
 one to assume. The Catholics rejoiced at the hope of recovering their 
 former power ; the Protestants, on the contrary, appeared to be dis- 
 pleased and anxious. Elizabeth resolved to cast her influence into the 
 balance while affairs were unsettled. She charged Randolph, her 
 envoy at Edinburgh, to treat with .the Scots, to insist upon the common 
 religion which bound the two peoples, to exhort them to join with the 
 princes of Germany against the Pope ; to tell them that they should 
 never again find more propitious times to stifle the hatred which had 
 cost so much blood, and strongly to oppose the Queen's marriage with 
 a foreign prince. Those ideas agreed but too well with the designs of 
 the Protestant lords ; they were welcomed with evident marks of 
 sympathy, and settled the line of conduct to be followed for the future 
 in equivocal circumstances.* 
 
 After the session of Parliament, each party sent its deputies to 
 Queen Mary. The Catholics offered her their love and their swords, 
 and begged her soon to land at Aberdeen, where there would be an 
 army of twenty thousand men. Mary thanked the envoys, and re- 
 
 ^ Catherine de Mddicis to I'Aubespine, Nd- — Catherine de Mddicis to I'Aubespine, ist 
 
 goc, 818. April, and letter of the same to the Catholic 
 
 = Cheruel, Marie Stuart et Catherine de Queen ; N^goc, 844 and 862. The auto- 
 
 M^dicis, 20 ; Ndgoc, 784, 823. graph part of the letter of the 3d January 
 
 3 "J'aybien au long entendulegoust que I'on is most energetic; Catherine there calls his 
 
 commence k prendre par dela du gentilhomme, alliance a " mauues desayn." — BjbHot. de 
 
 chose qui me desplait tant que je veulx et Rouen, MS., Portfolio E., No. 5731. 
 desire que madame ma fille (la Princesse Eli- * Haynes' Collection of State Papers, 366 
 
 zabeth d'Espagne) et vous fassiez tout ce qui sq. ; Cecil's Memorial to Randolph ; State 
 
 vous sera possible pour rompre ce coup, et le Papers, Scotland, Queen Elizabeth, Vol. VI. 
 faire tomber k I'attente si mieulx ne se peult." 
 
48 ARRIVAL OF LORD JAMES STEWART, 1561. 
 
 plied that she wished for peace, and that she did not need an arniy. 
 Lesley, afterwards Bishop of Ross, who represented the Catholics of 
 Scotland, warned her of the underhand dealings of her brother. Lord 
 James; she tendered- him her thanks.' 
 
 Lord James arrived a few days later. The candid Mary felt extreme 
 pleasure in seeing him again, and received him with quite a sisterly 
 affection. Lord James returned, as best he could, the affectionate 
 greeting. He told her that the Scots awaited her return ; that her 
 presence among them was very necessary, as the country was divided, 
 and a prey to anarchy. He swore fidelity and devotedness to her. 
 Those words reassured the Queen, for in France people were very far 
 from agreeing as to its being safe for her to return to Scotland. Some, 
 to dissuade her, urged the difficulties of the journey, the wild nature of 
 the Scots, the ills they had at every period brought upon their 
 sovereigns, the history of herself, of her family, filled with disorders 
 and murders, her ancestors killed, and her mother unfortunate, even 
 until her death, — unhappy country, where neither honour nor life was safe. 
 Similar words were in the mouths of all. Others again, expressed 
 opinions different, according to their intelligence or their interests. 
 Mary was glad to be informed by a man who knew how matters stood, 
 and one, too, of her own family. She thanked him cordially, and in- 
 genuously told him her projects for the future. " At least," said Lord 
 James to her, smiling, " I should think you will make me Earl of 
 Moray." "We shall see about that," replied the Queen graciously, 
 " when I get to Scotland." Lord James left, assuring her that he was 
 going to prepare the country for her arrival." But the wretch was 
 playing into the hands of Elizabeth.^ He repeated to Elizabeth and 
 her minister his conversations with Mary, revealed the secrets of his 
 youthful sister, and advised the English government to oppose the 
 return of the Queen of Scots.* 
 
 In spite of those numerous steps, nothing, however, was settled with 
 
 1 Leslsei de Rebus Scoticis, x., 574, 575. her and her husband, to evite succession ; 
 
 = Buchanan xvii., 4, 5 ; Samuel Jebb. The you shall sie him have a hand in David 
 
 Life of Mary, 73. Riccio's slaughter, in the Queen's chamber 
 
 3 Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary, (when she was great with child), in hope of 
 
 78. abortion ; you shall sie him have hand in the 
 
 * Chalmers, III, 356 sq. ; Tytler, III, 146- murther of her husband, the King; in her 
 
 148 ; " You shall sie," says the abbreviator of marriage with Bothwell; and all that followed, 
 
 Lord Herries on the subject, " a way laid to till she was banished the kingdome ; and what 
 
 intercept her persone, but it failed ; you shall wold have become of her sone King James, 
 
 sie him afterwards cross her in her marriage ; if he had lived himselfe, many were doubtfuU." 
 
 then he shall be the cause of division betwixt — Herries' Memoirs, 54. 
 
EXCESSES OF THE REFORMERS, 1561. 49 
 
 the Scots. The Queen was anxious to learn her real position before 
 embarking. She sent Gilles de Noailles to Scotland, to renew the 
 alliance which had always existed betwixt France and Scotland, to 
 break with England, and restore to the Catholic clergy their lands 
 and properties.' The Scottish lords delayed their reply until the 
 arrival of Lord James ; when they had his advice, they answered that 
 they were not aware of ever having broken the alliance, that the fault 
 lay entirely with the French, who had on several occasions done 
 all they could to drive them back into slavery ; that to break with 
 England was to pay kindness with ingratitude, and try to ruin their 
 benefactors and deliverers ; that the Catholic priests had nothing to 
 claim, as neither their religion nor their authority was acknowledged, 
 and no doubt in order to show that they had firmly resolved upon the 
 last point, they ordered all the remaining monasteries to be destroyed. 
 They intended to stop at that ; but the rabble once let loose, rushed 
 upon all churches without distinction. It was a complete pillage ; the 
 movables and ornaments were broken, the bells and consecrated 
 vessels sold by auction, and whole libraries cast into the flames. The 
 rage for destruction, fed by its very ravages, soon knew no bounds; 
 monuments were overthrown, as if to annihilate religion and the remem- 
 brances which made it dear, and through an excess of zeal, at which a 
 savage might have blushed, graves were violated, and the ashes of the 
 dead scattered to the winds. The Protestant clergy, instead of checking 
 the fury of the crowd, delighted in encouraging it; they said "that by the 
 law of God the places where Idols had been worship'd ought to be 
 destroy'd, and that the sparing of them was the reserving an accursed 
 thing." Those words often repeated were followed by greater devasta- 
 tions, and those poor people, tired of demolishing, gloried in their 
 sacrileges as in so many good works, and believed they deserved favour 
 from on high for destroying buildings which had been consecrated to 
 God, but which, by a deplorable confusion of terms, they called the 
 temples of idols.'' 
 
 That wild behaviour produced a disagreeable impression upon the 
 Queen ; she loathed to go and spend the rest of her life amid that 
 turbulent people, and she often said that she would like a hundred 
 times better to remain in France, a simple dowager, than sit upon a 
 throne in Scotland.^ Yet as Catherine de Medicis did not cease to 
 
 1 De Thou, Book xxix. Bishop Keith, 159. hender comme la mort ce voyage: et de- 
 
 » Samuel Jebb, 74-75. Bishop Keith, 503. siroit cent fois mieux de demeurer en France 
 
 ^ " Te luy ay veu dire souuent, et apprd- simple doiiairifere et se contenter de son 
 VOL. I. G 
 
so MARY ASKS A SAFE-CONDUCT, 1561. 
 
 humble her, she resolved to leave France. Through] d'Oysel she 
 caused Elizabeth to be informed of her intention, begging her to 
 grant her a safe-conduct for herself and her attendants. Elizabeth would 
 not grant the request, and would not at first give audience to Mary's 
 envoy ;' and if at a later period she did at length depart from that first 
 sternness, it was only to load her rival's messenger with abuse. Already 
 hurt by the Scottish Parliament and the affronts of Catherine de Mddicis, 
 Mary bitterly felt the refusal, a thing unheard of among friendly princes. 
 When Throckmorton came to intimate the will of his mistress, and give 
 her the reason for such strange treatment, which, in his opinion, the 
 constant refusal to ratify the treaty of Edinburgh amply justified, Mary 
 listened to him throughout, and then sending away the persons around 
 her, said to him : " Monsieur 1' Ambassadeur, I know not well my own 
 infirmity, nor how far I may with my passion be transported, but I like 
 not to have so many witnesses of my passions, as the Queen your 
 Mistriss was content to have, when she talked with Monsieur d'Oysel ; 
 there is nothing that doth more grieve me, then that I did so forget 
 myself, as to require of the Queen your Mistriss, that favour which I 
 had no need to ask ; I needed no more to have made her privy to my 
 Journey, then she doth me of hers ; I may pass well enough home into 
 my own Realm, I think, without her Passport or License ; for though 
 the late King your master used all the impeachment he could both to 
 stay me, and catch me when I came hither, yet you know, Monsieur 
 I'Ambassadeur, I came hither safely, and I may have as good means to 
 help me home again, as I had to come hither, if I would employ my 
 Friends : Truly (said she) I was so far from evil meaning to the Queen 
 your Mistriss, that at this time I was more willing to employ her Amity 
 to stand me instead, than all the Friends I have ; and yet you know 
 both in this Realm and elsewhere, I have both Friends and Allies and 
 such as would be glad and willing to employ both their Forces and Aid 
 to stand me instead ; you have, Monsieur I'Ambassadeur (quoth she), 
 oftentimes told me th'at the Amity between the Queen your Mistriss and 
 me, were very necessary and profitable for us both ; I have some reason 
 now to think that the Queen your Mistriss is not of that mind • for I 
 am sure, if she were, she would not have refused me thus unkindly ; it 
 seemeth she maketh more account of the amity of my disobedient subjects 
 than she doth of me, their Sovereign, who am her equal in degree, though 
 
 Touraine et Poictou pour son douaire ^ Illustrations of the reign of Queen Mary 
 donnd h elle, que d'aller regner en ces Pays 89. Hardwicke Papers, 172, sq. 
 Sauuages." Brantdme, Jebb II. 482. 
 
MARY AND THROCKMORTON, 1561. 51 
 
 inferiour in Wisdome and experience, her nighest kinswoman, and her 
 next neighbour ; and trou you that there can be so good meaning 
 between my subjects and her, which have forgotten their principal duty 
 to me their Sovereign, as there should be betwixt her and me ? I per- 
 ceive that the Queen your Mistriss doth think, that because my subjects 
 have done me wrong, my Friends and Allies will forsake me also ; 
 indeed your Mistriss doth give me cause to seek friendship where I did 
 not mind to ask it ; but Monsieur I'Ambassadeur, let the Queen your 
 Mistriss think that it will be thought very strange amongst all Princes 
 and Countries, that she should first animate my subjects against me, 
 and now being widow, to impeach my going into my own country: I 
 ask her nothing but friendship ; I do not trouble her State, nor practise 
 with her subjects ; and yet I know there be in her Realm that be in- 
 clined enough to hear offers ; I know also they be not of the mind she 
 is of, neither in Religion, nor other things. The Queen your Mistriss 
 does say that I am young, and do lack experience ; indeed I confess, I 
 am yonger then she is, and do want experience : but I have age 
 enough and experience to use my self towards my friends and kinsfolks 
 friendly and uprightly ; and I trust my discretion shall not so fail me, 
 that my passion shall move me to use other language of her then it 
 becometh of a Queen, and my next kinswoman. Well, Monsieur 
 I'Ambassadeur, I could tell you that I am as she is, a Queen allied and 
 friended, as is known ; and I tell you also, that my heart is not inferiour 
 to hers, so as an equal respect would be had betwixt us on both parts ; 
 but I will not contend in comparisons." 
 
 " First you know," quoth she, " that the accord was made in the 
 late King, my Lord and Husband's time, by whom, as reason was, I 
 was commanded and governed ; and for such delays as were then in his 
 time used in the said ratification, I am not to be charged ; since his 
 Death, my Interest failing in the realm of France, I left to be advised by 
 the Councel of France, and they left me also to mine own Councel ; 
 indeed, my Unkles being, as you know„ of the affairss of this Realm, do 
 not think meet to advise me in my affairs ; neither do my subjects, nor 
 the Queen your Mistriss, think meet that I should be advised by them, 
 but rather by the Councel of my own Realm ; here are none of them, 
 nor none such as is thought meet that I should be counselled by : the 
 matter is great, it toucheth both them and me, and in so great a matter 
 it were meet to use the advice of the wisest of them. I do not think 
 it meet in so great a matter to take the counsel of private and unexpert 
 persons, and such as the Queen your Mistriss knoweth be not most 
 
S3 MARY AND THROCKMORTON, 1561. 
 
 acceptable to such of my subjects as she would have me be advised by. 
 I have oftentimes told you that as soon as I had their advices, I would 
 send the Queen your Mistriss such an answer as should be reasonable ; 
 I am about to haste me home as fast as I may, to the intent the matter 
 might be answered ; and now the Queen your Mistriss will in no wise 
 suffer neither me to pass home, nor him that I sent into my Realm ;' so 
 as, Monsieur I'Ambassadeur, it seemeth the Queen your Mistriss will 
 be the cause why in this manner she is not satisfied, or else she will not 
 be satisfied ; but liketh to make this matter a quarrel still betwixt us, 
 whereof she is the author. The Queen your Mistriss saith that I am 
 young; she might as well say, that I were as foolish as young, if I 
 would in the state and countrey that I am in proceed to such a matter of 
 myself without any Counsel ; for that which was done by the King, my 
 late Lord and Husband, must not be taken to be my act, so as neither 
 in Honour nor in Conscience, I am bound, as you say I am, to perform 
 all that I was by my Lord and Husband commanded to do ; and yet I 
 will say truly unto you, and as God favours me, I did never mean 
 otherwise unto her than becometh me to my good sister and cousin, nor 
 meant her no more harm than to myself; God forgive them which have 
 otherwise perswaded her, if there be any such." 
 
 " What is the matter, pray you. Monsieur I'Ambassadeur," quoth 
 she, " that doth so offend the Queen, your Mistriss, to make her thus 
 evil-affected to me ? I never did her wrong, neither in deed nor 
 speech ; it should the less grieve me if I had deserved otherwise than 
 well ; and though the world may be of divers judgements of us and our 
 doings one to another, I do well know, God that is in heaven can and 
 will be a true Judg, both of our doings and meanings." " Madame," 
 answered the ambassador, " I have declared unto you my charge com- 
 manded by the Queen, my Mistriss, and have no more to say to you on 
 her behalf, but to know your answer for the Ratification of the Treaty." 
 The Queen returns : " I have aforetime shewed you, and do now tell 
 you again, that it is not meet for to proceed in this matter without the 
 advice of the Nobles and States of mine own Realm, which I can by 
 no means have until I come amongst them. You know as well as I, 
 there is none come hither since the death of the King, my late 
 Husband and Lord, but such as are either come for their private 
 business, or such as dare not tarry in Scotland. But, I pray you. 
 Monsieur I'Ambassadeur, tell me how riseth this strange affection in 
 
 ^ Queen Mary asked to send d'Oysel into Scotland. 
 
MARY AND THROCKMORTON, 1561. 53 
 
 the Queen, your Mistriss, towards me ? I desire to know it, to the 
 intent I may reform myself if I have failed." The ambassador re- 
 plied that all Elizabeth's displeasure arose from the bad will which 
 refused to ratify the treaty of Edinburgh. Mary added that it was 
 impossible for her to do so at that time, and she dismissed the ambas- 
 sador, begging him to behave himself as a good minister, " whose 
 part it is to make things betwixt princes rather better than worse."' 
 
 Without further thinking about the difficulties of the journey, Mary 
 actively prepared for her departure. Yet, in order to be clear of self- 
 reproach, she desired Throckmorton to meet her at Abbeville, and asked 
 him again, what must be done to please Elizabeth. " Confirm," said the 
 ambassador, " the Treaty of Edinburgh, as I have more than once told 
 your Majestie." " I desire you to hear me," replied the Queen, " and then 
 judge whether they be not very cogent reasons which the Queen, your 
 royal Mistriss, takes for vain excuses and delays. The first article in 
 that treaty, for confirming the Truce of Cambray, does not in the 
 least concern me. The II., which relates to signing the Treaty there 
 made, between the English and Scots, was ratified by my Husband 
 and myself, and cannot be repeated, unless in my name only, whereas 
 my Husband is expressly nam'd therein. The III., IV., and V. 
 articles are already answered and fulfilled, for there are no farther war- 
 like preparations ; the French garrisons are remanded from Scotland, 
 the fort at Aymouth is razed to the ground. I have, since my Hus- 
 band's death, quitted the Arms and Title of England ; to raze and strike 
 them out of all the moveables, buildings, and charters in France is a 
 thing no way in my power ; and 'tis more than I can do, to send back 
 the Bishops of Valence and Randan, who are no subjects of mine, into 
 England, to appear at a conference about' the VI. article. As for 
 the last article, I hope my rebell subjects will not complain of any 
 great severity towards them. But your Mistriss, I perceive, designs to 
 prevent any proofs I might show of a merciful disposition towards 
 them, by resolving to hinder my return. What is there now behind in 
 this treaty that can any way prejudice the affairs of your Mistriss ? 
 Nevertheless, to give her the fullest satisfaction I can, I design to write 
 to her about those matters with my own hand, tho' she would not vouch- 
 safe me an answer but by her Secretary. But I would advise you, who 
 are an ambassador, to act suitably to that character ; I mean rather to 
 qualify and compose matters, than to aggravate and make them worse."^ 
 
 1 Cabala, 375 sq. ; Bishop Keith, 172 sq. 
 
 " Bishop Keith, 177, 178 ; Spottiswoode, II., 5, 6; Samuel Jebb, 77. 
 
54 DEPARTURE OF MARY STUART, 1561. 
 
 No longer hoping for anything from Ehzabeth, she submitted to fate. 
 On the 2 1 St of July, she declared to Throckmorton that nothing 
 could shake her purpose. " I trust," quoth she, " the wind will be 
 so favourable, as I shall not need to come on the coast of England ; and 
 if I do, then. Monsieur I'Ambassadeur, the Queen your Mistriss shall 
 have me in her hands to do her will of me ; and if she be so hard- 
 hearted as to desire my end, she may then do her pleasure, and make 
 sacrifice of me. Peradventure, that casualty might be better for me 
 than to live ; in this matter God's will be fulfilled."' 
 
 The vessels which were to take Mary to Scotland were soon ready. 
 The Duke de Guise, the Cardinals de Lorraine and Guise, accompanied 
 their niece as far as Calais. The Duke d'Aumale, the Grand Prior, 
 and the Marquis d'Elbeuf, Damville, Strozzi, la Noue, la Guiche, 
 Chastelard and Brant6me, were of her retinue as far as Scotland. On 
 the point of sailing, all looked anxious ; the travellers gazed with appre- 
 hension upon the expanse of ocean : it was known that Elizabeth, 
 urged on by the intrigues of Lord James and Lethington, had sent 
 several ships to seize the French flotilla, and all eyes scanned the 
 far horizon for the English sails.^ 
 
 The wind blew fresh, the sea was not very rough ; the Duke d'Aumale 
 gave the signal to set sail. Mary embraced her uncles a last time, bade them 
 farewell with tears, and went on board. The moments were sad when 
 she was borne away from her beloved France. Leaning over the side 
 of the ship, she wept, and exclaimed, " Adieu, France, Adieu ! " At 
 night-fall she would not go below, but ordered a bed to be prepared for 
 her on deck, telling the pilot to waken her at daybreak. The night 
 was calm ; the wind, which had gone down with the sun, was dying 
 away with the twilight, and the ship lay almost motionless. Wearied 
 out by her tears, and by the emotions of the day, Mary slept until 
 morning. The pilot awakened her at the dawn. The sky, cloudy the 
 day before, was now cloudless. Mary arose hurriedly ; for a long time 
 her eyes, bedimmed with tears, were on the coast of France. The sun- 
 rise disclosed to view the masses of chalky cliffs in the distance. The 
 Queen was affected by the magic spectacle. She was wrapped in 
 thought, and seemed to forget those around her. That sun gilding the 
 distant and beloved land, no doubt made the parting more keen. She 
 looked for an English sail in the offing to force them to return and seek 
 shelter in the port whence they had sailed, but that mishap did not 
 befal them. 
 
 1 Bishop Keith, 176 ; Cabala, 378. <' Prince Labanoff, IV., 27. 
 
HER FAREWELL, 1561. 55 
 
 By degrees the outlines grew fainter and more faint ; nothing now 
 could be seen, save here and there the points of the white cliffs. A 
 sudden end was put to Mary's musing ; the sad reality forced itself 
 upon her : France is no longer in view. " Adieu, adieu, France," she 
 exclaimed, with outstretched arms ; " Adieu, Oh France, I shall never 
 see thee more ! " Overcome by grief, her heart broken by regrets and 
 cares, and her mind racked by the thought of the future, she stood 
 for a time in a trance, and the gentlemen of her suite could with diffi- 
 culty arouse her. 
 
 Mary arrived at Leith after a voyage of a few days. A thick mist 
 settled down upon the sea on the morning after she set sail, and hid her 
 from the English fleet which was cruising before Berwick. 
 
 The jewel of the Court of France was gone ; the poets bewailed 
 her as their protectress and genius, and Ronsard, who had known her 
 well, expressed in touching verses these words of adieu : — 
 
 Le jour que vostre voile aux vents se recourba 
 Et de nos yeux pleurants les vostres ddroba, 
 Ce jour-lk mSme voile emporta loin de France 
 Les muses qui souloient y faire demourance. 
 
 Comment pourroient chanter les bouches des poetes 
 
 Quand, par vostre depart, les Muses sont muettes .'' 
 
 Tout ce qui est de beau ne se garde longtemps : 
 
 Les roses et les lys ne rfegnent qu'un printemps. 
 
 Ainsi vostre beautd, seulement apparue 
 
 Quinze ans en nostre France, est soudain disparue 
 
 Comme on voit d'un dclair s'dvanouir le trait, 
 
 Et d'elle n'a laissd sinon que le regret, 
 
 Sinon le desplaisir qui me remet sans cesse 
 
 Au coeur le souvenir d'une telle princesse. 
 
 J' envoiray mes pensers qui volent comme oiseaux ; 
 Par eux je revoiray sans danger, k toute heure 
 Cette belle princesse et sa belle demeure : 
 Et Ik pour tout jamais je voudray sojourner, 
 Car d'un lieu si plaisant on ne peut retourner. 
 
 Brant6me relates that Prince Charles, when grown up, often looked 
 on a portrait of Mary Stuart, and shed tears, saying that his brother 
 had been very happy, though short lived, as he had been wedded to 
 Mary Stuart.' 
 
 ^ Brant6me, Discours sur Marie Stuart. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1561— 1563. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF MARY — HER RECEPTION — STATE OF RELIGION IN SCOTLAND — THE PRIVY COUNCIL 
 — LORD JAMES DIVIDES WITH LETHINGTON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE KINGDOM — 
 MARY'S CONVERSATIONS WITH KNOX — BRUTALITY OF THE REFORMER — LETTER TO 
 ELIZABETH — PREMEDITATED INTERVIEW — MADNESS OF THE EARL OF ARRAN — REBEL- 
 LION OF HUNTLY AND THE GORDONS — MARY IN THE FIELD — LORD JAMES CREATED 
 EARL OF MORAY — CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT AT COURT AND IN THE COUNTRY — DEATH 
 OF CHASTELARD — DEATH OF THE DUKE DE GUISE. 
 
 ON the first rumour of the Queen's arrival, the nobiHty and people 
 flocked to see her. Curiosity drove some, ambition others ; 
 sympathy also touched more than one heart. The effect produced by 
 the sight of the Queen was wondrous. This young girl, born into the 
 world amidst strife and woe, from her birth a prey to the fury of the 
 parties who fought to get her, forced, when quite a child, to quit her 
 native country for a kinder realm, freed with difficulty from the snares 
 of England, seated for a moment on an illustrious throne, happy in a 
 noble alliance, then suddenly cast down from that throne to weep over a 
 coffin ; this Queen, admired, caressed and hated, an unfortunate widow 
 at nineteen, was indeed likely to excite heartfelt emotion. Her whole 
 life, a vast picture, lay unrolled before the world.' 
 
 Her beauty and her gentleness, together with her many misfortunes, 
 increased the enthusiasm on her arrival. She was approachable to all, 
 smiled upon them, spoke to them, and for the most part bound them to 
 her.^ She was proud of her conquests. By nature frank and loyal, 
 she fancied every one like herself. Cruel disappointments were to prove 
 throughout her life that such was not the case. The Scottish nobility 
 were masters of dissimulation ; ever since the introduction of Pro- 
 testantism those proud Lords were far from particular as to how they 
 got rid of their opponents.^ Those brigand habits had gradually given 
 
 1 Hollinshed, II., 314, 315. M^moires de Castelnau, iii. Jebb II. 455. 
 
 ^ The Queen's entrance into Edinburgh is ^ xhogg ^ho may think the picture over- 
 told at length by the anonymous author of the drawn are desired to peruse the " Diurnal of 
 " Diurnal of Occurrents," 67, sq.— " EUe s' Occurrents ; " I am not aware that there is in 
 efforgoit de se rendre agr&ble," says Castel- the world any other country which so delighted 
 nau, " et de contenter autant qu'il luy estoit in massacre, 
 possible, aussi bien les petits que les grands." 
 
STATE OF RELIGION IN SCOTLAND, 1561. 57 
 
 them a fierce nature ; their costume was uncouth and shapeless ; the 
 horses which they rode were small, thin and poor ; what they fancied 
 to be music was shrill and discordant : things which grated harshly on 
 the feelings of the refined Queen. It was no longer Fontainebleau nor 
 St Germain. Those personages, apparently more savage than honest, 
 could not be compared to the polished knights of the French Court. 
 All tended then to prejudice Mary against her new subjects." 
 
 An event of little moment completed her dislike, and almost provoked 
 a bloody strife. The Protestants had asked to be allowed to worship 
 God according to their own forms, and, having gained strength, wished 
 to force the Catholics to change their rites ; they had obtained liberty 
 of conscience, and sought to deprive others of it.° By a decree, the 
 celebration of mass was forbidden. Those of the Catholics, who would 
 not apostatize, were driven to the woods and mountains, and, amid the 
 silent wilds, freely raised towards heaven their suppliant hands and 
 implored from God courage to act up to their convictions. ^ 
 
 The royal family alone was exempt from that decree. One day, 
 while Mary was at mass in her private chapel, a fanatic dared in the 
 presence of his sovereign to break the cierges, stop the celebration, and 
 blaspheme against the form of worship and the worshippers. In his 
 excessive zeal he would, but for Lord James, have torn to pieces the 
 priest, and destroyed the consecrated vessels. That mad deed gives a 
 fair idea of the state of the public mind on Mary Stuart's arrival.* 
 
 Those who accuse Mary do not perhaps give enough attention to 
 her conduct on her landing in Scotland. They are satisfied to slander 
 her without busying themselves in searching for the cause of the 
 disorders which were brought about during her life. There were 
 horrible things under her reign, as all know ; but is it fair to lay the 
 blame of them a priori upon her who was at the head of the Govern- 
 ment ? Very different was she from that Mary Stuart whom some writers 
 depict more as a woman than as a queen, born rather to shine at a 
 court than govern a state. On gaining power she did what it was possible 
 for her to do. Her people were divided, she took no side ; a Catholic 
 in the very depths of her soul, she was a queen, and hence she loved 
 her subjects without distinction.^ She chose for Privy Council the Duke 
 
 ^ Brant6me, Discours sur Marie Stuart ; * De Thou, xxix. : Buchanan, xvii., 9 ; Spot- 
 
 Tuelet, IV., 80. tiswoode, II., 8. 
 
 ''■ Teulet, IV., 80. * " Nihil immutaturam se de praesente reli- 
 
 ' Randolph to Cecil, ist May, Bishop Keith, gionis reique publicae statu juravit." Black- 
 
 239; Tytler, III., 172. wood, Pro Regibus Apologia, c.xxvi., 137. "She 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
58 LORD JAMES AND LETHINGTON, 1561. 
 
 of Chatelleraut, the Earls of Huntly, Arran, Bothwell, Errol, Marshall, 
 Athole, Morton, Glencairn and William Montrose; she made Lord James 
 what would now be called Prime Minister, and Lethington, Secretary of 
 State.' By that very act Mary accepted her kingdom as it was, and chose 
 from among the nobility the most worthy members without regard to 
 their religion. In place of resting upon a single party. Catholic or Pro- 
 testant, like Elizabeth, Mary took from both in the hope of reconciling 
 them ; not that the Protestants were dear to her at heart ; but to sur- 
 round herself by Catholics only, would have been to court civil war, and 
 the Queen was averse to the shedding of blood ; with a view to peace 
 she had more Protestants than Catholics in her council. 
 
 At times power foolishly gives way to evil doers, and they, in con- 
 sequence, grow bolder ; there are persons who take kindness for weak- 
 ness, and, believing so, become more audacious. Knox was one of that 
 kind ; his conferences with Queen Mary are celebrated. While Scot- 
 land was rejoicing at the coming of her Queen, he was sounding the 
 charge against idolatry. His speeches were fiery and vehement; to 
 him, mass was more formidable than ten thousand enemies.^ His 
 word, heard by a seditious mob, drove it to all excesses. People blas- 
 phemed in order to obtain the good graces of Christ ; they besought in 
 prayer strength from God to be able to do murder. So great was the 
 agitation that heaven seemed to be in danger. Every one was nobly 
 zealous to overthrow idolatry. High-born and low-born vied with one 
 another ; Holyrood itself was threatened. A troop of fanatics, with 
 Patrick Lindsay at their head, went singing psalms as far as the gates 
 of the palace, with the object of getting rid of the Queen and the 
 priests who were about her ; they repeated to one another the saying 
 of their chief, that an idolater was worthy of death ; but for the energy 
 of Lord James, great misfortunes must have ensued, and the war-cry 
 would have followed the chanting of the Canticles.^ 
 
 condescended that no change nor alteration tion, and divulged her projects ; one whome 
 
 should be made in the present state of reli- these factious nobilitie intended now to make 
 
 gion ; only she would use her own service, as use of to kindle that flame of dissention and 
 
 she said, apart with her family, and have a jealousie betwixt these two princes (Elizabeth 
 
 mass in private. . . . The preachers in their and Mary) which never was quenched but by 
 
 sermons did publicly condemn that toleration the blood of Queen Marie." — Herries' Memoirs, 
 
 as unlawful." — Spottiswoode, II., 71. — "She 57; Prince Labanoff, I., 102, pronounces just 
 
 used, her subjects," says Sanderson, " with all as severe a judgment upon him. 
 curtesie, and changed not those of the Re- ^ Knox, Reform., iv., 250. 
 
 formed Religion." — Sanderson, 5 ; Wiesener, ^ Knox, Reform., iv. — The Earl of Arran 
 
 Marie Stuart et le Comte de Bothwell, 27. was of that opinion when he said : " Since 
 
 i " This (Lethington) is he that deserted (the) that God has said ' that the idolater shall die 
 
 Qieen Regent and jOyned with the Congrega- the death,' we protest solemnly, in presence Of 
 
JOHN KNOX, 1561. 59 
 
 Sad must be the condition of a State when the several parties 
 struggle against authority; but the misfortune is greatest when the 
 magistracy sides with the rioters, sympathises with them, and rouses 
 instead of soothing them. That is what happened soon after Patrick 
 Lindsay's expedition. The Town Council of Edinburgh, at the instiga- 
 tion of Archibald Douglas, decreed the expulsion of " monks, nuns, 
 priests, drunkards, adulterers and fornicators," allowing them twenty- 
 four hours to leave the town. That furious decree was set aside by the 
 members of the Queen's Council, and the authors of it were dismissed. 
 Deafening recriminations arose on all sides ; the Government held fast, 
 and the seditious profited by that misadventure to say that the Queen 
 winked at evil doings.' The human mind was so perverted that the 
 Christian pulpit became a tribune whence each could launch his fury. 
 On all sides were heard mad declaimers who noisily vented their wrath, 
 and threatened to give up to the gallows the trembling Catholics." At 
 the head of all, Knox showed himself indefatigable, brutal and turbulent, 
 aspiring to regicide, and urged on, as it were, by an inconceivable hatred. 
 He detested Mary with a religious frenzy. " His prayer is daily for 
 her," wrote Randolph, " that God will turn her heart obstinate against 
 God and his truth ; or if the Holy Will be otherwise, to strengthen the 
 hearts and hands of his chosen and Elect, stoutly to withstand the rage 
 of all tyrands, et caetera, in words terrible enough." ^ From him the 
 strange idea proceeds to present the keys of Edinburgh Castle to the 
 Queen between a Bible and a psalter, to the accompaniment of the 
 threatening and symbolic show of the torture of Korah, Dathan, and 
 Abiron, while priests raising the Host above a burning stake were to 
 
 God, and in the ears of the whole people . . . thame throw the town in ane cart." — Diurnal 
 
 that if anyofher (Queen's) servants shall commit of Occur., 69. — Those who boast the toler- 
 
 idolatry, specially say mass, participate there- ance of the Protestant spirit and consider 
 
 with, or take the defence thereof . . . that this the Reformation as an emancipation ought to 
 
 (Queen's) proclamation be not entend to them ponder upon this note and upon other similar 
 
 in that behalf, nor be a safeguard nor girth ones. I read in the same Diurnal, 340, that 
 
 (protection) to them in that behalf, no more a Protestant minister, known by the name of 
 
 than if they commit slaughter or murder, see- Dr Handie, taken in the act of adultery, was 
 
 ing the one is much more abominable and acquitted the first time because he was " ane 
 
 odious in the sight of God, than is the other." greit seikar and apprehendar of all priestis 
 
 — Knox, Reform., iv., 249. and papistis." When the Presbyterians called 
 
 1 Bishop Keith, 192; Knox, Reform., iii., the Queen "protectress of adulterers," the 
 
 255; "A proclamation commanding and charge- compliment might have been returned, 
 
 ing all and syndry monks, freris, priestis and all '' " He (Arran) wished all the Papists in 
 
 utheris papistis and prophane persones, to pas Scotland hang'd." — Keith, 204; Knox, Reform., 
 
 furth of Edinburgh within xxiiij houris next iv., 250. 
 
 after following, under the payne of burnying of ^ Randolph to Cecil, 24th Oct. 1561. 
 disobeyaris upoun the cheik, and harhng of 
 
6o MARY AND JOHN KNOX, r86i. 
 
 add life to the scene. It was, however, represente'd only in a picture 
 on a triumphal arch erected for the occasion.' 
 
 Instead of throwing Knox into prison, as he deserved, Mary tried 
 to gain him over. She admired his courage, and had more than once 
 deplored that such energy should be devoted to error. She tried to 
 bring him back to Catholicism, if that were possible, or at least to keep 
 him in check, and hinder him from inveighing against all authority. 
 
 The interview was little edifying. Knox flew into a towering 
 passion, and, towards the end, acted more like a wild beast than a 
 preacher of the Gospel. Mary reproached him with urging her sub- 
 jects to revolt by communicating to them his work on the government 
 of women, adding that his opinion was hazardous and disputable.'' " I 
 hear," replied Knox, " that an Englishman hath written against it, but I 
 have not read him ; " and he congratulated himself upon having written 
 it. While speaking of the work, Mary fairly entered upon the leading 
 principle and gave Knox a chance of explaining himself. " Then," 
 said she, " you think I have no just authority ? " Knox, somewhat 
 puzzled, got out of his difficulty by subtle distinctions into which he 
 introduced Plato and his Republic. For a time confused by his 
 amiable and sound adversary, he at length confessed that the book did 
 not attack all women ; but that it had been written to show up the 
 late Queen of England ; that, for his part, he should live dutiful to his 
 Queen, as long as she did not dip her hands in the blood of the saints, 
 and that he should obey her as St Paul obeyed Nero. " But," inter- 
 rupted Mary, " ye speak of women in general." — " Most true it is. 
 Madam," said the other, "and yet it appeareth to me that wisdom 
 should persuade your grace, never to raise trouble for that, which to 
 this day has not troubled your Majesty, neither in person nor in 
 authority." That reason, though not very powerful, was wise ; seeing 
 that the book existed, it was useless to pick a quarrel about it ; any step 
 in that direction being henceforth superfluous, the best thing was to let 
 the subject drop. Mary apparently thought so, for she began : " But 
 yet, ye have taught the people to receive another religion than their 
 princes can allow ; and how can that doctrine be of God, seeing that 
 
 1 Von Raumer, Contributions to Modem neither male nor female ; all are one in Christ, 
 History, ii; Bishop Keith, 189; Herries' saith Paul. Blessed is the man who confides 
 Memoirs, 56. in the Lord! I need to wish -you no more 
 
 2 Elizabeth, according to Sheriff Henry prudence than God's grace wh^eof God sent 
 Glassford Bell, treated Knox with less cere- you plenty."— William Cecil to Knox, Bell I. 
 mony when she caused Cecil to write to him .-131. ' 
 " Mr Knox ! Mr Knox 1 Mr Knox ! there is 
 
MARY AND JOHN KNOX, 1561- 61 
 
 God commands subjects to obey their princes ? " — " If all the seed of 
 
 Abraham," said he, " should have been of the religion of Pharaoh, to 
 
 whom they were long subjects, I pray you, Madam, what religion 
 
 should there have been in the world ? For, if all men, in the days of 
 
 the Apostles, should have been of the religion of the Roman Emperors, 
 
 what religion should have been upon the face of the earth ? Daniel 
 
 and his fellows were subjects to Nebuchadnezzar, and unto Darius, and 
 
 yet. Madam, they would not be of their religion." — " Yea," said she, 
 
 " none of those men raised the sword against their princes." — " Yet, 
 
 madam," said he, " ye cannot deny but that they resisted ; for these 
 
 that obey not the commandments that are given, in some sort they 
 
 resist." — " But yet," said she, " they resisted not by the sword." — 
 
 " God," said he, " Madam, had not given unto them the power and the 
 
 means." — " Think ye," said she, " that subjects having power may resist 
 
 their princes ? " — " If their princes exceed their bounds, Madam," 
 
 said he, " and do against that wherefore they should be obeyed, it is 
 
 no doubt but they may be resisted, even by power ; for there is 
 
 neither greater honour, nor greater obedience to be given to kings and 
 
 princes, than God has commanded to be given to father and mother ; 
 
 but so it is, that the father may be striken with a frenzy, in the which he 
 
 would slay his own children. Now, Madam, if the children arise, join 
 
 themselves together, apprehend the father, take the sword and other 
 
 weapons from him, and finally bind his hands, and keep him in prison, 
 
 till that his frenzy be overpast ; think ye, Madam, that the children do 
 
 any wrong ? Or think ye. Madam, that God will be offended with 
 
 them that have stayed their father to commit wickedness ? It is even 
 
 so. Madam," said he, " with princes that would murder the children of 
 
 God that are subjects unto them. Their blind zeal is nothing but a 
 
 very mad frenzy ; and, therefore, to take the sword from them, to bind 
 
 their hands, and to cast them into prison, till that they be brought to a 
 
 more sober mind, is no disobedience against princes, but just obedience, 
 
 because that it agreeth with the will of God." 
 
 The imposing presence of Knox, his unheard of doctrine and his 
 severe tone, so paralysed the Queen that she stood speechless. At 
 length she broke silence : " Well," said she, ironically, " I perceive that 
 my subjects shall obey you and not me; and shall do what they list, and 
 not what I command ; and so must I be subject to them, and not they 
 to me." " God forbid," answered he, " that ever I take upon me to 
 command any to obey me,' or yet to set subjects at liberty to do what 
 
 1 There may be seen in Sanderson, 32, a dictatorial act which behes that humble protestation. 
 
62 MARY AND JOHN KNOX, 1561. 
 
 pleases them. But my travail is, that both princes and subjects obey 
 God yea, God craves of kings that they be, as it were, foster- 
 fathers to his Kirk, and commands queens to be nurses unto his people." 
 " Yea," said she, " but ye are not the Kirk that I will nurse. I will 
 defend the Kirk of Rome, for it is, I think, the true Kirk of God." 
 Knox exclaimed angrily : " Your will, Madam, is no reason ; neither 
 doth your thought make that Roman harlot to be the true and im- 
 maculate spouse of Jesus Christ." That sally made him bolder ; he 
 offered to prove that the Roman Church was but a receptacle of im- 
 purities, a society a thousand times more degraded than the ancient 
 synagogue which condemned Jesus. Mary waited patiently until he 
 had finished those invectives, and then urged her conscience against 
 him, " Conscience, Madam," said he, " requires knowledge, and I fear 
 that right knowledge you have none." " But," said she, " I have both 
 heard and read — " " So did," exclaimed Knox, " the Jews who crucified 
 Jesus, read both the law and the prophets, and heard the same inter- 
 preted after their manner ; " then in a conceited and scornful tone : 
 " Have ye heard," said he, "any teach, but such as the Pope and the 
 Cardinals have allowed." " Ye interpret the Scriptures in one manner," 
 observed the Queen, " and they in another ; whom shall I believe, and 
 who shall be judge ? " The argument was unanswerable. Knox 
 uttered a few more emphatic words taken from the Bible, and went 
 away praying God to bless the Queen of Scotland, as He had blessed 
 Deborah in Israel. " The Queen," said the reformer, after this dis- 
 cussion, " had a proud mind, a crafty wit and an indurate heart.' 
 
 Such, in substance, was the famous interview between the most 
 learned and most elegant princess in the world, and the coarsest and 
 most fanatic man of the period. Protestantism here is seen in its true 
 colours. While permitting free thinking, Knox and the other reformers 
 paved the way for revolution. The leading characteristic of Protes- 
 tantism in Scotland is the equality of its members ; all ecclesiastical 
 and civil authority disappears ; the subjects have the right to cast 
 down their princes as they did their bishops, when those princes over- 
 step the bounds of their authority. Under a seeming equity that 
 doctrine conceals an enormous irregularity, and if ever it were acted 
 upon, crowned heads would be seen falling daily. A King would be a 
 
 1 Knox, Reform., iv., Sanderson, 26. Mr seems to have been wounded by his discom- 
 
 Hosack makes the curious remark that Mary fiture, for it is certain that he ever afterwards 
 
 was wrong in being right. " Since then," regarded Mary with feehngs of personal hos- 
 
 says that ingenious writer, " Knox's egotism tility." Mary and her Accusers, 75. 
 
BRUTALITY OF THE REFORMERS, 1561. 63 
 
 victim consigned to an early grave. That end must be the natural effect 
 of the principles laid down, for admitting Knox's doctrine, who could 
 hinder a man bent upon killing his king ? Free thinking necessarily 
 entails liberty of action, for without that, free thinking is but an empty 
 name, and freedom of action once acknowledged, there is no longer 
 any limit, any rule, or any curb. In politics as in religion, freedom of 
 opinion must not be given, else disorder may be expected. 
 
 All grant that Mary, in her conversation with Knox, showed a 
 wisdom and a majesty greater than ever the gruif sectarian had ; that 
 is the testimony which Lethington bore in a letter to Cecil : " You 
 know," said he, " the vehemency of Mr Knox's spirit, which cannot be 
 bridled, I could wish he would deal with her more gently, being a 
 young princess unpersuaded. For this I am accounted too politic ; but 
 surely in her comporting with him, she doth declare a wisdom far 
 exceeding her age. God grant her the assistance of His Spirit ; surely 
 I see in her a good towardness." ' 
 
 Surrounded by enemies and malcontents, the poor Queen did not 
 know how to quiet and satisfy them. Knox became more and more 
 haughty; he skilfully availed himself of every chance to cry down his 
 sovereign ; he looked with suspicion on her books and her dress ; her 
 mode of life, her field sports, her music, even her charity made her 
 suspected. His austere and surly nature could not bear to see the 
 princess cheerful. He declared from the pulpit that conduct so scan- 
 dalous would bring down God's vengeance not only upon such worldly 
 women, but upon the whole kingdom." Mary's kindliness and grace 
 made him spiteful. She again tried several times to soften him, but 
 without success ; he never threw away a chance of upholding the power 
 of private individuals against kings ; " Samuel," said he, " feared not to 
 slay Agag, the fat and delicate King of Amalec, whom King Saul had 
 saved ; neither spared Elias Jezebel's false prophets, and Baal's priests, 
 albeit that King Ahab was present. Phineas was no magistrat, and 
 yet feared he not to strike Cosbi and Zimri in the very act of filthy 
 fornication. And so. Madam, your grace may see that others than 
 chief magistrates may lawfully punish, and have punished the vices and 
 crimes that God commands to be punished." ^ 
 
 1 Lethington to Cecil, 25th Oct. 1561. — Tytler, she had been guilty of them. One might find 
 III., 155. the reason for it and explain that conduct, 
 
 2 Knox, Reform., iv., 301, et passim. which prejudiced or thoughtless writers de- 
 ' Knox, Reform., iv., 284. Knox, as may scribe as strong. Besides, the reader perhaps 
 
 be seen, always liked to mention those great already knows, that at the age of fifty-eight 
 crimes in presence of the Queen, just as if he was thinking of wedding a young girl of 
 
64 LETTER TO ELIZABETH, 1561. 
 
 Affected by Knox's stubbornness, the Queen one day said candidly 
 to him, " If ye hear anything of myself that mislikes you, come to my- 
 self and tell me, and I shall hear you." " I am called. Madam," replied 
 Knox, " to a public function within the Kirk of God, and am appointed 
 by God to rebuke the sins and vices of all, I am not appointed to come 
 to every man in particular to show him his offence ; for that labour 
 were infinite." ' 
 
 Mary, however, was at that very moment thinking of organising the 
 Protestant sect. She noticed the poverty into which most of the 
 preachers were gradually falling; at first supported by their co-religionists, 
 they were soon forsaken by them, and on the eve of dying from hunger. 
 The Queen was grieved, and if on the one hand she desired the fall of 
 Protestantism, on the other it made her sad at heart to see those poor 
 victims of error a prey to want. Notwithstanding the pain which they 
 caused her, she was anxious to provide for their support. She expressed 
 her wish on the subject to the Catholic clergy. Then was seen an act of 
 generosity truly wonderful : a slandered clergy consenting to give up a 
 part of its goods rather than displease the Queen. After that the ecclesias- 
 tical livings were divided into twenty-one portions : fourteen were left to 
 the incumbents, four to the Protestant ministers, and three to the Crown.^ 
 
 Those internal disorders did not hinder the Queen of Scots from seek- 
 ing to strengthen her power abroad by alliances. Acting on the advice of 
 the Lords of her Council, she sent Lethington to Elizabeth with letters 
 full of peace. She begged Elizabeth, in the interest of their common 
 friendship, to will that she be her successor on the English throne ; in 
 return she would renounce her rights during the lifetime of the Queen, 
 her good sister. That was the surest way to crush revolt, during the 
 life and after the death of Elizabeth. Mary Stuart thought this project 
 could be easily carried out. Elizabeth had declared before Parliament 
 that she would never marry,^ either, to be without a master, or rather, 
 as was generally believed, to satisfy more easily in celibacy the passions 
 which devoured her.* Nevertheless when she heard of appointing a 
 successor to herself : " To declare her (Mary) successor so long as I 
 
 sixteen, and that he married, the following ' Cum extremum vitse spiritum edidero, 
 
 year, Margaret Stewart, who to youth added sepulchrali marmori inscribatur : Hic SITA 
 
 the advantage of being of blood royal. Boast ELIZabetha qu^ VIRGO REGNAVIT, virgo 
 
 of austerity! Cf. Blackwood, Pro Regibus, obut. Camdeni Hist., pars. I., 21, and Bur- 
 
 XV., 79, and de Vinculo Religionis, lib. ii., nett Reform., IV., 902. 
 
 27O) 271- " Lingard's History, vol. V. Leti. Life of 
 
 1 Knox, Reform., iv., 270. Elizabeth, I., 377; II., 512. Dargaud, Vie de 
 
 " Bishop Keith, 210, note. David Hume, Marie Stuart, Edition Hachette, 136. 
 House of Tudor, IV., 204. 
 
PREMEDITATED INTERVIEWS, 1561. 65 
 
 live," she said, " is against all reason of state or securitie of my persone. 
 It is ta Carrie my winding sheet before my eyes or to make my grave 
 before I die."' Such a concession would have completely overturned 
 the political system upon which she rested ; it was a fixed purpose in 
 her to listen to proposals, and see her hand sought after by powerful 
 princes ; her pride as a woman and as a queen was thereby agreeably 
 flattered. During many long years she smiled upon all offers which 
 were made to her, and always managed to rid herself of the suitors 
 without giving them offence. Her reply to the Scottish ambassador was 
 as follows : — " As concerning my succession, I hope the Queen of Scot- 
 land would not by violence take my crown away from me and my 
 children, if I have any." " She promised not to derogate anything of 
 her rights unto the crown of England, although she had claimed the 
 title and armes of England, through the too much hastie ambition of 
 other men, for which injurys it was meet that she made satisfaction. By 
 setting down her successor, she feared lest their friendship should be 
 rather dissevered than consolidated, for that unto men established in 
 government their successors are alwayes suspected and hated ; the 
 people, such is their inconstancy upon a dislike of present things, doe 
 looke after the rising sunne and forsake the sunne setting ; and the 
 successors designed cannot keepe within the bounds of justice and 
 truth their own hopes and other mens lewd desires : moreover, if she 
 should confirm the succession unto her, she should thereby cut off the 
 hope of her own securitie, quietness and things, and make her owne 
 funerall feast alive and see the same. Meanwhile, I advise her if she 
 wish to keep me as her friend, to perform (shortly) her promise concern- 
 ing the Treaty of Leith (Edinburgh.)"^ 
 
 Foiled in that, Mary made fresh advances, and of her own accord 
 proposed an interview ; the date was fixed, and the town of Notting- 
 ham chosen for the place of meeting ; the retinue of each queen was 
 resolved upon. When all was arranged Elizabeth made excuses, and, 
 against the advice of several members of her council, sent Sir Henry 
 Sidney into Scotland, to tell Queen Mary that the interview should 
 not take place so long as there were disturbances in France. That 
 refusal perplexed the Queen of Scots. Nothing being settled, she 
 could not aid France without offending Elizabeth, and could not 
 observe neutrality without hurting her relatives and seeming to prefer 
 the uncertain alliance of England to the friendship which bound her to 
 
 Herries' Memoirs, 58. 
 " Spottiswoode, II., 8-14. Camden, pars, i., 58. 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
66 MADNESS OF THE EARL OF ARRAN, 1562. 
 
 France. An open quarrel would have been a blessing ; she pined away' 
 dwelling on useless thoughts, and allowed her rival to grow great while 
 she sat idly by.' 
 
 Meanwhile, those out of office, saw with envy at the head of affairs, 
 Lord James and Lethington, whose fortune could not conceal their 
 origin, and who used their influence to gratify their enmities. Since 
 the Queen's arrival, Chatelleraut lived away from the world at Kinneil, 
 near Linlithgow, in a retirement strange in one of his rank. Mary 
 beUeved that it would be easy to gain hini over, and asked him to come 
 and see her. Her gracious welcome surprised him. He had spoken 
 ill of her, and had done her all possible injury, because she occupied the 
 throne in his place. He withdrew conquered by her generosity, sin- 
 cerely intending, by future devotedness, to make up for the wrong he 
 had done the Queen by finding fault with her and keeping aloof. He 
 had just left the Court when, on the evening of the nth November, 
 a vexing report agitated Edinburgh ; his son was said to have come 
 from St Andrews, with a troop of followers, to carry away the Queen ; 
 and it was asserted that a large number of trugty servants already filled 
 the capital. That news gave rise to great disorder ; the night was 
 spent entirely in alarm, without an enemy appearing, and on the follow- 
 ing day, when people came quietly to find out the cause of the peculiar 
 rumour, some said that the Queen had spread the report to get a body- 
 guard for herself ; her after-behaviour belied that ; others said that the 
 nobles, who were jealous of the Duke of Chatelleraut, were the prompters.^ 
 
 The following incident gave the Queen fresh sorrow, and again 
 shewed her with whom she had to deal. Qrj the anniversary of the 
 death of Francis II., Mary desired the Lords of her Court to come in 
 black, and take part in her mourning, Her entreaties did not bend the 
 nobles ; they would not comply with a wish so natural.^ 
 
 The grief which Mary felt at their refusal gave way before anxieties 
 of another nature, proceeding rather from a frolic of some young men, 
 than from a prerneditated violation of all rights. The authors of the 
 misdeed were the Earl of Bothwell, the Marquis d'Elbeuf, uncle to the 
 Queen, and Lord John Coldingharn. Inforrned that the Earl of Arran, 
 in spite of his exalted air, and an austerity equal to that of Knox,'* 
 regularly visited the daughter of an Edinburgh citizen, they took it 
 
 ^ Balfour's Annals, I., 328. Spottisyvoode, * The reader may remember having seen in 
 
 II., 19. Teulet, II., 182, 183. a note that he wished to hang all the Papists 
 
 2 Spottiswoode, II., 16. in Scotland. — When virtue has left the heart, 
 
 3 Miss Strickland, I., 271. it dwells upon the lips ! 
 
MADNESS OF THE EARL OF ARRAN, 1562. 67 
 
 into their heads to put a stop to those ongoings. Received kindly the 
 first night, thanks to the Earl of Arran's password, used by chance, they 
 were refused admittance the next night. Without thinking on the con- 
 sequences of their conduct, Bothwell and his companions broke open the 
 door, and went in, lance in hand. That outrage on a home ended there 
 for the time ; but the guilty, ashamed of having done nothing but a 
 low prank, resolved" to begin again the day after, in spite of a protest 
 from the Queen. Bothwell brought his party together at his house, 
 while Arran's people assembled in arms on the market-place. Some 
 of the town's people, availing themselves of the chance to shew their 
 feelings, joined the side which interest or impulse prompted. As twilight 
 melted into darkness, the minds of the citizens were filled with terror ; 
 they expected the riot to break out every minute, and were astonished 
 that the Court did not interfere in the interest of peace. Mary Stuart 
 wavered ; she did not see how to act without galling the feelings of 
 both sides. She at length issued a proclamation, which ordered the 
 mobs to disperse with the shortest possible delay, under penalty of 
 being held and punished as seditious. Surprised at that order, as well 
 as at the little time given to settle down, both withdrew without a 
 murmur, and Randolph, relating the fact to Cecil, was enabled to write : 
 " so that of so likely a matter of Evil, I never saw less hurt."' 
 
 The new year was not to be without fresh sorrows ; odious enter- 
 prises on the part of the ambitious were to go hand in hand with the 
 horrors of brigandage. In that state of affairs Knox was to reap new 
 triumphs. 
 
 Bothwell, banished from Edinburgh since the adventure related 
 above, wished his sentence recalled. The gates of the town 
 were closed upon him on account of his violence ; even his friends 
 had forsaken him. In that extremity he went to Knox during the 
 night, and expressed his regret for what had happened. A few words 
 showed Knox whence came that repentance in a man apparently so 
 hardened. " If I might have my Lord Arran's favours," said he, " I 
 would await upon the Court with a page and some few servants, to spare 
 my expenses, where now I am compelled to keep, for my own safety, 
 a number of wicked and unprofitable men, to the utter destruction of my 
 living that is left."^ Knox, whose family was dependent on Bothwell's, 
 felt for his position, and tried to bring about a reconciliation. The 
 ascendancy which he had gained over the Earl of Arran led him to 
 
 ' Randolph to Cecil j 27th December. Keith, 211. 
 2 Knox, Reform., iv., 266. 
 
68 MADNESS OF THE EARL OF ARRAN, 1562. 
 
 expect speedy good fortune ; but while Knox was doing his best, the 
 incorrigible Bothwell was making himself, more and more guilty by 
 attacking Cockburn at a hunting party, laying hold of his young son, 
 and throwing him into a dungeon, which new crime kept back the 
 reconciliation until the 25th of March.' 
 
 That affair had just been settled when Knox received a hurried 
 visit from the Earl of Arran, accompanied by two gentlemen. As soon 
 as the Earl noticed the Reformer in the distance, he shouted to him, 
 " I am treasonably betrayed ! " and with these words began to weep. 
 " Who hath betrayed you, my Lord ? " demanded John Knox. " A 
 Judas or other," said he, " but I know it is but my life that is sought ; 
 I regard it not." " My lord," replied John Knox, " I understand not 
 such dark manner of speaking ; if I shall give you any answer, you 
 must speak more plain." The Earl does not need to be asked twice ; 
 he relates that Bothwell wishes to seize the Queen, to put her in Dun- 
 barton Castle, and confide the care of her to him ; also to kill Lord 
 James and Lethington, and then share the government with himself ; 
 " but," said he, " I know this is devised to accuse me of treason, for I 
 know that he will inform the Queen of it ; but I take you to witness 
 that I open it here to you, and I will pass incontinent, and write to the 
 Queen's Majesty."" 
 
 On his return to Kinneil, he did write to the Queen, informing her 
 of the conspiracy, and begging her to look to her safety at the Falk- 
 land hunt. The Queen thanked him, and the Earl endeavoured to 
 prevent the Duke of Chatelleraut from joining the conspiracy. Seeing 
 that the Duke, in spite of his efforts, stuck to the plot, he told h im that 
 he repudiated that iniquitous act with all the power of his soul, and 
 that he had already warned the Queen. That confession made the 
 Duke start ; rage choked his utterance, aad he likely would have killed 
 his son, had he not fled to his room.^ He spent the following day 
 there, and in his hiding-place took care to write to Lord James a letter 
 in cypher, stating what had happened. 
 
 Bothwell and the Abbot of Kilwinning who was implicated in the 
 affair, arrived at this juncture, denied the charge, and offered to clear 
 themselves. As the accusation was grave, and particulars and proofs 
 were wanting, they were detained until inquiries should be made.* 
 
 ^ Knox, Reform., iv., 266, sq. ; Mackenzie, ^ Miss Strickland, Life of Queen Mary, 
 
 the Writers of Scot. Nation, III., 121. among the " Lives of the Queens of Scotland," 
 
 ■? Knox, Reform., iv., 266, sq. ; Mackenzie, L, 290. 
 
 III., 264. * Spottiswoode, II., 16-18. 
 
MADNESS OF THE EARL OF ARRAN, 1562. 69 
 
 The Earl of Arran, alone in his room, was a prey to the keenest 
 anxiety. A thousand thoughts flitted across his troubled brain ; 
 phantoms crowded his diseased mind ; his heart leaned now to the 
 Queen, now to his father ; all his frame became fevered from excite- 
 ment. Having managed to escape during the evening of the 29th 
 of March, he, full of horrid fancies, ran about all night disguised as a 
 peasant, and on the morrow at break of day, he found himself on the 
 other side of the Forth, in front of the castle of the Laird of Grange. 
 He was at the height of frenzy. He ran into the court talking non- 
 sense. When Lord James reached the castle, whither he had been 
 summoned, he found the young Earl raving mad. He alleged that he 
 was bewitched. " By what witches ? " asked Lord James. " By Lord 
 James' mother," replied he. The poor man then declared that he was 
 the Queen's husband, and that he wished to go into her room, but 
 feared some one might murder him. Brought back to Falkland, he 
 went on raving, and did many foolish things." 
 
 When the hunt was over, Mary started for St Andrews, taking with 
 her the unfortunate Earl. Kilwinning and Bothwell, in safe keeping, 
 had gone thither before her. When questioned, they protested their 
 innocence. Arran would give no explanation. From his conduct 
 Randolph plainly saw the mental derangement of the Earl. Before the 
 Council he declared his father innocent, and violently denounced Both- 
 well, with whom he was confronted. Bothwell stoutly denied the 
 charge, and loudly demanded to settle it with arms or before the judges. 
 All were struck with wonder and touched with pity, when the feeble 
 Earl accepted either course at the good pleasure of the Queen. Mary 
 and the Council were moved by that nobleness of soul, and kept 
 Bothwell a prisoner, allowing the Earl to reside with Lord James. ^ 
 That was just what the ambitious prior wanted. Scarcely had he got 
 the Earl in his power, when he tried to wring from his unfortunate 
 guest, statements criminating the Duke of Chatelleraut. The son strictly 
 shielded his father's honour, obstinately asserted that he was innocent and 
 that his letter was written in a moment of madness, and was a thing 
 without foundation, an offence to God and the Queen, and a disgrace 
 to himself. Whatever Lord James did, he got no further information. 
 
 Chatelleraut, locked up at Kinneil, was in great fear. At length, 
 roused from terror, he went, on the 19th of April, and threw himself at 
 
 ■" Knox, Reform., iv. Eliz., 9th April, State Paper Office, Scottish 
 
 " Spottiswoode, II., 18; Letters of Randolph series. 
 to Cecil, 7th and 2Sth April, and to Queen 
 
70 REBELLION OF HUNTLY AND THE GORDONS, 1562. 
 
 the Queen's feet, imploring her not to condemn him on the testimony 
 of a son in delirium. Mary pardoned him most cordially ; but, before 
 his departure, she claimed the Castle of Dunbarton, which Mary of 
 Lorraine had put under his charge for a time, on the express condition 
 that he should return it to the rightful owner when the latter should 
 ask for it.' 
 
 Although the Earl of Arran had caused the Queen much uneasiness, 
 and had withdrawn only part of his accusation, she always treated him 
 with distinction ; she placed her own carriage^ at his disposal, and shewed 
 the greatest pity for his misfortune. Knowing him to be poor, and 
 unable to procure for himself any enjoyment on account of his father's 
 avarice, she thought of granting him as pension a sum from the Crown 
 revenues. Bothwell was not held in such great favour.^ After pining 
 for more than a month in the prison of St Andrews, he was taken to 
 Edinburgh ; meanwhile. Lord James, actuated merely by vague sus- 
 picions, crushed the prisoner's partisans in the south. 
 
 Mary had for a long time intended to visit the North of Scot- 
 land ; the mountains and lakes, the rivers, meadows and forests of the 
 Highlands, all seemed to attract her. She was passionately fond of 
 rambling in the country. In the open air her heart beat joyously ; 
 she felt more free, and gladly gave herself up to rural pleasures. She 
 set out from Edinburgh on the nth of August, accompanied by Lord 
 James, Randolph, the English Ambassador, and a numerous retinue. 
 On the excursion the party intehded to go through the vast domains of 
 the Earl of Huntly who, for some time past, had not been on very good 
 terms with the Court. A private quarrel had lately added to the stiff- 
 ness of the relations. Sir John Gordon, the Earl's second son, had had 
 words with Lord Ogilvie about a property which each claimed. The 
 two Lords had met in Edinburgh, at the head of their vassals, had 
 rushed upon one another, and Lord Ogilvie had received a serious wound. 
 The combatants were seized by the guards and put under arrest, awaiting 
 the Queen's decision. Gordon, hopeless of forgiveness, or dreading 
 long captivity, fled to his father who, instead of handing him over to 
 justice, gave him shelter and protection : that had happened when the 
 court was beginning the excursion. On the Queen's approach, the 
 Earl disappeared, leaving his wife to treat with her. In Scotland 
 there was no one more able or better fitted to touch the heart of the 
 
 1 Knox, Reform., iv., 269. Teulet, II., 176. Knox says himself, "the 
 
 " Diurnal of Occur., 72. Queen, highly offended, committed him to 
 
 " Paul de Foix to the Queen Mother, prison."— Knox, Reform., iv., 269. 
 
MARY IN THE FIELD, 1562. 71 
 
 Queen. She came and threw herself at Mary's feet, shedding tears, 
 and imploring pardon for her son. Though more merciful than severe, 
 Mary could not pass over a crime which flight had made worse. 
 The Protestant lords would have been hurt, and would have attributed 
 the Queen's clemency, not to her kind heart, but to the religion common 
 to her and the Earl. Consequently she insisted that the guilty one 
 should appear before a court of justice. He was for a time (3 ist August) 
 prisoner of the Provost of Aberdeen. That punishment seemed too 
 mild to Lord James, whose hatred of the Gordons was increased by the 
 hope of getting their lands. He said he dreaded an insurrection 
 among the vassals, or some attempt on the part of the young Lord, not 
 quite harmless, and asked that he should be sent to Stirling. The Queen 
 suspecting nothing, at once consented.' By that unexpected order the 
 hopes of the Huntly family were blighted, inasmuch as Stirling Castle 
 was commanded by Lord Erskine, the uncle of Lord James. The 
 name of the fortress and that of the commander 'showed clearly to the 
 Gordons the treatment they might expect. 
 
 Sir John bent his steps sadly towards Stirling, without any show of 
 resistance. Seeming resigned to his fate, his guard was less strict, and 
 Gordon made off a second time. That fresh escape opened up a way 
 for severity, while shutting it against clemency. His father, seemingly, 
 was not looking for such a turn in affairs, as he had made great pre- 
 parations at Strathbogie Castle, hoping that his Sovereign might come 
 to pay him a visit there. She was several times begged to do him the 
 honour of accepting his hospitality ; but the Queen, frightened by the 
 rumours which Lord James had spread anent the Earl's treason, refused 
 the invitation. That ambitious bastard, to acquire as soon as possible 
 the Earldom of Moray which Mary had bestowed upon him by private 
 deed, had made use of the vilest slanders in order to dispossess Huntly. 
 He had described him to the Queen as a traitor trying to rise at the 
 expense of the crown : he had even hinted that the Earl, sure of his 
 power and influence, wished to see her the wife of his son. The 
 calumny not only made the Queen indignant but also drove her to 
 severity. Unfortunately facts lent a shade of truth to those perfidious 
 insinuations. On her arrival at Inverness, Mary, wishing to put up at 
 the castle of which Huntly was the governor, saw the gates close at 
 her approach.^ Exasperated at such an affront she undertook the siege 
 of the place, aided by the Montroses, Erasers, and Mackintoshes, 
 
 ' Bishop Keith, 225. ^ Diurnal of Occur., 73. 
 
72 LORD JAMES CREATED EARL OF MORAY, 1562. 
 
 Then, with wonder, men saw that delicate princess acting like an old 
 soldier, giving orders, directing the manoeuvres, and regretting that she 
 was not a man, to take part in the strife.' The assault of the troops, 
 full of enthusiasm, was so fierce that the castle surrendered almost 
 at once. The commander of the castle was executed for treason. 
 
 The appointment of Lord James to the Earldom of Moray, and 
 the cession of the Earldom of Mar to his uncle Erskine, showed 
 Huntly that there was nothing left for him to do. He endeavoured, 
 however, by patience, to regain the good graces of the Queen. He 
 bore the injustice with great resignation, and when he learned that 
 Mary was about to attack Findlater and Deckford Castle, he sent her 
 the keys, assuring her of his loyalty. Under the influence of Lord 
 James, and probably acting on his advice, Mary had the Earl's envoys 
 imprisoned. She would not take the keys, saying that she could easily 
 enter the castle without them, and summoned Huntly to give up, within 
 twenty-four hours, a cannon which he had long had in his possession. 
 The Earl gave if up at once and begged Captain Hay, whom the 
 Queen had sent to him, to tell his mistress that " not only the cannon, 
 but his goods and even his body, were at her disposal." The Countess 
 took the messenger aside, led him into her chapel, and said to him, 
 with tears in her eyes : " Good friend, you see here the envy that is 
 borne unto my husband ! Would he have forsaken God and his religion, 
 as those that are now about the Queen's grace, and have the whole 
 guiding of her, have done, my husband had never been put at as now 
 he is. God," said she, " and He that is upon this holy altar, whom I 
 believe in, will, I am sure, preserve and let our true meaning hearts be 
 known, and as I have said unto you ; so I pray you let it be said unto 
 your mistress : my husband was ever obedient unto her, and so will die 
 her faithful subject."^ Those touching words were carried to the Queen 
 in full Council and repeated to her in private by the Captain ; but the 
 deluded princess had so much confidence in Lord James, that she saw 
 only through his eyes, and acted only in accordance with his hatred or 
 his affection. Huntly's ruin was fixed ; nothing now could stop the per- 
 secution, and although neither arms, munitions, nor secret papers, as had 
 been expected, were found in Strathbogie, the Privy Council, with the 
 bastard at their head, declared him a traitor, without the loving voice 
 of his countess or any other friend availing. Huntly was hurled from 
 his high position, ruined. With regret he resolved to flee from the 
 
 1 Randolph to Cecil, Chalmers, I., 138. 2 Chahners, I., 140. 
 
REBELLION OF HUNTLY, 1562. 73 
 
 danger which threatened him. He assembled a small body of five 
 hundred men, and marched towards Aberdeen, determined to make the 
 Queen learn from force, what mildness and forbearance had not been able 
 to teach her. He took up an advantageous position separated from the 
 Queen's troops by a long strip of marshy ground. Lord James was too 
 weak at first to venture into that swamp ; some Lords and a great 
 number of Huntly's friends went over to him, as if deserting. That 
 reinforcement allowed him to send forward several companies to defend 
 the two passages of firm ground, and prevent the Earl from turning 
 his position. Huntly betook himself to a stony hillock, covered with 
 long heather and broom, whence he could watch the enemy's 
 movements. 
 
 Just as the two armies were going down to engage, the pretended 
 deserters waved branches of heather above their heads, as if in celebra- 
 tion of the victory of Lord James. That was the signal agreed upon 
 with Huntly. "Voila our friends," cried Huntly on perceiving them, 
 "they have kept promise; let us now encounter the rest!" In a 
 moment accordingly Moray's army was in confusion ; the traitors, in 
 their career, dragged on the faithful troops, and those still true wavered, 
 inclined to flee rather than fight. Moray, momentarily thrown off his 
 guard by this procedure of Huntly's men, raised his voice and com- 
 manded his faithful troops to close their ranks, and set their pikes in 
 rest. Huntly's men, seeing the rout, and no longer in doubt that all the 
 Queen's troops were in disorder, threw away their arms so as more easily 
 to follow the fugitives, and rushed headlong on Moray's battalion which 
 was silently awaiting them pike in hand. Then wildly they closed in 
 fight. The aggressors fled, leaving the Earl and one hundred and 
 twenty of his men dead on the field of battle. Sir John Gordon was 
 executed, and George Gordon owed his safety only to the Queen's 
 clemency.' 
 
 Some days earlier (28th August), Both well, till then a prisoner, 
 made good his escape and hid himself at the Hermitage of Liddesdale. 
 Deeming himself unsafe, after the fall of Huntly at the hands of the 
 bastard, he embarked for the continent. Unfortunately his vessel was, 
 for a long time, beaten back by contrary winds, and obliged to put in at 
 
 1 Bishop Keith, 229, 232. Spottiswoode, II., and Buchanan remark that Mary received the 
 
 20 sq. Knox, Reform., iv., 277-279. Herries' congratulations with sadness ; perhaps she at 
 
 Memoirs, 63 sq. Buchanan, XVII. De Thou, last noticed that she was being deceived by 
 
 XXIX. Diurnal, 74. Chalmers, Sec. iv., 119 Moray, 
 sq. Tytler. Miss Strickland. Gauthier. Knox 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
74 BOTHWELL A PRISONER, 1562. 
 
 Holy Island, about twelve miles below Berwick, Both well was 
 seized and made prisoner in England. Randolph at once wrote 
 to his country that the wish of Moray, Argyll and Lethington, 
 was "to have Bothwell detained in England, of which he was a deter- 
 mined enemy."' 
 
 There were great rejoicings during the homeward progress of the 
 Queen. Let one imagine a very amiable and cheerful company, having 
 at its head the most charming princess in the world, moving along by 
 short stages, amid fields clothed with heather, resting in the evening in 
 some pleasant spot to recruit for the hunt and other amusements of the 
 morrow, and passing, free from care, days made happy by the remem- 
 brance of past dangers ; let one imagine all that bliss, and yet the 
 reality is still far from being imagined. The terrible preachings of 
 Knox, however, somewhat damped the enjoyment ; the furious Presby- 
 terian kept thundering against life's pleasures ; in his eyes those sports 
 were so many abominations. He followed the Court with a gloomy 
 and searching eye; " In fiddling and flinging," said he, " the princes are 
 more exercised than in reading or hearing of God's most blessed word ; 
 and fiddlers and flatterers, which commonly corrupt the youth, are more 
 precious in their eyes than men of wisdom and gravity, who, by whole- 
 some admonition, might beat down into them some part of that vanity 
 and pride, whereunto all are born, but in princes take deep root and 
 strength by wicked education."^ The dearth of the following year, 
 owing to great floods in England, where Mary had not set foot, and 
 also in Scotland, seeming to tally with his statement, he indulged in 
 still wilder ravings : " The idolatry of our wicked Rulers," exclaimed he, 
 " the riotous feasting and excessive banqueting used in city and country 
 wheresoever the prophane court repaired, provoked God to strike the 
 staff of bread, and to give his maledictions upon the Fruits of the Earth. "^ 
 Mary's acts, be they what they might, ever found in him a rigorous 
 censor, and if at times he forgot to slander, he at once changed his policy, 
 recalled past events, cast aspersion upon them, and went on finding 
 fault with the present. Thus at the time of Bothwell's escape he had 
 him written to by their common friend John Maxwell, who bade him 
 behave as a faithful and devoted subject, so that his after-conduct might 
 gain him pardon for fleeing from prison ; and elsewhere he seems to 
 hint that Mary winked at the escape."* 
 
 1 Chalmers, III., 19. « Wiesener, Marie Stuart et le Comte de 
 
 " Knox, Reform., iv. Bothwell, 40. 
 
 " Bishop Keith, 237. 
 
CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT AT COURT, 1562. 75 
 
 To be able thoroughly to judge of the state of the public mind in 
 Scotland, the changes at Court and in the country must be considered. 
 Under Mary Stuart's ancestors there was not much splendour or much 
 ceremony. At times a favourite was held in high esteem, while the 
 rest of the nobles kept aloof in a mood now reserved, now threatening. 
 During the Queen-Mother's Regency, there was still very little display: a 
 few French were at the Court ; but the Scottish Lords remained proudly 
 on their estates, and thought themselves masters in their own homes. 
 Nothing at Holyrood, or in the country, marked the presence of a 
 sovereign : barbarism reigned in the provinces, and silence at the Court. 
 On her arrival in Scotland, Mary had therefore to - establish her 
 authority, form a Court and civilise a nation : undoubtedly great 
 labours ; for, if in enlightened countries civilisation strengthens the 
 Throne, makes courtiers, and thereby extends its sway, in countries still 
 barbarous, to support power is to acknowledge a master, and to form 
 part of a Court is, for a free man, to return to a kind of servitude ; in 
 short, to become civilised is to lose that fierceness which, among poorly 
 enlightened nations, bears the name of courage. Mary, confident in 
 herself, began by forming a small but select circle around her, per- 
 suaded that the country would naturally follow the example of the 
 Court, and allow itself to be influenced thereby. She introduced into 
 Edinburgh, at least in so far as she could, the tone and luxury of the 
 Court of the Valois ; for she was anxious to give her people the charms 
 of great capitals. Soon there were musical and dancing parties, and the 
 softened and polished nobility threw off" with a good grace its rough 
 manners for the attractions of civilisation. The Queen's rare beauty 
 and affability, enhanced by an exquisite politeness and noble simplicity, 
 quickly imbued with a chivalrous spirit those who drew near her. The 
 fine arts began to flourish, and poetry and music were held in repute. 
 That change was looked upon with an evil eye by the bitter Sectaries 
 of the Reformation, who, from principle, followed a different course. 
 Their lang^iage was harsh, their habits gloomy and eccentric, and their 
 morality ascetic in the extreme. Lest the soothing influence of music 
 should affect them, they broke the organs in the churches, and destroyed 
 the works of art which they contained. Luxury in dress was strictly 
 forbidden, and mirth itself was an offence : praying God, only in sack- 
 cloth and in the dust, was allowed. People were therefore much 
 surprised and irritated at the Queen for introducing instrumental music 
 into her chapel. Civilisation was an abomination to those austere 
 devotees, and the fine arts seemed so many remnants of old Roman 
 
76 CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT AT COURT, 1562. 
 
 Paganism, and, of course, essentially hateful things.' What was Mary 
 to do under such circumstances ? Was she to stop, and, to please the 
 Presbyterians, banish that which forms the glory of civilised people, and 
 put on that surly exterior which was then a proof of good-breeding and 
 sanctity ? It would have been prudent, but assuredly less noble ; for 
 it is always cowardly to change one's simple mode of life for barbarism. 
 Mary took no heed of outrages so little deserved, and allowed people 
 to say what they pleased. 
 
 All other classes of the people underwent, in imitation of the Court, 
 a perceptible, and, I might almost say, more happy modification. The 
 reformed religion was, thanks to the Queen and despite insults, 
 acknowledged and organised. The ministers of all Churches were 
 endowed, irrespective of creed ; all were equally under the protection of 
 the laws, and if there was a shade of difference in treatment, the 
 Protestants, being the more numerous body, had the advantage. That 
 Scotland did not enjoy more quiet under the reign of so wise a Princess, 
 must be laid to the rebellious feelings which were then fermenting 
 among the Presbyterians. Be that as it may, Mary gave proofs of 
 great genius and extreme goodness of heart by respecting, in that 
 turbulent and imperious century, and in spite of the sad lessons 
 which were before her eyes from childhood, by respecting, I say, that 
 which upon earth is the glory of man and his most precious gift — ■ 
 conscience. 
 
 The needy also had a share in her solicitude, and to them she was 
 not a Queen but a mother. Two almoners distributed money to them 
 according to their poverty ; their children were taught at her expense. 
 Now and then rich men, emboldened by impunity during the wars of 
 the regency, ruthlessly snatched from the poor their last morsel of 
 bread, and these, stripped and forsaken, had neither the means nor the 
 power to plead their cause. The Queen, however, retained an advo- 
 cate at a fixed salary to defend the needy in her capital, while she 
 often presided in person to see justice done ; with her own hands she 
 tended the wretched and even pleaded their cause before the rich lords." 
 An angel of peace who would have ensured the happiness of a people 
 
 1 " Mary Queen of Scots, her Persecutions, August. MS. State Papers and Chalmers, I., 
 
 Sufferings, and Trials ; " Glasgow : W. R. 99. 
 
 M'Phun, 1821, chap, vi., 79, sq. — Already ^ H. Glassford Bell, " Life of Queen Mary," 
 
 in August 1562, people found fault with her i., 182, sq.; Chalmers, I., 102 | Miss Strickland, 
 
 life, and filthy songs alluding to her were sung ii., 358. — " In tribunali saepe causas audiendo, 
 
 in the streets. Randolph to Cecil, loth ut aqua bili jure summos cum infimis contin- 
 
 eret." Camden, I., 78. 
 
DEATH OF CHASTELARD, 1563. 77 
 
 and gained their admiration even in the worst of times, had not tor- 
 menting reUgious hatred hindered her from carrying out her plans ! 
 
 The rapture she kindled in those who could see or hear her was such 
 as to give rise to the greatest devotedness, but it was a rapture which laid 
 them open to the greatest dangers ; for Providence, which had endowed 
 her so handsomely in person, had given her at the same time a proud soul 
 and a sound religion which prevented her from ever degrading herself : 
 to her, honour was life. A poor French gentleman, named Chastelard, 
 was the first to learn that. Chastelard, with some of Bayard's blood in 
 his veins, was a brilliant youth, a type of chivalry, and an elegant poet. 
 He became passionately enamoured of Mary Stuart. Knowing that 
 she was fond of poetry, he had addressed several pieces of verse to 
 her. The Queen, imagining it a beguiling of his weary hours, and 
 nothing more, sent him her thanks. On receiving her message Chastelard 
 thought he should have died of happiness. Recalled for a while to 
 France, he pined away with weariness ; the profession of arms which 
 he had loved so much became a burden to him ; there was a want 
 somewhere in his existence. In the Huguenot war he joined no side, 
 and led a life dishonourable to himself, and valueless to France. At 
 length he begged to be sent back to Scotland, and his wish was 
 granted. The flame, for a long time slumbering, burst forth afresh on 
 his return to Edinburgh, and one night he was found concealed under 
 the Queen's bed. Mary, touched with compassion, forgave him his 
 indelicacy, desiring him to be in future more respectful, and, to put a 
 stop to those familiarities, ordered him to quit the Court. Chastelard 
 kept out of sight; but two days later he was again found in the Queen's 
 chamber. Mary raised the alarm, and called her attendants ; noticing 
 Moray, she ordered him to sheathe his dagger in the imprudent youth. 
 Moray in vain endeavoured to quiet her ; Chastelard, guilty of high 
 treason, was condemned to death and was hanged. He expired 
 uttering these words : " Adieu, thou, so lovely and so cruel, who killest 
 me, thou whom I cannot cease to love." ' 
 
 Just at the period of this untoward accident Mary received news 
 from France which made her forget her own sorrows. About the end 
 of February her secretary, Raullet, arrived from Paris, and handed a 
 letter to the Queen, telling her that a great misfortune had happened 
 in her family. On opening the letter Mary was heard to exclaim : 
 
 1 " Adieu, toi, si belle et si cruelle, qui me t6me, " Discours sur Marie Stuart," and Proofs 
 tues et que je ne puis cesser d'aimer." Bran- ii. at the end of vol. II. 
 
78 DEATH OF THE DUKE DE GUISE, 1563. 
 
 " Oh, Jesus, Jesus, my uncle is deadl " The Duke de Guise whom she 
 had so much loved was dead. 
 
 After a little time had healed the cruel wound, and when nature 
 had relieved itself through tears, she sent for Raullet to learn from him 
 the full particulars of that assassination, which is one of the most 
 tragical in history. 
 
 A Huguenot fanatic, Poltrot de M6r6, who had enjoyed the Duke's 
 kindness, and who had never suffered ill-treatment at his hands, solely from 
 the desire to rid his party of a dangerous enemy, resolves to assassinate 
 his friend. He unbosoms himself to Coligny and Theodore de Beze ; 
 They, instead of dissuading him, strengthen him in his resolve : " Go," 
 said they, " take courage, the angels will help you I " To gain his end 
 he becomes the Duke's servant, and daily watches for an opportunity 
 to kill him. At last he takes a pistol, loaded with poisoned bullets, 
 and in a wood awaits his master's arrival, while he prays to God that 
 He may strengthen his arm ; then, at the favourable moment, fires, 
 in the belief that he is doing a good deed. The after-fate of the 
 murderer is most surprising. He leaps upon his horse, gallops all 
 night at a quick pace, dashes at random through by-paths, as if 
 afraid of himself, thinks himself a hundred miles from the scene of 
 his crime, falls asleep in a barn at break of day, and, on awaking, 
 finds himself in the grasp of the law close to the place whence he had 
 set out. 
 
 The inhabitants of Paris were very much grieved when they heard 
 of that fiendish act. The ruffian who had been guilty of it was con- 
 demned to have his flesh torn off with red-hot pincers, and then to be 
 quartered. His frightful torture was considered too mild by the 
 Parisians, whose rage waxed greater over the corpse itself. The 
 Duke's greatness of soul, his kindliness, and the good fortune which 
 attended all his undertakings, had gained for him the public favour ; 
 people delighted to speak of the acts of heroism which had made his 
 name illustrious ; and the exertions of the Huguenots to put him to death 
 increased the affection for him in the camp which was under his com- 
 mand. Already, at Rouen, he had almost been the victim of an 
 assassin ; and when he asked the murderer if he had personally given 
 him reason to complain : "No, sir," replied the guilty one, " it is the 
 zeal alone for my religion, whose mortal enemy you are, which has 
 made me think of putting you to death." — " Well," said the Duke, " if 
 your religion teaches vou to kill him who has never offended you, mine 
 orders me to pardon you ; go, and judge thereby which of the two 
 
DEATH OF THE DUKE DE GUISE, 1563. 79 
 
 religions is the better." Sublime words, which ought to have disarmed 
 the Huguenots, and made them fall on their knees. 
 
 The infamous murderer, who had just cut off so beautiful a life was, 
 nevertheless, held up as a saint by his party ; so blind is fanaticism ! 
 Mary listened to those particulars, and for many a day bewailed her 
 unfortunate uncle.' 
 
 ^ Brantome, " Castelnau," iv., 10. — La Popelini^re, ix. ; De Thou., xxxiv. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 1564— 1565. 
 
 NEGOTIATIONS FOR MARY STUART'S MARRIAGE — SEVERAL SUITORS — THE KING OF SWEDEN — 
 DON CARLOS — FERDINAND I. PROPOSES THE ARCHDUKE CHARLES — JEALOUSY OF 
 CATHERINE DE MEDICIS— SHE PROPOSES THE DUKE D'ANJOU — ELIZABETH'S ANXIETY — 
 SHE OFFERS DUDLEY — INTERVIEW OF MARY WITH KNOX — INTERVIEW OF KNOX WITH 
 LETHINGTON — MELVILLE IN LONDON — TIHE COUNTESS OF LENNOX AND DARNLEY — 
 CONVERSATIONS OF THE QUEEN WITH RANDOLPH — SECRET MARRIAGE OF THE QUEEN 
 WITH DARNLEY — MARY'S CONDUCT — PUBLIC MARRIAGE. 
 
 ' I ''HE Queen had now been a widow for two years, and if she did 
 -■- not soon wed she must compromise her interests. Chastelard 
 had proved it was dangerous for her to remain single ; fanatics, by ill- 
 treating the Archbishop of St Andrews, and imprisoning the Catholic 
 priests, made severity on her part necessary.' To be able to stamp out 
 such troubles, a queen, she felt, was not powerful enough ; there must 
 be a king. Here her only difficulty was to choose. 
 
 The King of Sweden had come forward among the first ; but as the 
 Queen seemed little inclined to contract an alliance with the North, he 
 had been thrown aside. Elizabeth, too, looked upon that union with 
 displeasure.'' The match with Don Carlos seemed more suitable, but that 
 prince was powerful ; France and England were very much against an 
 alliance which might compromise the safety of other states. Ferdinand, 
 on his side, believed he might have some chance of success. His alliance, 
 stronger than that with Sweden, was not a source of so much anxiety 
 as one with Spain. He had an interview with the Cardinal de Lorraine 
 when the latter passed through Inspriick on his way to the Council of 
 Trent ; the Cardinal encouraged him to press the suit, and promised 
 
 ' " Forty-seven persons were brought to the ^ " Ehzabeth feared," says Chantonnay, " que 
 
 bar with the Archbishop of St Andrews for la Reyna, estando en su reyno, podria casarse 
 
 having administered or received sacrament." con el rey de Suecia 6 otro principe poderoso, 
 
 — Pitcairn, Criminal Trials, I., 427. — " Divers el qual tomando pie en Escocia podria con 
 
 persons, priests, were apprehended by the kirk- armas seguir la pretension della (corona)." 
 
 men who take upon them to prosecute, ex- And he adds this sentence which the future 
 
 amine, condemn and execute without authority has fully justified : " En summa veese clara- 
 
 of the Queen or Council. They pretending mente que en qualquier manera los Ingleses 
 
 that the Spirit of God did to their consciences temen el casamiamento d'esta princesa." 
 
 justijie their actions'' — Sanderson's History, Chantonnay to the King of Spain, 26th July 
 
 30. 1561.— Teulet, II., 167. 
 
JEALOUSY OF CATHERINE DE MEDICIS, 1564. 81 
 
 him his support. He then asked Mary Stuart's hand for the youngest 
 of his sons, the Arch-Duke Charles. Matters went so far that Melville 
 was ordered to obtain particulars about the young Prince, and about 
 the marriage contract.' 
 
 Elizabeth, dreading that a wedding was coming off, resolved to 
 thwart it ; and, in addition to remonstrating with Mary, tried to win 
 away from her the Arch-Duke Charles, by allowing people to think 
 that she herself was meditating an alliance with him. Catherine de 
 M^dicis, more discreet, and therefore more crafty, dreamed of impossible 
 alliances, by which she might gain the good-will of both Elizabeth 
 and Mary. She sent to England Michel Castelnau to offer Elizabeth 
 the hand of the young King of France, Charles IX., while, for Mary 
 Stuart, she proposed an alliance with the Duke d'Anjou. In spite of 
 his skill, the negotiator was fated to fail in both schemes. The Queen 
 of England tendered him " all the thanks and polite replies then known 
 possible, deeming the offer a great honour. . . . But found in it a 
 difficulty, to wit, that the very Christian King, her good-brother, was 
 too great and too small," " too great from position, too small by reason 
 of his youth. Then, personally explaining her thought, she let slip the 
 true motive of her refusal. " The English," said she, " like to have 
 their Sovereigns at home, and France is so great that her King could 
 never think of living elsewhere ; " that was the true motive. More- 
 over, the King was still young, and " she, already thirty years of age, 
 called herself an old thing, which she has kept repeating, since I have 
 known her," adds the ambassador,^ Declining the offer, the Queen 
 tried to dissuade Castelnau from his journey to Scotland. Several 
 courtiers hinted to him that their mistress seemed to incline more 
 towards the Duke d'Anjou, because he might come and live in England. 
 
 Castelnau, puzzled, wrote to Catherine de M^dicis about it, and 
 went on to Scotland. His attention was arrested by Mary Stuart's 
 position ; the picture which he has drawn of it sufficiently proves how 
 much she was beloved by her subjects.* Mary was greatly pleased 
 to see that Lord, an old acquaintance, who had been her servant in 
 
 ' Fran5ois de Bourbon, Prince Dauphin of ^ " Elle desjk agde de trente ans, s'appelant 
 
 Auvergne was also a suitor. He was rejected vieille chose, qu'elle a tousjours dit depuis que 
 
 on the opinion of the Council. Teulet, II., 189. je Fai cognue." — Castlenau, M^moires, v., 11. 
 
 ^ " Tous les remerciemens et honnestes * " Estant done arrivd, en Ecosse, ie trouuay 
 
 responses qu'il estoit possible, estimant cette cette Princesse en la fleur de son 4ge estim^e 
 
 recherche k tr&s grand honneur. . . . Mais y et adorde de ses sujets et recherchee de tous 
 
 trouvoit une difficultd, k sgavoir que le roy ses voisins ; en sorte qu'il n'y auoit grande 
 
 trfes-chrestien, son bon fr^re, estoit trop grand fortune et alliance qu'elle ne pust espdrer." 
 
 et trop petit." Castelnau, Mdmoires, v., 11. 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
82 ELIZABETH OFFERS DUDLEY, 1564. 
 
 France, and one of her retinue on her return to Scotland. She gave 
 him a hearty welcome, and, during the whole of his stay, treated him 
 magnificently, but rejected his proposal. 
 
 To prevent a new alliance, and stop the active steps which Spain 
 was again taking, Elizabeth resolved to choose a husband "for her 
 good sister." She would no doubt have preferred Mary to live single 
 like herself, but failing that, she thought it would be the wiser course 
 to have her wedded to one devoted to England. The difficulty was 
 to find a man worthy of the Queen of Scots, and one on whose fidelity 
 England might rely ; not finding one to her purpose she had recourse 
 to shameless deceit. 
 
 There was then at the Court of England a man in whom were centred 
 all the charms likely to captivate a young lady; he was noble in 
 person, agreeable in manners, insinuating and singularly delicate in 
 conversation, somewhat affected in bearing, and given to stand upon 
 his dignity, nevertheless, at heart, without honour or generosity. He 
 had been suspected of the murder of his first wife, and, later on, was to 
 poison another. That privileged favourite of Elizabeth had received 
 administrative, after having enjoyed personal, favours, and was, in 
 short, so dear to the Queen of' England that the people attributed the 
 suspicious intimacy to the stars ; ' such was the man whom Elizabeth put 
 forward. Mary felt offended at that proceeding ; but to disobey 
 Elizabeth was to give up the right of succession to the throne of 
 England. The Queen of Scots must now do one of two things. She 
 must either sink her dislike and wed Dudley, or renounce her claim to 
 the throne of England. Mary did not hesitate ; she overcame her 
 feelings and gave her consent, remarking however upon the great 
 disparity of age and rank that existed betwixt her and Dudley. Suc- 
 cession to the throne was the indispensable condition. Elizabeth was 
 delighted. She at once raised her favourite to the highest dignities, and 
 created him Earl of Leicester.^ By so acting she could indulge her 
 passion for Dudley, and work for her own ends. The higher the 
 position held by Dudley, the more easily he could approach Elizabeth 
 without exciting suspicion. That cunning proceeding was masked by 
 the fine pretext of giving to the Queen of Scots a husband worthy of her. 
 
 1 Robertson, History of Scotland, 1769, I., in the mariadj with the Erie of Leiester she 
 
 306. shall fynd hir reddy to avance hym to all the 
 
 Letters from Randolph, Bishop Keith, honor she can, and to favor his title in all 
 
 259, 260, 263. — "The Queenes Majesty willeth sorte that she maye, etc." — Illustrations of the 
 
 Mr Randolph to acerteyn the Q. of Scottes Reign of Queen _Mary, 134. 
 that if she will be content to follow hir advise 
 
MARY AND KNOX, 1564. 83 
 
 Leicester, who secretly aspired to the hand of Elizabeth, felt un- 
 easy at thoge combinations, and, though proud of being destined to 
 wed the most beautiful princess in the world, could not make up his 
 mind to accept the honour. His affections were not fixed; he knew 
 not what to do. Elizabeth herself loved him passionately, and pro- 
 claimed that nothing could have prevented her from taking him as a 
 husband, had she not resolved to live in celibacy. Leicester now 
 thought that the Queen might some day change her mind, and from 
 that time looked upon his marriage with Mary as a disgrace, and laid 
 the blame upon Cecil.' 
 
 Knox, who all along has been mixed up with political and religious 
 matters, is found upbraiding the Queen about the intended marriage. 
 In the pulpit he discussed politics instead of religion : " My Lords," 
 exclaimed he, " I hear of the Queen's marriage ; Dukes, brethern to 
 Emperors, and Kings, strive all for the best gain ; but this, my Lords, 
 will I say, — note the day, and bear witness after, — -whensoever the 
 nobility of Scotland professing the Lord Jesus, consent that an infidel — 
 and all Papists are infidels — shall be head to our Sovereign, ye do, so 
 far you lieth, to banish Christ Jesus from this realm ; ye bring God's 
 vengeance upon the country, a plague upon yourselves." " 
 
 That style of speaking was judged intolerable. Both Catholics and 
 Protestants were offended. The Queen was told of those violent words ; 
 somebody having reported to her accurately what Knox had said. It 
 grieved Mary. She could not believe that hearts, though perverse, 
 could dare to speak so. Knox was sent for. The Queen blamed his 
 conduct, telling him she had done all in her power to please and 
 satisfy him ; that she had granted him the privilege of approaching her, so 
 that he might find fault with her conduct as often as he wished ; in short, 
 that she had sought his favour by all imaginable means. Knox was 
 obliged to admit, that during his various interviews he had never known 
 the Queen to be angry with him. That was the beginning of an apology; 
 but pride soon gof the upper hand, and he added : " When it shall 
 please God to deliver you from that bondage of darkness and error in 
 the which ye have been nourished, for the lack of true doctrine, your 
 Majesty will find the liberty of my tongue nothing offensive. Without 
 the preaching-place. Madam, I think few have occasion to be offended 
 at me ; and there. Madam, I am not master of myself, but must obey 
 Him who commands me to speak plain, and to flatter no flesh upon the 
 
 ^ Sir James Melville's Memoirs. — Bannat. Club, 119. 
 '^ Knox Reform., iv. 
 
84 MARY AND KNOX, 1564. I 
 
 face of the earth." — " But," replied the Queen, "what have you to do 
 with my marriage ? " Instead of answering, Knox praised her dignity, 
 pretending that his vocation was not to visit princely courts nor ladies' 
 chambers, but to teach the gospel of Christ ; that he preached faith and 
 repentance ; that in order to repent, it was necessary to know one's 
 faults and consequently one's duties ; in short, that to let the nobility 
 know their obligations towards God he had of necessity spoken as he 
 had done. " But my marriage what have you to do with ? " said 
 Mary. " What are you in this commonwealth ? " — ■" A subject born 
 within the same. Madam ; and albeit I am neither earl, lord, nor 
 baron within it, yet has God made me — how abject that ever I am in 
 your eyes — a profitable member within the same ; yea. Madam, to 
 me it appertains no less to forewarn of such things as may hurt it, if I 
 foresee them, than it doth to any of the nobility ; for both my vocation 
 and conscience crave plainness of me ; and, therefore, madam, to your- 
 self I say that I spake in public place. Whensoever that the nobility 
 of this realm shall consent that ye be to an infidel husband, they do as 
 much as in them lieth to renounce Christ and to banish His truth from 
 this realm." That was too much for Mary Stuart ; so much boldness 
 in a subject after so much kindness on her part, rent her heart. She 
 began to sob. Touched by what he saw, Erskine of Dun tried to calm 
 her but in vain ; her voice was stifled, and her tears flowed freely. Knox 
 seemed unmoved before her," and pondered over his defence. When 
 he saw the Queen somewhat recovered, he apologized for his violence, 
 saying: " In God's presence I speak, Madam, I never delighted in the 
 weeping of any of God's creatures ; yea, I can scarcely abide the tears 
 of my own boys, whom my own hand corrects, much less can I rejoice 
 in your Majesty's weeping ; but seeing that I have offered you no just 
 occasion to be offended, but have spoken the truth, as my vocation 
 craves of me, I must sustain — albeit unwillingly — your Majesty's tears, 
 rather than I dare hurt my conscience, or betray my commonwealth 
 through my silence." Mary made no reply. She gave him to under- 
 stand by her silence that she wished him to retire. In going across 
 
 • The old boor, while relating that strange words of her beauty, of her excellency, and 
 
 scene, says : " The said John stood still with- how that all the princes of Europe would be 
 
 out any alteration of countenance for a long glad to seek her favour." A fitting remark 
 
 season." What a seeming hardness of heart indeed ! I beg God's pardon, and the reader's ; 
 
 towards that graceful Princess melting into but, I do not know why, every time I read 
 
 tears ! and as a contrast he shows Erskine of those lines, I imagine I see the virtuous 
 
 Dun extolling the Queen's charms, and giving Diogenes coming out of his barrel. Is such a 
 
 her by way of consolation "many pleasing comparison pardonable ? 
 
KNOX AND LETHINGTON, 1564. 85 
 
 the ante-room, Knox noticed a group of ladies who were making 
 merry. The mirth of those young persons displeased the ferocious 
 preacher, and not satisfied with the tears forced from the Queen, he 
 interrupted the cheerful party. " O fair ladies," said he, " how pleasing 
 was this life of yours, if it should ever abide, and then in the end that 
 we might pass to heaven with all this gay gear ? But fie upon that 
 knave. Death, that will come whether w*e will or not ! and when he has 
 laid on his arrest, the foul worms will be busy with this flesh, be it 
 never so fair and so tender." After that sentimental bombast he 
 majestically left the room, happy at having put a stop to the merry 
 laugh of some young girls, as if that was a crime in girls of twenty 
 years of age.' 
 
 It would be impossible to mention all the outrages which that 
 " ruffian," as Cobbett says, after Johnson,^ made the Queen of Scots 
 endure. In private, as well as in public, he replied to her politeness 
 only with insults. " Murderers," said he, " adulterers, thieves, whores, 
 drunkards, idolaters, and all malefactors got protection under the 
 Queen's wings, under colour that they were of her religion : Lord 
 deliver us from that bondage." ^ Under pretence of repressing balls, 
 hunting, dress, and such like things, which he called vices, he sowed the 
 seeds of revolt among the people, and said that the conduct of their 
 Queen drew down vipon them the curses of heaven. His own History of 
 the Reformation shows, that on many occasions he threatened the Scots 
 with heaven's wrath on account of the loose morality in the Court and 
 among the Papists.* But above all questions, far above crime and 
 immorality, was the Mass. He loved to return to that subject, and the 
 bewildered people, fancying they were obeying God's command to 
 overturn idolatry, rushed headlong into all kinds of excess. Lethington, 
 a witness of the turn in the public mind and of the menacing of the 
 throne, wished the reformer to be silent, and therefore said to him 
 before the Parliament : " By your preaching you put a doubt in the 
 people's head of her conversion." — " Not I, my Lord," said the other, 
 " but her own obstinate rebellion causes more than me doubt of her 
 conversion." — " Wherein," said Lethington, " rebels she against God ? " 
 — " In all the actions of her life," answered Knox ; " but in these two 
 heads especially : that she will not hear the preaching of the blessed 
 evangel of Jesus Christ, and that she maintains that idol, the Mass." — 
 
 1 Knox Reform., iv. * Throckmorton to Elizabeth, Bishop Keith, 
 
 Cobbett's Letters, x. xii. Knox Reform., 250, 305. 
 
 ^ Knox Reform., iv., 255. 
 
86 KNOX AND LETHINGTON, 1564. 
 
 " She thinks not that rebellion," observed Lethington, " but good 
 religion." — " So thought they," said the other, " that sometimes offered 
 their children unto Moloch ; and yet the Spirit of God affirms that 
 they offered them unto devils, and not unto God." The conversation 
 fell upon the Holy Scripture and on the prophets, " At least," said 
 Lethington, "when the prophe^ raise their voice they speak nothing 
 against kings in special, and yet your continual cry is : ' The Queen's 
 idolatry, the Queen's mass will provoke God's vengeance." — " I hear 
 not Kings and Queens excepted," said Knox ; " but all unfaithful are 
 pronounced to stand in one rank, and to be in bondage to one tyrant, 
 the devil. But, belike, my Lord, ye little regard the estate wherein 
 they stand, when ye would have them so flattered, that the danger 
 thereof should neither be known, nor yet declared to the poor people." 
 - — " Where will ye find," asked Lethington, " that any of the prophets 
 did so entreat Kings and Queens, Rulers or Magistrates ?" — " In more 
 places than one," said Knox ; " Ahab was a King and Jezebel was a 
 Queen, and yet what the prophet Elijah said to one and to the other, I 
 suppose ye are not ignorant."— " That was not cried out before the 
 people," said Lethington, " to make them odious unto their subjects." — • 
 " That Elijah said, ' Dogs shall lick the blood of Ahab,' said John 
 Knox, 'and eat the flesh of Jezebel.'" — "However," said Lethington, 
 " they were singular motions of the Spirit of God, and appertain nothing 
 to this our age." — " Then," replied John Knox, " hath the Scripture far 
 deceived me, for St Paul teacheth me that whatsoever is written 
 within the Holy Scriptures, the same things are written for our 
 instruction ; and my Master says that every learned and wise scribe 
 brings forth of his treasure both things old and things new ; and the 
 prophet Jeremiah affirms that every realm and every city that likewise 
 offendeth, as then did Jerusalem, should likewise be punished." That 
 was sticking to the fixed idea that nations, though innocent, ought 
 to be punished for the doings of their kings. 
 
 Lethington allowed him to speak for a long time and then said to 
 him : " Our question is whether we may or ought to suppress the Queen's 
 Mass, and whether her idolatry should be laid to our charge ? " — " Not 
 only ought idolatry to be suppressed," said Knox, "but idolaters ought 
 to die the death." — " But who shall be judge, or put it in execution ? " 
 asked Lethington. " The people," said Knox ; " for the command was 
 given to Israel, that if idolatry be committed in any city, inquisition 
 shall be taken ; and if it be found so, the whole bodie, of the people 
 shall arise and destroy that city. I find no priviledge granted by God 
 
KNOX AND LETHINGTON, 1564. 87 
 
 to Kings, more than unto the people, to offend God's Majesty." — 
 " Where find you," objected Lethington, " that any of the prophets or 
 apostles taught, that the people should be plagued for the iniquity of 
 their Prince ; or that the subjects might suppress the idolatrie of their 
 rulers and punish them for the same." — " I find in the Ecclesiastical 
 History," said Knox, " that the faithful assisted their preachers even 
 against their rulers and magistrates, and suppressed idolatry, whenso- 
 ever God gave them force, asking no leave of the Superiour, nor of his 
 deputies. Elizeus sent one of the children of the prophets to anoint 
 Jehu, who gave him commandment to destroy the house of his master, 
 Ahab, for idolatry committed by him, and for innocent blood, which 
 Jezebel his wicked wife had shed, which he put in execution ; and for 
 this God promised to him the stability of his Kingdome to the fourth 
 generation ; he was a mere subject, and no king, when the servant of 
 the prophet came to him. The whole people killed Amaziah, King of 
 Judah, and anointed Uzziah King instead of his father ; his blows had 
 already struck down Joah, father of Amaziah, punished by his servants 
 as his son was by his subjects."' From those famous examples it was 
 necessary to conclude that the people had a right to chastise their sove- 
 reigns when these were idolatrous. The example of the Jewish people 
 who were punished for the sole crime of Manasseh which they had not 
 hindered, proved in Knox's mind that Divine chastisement fell upon 
 the people regardless of their duty.° Deplorable mistake, which places 
 sovereigns at the mercy of their lowest subjects, and which would have 
 made a Vincennes coal-heaver the judge of St Louis ;3 an error to be 
 dreaded as paving the way for the maddest sedition ; the same error 
 which caused Hume, the historian, in speaking of the Presbyterians to 
 say : " that although now mollified by the lenity of the civil power, they 
 are ready to break out on all occasions." ■* 
 
 Events of another kind were taking place in London, and though 
 somewhat peculiar at times, they were not generally of a sad nature. 
 Melville was at variance with Elizabeth ; it was the skilful, cringing, 
 and eloquent courtier, against the wily, double-faced, and the most 
 pretentious and most coquettish of all princesses. Elizabeth gave 
 
 1 Knox Reform., iv., 305, 320. — Calderwood, ouvertement la rdvolte k une multitude d'dlus 
 
 35-37. — "Knox," says Monsieur Gauthier, fanatisds.'' I., 120. 
 
 " n'est pas seulement un rtformateur du ^ Knox, Calderwood, loc. cit. 
 
 dogme et du culte, c'est encore un demagogue ^ St Louis often dispensed justice, seated at 
 
 et un factieux qui, transformant, la chaire en the foot of a large oak in the wood of Vin- 
 
 tribune, se met audessus des lois et preche cennes. 
 
 *' Hume, History of England, xxxviii. 
 
88 MELVILLE IN LONDON, 1564. 
 
 Melville a gracious welcome, and, during his stay in London, shewed 
 him great attention. She wished him to take his meals with Lady 
 Strafford, her Lady in attendance, to be able to converse more freely 
 with him. The talk was usually frivolous and playful ; yet Elizabeth 
 always laboured to prove herself and her country indifferent to all that 
 concerned Scotland. Melville was charming. He willingly chatted of 
 his numerous travels, and of what he had seen at the Court of France, 
 at the Montmorencys', at the various courts of Germany, and at the 
 residence of the elector Palatine. He spoke, not as a diplomatist, but 
 as a cheerful tourist who never forgot that he was speaking to a 
 woman, and knew how to word everything prettily, and to the praise 
 of his hearer. One day he entered into a discussion on dress ; the 
 Queen boasted that she could dress in the fashion of all nations ; and 
 on the following days she was in English, French, and Italian costume. 
 On each occasion, she asked Melville's opinion, and he, to her great 
 delight, praised the Italian one. It was then customary in Italy to 
 let the hair hang loosely, and the Queen thought hers beautiful, though 
 it was glaring in colour. Melville was more puzzled when the royal 
 lady asked him whether she or Mary was the more beautiful. A 
 consummate courtier, he cleverly got out of the scrape by telling her 
 that she was " the fairest queen in England, and Mary the fairest queen 
 in Scotland." Melville's praises fed Elizabeth's vanity. She played upon 
 the virginal, danced, and did various silly things to show off her person 
 and her talents. In the midst of all those frivolities, serious matters to 
 her, she never was silent about personal beauty. She dared to compare 
 her swarthy complexion ' and hard profile with the wonderfully fresh and 
 expressive features of Mary, and even claimed the advantage. Melville 
 willingly acknowledged it, pre-occupied as he was with more serious 
 matters. Once, however, he thought he might tell the truth. " Quyhilk 
 is of hyest stature ? " asked Elizabeth. — " Our Queen," replied Melville. 
 — " Then the Queen is ouer heych," replied the Queen, " for I am 
 nother ouer hich nor ouer laich."^ — At other times she kissed with affec- 
 tation a small portrait of Mary, saying, that she loved his mistress, and 
 would like to have her there instead of her portrait. Amid that trifling, 
 however, Melville's practised eye saw through many mysteries. The 
 Queen's love for Dudley could not escape him. Knowing how averse 
 Mary was to the marriage proposed by her, she expressed great regret 
 that the affair was a failure, and lavished fulsome flatteries on her 
 
 1 She was "di bella came ancor che olivasfra," says an eye-witness quoted in M. Mignet, I., 53. 
 
 2 Melville's Memoirs. —Bannat. Clubj 124. 
 
DARNLEY, 1564. 89 
 
 favourite. Melville replied by this compliment, that Dudley was happy 
 indeed to have met in with a princess who so liberally rewarded his 
 undeniable merit. " Yet," replied she with vivacity, pointing to 
 Darnley who was standing by her side, and who wore the sword 
 of honour as first Prince of the blood, " ye lyk better of yonder 
 lang lad." ' 
 
 Public opinion had for some time past destined Darnley for Mary 
 Stuart's hand. He was, on his mother's side, of royal birth, being 
 descended from Henry VII., and, on that account, had certain rights to 
 the throne of England. His father, the Earl of Lennox, belonged to the 
 House of Stuart. Darnley was therefore the most likely suitor to attract 
 attention since he was a descendant of the royal families of England 
 and Scotland." But great difficulties arose against that alliance. The 
 Lennox family had left Scotland at the time of the invasion, and Eliza- 
 beth seemed to watch the Earl closely. He got leave, however, to visit 
 Scotland, to support his wife's claim to the Earldom of Angus. Eliza- 
 beth gave him letters of introduction to Mary Stuart, while, by other 
 means, she had the Queen warned that Lennox was a man to be looked 
 after, and that his presence in Scotland might give rise to great 
 troubles. 
 
 The arrival of the Earl of Lennox made quite a sensation in Scot- 
 land. The Duke of Chatelleraut was the first to take alarm. The 
 Douglasses, interested in the quarrel, followed his example. The Queen 
 was obliged to use the greatest circumspection to prevent blows, and her 
 skill was such that she succeeded in cancelling the Act of Confiscation 
 decreed against Lennox in 1545, and in reinstating the Earl in his 
 former honours without giving offence to any one.^ " The Quenis 
 Maieste," says James Melville, " efter hir returnyng out of France to 
 Scotland, behaued hir salf sa princely, sa honorably and discretly, that 
 hir reputation spred in all contrees ; and was determynit, and also 
 inclynit to continow in that kynd of comelynes, vnto the end of hir 
 lyfe ; desyring to hald nane in hir company bot sic as wer of the best 
 qualitez and conuersation, abhorring all vices and vitious personnes, 
 whither they wer men or wemen ; and requested me to assist her in 
 geuying hir my gud consaill, how sche mycht vse the meatest meanis 
 
 ' Melville's Memoirs, Bannat. Club, 120. Mary had not in reality a choice in her power. 
 
 ^ Sanderson's History, 37. — Du droict et Darnley was the husband of fate. Robertson, 
 
 Tiltre de la S^r^nissime Princesse Marie au 40. Camden, I., 8j. 
 
 trone d'Angleterre par Jean Lesselie, Rouen. ^ Stevenson's lUustrat., in. Diurnal of 
 
 Imprim. G. I'Oyselet D. ij., verso. — Queen Occur., 77, 78. 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
90 DARNLEY, 1564. 
 
 till aduance hir honest intention ; and incaice she, being yet yong, 
 mycht forzet hir self in any unseamly gestour or misbehauour, that I 
 wald warn hir thereof, with my admonition to forbear and refourm the 
 sam." ' As Melville declined that duty, she added that she saw clearly 
 why he did so ; that he feared to lose her affection by telling her too many 
 truths. She begged that he would not have so bad an opinion of her, 
 and that he would rather give her the opportunity of being able to 
 disabuse him, by doing honestly what she wanted him to do. Instead 
 of hating him when he should tell her of her faults, he should see that she 
 esteemed him all the more for it, persuaded as she was, that he would 
 say nothing to her which did not proceed from a heart full of zeal and 
 good will for her.^ 
 
 Darnley also was the object of delicate attentions on the part of the 
 Queen. Elizabeth, however, who had exhorted Mary to support the 
 Lennox family, changed her tone when she saw the Queen of Scots 
 doing so. To bind the Hamiltons to her, she openly disapproved of 
 the conduct which she had herself advised ; she pretended to be dis- 
 pleased, caused the Countess of Lennox and her second son to be 
 imprisoned, and flew into a passion withodt giving any plausible reason 
 for such a proceeding. Her anger, whether assumed or real, was to her 
 a pretext for refusing to acknowledge Mary's rights to succeed her, and 
 allowed her to foment rebellion in Scotland.' 
 
 Acting on his instructions, Randolph was busy keeping back Mary's 
 marriage, by ever dragging the Earl of Leicester before her eyes. 
 Mary had several conversations with him, either while dining or 
 walking. The English ambassador was often with her. Frivolous as 
 was their general talk, they occasionally conversed upon grave subjects 
 which filled the public mind. " Sir," said she one day to Randolph, " if 
 your mistress will (as she hath said) use me as her natural born sister 
 or daughter, ! will take myself either the one or the other, as she 
 please, and will show no less readiness to obey her, and honour her, 
 than my mother or eldest sister ; but if she will repute me always as 
 her neighbour, the Queen of Scots, how willing soever I be to live in 
 amity, and to maintain peace, yet must she not look for that at my 
 hands, that otherwise I would, or she desireth." * In her interviews 
 
 1 Melville's Memoirs, Bannat. Club, 130. 2 Melville's Memoirs, Bannat. Club, 131. 
 
 3 Elizabeth could not however have for- ' Randolph to Elizabeth, Chalmers, I., 193 ; 
 
 gotten that she and Leicester had given to M. Mignet I., 154; Tytler, III., 187; Steven- 
 
 Darnley letters of introduction to Mary Stuart. son's lUust., 134. 
 
MARY CHOOSES DARNLEY, 1564. 91 
 
 with the EngHsh ambassador, Mary always appeared wise, prudent and 
 gracious, and infinitely more dignified than Elizabeth had been with 
 Melville. She treated Darnlfey with reserve, and contrary to the then 
 general belief, that she had warmly welcomed him, did not allow him to 
 put up at Holyrood. She lodged him at Seton's residence in the 
 Canongate,' treated him with the most punctilious ceremony, and firmly 
 refiised a ring which he had rashly offered her.'' That reserve was so 
 well kept up, that Randolph, charged by Elizabeth to take note of 
 Mary's bearing towards Darnley, assured his mistress that the Queen 
 of Scots had no intention of marrying him, but that she paid him the 
 utmost courtesy.3 
 
 Yet, as Mary had to make up her mind about marriage, in the 
 interest of her kingdom and on the recommendation of her subjects,'* 
 she chose Darnley. He was the only person who could dispute with her 
 the succession to the throne of England ; by marrying him she secured 
 it for her heirs.^ On the 7th of April she took the opinion of her Council, 
 charged Castelnau to consult the Queen of France,* and sent Lethington 
 to England to inform the Queen. " The Queen of Scots," says Castel- 
 nau, " often assured me that she had no greater love than the welfare of 
 her State, and that she anxiously sought the advice of her friends, 
 among whom she considered the King and the Queen, her mother-in- 
 law, as the most sure and the most trusty." ' 
 
 Though really glad of that alliance,* Elizabeth appeared annoyed at 
 it. She recalled the Earl of Lennox and his son, and gave so strict 
 orders about the Countess that she was nearly starved to death.' 
 Throckmorton was sent to Scotland as envoy-extraordinary to the 
 Queen. He spoke of the impropriety of concluding so hurriedly an 
 alliance, of the sorrow which might flow from it, dwelling particularly 
 
 ^ Diurnal of Occur., 79. venir tan a proposito para todas sus preten- 
 
 " Melville's Memoirs, 134. siones y para la quietud de su reyno como el 
 
 3 Bishop Keith, 273, app. 159. de Linos." Duke of Albato Philip II. Teulet, 
 
 ■• Prince Labanoff, VII., 340. ; Melville's V., 12. 
 
 Memoirs, 134. ' Castelnau, Mdmoires, V., 11. 
 
 = Queen Elizabeth felt it ; she said one day ^ Castelnau, M^moires, V., 12 ; Melville's 
 
 to Paul de Foix, who found her playing at Memoirs, 134. — " In her heart Queen Elizabeth 
 
 chess, that Darnley, " n'estoit que comme ung was not angry at this marriage," says Knox 
 
 pion mais qu'il seroit bien pour luy donner (V., 326.) — Mr Hosack, 101-103 ; D. Hume. 
 
 mat si elle n'y prenoit bien garde." Teulet, The House of Tudor, IV., 264, 265. 
 
 II., 204. ' " Le mauvais traictement que I'on luy 
 
 " " Ult. junij the French Kyng v^riteth to the faisoit s'estendoyt jusques k son boire et 
 
 Queenes Majesty in favor of the Lord Darnly." manger.'' Paul de Foix to the King. Teulet, 
 
 Stevenson's Illust. 140.— Philip II. said in II., 244. 
 
 like manner that "ningun casamiento le podia 
 
92 MARY AND DARNLEY, 1565. 
 
 on the fact that her marriage with Darnley was in defiance of ecclesias- 
 tical law through their relationship, and again recommended the Earl 
 of Leicester/ Mary, tired of being fooled by Elizabeth, this time held to 
 her resolution : " I might have chosen," said she, "from the Houses of 
 Austria, France, or Spain, yet to please your mistress, I have rejected 
 those alliances, and I intend to take as husband one who is both a subject 
 and a relative td her. Of what can she complain ? Besides, it is too 
 late ; my resolution is taken. As the ceremony is not to take place 
 until three months are past, I hope the feeling which keeps my sister 
 from approving of it will have died away by that time."^ When 
 Throckmorton saw that the Queen of Scots could not be turned from 
 her purpose, he wrote to Elizabeth that there was " no place left to 
 dissolve the same (marriage) by persuasion or reasonable means, other- 
 wise than by violence." ^ 
 
 The violence of which Throckmorton speaks was soon shown. 
 Moray was at the head of a movement whose object was to seize 
 the Queen and Darnley, to kill the latter and imprison the former ; the 
 Queen of England sympathised with the conspirators.-* The plot had 
 long been hatching. The airs of the haughty Darnley had displeased 
 the nobility. He had been for some time intimately acquainted with a 
 Piedmontese in the Queen's service, named Riccio, and had often made 
 use of his counsels. Now, Riccio and he were alike hated ; but they 
 were so strongly backed by the Queen that it was vain to think of 
 overthrowing them ; people hated them and found fault with Mary's 
 conduct, without asking if she had not a secret reason for acting thus. At 
 the end of March Darnley fell ill ; towards the end of April he had a 
 relapse, when a change was noticed in the Queen's conduct. She, who 
 until then, had been so reserved, and who, even a month before, had 
 shown him only cold civilities, suddenly seemed empassioned, thinking 
 and speaking only of Darnley, and, wifelike, sitting for a whole night by 
 ' his bedside, very attentive and very much grieved at his sickness.^ Such 
 was Mary's passion at that period, that Throckmorton attributed it to a 
 
 ^ Camden, I., 90 ; Spottiswoode, II., 26. historical and critical into the evidence against 
 
 2 Bishop Keith, 278 ; Stevenson's lUust., Mary Queen of Scots, by William Tytler. 
 139 ; Teulet, II., 202, 205 ; Lingard, II. Prince Labanofif's edition, 109. 
 
 3 Stevenson, loc. cit. ; Bishop Keith, 278 ; * ". . . les mesmes offices que s'il estoit son 
 Letter of 21st May. The word "violence" is mary, aiant durant sa malladie, veill^ en sa 
 italicised in Keith's text. chambre une nuict toute entifere, et se montrant 
 
 ^ Bishop Keith, 292 ; Melville's Memoirs, tr^s soigneuse et ennuyde de sa maladye." — 
 135. — Chalmers, I., 217. — Blackwood in the Paul de Foix to the Queen Mother. Teulet, 
 complete works, edit., 1644, 540. An enquiry II., 195. 
 
SECRET MARRIAGE OF MARY AND DARNLEY, 1565. 93 
 
 Spell.' Rumours were current ; imagination and wickedness coined 
 romantic anecdotes. " I hear," the French ambassador wrote from 
 London, "that the Queen's familiarities with the Earl of Roze (Darnley) 
 are growing every day, and, so much, that they are spoken of here little 
 to her credit." ^ The Queen's enemies were glad ; her relatives ^ and 
 friends inwardly regretted that departure from her dignity, but Mary 
 listened to reproaches and counsels with girlish indifference. The 
 slander which attacked her good name found her calm and serene. 
 
 There was necessarily a mystery. It was impossible to reconcile 
 Mary's former reserve with the ardour which now consumed her. That 
 earnestness which shocked every one roused Elizabeth's suspicions, and 
 that wily Princess soon found out that Mary and Darnley had been 
 united by a secret marriage. The wedding had taken place between 
 the 7th and 13th of April ; Darnley was ill until the 7th, and the marriage 
 was known in London on the 1 5th. " Madam," wrote Paul de Foix to 
 Catherine de M^dicis on the 26th of April, " Mr Lethington arrived on 
 the 15th of April, and there came letters also to the Queen of England 
 from Randolph, her agent in Scotland, informing her that the Queen of 
 Scotland had married my Lord Darnley, son of the Earl of Lennox, 
 the church ceremony alone being wanted to make valid the marriage. 
 The Queen of England is greatly displeased thereby, and has resolved 
 to hinder it by sending Throckmorton into Scotland, there to persuade 
 the Queen that she is not obliged to contract that marriage, and that it 
 will be neither to her honour nor profit.* 
 
 From that time till the 29th of July, the day fixed for the solemn 
 
 ^ " I do find this Queen so captiv'd either by nera ni k honneur ni k prouffit." Teulet, II., 
 
 love or cunning, or rather, to say truly, by 193. — " II detto signore (Darnley) divenne am- 
 
 boasting or folly." Throckmorton to Elizabeth, malato, et ordin6 la Reina che si servisse 
 
 Bishop Keith, 278. benissimo et fosse provisto d'ogni causa che 
 
 ^ Paul de Foix to the Queen Mother, i8th bisognasse. Et in quel mentre conoscendo 
 
 June. Teulet, II., 207. David di far piacere all' una et all' altra parte, 
 
 ' Ibid. Teulet, II., 199, 23d May. tratt6 che insilme consumassero il matrimonio ; 
 
 * " Le 15 Apvril estant arrivd Monsieur de il che fu fatto, et fossero da un capellano cato- 
 
 Lethington, pareillement arrivferent lettres h. licamente sposati in camera di esso David, 
 
 la Royne d'Angleterre, par les quelles Randel, senza aspettare il ritorno di due che furon 
 
 son agent en Ecosse, luy manda que la Royne mandati in Inghilterra et Francia. Del che 
 
 d'Escosse s'est marine avec milord Darnley, sendo la Reina d'Inghilterra awisata si dolse 
 
 fils du Comte de Lennos, ne restant pour la assai con quel ser Ledington, il qual difficil- 
 
 consommation que les c&^monies de I'Eglise. mente si disponeva a crederlo, ma per esser la 
 
 Dont la dicte Royne d'Angleterre receut un detta Reina bien awisata, I'assicurb ferma- 
 
 trfes grand mescontentement. . . . Et se r6- mente del matrimonio concluso, et cosi Led- 
 
 solut k I'empescher, envoyant Throckmorton ington se ne ritorn6 subito in Scozia." Memoir 
 
 en Escosse pour Ik persuader k la Royne qu'elle addressed to Cosmo I., Grand Duke of TuS- 
 
 n'est obligee k ce mariage et qu'il ne luy tour- cany, Prince Labanoff, VII., 67. 
 
94 MARY AND RANDOLPH, ,1565, 
 
 ceremony, events followed hard upon one another. Mary worked 
 wonders, and quickly too ; she caused her project of marriage with 
 Darnley to be approved, and, spurred on by her brother, treated with the 
 Protestants, and confirmed them in their liberty of conscience, while, 
 claiming the same liberty for herself, she raised Darnley to the dignity 
 of Baron and Earl, shortly to make him a Duke, endeavoured to gain 
 over Throckmorton, asked the lio^ration of the Countess of Lennox, 
 lessened by her prudence the evil effects of Darnley's backslidings, and 
 won admiration even from her slanderers. 
 
 But all was very far from peaceful, and the Queen had yet much to 
 do to gain her cause. The public mind was feverish and anxious. 
 Lethington was no longer trustworthy." Moray thought of seizing the 
 Queen, and gave currency to the report that Darnley, jealous of the 
 Earl's influence, sought his life. Deaf to the appeal of blood, and to 
 the dictates of affection, Mary summoned Moray to prove what he 
 advanced, and sent a safe conduct for himself and eighty persons of an 
 escort.^ Moray took no heed of her commands, but gradually widened 
 the breach between Randolph and the Queen,^ and kept on slandering. 
 Elizabeth openly encouraged the malcontents, and had sent to her a true 
 account of what was taking place in Scotland."* Mary was not free to 
 act, and Darnley displeased the nobility by assuming airs of superiority.^ 
 Judging from present appearances, it was easy to surmise the future, 
 and Randolph, a witness to the universal agitation, informed Cecil of 
 Darnley's approaching fall. " Hys behavior is suche," said he, " that he 
 is runne in open contempt of all men, even of those that were hys 
 chief freinds ; whate shall become of hym, I know not, but yt is 
 greatlie to be feared, that he cane have no longe life amongste thys 
 people." * 
 
 Summoned to the Queen's presence Randolph conversed with her 
 for more than an hour, and all the while closely watched the expression 
 of Mary's face to find out whether she was speaking truly or not. 
 Mary enlarged on the abuse received at the hands of Elizabeth, though 
 she obeyed her, and on the injuries which had been done her, adding 
 that the Queen of England was very wrong to be so angry at the 
 marriage, seeing that she was left free on her side to wed whom she 
 
 ' Miss Strickland, II., 122; Gauthier, I., • Randolph to Cecil, l6th July; Bishop 
 
 208. Keith, app. 162. 
 
 2 Bishop Keith, app. 108. ^ Randolph to Leicester, 21st May 1565; 
 
 ' It is probable that Randolph was at heart State Papers ; Scottish Series, 
 
 cfpposed to Mary (Lodge I., 431), though " Randolph to Cecil, 2d July, Bishop Keith, 
 
 appearances were against that belief. 287. 
 
MARY AND RANDOLPH, 1565. 95 
 
 chose." " But," said the ambassador, "you do well know that by other 
 meanes then my mestress favour, nether you nor the Lord Darnlye 
 coulde never have foote within the realme of Englande." — " I praye 
 you," said she, " tell me what wolde the Queen my good systar that I 
 shoulde do ? " — " I know no better then to sende home both the Lord 
 of Lenox and Lord Darnlie," answered Randolph, " then sholde my 
 Mestress and your Grace be frendes and your countrie at good repose 
 and quietnes, as yt was before." — " To sende them home, I maye not," 
 replied the Queen, " is there no other waye but that ? " Randolph 
 then proposed to her another — to forsake her religion. " What ! " 
 exclaimed she, " wolde you that I sholde mayke marchandize of my 
 religion, or frame myself to your menestors willes ? yt cane not be 
 so." '' Thereupon she closed an interview, to prolong which was 
 useless, if not dangerous. 
 
 The Scottish people were much interested in the Queen's marriage ; 
 by degrees the mystery, until then unfathomable, was being solved, 
 and the affection of the people, for a time wavering, was rapidly 
 returning. Mary delighted in walking about through Edinburgh ; there 
 she saw her subjects, and the sight of them touched her heart. Though 
 threats came from the nobles, she strolled about with the Earl of 
 Lennox, Lady Seton and others of the Court, shielded only by the 
 love of her subjects.^ She was grieved when any one had to complain. 
 Fiercely opposed and pursued by insurgent bands even to her palace, 
 she wished her subjects to be at peace ; though people tried to rob her 
 of freedom of conscience she granted it to them. On the 17th of July 
 she wrote various letters to the reformed Lords, assuring them that she 
 meant peace, and wished to give no trouble to a religion which she had 
 found established on her return from France ; that all she desired was 
 the welfare of her people.'' 
 
 Then for a moment the sun of peace shone out joyfully from that 
 dark and troubled sky. The Scots flocked daily to Edinburgh to see their 
 Queen, and Mary innocently looked forward to happy days ; but ill-will 
 and sedition were smouldering ; Randolph, though admiring the dignity 
 of her conduct, was the only one who could find in his heart to write 
 that the Queen was in bad odour with her people.^ 
 
 When the dispensation from Rome arrived, Mary solemnly married 
 
 1 " Let not her be offended with my marriage ^ Miss Strickland, II., 155. 
 
 no more than I am with hers." Randolph to ^ Knox, Reform, v., 331. 
 
 Cecil, 1 6th July, Stevenson, 118, sq. ^ Randolph to Cecil, Keith, 301, formally 
 
 " Randolph to Cecil, Stevenson, 124. denied by Castelnau, Jebb., II., 460. 
 
96 SOLEMN MARRIAGE, 1565. 
 
 Lord Darnley at Holyrood, after creating him Duke of Albany.' Scot- 
 land was overjoyed on that day ; the Capital especially put on its 
 festive dress, long laid by. At nine o'clock, on the evening before the 
 marriage, the loud blast of the trumpet summoned the people to the 
 Market Cross. The proclamation of the marriage and of Darnley's 
 royalty^ was hailed with frantic cheers, amid the oft-repeated cries of, 
 " Peace and prosperity to the King and Queen." The face of every Scot 
 beamed with delight as if the joy were his alone. Countless prayers for 
 the Queen rose from her people to heaven that day, while she knew 
 not what to entreat for them in return ; for Mary was more touched by 
 good wishes than by curses ; she was much moved, and knew not how to 
 show her gratitude ; of insults she was patient, and tried to be forgetful ; 
 but she was powerless before those earnest expressions of love. 
 
 On the day of the marriage, between five and six o'clock, Mary was 
 led to the chapel of the Palace. She was dressed in black ; her costume 
 reminded those around her of that which she wore at the funeral of 
 Francis II. Immediately after the nuptial blessing, Darnley withdrew, 
 unwilling to annoy the Reformers by listening to the mass. Mary stood 
 still before the altar ; but a dark cloud overspread the young bride's 
 face. Young as she was, she had been visited by many cruel trials. 
 Even at the foot of the altar, her thoughts were of her first husband, of 
 the charms of a more brilliant Court, and of fair France. She married 
 from necessity, rather than love, and seemed heedless of pleasure. 
 After mass, however, she yielded to the wishes of those around her, 
 and threw aside the mourning which she had worn so long.^ The day 
 was spent in rejoicings, and the people shared in the royal bounties. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, those shouts of joy became, on the next 
 night, wild cries of fury, which were kept up by the enraged Protest- 
 ants till daylight* When Mary heard the reason of the disturbance, she 
 called together the citizens, and told them to have no fear for religion. 
 
 1 Diurnal of Occur., 80. great to the contrarie, that yf yt were possible 
 
 ^ Anderson has printed in his collection, I., to se suche an acte done I wolde not beleve yt." 
 
 33, 34, two proclamations of royalty. — Randolphe to the Earl of Leicester, 31st 
 
 ^ "She changed her garments, but went not to July 1565, Ellis, ist series, vol. II., 203. M. 
 
 bedde, to signifie unto the worlde that yt was Dargaud, who quotes this 'letter, and speaks 
 
 no luste moved them to marrie, but only the of the suspicions, has omitted the last sen- 
 
 necessitie of her countrie ; not, yf God will, tence, and continues to transcribe the letter 
 
 longe to leave yt destitute of an heire. Sus- to the very end without indicating, even by 
 
 picious men, or such as are geven of all things ellipses, that he has left out anything. I insist 
 
 to mayke the worst, wolde that yt sholde be that is not fair play. 
 
 beleved that they knewe eache other before ^ Paul de Foix to the Queen mother, 12 
 
 that theie came ther. I would not your Lord- August. — Teulet II., 215. 
 ship sholde so beleve, the likelihoods are so 
 
SOLEMN MARRIAGE, 1565. 
 
 97 
 
 Her words are remarkable,, and place Mary in the first rank of wise 
 and. gentle Princes. Her ideas are those we now-a-days call liberal. 
 " Though earnestly wishing to please you in all things," said she to 
 them, " I cannot give up the mass ; I have been brought up in the 
 Catholic faith, I esteem it so holy and so agreeable in the eyes of God, 
 that I cannot forsake it without doing injury to my conscience. In such 
 matters, neither my conscience nor yours, ought to be forced. You 
 have entire freedom of religion, — that ought to satisfy you. Pray, 
 allow me the same privilege. I attack neither your lives nor your pro- 
 perty ; all is safe. Why not act in like manner toward me ? As for the 
 other things which you ask of me, and which I have no power to grant, 
 you must submit to the decision of the States which are soon to be 
 convoked. Accept also the assurance that I shall ever watch over your 
 happiness, and endeavour, within the measure of possibility, to do 
 what shall appear to me best." ' 
 
 All, wondering at the gentleness of their Sovereign, seemed satisfied 
 with her reply, and were surprised that not a bitter word had escaped 
 her lips. 
 
 ' Paul de Foix to the' Queen Mother 12th 
 August. — Teulet, loc. cit. — Prince Labanofif 
 VII., 54. Seeing that anxiety, for a moment 
 lulled, was reviving, Mary issued on the 
 15th September a proclamation, which 
 secured to the Scots the free exercise of their 
 religion. See text, Teulet, Lettres de Marie 
 Stuart, 262 sq. Already, on the 20th March, 
 " the Queen protesteth that she will be at 
 liberty of relligion, and that all persons shall 
 
 lyve as they will." — Stevenson's lUust. 135, 
 and Sir W. Cecil to Sir Thomas Smith, 
 Ellis, 2nd series, II., 298. That language con- 
 trasts singularly with that of the fanatics who 
 wished " that the Papisticall and blasphemous 
 mess, with all papistrie and Idolatrie, and 
 Pope's Jurisdictionis be universallie suppress- 
 ed and abolished through the haill realme, not 
 only in the subjectis, but also in the Quenis 
 Majesties awin person." — Bishop Keith, 541. 
 
 vol.. I. 
 
 N 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1565— 1566. 
 
 MARY PARDONS THE EXILED — KNOX INSULTS DARNLEY— DEBATES WITH ELIZABETH — 
 TAMWORTH IN SCOTLAND — TRIUMPH OF MARY — ELIZABETH INTERCEDES FOR MORAY — ■ 
 ALTERCATION BETWEEN MARY AND DARNLEY — CONDUCT AND DISPLEASURE OF 
 DARNLEY — HE CLAIMS THE CROWN-MATRIMONIAL — PROJECT OF ASSASSINATING RICCIO 
 AND DETHRONING THE QUEEN — PREPARATIONS FOR THE ASSASSINATION— SUPPER AT 
 THE QUEEN'S — THE MURDER — BOTHWELL'S CONDUCT — THE QUEEN'S CAPTIVITY — THE 
 CROWN-MATRIMONIAL — RECONCILIATION' — ESCAPE. 
 
 "ly /TORAY, vexed at being eclipsed by Lord Darnley, took up a 
 ^^-^ position more and more hostile. The Queen, to counterbalance 
 his influence^ and to have near her men ready and willing to act, re- 
 called Bothwell, and reinstated George Gordon in the family estates 
 and honours.' Since his banishment, Bothwell had occupied various 
 positions, — at one time, a prisoner in England ; at another, a fugitive in 
 France. Through Moray's jealousy he had been forbidden to come to 
 Scotland ; that is why on his return he vowed a sincere attachment to Mary. 
 
 The Queen, by skilful actfng, strengthened her party. Darnley, on 
 the contrary, tried to support himself by meanness. He thought he 
 might flatter Knox by attending his discourses, and thus gain his favour; 
 but his dreams were not realised. Among the proud and the wicked, 
 to humble one's self is to debase one's self. If those who are proud 
 and wicked pursue with their clamours a man who sticks to his purpose, 
 they, nevertheless, cannot but esteem him, but he who cringes to them 
 ought to expect contempt. Darnley found that out. Knox harangued 
 against the royal family, comparing the King to Ahab, and Mary to 
 Jezebel, and saying that, as a punishment, God had given the people 
 boys and women for rulers.^ 
 
 Mary calmly and quietly let Knox compare her to Jezebel, Herod, 
 daughter of Herodias, Nebuchadnezzar and Nero ; but Darnley could 
 not stomach those invectives. On his return from the sermon, he 
 refused to dine, and shut himself up in his falconry for the rest of the 
 day, away from the Queen and Court. ^ Knox was arraigned before a 
 
 1 Diurnal of Occur., 81, 84. that he would not dine; and, being troubled 
 
 ' Knox, Reform., v. with great fury, he passed in the afternoon to 
 
 ' " The King was so moved at this sermon the hawking."— Knox, Reform, v. 
 
TAMWORTH IN SCOTLAND, 1565. 99 
 
 Court, and came attended by several gentlemen. His defence was of 
 the same stamp as his sermon had been. He was for a time pro- 
 hibited from preaching; but that was done without the Queen's sanction, 
 for she was then busy with matters of greater moment. ' 
 
 Elizabeth had sent into Scotland, Tamworth, a man of her choice, 
 to complain of the Queen's hasty marriage, demand the persons of 
 Lennox and Darnley, and crave the pardon of the Earl of Moray." The 
 letter was, as it were, from a mistress to a slave. Tamworth had been 
 ordered never to call Darnley King, and never to treat him as such.' 
 Mary refused to see the envoy, received the letter which he brought, 
 replied minutely to every point in question, and dismissed Tamworth, 
 who was much displeased at having obtained only a reply and no 
 results.* The Queen of England was mortified, and, in spite of the 
 annoyance which she suffered from the various projects of alliance 
 likely to come off, she preferred the sweets of revenge to marriage, and 
 did all she could to foster the Scottish insurrection.^ 
 
 That insurrection was headed by the Duke of Chatelleraut, the Earls 
 of Argyll, Rothes, and Glencairn, the Lords Boyd and Ochiltree, and 
 Kirkcaldy of Grange, along with the most violent reformers. Moray 
 fired them with his rage, and Elizabeth backed them with her resources.* 
 After vain attempts to surprise Mary at Dunbar, they raised the standard 
 of revolt.' Mary undertook to scatter the rebellious troops massed 
 near Stirling. On her approach, the rebels divided, some marching 
 towards Lennox, the others in the direction of Ayr, on the way for 
 Glasgow. The Queen's troops hung upon their rear, followed them 
 closely, and reached Glasgow just as they had crossed the river. A 
 terrible storm obliged her to stop the march, — the wind and rain beating 
 the soldiers right in the face made the advance well-nigh impossible ; 
 besides, the river had overflowed its banks. The rebels, taking 
 advantage of that delay, left their encampment at Paisley, proceeded 
 towards Hamilton, thence made for Edinburgh, and managed 
 
 ' Knox, Reform., V. — Diurnalof Occur., 81. — called him "un des plus affectionnez servi- 
 
 Miss Strickland, II., 181. tears que la Royne d'Escosse sgauroit avoir." 
 
 " Teulet, Lettres de Marie Stuart, Supplnt. — Ibid., 19th October, Teulet, II., 242. 
 
 au Prince Labanoff, 255, — Elizabeth spoke of ^ Balfour's Annales, I., 334. 
 
 him in very good terms. " Et (EHzabeth) * Teulet, Lettres de Marie Stuart, 258. 
 
 entra en plusieurs louanges de la bonne con- Camden, i., 93 ; Bishop Keith, app. 99, loi. 
 
 science, probitd et bont^ du comte de Moray, ^ M'Neel Caird, Mary Stuart, 41 and 
 
 qui ne desiroit (comme elle disoyt) que le Note I. 
 
 service de la Royne sa maistresse." — Paul de * Diurnal of Occur., 82 ^ Knox Reform., 
 
 Foix to the Queen mother, 29th September. — v. 
 
 Teulet II., 229. On another occasion she ' Prince Labanoff, VII 69. 
 
100 MARY'S REBELLION, 1565. 
 
 to reach the capital. Moray could no longer contain his joy ; he 
 thought that the whole population would unite and proclaim him chief. 
 He was, however, received with icy coldness, which became open 
 hatred, when, to the sound of the drum, he announced that he should 
 receive with joy all who enlisted for the defence of God's glory. The. 
 rebels, whom the peasants hated, being exposed to the fire of the 
 Castle guns, and arrayed against large numbers of loyal Highlanders, 
 fled with such confusion that they had no time to gain a fortified place.' 
 
 Elizabeth, after the utter failure of that expedition, which she had 
 secretly favoured, said, to every one who would listen, that it was a 
 rash enterprise, and that she had never sanctioned it. In the presence 
 of the ambassadors of France and Spain, she strongly blamed the 
 authors of that unfortunate campaign, and dismissed them, calling them 
 rascals and traitors.^ So great was their cowardice, that not one of 
 them dared to contradict her. Nicholas Throckmorton, Elizabeth's 
 ambassador, was manly enough to confess that he was sent to Scotland 
 solely for the purpose of exciting that revolt 3; while Elizabeth, touched 
 by the devotedness of the rebels, and by the dangers which they had 
 run for her, asked their pardon from the Queen of Scots.* Chatelle- 
 raut, through the intercession of Riccio, ^ was pardoned, on condition 
 of withdrawing to France, and the Earl of Moray too, might have 
 been pardoned, had not de Rambouillet, ambassador of France, opposed 
 the step in the name of the Cardinal de Lorraine.^ 
 
 Mary had not only to uphold her rights beyond Scotland, and to 
 guard her crown, but also constantly to cope with the mad pride of 
 
 1 Teulet, II., 221. Bishop Keith, 314, 315- II., 257. Elizabeth even dared to ask Mary 
 319. Lodge, I., 353. Miss Strickland, II., " quelque honneste et honorable satisfaction," 
 188 sq. no doubt because \i&x proUgh had been beaten. 
 
 2 Melville's Memoirs, 135. Keith,3i9. M.Mig- —Prince Labanoflf, VII., 58. See id., I., 295. 
 net, I., 200 sq. M. Gauthier, I., 246. "Nun- 'Prince Labanoff, VII., 70. Moray was 
 quam ilia fecit spurio copiam oris et auris,'' vexed by that pardon ; he reproached his sister 
 says the historian Eytzinger, " quin potius con- for it in the Book of Articles presented to the 
 vitium fecit ut ingrato, ut perduelli ut indigno conferences at Westminster. " Of all the 
 luce communi." Eytzinger's History of Queen noblemen then exilit she granted remissioun, 
 Mary, Brit. Mus. Copy, 23. Obert Earnest only to the Duke of Chatellerhault, knawin 
 has frequently made use of that historian to inemy to the king hir husband and his fader." — 
 compose his " Maria Stuarta Innocens." Book of Articles, Mr Hosack, 523. Knox, dis- 
 
 " Melville's Memoirs, 141. pleased with the discomfiture, caused a day of 
 ■■ Spottiswoode, II., 32. Castelnau, igno- rigorous fast to be announced for prayer to Pro- 
 rant of the real state of matters, very inno- vidence to " mollifie and mak soft the hartis" 
 cently no doubt, made Mary seem obstinate of the Queen towards the good lords exiled into 
 by accusing her of wishing war at any price, England. — Diurnal of Occur., 88. 
 while Elizabeth openly inclined towards peace. " M. Mignet, Histoire de Marie Stuart, I., 
 —Castelnau to the King, 6th October. Teulet, 230. 
 
CONDUCT OF DARNLEY, 1565. loi 
 
 Darnley. Each day brought about a change, and the Queen's most 
 trivial act was looked upon with suspicion. The first happy days had 
 passed away quickly, and the misunderstanding between the royal couple 
 was now a secret to no one. It was not Mary, but Darnley, who had 
 changed. " His words to all men," wrote Randolph as early as the 3 ist of 
 July, " against whom he conceiveth any displeasure, how unjust soever 
 it be, are so proud and spitfull, that rather he seemeth a monarch of the 
 world, than he that, not long since, we have seen and known the Lord 
 Darnley. He looketh now for reverence of many that have little will 
 to give it him ; and some there are that do give it, that think him little 
 worth of it. All honour that may be attributed unto any man by a 
 wife, he hath it wholly and fully; all praises that may be spoken of 
 him, he lacketh not from herself; all dignities that she can indue him 
 with, wich are already given and granted ; no man pleaseth her that 
 contenteth not him ; and what may I say more, she hath given over to 
 him her whole will, to be ruled and guided as himself best liketh ; she 
 can as much prevail with him, in anything that is against his will, as 
 your lordship may with me to persuade that I should hang myself; this 
 last dignity out of hand to have been proclaimed King, she would 
 have it deferred untill it were agreed by Parliament, or he had been 
 himself 21 years of age, that things done In his name might have the 
 better authority. He would, in no case, have it deferred one day, and 
 either then or never." ' 
 
 Darnley showed great displeasure because Mary had entrusted 
 Bothwell with the defence of the Scottish frontiers ; his family urged 
 him on, and the foolish young man, instead of resisting the entreaties of 
 his relatives, loudly called for the carrying out of their wishes. A new 
 expedition and new triumphs on the part of the Queen only increased 
 his desire for the crown-matrimonial.'" Mary refused, not from obstinacy, 
 but from prudence. Neither Darnley nor Lennox was fit to govern : 
 the one was too weak, the other too ambitious ; both were ungrateful ; 
 to grant the kingship was to displease the nobility and imperil the peace 
 established with so much trouble. The Queen, moreover, could grant 
 that favour only with the sanction of Parliament,^ and she had already 
 ineffectually sought Moray's support. '^ 
 
 Those refusals irritated the King's pride. He fancied that in Riccio 
 
 1 Randolph to Leicester, 31st July 1565. 'Robertson, I. 353; M'Neel Caird, 35, 39, 
 
 Robertson, app. xi. 40; Miss Strickland, II., 120. 
 
 ^ Prince Labanofif, I. 295 ; Stevenson's lUus- * Knox, Reform., v., 325. 
 trations, 147-152. 
 
I02 PROJECT OF ASSASSINATING RICCIO, 1566. 
 
 he had either an enemy or a rival's' he was content at first to annoy 
 him, hoping soon to get rid of him, and he kept tormenting the Queen 
 with his demands. Those demands proving fruitless, he determined 
 to gain his ends by violence. The Earl of Lennox approved of the 
 course of conduct of his son when he learnt it." The father and the son 
 made known their design to the grumbling nobles, and the conspiracy, 
 long quietly hatching in the breasts of all, was soon full of life and 
 vigour. It was resolved to crown the King, provided he upheld 
 Protestantism, killed Riccio, and shielded those who should bring about 
 the coup d'dtat? George Douglas, Ruthven, Lindsay, Morton, and in 
 fact, all the exiles, joined the conspiracy. Elizabeth winked at those 
 criminal doings."* 
 
 The most remarkable point about the conspiracy, which was made 
 up of men divided in interest and opinion, was that they had all along 
 kept it secret. Mary, trusting to the love of her subjects, heeded not 
 the opinions of the nobles. Her conscience was her safeguard. She had 
 become less tender to Darnley, in the hope of making him change his 
 habits of life. Violent and irresolute, insolent and weak, rash in con- 
 duct and in words, Darnley added to those family vices, drunkenness 
 and coarse debauchery.' The delicate feelings of the Queen of Scots 
 must have been painfully shocked by such unseemly conduct ; therefore 
 she ceased to live with him. He blamed Riccio for that, and made 
 up his mind to get rid of the Secretary, to be able to rule the Queen his 
 wife. That was the sole reason for the conspiracy, which historians ' 
 pass by, mindful, however, to register only calumnies. 
 
 Riccio was not as calm as the Queen. A French priest had warned 
 
 ' Eytzinger positively asserts that Moray led ^ pj-jnce Labanoff, VII., 64; Goodall, I., 
 
 him to understand it; Brit. Mus. MS. Copy, 227 sq. 
 
 24- ^ M. Mignet, I., 209 ; Tytler, III., 215, 218. 
 
 2 According to a despatch sent from Edin- = " All people say that Darnley is to much 
 
 burgh to Cosmo I., it was the rebellious nobles addicted to drinking. 'Tis certainly reported 
 
 who drove the Earl of Lennox into the con- there was some Jar betwixt the Queen and 
 
 spiracy : " La pratica fu tale, che dettero a him at an entertainment in a merchant's house 
 
 intendere al padre del Re che se voleva aiutarli in Edinburgh. She only disswading him from 
 
 a rimettere nella gratia della Regina et nel drinking to much himself, and enticing others ; 
 
 Regno, che loro farebbono o per amore o per in both which he proceeded, and gave her 
 
 forza coronare il figlio, il quale non era in such words that she left the place with tears." 
 
 coronato, et non si coronerk mai, se altro non W. Drury to Cecil, i6th February 1566, Bishop 
 
 sopra viene,— Prince Labanoff, VII., 91 Et Keith, 329. " He was somewhat given 'to wine, 
 
 perchfe dicevano detti signori banditi che non and much feeding, and hkewise to inconstancy," 
 
 potrebbono mettere a esequtione il loro disegno Knox, Reform., v., 352. "His vices brought 
 
 sin tanto que Davit fusse vivo, conspirorno la him to Incontinency, though the Queen was 
 
 sua morte."— Ibid. beautiful, and young enough a Princess."— San- 
 derson, 47. 
 
PREPARATION FOR THE ASSASSINATION, 1566. 103 
 
 him that his Hfe was in danger, and the fear of that haunted him.' That 
 unfortunate Piedmontese never was, as we have often read, the favourite 
 of the Queen of Scots. He certainly was of lowly birth ; his talents 
 alone had made him thrive. He was one of a numerous family of a 
 well-to-do musician in Turin, who had at an early period placed David 
 and his brother Joseph at the Court of the Duke of Savoy. "^ He then 
 came with the Piedmontese ambassador to Scotland, and settled there 
 as a musician. He was afterwards made French Secretary, on the 
 retirement of Raulet, the keeper of the Treasury and Secretary of State. 
 His uprightness and devotedness in office won him the Queen's good- 
 will and the hatred of Darnley, whose wishes he did not carry out. 
 His kindliness and attachment to the Queen marked him for the King's 
 vengeance. Darnley believed him to be the cause of his wife's estrange- 
 ment, and the imprudent foreigner, instead of currying favour with the 
 young King, was seen with rich equipages and all the pageantry of a 
 prince. So much show bitterly offended Darnley. Flatterers and 
 evil-disposed persons fanned the flame, by calling attention to the 
 brilliancy, luxury and power of Riccio, whilst he, the King, was living 
 in a position dishonouring even to a simple lordling. By trumpeting 
 the praises of Mary Stuart's secretary, and sneering at the position 
 of Darnley, they kept his mind upon the rack, and at last drove him to 
 revenge.^ 
 
 At the wedding of Bothwell and Lady Gordon, Mary and Darnley 
 . became reconciled. The Queen might then have thought that she had 
 gained her ends. Bedford was about to start for England, while 
 Darnley gave promise of more steadiness. But there were mutterings of 
 the coming storm. Knox and Craig, aware of what was going on, spoke 
 words of sedition to the people, and brought forward from the Bible its 
 most striking examples of murder ; the death of Oreb and of Zeeb, the 
 defeat of the Benjamites, the history of Esther, the execution of Haman 
 and that of Jezebel were commented upon. Assassination was preached 
 as a holy thing; the people trembled with rage. It was at first intended 
 to slay Riccio at Seton, afterwards in the middle of the tennis court, 
 where he often played with the King. An accomplice, whose name 
 history does not record, was of another opinion. " It is not meet," said 
 he, " to do this deed in such a place, the Queen not present ; better is 
 it to kill him in her presence, in her own room ; the people must then 
 believe that he was taken in adultery with her, and that the King could 
 
 1 Sanderson's History, 41 ; Knox, Reform., v. ^ H. Glassford Bell, History of Q. Mary, I., 
 
 Spottiswoode, II., 35. 190. 
 
I04 MURDER OF RICCIO, 1566. 
 
 not refrain from killing him on the spot.'" The common sense of that 
 was granted by all the conspirators. 
 
 On the 9th of March, Morton, Ruthven and Lindsay, with a large 
 following of armed men, went to Darnley. The King was at supper. 
 At about eight o'clock he joined the Queen in her room above. He 
 was accompanied by Ruthven, Andrew Ker, George Douglas and 
 Patrick Bellenden. He entered alone. " My lord," said Mary to 
 him, " have you already supped ? I thought you were at supper now." 
 Mary turned round, and Darnley, Judas-like, advancing a few steps, 
 kissed her. The guests were Lady Argyll, natural sister of the 
 Queen, the commander of Holyrood, the Laird of Creech, Arthur 
 Erskine, and David Riccio, at the foot of the table. 
 
 The Queen had scarcely spoken when the cries of " Douglas ! 
 Douglas!" uttered by Morton's followers, made the building quake. 
 Mary, startled, turned to the King. She noticed Ruthven, followed by 
 Ker and Lindsay, the first named being reported dead that very day, 
 " My lord," said Mary to Ruthven, " I thought of paying you a visit 
 to-day, because you were very ill, and here you are in arms, what 
 means it ?" " I come," said Ruthven, " to do you a service." " And 
 what service?" asked Mary. " To rid you of that gallant," said the 
 murderer, pointing to Riccio. " We will not have a slave for master." 
 Before Mary had time to answer, he ordered Riccio to follow him. 
 In presence of danger, Mary recovered her wonted courage. " What 
 would you do, traitor?" asked she with severity. "Justice to this 
 David," replied Ruthven. " Of what offence is he guilty ?" said the 
 Queen. " The greatest and most heinous in the world : he has 
 offended your Majesty, the King, the nobility, the commonwealth." 
 " If he is guilty," answered the Queen, " it is for me and the Lords of 
 Parliament to do him justice." 
 
 Without further ado, Ruthven moved towards Riccio. Closely 
 pressed, and stricken with terror, the poor Piedmontese rushed to Mary. 
 "Giustizia! Giustizia! madam," cried he, " I die, save my life, madam!" 
 " Fear nothing," said Mary to him, " the King will hinder them from 
 killing you in my presence ; he has not forgotten your services." Those 
 words made Darnley hesitate, and meantime the Queen's people seized 
 Ruthven. " Lay no hands on me," cried he, " lay no hands on me, for 
 
 1 Uno dei complici disse non esser buono di sarian creduti che egli fosse stato trovato in 
 
 farlo in quel luogho, all'assenza della Reina, atto tale che il Re non harebbe potuto di meno 
 
 per rispetto dei popoli, ma che facendolo alia che farlo morire allora. — Addressed from Scot- 
 
 presenza di lei et in camera sua, li popoli si land to Cosmo I., Prince Labanoff, VII., 72. 
 
MURDER OF RICCIO, 1566. 105 
 
 I will not be handled." In his hurry, one of the murderers upset the 
 table and the lights, thereby adding to the disorder. Mary still fought 
 on for Riccio. Prayers, threats, efforts, everything was done to drive 
 back the conspirators, who pushed forward so violently that the Queen 
 and her prot^gd were almost knocked over. Speechless and frightened 
 out of her mind, Lady Argyll held the only light. 
 
 The scene was frightful, and likely to last. All struggled desper- 
 ately amid profound silence, and dealt blows in the dim light. Ker of 
 Fawdonside, forgetful of his allegiance, threatened the Queen with the 
 pistol in his hand. " Strike," said Mary, " if you do not respect the 
 royal child which I carry in my bosom." The villain dared to press the 
 trigger, and it was not his fault that the shot was not fired. Darnley, not 
 less ferocious, but, saying that nothing should be done to Riccio, seized 
 the Queen, pushed her into an arm-chair, and kept her there, and at 
 the same time he struck the victim to make him loose his hold of Mary's 
 dress, to which he firmly clung. At length the impatient Douglas seized 
 the King's dagger and plunged it into Riccio's body, whence the blood 
 spurted over the Queen. Then it was all over ; Riccio let go his 
 hold, and the assassins dragged him out of the room. The poor 
 wretch wept, prayed, grasped frantically at everything near, unwilling 
 to die. But yield he must, and the murderers, revelling in their cruelty, 
 left the corpse gashed with six-and-fifty wounds. Their bloody work 
 over, they threw the body out of the window, and let it lie for 
 some time in the porter's lodge, without a rag to cover it. 
 
 Ruthven did not follow his accomplices, but feigning weariness, 
 went back to the Queen's room and demanded drink. The Queen was 
 furious at that outrage. Ruthven would have it, and laying hold of a 
 cup, filled it. " That blood," said Mary to him, " shall cost some of 
 you dear : I will be revenged." The King was present ; he had been 
 quarrelling with the Queen, and she had been severely upbraiding 
 him.' Coward that he was, he had not manliness enough to resent 
 the insult done by Ruthven to the Queen. To a woman such an 
 insult was outrageous, but to a Queen, a lady of refinement, how much 
 more so must it have been ! Bear in mind, reader, that Mary was to 
 give birth to a child within three months, and what do you think of 
 that brutal husband ? Fired with wine, he had hoped that the deed 
 
 ^ Voltatasi la Reina verso il Re gli disse : riconoscimento che dai k me per haverti inal- 
 
 " Ha traditore, figliuolo di traditore, questa h la zato a dignity cosi altk." La quale dette queste 
 
 rdcompensa che hai dato k colui che t'ha fatto parole, incontanente svani. Prince Labanoff, 
 
 tanto bene et honor cosi grande : questo 6 il VII., 75. 
 
 VOL. I. O 
 
io6 THE QUEEN'S CAPTIVITY, 1566. 
 
 might be done in his wife's presence, and had taken all the risk 
 of the Queen's death resulting therefrom.' 
 
 While those things were taking place, Bothwell and the Earl of 
 Huntly, after trying, with the cooks and servants, to beat back the 
 assassins, had stolen away. The town was soon startled and in con- 
 fusion. The tocsin roused the slumberers, and the startled multitude 
 replied with clamour. Numerous crowds, grouped every here and there 
 in the Canongate, stood waiting for orders or fresh tidings. The 
 neighbourhood of Holyrood was blocked. A band of armed citizens, 
 led by the Provost of the town, sought audience of the Queen. The 
 murderers tried to scare them or pacify them ; but they were deaf 
 to kind words, and laughed at threats. Tired of bandying words with 
 the citizens, the assassins told the King to speak to them with authority 
 and order them to be off, under the severest penalties.'' 
 
 Mary, from the room in which she had shut herself up, heard all the 
 uproar, and her anxiety rose and fell with the turmoil on the streets. 
 She wished to show herself to the people, but the conspirators would 
 not yield to her in that, threatening to kill her and throw her out of the 
 window, if she again expressed that wish.^ She then saw that she was 
 indeed a prisoner.* Her loneliness, after the recent dangers, had excited 
 her imagination, and reduced her to a piteous state. " Poor Riccio," 
 said she, " my good and faithful servant, may God have mercy on your 
 soul !"= Her ladies were at length allowed, as a favour, to be with her ; 
 but on condition that no one left the chamber. 
 
 Next day, the Earl of Morton, Chancellor of Scotland, presented 
 himself at the palace. Introduced into the Queen's chamber, he said, 
 
 1 Goodall, I., 268. — Detto Re consentiva Regina, se non che tutti metterebbono a fuoco 
 alia morte della Regina sua moglie. Awisi et sangue il palazzo et la gente che vi era 
 di Scotia, Tytler, III., 402. — Letter of Bed- contra la Regina. Alhora il Re comincio 
 ford and Randolph to the Privy Council, a comandare sotto pena de rebellione, che si 
 EUis, 1st series, IL, 207-222, and Wright, dovessero ritirare; ma era poco obbedito et 
 vol. 1. — Ruthven's narrative. Bishop Keith, tuttavia cresceva il rumore." —"Despatch 
 app. 119, sq.— Craufurd's Memoirs, 5-9.— addressed to Cosmo 1. Prince Labanoff, VI L, 
 Mary Queen of Scots, her persecutions, &c., 94. 
 
 143, sq. Pitcairn Criminal Trials, I., 478-486. ' Mary Stuart to Queen Elizabeth. Prince 
 
 —Prince Labanoff, Mem. Ital., Tome VII. Labanoff, VII., 301. 
 
 Teulet, II. , 260, sq. Patrick Anderson's Hist. * " She was holden in captivitie with in her 
 
 of Scot. MS., Adv. Library, quoted in Birrel's chalmer, that na persoun nor personis mycht 
 
 Diarey, 5., Note O. Tytler, II., 211-220. come and speik with hir, but thaj quhome 
 
 Miss Benger, 233-256. Dissertation, I. at the thaj plesit." Diurnal of Occur., 91. 
 
 end of 2d volume. = " Ah, povero Davit, mio buono et fedel ser- 
 
 2 Knox, Reform., v.— Spottiswoode, II., 36- vitore, Dio habbi misericordia di vostra 
 38 — " II populo cominci6 a gridare et min- anima!" Prince Labanoff, VII. 93. 
 acciare, che voleva vedere et parlare a la 
 
RECONCILIATION, 1566. 107 
 
 that he did not come to justify himself in reference to Riccio's murder, 
 of which he was innocent, but to make known to her that the States 
 were about to ask her why she did not give the King the crowii-matri- 
 monial. " Cousin mine," repUed Mary, " I have never refused to honour 
 my husband in all ways ; since I married him I have never ceased to 
 do him good, or give him greatness and brilliancy ; but the men in 
 whom the King puts his trust are those who have wished to hinder me 
 from so doing. Besides," added she, " I am a prisoner, and what I 
 might do would be null and void."' 
 
 She then went to Darnley, whom she found alone with the Earl of 
 Lennox who was trying to settle affairs, and bring about a reconciliation 
 betwixt them. " My Lord," said she, " what have I done to you, that 
 you should so act towards me? I have drawn you from obscurity, I 
 have taken you for a husband, and you betray me without my having 
 offended you. If I have deserved death in doing you all possible good, 
 what has that little innocent one done, which I now carry, and which 
 I preserve only to increase your power. Do you not see that you give 
 the world cause to talk, that the Christian Princes will be scandalised, 
 and that those wicked ones in short wish my ruin only to overthrow 
 you more easily."'' Darnley, cut to the quick by those words, confused 
 and sorry for his scandalous conduct, asked Mary if it was too late to 
 quit the bad path on which he had entered, and promised to walk as 
 she should direct him. The Queen replied that all must depend on 
 his own discretion and obedience to her wishes.^ 
 
 That same evening the Parliament was dissolved at the request of 
 the conspirators, and the Catholics were ordered to leave Edinburgh.* 
 
 The report of that memorable murder had reached England, and 
 Moray, informed of the deed, hurried to Edinburgh. He went at once 
 to the Queen. " Ah, my brother," said she, embracing him, " in caice 
 you had bene at hame, you wald not haue sufferit me to haue bene sa 
 vncourtcsly handlit." Moray moved by his sister's grief was forced to 
 mingle his tears with hers.^ 
 
 The murder being done, what came from it ? Darnley, for a time 
 bereft of reason, had been able to plot a murder, and carry it out fiercely, 
 
 ' Prince Labanoff, VII., 75, 76. les veulent tuer tous deux et tendent par tous 
 
 2 Caussin, Jebb II., 59. — Blackwood, Mar- les moyens k se faire roys eulx-memes, chose 
 
 tyre de Marie Stuart, Royne d'Escosse, Com- qui luy est insuportable. Teulet, II., 246. 
 
 plete Works, 551. — Prince Labanoff, VII., ^ Prince Labanoff, loc. cit. 
 
 77. — Castelnau de Mauvissifere wrote on * Knox Reform., v. — -Teulet, II., 262. — 
 
 27th Sept., to Paul de Foix: " ayant comme Sanderson, 41. 
 
 diet sa Majeste, infiniz advertissemens qu'ilz ° Melville's Memoirs, 150. 
 
io8 MARY AND DARNLEY ESCAPE, 1566. 
 
 but there he had halted, conscience-stricken. Like all weak-minded 
 men, he had for the moment been more hot-brained than others ; the 
 strain over, he became himself again, weak and irresolute as ever. He 
 had done too much at a stroke to venture further. If the conspirators 
 had been equally fickle of mind, things would have remained as in the 
 past, but fear and ambition urged them to finish the work begun. The 
 nobles, dreading a reconciliation betwixt the Queen and her husband, 
 had guards placed at the doors of Mary's apartments, to stop visitors. 
 That offensive precaution, though taken late, displeased Darnley, and 
 shewed him he was not master. He was far from imagining he was 
 little else than a slave. He learned the sad truth when he sent a 
 message to the Queen by Sir William Stanley, who was turned away 
 with these words : " No one may have passage through the guards 
 without an order from the Lords."' 
 
 That insult exasperated the young King, and in a fit of rage 
 which knew not fear, he disbanded his confederates. The order was 
 at once obeyed. They separated not knowing why, some of them 
 believing that the Queen's health justified that hasty conduct. Further 
 on we shall learn the then state of affairs. 
 
 Matters were becoming puzzling, and for the first time Darnley felt 
 the unpleasantness of his position, though unable to avoid it. The 
 Queen tauntingly told him that the conspirators would lay the blame at 
 his door as soon as it answered their purpose : a prophecy which was 
 very quickly fulfilled. From praising their boldness he came to dread 
 their wrath. As he had stirred up the conspirators against Riccio, so 
 they were now concerting measures against himself, and though able 
 in the past to rouse passions, he could not now arrest their course. To 
 free the Queen and himself from his former accomplices, now his 
 masters, there was but one way : flight. They fled during the night of the 
 I ith and 12th of March. By getting clear of the conspirators, Darnley 
 completely defeated their plans. Finding themselves deserted by the 
 King and the Earl of Moray, whom Mary had wisely conciliated, and 
 encompassed by foes, they trusted little to the promises of the captive 
 Queen, and found themselves left to their own resources, knowing 
 neither what measures to take nor on whom to rely. 
 
 ' Herries' Memoirs, 78. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1566. 
 
 MARY'S APPEAL TO HER SUBJECTS — ^TRIUMPHANT ENTRANCE INTO EDINBURGH — DARNLEY 
 WISHES TO PUNISH THE GUILTY — THE QUEEN IS OPPOSED TO IT — RICCIO'S FUNERAL 
 — MARY'S RELATIONS WITH ELIZABETH — BIRTH OF JAMES VI. — ^JOY OF THE NATION — 
 SADNESS OF ELIZABETH — DARNLEY JEALOUS OF MORAY — HE WISHES TO KILL HIM — • 
 MARY'S JOURNEY TO ALLOA — THE QUEEN PARDONS LETHINGTON — DARNLEY'S 
 OPPOSITION — MORAY'S QUARRELS WITH THE KING — WITH BOTHWELL — DARNLEY'S 
 CALUMNIES — HIS REFUSAL TO ACCOMPANY THE QUEEN TO EDINBURGH — MARY'S 
 ATTENTION TO HER HUSBAND— HIS UNGRATEFUL CONDUCT — MARY AT JEDBURGH — 
 HER VISIT TO BOTHWELL — SHE IS TAKEN ILL— HER FEELINGS— DARNLEY'S CONDUCT. 
 
 "]\ /T ARY, wisely using her first moments of liberty, appealed to her 
 -'-'J- subjects ; a proceeding more than ever necessary. The hatred 
 of the Conspirators changed to fury when the news of the Queen's 
 escape was whispered, and people dreaded desperate violence at their 
 hands. Mary did not seek to hide her real position, but wrote to 
 France that she was a " Queen without a realm." ' The prudent way 
 in which she defeated the projects of her perfidious enemies, alone 
 saved her crown. 
 
 Her trusty nobles flocked around, and enabled her to struggle against 
 the rebels, and to brave fortune. Great was the fear in Edinburgh. 
 The murderers grew pale with fright, and sought to avert the danger, 
 but seeing themselves deserted, they took to flight, and as best they 
 could, made for England, their nearest refuge. The Queen arrived in 
 Edinburgh on the 1 8th of March. The authorities met her at the gates 
 of the town, where she was received with triumphant greeting. The 
 honest people who had groaned over the past scenes were anxious to 
 make their sovereign forget the insults heaped upon her. It never 
 could have occurred to Mary during that night of anguish which 
 followed Riccio's assassination, that she should be a Queen in the very 
 place where late she had been a prisoner, exposed to all insults. Her 
 faithful secretary murdered, the palace surrounded, and the traitors 
 masters of her person ; tumult without, her friends compelled to be 
 silent or to flee, even her husband agreeing to her death ; such was the 
 situation on the 9th of March. Had Mary, at that dreadful crisis, been 
 
 1 Prince Labanoff, VII., 78. 
 
no DARNLEY WISHES TO PUNISH THE GUILTY, 1566. 
 
 scared, it would have been all over with her, and her reign at an end. 
 Thanks to her firmness, it was not so, and the people of Edinburgh, for 
 a while frightened or misled, wished to show the gentle Queen how 
 vexed they were for her sufferings. 
 
 A change then took place in the government. Morton, Lethington 
 and several other conspirators had held the highest positions, and as 
 they had left the country, their places were filled by others. The Earl 
 of Huntly was made Chancellor, the post which Morton had held, and 
 James Melville was made Secretary. In talent, inferior to Lethington, 
 like him, he pretended to serve the Queen, though brimful of perfidy.' 
 
 Mary, strong by that lucky turn of fortune, and by her rights, might 
 have been expected to punish the guilty. For a time the people were 
 busied with the subject, and the murderers, conscious of their crime, 
 feared the anger of the Queen. No doubt Mary could have treated 
 them as they certainly would have treated her, but such was not her 
 disposition. Firm and immovable when she had to defend her rights, 
 she was now gentle, humane, compassionate and soft-hearted. She 
 wished to banish from her thoughts the crime which had been done, and 
 to extend her clemency to the conspirators. She liked to forgive and 
 increase happiness around her. Just now, when she might have taken 
 revenge, and had good provocation for so doing, she put to death only 
 two accomplices, who, though servants of the crown, had forgotten their 
 duty and sided with the assassins.' The Earl of Lennox alone, whose 
 foolish baseness and ambition forced him into every conspiracy, was not 
 pardoned. Clemency to him would have been a mistake, and his mad 
 pride would have burst all bounds had he got off with impunity. Justice 
 and public order demanded that Mary should be firm, and she was firm. 
 To all asking pardon it was granted ; the others were called upon to 
 clear themselves, and, on refusing to appear, were deprived of their 
 estates till they submitted. 
 
 So much leniency after so much suffering was wonderful ; Darnley 
 found in it an excuse for scolding the Queen. Not satisfied with 
 stating in a proclamation that he was guiltless, and throwing all the 
 odium of the crime on the conspirators, he wished to chastise them 
 severely. He thought that was the only way to prove he had had no 
 share in the affair. The more clement Mary was, the more eagerly the 
 Prince wished for punishment. Seeing at length that the Queen lent 
 a deaf ear to all his entreaties, and thinking that she wished to make 
 
 ' Chalmers III. 556. Goodall I., preface Chalmers I., 262. M. Wiesener, 81. Bishop 
 
 xviii. sq. Kei 111,334. 
 
THE FUNERAL OF RICCIO, 1566. iii 
 
 him bear the blame of the assassination, he began to lead again his 
 former disgraceful life. Darnley could not understand Mary's clemency 
 to Moray, a thing which pained him, when he considered how unyielding 
 she was to Lennox. His temper getting the better of his reason, he 
 fancied that justice was not being done, and at length refused to live 
 with his wife. Mary vainly tried to gain over that cross-grained 
 nature, but Darnley withstood all her advances, and seemed a prey to 
 some strange melancholy. He sometimes met the Queen and appeared 
 for a time mpre social ; then his humour would suddenly change and 
 he would avoid all society. A certain coterie blamed the Queen for 
 the King's sad existence, and calumnies grew rife as in the past. ' 
 Riccio's funeral, which, by Mary's orders, was conducted with pomp and 
 solemnity, strengthened a suspicion which soon became a belief 
 
 Elizabeth was delighted at the misunderstanding. She learned what 
 was going on at the Court of Scotland from one Rokesby, who had 
 gained the Queen's confidence, by representing himself to be an exile 
 and a fervent Catholic. He told Mary that the Catholics of England 
 were keenly interested in her affairs, and that, not daring to unbosom 
 themselves to her ambassador, a Protestant, they had sent him as 
 the interpreter of their feelings towards her. The Bishop of Ross, 
 more zealous than prudent, backed Rokesby with his influence. Mary 
 spoke to him too freely of her plans, and although Rokesby's statements 
 are still unknown, certain it is that they did much harm to her 
 interests. Elizabeth did not, however, reap all the advantages which 
 she hoped for from that shameful manoeuvre. That Rokesby was her 
 spy was found out by Robert Melville. Rokesby was thereon thrown 
 into prison. Letters from Cecil were found upon him, in which he was 
 encouraged by valuable rewards to spy into everything. Elizabeth, 
 for credit's sake, pretended to see in Rokesby only a fugitive subject, 
 and claimed him from the Queen of Scots ; the latter did not give 
 him up at once, but promised to hand him over, after explanation, 
 to those who should come to claim him, and there the matter dropped. " 
 
 ' Some writers before and since M. Mignet, accompany the Queen to Parliament unless he 
 
 maintain that this conduct on the part of occupied the first place there, and went during 
 
 Darnley was the result of the " insurmountable that time to give his horses an airing at Leith. 
 
 aversion'' which the Queen showed him, ever Knox Reform., v. 342. Miss Strickland, II. 271. 
 
 since the murder of Riccio. I shall just call If that is not, in the mind of those gentlemen, a 
 
 the attention of those gentlemen to the fact conduct deserving of the greatest contempt, 
 
 that at the Parliamentary Session which pre- propriety need never again be spoken of. 
 
 ceded the Secretary's assassination, that young " Bishop Keith, 337. Melville's Memoirs, 
 
 Prince whom they represent as " following Bannat. Club, 157. 
 everywhere her who repulsed him," refused to 
 
112 BIRTH OF JAMES VI., 1566. 
 
 An event of the utmost importance was now to bring grief to 
 Elizabeth, and joy to Mary, in the midst of her sorrow. For 
 some days the Queen of Scots had been thoughtful ; she was about to 
 become a mother, and that time, perilous for all women, was par- 
 ticularly so for her, from the troubles which had agitated her during 
 pregnancy. She made her will. Her memory forgot no one ; the child 
 to be born was declared her heir, she thought of her mother-in-law, 
 of her companions the four Marys, of the Earls of Lennox, Moray, 
 Mar, Bothwell, Argyll, Huntly, and Atholl, and bequeathed to each 
 some souvenir, with this general inscription : " remembrances to recall 
 me to the minds of my good friends ;" to the king she gave her most 
 beautiful jewels and their marriage ring, as also another ring, with these 
 words : " to the king who gave it me." The writing is blurred with 
 tears." Thanks to God that will was useless. On the 19th of June, 
 Mary safely gave birth to a son in Edinburgh Castle. 
 
 The Castle guns at once announced the birth of a sovereign to 
 Scotland ; joy seized upon the town ; all feuds vanished as if by en- 
 chantment ; the people flocked to St Giles to thank God for the birth 
 of a prince, and in the evening the town was brilliantly illuminated. " 
 Melville was despatched to Elizabeth. He found her at a ball. As 
 soon as she heard the news, the dancing was stopped, and the 
 entertainment brought to a sudden close. The cheerful assembly 
 wondered ; every one asked the cause of so unexpected a change, for 
 the news had been whispered to the Queen. Elizabeth sank into 
 an arm-chair, and sat with head bowed down with grief She, however, 
 announced the cause of her trouble. " The Quen of Scotlandis," said 
 she, to the ladies who pressed around her, " is leichter of a fair sonne, 
 and I am bot a barren stok." On the following day, Melville again 
 visited her ; he found her very gay and magnificendy attired, anxious 
 to have the scene of the previous evening forgotten. She wished to 
 learn all about the event, and thanked Melville for his haste.^ 
 
 As the Queen of England was seriously thinking of marriage, the 
 announcement that Mary had given birth to a son grieved her greatly. 
 Melville undertook to console her after his own style, by telling her that 
 the Queen, his mistress, had nearly lost her life ; that was one way to 
 dissuade Elizabeth from marriage, for she was very fond of life. Despite 
 the repugnance which she felt, the Queen of England consented, with 
 seeming gladness to be the god-mother of the new-born child. ■• 
 
 1 Facsimile, Mr Hosack, 148. ' Melville's Memoirs, 159. 
 
 2 HoUinshed's Cronicles, II., 328. <> Melville's Memoirs, 159. 
 
DARNLEY JEALOUS OF MORAY, 1566. 
 
 On the occasion of the young Prince's birth, the King ar 
 were reconciled, and people were led to hope that their long 
 ment was at an end. When Darjiley came to acknowledge 
 in presence of the nobility, as was customary among the 
 Kings : " My Lord," said the Queen to him, " God hes gl 
 and me a sone, begotten by none but you ;" by those w 
 alluded to the calumnies which had been circulated in referent 
 relations with Riccio. The King understood it ; he blushed and 
 kissed the child. Mary took her son from his arms, and uncovering 
 his face, said : " My Lord, heer I protest to God, and as I shall 
 answer to him at the great day of judgment, this is your sone, and 
 I am desyrous that all heer, both ladies and others, bear witness." 
 Then turning to Sir William Stanley : " This," said she, " is the 
 sone whome, I hope, shall first unitt the two Kingdoms of Scotland 
 and England." "Why, Madam," replied Sir William, "shall he 
 succeed before your Majestie and his father ?" " Because, his father," 
 said Mary, " hes broken to me." The King was present hearing 
 the conversation. " Sweet Madam, replied he, is this your promeis 
 that you made to forgive and forgett all." " I have forgiven all," said 
 Mary, but will never forgett. What if Fawdonsyd's pistoU had shott, 
 what would have become of him and me both ? or what estate would 
 you have been in ? God onlie knows, but we may suspect." " Madam, 
 these things are all past," said the King. " Then let them goe," 
 added the Queen. ' On the same day, Darnley wrote to the Duke de 
 Guise, announcing the happy news. " Gaiety and contentment re- 
 appeared at the long troubled Court of Scotland. There were some 
 days of happiness, alas ! soon changed into sadness, through the 
 faithlessness of the young King. 
 
 Darnley, during those rejoicings, noticed Moray's influence over 
 the Queen ; the power given him, the confidence placed in him, and 
 the pardon extended to the criminals at his request, aroused the King's 
 anger. The safety of his accomplices was a torment to him, not that 
 he wished them dead, but because they were divulging the crime which 
 he was endeavouring to hide. Through spite, he blamed Moray for 
 everything, and resolved to kill him, pretending that never could the 
 Queen be in safety, or Scotland at peace, so long as that ambitious man 
 saw the light of day. There was some truth in his thoughts, but being so 
 exaggerated, they it could not be received. The Queen, on learning his 
 
 ^ Herries' Memoirs, 79. ^ F. von Raumer, Contributions, 87. 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
114 MARY GOES TO ALLOA, 1566. 
 
 resolve to kill Moray, could not contain her indignation. "What," 
 exclaimed she, " it is not enough for you to have murdered my secre- 
 tary, but you must dip your hands in the blood of my brother also ! " 
 Darnley was astounded, and from that day those words were ever 
 sounding in his ears. The Queen had welcomed him so kindly that he 
 at length had believed she thought him innocent. That speech tore 
 the veil from his eyes, revealing a reality and not a dream.' 
 
 Mary's health, until then vigorous, had received so severe a blow 
 from the scene of the 9th of March, and from her confinement, that 
 she thought it advisable to remove from Edinburgh to Alloa Castle, 
 a seat of the Earl of Mar, to enjoy rest and a change of air. As 
 the journey was to be by water, Bothwell, as Lord High Admiral 
 of Scotland, was ordered to get the vessel ready. He assigned that 
 duty to his subordinates, as the disturbances on the Border required 
 his presence in Liddesdale. Mary set out on the 27th of July, very 
 early in the morning. She took with her the Earls of Mar and 
 Moray, as well as her ministers and several ladies of distinction.^ 
 Darnley, not wishing to be face to face in a boat with those whom 
 he hated, went by land, and reached Alloa Castle at the same time 
 as the Queen. The French ambassador arrived there two days later, 
 and was magnificently treated. Killigrew, who came after him, re- 
 ceived a similar welcome. ' All was life at the Earl of Mar's manor, — 
 receptions and rambles formed an agreeable change from the affairs 
 of state. There Mary convoked for the 13th of August the nobles of 
 the ten counties, to reduce the unruly Border counties to order, and 
 it is probable that on that occasion Bothwell came to join the Court 
 at Alloa.-^ 
 
 1 Herrera, Historia del Reyno de Escocia, nium bonorum admiratione, se mari commisit, 
 74 ; Blackwood, 556 ; Miss Strickland, II., 354. tiemine ne ex honestioribus ministris assumpto. 
 
 ^ M. Wiesener, 69 ; Chalmers, I., 278. In Alloa vero, Comitis Marrise arce, quo navis 
 
 2 Goodall, I., 294 ; Prince Labanofif, I., 364. appulit, per aliquot dies ita se gessit, ut non 
 * The author of the Detection has written modo Regise Majestatis, sed matronalis etiam 
 
 in Book xviii. of his History of Scotland, a modestiae, oblita videretur." I place under the 
 
 sentence which has been reproduced, word for eyes of the reader, although with repugnance, 
 
 word, in the Book of Articles: "Ac velut the words of Buchanan, and I note, in passing, 
 
 (Regina) vereretur ne favor is obscurus esset, that no correspondence, no contemporary 
 
 quodam die cum uno et altero comite, summo writer, even among the least scrupulous to- 
 
 mane, ad portumquem novum vocantdescendit, wards the Queen, speaks of those clandestine 
 
 cunctisque insciis quo properaret, naviculam debaucheries. All that we know is that Castel- 
 
 ibi praeparatam conscendit. Ornaverant autem nau de Mauvissifere was there "joifullie received, 
 
 eam Gulielmus et Edmondus Blacateri, Eduard- corteouslie intertained, and highlie rewarded," 
 
 us Robertsonus, et Thomas Dicsonus, omnes and that Killigrew, who came after him, was 
 
 Bothuelii clientes, et notas rapacitatis pirate. received with the same attentions. Hollin- 
 
 Hoc igitur comitatu latronum, cum summa om- shed's Cronicles, 1 1., 328, 329, That the Queen 
 
THE QUEEN PARDONS LETHINGTON, 1566. 115 
 
 Some criminals still remained to be pardoned, but the Queen seemed 
 to have forgotten them. In granting pardon to the least guilty, she 
 acted with clemency ; she dreaded to be thought weak by forgiving 
 them all without distinction. At the outset, she had refused to 
 • listen to Moray's entreaties. He did not, however, consider himself 
 beaten ; he begged her anew to grant a general amnesty to mark the 
 Prince's birth, and had the ambassadors of France and England to help 
 him. Darnley left no stone unturned to baulk him. The return into 
 favour of Lethington and his friends would naturally embolden his 
 adversaries. He felt it, and did his utmost to prevent the danger. 
 He was right, and that time his course of action, though far from dis- 
 interested, was wise. With Moray, some power was left to him ; with 
 Lethington, he ran the risk of losing all. His efforts were vain ; Mary 
 yielded through consideration for France and England. On the 2d of 
 August, Lethington had an audience, in Alloa Castle, proved his inno- 
 cence, was received and pardoned. 
 
 That ill-timed clemency kindled, in the heart of the young King, 
 wrath, which he could no longer master ; he was so enraged, that he 
 uttered the most violent threats against Moray. He could not coolly 
 see his accomplices, one after the other, returning into favour. He had 
 led them into crime ; the coward then deserted them, and left them to 
 their fate, and now wished to punish them. His outrageous conduct 
 made him the object of pity and contempt." He returned to Edinburgh 
 soured in temper. Mary did all she could to console him ; she tasked 
 her ingenuity to amuse him ; she went hunting with him to Ettrick 
 Forest, thinking to calm his troubled mind. He remained in the same 
 temper, and, without any other pretext of quarrel than the favour in 
 which the Queen held Moray, fled to Dunfermline, thence to Dalkeith, 
 and was not heard of for a long time.^ 
 
 Bothwell, too, was not more pleased, and showed his anger by acts 
 as foolish as those of the King. With his fiery disposition, he could 
 not choose the middle course. Stern, bold, stubborn, and a slave to vices 
 
 was never alone, that, independently of the ^ Historians cannot find terms strong enough 
 
 visits, she was accompanied the whole time to brand his conduct. " He was," says Robert- 
 
 by the Earls of Moray and Mar, who, though son, "weak, foolish, insolent and intolerable." 
 
 they were perhaps not " ex honestioribus The History of Mary Queen of Scots, 49, — 
 
 ministris," were, however, men not to be easily " His pride and violence were intolerable." 
 
 taken in ; that the King came there to visit M'Neel Caird, 35, — " He was a most unhappy 
 
 Mary, and that he even spent two nights with compound of insolence and imbecility," — ■ 
 
 her (Keith, 345); and that Bothwell, sent to the Mr. Hosack 121. 
 
 Border, (Miss Strickland, II., 347) was probably ^ Goodall, I., 295; Chalmers, I., 284 sq ; 
 
 not at Alloa during the first days (Ibid, 357.) Miss Strickland, II., 362. 
 
ii6 QUARRELS BETWIXT MARY AND BOTHWELL, 1566. 
 
 the most wicked and the most Hkely to bring down hatred on him, he 
 redeemed those terrible faults by a loyalty which led Mary to spare him. 
 When Moray spoke to him of handing over Haddington Abbey to 
 Lethington, he would not hearken to him, and when he saw that the 
 bastard was vigorously preparing to rob him of it, he broke out into 
 bitter words, swearing that he would rather give up his life than the 
 Abbey. Bothwell, threatened by Moray, and weakly aided by the 
 Queen, who was more anxious to retain her brother's friendship than 
 his, secretly left the Court.' 
 
 Had not Mary been prudent now, the affairs almost amicably settled 
 would again have been disturbed, for Darnley had fled with the intent 
 to do hurt. Bothwell had been forced to flee to save his life ; the 
 English party had joined the double-dealing Moray, and the Protestants 
 were ready to break out. All that disorder made the situation a difficult 
 one. The parties threatened one another loudly, and Mary had to be 
 on her guard lest she should offend any of them. She endeavoured to 
 conciliate the nobles by gentleness, and honoured them, irrespective of 
 their religious opinions. No doubt she would have supported the growing 
 vigour of Protestantism ; but, finding it adopted by many, and strongly 
 rooted, she was satisfied, for the sake of peace, to seek for herself the 
 liberty of worship which her subjects enjoyed. Thus, she anticipated 
 centuries, and, amid those fierce spirits who, in the name of God, 
 ravaged the land at that period, she raised herself above hatred and 
 human respect, by granting greater liberty to her subjects. Darnley, 
 who allowed no opportunity to pass of doing injury to Mary, availed 
 himself of that one to write to the Pope and the Kings of France and 
 Spain, accusing his wife of religious indifference. The Legate in 
 France helped to spread those outrageous reports.^ 
 
 During all that time there was a perfect round of reconciliation and 
 coolness between the King and Queen. The smallest matter, the most 
 paltry difference offended Darnley. He would abruptly leave the Queen 
 and return shortly after. On the i ith of September, at the request of the 
 Privy Council, Mary repaired to Edinburgh. She told Darnley to accom- 
 pany her, but the fickle young man refused, although they were then on 
 good terms. A week later, weary of his loneliness, he conceived the 
 
 ' Robertson, app. xvii. which was all out of order, all because that 
 
 ' " About the same time, by the advice of mass and Popery were not again erected, 
 
 foolish cagots, he (the King) wrote to the Pope, giving the whole blame thereof to the Queen, 
 
 to the King of Spain and to the King of as not managing the Catholic cause aright."— 
 
 France, complaining of the state of the country, Knox, Reform., v. 
 
MARY'S ATTENTION TO HER HUSBAND, 1566. it? 
 
 silly idea of going into exile. Du Croc and Mary pleaded with him. 
 Always ruled by that surly humour which did not allow him to live 
 with his wife, or have peace of mind away from her, he came of his own 
 accord to Edinburgh, but was not a whit more social. He took up his 
 quarters in a private house, and would not go to Holyrood, although 
 the Queen had expressed her desire to that effect. That gratuitous 
 insult grieved Mary ; but, instead of being irritated at it, she went and 
 brought her husband to the palace. Her anxiety about him was great, 
 and Darnley insanely fancied that by running away from her he could 
 break her heart. When Mary asked him what vexed him, he would 
 not tell her. Like wilful children who delight to tease those to whom 
 they owe their birth, Darnley was happy to see the Queen grieved by 
 him. During the night, amid the endearments of wedlock, Mary again 
 tried to learn from her husband the motive which made him so act. 
 She begged and begged in vain. Her anxiety went so far that she 
 wished to learn before her Council the reason of such strange conduct, 
 were it only to close the mouth of slander, by showing with whom the 
 fault lay. It ended in an affecting scene. Darnley, in presence of the 
 Council, said nothing. The Queen gently entreated him to tell before 
 the Council what he withheld from her during the night, and to state, 
 whether or not, she had in any way offended him. Darnley was silent. 
 Then Mary, hurt by obstinacy so stubborn, took his hands, praying 
 that " for God's sake he should not spare her, and promising all satis- 
 faction," to which appeal he was deaf The Council and the French 
 ambassador in vain joined their prayers to those of the Queen ; he 
 remained obstinately silent. Asked by du Croc if the Queen had 
 given him any reason to be displeased, he at last replied that " occasion 
 he had none," then seeing the joy which those words afforded his wife, 
 the Council and du Croc, he said coldly, " Adieu, Madam, adieu, you 
 shall not see me for a long time," and having added, " Adieu, gentle- 
 men," left the chamber. " We remained beside the Queen," says the 
 ambassador du Croc, who relates the interview, " and begged her to 
 continue good and virtuous, and not to grieve or annoy herself about 
 the matter, as the truth would certainly be known everywhere."' 
 
 When his temper had cooled down, and the ill-nature which closed 
 his mouth had vanished, he wrote from Glasgow a letter of explanation. 
 There were two reasons for that exhibition of temper. One was, that 
 
 ' Du Croc to Catherine de Mddicis, 17th Bishop Keith, 347; Teulet, II,, 287; Prince 
 October, Teulet, II., 291 ; the Lords of Privy Labanoff, I., 376 ; VII., 96. 
 Council to the Queen mother, 8th October, 
 
ii8 BOTHWELL AND JOHN ELLIOT, 1566. 
 
 though a King, he was one only in name, as he had no authority ; the 
 other was that he thought he had all along been slighted.' The Queen 
 replied that she had honoured him from the beginning, as much as lay 
 in her power, and that he had returned her kindness only by joining 
 conspiracies ; that, notwithstanding his unbecoming conduct, she always 
 treated him with the same respect, and that, far from reproaching him 
 with the murder of her faithful servant, she had constantly excused 
 him.'' That explanation restored neither confidence nor friendship, 
 and the Queen had to bear the affliction of seeing that the evil was 
 without remedy. 
 
 As early as the month of July, Mary had decided that the extra- 
 ordinary Assizes should be held at Jedburgh, and that Both well should 
 meanwhile keep order on the Borders. That arrangement displeased 
 the nobles of the county. They knew that Bothwell had been driven 
 to most fearful acts out of revenge, and that he could not be bribed. To 
 keep safe the means of retreat into England, they enlisted Bedford on 
 their side, and prepared to resist Bothwell if he should come alone. 
 The Assizes, at first fixed for the beginning of August, were, for various 
 reasons, put off until the 8th of October. Bothwell was ordered to seize 
 the principal culprits of the Border, and keep them in the castle of the 
 Hermitage. The Lairds of Mangerton and Whitehaugh, and several 
 Armstrongs, were at first seized and locked up ; but the Elliots had 
 fled, and they were the most dangerous enemies on account of their 
 power and undaunted courage. Chance would have it that Bothwell 
 and John Elliot of the Park should meet alone. They attacked each 
 other with fury. They were well-matched, and their bravery, quick- 
 ened by anger, was undoubted. After a heroic fight, John Elliot had 
 the worst of it, and was obliged to crave quarter from his foe ; Elliot, 
 dreading his vengeful hands, ran away, leaving his horse with Bothwell, 
 who, irritated by the indecisive issue of the fight, fired his pistol at him 
 to prevent his escape, and went after him. The soil was too marshy 
 for a quick pace, and Elliot, running swiftly, increased the distance 
 
 1 " Melvil m'a dit qu' k son partement le roi King, 21st October, Cheruel, 48. There is to 
 
 d'Ecosse dtoit sur le point de s'en aller be found in the Inventories of Queen Mary a 
 
 en Flandre, disant pour couleur qu'il great number of presents from Mary to Darn- 
 
 dtoit jeune et qu'il vouloit aller voir les pays ley in the course of the year 1566. Some 
 
 Strangers et que de la il pourroit passer en reveal the most delicate attentions.— See In- 
 
 France ; mais que la principale occasion ventories, 19, 29, 34, 39, 51, 115, 123, et 
 
 dtoit le mdcontentement qu'il avoit que la reine passim. 
 
 ne lui vouloit point faire avoir la couronne ^ Letter from the lords of the Privy Council, 
 
 ;«a/w«(7M2a/^."— Bochetel de la Forest to the previously quoted. 
 
MARY AT JEDBURGH, 1566. 119 
 
 betwixt them. Bothwell, in his hurry to dismount, lost his balance and 
 fell into a slough. He was still stunned from his fall, when Elliot came 
 back and wounded him, first in the head, and then in the breast and hand. 
 Maddened by such cowardice, Bothwell fired only two shots at him, but 
 they proved fatal, for Elliot crawled to a neighbouring hill, where he 
 breathed his last. Bothwell, in a swoon and weltering in his gore, was 
 found by his servants, and carried to the Hermitage. What most 
 grieved the brave warrior was to see the brigands, whom he had locked 
 up, now masters of the fortress, and willing to admit him, only on condi- 
 tion of having their liberty." 
 
 That took place on the 7th of October, and next day, Mary, with her 
 ministers, council and principal officers of justice, left Edinburgh, and 
 repaired to Jedburgh, where she found the nobles assembled. She 
 opened the Assizes in person, and presided over them for a whole week. 
 She then thought of thanking Bothwell, and her councillors, hiding their 
 jealousy of the courageous earl, urged her to perform the journey ; 
 several even wished to accompany her. On the i6th of October, in 
 spite of the weather and the almost impassable roads, Mary set out, 
 taking with her Moray, Lethington and several others of her ministers, 
 and, after a ride of twenty miles, they reached the Hermitage. Bothwell 
 was glad to see her ; he appreciated all the delicacy of her coming. She 
 conversed for a long time with him in presence of her ministers, regard- 
 ing the state of the country, and, in the afternoon, she returned by the 
 same route. " Had it not been for the fatal steps taken afterwards by 
 Bothwell," says Guthrie the historian, " I may venture to say that her 
 (Mary's) visiting him (Bothwell), would have been considered by 
 impartial posterity as a noble instance of firmness and humanity."'' 
 
 When Mary got back to Jedburgh she sent Bothwell a number of 
 papers written by her about the grave position in which he was. 
 On the morrow the scene changed, and affairs became most serious. 
 Such is the course of human events. Mary had held the Assizes, visited 
 her devoted lieutenant, and put all in order for the future. Just as the 
 
 1 Diurnal of Occur., 100, loi ; Tytler, III., en ceste ville de G^douart (Jedburgh), M. le 
 
 228. comte de Bodwell qui s'estoit mis devant, pour 
 
 ^ Guthrie, Hist, of Scot., Vol. VI., 357 ; M. ce qu'il est lieutenant gfedral de ceste frontifere, 
 
 Wiesener, Marie Stuart et le Comte de Both- il lui advint en faisant une charge de larons, 
 
 well, iij, 116; Bishop Keith, 352; Life of qu'il fut bien bless^, mais il est hors de danger, 
 
 Mary Stuart, MS., British Museum ; Cotton, de quoy la Royne est bien fort ayse ; ce ne luy 
 
 Lib. Cahgula, iv. ; Tytler, III., 229. "La eust pas dte peu de perte de le perdre.'' Prince. 
 
 Royne vostre belle-fiUe," writes du Croc to Labanoff, I. 378 ; Teulet, Vol. II. 
 Catherine de Mddicis, 17th Oct., "en venant 
 
I20 MARY IS TAKEN ILL, 1566. 
 
 affairs of the kingdom were being firmly settled, and when she might 
 hope to enjoy a moment of repose, she was taken ill, and brought with 
 amazing quickness to the brink of the grave. For two hours' she lay 
 in a stupor, one could scarce say whether dead or alive. Then came 
 delirium which held her for several days. That illness, which was to 
 show to the world the Queen's magnanimity, revealed at the same time 
 Darnley's meanness and ingratitude. Informed on an early day of his 
 wife's danger,^ he felt no uneasiness, but went on hawking, and did 
 not trouble himself to visit her. 
 
 During her brief intervals of reason, the Queen edified every one 
 around her. She asked God's forgiveness for her sins, and prayed Him 
 to give her a contrite and penitent heart. " In granting me time for 
 repentance," said she, " He has already showed me great mercy." Those 
 were her first words ; scarcely were they uttered, when she fell asleep, 
 seemingly unconscious of all that took place around her. Next day 
 she became clear in mind, and, calling her attendants, said to them 
 with a weak voice : " I have now but few hours to spend here below, 
 and I shall exchange this life for a better. No doubt I have been fond 
 of life, but I do not find it hard to resolve upon death. God is our 
 master, we are the work of His hands; His will be done." That return 
 to reason seemed to all a happy omen ; she expressed a desire to have 
 prayers. Catholics and Protestants obeyed.^ She then exhorted the 
 nobles to be peaceful and united, saying that with discord, good itself 
 was but feeble and unprofitable. About those who were a trouble to 
 her she added ; " I forgive from my heart those who have offended me, 
 especially King Henry and the nobles now in exile, although they have 
 much grieved me ; only, if they return to this kingdom after my death, 
 I desire that they may not come near to the Prince, my son." She 
 entreated them also to grant freedom of conscience to the Catholics, 
 saying that it was offensive to interfere with any one in matters of 
 religion.'* 
 
 Du Croc, warned of what was taking place, hastened to the Queen ; 
 
 ' The Diurnal of Occurrents says further : Queine, yat her Majestie wes deadly seike, and 
 
 " The Queenis majestie wes sa hevilie vexit desyrit ye bells to be runge, and all ye peopell 
 
 with the hat feveris, that thair was nane that to resort to ye kirk to pray for her, for she 
 
 belevit that she suld leive, and lay fra nyne wes so seike that none lipned her life." — 
 
 houres to ane efternone as tho haid bein deid." Diarey, 6. 
 
 — Diurnal of Occur., loi. * Historic of James the Sext, 2, 3; Crau- 
 
 ^ Chalmers, I. 297. furd's Memoirs, 3, 4 ; John Lesley to the Arch- 
 
 ^ "The 25th October," writes Birrel, " vord bishop of Glasgow, 26th October, Bishop 
 
 came to the toune of Edinburghe, frome the Keith, App., 134, 135. 
 
MARY IS TAKEN ILL, 1566. 121 
 
 she recognised him. " Monsieur I'ambassadeur," said she to him, 
 " remember me to the King, your master, I hope he will protect my dear 
 son ; tell him from me that I desire he would give one year's revenue 
 of my dowry after my death for the payment of my debts and servants' 
 fees ; but above all, tell the Queen-mother, that I heartily and sincerely 
 ask her forgiveness for all those offences which I either did commit, or 
 was said to have committed, against her."" 
 
 She also commended her son to the care of the Queen of England.'' 
 At the thought of that poor child left so young in the hands of strangers, 
 seeing that his father could not be trusted with his upbringing, she felt 
 a painful dread for him. " I pray you," said she to the nobles, " do not 
 suffer that during his tender youth, corrupt natures should approach 
 him, to give him bad examples, but let only those come near him who 
 can train him to piety and virtue ; and do not allow him to give way 
 to the bad inclinations which the blood whence he springs, or the 
 company which he keeps, might give him."^ 
 
 After those entreaties her reason again fled ; she lost both speech 
 and consciousness ; the icy coldness of death was nearing life's citadel, 
 the heart. On the sixth and the seventh day of the fever she was so 
 low that all lost hope of her recovery. Silent and sad stood the nobles 
 around their Queen, so young and so beautiful, on the verge of eternity, 
 as they thought. She was dear to them all, both Catholics and Pro- 
 testants ; they, dreading to lose her, only now appreciated her merits.'* 
 Had that been Mary's last moment, whatever government ruled during 
 her son's minority, that one would have desolated Scotland ; but then, 
 unfortunate one, how many trials should'st thou have escaped ! Such 
 was not the will of God. Admired as a queen, she must yet drink to 
 the dregs the cup of bitterness, and give the world an example of 
 queenly heroism. But for that illness historians might revel more 
 freely in their hateful charges ; in the presence of death, the veil has 
 been rent, and truth shines pure and clear ; the loyalty of the nobility 
 was proved, and Darnley, who would not leave his dogs and falcons 
 to visit his wife, stood forth self-accused. The mystery of their 
 separation was being unravelled.^ 
 
 1 Mackenzie, The Scots Writers, III., D. Frances de Alava to Philip II. ; Teulet, V. 
 281. 18. 
 
 2 Prince Labanoff, VI., 136. ' "The King all this tyme remaneis in Glas- 
 ' John Lesley's Letters and Historieof James cow, and zit is nocht cumm towart the Quenis 
 
 the Sext, loc. cit. Majestie." — John Lesley's Letter, quoted above. 
 
 * Lloravan todos (los hereticos) diziendole " II a 6t6 adverty par quelqu'un et a eu du 
 
 la gran perdida que les vendria de su muerte. temps assez pour venir s'il eust voullu : c'est 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
122 DARNLEY'S CONDUCT, 1566. 
 
 Mary's hour of death had not yet come. On the ninth day of her 
 illness, there was a marked improvement, and hope grew strong. On 
 the 28th, Darnley, tired of hunting, or no longer able to withstand the 
 entreaties of his friends, went to Jedburgh to see the Queen. She 
 endeavoured to win him back to his duty and to more seemly ways, 
 but it was in vain. He left on the morrow. The nobles were wounded 
 by his heartlessness. 
 
 une faulte que je ne puis excuser." — Du Croc 133 ; M. Wiesener, Marie Stuart et le Comte 
 to the Archbishop of Glasgow, Keith, App., de Bothwell, 122, 123. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1566-67. 
 
 MARY'S JOURNEY TO CRAIGMILLAR — SHE WRITES TO THE COUNCIL OF ENGLAND — IS VISITED 
 BY DARNLEY — HER DESPAIR — THE LORDS PROPOSE A DIVORCE — MARY'S REPLY — A 
 CONSPIRACY IS FORMED AGAINST THE KING — NAMES OF THE CONSPIRATORS — MARY'S 
 DEPARTURE FOR STIRLING — BAPTISM OF JAMES VI. — DARNLEY'S CONDUCT — TEM- 
 PORARY RECONCILIATION — MINISTERS ASK MARY TO PARDON THE BANISHED NOBLES 
 — MARY'S RELUCTANCE TO DO SO — SHE PARDONS MORTON AND HIS ACCOMPLICES — 
 DARNLEY'S ILLNESS— MARY SUSPECTED — DARNLEY CONSPIRES AGAINST ELIZA- 
 BETH'S GOVERNMENT — MARY IN GLASGOW— HER INTERVIEWS WITH DARNLEY — 
 RETURN TO EDINBURGH — WHITTINGHAM CONVENTICLE — THE HOUSE AT KIRK-OF- 
 FIELD CHOSEN BY MORAY— PREPARATIONS FOR THE MURDER — LORD ROBERT IN- 
 FORMS DARNLEY— MORAY QUITS THE COURT— THE 9TH OF FEBRUARY — BASTIEN'S 
 MARRIAGE — MARY'S LAST VISIT — HER ATTENTIONS TO DARNLEY — EXPLOSION — MURDER 
 — MARY'S ATTITUDE. 
 
 npHERE were many things to bring illness on the Queen of Scots, 
 ■'- for she had no lack of cares. For a long time her health had 
 been visibly impaired ; her illness was nevertheless attributed to the 
 journey to the Hermitage. Enemies pretended later that it was the 
 effect of her passion for Bothwell.' But if one calmly considers the 
 circumstances of the journey thither, it will be found that a foggy and 
 unhealthy country, a damp autumn, and a fall from her horse on the 
 way,^ must, together, enfeeble a health already failing. She stayed at 
 Jedburgh until the gth of November, and a remarkable feature of those 
 Assizes was, that, . though many were guilty, no one was put to 
 death. Mary hated violent measures, and would not take revenge ; 
 she resolved to be merciful now, and the country was quieted, though 
 no blood was shed. At Kelso she received from Darnley, letters, 
 which grieved her much, and might have brought back her old illness.^ 
 The bustle of her departure for Berwick occupied her mind, and for 
 
 1 "Quhidder itwasberessoun ofthair«zf^^/zW basis can be made of the writings of that 
 
 and daylie trauellis, dishonorabill to thame- calumniator. Although Mary remained only 
 
 selfis, and infamous amang the Pepill, or be half a-day at the Hermitage, her daily and 
 
 sum secreit Prouydence of God, the Queen nightly fatigues are spoken of. And there are 
 
 fell into sic ane sair and dangerous seikness, people who believe it ! 
 
 that scarcely thairremanitony hope of hirlyfe." Miss Strickland, III., 19. 
 
 Detection II. That quotation shows what ^ Detection, 12. 
 
124 MARY GOES TO CRAIGMILLAR, 1566. 
 
 a while drove away her cares. Her retinue was numerous and brilhant; 
 the best of the nobles accompanied her, and an escort of more than 
 eight hundred men gave to her progress the appearance of a triumph. 
 The same joyous greetings as would have hailed the Queen of Eng- 
 land awaited her. Sir John Forster, commander of the place, came 
 with his officers and the men of note in the town, to meet her at the 
 Border ; the cannon of the castle thundered forth her approach ; she 
 had a magnificent ovation, and felt no small pleasure at finding her- 
 self loved in England as well as at home.' 
 
 It was easy to lead Mary to believe that Elizabeth had had a hand 
 in those gracious doings, and that she had recovered from her jealousy, 
 after learning that the Queen of Scots, on a bed of sickness, had com- 
 mended her infant son to the care of the English Queen. She thought 
 the hour propitious, and availed herself of that change in Elizabeth's feel- 
 ings to have her right of succession to the throne recognised. Thinking 
 that Elizabeth's Privy Council might influence her determination, she 
 wrote at Dunbar, to the Lords, a letter full of the greatest wisdom.'' 
 
 Mary reached Craigmillar Castle on the 20th of November. 
 Although she found herself received everywhere with the utmost 
 cordiality by her people, and, surrounded by trusty nobles, thought her 
 power likely to be strengthened for a length of time, yet she was sad. 
 Mirth wearied her; she sought solitude, and that brilliant and joyful 
 court which before had charmed her, now made her low-spirited. She 
 suffered cruelly from a pain in her side, and was heard to exclaim 
 earnestly: " I wish I were dead !"3 A profound grief which nothing 
 could remove, and a melancholy which no joy could soothe, ever 
 beset her. Darnley's arrival (26th November) brought her a passing 
 relief There was in her heart's core a faint hope that she might win 
 back the lost one, and she was happy to see him again. But Darnley 
 was still the same; exacting, capricious and unjust; he wished the 
 Queen to throw herself at his feet, but he would not stoop in the least 
 to her. During the eight days which he spent at Craigmillar, (26th 
 November till 3d December) the Queen had one annoyance after another. 
 The nobles were indignant, and Darnley, unaware that he himself was 
 the cause of their displeasure, thought that all wished him harm. 
 
 To his misfortune, he was watched and closely followed by Moray. 
 Under cover, of serving the Queen, that man, greedy of power, was 
 really working out his own ends. Darnley was an obstacle to his pro- 
 
 1 A letter of Lethington, Bishop Keith, 353, 2 Prince Labanofif, I, 382. 
 
 354- 3 ^^ Croc's letter.— Bishop Keith, vii. 
 
THE LORDS PROPOSE A DIVORCE, 1566. 125 
 
 jects of ambition, and that poor giddy-head was too weak and had too 
 many faihngs, not to give his enemy some hope of crushing him. Since 
 Riccio's murder, the Queen did not know in whom to confide, but at 
 last had put her trust in her brother. Hemmed in by traitors and con- 
 spirators, she thought to find a defender in that brother ; never was con- 
 fidence more misplaced ; but from amid that perfidious host which one 
 ought she to have chosen ? Moray could approach the Queen with- 
 out giving rise to the calumnies which were hinted at from the pre- 
 sence of Riccio and Bothwell ; he was powerful, and could keep the 
 nobles in check ; Mary's position forced her to take everything into 
 account. Besides, Moray, before the world, treated her with the greatest 
 respect, and, if he dreamt of hurling her from the throne to his own 
 gain, he showed none of the base ingratitude which filled his heart. 
 But that was not what he was aiming at in the meantime ; the 
 insulting behaviour of the sneering Darnley had made him thirst for 
 vengeance. He had more than once had to complain of his insolence. 
 Proud of the Queen's trust he played a bold game. As Darnley and the 
 Queen might any day be reconciled, for her forgiveness was boundless, 
 the Earl had reason to fear that his power, built only upon their quarrel, 
 might crumble to the ground. To strengthen his position he joined 
 Riccio's murderers, and made Lethington propose a divorce to Mary. 
 
 The cautious minister well weighed his words, and did his best to 
 get the Queen's consent. He very strongly urged her to take that step 
 for her own and the kingdom's good, showing how Darnley troubled 
 Her Grace and every one else, and how, if things remained as they were, 
 that ungrateful and violent prince would never be satisfied till he had 
 done some devilry, for which many might have to grieve. Bothwell 
 supported that measure. Although divorce was not a rare thing among 
 kings, it hurt the delicate feelings of the Queen of Scots.' She looked 
 upon it as the last resource, the only remedy for the evils of the situa- 
 tion, and, if driven to it, she would have everything done legally and 
 without prejudice to her son. That was her first idea on the sub- 
 ject ; then reflecting upon the words she had just spoken, too rashly 
 perhaps she thought, she said to Lethington that Darnley might 
 change, and asked him if it would not be better for her to retire to 
 France until that change came.^ She probably would have done so, 
 
 ' " Her delicacy shrank from a divorce," "^ She had long and seriously thought of it. 
 
 says also the author of the Mem. of Kirkaldy, We find in a letter from Lethington to Ran- 
 
 154. See Teulet, Suppt. au Prince Labanoff, dolph, that she named as her successors, 
 
 112. The numerous cases of divorce quoted Moray, Mar, Huntly, Atholl, and Bothwell, 
 
 by du Croc. quoted in Mr Hosack's conscientious Work, 147. 
 
126 MARY'S REPLY, 1566. 
 
 had she not feared, by leaving the throne empty for a time, to risk 
 the interests of the young Prince. On his account she chose to bear 
 the cares of royalty, and stake even her life, rather than yield one of 
 her rights. 
 
 Seeing that he could not overcome her dislike to a divorce, Leth- 
 ington added : " Madam, fancie ye not we ar heir of the principall of 
 your Graces Nobilitie and Counsale, that sail fynde the moyen, that 
 your Majestic sail be quyte of him without Prejudice of your Sone, and 
 albeit that My Lord of Murraye heir present be lytill les scrupulus for 
 ane Protestant, nor your Grace is for ane Papist, I am assurit he will 
 looke throw his Fingeris thairto, and will behald our Doeings, saying 
 nathing to the same." That sentence contains for us a dreadful mean- 
 ing. No doubt Mary did not believe that the wickedness of her coun- 
 sellors could go the length of murdering Darnley ;' consistent in her 
 doings, she could not suffer anything unreasonable to be done, nor, 
 through hatred, any too rigorous measures to be taken. " I will that 
 ye do nathing," said she, " quhairto any spot may be layit to my Honor 
 or Conscience, and thairfor I pray you rather lett the Matter be in the 
 Estait as it is, abyding till God of his Goodness put Remid thairto ; 
 that ye believing to do me Service may possibill turne to my Hurt and 
 Displeasor." " Madam," answered Lethington, " let us guyde the 
 Matter amongis us, and your Grace sail si nathing bot gud and 
 approvit by Parliament."'' 
 
 The Queen's refusal hurried on the decision of the Lords ; they 
 determined on the crime, and hastily carried it out. The project was 
 not new ; for a year past those same men had made up their minds to 
 ruin Darnley, and the divorce question had been but one phase of the 
 conspiracy. Shrouded in darkness, the plot slowly and surely took 
 shape and form, while they waited for the moment to strike. Dreading 
 a failure, or the disclosure of their secret so long kept, they set to work. 
 The murderers of Cardinal Beaton and Riccio, sided with each other. 
 James Balfour, who had earned a reputation in like work twenty 
 years before, by murdering the Archbishop of St Andrews, returned to 
 Scotland with increased audacity, and offered his services. He drew 
 
 1 Neither did Moray, if we can believe his Spottiswoode, II., 41. Goodall, II., 359. — 
 
 word about it, think that matters would go so Blackwood, 557, and Apuntamientos, 315, a 
 
 far. Bishop Keith, App. 138, 139. That con- letter of Guzman de Silva to Philip. II.— 
 
 fession, whether sincere or not, is very favour- Miss Benger remarks that Moray never denied 
 
 able to the Queen. that proposal of divorce, although it is very 
 
 " Protestation of Huntly and Argyll, An- damaging for his partisans. Miss Benger, 
 
 derson's Collection, IV., 2d part, 188, sq.— Life of Mary, II., 301, note. 
 
CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE KING, 1566. 127 
 
 out the bond against Darnley. That famous bond, signed by Huntly, 
 Argyll and Lethington," contained these horrible words : " forsamikle 
 it was thought expedient, and maist profitable, for the commonwealth, 
 be the haill nobilitie and lords, underscryvand, that sic ane young fool, 
 and proud tirane, sould not reigne, nor beare rule over them for divers 
 causes and thierfoir, the haill had concludit that he sould be cut off, be 
 ane way, or uther, and whasoever sould take the deid in hand, or do it, 
 they sould defend, and fortifie as themselves."^ To overthrow the 
 Queen by casting upon her, if need be, the disgrace of the murder, they 
 entrusted the commission of the deed to Bothwell, whose duties as 
 Lieutenant-General brought him especially about the court. For the part 
 he played he was to have the royal widow in marriage. They thought the 
 exceptional position of the murderer would naturally lead the people to 
 suspect an understanding between him and his Sovereign, and they hoped 
 the marriage following hard upon, would remove all doubt as to that, 
 make both of them odious to the Scots, and further Moray's cause.^ 
 
 On the loth of December, Mary was in Stirling, at the baptism of 
 her son. To hide from the foreign ambassadors the quarrel betwixt 
 husband and wife, she endeavoured to calm Darnley, and after some 
 difficulty, succeeded in bringing him beside her. It would have been 
 better for that madman had he not appeared at the ceremony, for 
 his absence would have caused less talk than his behaviour did.'* For 
 
 ' Later, Lethington wrote to Morton that he in Author's possession, 40. Herries' Memoirs, 
 
 (Morton) was wrong to treat him as a felon, 82. 
 
 " For a cryme whairof he knowis in his con- * M'Crie in his life of J. Knox, 297, has scan- 
 science (he) was als innocent as hims." dalously travestied the facts when he says: "the 
 Morton replied : " that I knew him innocent King was not allowed to be present at the 
 in my conscience as myself, the contrary baptism of his own son, and was treated with 
 thairof is trew : ffor I was and am innocent such marked disrespect, even by the servants, 
 thairof, but could not affirm the same of him, that he abandoned the Court, and shut him- 
 considdering what I understude in that mater, self up in his father's house." Edit. Edinburgh 
 of his owin confession to my self of befoir." mdcccxli. A serious writer ought not to 
 Bannat. Memorials, 340, 343. Morton and allow himself to write such a sentence without 
 Lethington having been the accusers of Mary supporting it with a quotation. In the following 
 Stuart, that passage proves her innocence. page, the same author piles up the accusations 
 The first died on the scaffold, convicted of which weigh upon Mary Stuart, without dis- 
 having taken part in the murder ; the second, cussing them, and adds that there is where- 
 although publicly declared innocent on the with " to shut the mouths of any but the 
 14th February 1570, by the Lords of the Privy defenders of Mary Q. of Scots." Such a re- 
 Council, is found, from the secret missives of flection is at least rash. In reference to the 
 his accomplices, to be guilty. What conclusion baptism, the ambassador, du Croc, wrote on 
 is to be drawn ? Clearly that the criminals the 2nd of December. " In any event I'm 
 have charged the Queen only to exculpate much assured, as I always have been, that he 
 themselves. The extract is worthy of note. (Darnley) won't be present at the Baptisme." 
 
 ' Arnott's Criminal Trials, App. 386. Prince Labanoff, I., 376 ; Bishop Keith, pre- 
 
 ' Eytzinger MS., British Museum. — A copy face, vii. 
 
128 BAPTISM OF JAMES VII., 1566. 
 
 a long time he said he would not go. He refused for the following 
 reasons.- His self-pride was wounded, because more respect was paid 
 to the Queen than to him, and because he knew that Elizabeth's 
 ambassador would not treat him with the deference befitting the 
 husband of a Queen. " 
 
 The young Prince was christened on the 1 7th of December. The 
 ceremony had long occupied Mary's thoughts, and she had herself 
 arranged all the details. She wished every one to share with her the 
 happiness of that day, so dear to a mother's heart. She chose the 
 colours which the principal nobles should wear. Though her means 
 were small, she paid out of her own purse for a complete green suit 
 for Moray, a red one for Argyll, and another, blue, for Both well; in look- 
 ing after the many little details, she enjoyed,, in anticipation, the pleasure 
 she looked forward to. The child was baptised according to the forms 
 of the Catholic Church, and with all imaginable pomp. Through con- 
 scientious scruples, Bothwell and several other Protestants were absent 
 from the ceremony ; they came, however, to the supper.^ Darnley, shut 
 up in his own room, obstinately refused to take part in the rejoicings. 
 He could not endure to breathe the same air with the guests, and du 
 Croc, who knew well his strange bursts of temper, would not receive him. 
 "He sent three several times," writes that ambassador, " desiring me 
 either to come and see him, or to appoint him an hour, that he might 
 come to me in my lodgings ; so that I found myself obliged, at last, to 
 signify to him, that seeing he was in no good correspondence with the 
 Queen, I had it in charge from the most Christian King to have no 
 conference with him. And I caused tell him likewise, that as it would 
 not be very proper for him to come to my lodgings, because there was 
 such a crowd of company there, so he might know that there were two 
 passages to it, and if he should enter by the one, I would be constrained 
 to go out by the other. His bad deportment is incurable, nor can 
 there be ever any good expect from him."^ Mary rose above her 
 grief, and was equal to all emergencies. While the rejoicings lasted, 
 she appeared not only amiable, but joyful. They had dancing and 
 games, fireworks and other entertainments, in which the Queen took 
 part, as well as the guests. She was everywhere, and with smiling ex- 
 terior, kept smothered deep in her heart her many troubles. She wished 
 all present to be happy. Unfortunately, she unwittingly displeased 
 
 ' Du Croc's letter, Teulet, II., 292. In- ' Diurnal of Occur., 103 sq. 
 
 nocence de la Royne d'Escosse, jebb, I., ' Du Croc to Archbishop of Glasgow; 
 
 520. Bishop Keith, vii. 
 
TEMPORARY RECONCILIATION, 1566. 129 
 
 the English. As part of the entertainment there was a troop of Satyrs 
 capering grotesquely. The English fancied they were mocked, and 
 the foreigners, jealous of the honours paid to Elizabeth's envoys, gave 
 play to their feelings in a loud burst of laughter." The English got 
 angry, and it took all Mary's kindness, and Bedford's powerful 
 influence, to prevent bloodshed. It was perhaps to wipe out the 
 remembrance of that brawl, and show herself mindful of the thought- 
 fulness of Elizabeth, who had sent for the baptismal rite, a font of 
 great value, that the Queen gave Bedford a collar of diamonds, Carey 
 one of pearls and a ring, Hatton a gold chain, and various presents 
 to the other English.^ 
 
 When the festivities were over, she sent for du Croc. The French 
 ambassador found her deeply grieved and in tears. Her state of 
 mind strongly impressed the venerable ambassador. In a letter to 
 the Archbishop of Glasgow, he shows how much he was touched : 
 " The Queen," says he, " behaved herself admirably well all the time 
 of the baptism ; and showed so much earnestness to entertain all the 
 goodly company in the best manner, that this made her forget in a 
 good measure her former ailments. But I am of the mind, however, 
 that she will give us some trouble as yet ; nor can I be brought to 
 think otherwise, so long as she continues to be so pensive and 
 melancholy. She sent for me yesterday, and I found her laid on the 
 bed, weeping sore ; and she complained of an aching pain in her 
 side. I am much grieved for the many troubles and vexations 
 she meets with."^ 
 
 Her great sorrow patiently borne, touched even Darnley's heart. 
 During the interview with his wife, he shed tears when he thought of 
 his conduct to her,-* and promised to treat her with respect for the 
 future ; moreover, to prove that his return was sincere, he did as the 
 Queen had done, and sent some of his silver plate, and had it melted 
 down to replenish the treasury. ^ Perhaps the two, schooled by 
 affliction, might have become lastingly reconciled, had not an unfor- 
 tunate affair, brought about by neither, stirred up strife betwixt them. 
 
 ^ Pour bien saisir, says M. Francisque cisque Michel, Les Ecossais en France et les 
 
 Michel, en quoi les Anglais presents k la mas- Frangais en Ecosse, II., 54, note, 
 
 carade imaginee par Bastien pouvaient s'en ^ Melville's Memoirs, 172. 
 
 offenser, il faut savoir que leur nation depuis ^ Du Croc to Archbishop of Glasgow, pre- 
 
 le meurtre de Thomas Pecquet avait 6t6 viously quoted. 
 
 marquee du sceau de la bete par I'opinion * Belleforest. Innocence de la Royne 
 
 populaire qui s'obstinait h presenter nos d'Escosse, Jebb, IL, 521. 
 
 voisins comme pourvue d'une queue. Fran- " Id. ibid., 531, 
 
 TDX. I. R 
 
I30 MARY PARDONS MORTON AND HIS ACCOMPLICES, 1566. 
 
 Moray, back to Scotland, and in power, was not forgetful of Morton 
 and his accomplices, who were still exiles in foreign lands, through 
 the murder of the Secretary Riccio. Until then, no one had dared to 
 ask their pardon, on account of the heinousness of the crime, and Mary's 
 grief the'reat. Moray thought that if he did not avail himself of the 
 occasion of the baptism, his friends might not be pardoned for many 
 a day. He spoke earnestly to the Queen on the subject, when her 
 motherly heart was full of kindness. At first Mary would not hear of 
 it. The conspirators did not lose courage ; they made the request a 
 second time, publicly, when they were assured that the ambassadors of 
 England and France aided them. On the 24th of December, Moray, 
 AthoU, Lethington, Bothwell, Bedford and du Croc presented them- 
 selves before the Queen, and so beset her with their prayers 
 and entreaties that she, doubting her own experience and Darnley's, 
 and fearing also the displeasure of the English and French envoys, 
 at last granted the pardon. That act of clemency was one of the 
 gravest faults with which Mary may be reproached : Darnley, with 
 good reason to be irritated, left Stirling without taking leave of his 
 wife, and withdrew to Glasgow.' 
 
 The whole affair grieved the Queen, yet neither she nor her 
 husband was responsible ; the impudent intriguing of the conspira- 
 tors had brought it about. Darnley's departure gave rise to new 
 slanders, the more odious, as they came from those so generously 
 pardoned. The King having been taken ill early in January, a report 
 that he had been poisoned, was noised abroad ; some accused the Queen ; 
 but it was soon known that he was ill of small-pox. Nevertheless, the 
 then historians who were hostile to Mary Stuart, wrote as if they 
 believed in the poisoning.'' Had Mary been guilty of the fearful 
 crime imputed to her by those partial writers, she had but to allow the 
 disease to run its course, and, in that way, have got rid of her husband. 
 Her conduct was quite different ; throwing aside all consideration of 
 self, and despite the pain in her side, which threatened to become 
 serious, she sent her physician to Darnley ; she would, immediately, 
 have gone thither herself, had not Glasgow been a hot-bed of pestilence, 
 and had she not feared infection for herself and the young Prince.^ 
 While Darnley was only convalescent, a report was rife over the 
 
 1 H. Glassford Bell, II., 17. M. Wiesener, " Birrel's Diarey, 6. Bedford to Cecil, 
 
 I47-— "soon after went without good-night Chalmers, I., 308 ; II., 284, 547 sq. 
 
 toward Glasgow, to his father." Knox, Re- '' Bedford to Cecil, Mr Hosack, 174. Tytler, 
 
 form, v., 349. III., 233. 
 
DARNLEY CONSPIRES AGAINST ENGLAND, 1567. 131 
 
 land that he was preparing to dethrone the Queen. One WilHam 
 Walcar of Glasgow told Queen Mary of it, and Moray, as usual, made 
 it a pretext for urging her to act against- the King. But instead of being 
 enraged at such conduct, she merely refused to listen to the treacherous 
 advice of her brother and retained Darnley in her affection.' It would 
 have been better for Mary, instead of shutting her eyes to the mad 
 projects of her husband, to have reproved him severely for his 
 love of change, for in addition to the throne of Scotland, he aspired to 
 that of England also, and gave himself wholly up to an ambition both 
 foolish and dangerous. While delighted with new ideas which he 
 regarded as so many traits of genius, he thought he might, by a skilful 
 stroke of policy, join the intrigues of some English traitors, seize 
 Scarborough Castle and the Scilly Islands, thence watch England, and 
 excite revolt. The affair failed. Elizabeth was told of Darnley's 
 intentions, and she vowed against Mary and her imprudent husband 
 an eternal hatred. "^ 
 
 The hour was drawing nigh when all those griefs, cares, and 
 anxieties were about to make way for the deepest emotions and the 
 saddest afflictions which ever befell a human being. The misfortunes 
 destined to overwhelm the Queen of Scots were such as strike and leave 
 their marks for ever. It was Mary's lot to have to endure what most 
 tends to weaken the powers of the soul, — calumny and neglect. God, in 
 his wrath, had reserved for the sixteenth century a host of false natures 
 and venal minds, who, partly from hatred, and partly from the accursed 
 love of gold, revelled in falsehood. Mary was about to see that 
 crowd of liars rise against her with the cool audacity of a settled 
 purpose. Her enemies shall vie with one another in defaming her, 
 friends shall forsake her, and alone, amid greedy conspirators and 
 paid slanderers, she shall feel her fortune and her honour sink by their 
 doings, and shall see herself brought to weep over the bleeding corpse 
 of her husband, and blamed for his murder : her grief shall be the 
 scandal of the great, and the laughing-stock of the vulgar. 
 
 ^ Those manoeuvres on the part of Moray her own physician to Darnley, and afterwards 
 
 and his followers have not escaped the notice of resisting the suggestions of her brother, is 
 
 historians. Camden, (104), remarks that evil- opposed to the opinion of certain historians, 
 
 minded persons were stealthily trying to de- who assert that she had formed a plan to get 
 
 stroy the love still existing betwixt husband rid of her husband. Her acts are at variance 
 
 and wife, and prevent their reconciliation, with the charge. 
 
 Bedford (quoted in the Annales of Sir J. * The Examination of William Rogers, 
 
 Balfour, I., 336), expressed the same idea after relating to Scottish affairs, i6th January 1567. 
 
 the baptism of James VI. The reader will State Paper Office, 
 admit with me that Mary's conduct in sending 
 
132 MARY IN GLASGOW, 1567. 
 
 It is related, that, when on the point of giving up his wicked soul to 
 God, Buchanan, the most famous man among the slanderers, ordered his 
 writings to be burnt/ It would have been better for his honour, and 
 that of the Queen of Scots, had neither he nor any other of his stamp 
 been a shameless slanderer. Better far, had Elizabeth sealed their lips 
 for ever. Very sad it is that it was not so ; the Queen of England, 
 despite those airs of virgin candour which she put on before the world, 
 loved to listen to filthy stories,^ and delighted in hearkening to trumped 
 up tales of shameful wickedness. Under her fostering care, there was 
 given to posterity a string of monstrous lies about an innocent Queen. 
 Of what heinous crime was Mary guilty ? Why was she so treated ? 
 Her conduct was just, moderate and peaceful. She was a Queen 
 unfaltering and even bold when occasion required ; but ruin came at 
 last, for she had listened to her false-hearted brother, whom she thought 
 faithful, even while he was hankering after her throne. 
 
 Her husband, unworthy as he was, ever filled her thoughts. Grieved 
 at his illness, she forgot his shortcomings, and prayed that he might be 
 restored to health.^ On the 24th of January, she set out for Glasgow, 
 and arrived there the day after, having spent the night with Lord and 
 Lady Livingstone, who, though Protestants, were her friends. That 
 visit pleased Darnley. The poor young man might, through weakness 
 of mind, vex the Queen, but when passion was no longer uppermost, 
 he gladly owned his faults. Mary tended her husband all the time 
 she could spare from State affairs.* She nursed and encouraged him, 
 and husband and wife agreed to live thenceforth on good terms. By 
 degrees Darnley's suspicions were dispelled, and he asked the Queen that 
 they might again live under the same roof. As he had just recovered 
 from a contagious disease, Mary said to him that he must first be 
 quite well before they could dwell together. The Queen had got 
 Craigmillar Castle ready for their home, as the air there was pure, and 
 she was within easy distance of her son, whom she could often see. 
 Those delicate attentions touched Darnley. Till then difficult to please, 
 stubborn and capricious, he now blushed at the thought of his past 
 
 ^ Camdeni Historia, 105. His royal pupil jury (at the baptism of James VI.), was 
 
 James VI., had them burned in 1584. Teulet, extremely moved to find him in so bad a con- 
 
 III., 292. dition, and waited very carefully upon him for 
 
 ••' Correspondence Diplomatique deLamothe- the space of ten days." Craufurd's Memoirs, 
 
 Fenelon, VII., 271. 10. 
 
 » " The Queen was no sooner informed of his * Conoeus, Jebb, II., 28. " During all which 
 
 danger than she hasted after him, and not- time the Queen attended him like a nurse." 
 
 withstanding her resentment of the past in- Mackenzie, the Scots Writers, III., 282. 
 
WHITTINGHAM CONVENTICLE, 1567. 133 
 
 conduct. " I will follow you," said he, " whithersoever you wish, on 
 condition that we use the same table, and live henceforth as husband 
 and wife." " Yes," replied the Queen ; " and my coming hither had no 
 other aim ; if that had not been my intention, I should not have come 
 from so far to fetch you ; it shall be according to your desire."' Saying 
 those words, she gave him her hand, and promised eternal love. 
 Darnley made a like promise to her. 
 
 On Monday, the 27th of January, Mary and her husband left Glas- 
 gow, not for Craigmillar, but for Edinburgh. Darnley refused to go to 
 Craigmillar Castle because its governor was Simon of Preston, brother- 
 in-law of Lethington, and one of the murderers of Riccio. The journey 
 was performed by easy stages, lest haste should retard the King's con- 
 valescence. Husband and wife were most friendly. They slept the 
 first night at Callander House, near Falkirk, and spent the next two 
 nights at Linlithgow. They were happy, and determined by their 
 re-union to do away with the scandal to which their separation had given 
 rise. The blow about to strike them so tragically was coming ; danger 
 was nigh and hung over their heads, while they, thoughtless of care in the 
 joy of travelling together, lavished on each other the fondest caresses. 
 The conspirators had met at Whittingham, and, seated in a lonely spot 
 under the shade of an old yew tree, as the story has it, had unanimously 
 resolved to get rid of Darnley. Morton alone, if we can believe his 
 word, stubbornly refused, albeit his well known hatred for the King, to 
 carry out the project until he had the Queen's consent in writing.'' 
 Bothwell had promised to get that paper for him, but he could not 
 keep his word, for he did not even dare to speak of it to the Queen, and 
 so the murder was put off. 
 
 Meanwhile, Darnley needed a time of quiet at a place where the 
 bracing air might restore his health. He had been unwilling to put up 
 at Craigmillar, and could not stay at Holyrood for fear of giving to the 
 
 ^ " She aunswered, yet she would take him to not goe with her in anywise. She aunswered 
 
 Cragmillar, where she might be with him, and yet her comminge was onelye to yet effect, and 
 
 not farre from her sonne. He aunswered yet if she had not bin minded thereto, she had 
 
 uppon condicion he would goe with her, which not com so farre to fetch him, and so she 
 
 was yet he and she might be togeather at graunted hys desire, and promised him yet it 
 
 bedde and borde as husband and wife, and should be as he as spoken, and thereuppon 
 
 yet she should leave him no more. And if gave him her hand and faithe of her bodye yet 
 
 she would promise him yet uppon her worde she would love him and use him as her 
 
 he woulde goe with her, where she pleased, husband." Thomas Crauford's Deposition, 
 
 without respect of anye danger eather of sick- State Paper Office. 
 
 ness wherein he was, or otherwise. But if ^ See his Confession, Bannatyne Memo- 
 she would not condescend thereto, he woulde riales. 
 
134 THE KIRK-OF-FIELD, 1567. 
 
 young Prince the contagious disease from which he was recovering. ' 
 Moray proposed Kirk-of-Field ; it was a suitable residence, a delightful 
 abode, situated at the very gates of the town, and surrounded by 
 numerous gardens. He pompously set forth the attractions of the place 
 and did not fail, in order to dazzle the Queen, to recal to her memory 
 Lord Borthwick, whose ruined health had been quickly restored by the 
 pure air of the place. ^ All that was a mere pretence. The Queen, 
 anxious to have her husband in a house befitting his state of body, 
 gladly entertained the proposal of her crafty brother. What first made 
 the conspirators think of that dwelling, was, that it belonged to Robert 
 Balfour, brother of him who had drawn out the bond against Darnley. 
 Mary was misled by that show of interest, and secretly rejoiced on 
 seeing the nobles, formerly so badly disposed towards her husband, now 
 drawn closely to him. She had the house ornamented in a truly royal 
 style, and spared nothing which might add to its splendour and comfort. 
 She often visited the sufferer, and after a time went to reside at Kirk-of- 
 Field. ^ 
 
 The conspiracy had been freely spoken of to very many different 
 persons, and it soon became public. Lord Robert, a natural brother of 
 Mary, and Commendator of the Orkneys, told Darnley that his life was 
 threatened, while the Queen summoned him, and asked what was the 
 matter. To the amazement of the King, Lord Robert said that he had 
 
 ^ " Le Roy tumba malade de la petite roniole arrangement Mary's attentions as mother and 
 et se coucha en ung logis nomm^ Kirkefild wife. He does not at all speak of the danger 
 (de paour de nuyre k la sante de la Royne et which the young Prince would have incurred, 
 de I'enfant) ; jusques k tant qu'il fust guari, et and does not see the advantage to the King 
 ce par le commun consentement de la Royne himself from living in the country. He says, 
 et de Messieurs de son conseil qui vouloyent " Lk tout etait lugubre et Ton n'entendait que 
 conserver la sante de I'un et de I'autre." Les le hurlement des chiens et le croassement des 
 affaires du Comte de Boduel. Edit. Bannat. corbeaux.'' One might imagine from the de- 
 Club, 12. Dargaud writes in his Histoire de scriptions given of Kirk-of-Field, by the writers 
 Marie Stuart : " Darnley se deroba k son pfere hostile to Mary, that it was a lonely spot, well 
 et aux amis de sa famille pour venir k Edin- suited for a cut-throat place. Well, Darnley's 
 burgh sur les pas de la reine. EUe ne I'installa dwelling was not ten minutes' walk from the 
 point k Holyrood. De concert avec Bothwell Canongate, the principal street of Edinburgh, 
 qui s'etait empresse k leur rencontre, et sous going from Holyrood to the Castle, and 
 pretexte de placer le malade dans un air plus scarcely four minutes from the Cowgate, which 
 pur, elle I'Aablit k Kirk of Field." If the most may be considered as having formerly been the 
 illustrious scholar who has explored "les coUec- second street in the city. The Duke of 
 tions, les musees, les vieux portraits, les Chatelleraut had a residence next that of 
 gravures rares, les traditions, les ballades, Darnley. 
 
 les lacs, les mers et les rivages, les montagnes ^ Blackwood, Complete Works, 562, 563. 
 
 et les plaines," had opened Prince LabanofPs ' See at the end of the 2nd volume. Disser- 
 
 Collection, VII., 305, he would have spoken tation,- II., part iii., 2. 
 differently. He would have admired in that 
 
THE NINTH OF FEBRUARY, 1567. 135 
 
 not told him anything of the kind. Thereat the two youths, greatly 
 enraged, drew their swords, and there would probably have been some 
 mishap, had not Mary hurriedly called in Moray. That brawl hastened 
 the King's murder. On the eve of the day fixed for the deed, Moray, 
 instead of being, as was his duty, beside the Queen, in case Lord 
 Robert's story should prove true, left the country, under pretence that 
 his wife was ailing, but really from another motive. While on his way, 
 he allowed these thoughtless words to fall from his lips ; " the King," 
 said he, " will be cured this night of all his ills," — words with which 
 Lord Herries afterwards taunted him in public, and which Mary's 
 defenders brought up again at the York Conferences.' Bothwell, 
 meantime, got together as many as possible of the plotters against the 
 King's life ; of those, he made some believe that their freedom was in 
 danger, others that most of the nobles, the Queen approving, had 
 resolved to kill the King, at the same time, showing clearly to his 
 servants and vassals that he should be obliged to leave the country, if 
 the King lived longer. 
 
 While those infamous manoeuvres kept the nobles busy, Mary and 
 her husband were living fondly together. The illness which had 
 brought him almost face to face with death, and more than all, the 
 Queen's devotedness, had been very powerful lessons to Darnley. 
 One day Mary came to his side as he was closing a letter to his family. 
 Darnley handed it to her. She saw in it very sincere and beautiful 
 words in praise of her tenderness and attentions to him ; she read too 
 of his regrets for the past, and the vow registered as to the future. 
 Though that letter was not meant for the Queen, yet it touched her 
 heart ; she again and again kissed Darnley, and for a long time held 
 him folded in her arms.' Health was returning, and they were con- 
 gratulating each other on the happy life before them. They never 
 dreamed that their love was to have an end so sudden and so cruel. 
 
 On the 9th of February, Darnley went to mass, for even during his 
 greatest errors he had never neglected his duties as a Catholic. The 
 Queen left him during the day to be at the wedding of two of her 
 servants. Those good people were worthy of the honour; for at a later 
 
 • John Lesley assures us that Moray said : terms, means exactly the same thing. It has 
 
 " This night ere morning the Lord Darnley seemed to me that Moray was too prudent to 
 
 shall lose his life." Defence of Q. Mar/s express himself with so brutal a frankness, 
 
 honor, 75. Although the same terms are Blackwood, 563, Mackenzie, the Scots Writers, 
 
 repeated by the contemporary, Belleforest, III., 282. 
 
 Jebb, II., 470, I have preferred the version ^ Buchanan, Rerum Scot. Histor., xviii., 
 
 given by Caussin, which, although in milder 9. 
 
136 THE EXPLOSION, 1567. 
 
 time, they, amid the general desertion, still faithful to their royal mistress, 
 were fated to draw upon themselves the hatred of the English govern- 
 ment. ' Mary paid two visits to Darnley on that day, the evening one 
 being very remarkable. The Queen was attended by the whole of her 
 Court, except Bothwell and Moray. She bade the King farewell, only 
 when the night was far advanced, embraced him, put a ring upon his 
 finger and cheerfully regained Holyrood by the aid of torches. She 
 wished to be present at the bride's bedding, break the marriage 
 cake, offer .the cup of milk mingled with wine, and take off one of 
 the bride's stockings : simple customs which the Reformation afterwards 
 did away with. 
 
 Bothwell, having often, but in vain, sought an opportunity to kill 
 Darnley in the open country, chose the 8th of February for the 
 murder,^ but the Queen was sleeping at Kirk-of-Field, and that upset 
 his plan. He waited till the evening of the 9th, got false keys, and 
 had gunpowder carried into a cellar underneath the Queen's chamber. 
 During the whole evening he went about looking to what was going on, 
 and keeping up the courage of his men. Between two and three in the 
 morning a violent explosion shook Kirk-of-Field and the neighbourhood, 
 spreading terror in the Castle. What had happened was this. 
 
 Towards midnight, Bothwell, who had passed the rest of the evening 
 at a ball, retired ; after changing his rich costume for a dress of common 
 stuff, dark in colour, he took with him, Dalgleish, Paris, Wilson and 
 Powrie, and went down into the palace gardens. He soon reached the 
 south gate. The sentry, astonished at the untimely visit, challenged 
 them. The conspirators said they were friends of Bothwell, and were 
 allowed to pass. The Nether-bow gate, in the Canongate, was also 
 closed. Wilson roused John Galloway, the keeper, who, on opening, was 
 surprised to see Bothwell and his followers at that hour. ' Some time 
 after, Bothwell was at Kirk-of-Field with Hepburn and Hay of Tallo; he 
 gave them his instructions and disappeared. He told them to blow up 
 the house, and bury in one common ruin, the King and his servants, 
 that no tongue might say how it befel. It so happened that the sleep 
 of the King was broken by too much noise, whereupon he fled with 
 Taylor. The murderers startled and unable to find and fire the mine, 
 pursued Darnley in such hot haste that one of them, Archibald 
 Douglas, lost his boot, which was afterwards found on clearing away 
 
 1 M. Wiesener, 250. 3 -yy po^rig's deposition, Malcolm Laing, 
 
 2 Hay of Tallo's deposition, Anderson, II., II., 270, and Anderson, II., 165. 
 179. 
 
MARY'S ATTITUDE, 1567. 137 
 
 the rubbish.' They overtook the King beside a tree, and strangled 
 him and his faithful servant, Taylor. The struggle was violent ; " the 
 King was long of dying."'' He was heard to exclaim : " Oh ! my friends, 
 have pity on me for the love of Him who has pity on us all!"^ The 
 ruffians then returned to the house to prevent the flight of the servants. 
 At that moment fire reached the powder, and sprung the mine, with 
 deafening roar, while the walls of the house were scattered far and near. 
 
 The news rapidly spread through the town. Bothwell, after settling 
 everything, had gone to bed to escape suspicion. He had lain for 
 scarcely half an hour when an officer of the Court, George Hacket, 
 suddenly entered his room. " What is the matter ?" asked Bothwell. 
 " The King's house has been blown up," replied the officer, " and no 
 doubt the King is killed." At those words, Bothwell, feigning surprise, 
 leaped from his bed, crying: "Fie! Treason!" Thereon Huntly and 
 several conspirators came in ; thence they all went to the Queen. 
 
 Early on the same morning Mary was told of the murder. She 
 was horror-struck, and her grief showed itself by a dull stupor more 
 akin to death than life. On hearing of Riccio's murder she had been 
 irritated, now she was plunged into a sort of stupifying bewilderment, 
 like that of a man who suddenly feels the ground sink beneath him. 
 When, at length, she could weep, and when consciousness had returned, 
 her tears flowed freely. Little did the hapless Queen dream that she 
 should be held guilty of the murder, and that the conspiracy which had 
 struck Riccio and Darnley should be kept up against her for life, 
 throwing blame and discredit on her memory."* 
 
 1 John Binning's deposition, Amott's Crimi- amor di Colui che hebbe misericordia di tutto el 
 nal Trials. Miss Benger, II., 317. mondo.'" Prince Labanoff, VII., 109. The 
 
 2 " The King was long of dying, and to his Pope's nuncio to Cosmo I. 
 
 strength made debate for his life." Drury to * The depositions of William Powrie, ist 
 
 Cecil, 15th April. Tytler, III., 415. Depos., Anderson, II., 165, sq. Conceus, 
 
 3 "Alcunedonne che allogiavano vicino al Jebb, II., 29. Mackenzie, III., 286. Spottis- 
 giardino, affermano d'haver udito gridar il Re : woode, II., 47. Tytler. H. Glassford Bell. 
 ' eh, fratelli miei, habbiate pietk di me per Miss Strickland. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1567- 
 
 EFFORTS OF MARY TO DISCOVER THE MURDERERS— THE TOLBOOTH COUNCIL— DARNLEY'S 
 FUNERAL— PLACARDS— THE EARL OF LENNOX AND MARY STUART— DUNKELD 
 CONVENTICLE— MEASURES TAKEN BY MARY WITH REGARD TO HER SON- THE NIGHT 
 OF GOOD FRIDAY— MORAY QUITS SCOTLAND— BOTHWELL'S TRIAL— ELIZABETH'S 
 LETTER— LENNOX WITHDRAWS TO ENGLAND— THE STATE OF AFFAIRS— AINSLIE'S 
 SUPPER — CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE QUEEN — PRETENDED POISONING OF THE 
 PRINCE— DEPARTURE FROM STIRLING — ABDUCTION OF THE QUEEN— HER MARRIAGE 
 WITH BOTHWELL — HER DESPAIR. 
 
 MARY was hopelessly broken down ; and her energ>^ overwhelmed 
 by the depth of her afflictions, could not recover life and vigour. 
 The shock had been too violent and too unforeseen, to enable a nature, 
 even the best gifted, to resume its balance and natural bent ; all gave 
 way at once. Beyond the precincts of her Court, there was neither 
 friend nor minister in whom she could place trust, since those of loyal 
 seeming had perhaps had a hand in that mysterious murder, whilst in 
 her own breast she nursed a profound grief and a terrible anxiety born 
 of her past woes. In the excess of her grief the Queen must have 
 often regretted that she first saw the light on the steps of a throne, and 
 she would probably have abdicated, had she not held herself bound to 
 make sure of the right of accession for the Prince her son. She 
 continued to reign only for him, though the remainder of her life 
 was to be spent wholly in grief. The struggle against her adver- 
 saries is no longer to be so. bold, and the lasting conspiracy, beginning 
 with Beaton, and afterwards striking down Riccio and Darnley, is 
 going to unroll itself alongside the efforts which she is to make 
 to free herself from it. Every attempt niade by her to keep down 
 her mutinous nobles, you shall see followed by some great disaster, 
 until the groundless hatreds of her foes end with her life. The 
 daughter of Henry VIII., would undoubtedly have been better fitted 
 to wield the Scottish sceptre, and the nobility, kept in awe by her, 
 would have been less bold. Such was not Mary's disposition ; her nature 
 was gentleness itself ; she never could resist entreaties, and she forgave 
 too easily. Darnley's murder made her conscious of her real position. 
 She had never felt so lonely. Around her arose threatening enemies ; 
 
THE TOLBOOTH COUNCIL, 1567. 139 
 
 and her treacherous brother had fled, that he might not be accused. 
 She was without support, and bereft of hope. Though bowed down by 
 affliction she was not forgetful of the duties of her position ; for, on the 
 following morning, the Council, which had been summoned by her, sat 
 at the Tolbooth. She wrote to the Earl of Lennox, and had Catherine 
 de M6dicis and the Archbishop of Glasgow, Scottish ambassador in 
 France, informed of the horrible murder. 
 
 Then began the shameful debates, so much spoken of Mary, shut 
 up in a dark room, as mourners were wont to do, wept for her husband ; 
 all was cheerless around her ; her bed and room were hung with black.' 
 She could not, with propriety go out, and Bothwell, feigning innocence, 
 was the only one who went to speak to her. Her Council, held at that 
 critical moment, was perhaps the most wretched assembly imaginable. 
 The greater part, if not all, of the members, had had a hand, more or 
 less, in the crime, and those same persons were themselves to search 
 for its authors. Thence a series of mad acts and ridiculous measures 
 which had no other object than bewildering public opinion, and deceiving 
 the Queen. All seemed full of zeal. Lethington, a master of intrigue, 
 in making known to the Court of France that awful affair, dwelt on the 
 horrible crash of the explosion, on the house reduced to ashes, from 
 the top to the lowest foundations, said that the Queen could have escaped 
 only by a miracle, and thought that God would, by some visitation, pro- 
 claim the ruffians to the world. But that vain display of sounding words 
 ended in nothing, and no one, though the Council pretended close 
 researches, was found to be compromised. The reason was clear ; the 
 Queen, however, did not see it, and continued to be their dupe.^ 
 
 By her order, the Council issued a proclamation on the 12 th of 
 February, promising two thousand pounds and a pension for life, to him 
 who should denounce the guilty party, and if guilty himself, he was to 
 obtain his pardon. ^ The Queen hoped in that way to find out the 
 murderers, but the Council was on the watch. It had too great an 
 
 1 " The Queen tooke this misfortune with vigharsi della poca diligentia che vi usarono, et 
 great sorrow, and did sequestrat herselfe many se si guardavano I'un I'altro come persona 
 dayes from companie." Herries' Memoirs, 85. che non sapessero che dirsi et mostravano 
 See Dissertation, II,. part ii., No. 2. di non saperlo, quando si trovavano nel con- 
 
 2 Malcolm Laing, app., and Miss Strick- siglio di Sua Maestd congregate per questo 
 land. III. "Nox havendo la Regina alcun effetto." Prince Labanbff, Mem. Ital. addressed 
 pensiero di questo tradimento che si mac- to Cosmo I., VII., 316. 
 
 chinava et contro la persona et contro la ^ Cecil to Norris, 5th March, Cabala, 136. 
 
 reputation sua, diede lor carico espresso di The text of the Proclamation is inserted in 
 
 far inquisitione del delitto et perseguitar per Anderson's collection, I., 36, 37. 
 tutto i colpevoli. In che non accade mara- 
 
140 DARNLEY'S FUNERAL, 1567. 
 
 interest at stake not to foil the enquirers, and the Queen, shut up in her 
 room, expecting a great deal from her measures, did not know what 
 was going on in Edinburgh, and had nobody to enlighten her.' 
 
 The corpse of the King had meanwhile been carried to a house near 
 the one he occupied at Kirk-of-Field, and the doctors had come to view 
 the body ; thence it was taken to Holyrood. The Queen wished to see 
 her husband a last time, and while looking upon the lifeless form 
 she was silent, as when she learned of his death. Her eyes were 
 rivetted on the cold and ghastly figure; she let fall neither word nor 
 tear ; but her broken-down and dejected attitude was more eloquent 
 than tears. When grief is too great, the senses become confused, one 
 does not know what to do, and one begins to question the reality of the 
 affliction. Mary was brought to that pitiful plight. By degrees her 
 prostration gave way to a deep, deep sorrow, and she wept bitterly. 
 Darnley's body was carefully embalmed, and laid in state in the oratory 
 of Holyrood. The cierges around -the coffin burnt night and day. 
 The funeral took place on the 15th of February, during the night, and 
 without noise, according to the custom introduced by the Protestants 
 after the Reformation in Scotland. People dreaded that if the Queen 
 displayed before them the pomp of Catholic worship, they might 
 again be roused to their usual disorders.^ Lord Traquair, Sir John 
 Bellenden and James Stuart of Ochiltree, captain of the Guards, were 
 at the ceremony, along with several members of the Privy Council. 
 The young -King was placed in the vault of the Stuarts, beside James 
 v., father of the Queen, who like him, had died a sad death, after 
 the defeat of Solway Moss.^ Alas! as if an unfathomable mystery 
 pursued to the bitter end those unfortunate princes, laid low in early 
 youth, and by treacherous hands, their bones have been dishonoured ; 
 the cold damp vault has been rifled of its treasures ; their ashes have 
 been cast to the winds by the multitude, and the traveller visiting that 
 chapel, once very beautiful, but now overgrown with ivy, and in ruins, 
 is bowed down with sadness ; the t)itterness of despair weighs upon 
 his soul; the fallen-in roof, and the broken columns bring confusion 
 
 > Prince Labanoff, VII., 317. morts comme bestes sans aucune c&^monie." 
 
 " "The ceremonies indeed were the fewer, 609. Innocence de Marie Stuart, Jebb, II., 
 
 by cause that the greatest Parte of the Coun- 529. 
 
 saile were Protestantes, and had before enterred ^ " Corpus mariti balsamo sparsum et odore, 
 
 their own Parentes, without accustomed solem- idem tumulus qui Jacobum ejus nominis 
 
 nities of ceremonies." J. Lesley, Defence of Q. quintum Regins patrem tenet et tegit." Maria 
 
 Mary's Honor, Anderson, 23. " The re- Stuarta. Innoc. auctore Oberto Barnestapolio, 
 
 formers," says Blackwood, " enterrent leurs Jebb, I., 407. 
 
THE PLACARDS, 1567. 141 
 
 to his mind, while the desecrated tombs call for his sympathy. "What 
 then," he exclaims, " are those earthly majesties, that one should seek 
 for their ashes beneath the rubbish of their palaces, and in the precincts 
 of the all-devouring tomb, to insult and scatter them to the winds of 
 heaven ! " 
 
 Next day, the King's household was broken up. Mary wished to 
 keep Darnley's attendants in her service ; " you have lost a good 
 master," said she to them with emotion, " but if you will tarry, you shall 
 find me not only a good mistress, but a mother."' Those who would 
 not stay were discharged. Mary commended the English servants to 
 the English authorities. Several among them had deserved well of her, 
 especially Anthony Standen, who, at the time of Riccio's murder, had 
 thrust aside the dagger with which Patrick Bellenden was threatening 
 her. The Queen's commendation was of no avail. Standen and his 
 companions were imprisoned, and Elizabeth's fanatics tried to wring from 
 them charges against Mary Stuart. 
 
 Strange things were then taking place. Passionate men were seek- 
 ing to rouse the town ; voices urging insurrection were heard during the 
 night, and, when day dawned, the walls were found covered with placards. 
 The names of Mary's most faithful servants were placed alongside 
 those of the assassins, and that confusion helped to protect the guilty, 
 while it made the innocent suspected. "^ There were no bounds to their 
 audacity ; at one time an accomplice, at another the locksmith who 
 had made the keys, or some other artisan connected with the murder, 
 was given out as author of the placard. Mary's initials, and those of 
 Bothwell, crossed by a sword and surmounted by a mallet, were to be 
 seen in several places, with this motto : " Farewell, gentyl Henrye ! 
 but a vengeance on Mary."^ The Protestants, by their sermons, 
 fired the minds of the people ; they called down vengeance on the 
 murderers. Knox thundered, as in the great days of what he 
 called the persecution ; his words roused his hearers, and the 
 masses raged under their burning force. The insurrection, as yet 
 smouldering, was becoming formidable ; the quiet of the nights was 
 broken by unusual noises. A man, whose name is still unknown, with 
 five or six other men, went through the streets shouting in a mournful 
 voice, at dead of night : " vengeance on those that caused me to shed 
 innocent blood ; O Lord, open the heavens and pour down vengeance 
 
 1 Drury to Cecil, 28th February, Tytler, III., " Spottiswoode, II., 48. Miss Strickland, 
 
 app. xviii. Ill-' '78, note 3, 196 and note. 
 
 » M. Wiesener, 390. 
 
142 THE EARL OF LENNOX AND MARY, 1567. 
 
 on those that have destroyed the Innocent." ' Such was the state of 
 things till April. Of the various placards, one especially caused a 
 commotion ; it was designed by James Murray, brother of the Laird of 
 Tullibardine, and represented the Queen under the form of a siren 
 devouring her lovers. The author, forced to flee for a while, returned 
 only after the Queen was put in prison, and he was appointed Col- 
 lector of the Customs, as a reward for his good deed.'' 
 
 The Earl of Lennox, who alone m'ight have been able to give Mary 
 information regarding what had taken place, would not come to Edin- 
 burgh. Greedy of honours, rather than sorry for the death of his son, 
 he played a double part to further his ambition, renewing his intrigues 
 with the conspirators, and writing to the Queen that he regretted the 
 murderers were not known. On the nth, Mary had written that she 
 was very busy searching for the guilty, and had begged him to help her 
 with his intelligence and advice. She again wrote to him from Seton, 
 whither she had gone, acting on the advice of her doctors, to be away from 
 the scene of her trials, and to recover her health, ^ that as long as she had 
 a breath of life, she should remember the ties of relationship which united 
 her to him, and that, forestalling his wishes, she had already convoked 
 Parliament, so that the affair might be thoroughly sifted. As fickle as 
 his son, Lennox no longer wished the assembling of the House, though 
 he himself had solicited it ; he asked for an adjournment, wishing to 
 see if the authors of the placards would come forward, leaving the 
 Queen to go on with, or give up, her case, according as she should, or 
 should not, get particulars.* The Queen thought otherwise; she wished 
 to revenge her husband, and, at any cost, reach the guilty. Acting on 
 that determination, she wrote to her father-in-law a letter which clears 
 her from all blame — a letter, unfortunately too much neglected by those 
 anxious to defame the Queen of Scots. It would, nevertheless, be 
 wrong to conclude that the Earl of Lennox disliked Darnley. The 
 unfortunate father had another son, and he gave up thinking of the dead 
 one, that he might be able to direct all his energies to get the title of 
 heir presumptive conferred on his second son. He was a father more 
 to be pitied, perhaps, than blamed, had his conduct towards the Queen, 
 his daughter-in-law, been less shameful. 
 
 1 Border Correspondence, Miss Strickland, ' Lesley's Defence of Q. Mary's Honor, 24. 
 
 III-j 230- and Dissertation, II., at the end of the work. 
 
 ^ Goodall, L, 350. Anderson's Collection, Vol. II. 
 
 I., 38. Several of those caricatures are pre- * Bishop Keith, 371. 
 served at the State Paper Office in London. 
 
DUNKELD CONVENTICLE, 1567. 143 
 
 Darnley's murderers had gained much by his death, but the Queen 
 still retained power, and the long-lived aristocratic cabal had not yet 
 gained its point. A new conspiracy was formed against herself. 
 Moray, imagining, no doubt, that to be a King's bastard was a sufficient 
 reason to aim at sovereign power, got Morton, Lindsay of Byres and 
 Caithness, together, at Athol's residence in Dunkeld, under the pretext 
 of revenging the King, but with the real object of overthrowing the 
 Queen ; Huntly, Bothwell and some others, joined the Queen under a 
 similar pretext, and both parties began to watch one another closely. 
 
 On the 8th of March, Mary on her return to Edinburgh, gave an 
 audience to Killigrew, Elizabeth's ambassador. She received him in 
 the room draped in mourning. Killigrew, who had just been dining at 
 Moray's, where he had met Huntly, Argyll, Bothwell and Lethington, 
 was struck with the solitude in which the Queen of Scots lived, and we 
 learn from him that she was still sorrowing deeply.' Elizabeth's letter, 
 of which he was the bearer, did not tend to console her ; it was filled 
 with bitter reproaches and haughty terms, showing clearly the joy of the 
 Queen of England at the misfortune of her rival. In that letter of 
 condolence, which may be regarded as a monument of feline and 
 derisive compassion, she made cruel revelations, pointed enough to 
 torment her, yet not sufficiently so, to put her on the scent, and help 
 her to find out the guilty ; she told her, in confidence, that people spoke 
 ill of her, that she was reproached with winking at the crime, and 
 having no desire to punish the murderers of her husband, as if the 
 murder had been done only with her consent, and for her greatest 
 pleasure. ^ 
 
 A little more quiet had settled down upon Edinburgh, but there 
 was no peace ; and under the appearance of returned quiet, it was easy 
 to see that some new plot was being hatched. Uneasiness prevailed, and 
 Mary dreaded a fresh blow. Perhaps she had a faint idea that the 
 conspirators were seeking to dethrone her, in order to reign themselves, 
 during the minority of the Prince. ^ She was anxious about her 
 position, and still more so about the future of her son. But what could 
 she do with him ? To whom could she entrust him in that general 
 disloyalty ? The crime was frightful, the suspicions great, but proof 
 
 ■' Killigrew to Cecil, 8th March, Chalmers qui vous ont faict tel plaisir, comme si la chose 
 
 I., 324, and State Paper Office. n'eust estfe commise sans que les meurtriers 
 
 ^ " Je ne vous c61eray point ce que la plus en eussentsceu leur assurance." Q. Elizabeth 
 
 part des gens en parlent; c'est que vous to Q. Mary, 24th February, Prince Labanoff, 
 
 regarderez entre voz doigtz la revenge de cest VII., 103. 
 
 faite, et que n'avez garde de toucher ceulx ' Prince Labanoff, Ital. Mem. VII., 106. 
 
144 MARY AND HER SON, 1567. 
 
 there was none. Who could tell if those to whom she might confide her son 
 were not the murderers of his father, ready to rob the young Prince of 
 his rights, the moment his mother was laid in the grave. Devoted as 
 Bothwell was, he did not inspire the Queen with more confidence than 
 his fellows ; accordingly, she never thought of placing the heir to the 
 throne under his charge. Fortunately, Stirling Castle was commanded 
 by the Earl of Mar. His father-in-law. Lord Erskine, had protected 
 Mary in a similar circumstance ; the Earl himself had formerly been her 
 tutor, and his wife was one of her best friends. Mary thought she could 
 not, in the whole kingdom, find a man more faithful, and to his care 
 she gave her son. On the 19th of March, the Earl of Argyll and the 
 Earl of Huntly took the Prince to Stirling. The separation grieved poor 
 Mary anew, but it was necessary, and she submitted to it, though 
 with tearful eye. The Earl of Mar, at the same time, was appointed 
 hereditary Captain of the town, that he might not, on any pretext 
 whatever, be forced to leave the Castle for a moment. "" 
 
 Amid her cares, caused by the conspiracies of the nobles, Mary did 
 not forget Darnley. The present was unfortunate, the future was 
 threatening, and Mary, overwhelmed with fatigues and vexations, lived 
 only in the past. She would not, she could not, forget her husband, 
 so cruelly taken away from her tender care. Though it might cost her 
 dear, at the moment when calumny charged her most, she had a mass 
 celebrated on the 23 rd, for the repose of Darnley 's soul,^ and Lennox, 
 embarrassed by his intrigues, did not dare to come and pray for his son.^ 
 The heartlessness of her father-in-law, as may be believed, brought no 
 comfort to Mary ; she saw not only that she was forsaken in her 
 affliction, but also that her influence as a Queen was on the wane ; 
 her loneliness, made greater by the loss of Darnley, saddened her, and 
 she wished by her pious doings, to recall him to the memory of his 
 forgetful kinsmen. 
 
 All that time Mary appeared quite overcome by grief and there was 
 none to wipe away her tears ; by all those around her, she was treated 
 
 » That fact, in downright contradiction of ^ " The 23rd of March, ther wes ane solemne 
 the "Sonnets," shows their fallacy; one cannot saule Mass with a dergie soung afternoone 
 after that, conceive that Mary wrote :— and done in the chapell royal of Holyroud 
 " In his handis, and in his full power, hous for the said Henrey Steuarte, and hes 
 I put my sone," .... saule, by the Papists, at her Majestie's corn- 
 Sonnet II. mand." Birrel's Diarey, 7. 
 How and when was that son in Bothwell's ' M. Wiesener. Marie Stuart et le Comte de 
 hands? It is for those who maintain the Bothwell, 301. 
 authenticity of the " Sonnets," to tell us. 
 
GOOD FRIDAY, 1567. 145 
 
 with indifference and almost hatred. Five days after the mass, Mary 
 and two confidential lady attendants, were out of bed, when all the 
 others were asleep. It was Good Friday. She went to Darnley's tomb, 
 and there, amid the darkness, from dusk until three in the morning, she 
 prayed and wept.' Entirely given up to her grief, she became daily 
 more and more depressed in spirits. Long hours she sat alone, mournful 
 thoughts her only company. The beauty of her countenance had been 
 impaired by the floods of tears, and she frequently swooned. If at times, 
 beguiling her sorrow, she gave way to thoughts less sad, it was only to 
 suffer the more keenly when memory returned. A dislike to life had 
 taken hold of her, for, owing to her many sorrows, she thought it already 
 long enough. Each day passed, wafting away her troubles, her tears and 
 her prayers, yet every morrow was the same. Her imagination became 
 over-heated. She was easily frightened, and would summon her women, 
 who had great difficulty in quieting her alarms. The State, meantime, 
 reaped no gain ; the debts were growing ; through repeated borrowing, 
 the poor Queen could no longer find any lenders, and she was breaking 
 down under all those burdens. Gazing on that unbroken chain of 
 misfortunes, jealous destiny seemed to show the world that kings are 
 visited with more bitter afflictions than all other men." 
 
 Bothwell, irritated, because his name was placarded, boldly asked 
 for a trial, lest his accomplices should, through malice or weakness, 
 charge him with the murder. On the 24th he had been refused ; on 
 the 28th he again made the same demand in the open Council, in 
 presence of the Queen, Huntly, Argyll, Caithness, the Bishop of Ross, 
 Lethington and John Bellenden, and then it was granted. The 
 opening of the debates was fixed for the 12th of April, and the Earl of 
 Lennox was asked to come, in person, to support the charge. When the 
 Earl received the summons, he lost the little courage of which he was 
 till then master. He dared not refuse ; but he wrote to his enemy, 
 Elizabeth, and begged her to have the trial delayed. Moray, true to 
 his principle, withdrew to France, in spite of his sister's tears, as was 
 his wont in affairs of moment.^ 
 
 On the 1 1 th of April, the day before the trial, Lennox wrote to the 
 Queen, asking a delay, and leave to arrest the guilty.* He had waited 
 
 1 W. Drury to Cecil, 29th March 1567. France, as out discontent. He procured a 
 
 Border Corresp., State Paper Office, and Miss pass from the Queen to goe eitheir through 
 
 Strickland, III., 229. England or any other way he pleased." 
 
 " W. Drury to Cecil, 29th March, as before. Merries' Memoirs, 91. 
 
 3 " The Earle of Murray (in the mean tyme) ■" Anderson's Collection, I., 52. Bishop 
 
 followed his project, and pretended business in Keith, 375. 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
146 BOTHWELL'S TRIAL, 1567. 
 
 until the last hour, hoping to stop the proceedings for that day. 
 Elizabeth, for the same reason, did likewise ; but Bothwell was shrewd 
 enough to see to it. On the morning of the 12th of April, the Provost 
 of Berwick arrived at Holyrood with Elizabeth's letter ; but, as the Queen 
 was still in bed, he had to go away. He returned later, with no better 
 success. He walked about in the gardens until the hour when the 
 Lords and Gentlemen met for their morning ride, and thinking the 
 moment favourable, he tried a third time to enter ; but was pushed back 
 and insulted. Not knowing what to do, he desired some gentlemen who 
 appeared to him good-natured, to hand the letter themselves to her 
 Majesty. They refused. Shortly after, Lethington took charge of the 
 letter, and handed it to the Queen, but only when it was too late.' 
 
 Bothwell went to his trial more like a conqueror than a criminal, as 
 he rode a horse said to have been the King's, and was attended as usual 
 by a number of gentlemen, his vassals and friends, while the Queen, 
 deceived by others, still believed him innocent. The rest was a mockery. 
 Morton, the murderer, was his advocate;^ murderers were his judges, 
 and murderers the witnesses ; the few honest people who were present, 
 were either pushed aside or forced to keep silence ; such were the 
 famous proceedings. ^ Lennox did not appear ; he had come as far as 
 Stirling, but, either from fright, or from illness, as he wrote to the 
 Queen, he had turned back. The two servants whom he had charged to 
 represent him, asked for an adjournment of the case ; the Justice Clerk 
 replied by reading two letters, in which the Earl of Lennox craved 
 immediate justice, and the trial went on. Bothwell was acquitted, and 
 Lennox, believing that he was no longer safe in his own country, bent 
 his steps towards England, (17th April).* Some days after, Bothwell 
 was again proclaimed innocent by Parliament, and the placards were 
 denounced ;5 and, as if nothing could be done in moderation, the nobles, 
 certain that no one thenceforth would oppose their insatiable greed, took 
 advantage of the Queen's helplessness, and pounced covetously on the 
 benefices of the crown. The royal estates were torn piecemeal. He 
 who coveted a castle or estate, had that castle or estate given to him. 
 They made an amicable division among themselves, and all the 
 
 ' W. Drury to Cecil, 1 5th April. Chalmers, were honest men in whom firmness was 
 
 III., 70-74- unfortunately wanting. 
 
 '' " Mortonio causam ejus sustinente, Judi- ' Copy of the trial of Bothwell, State Paper 
 
 cum sententiis absolvitur." Camden I., 113. Office, Scot, series. Diurnal of Occur., 
 
 ' The jury, whose names Spottiswoode, (II., 108. Bishop Keith, 376. Spottiswoode, II., A' . 
 
 so), and Craufurd, (15,) have preserved for us, * Les affaires du Comte de Boduel. Ander- 
 son's Collection, I., 127. 
 
AINSLIE'S TRIAL, 1567. 147 
 
 favours granted by the crown in the past, were confirmed anew. 
 The conspirators hoped, by those bounties, to gain over the rest 
 of the nobles, and so end their allegiance to the Queen. It was 
 the aristocratic conspiracy stronger, more united and better under- 
 stood. ' 
 
 During the evening of the 19th of April, Bothwell and his accom- 
 plices met in the tavern of one Ainslie. When they were all somewhat 
 affected by what they had drunk, Bothwell announced his intention of 
 marrying the Queen, taking care to add that her Majesty was a con- 
 senting party. ^ All signified their approval, and pledged themselves 
 to support the Earl, each according to his power ;3 but on the following 
 day, Kirkaldy of Grange, with an indignation, which, though considerate 
 was somewhat unbecoming, wrote to the Earl of Bedford that the 
 Queen was smitten to excess with Bothwell, and that a marriage was to 
 be expected.* 
 
 Though very anxious to win Mary's hand, Bothwell wished, never- 
 theless, to save appearances ; he flattered the Queen, and pressed her 
 gently to consent. He met with a refusal, which made him cease 
 his importunities. Mary countenanced this valiant man, merely because 
 she wished to be grateful for his devotedness ; it never could have 
 occurred to her that, born her subject, he should aspire to wed her.= 
 
 On the second day after the supper at Ainslie's, Mary left Edin- 
 burgh* for Stirling, to go and see her son. As on her journey to Glasgow, 
 she spent the night at Livingstone's residence, and arrived on the 22nd 
 in Stirling. She expected her child to smile upon her ; but he did not 
 recognize her, and began to cry. The new faces, the dresses of deep 
 mourning, and the burning eagerness of a mother's love, so different 
 from the care of hirelings, frightened the child. Deeply moved, she 
 offered him an apple, which the nurse took and threw away ; and, adds 
 
 ' Bishop Keith, 379. Acta Parliam., II., probable that Bothwell told the Queen that 
 
 547 sq. story to clear himself, as her first impression 
 
 ' According to the statement addressed by was different. Prince Labanoff, II., 36 sq. 
 
 Mary Stuart to the Christian Princes, the ^Anderson's Collection, I., 107, 112. Crau- 
 
 nobles proposed it to him with a view to ruin furd's Memoirs, 15, 16. Bishop Keith, 381. 
 
 him : " Fingendo una nuova amicizia col Camden, I., 141. 
 
 conte Bothvel, il quale essi odiavano a morte, ^ Laird of Grange to the Earl of Bedford, 
 
 gli fecero credere di contentarsi che egli fussi 20th April. State Paper Office, Scot, series. 
 
 maritodellaReginaet nefeceroapparirscrittura Tytler, III., 246. 
 
 sottoscritta da loro, dichiarando che questo ^ Queen Mary's instructions to the Bishop 
 
 torneria in grandissimo benefizio del Regno." of Dunblane. Prince Labanoff, 1 1., 37. 
 
 Prince Labanoff, VII., 317. Bothwell says so " Diurnal of Occur., 109. Birrel's Diarey, 
 
 also. Affaires du Comte de Boduel, 16. It is 8. Herries' Memoirs, 88. 
 
148 ABDUCTION OF THE QUEEN, 1567. 
 
 the English spy, who has forged or repeated the anecdote, a 
 bitch ate the apple, and in a short time both mother and puppies 
 perished. ' 
 
 Mary, from her numerous occupations, could not remain long in 
 Stirling. On the 22nd, she wrote to the Pope's nuncio, that as soon 
 as she reached Edinburgh, she would send a trusty man to make 
 known her feelings to him,^ and on the morning of the 23rd retraced 
 her steps towards the capital. She took seriously unwell on the way, 
 and had to stop at a cottage. In the evening she arrived at Linlithgow, 
 broken down by the journey and by pain ; yet, before being thoroughly 
 rested, she went forward, hoping to get to Edinburgh the same day. 
 Her escort was small, and, besides, few of them were faithful to her. 
 They travelled quickly, for Mary, pained as she was, longed to be at 
 her journey's end. At Foulbriggs, close to Edinburgh, she was 
 attacked by a troop of armed men ; her little escort laid down their 
 arms, and Bothwell appeared before her. All resistance was useless ; 
 the Earl seized the Queen's horse by the bridle, and took the road to 
 Dunbar. Mary was frightened, but Bothwell, wishing always to appear 
 devoted, had recourse to a ruse ; he assured her that a great danger 
 threatened her, and that he was taking her to one of his castles, where 
 she should be safe.^ That was not done without tumult. In an instant 
 the town was roused by the alarm of bells and the roar of cannon.* The 
 inhabitants of Edinburgh arm hastily, and go into the streets, but no 
 one comes forward to lead them ; the nobles had been bribed or 
 intimidated. In that state of affairs. Provost Preston of Craigmillar, 
 one of Riccio's assassins, ordered the gates of the town to be closed, 
 had the guns pointed on the townspeople, and threatened to fire upon 
 them ; thus quiet was restored by degrees. 
 
 Bothwell, on arriving at Dunbar, carefully removed, from the Queen, 
 her faithful servants, and of her escort, kept only Huntly and Lethington, 
 on whose help he could rely. Lord Coldingham's widow, a sister of 
 the ravisher, was the only woman who was allowed to approach Mary. 
 The fortress of Dunbar was turned into a prison. Bothwell had, as 
 garrison, two hundred archers, who mounted guard night and day 
 
 1 Drury to Cecil, 20th May, 1567. Miss assalt6 in strada con molti de suoi, et, con 
 
 Strickland and Mr Froude. buone parole et con mostrarle che la maestk 
 
 " Mary Stuart to the Bishop of Mondovi. sua si' trovava in grandissimo pericolo, la 
 
 Prince Labanoff, II., 20. condusse in uno delli suoi castelli. Successodi 
 
 ^ Un giorno che la Regina se ne andava Scotia. Prince Labanoff, VII., 317. 
 
 quasi sola per vedere il figlio, (Bothwell) la ' Diurnal oi Occur., 110. 
 
MARY AND BOTHWELL, 1567. 149 
 
 around the castle.' He now gave way to his passion, and wearied his 
 captive with his advances. A rumour had been noised abroad, in 
 Edinburgh, that the Queen was a consenting party, and, the people 
 believing the rumour, no one thought of demanding her release. "" 
 
 Bothwell rejoiced at his success ; his wife, of the same mind as he, 
 wished a divorce, and the nobles approved.^ The Queen's attitude 
 alone filled him with despair. Gaining nothing by prayers or threats, 
 he showed her the bond signed by the Lords, proving that resistance 
 was vain, that she belonged to him whether she would or not, and that 
 the nobles had given their word that no one should come to her help."* 
 That discovery threw Mary into painful suspense ; the pledge of the 
 nobles, Bothwell's devotedness, fidelity, energy and influence, the fear 
 of displeasing the nobility by an ill-timed resistance, the prospect of an 
 imprisonment perhaps perpetual, for during the past eight days no one 
 assisted her, and lastly, anxiety for her own son : all those things made 
 the Queen incline to the Earl, but her dignity forbade her ; Bothwell 
 was not born for a throne ; her queenly dignity won the day, and, with 
 all against her, she firmly refused him her hand. That obstinacy in a 
 woman, until then smiling and gentle, roused a fearful storm in Both- 
 well's heart. He threatened to dishonour Mary ; some say that he 
 attempted it. Resistance for a longer time, noble in the eyes of God, 
 would, in that case, have led straight to Ignominy.^ 
 
 ^ Anderson's Collection, IV., i., 102. "Have- her consent had been gained to the divorce, 
 
 ing presomptuouslie put handis on the Queine's either at the instance of the Queen or of her 
 
 Maiestie, our Soueranes persone, and detained own husband." Histor.MSS. Commission App. 
 
 hir as captive, invironed hir with a grit guard Dr Hill Burton incriminates the Queen ; the 
 
 of men of weir, and vtheris of his devotione." account of the facts, and the dissertation 
 
 A manifest printed in Bannatyne's Memor., printed at the end of Vol. II. will show what 
 
 28. we ought to think. 
 
 ^ Diurnal of Occur., loc. cit. * See Proofs III., end of Vol. I. 
 
 ' Husband and wife were of one mind in « Ac vi et violentia proditorie eius nobilissi- 
 
 asking for a divorce ; Bothwell on account of mam personam apprehendit In eamque manus 
 
 relationship, Jane Gordon on the ground of violentas Iniecit . . . eandem ibj Incarcerando 
 
 adultery committed by Bothwell with a woman et detinendo captiuam ad spatium duodecim 
 
 of his household. It is now impossible to dierum vel eocirca, eamque vj et violentia 
 
 raise the slightest doubt as to the understand- compellendo metu quj etiam in consiantis- 
 
 ing of husband and wife, for Jane Gordon had simam mulierem cadere poterit, promittere 
 
 in her possession the dispensation becauseof re- matrimonium quam celerime poterit cum eo 
 
 lationsh'ip,obtainedbeforehermarriage,andshe contrahere. Acta Parliam., III., 8. — Lord 
 
 had only to put it forward to cancel Bothwell's Hailes' Remarks on the History of Scotland, 
 
 request. Her silence, the charge of adultery 204, quoted in Bell's Life of Queen Mary. 
 
 laid against her husband and accepted by Blackwood, CEuvres Completes, 568. I beg the 
 
 him, and her after-conduct ciearly prove that reader to refer to Part IV. of the Second Dis- 
 
 divorce had been thoroughly resolved upon. sertation. I have used in that dissertation a 
 
 ' The inference is,'' says Dr John Stuart, " that number of documents which it would have been 
 
ISO MARRIAGE OF MARY AND BOTHWELL, 1567. 
 
 The gates of Dunbar were now thrown open. The Queen, seem- 
 ingly free, returned to Edinburgh on the 6th of May; in reality, however, 
 she found herself anything but free at Holyrood ; the place alone of her 
 prison was changed. Public opinion was led or ruled by Bothwell's 
 ascendancy. The captive Queen could not make her voice heard. Of 
 the Scots, some congratulated the Earl, while others were silent, just as 
 prudence counselled. An honourable Protestant minister, John Craig, 
 had more firmness. When desired to publish the bans of the Queen's 
 marriage, he declined to do so unless by Mary's own order; and after 
 he got it, suspecting that she had been forced to give it, he persisted in 
 his refusal. In presence of the Privy Council and Bothwell, he stuck 
 to his opinion ; but, forced to obey, he did so in a worthy manner, without 
 weakness or pride, protesting, that, had it depended on him, the marriage 
 should never have taken place.' 
 
 Mary, from that time at the mercy of Bothwell, made another effort 
 on the 1 2th of May to go before the Council, and unbosom her feelings. 
 What could she say ? The Council was full of her ravisher's partisans. 
 She spoke notwithstanding ; but her words were not made known till 
 five months later, after the Lords had read, examined and, perhaps, 
 altered them.^ On the 14th, Mary signed her marriage contract,^ and 
 forgave those who had left her at the mercy of the Earl. The Nobles 
 exacted a pardon in due form, because they saw that the Queen, though 
 yielding, did not willingly accept the alliance.'* 
 
 On the 1 5th of May, at four o'clock in the morning, Mary was wedded 
 to Bothwell ; he had been, three days previously, created Duke of 
 Orkney and Lord of Shetland ; few persons were present. The Queen 
 spent her wedding-day in tears, and among the people there was no 
 rejoicing; the Court and the town bore a mournful aspect, and it 
 seemed as if a funeral rather than a wedding had taken place.^ Mary 
 had bent under the misfortune, but she was not yet broken. She seemed 
 
 irksome to quote in the course of the work. It clared that every signature given by the Earl 
 
 is a complete apology for Queen Mary, and without the Queen's sanction and written con- 
 
 the most serious and most convincing part of sent shall be null and void. (Labanoff, II., 29.) 
 
 this history. If she had been as mad about him, as has 
 
 1 Anderson's Collection, II., 278 ; Knox, Re- been stated, she would have made him King, 
 
 form., V. 354 ; Spottiswoode, II., 52-54. as in Darnleys case. 
 
 " Goodall, II., 243. 4 xhe ^g^t is found in Anderson's Collection, 
 
 3 There is in this third and last contract, I., in. 
 
 alone authentic, a clause which clearly proves = " At this marriage thair wes nathir plesour 
 
 that Mary had not "une passion violente, in- nor pastyme usit as use wes wont to be usit 
 
 sensde pour le Comte de Bothwell" (Teulet quhen princes wes marijt." Diurnal of Occur. 
 
 Supp. au Prince Labanoff, 10); it is there de- 112. 
 
THE QUEEN'S DESPAIR, 1567. 151 
 
 to all pitifully sad, and people wondered how her lovely face had in a 
 few days lost all its freshness ; illness could not have more completely 
 wrecked its beauty.' Her face was of an ashy paleness, and sometimes 
 her poor grief-burdened mind wandered ; once she was heard to ask 
 for a knife to end her wretched life, and once she wished to throw 
 herself out of a window." Instead of cheering her, Bothwell felt not for 
 her grief, but was even rude to her ; he had the throne, and cared only 
 to keep it. He kept the Queen shut up in the palace apart from all.^ 
 That harsh treatment, her dreary life, and, above all, the hints of the 
 stains upon her honour thrown out by the Earl, at length plunged the 
 luckless Queen into the deepest deep of a joyless and wretched mid- 
 night. 
 
 ■' Drury to Cecil, 20th May 1567. Border or making hir cause to sched aboundance 
 
 Corresp., State Paper Office. of salt teares." Melville's Memoirs, 182. M. 
 
 ' Du Croc to Catherine de Mddicis, i8th Mignet pretends that: "Bothwell torturait le 
 
 May. Prince LabanofiF, VII., iii ; Melville's cceur de la reine afin de I'occuper et la rendait 
 
 Memoirs, 180. malheureuse pour I'empecher d'etre incon- 
 
 ^ " He was sa beastly and suspitious that he stante," I., 310. What a curiosity! 
 sufferit hir not to pass ouer a day in patience. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 1567- 
 
 FIRST ACTS OF BOTHWELL — DISLOYALTY OF THE QUEEN'S FRIENDS — FURTHER DOINGS OF THE 
 CONSPIRATORS — ATTACK ON BORTHWICK CASTLE — FLIGHT OF THE QUEEN — PRO- 
 CLAMATION OF THE CONFEDERATES — THE DAY OF THE I5TH-0F JUNE — THE QUEEN 
 SURRENDERS IN SPITE OF BOTHWELL — TREASON OF MORTON — TROUBLES AND SEDITION 
 ^MARY AT LOCHLEVEN — CONDUCT OF HER ENEMIES. 
 
 "IV /r ARY owed an explanation of her conduct to the Court of France, 
 -^ -^ and she gave it with simplicity, trying, as much as she could, to 
 clear Bothwell, who was now her husband ; but all the facts noticed 
 above are hinted at in her letter. Bothwell, too, wrote to Charles IX. 
 and Queen Elizabeth, his neighbours, wishing to be on good terms with 
 them.' 
 
 Meanwhile, such a breach of propriety, and one so unusual, could not 
 be allowed to pass unnoticed. The public mind was excited : friends 
 and enemies found fault with the union ; the Presbyterians were very 
 wroth. To quiet them, Bothwell sought the aid of the Bishop of 
 Orkney, who had married him. The Bishop told them that Bothwell was 
 sorry for the bad life he had led, that he intended to lead a better one, 
 and one more according to the laws of the Reformed Church.-" That 
 promise was followed by acts leaving no doubt as to his final con- 
 version, for he gave his co-religionists the liberty to pray to God accord- 
 ing to their own fancy, but deprived the Catholics of the same favour.^ 
 By those doings he wished to make the people forget that he was the 
 murderer of their King and the ravisher of his widow. Thinking himself 
 not safe enough by such measures, he took into his council, men whose 
 gain it was to defend him, and closely watched those who, from their 
 position, or from the part which they had played in the past, seemed to 
 him hostile, or merely undecided in their allegiance. 
 
 He himself, by banding together the nobility to crush the brigands 
 who infested Liddesdale, was unawares preparing the blow which was 
 
 1 Teulet, Relations politiques,&c., II., 292. ^ Miss Strickland quoting a letter from 
 
 Bothwell to Queen Elizabeth, sth June 1567, Drury to Cecil, III., 294. 
 State Paper Office, Scot. Series. ■< Bishop Keith, 571. 
 
FURTHER DOINGS OF THE CONSPIRATORS, 1567. 153 
 
 to overthrow him.' Moray's friends who had urged Bothwell to 
 murder Darnley, and had sold to him the widow, looking for nothing 
 more by helping him, now that their ends were gained, turned against 
 him and ruined him by the same means which they had taken to raise 
 him. The Queen by her marriage with Bothwell, whom she thought 
 in her heart to be innocent, but whom her subjects believed to be 
 guilty, was likely to be blamed for the murder. Her enemies had only 
 to hint that she was guilty, and set up Moray as Regent for the Prince- 
 minor. Here ended a conspiracy, decr^d by fate and long looked for, 
 — a conspiracy, the various phases of which, the murder of the King, 
 the acquittal of Bothwell and his marriage, had been prepared with 
 very clever wickedness. Bothwell had scarcely reached the throne 
 when his former friends began to use against him the machiavelian 
 work entered upon under his leadership, and, having leagued together, 
 sought means of getting rid of him. Even those in whom the Queen 
 and he placed their principal trust, to wit, the two Melvilles and Sir 
 James Balfour, were gained over to the opposite party.^ 
 
 The 15th of June had been fixed upon for the meeting of the vassals. 
 The conspirators anticipated that date, and repaired to Liberton with 
 the view of seizing Bothwell and the Queen before they could be 
 supported by their troops. The attempt failed through the indiscretion 
 of some, and Bothwell, warned of what was going on, left Holyrood on 
 the night of the 8th of June, and fled with the Queen to Borthwick 
 Castle. Strong by its position and its walls, that castle was an impreg- 
 nable rampart behind which it was impossible to reach the Queen. 
 Having no fear for her, Bothwell went to Melrose to join the Crown 
 vassals and march with them as far as Liddesdale. He found no one 
 there, and after uselessly waiting two days returned, deeply vexed, to 
 Borthwick. On the evening of the nth of June, as he was going to 
 bed, several Scots came to the castle and asked shelter for the night. 
 They said they were friends pursued by the lords, while in truth they 
 had been sent by Morton and Lord Hume, who, a short distance off, 
 were at the head of a numerous troop. Bothwell, made sharp-witted by 
 the numerous conspiracies in which he had taken part, was seized with 
 fright, and without leaving orders as to how the new comers were to be 
 treated, escaped by the postern-gate along with the son of the owner 
 of the castle, leaving with the Queen only eight persons. The night 
 was dark, and Bothwell fled blindly towards Dunbar, heedless of what 
 
 ' Teulet, II., 301. Registrum honoris de Morton. Edinburgh, 1853, No. 24, 21. 
 ° Melville's Memoirs, 180. 
 
 VOL. I. ■ U 
 
154 FLIGHT OF THE QUEEN, 1567. 
 
 might happen to Mary. At some distance from the castle he fell into 
 the hands of his enemies, but managed to escape, whilst young Crook- 
 ston remained the prisoner of Lord Hume/ The danger, however, 
 was not yet very great, for the nation was still in favour of the Queen, 
 and the enemies advanced with great precaution. On the nth of June 
 the lords of the Privy Council, on learning that several of the nobility 
 were about to besiege the castle, charged John Mowbray of Bembou- 
 gall to ask them what they meant, and to treat with them, if need be."" 
 
 Hostilities were already breaking out around the castle. Those 
 who had tried to capture Bothwell, ashamed of their failure, had 
 returned to insult the Queen under the walls of the fortress.^ Those 
 outrages showed Mary that it was time to act, and that her fate was for 
 ever linked to that of her husband. She was innocent, unfortunately 
 he was guilty ; but the insolent conduct of the conspirators aimed at her 
 as well as at Bothwell, forced her to believe him innocent, and, in defend- 
 ing him, she was gravely compromising herself. Seeing the rebels going 
 away, she sent the Laird of Reres to Edinburgh with an order to fire 
 from the castle on the troop of Lords Hume and Morton if they 
 attempted to enter the town ; the captain, Sir James Balfour, took no 
 notice of it, being himself one of the confederates.* 
 
 A handful of men devoted to Mary took active steps for peace. 
 Unable to secure it they begged the French ambassador, du Croc, 
 to help them. Du Croc was too wise to refuse ; he therefore set to 
 work, and the Queen, whose kindness seemed boundless, enjoined only 
 one condition : that the rebels should cease to incriminate him whom 
 they had formerly acquitted, him whom they had recommended to her 
 for a husband. 5 
 
 Mary, however, did not feel safe : the weakness of the garrison, the 
 boldness of the rebels, the inability to make an appeal to her faithful 
 subjects, the danger of a longer stay in a castle which, on account of 
 its distance from the capital, might be entirely isolated, made it her 
 duty to flee, but she was a prisoner. Bothwell, on leaving, had 
 
 1 W. Drury to Cecil, 12th June. Border la mende estoyt grande et bien entendue par 
 
 Corresp., State Paper Office. Miss Strickland, ceux qui la faisoient." Du Croc to the King, 
 
 III., 305. 17th June 1567. Prince Labanofif, VII., 113. 
 
 " Registrum honoris de Morton, I., No. 25, Later, having personally had to complain of 
 
 23- the rebels, the same ambassador wrote : " Le 
 
 ' Letter from Drury to Cecil quoted above. capitane a tousjours boug^ de concert avec les 
 
 * " Le chateau que la Royne et le due pen- aultres, qui est un vray traitre nommd Bafifour." 
 
 soient entitlement k leur devotion ne tira The same to the same, 30th June, Teulet II., 
 
 jamais ; ce qui nous donna bien k penser que 326. = See Dissertation, II., iv. 
 
PROCLAMATION OF THE CONFEDERATES, 1567. 155 
 
 entrusted her to the keeping of his truest friends ; the gates were care- 
 fully barred, and flight was well nigh impossible. The Queen baffled 
 the watchfulness of her keepers. Dressed as a man, she got through a 
 window, went down along the wall and mounted a horse which a friend 
 had ready a little way off.' She rode about not knowing where to 
 take refuge. Her anxiety was great ; silence and darkness surrounded 
 her, and whithersoever she turned her horse's head, the same prospect 
 lay before her. After riding about for a long time, during which she 
 often retraced her path and crossed several streams, she found herself 
 opposite Black Castle, only a few miles from Borthwick. Mary was 
 beginning to think herself free. Away from her husband she hoped to 
 gain over the rebels and to bring back peace ; she therefore took care 
 to avoid the frequented roads for fear of meeting some of Bothwell's 
 followers, or enemies with whom she could not come to any understanding. 
 Fate would have it that in her daring course she should run headlong 
 into the hands of him from whom she fled. He was at the head of a 
 small band, and was availing himself of the darkness to watch the 
 rebels. Mary was obliged to follow him, and they went together as far 
 as Dunbar.^ 
 
 The enemy, urged on by Elizabeth,^ had fallen back upon Edinburgh, 
 and threatened to attack it. The town was full of anxiety. Those who 
 were as yet unattached to either party, and whom neither a frank 
 affection nor an open hatred made to lean more to the one camp than 
 the other, knew not what to do, fearing to join, not the bad cause, but 
 the one least likely to win. They merely closed the gates which had 
 been broken in while the cannons of the citadel were silent, as the 
 Governor was an accomplice.'' 
 
 On the same day the confederates put forth a declaration in which 
 
 ^ Account given by the Captain of IncTi- Inchkeith, and the command of the island had 
 
 keith. Copy in the Biblioth^que Imp. de been entrusted to Lord Glammis. Herries' 
 
 Paris. Fonds de St Germain Harlay. That Mem., 67. As several things unfavourable to 
 
 circumstantial account of the events which the Queen were found in that anonymous 
 
 took place up to the time of Mary Stuart's account, it was of importance to find out if a 
 
 captivity is found in the Papers of du Croc, French pen, and especially if a French am- 
 
 ambassador of France, at Edinburgh. F. von bassador, had written it. That memoir was 
 
 Raumer attributes it to the ambassador himself, probably annexed by the ambassador to his 
 
 Teulet attributes it to an officer, most likely dispatch of 17th June. 
 
 French. (Von Raumer. Briefe aus Paris. " Account given by the Captain of Inch- 
 
 Teulet, ,N^gociations.) The context is quite keith. Miss Strickland, III., 307-309; M. 
 
 opposed to those two ideas. From several Wiesener, 398. 
 
 passages we conclude that it is the report of the '' Registrum honoris de Morton, No. 23, 20. 
 
 Governor of Inchkeith. Since the month of * Diurnal of Occur., H2. 
 September 1563, there had been no French in 
 
156 PROCLAMATION OF THE CONFEDERATES, 1567. 
 
 they deplored the murder of the King, the abduction of the Queen, 
 and the danger threatening the young Prince, and called upon all the 
 inhabitants, nobles and citizens to join them, under penalty of being 
 held guilty as authors of the crimes done.' On the following day 
 proclamation was made in Edinburgh of the sentiments of the nobles 
 under the existing circumstances : " als," said they, " Bothwell has put 
 violent handes in our Soveraine Ladies maist nobill persoune and thair- 
 after wardit hir Hienes in the Castell of Dunbar, and be a lang space 
 invironit hir Majestic with Men of Weir, his Friendis and Kinsmen, 
 and that hir Grace being destitute of all Counsale and Serwandis, the 
 said Erie seducit, be unleisume waies, our said Soverane to ane 
 unhonest marriage with himself, quhilk, from the Beginning, is null, 
 and of nane Effect ; Als this same Bothwell is the principall author, 
 Devisor and instrument of the cruell and maist abhominabill murther 
 committit upoun umquhill our Soueraine Lorde King Henrie Stuart, of 
 gud memorie — Als he, not being content and satisfiet with the cruell 
 murther done upon our said Soueraine King Henrie Stuart, ravishing, 
 warding, and seduceinge of the Quenis Majestie to ane unlauchfuU 
 Mariage, and holding hir zit in captivitie, is nowe, as the saidis Lordis 
 and Nobilitie are informit, making sum assemblies of men trysting and 
 perswading them to assist him, quhilk we luke can be for na uthir 
 Effect, but to comitt the like murther upone the sone, as was upon the 
 Fadder, to the quhilk the saidis Lordis and Nobilitie mindis, with all 
 thair Forces, to resist and als to delyver the Quenis Grace furth of the 
 maist miserable Bondage foresaid : Thairfor ordanis ane Messenger or 
 Officiar at Arms of the principal towns in the Kingdom to command 
 and charge all and Sundry Leigis of this Realme to pass furthwards 
 with the saidis Lordis of Secreit Counsall and Nobilitie, to delyver the 
 Quenis Majesties maist nobill Persoun furth of captivitie and prison in 
 which she is kept by the Earl of Bothwell, to revenge the death of 
 King Henry, and to save the Prince of the wicked interprise formed 
 against him." " A strange boldness in men who pretended to revenge 
 upon Bothwell the King's death, of which they had themselves been 
 the first authors and the accomplices ; a strange boldness to pretend to 
 avenge the slavery of the Queen after having given her up at Ainslie's 
 
 • A declaration in the name of the nobility liberty de la Royne, disant _qtie,tant qu'elle 
 
 of Scotland. Anderson's Collection, I., 128. seroyt antra les mains de'celui qui la tenoyt, 
 
 ^ Abridgment of tha original Proclamation, elle ne saroit jamais k son aisa."— Du Croc 
 
 Anderson, I., 131, sq.; Spottiswoode, II., to Charles IX.; Prince Labanoff, VII., 114. 
 
 57.— "lis fondoient I'occasion de leur as- That declaration of the nobles is peremp- 
 
 semblda sur trois poinds : le premier sur la tory. 
 
THE 15TH OF JUNE, 1567. 157 
 
 tavern ; a strange boldness, indeed, to pretend to save from danger the 
 young Prince whom they had in their power!' Be that as it may, those 
 harangues tended to disturb the public mind, and a great number of 
 the Queen's friends, misled by those signs of devotedness, came to 
 swell the ranks of the nobles. There we have the crafty policy mark- 
 ing the time of Elizabeth and Catherine de Mddicis : though the real 
 state of affairs contradicted the nobles, they maintained they were in 
 the right ; and in that way they deceived the mob. 
 
 The people, unaccountably, would not believe the false marks of 
 attachment lavished by the authors of the proclamation, nor the calum- 
 nies which some nobles, the declared enemies of the Queen, wished to 
 be believed, so as to lessen the good opinion of her which so startling 
 a manifesto might have left in honest consciences. From the beginning 
 of her reign in Scotland, there had been many troubles among the 
 nobility and the Court ; but the people of Edinburgh had never been 
 doomed to suffer, and Mary's kind-heartedness was known to them all. 
 The paid troops and those alone that came from foreign countries, took 
 up the quarrels of their masters.^ 
 
 A stubborn hatred had set the Duke of Orkney and the rest of the 
 nobility against each other ; and on both sides they were making ready 
 for the struggle. On the 14th of June Bothwell, at the head of two 
 thousand men, set out from Dunbar, and spent the night at Seton. A 
 proclamation likely to rouse the courage of the soldiers was read to 
 them ; and Bothwell, proud of being at the head of some troops, offered 
 single combat to any man in the other camp. On the following day he 
 found the enemy encamped at Musselburgh. The confederate army 
 was small in number, but well appointed and made up entirely of old 
 soldiers, commanded by the nobles ; in the Duke's army there were 
 many untrained soldiers who were worn out with fatigue ; for they had 
 not slept on the previous night, and had been marching for a long way 
 under a scorching sun. Besides they had no wish to fight ; for, seeing 
 the brutality with which Bothwell treated the Queen since her marriage, 
 they believed her favourable to the enemy.^ 
 
 The armies encamped two miles apart. Bothwell was on Carberry 
 Hill, and held the entrenchment made by the English at the battle of 
 
 1 The Earl of Mar, deceived by their fine Buchanan confirms that detail : Contra, liber- 
 words, made common cause with the rebels. — tatis vindices in magnis versabantur angustiis : 
 Tytler, III., 254. paucis enim, contra quam speraverant, ad 
 
 " Bishop Keith, 400. " Notwithstanding this famam tam prjeclari facinoris, accurrentibus, 
 
 proclamation, the people did not join unto etc., xviii., 44. 
 
 these lords as was expected."— Knox, v. 355. ' Melville's Memoirs, 182. 
 
158 THE 15TH OF JUNE, 1567. 
 
 Pinkie. The confederate army, posted on the opposite side of a stream 
 which flowed between, extended across the plain, while on its rear was 
 a small hill near Musselburgh. Mary, plainly dressed,' went through 
 the ranks of her soldiers, encouraging them to fight bravely. She had 
 thrown aside her wonted sadness, and now she seemed to all, bold and 
 full of confidence. 
 
 Du Croc tried once more to bring about peace. Civil war is so 
 dreadful, that the worthy man could not look on quietly while Scots 
 were slaughtering Scots, without making a fresh effort to stop the 
 fighting. The rebels engaged to make peace, if the Queen would 
 leave Bothwell. Single combat, too, was spoken of. They required 
 that the Duke, to clear his character thoroughly, should meet, one after 
 another, all who should throw down the glove. The terms were out- 
 rageous ; but single combat was then in full force. Du Croc repre- 
 sented to the Queen the great grief that would be felt by the Court of 
 France on learning the desperate state of affairs, and assured her^that 
 the nobles would certainly surrender and kneel before her, if she would 
 separate from Bothwell \' he begged her to think that she was about to 
 wage war on her own subjects ; that to do so did not become so good a 
 Princess. Mary replied that the nobles had given her up to Bothwell, 
 that they were going against what they had signed (at Ainslie's supper), 
 and that he whom they now attacked with so much animosity had lately 
 been pronounced innocent by them ; that, notwithstanding her griev- 
 ances, she was ready to receive them with open arms, if they would own 
 their faults. ^ 
 
 Bothwell appeared just as she had uttered those words. To make 
 a show of courage before his army, and lead to the belief that he was 
 innocent, he asked in a loud voice if, against him alone, the nobles were 
 enraged. " The nobles," replied the French envoy, in the same loud 
 tone, "are the Queen's very humble subjects and servants and your 
 mortal enemies." The last words were pronounced in a lower tone, so 
 
 1 I differ perceptibly from the description of ^ " lis me dirent," writes du Croc, " que si 
 
 the Captain of Inchkeith, " Elle estoyt abilMe la Royne se vouloyt tirer k part de ce mal- 
 
 d'une cotte rouge qui ne luy venoit que k demie heureux qui la tenoit, ils I'iroient recongnoistre, 
 
 de la jambe," because this version is contra- la servir k genoulx at luy demeurroient tr^s 
 
 dieted by an Englishman, an eye-witness, who humbles et trfes obeissants subjects et servi- 
 
 remained beside Mary during the whole day of teurs." — Du Croc to the King, 17th June; Prince 
 
 the 15th (quoted in Miss Strickland, III., 322), Labanoff, VII., u5, and Teulet. 
 and by a sketch of the period, probably sent ^ The most of those who signed the bond 
 
 to Elizabeth after the engagement at Carberry appeared as leaders of the revolt. Birrel's 
 
 Hill,— (State Pap. Office, Scotland), without Diarey, 9. Account given by the Captain of 
 
 date, but classified in June 1 567. Inchkeith. 
 
THE iSTH OF JUNE, 1567. 159 
 
 that Bothwell and the Queen alone should be able to hear. Bothwell 
 continued, " I have ever wished them well, but they are envious of my 
 greatness ; they sadden the Queen and afflict me : God will see to it. 
 But as we ought to shed as little blood as possible of our countrymen, 
 tell them that if there is among them any one willing to fight a single 
 combat, we shall settle our quarrel by the sword, with God our judge." 
 The Queen would not consent, and the matter was at an end. Besides, 
 the enemy was advancing, and had neared the stream ; prudence warned 
 them to lose no time in vain words, and du Croc went away, leaving 
 the Queen in tears.' 
 
 Although Bothwell's cause was a bad one, he put on a bold face ; he 
 commanded calmly, without betraying the least sign of weakness or 
 wavering. Each army had stopped at about a hundred paces from the 
 stream ; a small ravine lay between them ; so that the attacking force 
 had to go down, cross the stream, and climb the other bank. Neither 
 of the armies wished to begin the fight, because the position of the 
 attackers was bad, the adversaries having only to rush upon them, and 
 crush them in the hollow. From her position the Queen saw, and 
 not without terror, the banner of the confederates. It was large and 
 white, and had on it a green tree half broken, drawings of the King, in a 
 white shirt, lying dead beneath, and the young Prince on his knees, hold- 
 ing in his hands this motto, " Judge and revenge my cause, O Lord ! " " 
 
 The armies stood, facing each other, from eleven in the morning till 
 five in the evening, when both sides seemed ready to make terms. 
 Bothwell came out of the ranks, sword in hand, to fight any noble who 
 should be willing to meet him. The Laird of TuUibardine came for- 
 ward, but was set aside as he was unequal in rank. After much delay, 
 Lindsay was chosen to represent his side. He was a lord of somewhat 
 low degree when compared to the other chiefs of the confederates ; but, 
 tired of waiting, they were obliged to accept him. " Thereupon," says 
 the Captain of Inchkeith, " he put off his armour, and, after taking some 
 refreshment, knelt in front of the army, and in a loud voice prayed to God, 
 entreating Him in His mercy to protect the innocent, and in His justice 
 to overthrow the ruthless shedder of the innocent blood of their King."^ 
 
 Kirkaldy thought that change of plan displayed cowardice ; and, 
 heedless of the issue of the battle, he started off at the head of his 
 
 ^ Du Croc to the King, 17th June. — Prince ^ Account given by the Captain of Inchkeith. 
 
 Labanoff and Teulet. — Bibhothfeque Imp., Paris ; Teulet, II., 306. 
 
 " There is a sketch of it at the State Paper Anonymous letter of l6th June. — State Pap. 
 
 Office, Scot. Ser. Off., Scotland. 
 
i6o THE QUEEN SURRENDERS IN SPITE OF BOTHWELL, 1567. 
 
 cavalry, to intercept Bothwell's army on its way to Dunbar, and hem it 
 in between cross fires in the ravine. The Queen, seeing matters assume 
 a threatening aspect, sent for Kirkaldy ; for Bothwell, busy with his 
 duel, had seen nothing. When he saw the Laird of Grange draw near, 
 he would have killed him, had not the Queen interfered. He struggled 
 for a long time against her wish for peace, and stoutly disputed her 
 opinions. All was useless ; Mary was tired of war and sedition ; she 
 parted from the Duke, after promising to be ever true to him. That 
 was what the nobles wanted ; they would have been very much puzzled 
 if they had had to try Bothwell, who, after all, was perhaps not so guilty 
 as they themselves were.' 
 
 The victory was gained. Kirkaldy returned at once after in- 
 forming the nobles. Mary stretched out her hand to him, and said, 
 " Laird of Grange, I render myself unto you upon the same con- 
 ditions ye rehearsit unto me in the name of the lordis."^ Kirkaldy 
 kissed her hand, and taking her horse by the bridle, led his Sovereign 
 to the foot of the hill. Some lords seeing her coming, advanced to 
 meet her. " My lords," said the Queen to them, " I am come unto 
 you not out of any fear I had of my life, or yet doubting of the 
 victory if matters had gone to the worst ; but I abhor the shedding 
 of Christian blood, especially of those that are mine own subjects, 
 and will therefore yield unto, and be ruled hereafter by your counsels, 
 trusting you will respect me as your born Princess and Queen." ^ 
 " Madam," answered with great reverence the astute Morton, " heir is 
 the place zour Grace should be ; and we will honour, serve, and obey 
 zow, as ever the Nobilitie of this realme did ony of zour progenitors 
 ofbefoir."* 
 
 Those pacific words were drowned by horrible cries of " burn 
 the whore! burn the murderess !" On hearing those cries which the 
 most seditious could scarcely use even against the lowest of women, 
 Mary did not grow pale. " If it be the blood of your Princess, you 
 desire," said she to Morton, "take it; I am here to offer it, nor needs 
 there other means to seek to be revenged. "= Morton stood abashed. 
 He, the most violent of the confederates, found his audacity fail him, 
 but his pride soon got the /better of him, and he had the Queen 
 surrounded by a strong guard to prevent all escape. 
 
 1 Affaires du Comte de Boduel, 18, 19.— 3 Spottiswoode II. 62. Bishop Keith 402. 
 
 Blackwood, CEuvres, 579; Chalmers, I., 354. * Goodall, II. 165. 
 
 See Dissertation, II., iv. s Lord Scrope to Cecil, 17th June.— Miss 
 
 = Melville's Memoirs, 184. Strickland, III., 324. 
 
THE T5TH OF JUNE, 1567. 161 
 
 She was then treated with effrontery, cruel meanness and indecent 
 joy, to an extent which can scarce be told. Her march of sorrow 
 was beginning. When Mary passed along between the files of soldiers, 
 coarse epithets were showered on her. The standard representing 
 Darnley's death was carried before her ; she desired it to be removed ; 
 they stretched it out between two pikes that she might fully realise its 
 horrors. The minds of the soldiers had been so misled by slander, 
 that all made it their duty to insult her. The remembrance of the 
 frightful fate of her husband, the imprecation on the son, the gibes 
 and taunts of the brutal soldiers, and the treachery of the nobles, 
 weighed upon her mind, and plunged her into the depths of despair. 
 Amid that abuse she fainted, and had to be held upon her horse. The 
 most conflicting passions rent her soul ; her sadness changed to a 
 burst of anger, and then she could no longer bridle her tongue. If 
 she turned away her eyes from the horrible picture, the hootings of 
 the soldiers kept alive her woes. She was bathed in tears, and sobbed 
 piteously, yet the army betrayed no sympathy. She suddenly noticed 
 near her a friend of her youth, Patrick Lindsay ; but from him, 
 instead of kind words, she got only bitter reproofs." Crushed under 
 the blow, she wished to stop, but her horse was urged on, and she 
 was dragged away in spite of herself. 
 
 The insolence of her enemies grew with her weakness ; it soon 
 knew no bounds ; the soldiers left their ranks to insult her and rejoice 
 at her sad agony.' Kirkaldy could not stand by and see so much 
 ignominy heaped upon her. Casting his eyes upon the Queen, he 
 found her in so pitiable a state, that, heedless of his life, he drew his 
 sword and chastised the most insolent." 
 
 The sad procession went slowly forward. At length they reached 
 the gates of Edinburgh, where the Queen felt somewhat more 
 resigned, hoping to find at last some friends, some whose hearts 
 would beat in unison with hers, or at least some who would not harm 
 her. The feelings of the towns-people had changed, changed indeed. 
 The inhabitants crowded around to gloat over her wretchedness. The 
 enemies of the Queen had done so much to stifle pity, that the mob 
 looked upon such treatment of her as sport. The people thronged 
 
 1 " She was entertained with such scorn and not know what Knox was thinking about when 
 
 contempt, with such vile and opprobrious Ian- he wrote : " She was received with all respect." 
 
 guage from the soldiers, as is neither tolerable Knox v., 357. 
 
 nor fit to be mentioned." Memoirs of the * Memoirs of Kirkaldy, 176. 
 Stuarts, 157. Craufurd's Memoirs 25, 33. I do 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
i62 THE iSTH OF JUNE, 1567. 
 
 the streets, and with loud cries answered the wild laughter of the 
 soldiers. The scum of the horrible rabble which always comes 
 forward to jeer at the unfortunate one who is being led to the scaffold 
 or to prison, showed its delight by cries loud and long. The Queen's 
 friends had to be silent, or keep out of the way. There were present 
 only the insulters of the weak, and the unfeeling crowd who,. neither 
 sad nor joyful, saw their injured and scofifed-at Queen pass by, bent 
 down by woes and sufferings.' 
 
 The nobles had gained too much and done too much to draw 
 back. They had to fear the Queen's anger, and those who still 
 believed in her boundless clemency, dared not pronounce themselves, 
 lest the hatred of their more embittered companions should fall upon 
 them. They led Mary, not to Holyrood, as she expected, but to 
 the house of the Provost, one of their accomplices.^ It was ten 
 o'clock in the evening. The barbarous jailors drove away the women 
 who had courageously followed her so far, and then shut her up alone. 
 Supper was served soon after, but she ate none. The night may 
 easily be fancied : mournful ending of a day spent in alarm. The 
 darkness of night came after the brilliancy of day ; the silence of a 
 prison came after the insults of the rabble, and the Queen, left alone, 
 wearied, restless and unnerved, had not even the enjoyment so dear 
 to a woman, that of changing her raiment soiled by the dust of the 
 journey. Next day a raging fever set in. People gathered around 
 her prison with the dawn. Hearing their murmurs she rose without 
 heeding the disorder of her dress, appeared at the window and be- 
 sought pity. "Good people," she said in accents of agony, "good 
 people ! either satisfy your hatred and cruelty by taking my miserable 
 life, or relieve me from the hands of these inhuman and infamous 
 traitors ; " but suddenly, getting a sight of the horrifying flag which 
 had so unnerved her the day before, she shrieked and disappeared. 
 The people thought she had fainted. They could not but sympathise 
 with such despair ; deep and bitter cries of sorrow filled the air.^ 
 
 1 The disorder was so great that the French High Street, not far from the house of Mary 
 
 ambassador wrote two days afterwards : " Je of Guise. 
 
 prie Dieu qu'il conseille ce pauvre royaume ^ John Beaton to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 
 
 qui est aujourd'hui le plus afflig^ et tourmentd Malcolm Laing II. 107, sq. Tytler III. 255, 
 
 que ce soit soubs le ciel ; car tout en est au 257. Miss Strickland III. xxxv. Buchanan 
 
 plus grand d^sordre qui sauroyt se dire." xviii. 47-49. The ambassador du Croc 
 
 Prince Labanoff, VII. 124. in vain asked to see her. He was told that 
 
 ^ Blackwood. CEuvres completes, 570 — Her- " elle tenoit des langages estranges." Prince 
 
 rera 89— Memoirs of Kirkaldy 166-177. This Labanoff VII. 123. Heasked again at the end 
 
 house now destroyed, I beheve, was in the of June with no better success. Teulet II. 325. 
 
TROUBLES AND SEDITION, 1567. 163 
 
 Those sympathetic wails did not bring the Queen's release, and it 
 could not, without danger, have been sought for by any one, save 
 by du Croc, who, led astray by Lethington, believed Mary to be 
 guilty, and one who ought to be guarded against. He therefore would 
 not seek her release. He was vexed by the turmoil of the day before, 
 and believed the Queen's enemies, when they said that she herself had 
 caused the tumult.' 
 
 The complaints of the people turned into cries of rage when they 
 saw their demands unheeded. Now Mary would have been free, 
 if her good faith had not again misled her. Yet she had no lack 
 of trials. After murdering her secretary, the nobles killed her 
 husband, and were now keeping her in their power. While treating 
 her most severely, they, with satanic skill, made" her believe that she 
 was a Queen and a Sovereign, that they acted thus, only to keep 
 her from visiting them with deserved punishment, and that, in other 
 respects, they were entirely devoted to her. Mary believed it, and 
 ordered the people to keep qaiet.'" 
 
 At about nine o'clock in the evening, the Queen was marched from 
 the house of the Provost to the palace of her fathers. Two files of 
 soldiers served her as an escort, and the standard which had so shocked 
 her, was borne in front. She walked between Morton and Athole ; 
 Mary Seton and Mary Livingston, the companions of her childhood, 
 followed her step by step, despite the efforts made to part them. In 
 the Canongate the noble victim was assailed by a storm of insults. A 
 crowd of low women cheered at her misfortune, and called her by the 
 name best fitted for themselves, crying: "Burn her! Drown her!" 
 and the gentle Mary, more self-possessed than on the previous day, 
 answered them with these words only : " I am innocent ; I have done 
 nothing worthy of blame ; I am your native Sovereign ; you are 
 deceived by false traitors. Good Christian people, either take my 
 
 1 Du Croc to the Queen-mother, 17th June. Wiesener has showed in his beautiful book on 
 
 Teulet II. 309. The same Lethington swore Mary Stuart, 427-431. 
 
 to him, " by his God, that until then they had ^ " The honester sort among the citizens, 
 
 no understanding with the Queen of England," stung with remorse and pity, crowded to the 
 
 ibidem. That might be believed if there were place, and had certainly set her at liberty, if the 
 
 not in the State Paper Office two letters conspirators who knew the honest temper of 
 
 from him, and several from his friends the Queen, had not immediately run up stairs 
 
 addressed to Cecil in June 1 567. Du Croc to the room where she stood, and with a well 
 
 said of Mary Stuart : " the unfortunate feigned grief, protested they were heartily 
 
 facts are too well proved." What is clearly sorry they had given her any cause of com- 
 
 proved is, that the French ambassador plaint." Craufurd's Memoirs, 33. History of 
 
 was duped by more cunning men, as M. James the Sext, 13. M. Wiesener, 416. 
 
i64 TROUBLES AND SEDITION, 1567. 
 
 life, or free me from their cruelty."' In truth, a great grief lay upon 
 her countenance, but that sadnessV^as overcome by a still greater 
 resignation. On her arrival at the palace, she was as much a 
 prisoner, as she had been at the Provost's^xHope revived ; the words 
 which Lethington had spoken to her had reassured her, and she 
 believed herself again free. She was no longer so ; Holyrood was but 
 one of the stations on her way to Lochleven, and her enemies had 
 already cleared away all obstacles : all was decided. 
 
 The evening after the Queen's arrest, they had met, and, as at 
 Ainslie's tavern, conspired. By common consent, they drew out a 
 fraudulent manifesto, under the name of bond of concurrence, in which 
 they deplored, as they had already done five days before, the king's 
 murder, the ignominy which it reflected upon Scotland, the ridiculous 
 proceedings which had taken place for the acquittal of Bothwell, his 
 boldness towards the Queen, his design of carrying away the young 
 Prince, and of treating him as he had treated the father, etc. ; they 
 pledged themselves on their life, honour and goods, to set matters 
 right, to break the marriage contracted illegally, to raise their sovereign 
 from the thraldom, bondage and ignominy, which she was suffering at 
 the hands of Bothwell, and to place the child's person in safe keeping.'' 
 That respectful language is in deep contrast with the conduct of 
 the nobles at the same period, and one is naturally led to seek the 
 reason of it. Another documetnt, drawn out on the same evening, and 
 intended to be kept secret, throws aside the curtain, and shows the 
 inmost thoughts of the rebels in the proper light : " The Lords," they 
 say, " had oppinnit and declarit unto hir hienes hir awin estait and 
 condicioun, and the miserable estait of this realme, with the danger 
 that hir dearest sone the prince stude in ; requirand that she wold 
 suffer and command the said murther, and authoris therof to be punist, 
 fand in hir Majestie sic untowardness and repugnance thairto, that 
 rather she apperit to fortefie and mantene the said erll Boithuile and 
 his complices in the saidis wickit crymes, nor to suffer justice pas 
 forwart ; quhairthrow gif hir Hienes should be left in that state 
 to follow hir awin inordinat passion it wold not faill to succeid to the 
 final confusioun of the halll realme ; sua that efter mature consultation 
 be commoun advyse it is thocht convenient, concludit and decernit .that 
 hir Majesties persoun be sequestrat fra all societie of the said= erll 
 Boithuile, and fra all having of intelligence with him or ony utheris 
 
 • Drury to Cecil, Miss Strickland, III., 332. 
 '^ Bishop Keith, 404-406. 
 
MARY AT LOCHLEVEN, 1567. 165 
 
 quhairby he may have ony comfort to eschaip dew punishment for his 
 demeritis, and finding na place mair meitt nor commodious for hir 
 Majestie to remane into nor the hous and place of Lochlevin ; ordanis, 
 commandis and chargeis Patrick Lord Lindsay of the Byris, Williame 
 Lord Ruthven and William Douglas of Lochlevin, to pas and convoy 
 hir Majestie to the said place of Lochlevin, and the said Lard 
 to ressave her thairin, and thair thay and every ane of thame to 
 keip hir Majestie suirlie within the said place, and on na wyse to 
 suffer hir pass furth of the same, or to have intelligence fra ony maner 
 of personis, or yit to send advertismentis or direct hir intelligence with 
 ony levand personis except in ther awin presence and audience, or be 
 the commandiment and directioun of the Lordis undersubscrivand or 
 ane part of thame, representing the Counsall at Edinburgh or uther- 
 wise quhair thai sail resort for the tyme, as thai will ansuer to God, 
 and upon thair dewitie to the commoun weill of this countrie ; kepand 
 thir presentis for thair warrant."' 
 
 On the night of the i6th-i7th of June, when Mary, wearied out 
 by suffering and weeping had at length fallen asleep, Ruthven and 
 Lindsay entered the room where she was seeking rest, and forced her 
 to rise. The Queen knew not what those two deputies of the nobility 
 wanted with her ; she knew neither whither she was going, nor what 
 would become of her. She was not given time to ask. Scarcely 
 awake, a cloak was thrown over the short dress which she had just put 
 on, and they forcibly dragged her out of the room."" Mary found a 
 number of persons at the foot of the staircase ; she was seated on 
 horseback, and not told why,^ and the procession wended its way 
 towards the banks of the Forth. A boat awaited her ; she crossed, 
 and soon after was in sight of Lochleven Castle. 
 
 That castle, since a place of great interest, stands on a small island in 
 Loch Leven. It is a high square building, now a ruin, the appearance of 
 which is the more gloomy, as nature around is more smiling. Mary 
 looked upon it with dread ; she, nevertheless, strove to master her 
 feelings, and seemed to be resigned. She was placed in the dreariest 
 part of that dull castle, and the heavy doors were closed upon her. 
 
 1 Act for sequestrating the Q. Mt'^'s person, value for Queen Mary's justification. See 
 
 Registrum honoris de Morton, I., 26, 24-26, Proofs, V. 
 and app. in the second volume of Malcolm '' Caussin, Jebb II., 64. 
 
 Laing. The signers are nine in number, five ' " lis la montent sur une vieille haridelle 
 
 of whom had signed the Ainslie bond. The qu'ils auoient trouue paissant dans un pre." — 
 
 bringing together of those facts is of great Blackwood, CEuvres Comp., 570. 
 
i156 CONDUCT OF MARY'S ENEMIES, 1567. 
 
 Unhappy Princess, there she was to spend almost a year in solitude. 
 Her keeper was a woman of debauched habits and extravagant pride, 
 and one fond of cruel boasting, who happened to be soured by family 
 affairs. As Moray's mother, and a relative of Morton, that wicked 
 woman was still more closely bound to them, by her love of intrigue. 
 She received the royal prisoner with a fierce joy, and made up her 
 mind to wound her feelings, and make her sorry she had ever worn a 
 crown. Very soon she told her that Moray, her son, was the 
 legitimate heir of James V., that Mary of Guise was a courtezan, and 
 that her daughter had usurped the rights of blood. " Madam," 
 replied Mary Stuart, calmly, " Lord James is too honest to say 
 so himself."' 
 
 While those things were going on, Holyrood was sacked. The 
 jewels and plate, and the rare and precious objects which Mary had, 
 were stolen ; the chapel was profanely robbed, and the whole house 
 pillaged. Scenes of vandalism came close upon scenes of cruelty ; the 
 nobles ravaged the palace of their broken-hearted Queen. Those 
 fierce and blood-thirsty ruffians sought a change in greed and plunder, 
 and Kirkaldy, grieved at those disorders, began to regret that the 
 Queen had surrendered.^ 
 
 1 Craufurd's Memoirs, 42. Vili palla gloriando se legitimam fuisse Jacobi V., 
 
 amictam in Carcerem ad Locum Levinum uxorem, filiumque Moravium prolem esse 
 
 contruserunt, sub custodia matris Moravii ; legitimam. Camden Hist., I., 113. Sander- 
 
 quae Jacobi quinti pellex incarceratse Reginas son's History, 50. 
 
 calamitatem petulantissime insectata est, ^ Kirkaldy's Memoirs, 181-183. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1567- 
 
 MARY AT LOCHLEVEN — HER WRETCHEDNESS — THE AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE DENIED ACCESS 
 TO HER — THE QUEEN'S FRIENDS AT HAMILTON — THE AMBASSADORS OF FRANCE AND 
 ENGLAND IN SCOTLAND — LETHINGTON'S FALSEHOODS — EMBARRASSMENT OF AFFAIRS — 
 INTRIGUING OF THE SCOTS AND ENGLISH — THE QUEEN FORCED TO ABDICATE — LETH- 
 INGTON'S DOUBLE-DEALING — ANGER OF ELIZABETH — BEHAVIOUR OF THE HAMILTONS. 
 
 ly /TARY was now entering on a life new to her. Plunged so deeply 
 -^*-L as she was in grief, that unfortunate Queen little thought that any- 
 one would be cruel enough further to wring her heart. She hoped the 
 walls of Lochleven Castle would shield her from insult, and that the nobles, 
 fearing and wishing nothing further, would let her pass the days of her 
 captivity in peace. But no ; every one in the prison was against her. 
 While her keeper taunted her, the nobles thought of strangling her. 
 They talked of tying her by the neck to her bed-post, and telling the 
 people that in despair she had taken her own life.' Several of the 
 nobles would not have that ; they were cowardly enough to ill-treat 
 their Queen, but not ruthless enough, or rather, too careful, to do 
 such a deed. Besides, they saw they were forsaken. The people, 
 bewildered for a moment by slanders, had naturally enough given full 
 vent to their rage ; but having cooled down after the slander was 
 proved false, they stopped short, and daily more and more regretted 
 that they had treated her so badly. The patience of the victim, the 
 outrages heaped upon her, her swoonings, the terrible night at the 
 Provost's, and the anguish of the morning, all those the people remem- 
 bered when too late, and, ashamed of themselves, cast the disgrace 
 thereof upon the nobles.'' 
 
 ^ " Les principaux autheurs de ceste trahi- people was extreme, and that the nobles were 
 
 son, parens et alliez de Mourray, qui tendoient disposed " to use all severitye to the Quene.'' 
 
 k le faire Roy, estoient d'aduis de la faire On the 20th, "the Quene is in great danger by 
 
 estrangler aux quenouiUes de son lict, et faire reason of the great rage and furye of the 
 
 courir le bruict qu'elle s'estoit pendue de ses people against her." On the 31st, that he had 
 
 propres mains, de peur qu'elle auoit d'estre " preservyd hyr lyffe," but that " the contynu- 
 
 deffaite par iustice, son parricide ayant est^ ance is uncertayne." — Stevenson's Illustrations 
 
 decouuert." — Blackwood, Martyre de Marie and State Pap. Off. 
 
 Stuart, 570, 571. On the i8th July, Throck- " Herries' Memoirs, 96. 
 morton wrote to Cecil that the fury of the 
 
i68 FRENCH AMBASSADOR REFUSED ACCESS TO THE QUEEN, 1567. 
 
 But matters were taking a fresh aspect, and by one of those changes 
 not uncommon in the world, Morton and his friends were seized with 
 fright. The voice of the people was making itself heard, and they 
 could no longer hush it : proud of themselves one day, and pointed at 
 by the finger of scorn the next, they feared the people's hatred which 
 they had themselves roused. 
 
 Those of the nobles still faithful to the Queen had met at 
 Hamilton ; ' the guilty lords sent letters showing a strong wish for 
 peace, begging them to come and try to fix on a settled and sure form 
 of Government. The former refused, and were also in vain asked to 
 sit at the General Assembly of the Reformed Church. Unfortunately 
 those well-meaning men gained nothing ; for instead of taking advan- 
 tage of Morton's terror and rousing the people in favour of the Queen, 
 they lost their time in idle schemes and needless talk. It was not the 
 time for talk ; earnestness in doing and union of party were wanted ; 
 they had neither the one nor the other, and the Archbishop of St 
 Andrews, their head, was not at all fitted to lead a faction. 
 
 The rebels, profiting by that indecision, made good their power. 
 On the 17th, under pretext of avenging the King, they seized 
 the unfortunate Blacater," and quietly put to death Captain Cullen, 
 whom they feared to trust ; on the 20th of May they arrested Both- 
 well's valet, George Dalgleish, who never again gained his freedom. 
 The castle of Edinburgh favoured them, and proud of that support, 
 they, as true and lawful sovereigns, looked after the affairs of the 
 kingdom. 3 
 
 After deceiving du Croc, and refusing Villeroi, who had been sent by 
 Catherine de Medicis, leave to see the prisoner,* they sought help from 
 the English. Elizabeth knew not what to do ; to help the rebels was 
 to acknowledge their right to dispose of crowns as they willed ; 
 to withhold her help was to have nothing to do with their alliance. 
 Ambition and the thirst for honour clashed, and, if hatred of 
 
 ' Prince Labanofif, VII., 128. le capitaine d'icell^ a toujours bougd de concert 
 
 ^ He was hanged and quartered on the 24th: auec les aultres, qui est un vray traitre nom- 
 
 " Befoir his death he confessit and grantit that md Balfour." Du Croc to the King, 30th June, 
 
 he was newer airt nor pairt of that slauchter, — Labanoff, VII., 128. 
 
 as he wold ansuer to the eternall God on the ■* Villeroi had orders to tell du Croc that 
 
 day of judgement."— Diurnal of Occur., 116; the King was willing to aid the Queen of 
 
 Craufurd's Memoirs, 35 ; Merries' Memoirs, 84; Scots, provided the interests of France should 
 
 Chalmers, I., 362. lose nothing thereby.— Teulet, II., 322 ; Sup- 
 
 3 "lis tiennent ceste ville et le chasteau," pl^m. au Prince Labanoff, 132. He deserved 
 
 writes du Croc, "qui avoit tousjours dormi to lose all, and lost all.— Teulet, II., 325; 
 
 jusqu'a ceste heure. Mais, depuis deux jours, Birrel's Diarey, 10. 
 
THROCKMORTON IN SCOTLAND, 1567. 169 
 
 Mary made the daughter of the Tudors lean towards Morton, the 
 dread of setting an example which might prove fatal to herself, kept 
 her from openly stating her mind. She not only felt herself becoming 
 greater by the downfall of her rival, but also rejoiced with a secret 
 pride in the part which she was called upon to play. Her minister, 
 Cecil, encouraged that thought, thereby helping the Scottish rebels, and 
 by supporting their policy, had been, for a long time, bringing about the 
 dethronement of the Queen of Scots.' Melville, secretly gained over 
 to England, made himself the go-between of the two parties, and 
 tried to serve his new policy, He paid a visit to his old mistress 
 whom he was shamefully betraying ; but he was allowed to speak to 
 her only in presence of Ruthven, Lindsay, and William Douglas, and 
 the interview, as one may imagine, was of no consequence. Some 
 time after the nobles, probably thinking that Mary might speak openly 
 and reveal to him her innermost thoughts, allowed him to see her a 
 second time, and that time without witnesses. Mary was reserved, and 
 merely asked clothes for herself and her ladies.'' 
 
 Soon after there arrived in Scotland a much more important 
 personage, the grave Throckmorton. He came from England with 
 proposals of peace. His instructions were numerous, and were 
 addressed to the Queen and to the nobles. To the Queen he was to 
 say that her shameful conduct had brought about a deserved punish- 
 ment, but that Elizabeth, touched by her misfortunes, wished to secure 
 her release, and see her out of the hands of her rebellious subjects ; 
 nay more, that she would use her influence, and even her power, to set 
 her free and raise her again to her throne ; in short, that she prayed 
 her good sister to banish all thought of revenge, and provide only for 
 her freedom, the punishment of the King's murderers, and the safety of 
 the young Prince.^ 
 
 He had orders to tell the rebel nobles, that notwithstanding Mary's 
 faults, their behaviour was strange, unjust and scandalous ; that sub- 
 jects have no right to lay hands on the person of a sovereign ; that 
 prayers, counsels and remonstrances were the only means which they 
 might use ; that public order required it to be so ; that Elizabeth 
 was determined they should set the Queen free; that she pro- 
 mised them assistance to form anew the Government, to punish 
 the murderers and make safe the freedom of the Prince, and that 
 
 1 M. Wiesener, Marie Stuart et le Comte de " Miss Strickland, III., 352. 
 BothweU, 436 sq. ' Bishop Keith, 41 1-414. 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
I70 THROCKMORTON IN SCOTLAND, 1567. 
 
 under the present circumstances they ought to hasten to carry out her 
 wishes." 
 
 The nobles were puzzled by those counsels of an imperious Queen, who 
 until that time had been their mainstay. They had resolved to treat their 
 fallen Queen with severity, little dreaming that any one, especially Eliza- 
 beth, would interfere. They dreaded, moreover, to let Throckmorton see 
 the captive, lest evil might fall upon them. The condition imposed on 
 any one speaking to the Queen, was that the interview should be in 
 presence of Lindsay and Ruthven, but such a condition could not be 
 imposed upon an ambassador. They saw that clearly themselves, and 
 had little doubt that their conduct would bring upon them the 
 displeasure of the neighbouring governments ; but by their lying 
 and sinful policy, they had put themselves in such a position that they 
 could give no one leave to speak to Mary in private, without running 
 the risk of having their crimes brought to light. They, therefore, 
 found it necessary to raise obstacles to keep the truth from being 
 known ; and, staking their influence and reputation, they chose 
 to pass for proud and haughty men, rather than be thought 
 traitors. Mary, too, in a private interview would certainly 
 have called forth pity; her misfortunes, her beauty, the indignities 
 which she had undergone, and of which Throckmorton was probably 
 entirely ignorant, must have influenced the English envoy. After 
 carefully considering all things, and remembering that they might go on 
 coining falsehoods at their will, they thought that to keep the Queen shut 
 up within the walls of Lochleven Castle, was better than to grant an inter- 
 view from which only annoyance could come : the permission was refused. 
 Edinburgh was becoming alarmed ; a public fast had been ordered 
 for the purpose of supplicating Heaven's Mercies on the New Govern- 
 ment,'' the alarm growing as the week passed on. Knox inflamed the 
 fanaticism of men naturally cruel. Throckmorton tried, but to no 
 purpose, to keep him quiet. Resting upon the Bible on which he 
 commented, after his own fashion, he chose the most terrible examples 
 to frighten and startle men, and to kindle sedition. His forcible lan- 
 guage always told upon the rioters who listened to him, and the nobles, 
 already too much enraged against the Queen, concealed their private 
 interests, and feigned to work zealously for religion. When the public 
 mind is in such a state, mischief is to be dreaded. ^ 
 
 1 Bishop Keith, 414, 415. Robertson's app., 19th July. Bishop Keith, 
 
 8 Birrel's Diarey, 11. 420 sq., and 21st July. Stevenson's lUustra- 
 
 " Throckmorton to EUzabeth, i8th July. tions, 240. 
 
LETHINGTON'S FALSEHOODS, 1567. 171 
 
 The Queen's friends dared hardly think of her ; terror paralysed 
 them. Throckmorton was no longer listened to, and the men partial to 
 the captive Princess, were, without knowing it, infected by the madness 
 of the over-excited. 
 
 Banded together to ruin their Sovereign, the lords disagreed only 
 on the way of carrying out their plan. Some of them, by nature 
 prudent, asked for her freedom, and wanted for her a power over 
 which they should retain a control ; others would have her banished 
 from the kingdom : those were the moderate parties. Against those 
 arose two other parties not less ambitious but more cruel : the first 
 wanted a trial and imprisonment for life, the second, death.' 
 
 One cannot help noticing how much ideas had changed since the 
 appearance of Protestantism. The new creed showed in its demands, a 
 thoroughly revolutionary spirit. Subjects, because Protestants,^ set 
 themselves up as judges of the government. Mary Stuart was the 
 first victim ; she escaped on account of the boldness and novelty of the 
 proposal ; her grandson, Charles the First was not so fortunate. When 
 people have killed priests and overturned altars, they respect neither 
 kings nor thrones ; all authority vanishes, and things happen which 
 call for serious thought. 
 
 While the nobles sought to render glory to God by fasting and 
 praying, the English envoy stood aloof, as he knew not to whom to 
 speak. With much difficulty he managed to see Morton on the 20th of 
 July, but got from him no other reply than that the whole day being 
 devoted to communion, sermons and public prayer, nobody had any 
 time to think of him ; to which the haughty Lord added that he would 
 shortly send him his opinion.^ 
 
 The same night, at eleven o'clock, Lethington came to Throck- 
 morton mysteriously, and brought a document justifying the nobles, 
 and explaining their conduct and the motives which had guided them. 
 In that document — a base tissue of barefaced falsehoods against Mary 
 Stuart, and of the coarsest flattery towards the Queen of England — 
 Lethington had used all his power of deceit. He, who on the i6th 
 had said to du Croc that he had no relations with England, pompously 
 thanks Elizabeth ; he, who had had a hand in all conspiracies, and who 
 
 1 Throckmorton to Elizabeth 19th July, sought. Marie Stuart et le Comte de Both- 
 Bishop Keith, 420, 421. well, 446. 
 
 2 The learned critic, M. Wiesener, has ' Stevenson's Illustrations, 237, 238 ; Bishop 
 clearly shown by comparisons that it was in the Keith, pref. xi. 
 
 name of religion that Mary Stuart's life was 
 
172 INTRIGUING OF THE SCOTS AND ENGLISH, 1567. 
 
 had directed the blows which had been dealt, now laments over the 
 King's fate. After seconding Bothwell, and selling the Queen to him, 
 he shouts rape and adultery, and boasts of the insurrection and the means 
 taken to free the Queen from the hands of the ravisher.'^ But in 
 presence of the deeds done on the 15th, i6th, and 17th, it is not 
 enough to say that no fault was found with the Queen ; the facts speak 
 out too plainly; then the author changes his tone and sentiments. 
 Heedless of his former statement, he no longer cries aloud about the 
 rape or the violence done to the Queen ; he affirms that Mary is pas- 
 sionately fond of Bothwell, and that, if she were free, she would soon, 
 to please him, ruin the kingdom, the nobility and her child. That is 
 why the nobles, in what they have done and are to do, have kept and 
 will keep in view only the " necessitie of the cause." 
 
 Throckmorton had until then kept silent, the better to hear what 
 Lethington was reading to him. When the English ambassador heard 
 of the "necessitie of the cause," he was struck by the words, and asked the 
 meaning of them. Lethington, shaking his head, made him no other 
 answer than, "You are a fox!"° From that day Throckmorton re- 
 mained persuaded that they intended not only to rob Mary of her 
 throne, but also, in case of need, to rob her of life.^ 
 
 On the 24th of July the nobles at length gave a solemn audience to 
 Throckmorton. They received him at the Tolbooth, and asked him 
 the object of his mission, although they already knew all about it. In 
 the evening they sent him a written reply, of which the following are 
 the main points : 
 
 " Her Majesty the Queen of England has charged you chiefly with 
 two things : to show her Highness our Queen that her conduct has 
 been unbecoming and unseemly, and to console her thereafter for the 
 grief which that declaration may cause her. We are not so inhumane 
 that we would wish her Majesty to lack comfort ; yet does the present 
 estate require that good consideration be had how, after what sort, and 
 by whom she be comforted . . . We know with what prudence and 
 what discretion you could fulfil that duty. Only, as she might attribute 
 great importance to your least words, we take it upon ourselves to give 
 her consolations and wise counsels, persuaded as we are that God will 
 touch her heart. If our efforts are crowned with success, as we hope 
 
 " T -' ■ 
 ' Bishop Keith, 417, sq. renard !'" Throckmortoii to Elizabeth, 21st 
 
 ^ " He made me no other aunswer, but July. — Stevenson's Illustrations, 240. 
 shaky nge hys heade, said, ' Vous etes ung ^ M. Wiesener, Marie Stuart et le Comte de 
 
 Bothwell, 455. 
 
THE QUEEN'S ABDICATION, 1567. 173 
 
 they may be, it shall be the better for her Highness and for us all, and, 
 we doubt not, the most satisfactory for the Queen, your mistress." ' 
 
 While Lethington and Throckmorton were busy planning how to 
 console the Queen, ruffians were wringing a confession from her, to 
 hurl her from the throne. That day, the 24th, is one of the most 
 notable among the unlucky days of those luckless times. Robert 
 Melville first spoke to the Queen of abdicating. He used gentleness 
 and craft, spoke to her at great length of the nobles' devotedness to 
 her, and of their attachment to her person, as if the Queen had not 
 long known all about it. He gave her from them a ring set with a 
 turquoise, and threatened their anger if she did not yield to their 
 wishes. That ungrateful servant had imagined that the Queen would 
 easily give in to his fine words, and sign her abdication. As Melville 
 got no answer from her, he handed her a letter from Throckmorton, in 
 conformity with his (Melville's) views, and believed his negotiation 
 ended when the Queen, with a fixed look, said to him, " I had rather 
 die than forsake the throne." '' Mary, by giving her signature, would 
 have thought she was falling short of her duty, and that she was be- 
 traying her people and son to the profit of some ambitious men. 
 
 Just as she was refusing Melville's entreaties, Lindsay entered 
 noisily, threw some papers on the table, and, after many insults, de- 
 manded her signature. " You shall have my life," replied the captive, 
 " never my signature." Lindsay was not a man to delay. Being of a 
 brutal and unfeeling nature, he was fond of blood, and delighted in 
 scenes of violence. Save in cunning, of which he had none, he was, 
 in himself alone, the exact personification of his party. His fierceness 
 made him of value to a party, and was the sole reason of his import- 
 ance ; while the others plotted, he and a few others of the same bent, 
 without foreseeing or fearing the consequences, did the crimes ; he had, 
 besides, a hideous face. While Mary was giving her reasons for re- 
 fusal, he changed countenance, and several times tried to interrupt her. 
 When she had done, he exclaimed, with an oath, that he would have 
 her signature whether she would or not, or that he would sign the 
 deeds with her blood, and then throw her into the lake to feed the fish. 
 He seasoned his language with fearful oaths which left no doubt as to 
 his purpose. 
 
 Mary could choose only between death and abdication. In her 
 
 ^ The lords' second answer. Bishop Keith, would sooner renounce her life than her crown.'' 
 427. — Spottiswoode, II., 67. 
 
 * " The Queen answering in passion that she 
 
174 THE QUEEN'S ABDICATION, 1567 
 
 distress she melted into tears ; Lindsay did not leave her time to 
 dry them up ; he forced her to sign the papers as he placed them before 
 her. The poor Queen consented reluctantly, while protesting that the 
 signature, wrung from her by threats, could not be held binding.' 
 
 The documents which Mary had signed were three in number. In 
 the first, the Queen was reputed to have said that, crushed under the 
 weight of an agitated reign, she sought rest ; that, lest her son might 
 meet with obstacles to his accession, she wished him to be crowned, 
 during her lifetime ; that she freely, and of her own accord, abdicated 
 in his favour, a thing most agreeable to a mother's heart. Then 
 followed the names of the persons who were charged with those 
 measures. 
 
 The second document was partly a repetition of the first ; but the 
 Queen, thinking of the wants of the young Prince, had chosen a man of 
 great merit, and of boundless devotedness and affection, to be the guardian 
 of the Prince, and Regent of the kingdom during the minority of the 
 heir to the throne. That noble man was Moray. 
 
 The third settled the Council of the Regency in case Moray should 
 refuse to be Regent, or happen to die.^ 
 
 Lindsay had obtained the Queen's signature, and one thing alone 
 was now needed to make the documents valid : that they should bear 
 the seal of the crown. That operation had at first been thought an 
 easy matter ; but many difficulties beset the way through the energy of 
 Thomas Sinclair, keeper of the seals. The Privy Council, to get his 
 
 ^ Blackwood CEuvres Completes, 572-574 ; " le plaisir de la Royne pour la bonne amour 
 
 Teulet, Ndgociations, III., no, in; Whitaker, et endure affection qu'elle porte k la Majeste 
 
 I., V. I. "Terrified and overcome with du Roy, son filz." — Articles accord^s entre le 
 
 fear ... she put her hand without ever read- Regent et la Noblesse ; Teulet, II., 330. And 
 
 ing the thing, or hearing it red."— Herries' the courtier Melville, one of the most treacher- 
 
 Memoirs, 97. "Amongest other imperfections ous enemies of the Queen of Scots, distorting 
 
 in theys procedynges, thys is not the leaste, the facts, according to his wont, merely says : 
 
 that the Queue of Scotlande has accorded and " The Quenis Maiestie vtterly refused till folow 
 
 signed theys instrumentes and condycyons, ther aduyse (to abdicate) therintill."— Melville's 
 
 she being in captyvytie ; and therefore it is to Memoirs, 189. But Mary, on the nth March 
 
 be feared, but for theys and other respectes, 1570, wrote to the Countess of Mar : " Et puis 
 
 i/te tragydie wyll ende in the person of the en conscience vous sgavez bien que ce que je 
 
 Quene violentlye, as yt began in Dayves fis fut par force." — Revue des Questions His- 
 
 (Riccio) and her husbandes" — Throckmorton toriques. III., 473. And in the month of June 
 
 to Leicester, 26th July, Stevenson's Illustra- of the same year she speaks to the same per- 
 
 tions, 253, and the same to Cecil, 255, and son of her "ddmission forcde en prison."— 
 
 Walter Mildmay to Cecil, 4th August, 264 ; Ibidem, 476. 
 
 Diurnal of Occur., 118. Those odious ^ The three acts are inserted in Bishop 
 
 ruffians, after having extorted the abdication, Keith, 430-433, and in the Life of Queen Mary, 
 
 had yet the courage to affirm that such was by Samuel Jebb, 126-140. 
 
LETHINGTON'S DOUBLE-DEALING, 1567. 175 
 
 consent, was obliged to show a deed signed by Mary ordering him to set 
 the seal on the Lochleven papers. In reality Mary had signed only 
 three documents, but her name had been forged to another, with the 
 object of obtaining the seals from the keeper. Whether it was that the 
 fraud was clear, or that the doings of the nobles were known to him, 
 Sinclair absolutely refused ; he bore the threats of the Council, and with 
 a noble intrepidity braved Lindsay's fury. " No," said he ; "as long as 
 the Queen's Majesty is in ward, I will seal no such letters." Lindsay, 
 incensed by such a reply, seized the seal, and, grasping Sinclair by the 
 arm, he forced him to impress it. Like his mistress, the victim of a 
 wild brutality, iie, also, protested, and declared worthless the documents 
 upon which they forced him to put the Queen's seal.' 
 
 Lindsay's part was over ; Lethington was going to take again 
 the reins of affairs on a new plan, and turn them skilfully and smoothly 
 to the profit of his party. In an interview, he uttered a tissue of lies 
 to the English ambassador, who had until then been spurned. " My 
 Lordes," said he to him, " have wylled me to declare unto you what yt 
 hathe pleased the Quene my Soveraigne to conclude on for the state of 
 thys realme, upon her owne voluntarye advyse. That is to say, fynd- 
 inge herself, both in helthe unmeete to take the care and governaunce of 
 this realme, and also unfortunate in thadministracyon thereof, beinge 
 verye desyrous to see her sonne the yonge Prynce setled in her seate in 
 her lyffe tyme, hath commaunded them under her hande wrytinge to 
 precede to the coronation of her sonne, as a thynge that she shall take 
 mooste pleasure to see." He added, that in conformity with the Queen's 
 wish, " they entended presentlye to goe to Stirling to the inauguracyon 
 of the yonge Prince," and that they " desyred him at which solemnytie 
 as the ambassador of England." '^ 
 
 Throckmorton had had too many dealings with the conspirators to 
 allow himself to be taken in by them ; he would not sanction by his pre- 
 sence acts so illegal, and refused to take part in the triumph of violence 
 over right.3 The letters which he received from London showed him 
 the wisdom of his conduct. His mistress could not learn without 
 anger that leave to see Mary had been refused to her representative. 
 When she learned that the Scottish lords were preparing to change 
 their government without consulting her, she wrote to Throckmorton : 
 
 1 Miss Strickland, III., 370. Thomas Sin- ^ Throckmorton to EUz., July 26. — Steven- 
 
 clair's written Protest was, found in 1817 by son's lUust. 250. 
 
 the learned John Riddell, of the Faculty of ' Id., Ibid., 251. 
 Advocates. 
 
176 ANGER OF ELIZABETH, 1567. 
 
 "You shall plainly declare unto -them that if they shall determine any- 
 thing to the deprivation of the Queen their sovereign Lady of her royal 
 estate, we are well assured of our own determination, and we have some 
 just and probable cause to think the like of other Princes of Christendom, 
 that we will make ourselves a plain party against them, to the revenge 
 of their Sovereign, for example to all posterity . . . They have no 
 warrant nor authority by the law of God or man, and yet can find out 
 for their purpose some examples, as we hear be seditious ballads they 
 put in print, they would pretend ; we must justly account those examples 
 to be unlawful, and acts of rebellion ; and so, if the stories be well 
 weighed, the success will prove them. You shall say that this may 
 suffice to such as do pretend to be carried in their actions by authority 
 either of Religion or of Justice. And as to others that for particular 
 respect look only to their own surety, it were well done, before they 
 proceeded any further, they did well consider how to stay where they 
 be, and to devise how to make surety of their doings already past, than 
 to increase their peril by more dangerous doings to follow . . . You 
 may assure them we so detest and abhor the murder committed upon 
 our cousin their King, and mislike as much as any of them the marriage 
 of the Queen our Sister with Bothwell. But herein we dissent from 
 them, that we think it not unlawful nor tolerable for them, being by 
 God's ordinance subjects, to call her, who also by God's ordinance is 
 their superior and Prince, to answer to their accusations by way of force ; 
 for we do not think it consonant in nature the head should be subject 
 to the foot.' " 
 
 That haughty language, as of a master to his servant, shows the 
 attitude which Elizabeth would have assumed had she at any time 
 met as many enemies as the Queen of Scots found upon her path ; 
 but they were merely threats ; the Queen of England carried out 
 none of them. The nobles, for a moment checked, vigorously pursued 
 their old course, and things went on as they wished. The confederates 
 were victorious ; the Queen's friends lost courage ; discord was among 
 them ; personal interest outweighed public interest ; and they neglected 
 the affairs of the kingdom to save their own, which they believed to 
 be in danger. The Hamiltons, for instance, most zealous for their 
 Queen still cherished the hope of releasing her and raising her 
 party before the other had triumphed and rallied round the young 
 King ; but that vain hope served only to lull them to sleep and play 
 
 ' Eliz. to Throckmorton, July 27. — Bishop Keith, 429. 
 
BEHAVIOUR OF THE HAMILTONS, 1567. 177 
 
 them false ; that they felt for their Sovereign they thought enough ; 
 they vainly hoped for some one to take the lead, never dreaming 
 they, rather than any others, had that part to play on account of their 
 power and right to the throne ; they formed plans but gave them up 
 soon after. Weakness and coldness of heart followed, and their good 
 intentions, not carried out, brought about graver consequences than 
 a complete indifference would have done, for they drove the lords of 
 the other camp hastily to crown the young Prince as James VI. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1567— 1568. 
 
 CORONATION OF THE YOUNG PRINCE — MARY MORE CLOSELY WATCHED IN HER PRISON- 
 MORAY LEAVES FRANCE — THE MEETING OF MARY AND MORAY AT LOCHLEVEN — MORAYS 
 REGENCY — PUNISHMENT OF THE ASSASSINS — EXPEDITION AGAINST BOTHWELL — HIS 
 FLIGHT — HE IS HELD A PRISONER AT MALMOE — HAUGHTY LANGUAGE OF LETHINGTON 
 — MOVEMENT IN FAVOUR OF THE QUEEN — ^FIRST ATTEMPT AT ESCAPE— HER HARD- 
 SHIPS IN PRISON — ESCAPE — GATHERING OF THE NOBLES — BATTLE OF LANGSIDE — 
 THE QUEEN'S FLIGHT TO ENGLAND. 
 
 THE young Prince was crowned with great pomp at Stirling. Athole 
 carried the crown, Morton the sceptre, Glencairn the sword, and 
 the Earl of Mar the child, whom they were going to crown King. 
 The Queen's acts of abdication were read first, and when Lindsay 
 and Ruthven had publicly attested that she had acted freely and 
 " without compulcyon,"' Morton swore allegiance to the new Sovereign, 
 James VI.'' There was now nothing in the way of the coronation. 
 Athole advanced a few steps and handed the crown to the Bishop 
 of Orkney, who put it on the head of the young Prince. The nobles 
 coming forward according to rank, swore fidelity to him ; and Knox, 
 to whom the sermon was entrusted, preached with his usual boldness 
 on the story of Joas and Athaliah. A medal was struck bearing a 
 sword with this saying of a Roman Emperor: "Pro me, simeriorin 
 me" — " For me, and if I deserve it, against me."^ There were after- 
 wards sumptuous banquets and great rejoicings. By the light of 
 bonfires they danced and cheered all night, the sounds of their revelry 
 drowned at times by the roar of twenty cannons thundering at once.'* 
 
 While the accession of the youthful Monarch was causing mad 
 rejoicings, the Queen of Scots was pining away in her prison, and 
 the sound of the guns from afar, no doubt added to the bitterness 
 of her lot. By a refinement of cruelty which might have been with- 
 
 ^ Throckmorton to Elizabeth, 31st July 1567. " Birrel's Diarey, 12. 
 
 Stevenson's Illustrations, 257. ■> Throckmorton to Elizabeth, 31st July. 
 
 ^ Anderson's Collection II., 247, and Bishop Stevenson's Illustrations, 258. Dalyel's Frag- 
 
 Keith, 437. ments, pars. I. xii., 82. 
 
MORAY LEAVES FRANCE, 1567. 179 
 
 held in her affliction, the 29th of July, the second anniversary of her 
 marriage with Darnley, had been chosen for the King's coronation ; 
 and while the rioters were crowning the son, the cruelly treated 
 widow bewailed the memory of her unfortunate husband. The sorrow 
 could not be greater, nor the contrast more striking. 
 
 She, however, consoled herself a little by thinking that after the 
 coronation they would leave her, if not free, at least in quietness and 
 peace. She thought her enemies would go no further, and hoped 
 they would respect the mother of their King. Mary was not aware 
 that ambition is never satisfied, that it fears to lose, and is always 
 despotic and cruel. She found that out on Lindsay's return, for she 
 was more closely watched, and her life was again threatened." That 
 barbarous severity disgusted the people ; the Queen's friends, abashed 
 at their own weakness, met at Dunbarton for the purpose of saving 
 her ; to do so, boldness and oneness of mind were needed : boldness 
 was wanting. The act of association by which they bound themselves 
 under the brand of infamy and perjury to help one another, gave them 
 quite enough assurance to protest, but not enough to act, although 
 the Queen of England, deceived by those whom she had at first 
 shielded, had promised them her protection. 
 
 The rumour that Mary had abdicated of her own accord in favour 
 of her son, at first received unhesitatingly by the majority of the Scots, 
 was beginning to be questioned. The rebels had for a time deceived 
 the country. It was being undeceived in spite of them, and was 
 inclining strongly in the Queen's favour, and even threatening to turn 
 against them. Several of the nobles believed, and stubbornly held 
 that the Queen could not have signed of her own accord, but had 
 yielded to threats. Those who had not been mixed up with the 
 previous conspiracies, drew nearer to her. 
 
 While those things were going on, Moray arrived in Scotland from 
 France, by way of England.^ His arrival called forth great rejoicing, 
 and each party looking for his help, did its best to please him. Moray, 
 however, as was his wont, took matters quietly ; he made up his mind 
 to curry favour with the nobles, loyal and rebellious, and thus make 
 firm his rule. The hatred of the one party for the other helped him 
 
 ^ See in Stevenson's Illustrations various Reyna natural y seiiora estd presa en un 
 
 letters, 261, 263, 278, 287, 292. Castillo suyo, y que quiere yr i. ver en lo que 
 
 " This personage had appeared at the Court puede servirla." Don Frances de Alava to 
 
 of France entirely devoted to his sister. He Philip II., 17th July. Archives de I'Empire, 
 
 had asked his leave giving as reason " que su Papiers de Simancas, and Teulet. 
 
i8o MARY AND MORAY AT LOCHLEVEN, 1567. 
 
 wondrously, for the one side dreading to give way to the other, chose 
 to hand over full power to Moray alone. 
 
 Mary, on her side, looking for great things at the hands of her 
 brother, thought herself near the end of her captivity, and hoped soon 
 to regain her throne, or at least her freedom. Her hope was not 
 fulfilled, and the Lochleven meeting crowned her dismay. All the 
 hatred and cruel cunning of Moray's disposition set to work with 
 settled forethought. 
 
 As long as the aristocratic conspiracy lasted, Moray took good care 
 to be out of the way whenever some great blow was about to fall on 
 the Queen,' and when matters were at the worst, when Mary, angry or 
 trembling, had no longer any chance of escape, Moray came forward 
 as her rescuer and reaped the fruit of his own doings ; so he acted 
 after the murder of Riccio and that of the King; so again, at the 
 approach of the events which preceded the abdication.^ 
 
 Scarcely had Moray reached Edinburgh when he left for Loch- 
 leven. Mary was glad to see him, and unbosomed herself to him ; 
 but he answered with severe words. Prayers, caresses and tears, he 
 met with brutal callousness, and took advantage of his sister's grief to 
 crush her with the most cutting words. As the lords had gained 
 their ends, they thought he ought to treat the Queen with gentleness. 
 " But," says Melville, " in place of consoling her, and following the 
 good counsel which had been given him, he loaded her with insults 
 and reproofs, and perhaps caused her the most bitter grief which she 
 had ever felt. We, who showed him our displeasure with those 
 proceedings, lost his good graces by it. The injuries which he offered 
 Her Majesty were such as to cut for ever the thread of love and 
 credit between her and him." ^ The Queen listened patiently, and 
 at the end, begged of him, a§ a brother, to spare her reputation 
 and her life. " The reputation is already lost," replied the bastard 
 
 » '"Tis very observable that when any non venissi da lui." Mem. Ital., Prince 
 
 mischievous design of consequence was to be Labanoff, VII., 320. Moray's intrigues are 
 
 executed, the Earl of Murray took care to be related in detail in the work of the Bishop of 
 
 always out of the way. By this means he stood Ross, entitled : A Defence of Queen Marie's 
 
 clearerfromsuspicionandcouldmanage to more Honour. M'Crie who seems to have made a 
 
 advantage." Samuel Jebb. Life of Mary, 115. point of never thinking like any one else, and 
 
 " "La cagion del suo viaggio (in Francia), fu of writing history contrary to the authors who 
 
 per due ragioni. Tuna per levar a sua Maestk went before him, assures us that "the honours 
 
 ogni sospetto, acciocchfe, non havendo da which Mary conferred on him were not too 
 
 temer di lui, cadessi piu facilmente nelle great for the services which he- performed." 
 
 forze sue, I'altra per far credere al populo M'Crie's History of John Knix, 308.' 
 
 che la crudeltk che si usava contro la Regina ^ Melville's Memoirs, 194. • 
 
MORAY REGENT, 1567. 181 
 
 dryly, " and for your life, the Parliament must look to that." He then 
 left her, as the night was far spent. ' 
 
 When he saw her next day, his words and bearing were no longer 
 those of the previous day. He showed himself quite another man, 
 and Mary, who had spent the night in anguish and terror, loaded him 
 with caresses, addressed him by the most endearing names, and even 
 entreated him to become Regent that he might be able to shield 
 mother and child.'' Moray, wishing to be again entreated, refused, 
 as he delighted in her grief, and was happy to see her at his knees. He 
 consented, nevertheless, after several refusals. On leaving, he remarked 
 that he was but a man, and that he should in vain try to save her if she 
 acted so as to compromise herself or if she attempted to escape.^ 
 
 Easy in his mind on those points, he accepted the regency without 
 showing either pleasure or displeasure, even feigning a dislike to assume 
 such a responsibility, and hiding under a seeming calmness his secret 
 happiness in having attained power.'' He took the oath on the 2 2d 
 of August, and promised his friends to oppose opinions at variance with 
 theirs, to aid Protestantism ^ and to settle nothing about peace, war, the 
 marriage or establishment of the King, or the Queen's freedom, unless 
 by the wish of the members of Council.^ He was then proclaimed 
 Regent at the cross of Edinburgh, in the name of the Queen and her 
 son. The public mind was once more misled, and people believing the 
 statement of Moray and his partisans, thought he had taken that office 
 of great trust only at Mary's earnest request. 
 
 Raised by crime, Moray could maintain his position only by bold- 
 ness. On the first day he acted the Regent with all the coolness of an 
 
 ^ Craufurd's Memoirs, 42. Jesus Christe, the preachinge of His holye 
 
 = " The Quenis Majestie desyrit him effec- worde, and due and right mynistratioun of his 
 
 tuouslie to ressaue the office of regentrie.'' sacrementes now ressavit and practyzed within 
 
 Diurnal of Occur., 119. this realme. And sail abolyshe and ganestand 
 
 3 Throckmorton to Eliz., 20th Augt. Bishop all fals religioun contrair to the same." The 
 
 Keith 444, sq. Oath of Regent Murray, Stevenson's Illust. 287 . 
 
 ■* " Thearle of Murreye, with great modestye, « " My said lord regent faithfully promytts 
 
 as I am informed, made a longe discourse that in na tyme to come, during the tyme of his 
 
 conteyninge his insuffycyentcye and disha- charge and offyce, he sail contract with ony 
 
 blytye for that charge ; notwistandinge, beinge forreyne princes toward peace, warr, thestate 
 
 agayne pressed by the sayd Justice Gierke in of our Soverayne Lord the King, his maryage, 
 
 the names of the Quene and Kynge, and by the liberty of the Quene his mother, nor yet 
 
 the intercessyon of the lordes and other sail speke with her, without thadvyce of my 
 
 thassystauntes, he the sayd earle dyd accept lords of the secret Councell." The articles 
 
 yt." Throckmorton to Elizabeth, 23d Augt. agreed on betwixt the Earl of Murray and the 
 
 Stevenson's lUijst. 289. > Lords of the Secret Council. Stevenson's 
 
 5 " I sail manteyne the true religioun of Illust., 283. 
 
i82 PUNISHMENT OF THE ASSASSINS, 1567. 
 
 experienced ruler, lavished favours and gold, was by no means chary 
 of falsehoods, punished his enemies, and broke in pieces the- seal of the 
 Queen, as if to show that all was over with her, and that her Queenship 
 should be no more.' The conspirators gladly sided with him ; people 
 of slippery conscience and doubtful honour drew near to him for help 
 and advancement. M. de LigneroUes, ambassador of France, seemed 
 to be currying favour,^ while the ambassador to England got a hint no 
 longer to espouse the cause of the fallen Queen.' 
 
 Mary Stuart's cause was lost beyond hope; the rebels were victorious 
 at every point ; but the people did not forget their doings in the past, 
 and began to murmur against them, and pray that their fall might be as 
 swift as their rise. To keep the mind of the public active, the King's 
 murder was again eagerly searched into. The murderers were the 
 judges ; wretched servants were put to the torture under suspicion of 
 having had a hand in the murder. An attempt was made to wring 
 from them something against the Queen. They were put to death ; but 
 in their dying moments they firmly asserted her innocence. Several 
 even accused Moray, and a greater insult could not have been hurled 
 at the man."* 
 
 All agreed in cursing Both well. His accomplices, to clear them- 
 selves, loaded him with their own crimes, and determined to hunt him 
 down. It being matter of moment for them to hush the public tongue, 
 and centre upon one head the curses of the rabble, a campaign was 
 resolved upon. 
 
 Bothwell was no longer in Scotland. Since the fight at Carberry 
 Hill his fortune had undergone a great change. A price had been set 
 upon his head ; ^ he had fled from Dunbar, and had gone to carry riot 
 and slaughter to the palace of his uncle, Patrick, bishop of Murray. 
 Hunted for his crimes he gathered round him a band of brave men, 
 and set out to scour the seas. He did so with some success, and would 
 shortly have been in a position to come down upon Scotland, had not 
 
 1 Chalmer's Life of Queen Mary I.', 406. knowledge of the King's death, as did also 
 Diurnal of Occur., 120. Hepborn, Paris, Daglish, and other servants 
 
 2 Throckmorton's Letters. Bishop Keith, of Bothwell, that were put to death by Murray 
 444, 450. Diurnal of Occurr. 120. Balfour's for the murder, who upon the gallows charged 
 Annales, I ., 242 . it upon Murray and Morton, as the conspirators 
 
 3 Throckmorton to Lord Herries, 24th Augt. with Bothwell." Memoirs of the Stuarts, 159. 
 Stevenson's lllust., 292. Eytzinger's History, The confessions are in the Second Volume of 
 MS., 49. Anderson's Collection. Balfour's Annales, I., 
 
 ^ " There (in Denmark) Bothwell miserably 343. Spottiswoode, II., 84. Chalmers, I ., 426, 
 ended his days, but with his last breath ^and the Textsquoted in the Dissert. II.,Partiii . 
 cleared the Queen of all consent, privity, or * Diurnal of Occur., 116. 
 
EXPEDITION AGAINST BOTHWELL, 1567. 183 
 
 Gilbert Balfour followed the example of his brother, and pointed his 
 guns against him. That desertion tended to weaken and disable the 
 pirate for any serious undertaking ; so he steered northward and made 
 for the Shetland Isles.' 
 
 He was thus a fugitive and was seeking a shelter when five Scottish 
 vessels manned by four or five hundred men started after him. Both- 
 well had only two ships, frail in build and slow sailers, and his small 
 crew, though brave, was not strong enough to cope with large numbers. 
 He withdrew to Bressay Sound, and cast anchor between two islets in 
 a place studded with reefs, and filled with currents which made it almost 
 inaccessible, and there the crews managed to anchor. Those in pursuit 
 were vexed at being so close to them and yet unable to seize them; but 
 the boldest sailors dared not venture near that rugged coast in a troubled 
 sea, whilst the most of them wished to sail away. Kirkaldy would not 
 hear of it ; with his best ship, the Unicorn, he ventured into the midst 
 of the reefs, but his vessel, one of deep draught, was knocked by the 
 currents against a rock where it split. Bothwell, clear of danger, could 
 see and recognise his foes, and gloat over their bad fortune. 
 
 The vessel was sinking, and every hope of saving it was gone ; some 
 soldiers lowered the long boat, which was at once crowded. The 
 Protestant Bishop of the Orkneys, who had married Bothwell, was 
 along with them, and, fright seizing him, he jumped out on to a rock 
 and clung to it, crying for help. Heedless of his cries they refused to 
 pick him up, and were on the point of leaving when the imprudent 
 bishop took a leap, and fell right into the boat which was nigh upset.^ 
 Bothwell, saved by that mishap, steered with all haste for Denmark. 
 On his way he had an engagement, which lasted for three hours, with 
 the Laird of Tullibardine ; his main mast and his yards- were carried 
 away, and his ships were so damaged that only with great difiSculty 
 he reached the port of Karmsund in Norway.^ 
 
 The strangers were hideous with their ragged clothes and fierce 
 appearance ; the w;retched and dirty crew took the Norwegians by 
 surprise. When asked who they were, Bothwell said he was the 
 husband of Mary, Queen of Scots and, as such, governor of Scotland ; 
 and added that he and his following wished to place themselves at the 
 service of the King of Denmark. 
 
 To speak of kingly power, nobility and the wedded love of the 
 
 1 Throckmorton to Cecil, 26th August. Stevenson's lUust., 294. 
 "^ Memoirs of Kirkaldy, 186, sq. Diurnal of Occur., 123. 
 ^ Affaires du Comte de Boduel. Bannatyne Club, 23, 24. 
 
i84 FLIGHT OF BOTHWELL, 1567. 
 
 loveliest woman in the world, when one is clothed in rags, is enough to 
 raise a doubt. A Danish man-of-war happened to be in the harbour, and 
 the Norwegians went to the captain, and told him all. Questions were 
 asked and parleys held, whereupon Captain Olborg, not knowing what 
 to think, detained the crew till he should learn the truth. Bothwell 
 was taken to Bergen, and brought before a commission of twenty-four 
 officers and magistrates. He boldly defended himself; but his pride 
 was very much humbled when they confronted him with a Norwegian 
 lady whom he had, in days gone by, married, robbed of her all, and then 
 forsaken. That lady was closely related to Rosencrantz, governor of 
 the town. Bothwell, who was thoroughly in his power, dreaded justice. 
 Until then his boldness had served him in time of need ; now it might 
 be hurtful to him. To quell resentment, Bothwell gave one of his 
 ships to the lady whom he had robbed, and promised to settle on her a 
 large life-rent. Those proceedings got him out of his difficulty and 
 made him be honourably treated. 
 
 Bothwell at first denied that he had any papers, but seeing matters 
 take a favourable turn, he caused to be brought from the hold of his ship 
 a portfolio made safe by several locks. The Norwegians were surprised 
 to see a large number of letters in Latin and Scotch : the royal act 
 which created Bothwell, Duke of Orkney and Shetland, proclamations 
 and manifestoes by the Scottish nobility, and also a letter of Mary 
 Stuart in which that luckless Princess deplored her own fate and that 
 of her friends.' From the manifestoes of the nobility, the Norwegians 
 concluded that he was a man of little honour, and treated him with 
 some severity while they kept him. England and Scotland, together, 
 vainly asked for his extradition.^ Bothwell asserted and held that he 
 had been tried and acquitted by the nobles, and appealed to the King 
 of Denmark. Frederick II. handed over to the Scots only a servant 
 of the Earl, Nicolas Hubert, generally known under the name of Paris, 
 and told the lords that he did not acknowledge their authority in such 
 matters, and that if their King had been murdered, none, save his 
 Queen, ought to seek for vengeance.^ 
 
 1 Les affaires du Comte de Boduel, App. ii., cause he wald not acknowledge that auctoritie." 
 xxxvi., and reprint of Teulet, Supplement au —Affaires du Comte de Boduel ; app. i. Later 
 Prince Labanoff, 147. the Queen's friends opposed Bothwell's return, 
 
 2 Elizabeth asked several times that he not lest his confessions should involve them, 
 should be handed over.— See Affaires du but lest he should be put to death, and a 
 Comte de Boduel, app. iv.-xiii. fraudulent confession afterwards be published, 
 
 ^ Craufurd's Memoirs, 45. For this reason as happened in the case of Paris.— Cf. M.: 
 the King of Denmark long refused Bothwell's Wiesener, 495. 
 extradition, " it was refusit be the King, be- 
 
BOTHWELL A PRISONER AT MALMOE, 1567. 185 
 
 To justify himself, Bothwell addressed to the King of Denmark, a 
 statement in which he went over the long series of conspiracies of Moray, 
 Morton and their adherents. That statement threw a light upon the 
 situation ; the plots explained the assassinations, and those murders, 
 which had startled Scotland, no longer seemed deeds of daring, 
 disconnected, orderless, and badly planned, but the works of a secret 
 band, aiming at ruling the country. Bothwell also spoke of the Queen 
 without saying or even hinting that she loved him. He added that 
 after the wretched struggles of parties, and the imprisonment of the 
 Queen, he was on his way to France, by Denmark, to ask assistance, 
 and that pursued at sea by his enemies, he had been forced to make for 
 Norway.' That statement did not bring about the Earl's liberty ; at 
 Malmoe he wrote out another, and tried to bribe Frederic II., by 
 promising him Orkney and Shetland.^ England and Scotland were 
 straining every nerve to get hold of Bothwell, and Frederic dared not 
 let him go lest he should bring on his head the wrath of the two 
 powers. 
 
 Busied as Moray was with foreign affairs, he was not altogether 
 careless of home affairs. The ground on which his fortune rested was 
 shifting, and he must needs at once make fast his power, which he saw 
 becoming daily less stable. The Scottish mind was, as usual, looking 
 for a change, their relations with England being severely bitter. The 
 Scottish lords had, through Lethington, addressed to Throckmorton, 
 words which might justly be called mad and arrogant : " The Lords," 
 the secretary had said, " never meant Harm, (God they took to witness) 
 neither to the Queen's Person, nor to her Honour. They do not forget 
 the manifold Benefits they have received of her, and therefore their 
 great Affection always borne unto her, cannot be altogether 
 extinguished ; yea they be so far from meaning her Harm, that 
 they wish she were Queen of all the World. Presently she is none 
 otherwise to be satisfied, than a very sick Person in an extreme 
 Disease is to be pleased in their inordinate Appetites ; For," said the 
 Lord of Lethington, " one sick of a vehement burning Fever will 
 refuse all Things which may do him Good, and require all Things 
 which may do him Harm ; and therefore the Appetite of such a 
 Person is not to be followed. This matter doth carry with it many 
 Parts, some concerning the Queen's Person, some the King her son, 
 
 ^ Les, Affaires du Comte de Boduel, passim. 
 
 ' Teulet. Supp. au Prince Labanoff, 187 sq. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 A 
 
1 86 LETHINGTON'S HAUGHTY WORDS, 1567. 
 
 some the Realm, and some the Lords and Gentlemens sureties ; and 
 
 when they shall see a Moderation of the Queen their Sovereign's 
 
 Passion, they mean nothing but well unto her, and she shall have nothing 
 
 but Good at their Hand. There is no way to do her so much Harm as to 
 
 precipitate matters before they be ripe, or to put these Lords to a Strait ; 
 
 for so against their Wills they shall be constrained to do That they would 
 
 not do. It is evident they have been contented hitherto to be condemned, 
 
 as it were, of all Princes, Strangers, and namely of your Majesty, being 
 
 charged of grievous and infamous Titles, as to be noted Rebels, Traitors^ 
 
 seditious, ingrate and cruel ; all which they suffer and bear upon their 
 
 Backs, because they will not justify themselves, nor proceed in anything 
 
 that might touch the Queen their Sovereign's Honour. But in case they 
 
 be with these Defamations, continually oppressed, or with the Force, 
 
 Aid and Practices of other Princes (and namely of your Majesty), put in 
 
 Danger, or to an Extremity, they shall be compelled to deal otherwise 
 
 with the Queen than they intend, or than they desire. For, my Lord 
 
 Ambassador," said he, " you may be sure we will not lose our Lives, 
 
 have our Lands forfeited, and be reputed Rebels through the World, 
 
 seeing we have the Means to justify ourselves : And if there be no 
 
 Remedy but that the Queen your Sovereign will make War, and 
 
 nourish War against us, we can be but sorry for it, and do the Best we 
 
 may. But to put you out of Doubt, we had rather endure the Fortune 
 
 thereof, and suffer the Sequel, than to put the Queen to Liberty now, 
 
 in this Mood that she is in, being resolved to retain Bothwell and to 
 
 fortify him, to hazard the Life of her son, to put the Realm in Peril, 
 
 and to forfeit all these Noblemen. You must think. My Lord 
 
 Ambassador, your Wars are not unknown to us ; you will burn our 
 
 Borders, and we will do the like to yours ; and whensoever you invade 
 
 us, we are sure France will aid us ; for their League standeth fast, and 
 
 they are bound by their League to defend us. And as to the Practices 
 
 which you have in hand, to nourish Dissention among us, we do 
 
 overlook your Doings, and foresee the end well enough ; for either the 
 
 Hamiltons, and such as you practice withall, will take your Silver, and 
 
 laugh you to scorn, when you have done, and agree with us, (for we 
 
 have in our Hands to make the Accord when we will), or else 
 
 you will make them attempt some such Act, as they and their House 
 
 shall repent it for ever. The Queen's Majesty, your Sovereign, hath 
 
 connexed together with the Queen's Liberty, and her Restitution to 
 
 her Dignity, the Preservation of the King, the Queen's Son, the 
 
 Punishment of the Murder, and the Safety of these Lords. Many 
 
LETHINGTON'S HAUGHTY WORDS, 1567. 187 
 
 things have been done, much Time spent, and strange Language used 
 (as you have done in this your last Commission) charging us another 
 Prince's Subjects (for we know not the Queen's Majesty to be our 
 Sovereign), to set the Queen at liberty ; but nothing hath been done 
 by her Majesty, either for the Apprehension of Bothwell and the 
 Murderers, for the safeguard of the King, or for the Safety of these 
 Lords. Will the Queen, your Mistriss, arm two or three Ships to 
 apprehend Bothwell ? Pay a thousand Soldiers for a Time to reduce 
 all the Forts of this Realm to the King's Obedience ? Then we will say, 
 doing this, that her Majesty mindeth as well these other matters spoken 
 of, as the Queen's Liberty.'" 
 
 Moray could now speak out boldly, for the nobility drew near to him, 
 in the hope of peace. People were weary of political strife ; Mary's 
 fall, and the troubles which followed, made all to long for quieter 
 times. In the December sitting of Parliament, Moray saw the most 
 of the nobles go over to his side. Then were seen strange mean- 
 nesses of men. Several called down curses on their own heads, for 
 having loved the Queen, and, with cutting words, upbraided those still 
 faithful to her. By blaming her beyond all bounds, and treating her 
 most harshly, they thought they could make the nation believe they 
 had never loved her, nor sided with her ; many others, timid and secret 
 friends, noticing the hostile drift of the debates, withdrew, discreetly, 
 lest they should be led to approve by words, acts which their hearts con- 
 demned ; but some put on a bold front, and asked that Mary should 
 be called to defend herself, before the States, and not be judged 
 unheard. There followed a rude war of words, after which those of 
 the former opinion won the day. Argyll, Huntly and Herries held 
 that the decisions of Parliament could not reach the Queen's honour 
 and dignity ; that all would be null if the abdication had not been 
 voluntary, and they would have it registered that they protested.^ 
 
 A party may be victorious and powerful ; but if it do not gain the 
 affection of the people, and if it be kept from widening its circle beyond 
 a privileged caste, it will fall, or will be gravely endangered. Moray 
 showed himself outrageously proud. Much good for the Queen had been 
 looked for at his hands as Regent ; but none was forthcoming. Poor 
 Mary still bemoaned her fate at Lochleven ; and her pearls, the finest in 
 
 > Bishop Keith, 448, 449. Lord Herries to Mary, 28th June 1568, Teulet 
 
 2 Acta Parliam., HI., 1-45. The Archbishop 11., 386. J. Lesley's Defence of Q. Marie's 
 
 of Glasgow to the Cardinal de Lorraine, 6th Honour, 45. 
 
 February 1568. Stevenson's Illus., 306. 
 
i88 MARY'S FIRST ATTEMPT AT ESCAPE, 1568. 
 
 the world/ and her jewels, the last vestiges of a past royalty, were for 
 sale in London.^ Her health was wearing out under the persecution of 
 the nobles. They wished to rob her of both health and freedom,^ and 
 at length by so many vexations she was made quite ill. News of that 
 having spread, love was rekindled in more than one heart. The old 
 ■ form of government suddenly came into favour again, and a beginning 
 being made, a reaction, as terrible as it was unforeseen, succeeded the 
 defection of the Parliament. Some were led on by their love of the 
 Queen; others, victims of a deceived ambition, raHied round the Duke 
 of Chatelleraut, the two parties shielding one another against their 
 common enemy ; the Catholics sought liberty of conscience, and the 
 vassals thought to find a shelter against the growing demands of the 
 nobles, whilst all eagerly looked for the return of the Queen, and 
 regarded her fall as a national misfortune.* 
 
 Those feelings drove George Douglas to seek the means of rescu- 
 ing Mary Stuart. He planned with the faithful Beaton, one of the 
 Queen's servants, that on the day on which the laundress should 
 come to the castle, Mary should change clothes with her. On the 
 25th of March that woman came to Lochleven. where she remained 
 for some time in the chamber of the Queen, who then started from 
 her prison with a basket of linen on her arm, and soon after she was in 
 a boat in the middle of the lake. It chanced that one of the boatmen, 
 accosting the laundress, sportively tried to raise her veil. A white and 
 delicate hand pushed away his, when unluckily a boatman cried out, 
 
 > " Was also in hir awin companye, trans- gione, nella quale consiste la salute dell 
 
 portit with hir Majestie in Scotland, mony anima." — Prince Labanofif, iVIem. Ital., VII., 
 
 costlye Jewells and goldin wark, precious 323. 
 
 stanis, orient pearle, maist excellent of any •• Herries' Memoirs, 100. " II m'a est^ dit,'' 
 
 that was in Europe, and mony coistly abil- writes Bochetel de la Forest, " que le Mare- 
 
 yeamentis for hir body, with meikill silver schal de Barwick luy (a la Reine Elizabeth) 
 
 wark of coistlye cupbordis, cowpis, plaite." — avoit escript que, pour certain, les deux tiers 
 
 Bishop Lesley's History of Scotland, 299. d'Escosse s'estoient eslevez tout en ung coup 
 
 '^ De la Forest to the King of France, 2d contre le Regent et ses alliez, et qu'ils luy 
 
 May. — Prince Labanoff, VII., 129. The same avoient mandd que, oil la Royne d'Escosse 
 
 to the Queen-mother, 2d May. — Teulet's Col- auroit le moindre mal du monde, qu'ilz s'en 
 
 lection, II., 352. The same to the Secretary prendroient k luy et aux susdictz allidz ; et que 
 
 of State, de Fizes — Ibidem, II., 353. iceulx eslevdz demandoient premi&rement deux 
 
 3 " Hanno tentato piu volte Sua Maestk per choses, assavoir la ddlivrance de la Royne, et 
 
 farle lasciar la Religion Cattolica et pigliar la I'aultre que le diet Regent et la plus part de 
 
 sua, promettendole et assicurandola facendolo ceulx qui luy assistoient (entendans Ledinthon 
 
 di ritornarla nel esser suo ; il che Sua Maestk et trois ou quatre aultres seigneurs) se purge- 
 
 ha sempre negato et recusato di voler fare, assent du meurtre du feu Roy d'Escosse."^ 
 
 dicendo chiaramente che piuttosto voleva in- Bochetel de la Forest to the King, ist April 
 
 siem con la libertk et con la corona perder 1568, Teulet, II., 345; confirmed 9th April. 
 
 la vita, che lasciar un iota della sua Reli- — Ibid., 11., 346. 
 
HER HARDSHIPS IN PRISON, 1568. 189 
 
 " That is not a washerwoman's hand ! " Mary Stuart was known. 
 Heedless of her prayers and threats, the boat was steered back; and 
 George Douglas, to escape the anger of his fellows, fled, and left it to a 
 young orphan to carry out his design/ 
 
 That failure grieved Mary. The charms of liberty caught sight of, 
 and so soon lost, more harshness and greater watchfulness on the part of 
 her keepers, added to their insults, completely crushed her. Whither could 
 she go for comfort ? Her brother had no heart, France had forgotten her, 
 and England held forth but words. Mary, weary of life, sank back 
 into her wonted sadness. Her letters were again melancholy and sad."" 
 " Alas ! my soul," said she, " if God sends this for thy sins, oughtest thou 
 not to kiss the rod that smites thee ? Oughtest thau not to worship 
 that boundless mercy which chastises thee with fleeting troubles, unwilling 
 to make thee the object of anger kept alive by never-dying flames ? 
 And if thou art doomed to those sufferings, dost thou shrink from 
 passing through the fiery furnace where that mighty Workman will 
 burn away thy dross, and make thee glitter like gold ? Why art thou 
 cast down, my soul ? Is it because thou art deprived of freedom and 
 the delights of a Court ? Fly, then, on the wings of thought and love 
 beyond Lochleven, beyond the seas which girdle Britain's shores, and 
 learn that there is no prison for a soul freed by the mercy of God, and 
 that the whole world belongs to him who can despise it." ^ Buoyed up 
 by those thoughts, she bore patiently the burden of her prison-life. 
 Besides, her loneliness was not so great as to keep her from getting 
 news from the outer world. Her attempted flight had given rise to 
 much talk ; her friends had taken new courage, and hoped to see her 
 free ere long. 
 
 On the 2d of May, in the evening, Lord Seton wended his way 
 towards Lochleven with a small body of horse. Leaving most of 
 them in the ' mountains and passes which gird the lake, he went 
 on with some ten men as far as a neighbouring village, where he 
 stopped. He ordered a trusty servant to lie on the grass near the lake, 
 and watch attentively if the Queen came out of the castle. Measures 
 had been taken, and the prisoner was about to try again to escape. 
 That bold deed, soon to give rise to a revolution, was the work of a 
 young lad of sixteen or seventeen, the litde Douglas. He alone had 
 
 1 Drury to Cecil, 3d April 1568. — Bishop off, II., 67. To Catherine de Mddicis. — Ibid., 
 Keith, 470. 69. 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to Elizabeth.— Prince Laban- ■* Histoire de Marie Stuart par Caussln, 
 
 Jebb, II., 65. 
 
190 MARY'S ESCAPE FROM LOCHLEVEN, 1568. 
 
 thought over and planned the rescue of the Queen, and, alone, had 
 undertaken to bring matters to a happy end. 
 
 The difficulty was to let the nobles know when they were to lend 
 assistance. The despatch might fall into the hands of the traitors, and 
 that would have been ruinous to the cause of Mary. Necessity taught 
 the means of avoiding the misfortunes which such a discovery would 
 surely have entailed. The Queen wrote on her handkerchief with 
 charcoal her new plans ; the handkerchief passed unnoticed, and Lord 
 Seton was ready.' 
 
 The watch, as has been said, was strictly kept day and night, save at 
 meal time, when the gates were shut. The keys were then taken to 
 the commander, and left on the table. They were stolen while the 
 keepers were quietly dining, and the Queen, with one of her women, 
 Jane Kennedy, let herself out of the prison. They locked the gates 
 without noise, and threw the keys into the lake.'' 
 
 They hastily unmoored the boat, and were soon half way 
 across. Mary was greatly moved, and waved above her head her 
 long white veil. On landing, she found John Beaton and George 
 Douglas. 
 
 While fully enjoying the delights of freedom, she heard in the dis- 
 tance a shrill-sounding horn. " Those are our friends," said John Beaton ; 
 " they have noticed the signal, and are coming." That signal was a 
 beacon which young Douglas had lighted on the top of the castle at the 
 very moment that the Queen was leaving her room. Mary wept for 
 joy. " Yes, yes ! " said she, " I know him : it is Claud Hamilton ; " and 
 he soon came forward at the head of a numerous troop. ^ 
 
 In a very short time all Scotland heard of the Queen's escape. The 
 Regent, then in Glasgow, was seized with fright, and for a long time 
 knew not what to do. The Queen's partisans now again showed readi- 
 ness to fight. The nobles joined one or other side ; they would have 
 held themselves dead to honour had they then kept aloof.* 
 
 With Mary Stuart's party there were feasts and rejoicings. The hope 
 of conquering, and of at last avenging their Queen, roused the courage 
 of her generous cavaliers. Like those highly praised women of Israel, 
 whose words Scripture has handed down to us, Mary loudly gave thanks 
 
 " Histoire de Marie Stuart par Caussin, ^ Histoire de Marie Stuart par Dargaud, 
 
 Jebb, II., 65. 225, 226. 
 
 2 Despatch of the Commander Petrucci ■* " Tutto quel Regno h in moto, chi per la 
 
 to Cosmo I. — Prince Labanoff, VII., 136, Regina, chi contro di lei col conte di Moray." 
 sq. Comrnander Petrucci to Cosmo I. — Prince 
 
 Labanoff, VII., 138. 
 
BATTLE OF LANGSIDE, 1568. 191 
 
 to God.' Religious enthusiasm and warlike ardour roused the people. 
 Moray proved himself equal to his task, and showed by his firmness 
 that, having usurped power, he was able to use it. TJie terror among his 
 own followers was very great ; desertions were hourly taking place, and 
 a struggle was thought nigh. Several of his council wished to leave 
 Glasgow, an open town, and mass all their forces round about Stirling. 
 The Regent stubbornly stood out against that proposal ; to retreat, was 
 for him, to lower himself, embolden his foes and ruin his cause. 
 
 A declaration from the Queen to the Scots, repudiating the acts 
 wrung from her, and signed at Lochleven, scattered the followers of 
 the Regent. "^ 
 
 It was necessary to put on a bold front, to determine to die rather 
 than yield, and, above all, to show no hesitation. Troops in great 
 numbers flocked to both sides : the Regent had four thousand men, led 
 by chiefs whose interest it was to be victorious ; the Queen's army 
 numbered more than five thousand men. 
 
 Mary intended to retire to Dunbarton, and wait until all her forces, 
 especially those from the North, which were most devoted to her,^ should 
 be ready to take the field. She had no alternative but to fight, having 
 failed to come to terms with Moray, who had thrown her messengers 
 into prison. 
 
 Most unfortunately, from want of foresight, the Queen's plans 
 became known. A traitor to Mary's cause told the Regent that 
 Mary would next day make for Dunbarton.* He spent the night in 
 anxious thought, got his men together, and made ready for battle. To 
 reach Dunbarton, the Queen must pass round the foot of Langside Hill. 
 Moray placed his troops there at break of day. Each horseman had, 
 seated behind him, a foot soldier, whom he set down in the hollow, amid 
 quickset hedges, gardens and groves ; then each rode up the hill 
 again to join a body under the command of Kirkaldy of Grange.' 
 
 Mary set out at dawn with her forces. On reaching Langside, she 
 was surprised to see numerous troops drawn up in line of battle. The 
 Hamiltons who were with her, rushed with fury on the arquebusiers 
 
 1 " We beleve it is not unknawin to you the lection of Autographs at the Edinburgh 
 
 greit mercie and kindnes yat allmythye God Museum. 
 
 of His infinit gudnes hes furth the way towart ^ Craufurd's Memoirs, 56, 57. 
 
 ws at this tyme in ye deliverance of ws fra ye ' John Willock to Cecil, 22d May. — State 
 
 maist straitest presoun in ye quhilk we war Paper Office. 
 
 captiv, of ye quhilk mercie and kyndnes we * Blackwood, Martyre de Marie Stuart. — 
 
 cannot thank Him eneulh." Queen Mary to QEuvres completes, 586. 
 the Laird of Adamtoun, 6th May 1 568. — Col- ' Melville's Memoirs, 200. 
 
192 THE QUEEN'S FLIGHT TO ENGLAND, 1568. 
 
 Stationed at the foot of the hill, and the engagement began. On both 
 sides deeds of valour were done. Alexander Hume of the Regent's 
 army outdid them all by his marvellous courage. Wounded in the face 
 and leg, and covered with blood, he was knocked down and thrown 
 into a ditch. His brother-in-law. Sir Walter Kerr of Cessford, raised 
 him up, and he again began to fight. Despite that bravery, they had 
 to yield. The H amiltons fought like lions, and the passage was forced. 
 The Queen's army was victorious ; but at the village of Langside, 
 attacked anew by fresh troops under Kirkaldy, the Hamiltons, who had 
 borne the brunt of the battle, were crushed, and the rest of her army 
 routed. 
 
 From a rising ground, Mary had anxiously watched the fight. At 
 the first flush of success gained by the Hamiltons, she was overjoyed ; 
 but fear overtook her when she saw her troops in flight. So great 
 was her terror, that, without rest or food, she did not draw bridle 
 till she reached Dundrennan Abbey, in Galloway, sixty miles from 
 Langside. 
 
 That battle was ruinous to Mary's cause, and her ruin was shared 
 by the house of Hamilton ; the Earls of Cassillis and Eglinton, Lords 
 Seton and Ross, the Sheriffs of Ayr and Linlithgow, the Laird of 
 Preston and many others were made prisoners. Few fell that day on 
 the field of battle ; but many perished in flight, and the rest betook 
 themselves to their homes.' 
 
 ^ Advertissement d'Escosse du xvj de May only one common soldier in the battle. It is 
 
 1568. — Teulet, II., 365 ; Bishop Keith's Divers somewhat astonishing that at the battle of 
 
 Narratives, 477, sq. ; Diurnal of Occur., 130; Corrichie he also lost only one ; according to 
 
 Birrel's Diarey, 15 ; Memoirs of Kirkaldy, 192- Spottiswoode, none. I call the attention of 
 
 205 ; Tytler ; M. Mignet; Miss Strickland. His- the reader to the marvellous coincidence. If 
 
 torians relate in good faith, and according to it were related by novelists, people would call 
 
 perfectly authentic documents, that Moray lost it unlikely. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1568— 1569. 
 
 MARY GOES TO ENGLAND — PROCLAMATION OF THE REGENT— LETTER OF MARY TO ELIZABETH 
 — ELIZABETH'S REPLY — MARY AT CARLISLE — DE MONTMORIN IN LONDON — MIDDLE- 
 MORE'S MISSION — ELIZABETH'S PRETENSIONS— HER CONVERSATION WITH LORD 
 HERRIES — MARY STUART'S DIFFICULTIES — STRIFES IN SCOTLAND — ELIZABETH'S 
 ARBITRATION ACCEPTED — THE YORK CONFERENCES — NAMES OF THE COMMISSIONERS 
 — NORFOLK — MORAY'S CONDUCT — THE YORK CONFERENCES CONTINUED AT WEST- 
 MINSTER — THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND PREVAILS UPON MORAY TO ACCUSE HIS SISTER — 
 MARY SLANDERED AT THE COURT OF SPAIN — CHARGES AGAINST MARY — HER 
 DEFENCE — HER LETTERS TO BOTHWELL — THE FORGERY — THE CONFERENCES BROKEN 
 OFF — ELIZABETH'S CONFESSION. 
 
 ' I DROUGHTS of every kind flitted across Mary's mind after her 
 -*- defeat. She first dreamt of going to France, but it was painful 
 to her to be an exile in a land where she had been a Queen, and she 
 had no ship at her command ; at other times she wished to spend the 
 rest of her life in Scotland, hoping the Scots would rally round her 
 again, and that a victory might replace the sceptre in her hand, and 
 make her once more a Queen, when she could wrest her son from the 
 hands of the rebels, end her reign in peace, and leave the crown and 
 sceptre safe for James VI. ; then, while those thoughts flashed across 
 her mind, she remembered the assassins of her secretary and husband, 
 and the prison in which she had bewailed her fate so long, and with 
 the remembrance of those things she dismissed the idea with dread. 
 She could now look to England only, but did not feel much 
 inclined to seek refuge there. Brought up at the Court of France, 
 she disliked the English ; the promises of Elizabeth, however, 
 were so frank, and her invitations so gracious ; she had so often 
 lavished upon Mary the name of "good sister" that she, at length, 
 looking at matters seriously, saw in the Queen of England only a 
 beloved sister. 
 
 She told those around her of her resolution. Her friends, 
 one and all, tried to dissuade her. The Archbishop of St Andrews, 
 on his knees, prayed her to forego her determination. Mary heeded 
 VOL. I. 2 B 
 
194 PROCLAMATION OF THE REGENT, 1568. 
 
 not those wise counsels, because her trustful nature led her to 
 believe that Elizabeth would treat her as a Queen and sister, and not 
 as a rival.' She sent by John Beaton a beautiful ring, to Elizabeth, 
 in pledge of affection, and went aboard a fishing boat, with only a 
 few persons. The rash Princess reached England before getting 
 Elizabeth's answer, and by that thoughtless step placed herself in 
 the power of her bitterest enemy. 
 
 Trouble was rife in Scotland ; the minds of the people were 
 roused, and it was needful to guide them. Had the Queen, on 
 her return to her country, been victorious, all hearts would have 
 rejoiced with her ; unfortunately, she had lost, and, in terror, 
 had hurriedly left the scene of action. The Regent availed himself 
 of the state of affairs, and, the day after the Langside engagement, 
 published a slanderous proclamation, in which the young King 
 deplored the sad fate of his father, and the unseemly marriage 
 of his mother. He was supposed to say : "In what state our 
 innocent person then stood, the eternal God best knos ; our father 
 lately murdered, and our mother coupled with him that was the 
 chief authour of that mischievous deed. But divers of our nobility, 
 to keep us from falling into the merciless hands of them whilks 
 slew our father, to separate that Tyrane and godless man fra the 
 queen our mother, and to put our person in safety, convened in the 
 field aganis the said Earl, whence he escaped, and our said mother 
 refusing to leave the ungodly and unhonest company of the murderer, 
 and minassing sic as had been careful of our preservation, she was 
 put in surety, until further deliberation. Shortly thereafter, God 
 manifested the murder more clearly : and not only the report of 
 divers actually present thereat, and many other things gave pre- 
 sumption, but writ declared the truth. Always the Queene, seeing 
 how contrariously things succeeded, and how evil her subjects liked 
 of her regiment, demitted the crown in our favours, and we were 
 lawfully inaugurate with the crown ; and our dearest cousin, James, 
 Earl of Murray, sworne and admitted in regent unto our age of XVH. 
 years. Which our coronation is by the acts of ane lawful, free and 
 plain parliament, declared to be rightly done, as much as if she, the 
 time of the said coronation, had been departed forth of this mortal 
 life ; and in the same it was found that all things done on occasion 
 
 1 Prince Labanoff, Mem. Ital., VII., 325. sidered as "suspect le traietement qui luy 
 Tlie Ambassador Bochetel de la Forest wrote seroyt faict en ce royaulme.'' Teulet, II., 
 to the king on the 22nd May, that he con- 369. 
 
LETTER FROM MARY TO ELIZABETH, 1568. 195 
 
 of taking the queen our mother on the xv. of June last bepast, 
 and detaining her within the fortahce of Lochlevin sensyne, and 
 
 in time coming, were done to our grief and her default Yet, 
 
 certain men conspired her liberty, convoyed her to Hamilton, and 
 induced her to attempt, by force, to bereave us of our crown ; but 
 God hath granted us the victory in the preservation of our innocent 
 person, and the room and authority wherein he hath placed us. What 
 womanly mercy was in the person of her, that, alas, thought the 
 shedding of Scottish blood a pleasant spectacle ? What favour can 
 men look for at her hands that stirs sedition against her only lawful 
 son ? What security can godly men expect, sche bearing regiment, 
 by wha's occasion our maist dear father, being a portion of her 
 own flesh, was slain!" The proclamation concluded with charging 
 all the lieges, as they should answer to Almighty God, and under 
 the penalties of treason, to give no aid or countenance to Mary 
 Stuart, or to any conspirators acting under her orders, or in her favour/ 
 That proclamation and the defeat of the day before had filled the 
 minds of the Scots with painful indecision, save the Presbyterians who 
 were inspired with new courage. They wished to profit by their victory 
 and ruin the Queen, now reduced almost to extremity. Mary chose to 
 fall back on England, and give herself up to Elizabeth rather than be 
 in the power of those madmen whom an unlooked for success made 
 still fiercer. From Workington, where she landed, she wrote to 
 Elizabeth a letter in which she forcibly told her feelings : " You are 
 aware," said she to her, " that subjects whom I had raised to the 
 highest rank of honour, have attempted to lay hands on me, and on 
 the King my husband. ° God saved us from them, and we drove 
 them from our kingdom. At your request, I pardoned them, and 
 what gain have I reaped therefrom ? that of seeing one of my servants 
 killed by them in my -own room, and while I was enceinte; I escaped 
 from them, and again granted them full pardon. My kindness did not 
 touch them. Scarcely had they returned than they imagined, favoured, 
 advised, and even carried out a frightful crime with which they have 
 since dared to charge me. Holding me guilty, they waged war upon 
 me, saying that I had been badly advised. Relying on my innocence, 
 and desirous of sparing the blood of my subjects, I placed myself in 
 their hands, and without speaking of reforms they threw me into 
 prison. I appealed to them about their treatment of me ; no one 
 
 ■^ Lingard's History of England. Elizabeth, chap. iii. 
 ^ At Kirkof BaitA. 
 
196 LETTER FROM MARY TO ELIZABETH, 1568. 
 
 answered me ; I asked to be heard, but in vain. Deprived of all, 
 having with me only two ladies, a doctor and a cook, they treated me 
 most harshly, threatening death if I did not sign my abdication. Fear 
 drove me to sign it ; I declared so to the nobles of Scotland, and 
 hope to give you proof of it later. Having me in their power, they 
 proceeded against me in open Parliament, without giving any reason. 
 They reduced to silence all who wished to speak in my favour, and 
 after having forced many of my subjects to approve of their usurpation, 
 took from me all I had. I could not even protest against that 
 violence ; they prevented me from speaking or writing, lest I should 
 make known their dark deeds. I offered to clear myself of all 
 charges, and to punish those who should be found guilty, yet they 
 wished to put me to death, that they might live in safety. God 
 disposed otherwise ; I was rescued, to the great joy of my subjects ; 
 Moray, Morton, Hume, Glencairn, Mar and Sempill alone were vexed." 
 " Despite their cruelty and ingratitude, I promised them that I 
 should secure to them their lives and estates, and hold a parliament, 
 to settle affairs. Twice I had them asked ; they replied by confining 
 my envoys and treating as traitors whosoever should assist me. I 
 wished them to name the guilty whom I promised to hand over to 
 them, and I desired them to aid me in that course, but without success. 
 To save bloodshed, I wished to send them Lord Boyd ; they refused 
 to give him a safe-conduct, and embittered the nobles against them. 
 I hoped that time and your intervention might settle the quarrel, 
 and lest I should fall into their hands, I meanwhile took the road to 
 Dunbarton. My nobles went with me, equipped for the field. 
 Unexpectedly attacked, they fought nobly ; but, although greater in 
 number, they were beaten by a ruse of the enemy. Many were killed, 
 and many taken prisoners ; the others fled. People were charged to 
 arrest or put me to death, but thanks to God, I escaped, and took 
 refuge with Lord Herries. With him I have entered England, 
 persuaded that at the sight of so much woe, you will receive me, 
 preserve my life, aid me in my just quarrel, and exhort the other 
 princes to imitate you ; pitiable is my plight, not only for a Queen, 
 but also for a woman ; I have nothing in the world but my life, as I 
 rode sixty miles across country the day of the battle, and have since 
 never dared to move but by night, as I hope to show you, if it 
 please you to have pity on my dire misfortune."' 
 
 1 Mary Stuart to Elizabeth, 17th May. Anderson's Collection, IV., 29-33. Prince Labanofl, 1 1_ 
 
ELIZABETH'S REPLY, 1568. 197 
 
 Elizabeth's joy knew no bounds when she saw the Queen of Scots 
 coming, of her own accord, to place herself in her hands. She made 
 up her mind to mortify Mary, and gratify her long cherished revenge. 
 Her words of sympathy came not from the heart, her tokens of friendship 
 were so many lies, and her charity itself was infamous. Mary, in a letter 
 had told her that she was without money and clothes, as she had not 
 been able to take anything with her in her flight. It was the duty of 
 Elizabeth to clothe her in a manner suitable for the Queen of Scots, 
 and worthy of her birth. Elizabeth, glad to humble her rival while 
 appearing to aid her, blushed not to send some of her old dresses 
 to the wife of Francis II. Mary Stuart's delicacy was shocked. 
 She was silent, and gave the old royal dresses to her attendants, 
 choosing to keep her own garments, stained by the dust, rather 
 than submit to the ignominy of wearing the cast off finery of another.' 
 
 Elizabeth had beforehand made up her mind so to do. As early 
 as the 6th of May, Throckmorton wrote to Marshall Berwick : — " I 
 praise God that the Queen, our mistress, has decided on aiding the 
 good Lord of Moray rather than that wretched woman and her allies." "^ 
 Thus it was that the Queen of England, on learning Mary Stuart's 
 arrival, could not help uttering this unfortunate sentence : — " This is 
 the first time that I have reason to rejoice in the maxims of my policy 
 since I became Queen." ^ 
 
 That, to her a pleasure, was to become for her an eternal shame. 
 Elizabeth as a woman and a Queen had a mortal hatred of her charming 
 rival. Her crafty minister Cecil was leagued with the Scottish 
 conspirators, and both® through policy, were hostile to Mary Stuart. 
 Following Cecil's advice, the Queen of England would not receive 
 Mary until she had cleared herself before a Commission held for that 
 purpose.* 
 
 From Workington, Mary was taken to Cockermouth, and thence to 
 Carlisle, with all the honours due to her title of Queen, and placed 
 
 1 That mean affront clearly shows the bent ^ Vie d'Elizabeth par Gregorio Leti, I. 457. 
 
 of the Queen of England. There is a horrible The celebrated Whitaker was of a somewhat 
 
 tale to be told of a later period. One of different opinion when he said, " I blush as an 
 
 Mary's Keepers, named Rolstone, was ordered Englishman to think that it was an English 
 
 by Elizabeth to court the royal captive, and to Queen who could do this." — Mary Queen of 
 
 try all means to obtain her favours, and then Scots vindicated, I. 36. 
 
 publish her shame. Sevelinges Hist, de * Anderson has inserted in his Collection, 
 
 Marie Stuart. Prince Labanoff, VI., 54. IV. 34-44, 99-108, the various considerations 
 
 ^ Fragments of Throckmorton's letters. which determined the English government to 
 
 Bibliothfeque Imp. Fonds de St. Germain- detain Mary Stuart. They are from Cecil's 
 
 Harlay, No. 222, tome I. hand. 
 
198 DE MONTMORIN IN LONDON, 1568. 
 
 under the care of the Sheriff and Judges of Cumberland. Her prison 
 life was again beginning. Scarcely escaped from the hands of her 
 rebellious subjects, she fell amongst other enemies. Those bitter woes 
 filled to the brim her cup of sorrow : " When I was but nine days 
 owlde," said she, " they had a reverent and obedient care of me, but 
 nowe that I am twenty-six yeres owlde, they wolde exclude me from 
 government, lyke disobedient rebels." ' 
 
 On the 29th of May, Lord Scrope and Sir F. Knollys, made 
 known to her the reply of the Queen of England. They assured her 
 that Elizabeth took a lively interest in her, but that, from the charges 
 brought against her, she could not receive her. Mary complained of 
 the conduct of the Queen of England, and did so with a dignity of 
 mien and a nobility of language which astonished the English envoys. 
 She rose superior to calumnies, asserting that the charges were but 
 a trick of her enemies, the more easily to secure the power ; if the 
 Queen of Englajid did not aid her, she sought leave to apply to the 
 princes of the Continent.^ 
 
 Two days after, she sent Lords Herries and Fleming to Elizabeth. 
 Fleming had instructions for the Court of France. He was to ask 
 assistance in men and money, and to warn the very Christian King of 
 the secret understanding between the rebels of Scotland and France. 
 The facts were notorious ; French authority had been insulted, and 
 M. de Beaumont, though ambassador, had got away from the Scots, 
 only by money. ^ 
 
 M. de Montmorin's arrival in London set matters right. 
 Elizabeth, by courtesy towards the new comer, strove to remove the 
 bad feeling caused by the violence shown to M. de Beaumont. She 
 allowed M. de Montmorin to see the Queen of Scots, and she seemed 
 to mean well. It is easy to perceive, however, that the long conference 
 which she had with him, apparently confidential, was really but studied 
 language and forms of a vain attachment which could, at most, blind 
 the foreign ambassadors.'' 
 
 She kept her plans concealed with the greatest care. To ruin 
 her rival by saying she was guilty of crimes of which she was 
 
 '' Lord Scrope and Sir Francis Knollys to Queen Elizabeth, Anderson's Collection, IV. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth. EUis, ist Series, II., 244. 54. Ellis, ist Series, II. 238. 
 
 I have put twenty-six years, instead of twenty- ' Instructions given by Mary Stuart to Lord 
 
 four as in the original, because the error Fleming. Prince Labanoff, II. 86-93. De la 
 
 seemed to me too glaring. Forest to the King, 19th June. Teulet, II. 375. 
 
 2 Lord Scrope and Sir Francis Knollys to ^ De la Forest to the King, i2th June. 
 
 Teulet, II. 372. 
 
ELIZABETH AND LORD HERRIES, 1568. 199 
 
 innocent ; to lecture Moray and the Scots, and thereby earn a name for 
 justice ; to bring both sides ignominiously before her tribunal and play off 
 the one against the other ; to give fresh life to the old and ugly quarrel 
 about the supremacy of England over Scotland, and to overwhelm, drive 
 to despair, and ruin all for her own gain : for such things she worked. 
 The means which she used were many. Words of sympathy for the 
 Queen of Scots, severe reproaches for the rebels, seeming justice and 
 unselfishness in her actions concealed her object, and showed to the 
 world the wisdom of the " fair Vestal throned by the West." ' 
 
 She sent to both parties a clever gentleman named Middlemore, to 
 tell Mary Stuart that it was befitting her honour to rebut the calumnies, 
 that Queen Elizabeth, declining to play the judge in this quarrel, wished 
 Mary to confide in her prudence, and that all means of conciliation 
 should be tried ; as for Moray, he was to be told somewhat harshly 
 that he must prove the enormities which he was uttering against the 
 Queen, his sister, and explain why he so treated her.^ The orders were 
 carried out ; every word of Elizabeth was a command ; there could be 
 no mistake. 
 
 The Queen of England had warm words on the subject with Lord 
 Herries. She saw Mary's envoy three times without giving him an 
 answer, although he insisted upon having one. The question was, in 
 truth, very difficult to decide. Lord Herries had begun by seeking to 
 know how his sovereign was to be treated ; he knew that the Queen of 
 England was getting Tutbury Castle repaired with the view of locking 
 her up there, and he could not do better than enquire about it : " The 
 Queen, my mistress," said he, " thinks it very strange that she should 
 be taken to Tutbury, far from her country, friends and relatives. 
 Those are not the promises which have been made to her so often : 
 she came into England with the firm hope of being better treated, and 
 had she thought of finding herself so situated, she had not left Scotland, 
 come what might." 
 
 Herries had spoken those words for the ear of the Queen only ; she 
 ordered him to repeat them in a loud and clear voice, before some of 
 the lords of her Council. Herries at once repeated what he had 
 
 1 On the 26th September, she wrote a very was also the conviction of Bochetel de la 
 
 clever letter to Moray, in which, under pre- Forest in his letter to Catherine de Mddicis 
 
 tence of exposing Mary's conduct she meant 12th June. Bibliothfeque Imp. — Fonds de St. 
 
 it to be understood that she would never Germain-Harlay, No. 222, Tome I. 
 
 replace Mary Stuart on the throne of Scotland. ^ Anderson, IV. 13 sq., 66, 67, 80-94. 
 State Paper Office and Robertson's App. It 
 
200 MARY'S DIFFICULTIES, 1568. 
 
 already said. " My resolution," replied Elizabeth, " is to replace the 
 Queen of Scots upon the throne, either by the will of her subjects or by 
 force ; let her send some one to state her case ; let Moray do likewise, 
 and I shall then be able to settle the quarrel." " Should your Majesty," 
 replied Lord Herries, " dream of judging the Queen of Scots ? My 
 mistress is a sovereign also." Those words, gravely said, told 
 wondrously. Elizabeth had gone too far ; the cloak of impartiality did 
 not hide the judge. " I think," added she, to explain and remove all 
 chance of him believing that such had been her determination, " I 
 think that the Queen, my sister, will not regret if in this matter she 
 follow my advice which shall be only for her greater gain." " But, 
 Madam," replied Herries, "Moray is neither Prince nor King; con- 
 sequently he cannot send ambassadors either hither or elsewhere ; he 
 has offended the Queen, his mistress, he might surely come in person 
 and explain himself; so might the Earl of Morton, who is in a like 
 position." " True," replied the Queen, and she dismissed Mary's 
 delegate, with the promise that she should write next day to Scotland, 
 as he wished.' 
 
 In view of the coming discussion, Elizabeth would not allow Fleming 
 to go over to France, and, not content with thwarting Mary's wishes, 
 tried to keep Lord Herries, no doubt to make him betray his Sovereign."" 
 
 Mary Stuart fought with her despair. She bore up against all those 
 affronts, and regained the courage she had so often shown. Her 
 keepers spoke aloud their admiration of her. "This lady and princess," 
 wrote Knollys, " is a notable woman ; she seemeth to regard no cere- 
 monious honor beside the acknowledging of hir Estate Royal. She 
 sheweth a disposition to speyk moche, to be bold, to be pleasant, and 
 to be very familiar. She sheweth a great desyre to be avenged of hir 
 enemies. She sheweth a readiness to expone hirselffe to all perrylls in 
 hope of victory. She desyreth motche to hear of hardyness and val- 
 iancy, commending by name all approved hardy men of hir country, 
 althoghe they be hir enemies ; and she concealeth no cowardness evin in 
 
 hir frends for victoryes sake, pain and peryll seemeth pleasant 
 
 unto hir, and in respect of victory, wealth and all thyngs semeth to hir 
 contemptuous and vyle. Now, what is to be done with sotche a lady 
 and Princes P"^ What ought to have been done, was to help her, or at 
 least let her go free, and deny help to her enemies. The humble 
 
 1 Bochetel de la Forest to the King, 19th June. — Teulet, II. 377. 
 ^ Elizabeth to Mary Stuart, 30th June. Prince Labanoff, VII. 143. 
 ' Sir F. Knollys to Cecil, nth June 1568. Anderson, IV. 71, 72. 
 
MARY'S DIFFICULTIES, 1568. 201 
 
 entreaties of the victim in whose person royalty was outraged, made it 
 Elizabeth's bounden duty to send aid. Her interest clashed with her 
 dignity. Mary, getting no answer, knew not what language to use. 
 New entreaties, if disdained, she thought degrading to her, and empty 
 threats of no avail. She, however, found words to re-echo her sad fate. 
 "Alas! madam," wrote she to her, "have you ever known a Prince to 
 be blamed for listening to those who appealed to him against false 
 charges ? Do not for a moment think, madam, that I have come 
 hither to save my life ; the world and broad Scotland have not all dis- 
 owned me. It is to recover my honour, and get strength to punish my 
 slanderers, not to answer them as my equals. To keep me here a 
 prisoner," added she, " is to encourage my enemies, and weary out my 
 friends. I have on my side all men of honour ; delay may cool them 
 or make them change."' 
 
 That letter, as well as several others which she afterwards wrote, 
 made no impression on Elizabeth. Middlemore encouraged the Scot- 
 tish rebels.^ Moray was crushing the Queen's party, and news of the 
 events reaching Mary's ears again and again, grieved her much. 
 Calumny followed hard upon calumny, and the kindest hearts in Scot- 
 land, shaken by the boldness of falsehood, knew not how to act. It is 
 interesting to notice what Mary, in those moments of affliction, wrote to 
 the Cardinal de Lorraine. " God tries me sorely," said she, " but be 
 assured, I will die a catholic. God will soon take me away from all my 
 miseries. For I have suffered affronts, slander, imprisonment, cold, 
 hunger and heat ; I have fled, knowing not whither, ninety miles across 
 fields, without dismounting ; then I have slept upon the bare ground, 
 have drunk sour milk, eaten unbaked oatmeal, and spent three nights like 
 the screech-owls, without a creature near me, in this country, where I am 
 treated little better than a prisoner ; and meanwhile they destroy the 
 houses of my servants,' and I cannot help them, and they hang the 
 masters, and I cannot aid them ; yet all remain constant towards me, 
 and abhor those cruel traitors who have but three thousand men under 
 their command, and if I had help, one half would assuredly leave them. 
 I pray God that He may remedy it ; His will be done."'* 
 
 ' Mary to Elizabeth, 13th June. Prince Elizabeth to Mary, 30th June 1568. Prince 
 
 Labanoff, II. 96 sq. Labanoff, VII. 142. 
 
 2 Elizabeth, with her usual veracity, wrote to ^ After the battle of Langside, Moray caused 
 
 Mary, "Quant k Middelmore, Je vous jure the houses of Mary's principal partisans to be 
 
 qu'eulx-mesmes m'ont escript que, si ne I'eusse set on fire or razed to the ground, 
 
 envoyd, il eust estd pris pour vostre partie." * Mary Stuart to Cardinal de Lorraine, 21st 
 
 June. Prince Labanoff, II. 115 sq. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 C 
 
202 STRUGGLES IN SCOTLAND, 1568. 
 
 Affairs were becoming more grave ; Elizabeth's policy was beginning 
 to be known/ and she, who had gone too far, wished to turn back.. 
 Herries seconded his mistress with all his might,^ but, say what he would, 
 his words failed before Elizabeth's cold obstinacy. When she felt hard 
 pressed, and when the arguments of Mary's advocate seemed weighty, 
 she flung out taunting accusations, and entrenched herself behind them 
 as behind an impregnable rampart. She thought she had done her 
 worst by raking up those things. Time was running on, and Mary 
 was still a prisoner. 
 
 Amid the change from consultations to councils, Mary thought 
 she might further the views of her party by giving it a head. On the 
 1 2th of July she appointed the Duke of Chatelleraut, Lieutenant-General 
 of the kingdom, and ordered her faithful subjects to rally round him. 
 At the bidding of their Queen, Huntly and Argyll, notwithstanding 
 their old rivalry, were among the first to join the Hamiltons. All those 
 of Mary's party were up at the same time, ready to fight. At the outset 
 of the campaign, they asked Elizabeth to set Mary free, and complained 
 of the evils which arose from her absence.^ Without further waiting, 
 they immediately took the offensive, and wrested several rich provinces 
 from the Regent. Success drew to their banner, first the Catholics, and 
 then the malcontents, whom fear had kept aloof. In a few days the people 
 of the western counties and Moray's partisans in the north were beaten. 
 Hamilton was retaken, and the royal army, victorious, marched south- 
 wards, to crush the Regent before he assembled his parliament. God 
 knows what would have happened then, had not Elizabeth, true to her 
 nature, used deceit to save her proUgd. In a letter she asked Mary 
 Stuart to order her adherents to lay down their arms, pledging her word 
 to ask the same of the Regent, that a peaceful and lasting understand- 
 ing might be brought about. The too trusting Mary obeyed at once, 
 and sent the lords orders to disarm.* Moray, whose movements were 
 now free, fell upon those broken bands, utterly scattered them, and 
 shewed himself the fiercer, the nearer he had been to ruin. He with 
 much noise got together a parliament, and had up before it, charged 
 with high treason, those who had joined Mary's cause. The whole of 
 the month of August was spent in acts of recrimination and violence from 
 
 1 Mary to Elizabeth, 22d June. Prince La- ^ a letter from some of the nobility in Scot- 
 
 banoff, II., 119. land. Anderson, IV., 120-124. 
 
 * Lord Herries to Mary Stuart, 28th June " Mary to Elizabeth, 13th August. Prince 
 
 1568. Teulet, II., 384. Labanoff, II., 150. 
 
THE YORK CONFERENCES, 1568. 203 
 
 one to the other. EHzabeth stopped Moray only when the Queen's 
 lords were powerless.' 
 
 That infamous war was followed by still more infamous negotiations, 
 which caused Elizabeth's first deceit to be forgotten. After much hesi- 
 tation, Mary and the Regent of Scotland agreed to place their quarrel 
 in the hands of Elizabeth. Commissioners had been appointed on both 
 sides, and the famous York Conferences were about to begin. 
 
 John Lesley (bishop of Ross), Lords Herries and Boyd, Livingston, 
 John Gordon and James Cockburn, were for the Queen. The Regent 
 came in person, with Lethington, Morton, the Protestant Bishop of 
 Orkney, Lindsay, Robert Pitcairn, [commendator-abbot of Dunfermline], 
 Balnave, George Buchanan and Macgill, the Clerk of Register.^ The 
 Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Sussex, and Sir Ralph Sadler, were the 
 commissioners of the Queen of England. With the exception of 
 Norfolk, the English commissioners were politically hostile to the 
 Queen of Scotland ; Sadler had even spoken regarding the necessity 
 of opposing her restoration to the throne. ^ 
 
 Intrigues bound the Regent to the English ministers. For a long 
 time Cecil had laid the train of base plans which was about to unfold 
 itself. Only one man of those employed by the Queen of England tried 
 to outwit the minister ; it was the Duke of Norfolk, a great lord, not 
 without ambition, upheld by the respect of Protestants and Catholics, 
 very influential in London and the Provinces, and a friend of Elizabeth. 
 
 On the first day of the Conferences, the Duke refused to enter on 
 the debates if the Regent, as representing James VI., King of Scot- 
 land, did not, in the first place, pay homage to Elizabeth. The Regent, 
 taken unawares, knew not what to answer, and was confused. He 
 thought it as dangerous to pay that homage as to refuse it. By paying 
 it, he acknowledged the supremacy of England, and offended the 
 national pride of the Scots, making deadly enemies for himself in his own 
 country, and in the very bosom of his party. By denying it, he made 
 an enemy of Queen Elizabeth, and risked his cause. Lethington, more 
 
 1 Various letters of Mary Stuart. Prince her ; Lindsay, Pitcairn, Mackill, and Balnave, 
 
 Labanoff, II., 156-165, 177-180. the four judges who had pronounced in favour 
 
 ° M. Gauthier remarks most suitably that of Bothv^'ell the sentence of absolution which 
 
 "Morton and Lethington were notoriously they thought of imputing to her." M. Gauthier, 
 
 known to be two of the principal authors of Histoire de Marie Stuart, II., 209. 
 
 the regicide of which they were about to ac- ^ Opinion in Privy Council respecting the 
 
 cuse Mary ; the Bishop of Orkney, the only Restoration of Queen Mary to the throne of 
 
 minister who had consented to perform the Scotland. Sadler's Papers, II., 562-569. 
 marriage with which he was about to reproach 
 
2C4 THE YORK CONFERENCES, 1568. 
 
 crafty, spoke for him. He cautiously answered the Duke, that when 
 they should restore to the Scots the lands for which they had formerly 
 paid homage to England, it should again be paid ; but that otherwise 
 the proposal was absurd." 
 
 That first question having been set aside, the parties entered fully 
 upon the matter : Mary's commissioners to avenge the honour of their 
 Queen ; the Regent to make good the charge, and show reason for his 
 revolt. The Scots were much astonished at the slowness of the English 
 commissioners. The latter seemed to fear inquiries and judicial pro- 
 ceedings. Norfolk sought only to gain time ; every one noticed it, but 
 the reason for such strange conduct was unknown. 
 
 At length he addressed Lethington thus : " Until then, I had 
 taken you for a man of sense ; but when I hear you accuse your 
 own Queen, I know not what to think. Are there, or are there 
 not, in England, persons able to judge the cause of Scotland's Queen ? 
 and can we resolve to dishonour the mother of a Prince who is one day 
 to be our King ? How could we excuse our conduct if we were to 
 make his titles and rights doubtful, by attacking the honour of his 
 mother ? You who are her subjects would have done much better to 
 hide her weak points, if she has any, and leave to God, who alone is 
 the Judge of Kings, to correct or punish them." "^ 
 
 Lethington tried to justify himself by throwing the blame upon the 
 Regent's followers, and hinted to the Duke how much better it would 
 be for both parties to settle the matter without noising it abroad. That 
 was covering his defeat admirably ; but the reproach of the Duke of 
 Norfolk was still there to rankle. 
 
 Thanks to Lethington, the Regent and the Duke met the same 
 pight in the house of the latter. Moray heard cruel truths. Norfolk 
 revealed to him the crafty policy of Elizabeth, who had no desire to 
 choose a successor for herself, and showed him that the Queen of 
 Scots was sole heiress to the throne of England ; then asked him : 
 " What are you thinking about, to come here and accuse your own 
 Queen ? Though she had done wrong, or suffered wrong to be done 
 to her husband, the matter ought not to have been allowed to do wrong 
 to the King her son, in whom England's hopes are centred. I am here 
 to listen to what you have to say against your Queen ; but neither my 
 mistress nor I shall ever give a decision in this affair ; and if you wish 
 to be convinced of it, you have only to exact a written promise to that 
 
 ' Melville's Memoirs, 206. = Melville's Memoirs, 206. 
 
THE YORK CONFERENCES, 1568. 205 
 
 effect from Elizabeth. No," he went on, " you cannot have thought of 
 the step you are taking ; remember that your enemies the Hamihons 
 are, after the Queen, the nearest heirs to the crown." ' 
 
 The Regent was amazed ; he fancied that he had only to bring the 
 Queen into discredit to secure power for himself, and the contrary 
 seemed likely to happen. While wishing to ruin her, he was on the 
 eve of falling himself, and the Hamiltons would quietly reap the fruit of 
 all his toil. There was but one course to follow : to burn the documents 
 against the Queen. But the stupid hastiness of the Regent in charging 
 Mary, hindered him from doing so : the letters had been put forward ; 
 they had justified the revolt ; and they were now the mainstay of the 
 Regency. There was no use in destroying them, as they were already 
 known ; but a sight of them could be refused by Moray under some 
 pretext. With that resolve in view, and guiding himself by Norfolk's 
 words, he refused to hand them over, if the Queen of England did not 
 give him, in writing, a promise to settle the dispute. He stood by 
 his resolution at the second conference. That point-blank refusal kept 
 back the case ; they could not go on. Elizabeth was written to on the 
 subject ; but it was a mere waste of time. She was offended by the 
 letter, and sent for answer that " as the Queen of England never broke 
 her word, it was an insult to seek from her a written promise." " 
 
 That stinging reply brought Moray and Norfolk closer, and the two 
 men sought to end the dispute each in his own way. Everything leads 
 one to believe that Moray, this time, acted frankly, and that in wishing 
 his sister to ratify the Lochleven acts, he had no other object in view 
 than to save himself, in the first place, and then the Queen, whom, in 
 his inner mind, he destined for the Duke of Norfolk. He would not that 
 the world should look upon him as a forger and a usurper. That grand 
 project was baffled by Elizabeth's skill. She was daily informed of 
 what was going on by the prudent Knollys and Cecil, whose anxious 
 and mistrustful natures invented conspiracies, rather than there should 
 be none to notice. Their help was very useful to Elizabeth in difficult 
 cases where clear-headedness was needed. But when those crafty men, 
 used to intrigue, left their own crooked line of policy, and found them- 
 selves face to face with truth, their natures could only wonder at a virtue 
 they did not possess, and they vainly strove to find in the bosom of truth 
 the thread of falsehood. Thrown off their track, their reports savoured 
 of untruth. Nowhere did their love of cunning show so strongly as at 
 
 1 Melville's Memoirs, 208. Part of a letter from the Earl of Moray. — Robertson, App. xxx. 
 ^ Melville's Memoirs, 209 
 
2o6 THE YORK CONFERENCES, 1568. / 
 
 the outset of the York Conferences. The project of Norfolk and Moray 
 was soon found out ; and yet that same KnoUys, whose clear-sightedness 
 had just gained so grand a triumph, was so led astray by a conversa- 
 tion which he had with Mary Stuart, that he gave it quite another 
 meaning in reporting it to Elizabeth. 
 
 Mary was vexed, and complained bitterly. " Madam," she wrote to 
 Elizabeth, " I assure you that if you had heard my conversation with 
 Knollys, you could not have mistaken it as you have. I defy the world 
 to say that I have offended you in deed or in word since I came into 
 your country. I have lived according to your laws, without causing 
 anyone to break them. I am sure that Knollys himself will never assert 
 on his honour that I have said a word against you." ' That letter calmed, 
 but did not reassure, Elizabeth. Judging others by herself, she was 
 naturally mistrustful, and the strongest proofs did not put an end to her 
 suspicions. With marked favour she listened to stories, without inquir- 
 ing as to their truth ; and her neglect to search into matters often gave 
 her false ideas of persons. It is but right to say, however, that in refer- 
 ence to Norfolk and Moray her suspicions were well founded. Their 
 doings were too open to escape the notice of the keen-sighted ministers ; 
 and the Regent was boldly accused of cowardice by his party. 
 
 Mary Stuart's commissioners had gone straight to the root of 
 the question, and demanded satisfaction for the violence done her. 
 They crushed Moray and his party under their just reproaches ; ^ and 
 the Regent, ignorant of the line of defence to be taken, dared not openly 
 attack his sister. 
 
 If ever there was a time for wavering, it was certainly not then. 
 The Regent, by his cozening, had all to fear : Elizabeth's enmity, the 
 falling away of his friends, and the loss of his power. He needs must 
 bring to light the writings said to be from the Queen's hand. If real, 
 the charge was unanswerable, and Mary's commissioners would have to 
 confess themselves beaten. Why did not Moray do so ? The reason is 
 clear : he knew better than anyone the value of those fictions ; they 
 were important if only spoken of, and not seen ; the mystery which 
 wrapped them up formed, so to say, their spell. If he showed them, 
 Mary's envoys would not have missed the chance to bring forward 
 genuine spec.mens of her penmanship against him and his nobles.^ He 
 
 1 Mary Stuart to Elizabeth, 8th October rebellion, but the usurping of their Sovereignes' 
 
 1568. — Prince Labanoiif, II., 2i6. supreme auctorytie." A discourse ol Lord 
 
 ^ Lord Herries had said in his speech: Herries, Sadler's Papers, II., 336. 
 
 " That it was not the punyshment of that ' Correspondance diplomatique de la Mothe 
 
 slaughter that moved them to this prowde Fdnelon, I., 19. 
 
CONFERENCES CONTINUED AT WESTMINSTER, 1568. 207 
 
 no doubt then wished he had never spoken of those unkicky letters ; but 
 it was too late, and further shifts only served to make Elizabeth more 
 suspicious of him. 
 
 The Queen of England, to have at hand, or rather under her eye, the 
 judges and accused, ordered, on the 24th of October, that the Confer- 
 ences should go on in London before her Council. That was no chance 
 decision ; it was necessary after the understanding growing up between 
 the Regent and Norfolk. When Elizabeth saw the Duke again, she 
 received him somewhat coldly, and spoke of the rumours current about 
 his marriage with the Queen of Scots. The Duke showed great pre- 
 sence of mind in his reply. Taking advantage of the charges made 
 against Mary, "I love," said he, "to slepe uppon a saft pillow,"' and 
 urged his never-dying love for his rightful Sovereign. 
 
 Elizabeth, whether convinced or not of those things, hastened the 
 proceedings by setting the accusers and the accused by the ears, and she 
 did so with wonderful boldness. She promised Mary's commissioners 
 to replace their mistress immediately, and sent word to Moray that if 
 he did not go on with the accusation against Mary, his honour and re- 
 putation were ruined. Those severe orders made Moray follow a course 
 very unpleasant to him. Until then he had shown a bold front ; but 
 feeling that all was failing him, he made up his mind to sacrifice every- 
 thing. He slandered, because he had to do so. He had gone too far 
 to draw back ; he did so not from choice ; and if he afterwards showed 
 a certain tameness in his accusation, it was because the plan of the 
 inquiry did not seem to him the right one. 
 
 The Queen of Scots also added to the difficulties. From the 
 castle in which she was kept she attentively watched the debates which 
 were to settle her lot : seeing the change in the proceedings, and 
 knowing that at such a distance she could not consult with her com- 
 missioners, she threatened to break off the Conferences if they should 
 ■ proceed on any other bases than those already agreed upon. She spoke 
 out strongly against the underhand-dealings of her enemies, refused to 
 have Elizabeth's commissioners as judges, forbade any accusation 
 against her rebellious subjects to be laid before the commissioners, or 
 any reply to be given to the charges which might be made against her.'' 
 
 Though those instructions may seem severe, yet the captive did not 
 overstep her rights. Elizabeth openly inclined towards Moray, whom 
 
 ' Extract out of the trew first copy of the ^ The commission sent for the Quene's 
 
 Bishop of Rosse's letters. — Murdin, 179. Majesty of Scotland. — Prince Labanoff, II. 
 
 229-231. 
 
2o8 MARY SLANDERED AT THE COURT OF SPAIN, 1568. 
 
 she admitted into her presence contrary to her pledged word. She 
 hoped thenceforth to get rid of the reserve at first imposed upon herself, 
 and believed herself strong enough to brave justice and public opinion. 
 Those ridiculous proceedings clearly showed interested motives which 
 began to be spoken of somewhat harshly, and Mary, driven to it by 
 Elizabeth, had to break off Conferences so glaringly unfair. She had 
 often asked to see her rival ; and that favour which she had vainly 
 sought for herself had been speedily granted to her subjects.' 
 
 A great grief made her forget that unworthy treatment and her mental 
 troubles : the death of the daughter of Henry II. of France, Elizabeth, 
 whom she dearly loved, grieved her, and the belief at the Court of Spain, 
 that she was herself careless about her religion, wounded her feelings. 
 Mary felt bitterly that blow so painful to her heart, and the other so 
 hurtful to her good fame. In glowing language she deplored the death 
 of her good sister, and flung back the calumny with contempt. " In the 
 midst of my adversities," she wrote to Philip II., " I have received two 
 bits of news at once, by which it appears that ill fortune is doing its utmost 
 to crush me. The one announces the death of the Queen, your 
 wife, my good sister, whose soul may it please God to keep ! the 
 other tells me you are informed that I am inconstant in matters of reli- 
 gion, and that, to my misfortune, you sometimes doubt if I have any. 
 Those two bits of news so sting me to the quick, that although the former 
 may leave some hope of comfort and remedy, I see none in the latter. 
 I know not which of the two grieves me most. ... No, Prince, I 
 never could have dreamt that persons of the same religion with me 
 could have been glad to heap base slanders on my head. Whoever may 
 have done me so great a wrong I entreat you not to believe it, seeing 
 that there must be a mistake. . . . None has ever heard me say a word, 
 or seen me do anything which could give reason for so bad an opinion 
 of me." She then enlarged upon her persecutions through her religion, 
 being obliged to listen to the ministrations of an Anglican minister: 
 " If it has been found,'' added she, " that I did wrong by taking part in 
 
 ^ " La quale (Elizabeth) contro la promessa, di fare una lega perpetua fra quel duoi regni. 
 
 non solo lo admesse al suo conspetto insieme Fatto questo, accio non restassi ostaculo 
 
 con li altri principal! ribelli, ma fu a stretto alcuno k loro disegni, risolverono che fussi 
 
 ragionamento con loro, et dichiaro di volerli necessario fare morire la Regina di Scotia ; et 
 
 havere in protectione, et promesse di legitti- per poterlo fare con qualche colore di guistitia, 
 
 mare esso bastardo perche potesse succedere ordinarono che li detti ribelli I'accusassino 
 
 nel regno al figlio della Regina ; essi promes- della morte del marito. — Prince Labanoff, 
 
 sero a lei di dargh in mano 11 detto figlio et le Mem. Ital., VI 1., 146. 
 principali fortezze del regno ; et accordarono 
 
THE WESTMINSTER CONFERENCES, 1568. 209 
 
 those prayers, at which I was present, because I was not allowed the 
 exercise of my own religion, I am ready to make the necessary honour- 
 able amends, so that all the Catholic Princes in the world may know 
 that I am an obedient, submissive and devoted daughter of the holy 
 Roman Catholic Church, in whose faith I will live and die." ' 
 
 Mary Stuart often declares her firm resolve to live and die in her 
 religion,'' and from that earnest and steady resolve, she drew the strength 
 to bear her misfortunes. Although partially forsaken by her followers, 
 and betrayed by those in whom she had put her trust, although she had 
 to refute charges most lying and most dishonouring for a woman, yet 
 she always showed that calm dignity, that settled disposition and self- 
 respect which overawed her enemies till the last. She knew better 
 than any one the odiousness of their proceedings ; but because they 
 debased themselves, Mary thought that was no reason why she should 
 imitate them, or demean herself by replying to them. She had naturally 
 too noble a heart, and was too magnanimous to forget herself so far. 
 When she felt that she was on the point of breaking down under 
 the harrowing feelings with which fate overwhelmed her, she would 
 find consolation in prayer. " Since the will of God," she wrote one 
 day, " has been to rain afflictions on my bare head, there remains for me 
 only to entreat Him to grant me the patience to be able to endure them."^ 
 
 The York Conferences were resumed in London with a bitterness of 
 tone and an unbridled falsehood which nothing could excuse."* The 
 debates began with a strange scene which clearly shows what point had 
 been reached. Moray brought forward the same charges without 
 departing from the beaten track to which he had confined himself Cecil, 
 weary of those speeches which were mere wordy repetitions, asked him 
 if he had the proofs in his possession. " Here they are," said John Wood, 
 the Regent's secretary ; " but I will not hand them over until Queen 
 Elizabeth's promise be given me in writing." " Well," cried the Pro- 
 testant Bishop of Orkney, " I shall give them." Saying those words 
 he rushed towards Wood, snatched the papers out of his hands and 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to Philip II., King of Spain, 30th Nov. 1568. — Prince Labanofif, II., 
 
 30th November 1568. — Prince Labanofif, II., 343. 
 
 237-241. ■* En quoy ne fault doubter qu'on n'essaye de 
 
 ' Various letters of Mary Stuart to Don toucher, s'il est possible, k la reputation et k 
 
 Guzman de Silva, to Philip II., to Don Guar- I'estat, et possible, k la vie de cette princesse. 
 
 ran de Espes. — Teulet, Supp. au Prince Lab- ... II me semble que les argumanz qu'ilz 
 
 anofif, 266, 289, 291, 300. veulent prendre sont assez Idgers, et bien fort 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to Don Frances d'Alava impertinans. — Correspondance diplomatique 
 
 de la Mothe Fdnelon, I., 23. 
 
 VOL. I. 2D 
 
2 10 THE WESTMINSTER CONFERENCES, 1568. 
 
 ran with them to the table of the EngHsh cohimissioners. Wood, 
 for a moment taken aback, set off in pursuit of the Bishop and held on 
 by his clothes, but he was too late, and the documents were handed in 
 amid roars of laughter. " Weill done. Bishop Turpy," cried Chamber- 
 lain Howard, "thou art the frackest felow amang them; none of them 
 all will mak thy loup gud." Those words, as Melville remarks, 
 bore an allusion to the prodigious leap taken by the worthy Bishop in 
 the pursuit of Bothwell. The baffled Regent begged back the papers, 
 promising to add new matter to them. He was told, that if he wished 
 to add anything he might • do so, but they should not be again in his 
 keeping.' 
 
 There was no loop-hole of escape for him this time ; come what 
 might, he must stand by the charge. Moray was foolish enough to do so. 
 He first stated that Mary had instigated the murder of Darnley, and then 
 that she had married the murderer of her husband.^ Lennox supported 
 the Regent in a speech of pathetic eloquence, charging the Queen with 
 his son's death, and, all through, spoke as a religious and sorrowing man.' 
 
 Mary's commissioners spoke two days later. The answer was 
 sharp. " We are hartely sory. My Lordes," said they, " to hear that 
 our countrymen shuld intend to colour their most unjust, ingrate and 
 shamefull doings against thair natural Soveraigne leige Ladie and 
 Mistress, that hath ben so beneficiall to them and thus wise recom- 
 pensed with calumnious and false invented brutes, sklandered in so 
 great a matter till hir reproche wherof they themselfes that now 
 pretend herewith to excuse their open treasons were the first inventers, 
 writers with their own handes of that devilish band, the conspiracy of 
 the slaughter of that innocent young gentleman, Henry Stewart, late 
 spouse till our Soveraigne, and presented to their wicked confederate, 
 James, Earl Bothwell, as was made manifest before ten thousand 
 people at the execution of certen principall offenders in Edinburgh. 
 Bot seing thai can get no other excuse to this their treasonable usurpa- 
 tion, and Wrongs, yea such usurpation and Wrongs as never have been 
 seen the like, subjects to have done before ; for the first and best of 
 them hath not in Parliament the first voyce of Eightene of that 
 Realme. No, no, my Lords, this is not the cause why they have put 
 their handis in thair Soveraign the annointed of God, most often 
 
 1 Melville's Memoirs, 211 ; Miss Strickland, ^ xhe Journal, or Third Session, printed in 
 
 IV. 266. Anderson's collection, IV., ii., 121 ; Goodall, 
 
 ^ See the Book of Articles, published by Mr II., 208. 
 Hosack at the end of his work on Mary Stuart. 
 
WESTMINSTER AND HAMPTON COURT, 1568. 211 
 
 by his word expresly prohibited, (a matter to other princes recht 
 dangerous, and worthie to be forseen) for if this in thame be tollerat, 
 what prince lives upon the face of the yerth that ambitious subjectis 
 may not invent some sklander in thair living, to come to thair supreme 
 authority ? " They then enlarged on the crime of usurpation in the 
 face of laws human and divine, and spoke out boldly against the 
 machiavelian doctrine ' which had been so cruelly applied. In their 
 opinion, the youth of the royal child, who could not for a long while be 
 skilful or strong enough to contend with the confederates, had been an 
 encouragement to them, as well as the large sums which Moray had to 
 lavish to keep them on his side. Those facts and their consequences 
 were now known to the kings of France and Spain, and to several 
 other Christian Princes. The lawful Sovereign of the kingdom of 
 Scotland could not and would not be judged on that subject ; she was 
 a Princess, independent as her ancestors had always been, and she 
 came to England for aid and protection.^ 
 
 Elizabeth admitted Mary's commissioners to her presence, where they 
 were allowed to explain themselves in writing. They called to mind 
 the promises she had made, which were now seemingly forgotten ; 
 they complained that charges so false had been listened to and encouraged, 
 and demanded, meantime, the arrest of the calumniators.^ Elizabeth, 
 by cunning and empty promises, managed to get rid of the Queen's 
 defenders ; and, by so doing, greatly furthered her own ends. Each 
 party, full of fear, awaited from her the decision which would ruin the 
 other side, and sought to gain her favour by flattery. That course 
 was followed more closely by Moray and his party than by the other ; 
 they showed no arrogance south of the Border, but were as weak and 
 cowardly in England as they had been overbearing at home. Moray, 
 
 1 "They had herein advised with thair et trop prononcd de mal contre leur souve- 
 
 Machavellis Doctrine." A memorial, or letter, rayne." — Correspondance diplomatique de la 
 
 from the commissioners of the Queen of Scot- Mothe F^nelon, I., 39. Elizabeth did exactly 
 
 land, printed in Anderson's Collection, IV., ii., the contrary of what she was asked, for she 
 
 131. signified to the judges that they were not 
 
 ' A memorial, etc., Anderson, IV., ii., 129- to proceed against Moray and his party. 
 
 133; Sadler's Papers, II., 334. "Havendo quello della parte d^ rebelli dato 
 
 * "A ceste cause, ont present^ . . . que la principio a dire le sue ragioni et quello che 
 
 dicte Royne d'Angleterre, pour le debvoir de volevano contro alia Regina, parve alii man- 
 
 sa royale grandeur envers celle de la Royne dati della Regina d'Inghilterra, che non dices- 
 
 d'Escosse, qui estoit de semblable quahtd et sa sero cosa rilevante ; ni volendo giudicare con- 
 
 proche parante, voulut f&re arrester prisonniers tro di loro, perche cosl havevano in mandalis, 
 
 les dictz adversaires, comme crimineulx de l&ze dissero che gli bisognava etc.," Mem. Ital. — 
 
 majestd, pour avoir trop diet, et trop escript, Prince Labanoff, VII., 145. 
 
2t2 WESTMINSTER AND HAMPTON COURT, 1568. 
 
 who had much at stake, was ruled rather by the influence of the Queen 
 of England than by care for his own dignity. 
 
 Elizabeth, meanwhile, played her part, and was seemingly more 
 mediatress than judge. To Mary, she said, that a Queen so insolently 
 treated could not resume friendly relations with her enemies, and that 
 only an open trial, ending in a full acquittal, could put the seal of 
 silence on the people, by showing the falseness of the charges ; to 
 Moray, that he was bound to prove all he had advanced, or be 
 punished as a slanderer and a rebel.' In this way she fostered the 
 quarrel and rekindled discord between the two sides. Moray prepared 
 to obey, and Mary's commissioners, indignant at such proceedings, 
 declared the Conference ended. Before departing, they protested, in 
 writing, against what might be afterwards done to the prejudice of 
 their Mistress, and although that protest was not received, they 
 withdrew. 
 
 This may perhaps be the right time to tell of those famous 
 documents, to show their origin and the value which ought to be 
 attached to them. It shall be done in a few words. They are twenty 
 in number : eight letters and twelve sonnets, said to be written by Mary 
 to Bothwell. A little reflection reveals all their weakness. According 
 to the historians hostile to Mary Stuart, Bothwell, after her imprison- 
 ment, sent one of his servants, named Dalgleish, to Sir James Balfour, 
 keeper of the castle, for a casket holding letters written to him at 
 various times by Mary Stuart. Sir James Balfour handed over the 
 casket ; but, at the same time, warned the nobles that it might be for 
 their good to have the bearer arrested. The story is most improbable, 
 for, at that period, Balfour had gone over to the side of the Scottish 
 lords, and, through his hatred for Bothwell, tried to make them forget 
 that he had been his friend. It cannot therefore have entered the mind 
 of Bothwell to claim from such a man, letters so compromising, seeing 
 that asking for them was the surest means of bringing them out of the 
 obscurity in which they might perhaps have remained ; and Balfour, on 
 the other hand, would not have given them up if found. Dalgleish, too, 
 the supposed bearer, was hanged as an accomplice in the King's murder, 
 without one word being said about the papers in his examination ; his 
 confessions, however, would have crushed the guilty, Elizabeth wanted 
 to see the poor valet, Nicholas Hubert, so-called Pafi^:^eGause the 
 calumniators asserted that he had served as go-between to Bothwfell and 
 
 1 M. Mignet. Histoire de Marie Stuart, II., 47, 48. 
 
WESTMINSTER AND HAMPTON COURT, 1568. 213 
 
 Mary ; but Moray had him hanged, without trial or judgment, on the 
 very day that EHzabeth was most anxious to see him. When the two 
 factions, previous to the York Conferences, were abusing each other in 
 Scotland, the Queen's enemies put forward a thousand untruths to bring 
 her into discredit. Why did they not put in the letters to Bothwell, 
 which would have secured for them a signal triumph ? To Elizabeth 
 and her commissioners they showed only a translation in Scotch of 
 those letters ; where then were the originals ? If they existed, why 
 turn them into Scotch for the use of Elizabeth, who always wrote in 
 French to Mary Stuart ? 
 
 Those assuredly are reflections the importance of which every one 
 must see. In so grave an accusation, it is of no use to bring forward 
 writings, unless they are autographs of the person to whom they are 
 attributed. Now, in the case of the Queen of Scots, the writings are 
 of doubtful origin, and the judges saw only the translation of them. 
 The autographs were shown only to a few, if any one ever did see them. 
 It is almost needless to add that those mysterious documents are full of 
 anachronisms and other blunders, which, apart from the doubtfulness of 
 their origin, make them quite indefensible.' 
 
 In spite of the difficulty of persuading people that such letters were 
 authentic, Moray produced them, lest the accusation should fall back 
 upon him. On the 14th of December they were looked into and com- 
 pared, when a report was circulated that they were really Mary Stuart's, 
 although the English commissioners remained undecided, which was 
 almost equivalent to a disbeliefs It might, nevertheless, have been 
 believed, and public opinion, led astray by so bold a statement, might 
 perhaps have turned against the Queen of Scots, had not the Duke of 
 Norfolk, the Earls of Northumberland, Westmoreland, Sussex and 
 Pembroke, Lord Clinton and Lethington himself, one and all espoused 
 the prisoner's cause. ^ 
 
 Mary's commissioners, unable to stay the proceedings, accepted 
 the contest, and Elizabeth, with all her skill, nearly failed in the face 
 of the boldness of their declarations. The Bishop of Ross and Lord 
 Boyd had long sought to hush those scandalous debates. They had 
 again asked that their mistress should be allowed to justify herself at the 
 
 ^ I beg the reader who may be anxious to Queen Mary's own handwriting, but that her 
 
 become edified regarding the value of those enemies said so.'' Th. Robertson's History of 
 
 documents, to read Paragraph iii.. No. i, of Queen Mary, 115, which was never contra- 
 
 Dissertation II. dieted. 
 
 ^ In their despatch to Elizabeth, they said ' Miss Strickland, History of Queen Mary, 
 
 "that there was no other proof of their being VI. 313. 
 
2 14 WESTMINSTER AND HAMPTON COURT, 1568. 
 
 court ; but the Queen of England, as was her wont, fell back on a point 
 of honour, and proposed impracticable means of defence. She wished 
 Mary to justify her conduct by her commissioners at Westminster, by 
 a person of trust, or in presence of a gentleman who should be sent to 
 her at Bolton ; and to induce her to do so, she wrote to her in a plain- 
 tive style, a letter, the mildness of expression in which did not hide the 
 scoffing thought which had suggested it.' 
 
 Elizabeth evidently wanted but one thing : to place Mary at the 
 bar, and then mock her at will. Mary suspected her treacher)', and, in 
 place of denying the charges, openly attacked Moray and his followers. 
 She gave a formal denial to the calumniators, defied them to produce 
 the letters said to be in her handwriting, and flung back upon them- 
 selves the accusation they had dared to bring against her. They 
 accused her of having known beforehand of Darnley's murder, though 
 all of them had plotted it — several even having been the direct authors 
 of it ; they reproached her with having married her husband's murderer, 
 though they had by writing handed her over to Bothwell ; in short, they 
 asserted that Mary was seeking the death of her son, though that son 
 was under the care of the safest man in all Scotland.^ 
 
 The affair of Mary Stuart's marriage with Bothwell was treated 
 with logic and vivacity. " It is," said Mary's commissioners, " the 
 most painful of all the accusations; for these words, 'she has married 
 the murderer of her husband,' simply spoken, produce so violent an 
 impression on the heart of those who hear them while ignorant of the 
 affair, that they do not leave the shadow of a doubt that she consented 
 to the death of her husband. . . . But if those who now blame this 
 marriage have been the promoters of it — if they have forced the will of 
 Her Majesty to condescend to it — if by strong reasonings they have 
 induced her, if by threats they have forced her to contract it — on what 
 grounds do they now wish to try her for a crime of which they them- 
 selves are the authors ? How can they condemn her for a fault which 
 they have advised ? It seems as if we saw before us the old men who 
 accused Susanna. . . . There, read ; those are the letters which 
 Moray wrote on his departure for France. And you, Messieurs the 
 accusers, recognize your writing, recognize your signatures ! " Saying 
 those words, they produced letters from Moray and some of his accom- 
 
 ' It is to be found in Anderson's Collection, Heidis, &c.. Bishop Keith, app. 147. Mary 
 
 IV. ii. 183, 184. Stuart to her commissioners, 19th December : 
 
 " Correspondance diplomatique de la Mothe Prince Labanoff, II. 257. Th. Robertson, 126, 
 
 Fdnelon, I. 92. Extract of the principal 127. 
 
WESTMINSTER AND HAMPTON COURT, 1568. 215 
 
 plices, in which they not only advised Mary to take Bothwell for her 
 husband, but also threatened her with many great annoyances if she 
 refused. They at the same time brought forward the bond of Ainslie, 
 signed by a great number of nobles, which bond proved so fatal to the 
 Queen. " You cannot deny," continued they, " that you have signed 
 those letters ; you cannot disown your seals affixed to this contract. 
 We wish that it might please you to own at the same time the fine 
 praises of Bothwell which you sounded every day to Her Majesty, and 
 the frights and intimidations which you made use of towards her if she 
 did not marry him. She had placed him in your hands, so that justice 
 might be done him : you have declared him innocent, you have saved 
 him from the punishrnent which he deserved, and you have forced the 
 Queen to marry him. And you, unworthy Bishop of Orkney, are you 
 not ashamed to show yourself in such company ? Did not you perform 
 that marriage, in the face of the Holy Church } Did not you unite 
 them ? Did not you give them the nuptial blessing ? Your duty as a 
 bishop was to refuse to celebrate such an alliance. You ought to have 
 done then, what you are doing now ; you would have saved the honour 
 of your mistress and the lives of several gentlemen who died in that 
 quarrel through your silence." ' 
 
 That singular defence produced dismay among the rebel party, by 
 refuting their assertions. Everything was turning against them, just as 
 they fancied themselves masters. Mary, not satisfied with repelling 
 their accusations, attacked them on all the points. She reproached 
 them with the infamy of their conduct, unmasked their designs, and 
 dared to tell them to their faces that they had attacked her person only 
 to rob her of her authority ; that, during the frightful night in which 
 Riccio fell under their blows, they had endangered the life of the unborn 
 son in whom they pretended to take so deep an interest ; that they 
 vainly boasted of having reached power legitimately, as by violence 
 alone they had succeeded in wringing from her the act of abdication." 
 
 A declaration so firm and so pointed needed no reply, so Moray 
 lowered his tone, and proposed to his sister a peaceful settlement. The 
 only condition imposed was that she should ratify the deed of abdication 
 wrested from her at Lochleven. Had Mary been guilty, she had but to 
 yield, to recover her freedom and her reputation, already much tarnished. 
 Her own interest and that of her son, whom they wished to hand over 
 
 1 Blackwood, OEuvres Completes, 611, 612. 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to her commissioners. Labanofif, II. 259 sq. 
 
2i6 WESTMINSTER AND HAMPTON COURT, 1568. 
 
 to Elizabeth,' required that she should make that concession. Knollys 
 sought, by striking terror into her, to make her resign the crown ;^ and 
 Cecil threatened to dishonour her before the Christian princes by 
 publishing her case, if she refused to acknowledge the supremacy of 
 England over Scotland -J but to yield was to confess one's self beaten, 
 and the Queen of Scots was not so cowardly as to sacrifice her honour 
 for life and freedom. " I am resolved to die," wrote she, " rather than 
 yield my crown, and the last word that I shall say in my life shall be 
 that of a Queen of Scotland. . . . My son is not old enough to 
 wield the sceptre ; to lay down the crown in his favour would be to 
 encourage false interpretations. People would not fail to say that, feel- 
 ing myself guilty, and fearing to be accused publicly, I have liked 
 better to pay than to plead. "'* 
 
 The unhappy captive afterwards thought over what might happen 
 at the death of Elizabeth, and what her own situation might be, if her 
 son died before her. " I should be," said she, " in perpetual fear of my 
 life, for he who should be reigning would never be content until he had 
 made himself secure by the death of me and those whom he thought had 
 a better right to reign than he had ; so many like things have happened, 
 that the examples serve me as sufficient warnings to expect nothing 
 less." And she ended her letter with these energetic words, " Better is 
 it to die as a Queen than as a private woman." ^ 
 
 It was clear that nothing could shake the constancy of the Queen of 
 Scots. Elizabeth was beaten, and her pride was so much the more 
 hurt in proportion as womanly jealousy, religious hatred and political 
 reasons urged her to dishonour her rival, and ruin her completely. 
 
 Moray was hardly more satisfied. He had keenly pursued his 
 legitimate Sovereign with all his calumnies, and now he was reaping 
 only hatred from his own party, and the scorn of all the honest people 
 in England. The Duke of Norfolk, whom he had betrayed, avenged 
 himself cruelly. He had roused the people of the north of England, he 
 had united the Catholic families of Scotland, and, unknown to the Regent, 
 had formed a powerful league with them. Norton and Markenfield 
 had arranged to bar Moray's passage into Scotland, and surprise him in 
 
 ' Mary to the Earl of Mar, 17th December "I began,'' writes Knollys, "to strike as great 
 
 1568 : Prince Labanoff, II. 255. Don Frances terror into her as I could." 
 
 d'Alava to Philip II., 4th July 1569 : Teulet, ^ Chalmers' Life of Queen Mary, I. 475. 
 
 V. 49. * Declaration of Mary Stuart, presented by 
 
 ' Knollys to Queen Elizabeth, 26th Decern- her commissioners at the Conferences on the 
 
 ber. Hosack's Defence of Q. Mary, 457. 9th January 1 569. Prince Labanoff, II. 274-275. 
 
 ' Id, ibid, 276, 277. Goodall, II. 301-303. 
 
CONCLUSION OF THE CONFERENCES, 1569. 217 
 
 Yorkshire.' To complete his disgrace, the wretched man had neither 
 money nor the hope of getting any.^ He remained at Kingston, broken 
 down under the weight of his crimes, and dreading equally the English 
 and the Scots. Avenging Justice was close upon his heels ; but he 
 had still many affronts to bear, and many plots to hatch, before his 
 wretched end came. When he sought leave to return to Scotland, 
 the English commissioners granted it. In setting out, however, he 
 had to digest these vexing words, that " thair had bene nathing 
 sufificientlie producit nor schawin be thame aganis the Quene thair 
 Souerane, quhairby the Quene of Ingland sould conceave or tak ony 
 evil opinioun of the Quene hir guid sister, for ony thing zit sene."^ 
 
 To such a state did those shameful doings come. On the loth of 
 January, Elizabeth had the commissioners told, in her name, that the 
 Conferences were ended.'* Mary's innocence was generally acknow- 
 ledged and proclaimed ; Elizabeth herself admitted it.^ The rebels, 
 ashamed of their failure, had sought, by means of single combat with 
 Lord Herries, to conceal from their own eyes, and from those of the 
 public, the poor idea which they had of themselves. " Let all the 
 members of your faction," replied the valiant Lord, " sign the challenge, 
 then I shall name the murderer of Darnley, and throw down the 
 glove." That cool intrepidity awed the rebels, and no one came 
 forward to fight the duel which had been offered : all was lost, even 
 the semblance of honour. ^ 
 
 On the nth, Mary's commissioners, and those of the other side 
 were introduced, at Moray's request, into the Council chamber at 
 Hampton Court, Cecil explaining that Moray and his adherents, being 
 on the point of returning into their country, had wished to be confronted 
 with the Bishop of Ross, Lord Herries and the Abbot of Kilwinning, 
 to learn whether, or not, they persisted in accusing them of the King's 
 murder, and whether they did so in the name of their mistress, or in 
 their own names. Mary's commissioners replied that they had 
 received a formal order to that effect from their mistress, and that they 
 
 1 Murdin's State Papers, 52. Miss Strickland, IV., 218 sq. Hosack, xi.- 
 
 * Melville's Memoirs, 212. xiv., and the append. * 
 
 3 " The form of the answer gevin to the Erie « Melville's Memoirs, 212. Mary to 
 
 of Murray." Goodall, II. 305. Elizabeth, Prince Labanoff, V., 323. 
 
 ■* Goodall, II., 93, sq. Lesley's Nego- « La Mothe Ffeelon. Correspondance 
 
 tiations, Anderson, Vol. III. The Con- Diplomatique, I., 89, 102. Italian Despatch 
 
 ferences at York, etc., Anderson, IV., ii. of Commander Petrucci. Prince Labanoff, 
 
 Craufurd's Memoirs, 75-106. Spottiswoode, VII., 147. The Cartels of Lords Herries and 
 
 n., 93-107. Whitaker, I., 57, 15s, et passim. Lindsay. Bishop Keith, Preface, xii. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 E 
 
2i8 CONCLUSION OF THE CONFERENCES, 1569. 
 
 had shown it to the Queen of England and her Council ; that, as 
 regarded them, despite the information which had reached them 
 about those who had plotted and done the murder, they did not intend 
 to declare whether Moray or his friends had had a hand in it, that they 
 confined themselves, in the mean time, to accuse them, in the name 
 of the Queen, but that they would say, in all conscience, what they 
 knew about it, as soon as their mistress should have named them in 
 private ; and that, so far, they neither acquitted them nor condemned 
 them, more than the Queen had ordered. 
 
 Moray and his party stoutly denied having had any part in the 
 murder, put on an air of indignation, and threatened to go to the 
 Queen at Bolton, and ask her, face to face, whether she persisted in 
 accusing them. One of the commissioners replied that such a step 
 was quite useless, seeing that the Queen had given her opinion in 
 letters signed by her own hand, and sealed with her own seal ; and 
 that he and his colleagues would uphold the charge, according to the 
 command which they had received from her." 
 
 That last proceeding was the crowning point of so many infamous 
 deeds ; for the wronged Moray, instead of going to Elizabeth, as he 
 spoke of doing, took leave of her on the day following the altercation, 
 and did not venture to speak of Bolton.'' 
 
 ^ Extract from Q. Mary's Register, Goodall, II., 307, 309. 
 5 Goodall, II., 309. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1569— 1570. 
 
 MORAY'S FORLORNNESS — ANGER OF THE DUKE OF NORFOLK — THEIR RECONCILIATION — 
 THE RETURN OF THE REGENT TO SCOTLAND — THE DUKE OF CHATELLERAUT IS 
 ARRESTED AT YORK AND THEN RELEASED — MARY IS TRANSFERRED TO TUTBURY — 
 MORAY'S TREASON — THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND — LEAGUE OF THE NOBLES AGAINST 
 CECIL IN FAVOUR OF NORFOLK — THE PERTH ASSEMBLY — ELIZABETH'S ANGER — 
 GENERAL DESERTION — NORFOLK'S PLANS REVEALED— ARREST OF NORFOLK — 
 INSURRECTION IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND — DEFEAT OF THE REBELS — ELIZABETH'S 
 REVENGE — LETHINGTON'S TRIAL — MARY STUART IN DANGER — MURDER OF THE 
 REGENT. 
 
 T N the sad debates which I have related, everybody had to suffer, and 
 ■'- everybody beHeved he had a right to complain. The Queen of 
 Scots had been maligned, yet she still had friends ; the Duke of Norfolk 
 had seen himself for a moment compromised ; but he had had the good 
 fortune to get out of the difficulty into which he had been trapped ; the 
 most unfortunate of all those who happened to take part in those affairs, 
 was Moray. He could not regain the good graces of his sister, whom 
 he had slandered, and in the opinion of Elizabeth, and even of his own 
 partisans, he had not gone far enough ; some looked upon him as an 
 ambitious man and a traitor ; others as a coward, and by an unlooked for 
 change, he was himself said to be guilty of the crime with which he had 
 charged his sister. In spite of the good opinion which he held of 
 himself, he despaired of recovering his popularity. To those dangers 
 which touched his fortune, was added a real peril of his life. The 
 Duke of Norfolk had decided on putting him to death as soon as 
 possible, thereby wreaking vengeance on him for his duplicity ; which- 
 ever way the Regent turned, hatred or contempt stared him in the 
 face ; in his eyes indifference would have been a blessing. 
 
 Throckmorton, for humane reasons, skilfully arranged an interview 
 betwixt the Duke and the Regent. Moray apologized for his fault, 
 by blaming his colleagues, promised all that was asked of him, and 
 gave marks of a heartfelt repentance. Perhaps he was acting with 
 frankness ; the Duke of Norfolk was certainly so persuaded. He told 
 
220 MORAY AND NORFOLK, 1569. 
 
 Moray of his plan of wedding the Queen of Scots, and giving his 
 daughter to the young King, and the Regent gladly consented.' 
 
 No doubt in seeing so much condescension, and so much weak- 
 ness in a man who had already betrayed him, Norfolk ought to have 
 been more discreet ; but there is nothing that leads one astray like 
 passion. It seemed to him that everybody ought to be of his opinion, 
 see with his eyes, feel, speak and act like him ; of a frank and loyal 
 disposition, he did not suspect others, and, on that point, he and Mary 
 Stuart very much resembled each other. Excess of confidence 
 on the Duke's part, saved Moray from poverty. He got from 
 Elizabeth, through Norfolk, a large sum of money, which the latter 
 was bound to repay in full, having given himself as security f the 
 Earls and Barons of the North of England were told not to annoy 
 him on his return, and he was thus, against all expectation, enabled 
 quietly to reach Scotland. Before his departure, however, he was 
 guilty of another act of treason. In a conference with Elizabeth, he 
 laid bare Norfolk's plans, and promised to send her by an express, the 
 letters he should receive from the Duke. That fact shows what 
 people ought to think of Moray.^ 
 
 Moray was still in London when the Duke of Chatelleraut arrived 
 there, and besought the Court of England to take from him the Regency, 
 as much on account of his birth as of his ambition. Elizabeth gladly 
 saw the Duke come forward as a competitor. It served her purpose 
 admirably ; for she had now a rival to oppose to Moray, if he did not 
 give way to her, and she could thus keep up division in Scotland, without 
 cost, and ensure the success of her policy. That idea vanished when 
 the Duke of Chatelleraut claimed the Regency as his right, and 
 allowed it to be understood that he would again put Mary on the 
 throne of Scotland."* Far from helping Elizabeth, he was thus going 
 directly against her views ; she declared to him that if he ever dared 
 to meddle with the affairs of Scotland, and take part in any intrigue 
 for replacing the Queen on the throne, he should have reason 
 to repent it.^ 
 
 ' Melville's Memoirs, 214. Blackwood, him against Mary ; nothing can explain his 
 
 Qiuvres Completes, 627. Samuel Jebb, after treatment of Norfolk. 
 
 Camden, affirms that Moray proposed it. ^ Rymer, Acta et foedera, Vol. VI., iv., 
 
 Life of Q. Mary, 190. If the fact be true, 137. Melville's Memoirs, 214. 
 
 there is not in any language an expression ' Melville's Memoirs, 215. 
 
 degrading enough to brand the Regent. The ■" Smolett's History of England, Book v., 
 
 desire of the throne, and the thirst for Chap vi., iig. 
 
 command, explain the ruses employed by > Mary Stuart to la Mothe Fdnelon, (no 
 
 date). Prince Labanoff, II., 320. 
 
ARREST OF CHATELLERAUT, 1569. 221 
 
 After that, Chatelleraut had nothing further to hope for ; in vain 
 he asked leave to visit his Sovereign ; the letter which he wrote to 
 her was intercepted by spies/ and he was himself arrested a few days 
 after in York. At the request of Mary and the French ambassador, 
 he was released/ 
 
 It is not yet known, and probably never will be, whether or not 
 Chatelleraut was acting under some foreign influence, when he took 
 that step ; it is certain, at least, that at the very same period, various 
 projects were being formed in favour of Mary Stuart. Her hand was 
 sought by Philip II., for Don Juan of Austria, while the Duke of 
 Alva, was meditating a descent on England. Elizabeth had to be on 
 her guard, and so she sent Mary from Bolton Castle to Tutbury, and 
 afterwards to Wingfield.^ 
 
 That measure showed that Elizabeth's resolution was to keep the 
 Queen of Scots prisoner.'' Nothing, however, could have justified such 
 severity ; for she had not been condemned at the Conferences of York or 
 Westminster. Elizabeth had no right to keep her longer. To cloak 
 her tyranny, she complained of certain proclamations issued in Scotland 
 by the partisans of the former rule. Mary, on her journey, learned the 
 reasons given by Elizabeth. " I swear to you," wrote she to her from 
 Ripon, " that as regards the proclamations, none of my commissioners 
 has ever heard of them, nor have I myself ever seen the contents."^ 
 The Queen reached Tutbury Castle on the 3rd of February. 
 
 By Moray's treason, the smouldering embers of strife were 
 rekindled. The Duke of Norfolk, relying on the Regent's pledged 
 word to live with him on friendly terms, and work in concert for 
 the alliance which they had settled, wrote him several letters, not 
 knowing that he was betrayed to Elizabeth. The letters were sent to 
 London ; the Duke found himself compromised, and Mary's end was 
 made nearer. Unfortunate events sometimes become more unfortunate, 
 from the circumstances which accompany them. The ill-will of man, 
 quick in heaping evil upon evil, ascribed absurd projects to the Queen 
 and the Duke. The position of the two, while giving grounds for the 
 strange rumours was a powerful help to their enemies, and favoured 
 
 1 Sussex to Cecil, 8th February. State Fenelon, I., 195, 214 sq. Prince Labanoff, 
 
 Paper Office. Mary Q. of Scots, Vol. II., 280. 
 
 III. ' Queen Elizabeth to Moray, 20th Sept., 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to Elizabeth, loth February, 1568. And Moray to Q. Elizabeth 28th. 
 
 1569. Prince Labanoff, II., 302. State Paper Office. 
 
 ^ Correspondance diplomatique de la Mothe ° Mary Stuart to Elizabeth, 27th January 
 
 1569. Prince Labanoff, II., 288. 
 
222 DISORDER IN SCOTLAND, 1569. 
 
 suspicions. Elizabeth saw in it a serious threat ; the jeerers and 
 pamphleteers who had already attributed to the Queen of Scots 
 feelings worse than thoughtless, saw in it a new proof of her incon- 
 stancy ; no one considered that in resigning herself to a new alliance, 
 she consulted only the good of the state, of her people and of her son.' 
 
 Disorder was rife in Scotland ; the several parties were keenly 
 fighting for the mastery. The Scots who were faithful to the Queen, 
 had grouped themselves around the Duke of Chatelleraut ; those who 
 had escaped death at Langside rallied to begin the war anew. Their 
 Queen a prisoner, the thought of having to hand over her son to the 
 English, and the need to wipe out the memory of past defeats, all 
 those things roused their courage. Scotland was stirring, and it was 
 hard to tell what might result. The rumours, which came from 
 France, encouraged the Catholics and irritated the Protestants, and, 
 to all appearances, the battle of Jarnac was about to have its counter- 
 part in Scotland.^ 
 
 In circumstances so critical, the Regent recovered his energy ; 
 and the firmness of his conduct again raised him in public opinion. 
 He had a great advantage over his adversaries, inasmuch as it was 
 his good fortune to have at his command thoroughly drilled troops ; 
 whilst the Catholics, without preparation, had to muster from all 
 the corners of Scotland. Although weak, and composed of men who 
 did not know one another, yet that army was to be dreaded ; 
 religion bound those strange bands together, and made up for discipline. 
 To allow them to unite, in the hope of crushing them all at once, was 
 to risk being beaten. Moray saw that, and hurried towards Glasgow. 
 The Duke of Chatelleraut, surprised before he could place himself 
 upon the defensive, was obliged to acknowledge the authority of 
 the young King, and hand over hostages ; ^ Lord Herries also sur- 
 rendered, and the northern clans saw their lands ravaged. Moray's power 
 was re-established ; and it would have remained firm, if the Regent 
 had not, on mere suspicions and heedless of his own word, gone beyond 
 
 1 The King of France wrote to his puisse conduire A quelque bon effect, etc." 
 
 ambassador on the 27th July 1569: "Je Supplement a la correspondance diplom. de 
 
 vous prie, Monsieur de la Mothe Fdnelon, la Mothe F&elon, 35, 40; 53. " Le due de 
 
 que dextrement, comme de vous-mesme, et Lorraine et mon cousin le Cardinal de Lorraine 
 
 sans faire cognoistre en fagon du monde que y presteront leur consentement." Letter of 
 
 je vous en aye rien escript, vous fassids tout Catherine de Mddicis to la Mothe F($nelon 
 
 ce qu'il vous sera possible sour faire trouver ibid, 57. ' 
 
 bon le diet managed la dicteRoyned'Escosse, ^^ Correspondance diplomatique de la 
 
 et le favorisiez tant, par toutz las bons moyens Mothe Fenelon, I., 40, 232. Camden, I. 156 
 que vous pourres trouver de par delld, qu'il se = Corresp. diplom., I., 300, 328. ' ' 
 
LEAGUE AGAINST CECIL, 1569. 223 
 
 the limits of justice and prudence, by imprisoning the Duke of Chatelle- 
 raut and Lord Herries, in Edinburgh Castle.' That blow, it is true, 
 intimidated Argyll ; but it offended the Catholics, and for the time gave 
 Huntly more power."" The Earl kept the field as long as he could, 
 hoping each day to receive help from France or Spain. That vain 
 hope prolonged the struggle, and enraged the Regent. When Huntly 
 in his turn fell, the reprisals were most bloody. Moray led his army 
 through the provinces, which were up in arms, to quell the insurrection, 
 and dazzle them by the splendour of his power. He allowed his soldiers 
 to pillage, as a reward for their labours ; whence arose unheard of vexa- 
 tions, excessive taxes, confiscation of property, burning of houses, im- 
 prisonment, murder, and all the miseries of an invasion, so much the 
 more ferocious as it was made by fellow-countrymen. " The like," says 
 Lesley, " was never used in anie time paste, since that Realme was 
 first inhabited ; " ^ and Moray, as if not satisfied with punishing those 
 of the fallen party, wished also, in that indecent triumph, to insult all that 
 Scotland had venerated. He condemned four priests to be hanged, and 
 some poor women, whose whole crime apparently consisted in praying 
 to God after the old manner, to be burnt alive for witchcraft.'' 
 
 A Court cabal had nearly as great influence as that war on the affairs 
 of Scotland. The Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of Northampton, and 
 the Earls of Arundel, Pembroke and Derby, jealous of the power which 
 Cecil enjoyed, leagued themselves against him. The Earl of Leicester 
 became one of the conspirators, and was charged to accuse Cecil, in pre- 
 sence of Elizabeth, with wishing to break with the Netherlands, and engage 
 England in a struggle as hazardous as it might be costly. Opposing 
 interests urged the lords to sustain the accusation. No one, until 
 then had had the boldness to attack the all-powerful minister ; but once 
 the accusation was made, all England joined the conspiracy, and worked 
 for its success. The humbled nobility ; the persecuted Catholics ; Mary 
 Stuart's friends, a long time abused, then deceived ; the merchants, 
 
 1 Herries' Memoirs, 113, sq. Mary Stuart to chose du diet due, sinon qu'il conduyra sa 
 
 la Mothe F&elon, i8th April. — Prince La- teste jusques au poteau plus tost qu'il recog- 
 
 banofif, II., 322. Correspondance diplom. de la noisse autre pour son souverain que la Royne, 
 
 Mothe Fdnelon, I. 369. According to that am- sa Mestresse." — Corresp. diplom., I., 369, 370. 
 
 bassador, Chatelleraut was put into prison for 2 Corresp. diplom., I., 378 ; Prince Laban- 
 
 having broken his word, and having refused to off, II., 337. 
 
 recognise the young King :" Le Comte de Mora, ^ J. Lesley's Negotiations. — Anderson, III., 
 
 frustrd de son espdrance, recourut aulx men- 44. 
 
 asses et en fin les fist constituer prisonniers * Diurnal of Occur., 145 ; Craufurd's Me- 
 
 (Chatelleraut and Herries) et mettre dans le moirs, 113. 
 chateau ; mais il n'a peu encores tirer autre 
 
2 24 LEAGUE AGAINST CECIL, 1569. 
 
 ruined through his fault ; his very friends, dreading for themselves the 
 snares which the crafty minister had lately used for their advantage, now- 
 hoped for his ruin. Even the Queen herself, misled by Leicester, 
 feigned to be of the same opinion. Those rivalries, jealousies, and 
 hatreds broke out at once, and Cecil saw himself suddenly on the brink 
 of ruin. During his long administration he had foreseen all and foiled 
 all ; the Queen's enemies, and his own, had been made powerless ; this 
 time his usual shrewdness was at fault, and the hour of his fall seemed 
 to be nigh.' 
 
 Resistance and silence were for him full of dangers ; on the one 
 hand he must have been overwhelmed, on the other removed from 
 power. It was in that difficult crisis that this skilful man gave proof 
 of the greatest craftiness. Instead of braving the angry storm, he kept 
 as much as he could in the background, and even went over to the camp 
 of his enemies. He granted the truth of the opinions of his adversaries, 
 seemed to side with them in their views, lavished praises upon them, 
 and was the first to act ; in a word, he behaved with so much prudence 
 that he led the party which had been formed to ruin him.'' 
 
 Meanwhile men's minds were restless, and the position of the Queen 
 of Scots seemed peculiar and unsettled. Elizabeth would not speak 
 out. An attempt at reconciliation was made in the month of May, but 
 the parties could not come to an understanding. Moray hindered the 
 plans, protesting his desire to be relieved of the Regency.^ The league 
 of Norfolk and the English nobles was strengthened by those delays 
 and obstacles. The skilful conduct equalled the boldness of the plan : 
 for Norfolk publicly rejected the hand of the Queen of Scots ; and 
 while every step taken in secret led him towards his aim, he proposed 
 Leicester and his brother, Henry Howard, one after the other, in the 
 hope of eluding Elizabeth's vigilance. At last, begged and entreated 
 by the Bishop of Ross, Wood, secretary to Moray, and the Earls 
 of Arundel, Leicester and Pembroke, he gave a formal consent."^ 
 
 The Regent had favoured that alliance as long as he saw its exe- 
 cution impossible or distant ; when he was forced to act, he hesitated, 
 and, without undertaking anything directly against Norfolk, roused the 
 
 1 Note to Catherine de Mddicis. — Correspon- * The Lords of Council wrote to Mary to 
 
 dance diplom. de la Mothe Fdnelon, I., 258- have her consent. — Corresp. diplom., II., 313, 
 
 262. III., 24. The Bishop of Ross, who with good 
 
 " Camdeni Historia, i., 152. reason suspected Moray, had at first refused 
 
 ' Lesley's Negotiations. — Anderson's Col- to have anything to do with it. — Lesley's 
 
 lection, III., 49. Negotiations, 39. 
 
THE PERTH ASSEMBLY, 1569. 225 
 
 Presbyterians to resistance. Intrigue was progressing. Elizabeth, 
 informed of what was going on, perhaps by Leicester, certainly by Wood ' 
 and Moray,^ allowed matters to take their course. From the remotest 
 part of Denmark, Bothwell had signified his consent to a divorce, and 
 Mary and Norfolk had pledged their words.^ The Earls of Arundel, 
 Derby, Pembroke, Shrewsbury, Bedford, Southampton, Northumber- 
 land, Sussex and Westmoreland, Lord Lumley, Throckmorton and 
 Gerard Rolstone, mindful of the disorders brought about by the war of 
 the Roses, and dreading to see like horrors at the death of Elizabeth, 
 favoured the projected alliance.* 
 
 Such was the state of affairs when the Scottish parliament, com- 
 posed of friends and enemies of the Queen, met at Perth. During 
 several sittings, that assembly was one of most grievous discord. 
 Elizabeth had proposed various lines of conduct towards Mary Stuart : 
 the first was to restore the Queen in the fulness of her authority ; the 
 second, to make her share the throne with her son ; and the last, to treat 
 her as a private lady, with a pension suited to her rank. The first two 
 proposals were set aside without discussion ; the third was taken into 
 consideration.^ 
 
 The question of the Queen's divorce from Bothwell gave rise to a 
 violent debate. Lethington supported it by showing that such an act 
 would prejudice neither the King nor the Church. The Clerk Register, 
 Makgill, rose and spoke with the utmost violence. Lethington by no 
 means expected that resistance, for, at the outset, the Presbyterians had 
 protested against the Queen's marriage with Bothwell, and Makgill was 
 Presbyterian ; so he replied harshly to the furious speech of the Clerk 
 Register that it " was strange to think how they that, not many months 
 passed, seemed to desire nothing more than the Queen's separation 
 from Bothwell, should now, when it was offered, decline the same." 
 The treasurer, Richardson, added to the confusion by exclaiming, out 
 of order, and without having got leave to speak, that Lethington was 
 wrong, that his speech attacked the King's authority, and that whosoever 
 expressed such sentiments, deserved to be disgraced and cursed as a 
 traitor. The members were getting excited ; each formed an opinion, 
 and supported it resolutely, when the opposite view was put forward by 
 his adversaries. Personal rivalries added bitterness to the general fury. 
 
 I Lesley's Negotiat, 72. ^ Corresp. diplom., II., 194. 
 
 ^ Moray to Cecil, 22d Oct., yth and 19th * Lesley's Negotiat., 55, 98 ; Camdeni His- 
 
 Nov. ; to Elizabeth, 22d and 29th Oct. — State toria, i., 158. 
 
 Paper Office. '^ M.Mignet,Histoirede Marie Stuart, II.,86. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 ¥ 
 
226 THE PERTH ASSEMBLY, 1569. 
 
 " It was answered again with warmth, ' That if the Queen was so earnest 
 in the divorce, she? might write to the King of Denmark, and desire him 
 to do justice upon Bothwell for the murder of the King her husband. 
 That done, the divorce would not be needful, and she freed to marry 
 where and when she pleased.'"' Quiet had fled ; the assembly separated 
 in disorder, leaving the fate of the Queen of Scots undecided. 
 
 Mary had hoped for great things from that parliament ; but its doings 
 caused her great grief. Persecution still followed her : the captive was 
 no longer free to correspond with any one ; her commissioners were 
 watched and their letters seized.^ She had to do with fewer servants, 
 and those who left, were not allowed to choose their place of abode ; 
 they were forcibly taken to the Borders, where they ran the risk of being 
 hanged. 3 Mary was accused of having assigned to the Duke d'Anjou 
 her rights to the English throne ; * and that groundless statement had 
 found believers. = In vain did Mary protest that she had made no 
 arrangement with the Duke d'Anjou to the prejudice of the Queen 
 of England ; she was not listened to ; but they refused to believe in 
 her sincerity, and only by testimonial letters from the Court of France, 
 was Elizabeth at length pacified.* 
 
 Mary's captivity became more and more painful, and no political 
 reason could excuse the infamies which she was made to undergo. " I 
 entreat you," she wrote to the French ambassador, " to have pity on a 
 poor prisoner, who, though guiltless, fears for her life ; if I remain here 
 for a time, I shall lose not only my kingdom, but also my life." ' " What 
 thing more worthy of compassion," she again wrote, " than that from 
 being happy, as I could call myself, I should now have fallen to these 
 depths of misfortune ; and what destiny more worthy of tears, than that 
 from the freedom of the past, I should have become a slave in the power 
 of my enemies."^ She was shut up, without news from France, and ever 
 
 1 Spottiswoode, II., 115, 116; Herries' 15th May 1569. — Prince Labanoff, II., 348, sq.; 
 
 Memoirs, 116; Corresp. diplom., II., 204, Corresp. diplom., I., 412. 
 205 ; Samuel Jebb, 204. '^ Declaration of the King of France and of 
 
 ^ Queen Elizabeth to Shrewsbury, 25th the Duke d'Anjou. — Corresp. diplom. de la 
 
 Sept. 1569. — State Paper Office ; Mary Queen Mothe Ffeelon, I., 431, 433. 
 of Scots, iv., and various letters of Mary '' Mary Stuart to la Mothe Ffeelon, 2Sth 
 
 Stuart; Prince Labanofif, II., 311, 331, Sept. 1569.— Prince Labanoff, II., 382. 
 380. 8 "Qual cosa si puo veder piii degna di com- 
 
 " Mary Stuart to Elizabeth, ist Oct. 1569.— passione. che di beata ch'io poteva chiamarmi, 
 
 Prince Labanoff, II., 383. vedermi hora caduta in tanta infelicita ! Qual 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., I., 412; Prince Labanoff, cosa h piii degna da piangersi che di libera 
 
 IL, 348, sq., 377. ch'io mi trovava, esser divenuta serva, et in 
 
 Mary Stuart to the Council of England, mano del nemico?"— Mary Stuart to Pope 
 
 Pius v.. Prince Labanoff, VII., 20. 
 
 a 
 
ELIZABETH'S ANGER, 1569. 227 
 
 annoyed by prying visitors, and measures as hard as they were hateful." 
 " I have been forbidden to go out," she wrote to her terrible rival ; " I 
 am in terror of my life, for they have come and searched my coffers, 
 have entered my chamber with pistols and arms, accused my servants, 
 searched them, and kept them in custody." ^ It will now be readily 
 seen that Mary regretted she had not leave to ransom herself.^ 
 
 Elizabeth thought she was justified in being severe. The rumour 
 that Norfolk was betrothed to the Queen of Scots was spreading ; and 
 although there was no proof, it seemed likely to cause trouble. With 
 plotters, idlers and evil-doers, it was the only topic of conversation. 
 
 With the view, perhaps,* of quieting Elizabeth, and shielding the 
 Duke of Norfolk from her anger, Leicester took upon himself to lay the 
 whole affair before his mistress. The Court being at Tichfield, he pre- 
 tended to be ill, and went to bed. Elizabeth was grieved at it, for she 
 was very fond of Leicester. Wishing to know for herself if the patient 
 was seriously ill, she went to see him in his room. Leicester seemed 
 put out by this visit, a thing very unusual with the Earl in presence of 
 his Sovereign. The liberties he took with her were a secret to no one, 
 and their wonted doings were those rather of a husband and wife than 
 of a queen and her subject.^ Elizabeth asked him why he was put out, 
 and forthwith the Duke of Norfolk's plans were revealed. The Queen 
 sent for Norfolk, spoke to him of his marriage, told him of her displeasure 
 in severe and harsh words,^ and reminded him of what he had said on his 
 return from the York Conferences : " I love to slepe uppon a saft pillow."' 
 
 The Bishop of Ross having, meanwhile, come to solicit Mary's 
 release, Elizabeth answered him that the Queen of Scots had better 
 keep quiet, if she did not wish to have those in whom she trusted 
 brought to the block. ^ 
 
 To make ready for action, Elizabeth sent George Carey to Scotland 
 to ask the Regent what she ought to think of the conspiracy. The 
 Regent gladly replied ; moreover, he was base enough to give up the 
 documents which he held from Norfolk, and reveal what had been done 
 
 ^ Blackwood, GEuvres Completes, 629. that he was of some importance only by his 
 
 'Mary Stuart to Elizabeth, ist October excessive famiharity with the Queen :" por la 
 
 1569. — Prince Labanoff, II., 384. mucha privanza que con la Reina tiene ;" that 
 
 3 Mary to EHzabeth, ist Oct. and loth Nov. he was a vicious and rapacious man "hombre 
 
 — Prince Labanoff, II., 385, 391. liviano y codicioso." — Teulet, V., 47. 
 
 ' "Aulcuns estiment qu'ilz avoient ainsy ° La Mothe Fdnelon, Corresp. diplom., II., 
 
 prins le party du diet due, pour mieulx des- 236. 
 
 couvrir son faict et puys le luy traverser." — ' Samuel Jebb, Life of Queen Mary, 206. 
 
 Corresp. diplom., II., 272. ^ Camdeni Historia, i., 163. 
 
 ^ Don Guerau de Espes said of Leicester 
 
228 NORFOLK'S PLANS REVEALED, 1569. 
 
 towards the marriage. That discovery increased the anger of EHzabeth, 
 who was at length unable to bridle her temper. Reserved on every 
 other occasion, cunning and clever at putting others on the wrong 
 track, according to the remark of a historian,' towards the Queen of 
 Scots only, she could not hide her rage. She spoke of her in shameless 
 terms in presence of the foreign ambassadors, heedless of her own 
 honour, and uttering many terrible threats.' 
 
 Norfolk was frightened, and dreading an interview alike painful to 
 both parties, followed the advice which he received on the subject, and 
 secretly leaving the court, withdrew to his estates.^ That rich lord, 
 although capable of ambition, was not born for intrigue ; gentle, affable 
 and kind, he was worshipped by his vassals. He had but to say the 
 word, and a large army was ready to take the field with him against 
 Elizabeth : but he would not do so, choosing to live quietly amid his 
 vast estates. 
 
 The thought of his greatness, and the wish to keep his rank or per- 
 haps rise higher, drew him back to the court. He wrote to his friends, 
 begging them to intercede with Elizabeth to give him a friendly 
 welcome, and he set out, against the advice of the French ambas- 
 sador.-* He was met at St Alban's by one Fitzgarret, and taken 
 to Burnham, near Windsor, where he had to undergo several 
 examinations. He defended himself so well that, "on the com- 
 missioners relating his good replies to the said Lady (Elizabeth), 
 she showed herself by no means pleased that they wished to excuse 
 him, and said to them many things which proceeded from a much 
 offended heart ; even when one of them went so far as to say that, 
 according to the laws of the country, they found him guilty of nothing, 
 ' Go,' said she to them, ' what the laws cannot do for his head, my 
 authority shall make possible.' Then she got into so great a rage that 
 she fainted, and vinegar and other remedies had to be used."^ Norfolk's 
 coffers were opened, his papers seized, and he was confined in the 
 Tower, in a small room without light, the same which his father had 
 occupied up till the time of his execution.^ 
 
 All who had had dealings with the Duke were questioned. The 
 Bishop of Ross was degraded, and Leicester acquitted ; Arundel, 
 Lumley, Pembroke and Throckmorton were put under arrest in their own 
 
 > Smolett's History, Book v., chap. vi. lection of State Papers from Original Letters, 
 
 ■■^ Corresp. diplom., II., 169; Smolett, loc. 528 sq. ; Camdeni Historia, i., 164. 
 cit. = Corresp. diplom. II., 302. 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., II., 248. " Corresp. diplom., II., 336. 
 
 * Corresp. diplom., II., 261 ; Haynes' Col- 
 
MARY REMOVED TO COVENTRY, 1569. 229 
 
 dwellings ;' Ridolphi, the agent of Cosmo I., Grand Duke of Tuscany, 
 was detained in Walsingham's house ; the Earl of Northumberland 
 and that of Westmoreland were closely watched. A long discussion 
 took place as to what ought to be done with the Queen of Scots. She 
 was young and beautiful ; she had fallen from a lofty station ; and, from 
 her place of captivity, she could sow the seeds of revolt in England. 
 Those who gained her presence were won over by the elegance of her 
 manners and the charms of her conversation ; " the Catholics, from 
 higher grounds, viewed her misfortunes as the result of her creed, 
 and proclaimed her a martyr to her religion, while all of them hated 
 the heartless Elizabeth. 
 
 That love for the Queen of Scots often showed itself; noble lords 
 of brilliant prospects offering to draw the sword, and shed their blood to 
 avenge her woes. The days of chivalry had returned. Mary Stuart 
 was, in the eyes of all, an accomplished Princess, the more winning as 
 she was wretchedly unfortunate, though at the same time innocent ; 
 and, but for the prudent counsels that Norfolk gave her, she would 
 likely have accepted the offers of her cavaliers. ^ 
 
 That movement made the English government more watchful. Mary 
 was removed to Coventry, where, as at Tutbury, she had for keeper her 
 deadly enemy the Earl of Huntingdon, a man who, through his preten- 
 sions to the throne was of a stern and implacable nature. He had private 
 orders to put the dangerous captive to death, if there should be need.* 
 
 1 Corresp. diplom., II., 257, 259, 303. trahyssent et prennent le party de la Royne 
 
 " Elizabeth owned how seductive her rival d'Escosse centre elle.'' — Corresp. diplom., 11., 
 
 was when she asked " Maistre Mildmay," who 125. When, in 1586, Mary's papers were 
 
 was to proceed to Mary, " S'il ne se lairroit seized, several letters were found " necnon 
 
 point gaigner k elle comme les aultres, qui quorundam Anglise Procerum ad illam literae 
 
 I'avoient veue ; dont il tomba en ung merveil- amoris et officii plenissimse." — Camdeni His- 
 
 leux doubte que le voyage luy fut pernicieux, toria, i., 442. " She has withal an allur- 
 
 et escripvit dez lors k ung sien amy qu'il ing grace," wrote one of Elizabeth's agents a 
 
 s'en excuseroit." — Corresp. diplom., III., 335. year before, "a pretty Scottish speech, and a 
 
 "Elizabeth," says Sir Walter Scott, in his Bio- searching wit, clouded with mildnes. Fame 
 
 graphical Memoir of Sir Ralph Sadler, "seems might move some to relieve her ; and glory, 
 
 to have involuntarily attributed such fascina- joined to gain, might stir others to venture 
 
 tion to her rival, that she suspected the fidelity much for her sake." Mr White to Cecil, 
 
 of all who came within the reach of her printed in Haynes' Collection, 510. 
 
 attraction." — Biograph. Mem., xxviii. Joseph * Corresp. diplom., II., 246. Lesley's Nego- 
 
 Riccio wrote to Joseph Lutini, "Pigliate guar- tiations, 78. Camden, 169. A letter from 
 
 diavoichelaconoscete,pigliateguardiachenon Leicester, published by Tytler, states that at 
 
 Vabuzzi delle sue parole, come voi sapete bene." the period of the Northumberland revolt, Mary 
 
 — Tytler's Proofs and Illustrations, III., 411. was condemned to death. "You know the 
 
 ^ " Vray est," says la Mothe Fdnelon, Great Seal of England was sent then, and 
 
 " qu'elle (Elizabeth) commangoit k cognoistre thought just and meet, upon the sudden, for 
 
 que les siens mesmes, et ses plus obliges, la her execution." — Proofs and lUust., III., 419. 
 
230 INSURRECTION IN THE NORTH, 1569. 
 
 Those measures prevented her escape ;* but they could not prevent a 
 rising. Mary had sent secret messages to the Earls of Northumberland 
 and Westmoreland ; by them she secured as adherents, Lord Dacres, 
 Egremont Ratcliffe (brother of Sussex), and roused Norton, Markenfield, 
 and Tempest, all strong and courageous men, glad to draw their swords 
 for so just a cause/ The revolt was planned in a short time. Sussex was 
 told of it, but the affair had been so skilfully arranged, that he could not 
 make sure about the truth of the reports then current. He sent for the 
 two Earls, on whom the gravest suspicion lay, and overwhelrned them 
 with questions, without discovering anything on which he could act. 
 At the same time, Elizabeth intercepted the despatches of the ambas- 
 sadors of France and Spain,^ and charged Ralph Sadler to watch 
 Sussex himself'* A vast system of espionage was established, even the 
 house of the Earl of Westmoreland was watched, Captain Styrley having 
 introduced himself under friendly guise. It was clear that the con- 
 spirators were waiting for their opportunity. Elizabeth, though watch- 
 ful, was wondering what importance ought to be assigned to that vague 
 enterprise. A trifle hurried on the revolt. 
 
 Just as Northumberland thought he was sure of the Duke of Alva's 
 aid, he was told that the enemy was coming up to surround his house, 
 and take him prisoner. As usually happens with the guilty, Northum- 
 berland did not take time to find out if the reports were correct ; he 
 mounted his horse and galloped to Branspeth, where his friend the Earl 
 of Westmoreland dwelt. He found him in the midst of his vassals, 
 wondering and debating what was best to be done. That hurried on the 
 revolution. The standard was raised, and the peasants hastened to obey 
 the call of their chiefs. 
 
 On taking the field, the chiefs issued a proclamation wherein they 
 stated that they were loyal to Queen Elizabeth. They said they 
 wished only to be free to practise their religion, which was being cruelly 
 persecuted,^ to get rid of the dangerous advisers of the Queen, and 
 restore freedom to Norfolk and the other peers.^ They numbered four 
 
 ^ Memorias de la real academia de la histo- ger k coup d'espde par la teste, I'ont porte par 
 
 ria, Tome VII. Apuntamientos para la historia terre, tout foU^ aulx pieds de leurs chevaulx, et 
 
 del Rey don Felipe II., 342. luy ont demand^ incontinent les lettres de 
 
 2 Sadler's Papers, II., 78. France, puys les luy ayant ostfes, Font garottd 
 
 3 The arrest of la Mothe Fdnelon's envoy, et attach^ k ung arbre, et I'ont laissd Ik." — 
 had all the appearances of an assassination. Corresp. diplom., II., 256. 
 
 "A trois mille de la mayson de Lord Coban," ' Sadler's Papers, II., 90. 
 
 says the ambassador, "au passaige d'ung bois, ° Corresp. diplom., II., 278, 279. 
 
 quelques ungs, montez k I'advantaige, ayantz « Corresp. diplom., IL,375,424sq. ; Haynes' 
 
 les visages couvertz, mais non tant que Fung Coll., 564 sq. ; Apuntamientos, 343, 344. 
 
 d'eulx n'ayt est^ recogneu, le sont venuz char- 
 
INSURRECTION IN THE NORTH, 1569. 231 
 
 thousand infantry and six hundred horse, and their forces were becoming 
 larger every hour. 
 
 They seized Durham, and there burned the English bibles and the 
 books of prayers, erected a crucifix in the cathedral, and had mass cele- 
 brated with Catholic pomp.' They then sent five hundred horse to 
 force Tutbury Castle and release Mary ; but she was already at 
 Coventry, and so, much precious time was lost." The rebels then fell 
 back upon York, hoping to take it by surprise ; but their enterprise failed, 
 and that failure damped their spirits. ^ The Duke of Alba had promised 
 to join them ; they trusted to his word, but got no aid from him. 
 Norfolk, for whom they fought, from his prison, advised them to desist.* 
 They succeeded, nevertheless, in seizing Barnard Castle, after ten days' 
 siege, and their troops became more hopeful. But the expedition had 
 been carried on too slowly ; Elizabeth had had time to send against 
 them troops superior in number and discipline.' They dispersed at the 
 approach of Admiral Clinton, and in their retreat they fled past 
 Hexham, without even trying to re-form. The rout was soon complete.^ 
 The Earl of Westmoreland, Ratcliffe, Norton, Markenfield and the 
 principal rebels, hastened to cross the border, and, after brief visits paid 
 to several chieftains, among them the Lairds of Buccleuch and Ferny - 
 hirst, they went over to the continent. Less fortunate than his com- 
 panions in arms, the Earl of Northumberland, sold to Moray by Hector 
 Armstrong, was shut up at Lochleven. His wife was robbed of her 
 riches and infamously treated ; forced to flee from one place to another, 
 she arrived by night at Hume Castle, where she was welcomed with 
 the respect due to her rank and her misfortunes.' 
 
 That serious insurrection was followed by a revenge, which was taken 
 less for the evils done than for the dread which had been inspired. In 
 the diocese of Durham more than three hundred men perished by 
 torture ; every village had its victims. A number of innocent men, 
 afraid to appeal, were put to death along with the guilty.* 
 
 Leonard Dacres, after supporting the Queen of England conscien- 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., II., 348, 362 ; Smolett's ' Cabala, 169-171 ; Sadler's Papers, II., 100, 
 
 History, Book v., Chap. vL, No. 54. no, in ; Corresp. diplom., II., 379 — III., 8, 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., II., 377. 15,22; Camdeni Historia, 166, 167; Bishop 
 
 3 Corresp. diplom., II., 384 sq., 417. Lesley's Negotiations, 83 ; Diurnal of Occur., 
 
 * Prince Labanoff, II., 400; Corresp. diplom., 154. 
 
 II., 422, 423. ^ Lesley's Negotiat., 82 ; Camden, 170 ; 
 
 ' Corresp. diplom., II., 400. Sadler's Papers, II., 82, note ; Corresp. di- 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., Communiqud dela Reine plom., III., 21 ; Prince Labanoff, III., i. 
 Elizabeth, II., 426, 427. 
 
232 DEFEAT OF THE REBELS, 1570. 
 
 tiously,' passed over to the enemy at the end of the insurrection. He 
 kept up the struggle with remarkable boldness. The cruelty of the 
 conquerors forced him to hold out, it being better for him to die sword 
 in hand, than share the fate of so many wretched beings who had been 
 hanged or beheaded. He had at first intended to get Lord Scrope and 
 the Bishop of Carlisle out of the way, by attacking them one after the 
 other : unable to do so, he fell back on the Castles of Naworth and 
 Greystock, and took possession of the domains which formerly belonged 
 to his family. His successes terrified those in Berwickshire who 
 thought of defending themselves. It was to be feared that the insurrec- 
 tion, scarcely stifled, might suddenly burst forth again. The vanquished 
 might regain courage ; and it was important to check those beginnings. 
 Hunsdon took the field with the Berwick garrison, and attacked the 
 rebels ; the engagement taking place on the banks of the little river 
 Gelt. The fight was long and fierce, and the slaughter great. Lord 
 Dacres, who escaped with difficulty, went to Louvain, where he died an 
 obscure death, unworthy of his rank.° Rebellion is at all times hateful, 
 but the tyranny and injustice of Elizabeth towards the Catholics, and par- 
 ticularly towards Mary Stuart, were so notorious and unbearable that the 
 rebels received rather pity than opprobrium from their contemporaries.^ 
 
 While those events were taking place, Moray was hastening to his 
 ruin, owing to imprudence and ingratitude. His fall may be dated from 
 the Perth assembly, in which he had, as enemies, all those to whom he 
 would not listen. Lethington boldly placed himself at the head of the 
 malcontents, and began the strife ; but finding himself almost alone and 
 powerless, and his friends being afraid to speak out, he quietly betook 
 himself to the residence of the Earl of Athol. His sudden departure 
 roused suspicion, and his silence alarmed the Regent, who ordered him 
 to come into Council, and do the duties of Secretary. Lethington at 
 once came but was arrested as an accomplice in the King's murder.* 
 
 All of the opposition dreaded the same for themselves. Lethington 
 had, by his tact and skill, become, in Scotland, a match for the Regent; 
 no one could deny his talent, or the services he had rendered to the 
 state. Moray gathered his friends together round the King, while 
 Lethington sheltered the malcontents behind the Queen, and thus gave 
 his side, which would otherwise have been but a modest party, a 
 standard to follow, and a conviction of their importance.^ The Queen's 
 
 1 Corresp. diplom., II., 386. * Diurnal of Occur., 149, 158. Corresp. 
 
 2 Corresp. diplom., III., 67. diplom., II., 242. 
 
 '' Tytler, III., 325 ; Camden, I., 171. 5 Corresp. diplom., 11. , 279 ; III., 45, 52. 
 
LETHINGTON'S TRIAL, 1569. 233 
 
 name was put forward only to cover the rivalries between one person 
 and another, and increase the number of the malcontents. It is likely 
 that Lethington did not seriously think of bringing her back to Scot- 
 land. He had spoken for the alliance with Norfolk, and had boasted 
 of its advantages to Elizabeth ;" but, in all that, he appears to have had 
 no other aim than to get the chance of playing a part, and to regain the 
 prominent position he held, before the Regent threw him into the back- 
 ground. Kirkaldy, however, took advantage of the pretext offered him 
 to release Lethington, by force, from the hands of those who held him 
 prisoner, promising to give him up, on the day of trial. At dawn the 
 streets were filled with soldiers, and patrols were sent to the quarters 
 most distrusted, while Kirkaldy watched the movement from the citadel. 
 The fear of some bloody fight made the hearts of all beat more quickly. 
 The frightened Regent did not show face, and, although that day had 
 been fixed for the trial of Lethington, neither judges nor officers of 
 any kind were to be seen.° 
 
 The scene caused some amusement as well as anger. The 
 Regent had on his side the people of the towns, and the creatures 
 attached to his fortune. The nobility, whom he had betrayed or 
 oppressed, . rebelled, and believed the moment of deliverance had 
 come. It is befitting to do this justice to Moray, that, if during his 
 administration, disorders and villanies were rife, there was also some 
 good done, and that the mass of the Scots gained, by enjoying peace, 
 what had been lost in freedom. ^ Some men, weak or unnerved, were 
 satisfied with that condition of things, but the nobles could not resign 
 themselves to it. They accused the Regent of treason towards Mary 
 Stuart, perfidy towards Norfolk, violence to Chatelleraut, disloyalty 
 to the hero of the moment, Lethington, the Secretary, in short, of 
 cringing to Elizabeth. That charge, touching the national honour, 
 roused the indignation of the Scots. The National antipathies, already 
 greatly embittered by the misfortunes of the amiable Mary, woke up 
 again quivering, and the blows which the Regent' tried to strike to 
 scare those with whom he had to deal, provoked laughter ; people 
 wondered that he, a slave to the Court of England, should show 
 himself so haughty in Scotland : threats but badly hide weakness. 
 
 Moray was supported only by the Presbyterian Church, of which 
 he was the most influential member. The Presbyterians had con- 
 
 1 Mackenzie, the Writers of the Scotch Memoir of Secretary Maitland, III., 580 sq. 
 Nation, III., 228. Lingard, V., v. Tytler, III., 314. Memoirs of Kirkaldy, 214, 
 
 2 Diurnal of Occur., 149, 151. Chalmers' sq. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 G 
 
234 MARY STUART IN DANGER, 1569. 
 
 fidence in him ; and he requited it, by trusting solely in them. That 
 alliance was good enough in time of peace ; but under the new and diffi- 
 cult state of affairs such support was insufficient, and, of course, useless. 
 They now opened their eyes to the danger, and saw around them adver- 
 saries ready to crush them, and peaceful men, who though unwilling to 
 fight just then, were secretly attached to the old faith, and ready, any day, 
 to become aggressors. Those hidden enemies formed the mass of the 
 nation ;" and that mass was kept in a ferment by the many lords whom 
 Moray had estranged. People had soon become disgusted with his 
 government, and no longer took the trouble to hide it ; it was talked 
 pf openly, and Moray, blinded by the pride of power, surrounded himself 
 with flatterers and cheats, to stifle, under lying flattery, the great voice 
 pf public opinion. From that there arose a general discontent.'' The 
 only way to check that movement, and hinder a restoration, was to get 
 rid of the legitimate sovereign. That extreme measure, which would 
 have scared the boldest politicians, could not deter men accustomed to 
 blood ; they all, to a man, grasped at it. Morton, Mar, Glencairn, 
 Marshall, Montrose, Lindsay, Ruthven and Sempill, asked it from 
 Elizabeth ; Moray offered to give up the Earl of Northumberland 
 in exchange,' and Knox pleaded with Cecil in support of the request. 
 They pledged themselves to respect the life of her who had been their 
 Queen, to treat her in a manner befitting her rank, and to make it 
 impossible for her to disturb the island.'* Divine justice did not 
 allow that hypocritical claim to have any success : Moray had lived 
 long enough, and was about to end a life beset with dangers.* 
 
 By his orders, the estates of those who fought at Langside had 
 been confiscated : no one had objected, as those reprisals were usual in 
 Scotland. The property of women was always respected. Taking no 
 part in wars, they were likewise placed beyond the reach of vengeance. 
 Moray did not believe himself bound to act with that mildness towards 
 
 1 " Multo major meliorque populi pars again." " It appears to me," writes the 
 
 Reginffi semper adhaesit." A. Blackwood, judicious Tytler, " that the expressions of this 
 
 Pro regibus Apologia. Chap, ii., 18. Corresp. great Reformer, whose stern spirit was little 
 
 diplom. 11. , 279. softened by age, go as far as to urge the 
 
 ^ Melville's Memoirs, 220. necessity of putting Mary to death ; but his 
 
 3 Lesley's Negotiat, 83. Balfour's Annales, words are somewhat dark and enigmatical." 
 
 I., 349- Tytler's History, III., 318. That is also my 
 
 * Tytler, III., 317, 318. feeling. That ferocious letter ends with this 
 
 ^ Knox, more frank than the rest, pledged burlesque signature : " John Knox with his 
 
 himself to protect neither life nor honour : one foot in the grave." I also, admit with 
 
 " If ye strike not at the root,'' wrote he, " the Tytler that that is " remarkable." 
 
 branches that appear to be broken will bud 
 
MURDER OF REGENT MORAY, 1570. 235 
 
 James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh. He sent Bellenden, the Justice 
 Clerk, his favourite, with a company of soldiers, to take possession of 
 Woodhouselee, belonging to the wife of James Hamilton. The soldiers 
 invaded the domain, and drove out the gentle lady. The unfortunate 
 woman, who had , been confined the day before, fled half naked into 
 a wood, wandered there the whole night, and was found mad the 
 following day.^ Hamilton tried several times to take revenge, but 
 failed ; he did not, however, lose courage, and chose his time better. 
 
 On the 23rd of January, as Moray, on his way from Stirling to 
 Edinburgh, was going through the small town of Linlithgow, James 
 Hamilton stationed himself in his uncle's house, closed its gates so that 
 no one should be able to pursue him, left a gate open for himself, and 
 his horse saddled. When the shouts of the crowd announced the 
 approach of the Regent, he placed himself in the recess of a window, 
 and patiently awaited his enemy. Moray advanced on horseback 
 along the main street of Linlithgow ; the crowds who thronged on his 
 passage, slackened his progress. Hamilton waited until he was within 
 reach, took good aim and fired, and the Regent, pierced by four bullets, 
 died that same evening.'' 
 
 The enraged multitude rushed to the house ; the doors were 
 broken open ; but only a few poor servants were found. Hamilton 
 of Bothwellhaugh was already far off in the plain. 
 
 Thus perished Moray, a man born with many talents, and having a 
 grand career to run, if, instead of engaging in plots, he had supported his 
 unfortunate sister. He had the energy,, courage and skill needed to 
 rule the nobility and defend the throne ; but he abused those natural gifts, 
 and social disorder followed. To him must be attributed those misfor- 
 tunes which cost Mary Stuart so many tears, and yet that good Princess 
 wept for him as a sister weeps for her brother; she forgot the outrages 
 which she, a Queen and relative, had received from him, and remembered 
 only to be compassionate. " I had rather," said she sobbing, " that he 
 had lived and repented, than gone hence so ignominiously."^ The multi- 
 
 1 Craufurd's Memoirs, 124. Samuel Jebb, affectioun, pitty and compassion by teares and 
 
 Life of Q. Mary, 216. weepinge, wyshinge rather that he should have 
 
 ^ Diurnal of Occur. 156. Corresp. diplom. lived and acknowledged his offences toward 
 III., 39. M. Teulet maintains that Hamilton his Prince and countrie, and so to have con- 
 acted thus only to be revenged " for the inter- tinued with honor then to have departed in 
 course which Moray had had with his wife." such ignominous manner." Lesley's Negotiat., 
 There was no need of being a palseographic 87. She wrote a letter of condolence almost 
 archivist to imagine such a reason. in the same terms to the Countess of Moray, 
 
 ^ " Shee could not abstaine to utter her published in Miss Strickland, V., 62. 
 
236 DEATH OF MORAY, 1570. 
 
 tude was much moved by his tragic death, and called him " the good 
 Regent ;" with what justice he was so called, it is hard to tell. Suffice 
 it to say that Elizabeth, on learning his death, exclaimed, with 
 sadness, that she had lost her best friend.' Moray mistook the part 
 which Providence had assigned him ; he perished a victim to his false 
 deeds, which were hurtful even after his death. 
 
 ' " II n'est pas k croire combien la dicte repos, et en a prins ung si grand ennuy que le 
 
 Dame (Elizabeth) a vifvement senty la mort Comte de Lestre (Leicester) a est^ contrainct 
 
 du diet de Mora : pour la quelle s'estant de luy dire qu'elle faisoit tort k sa grandeur de 
 
 enfermee dans sa chambre, elle a escry^, monstrer que sa seurt^ et celle de son estat 
 
 avecques larmes, qu'elle avoit perdu le meilleur eussent k ddpendre d'ung homme seul." — 
 
 et le plus utille amy qu'elle eut au monde, Instructions to Sr De Jos. Corresp. diplom. 
 
 pour I'ayder k se meintenir et conserver en III., 54. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1570—1571- 
 
 DISTURBANCES AFTER THE REGENT'S MURDER— RISING OF MARY STUART'S PARTY — DISORDER 
 IN EDINBURGH — LETTER FROM THE NOBLES TO ELIZABETH — CONDUCT OF KIRKALDY — 
 ENGLISH INVASION — ROBERT PITCAIRN IN LONDON — EXCOMMUNICATION OF ELIZABETH 
 — EXECUTION OF FELTON — MANY CATHOLICS LEAVE THE COUNTRY — MARY STUART'S 
 RELATIONS WITH ELIZABETH — ADMINISTRATION OF LENNOX — BUCHANAN APPOINTED 
 TUTOR TO JAMES VI. — JOHN KNOX'S INVECTIVES — NORFOLK'S PROJECTS— THE TAKING 
 OF DUNBARTON CASTLE — DEATH OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF ST ANDREWS — THE TWO 
 PARLIAMENTS — ELIZABETH'S ANXIETY — HER RELATIONS WITH FRANCE — CAPTURE OF 
 CHESEIN — MARY STUART'S PROJECTS — THE TAKING OF STIRLING — DEATH OF LENNOX. 
 
 'T^HE Regent's death was the signal for general anarchy. Whilst, 
 -L among the Scots, some regretted his death," the rest gave them- 
 selves up to the fullest joy. That event undoubtedly brought on a 
 civil war. Both parties were bitterly enraged ; and people nearly for- 
 got to bury him who, two days before, had met with such a hearty 
 welcome at Linlithgow. The Queen's friends were now in better 
 hope, and, in their imprudent enthusiasm, gloried in a crime in which 
 they had taken no part. Those opposed to her, murmured and were 
 enraged, and, with the aid of England, sought to form anew the faction 
 of the young King.' 
 
 Bolder than their fellow-countrymen, the Border lords had taken up 
 arms ; and already Scott of Buccleuch and Ker of Fernyhirst, the first 
 to cross into England, had pillaged the North of that country.' In 
 Edinburgh the disorder grew greater daily. The question was : Ought a 
 new Regent to be chosen ? but the parties, in their hatred of each other, 
 could not come to an understanding. Elizabeth had sent Randolph to sow 
 the seeds'* of discord in the capital ; but his presence there was needless ; 
 
 1 Christophe Guidman called him "the floure ' Registrum Honoris de Morton, No. xlv., 48. 
 
 of Scotland, the crowne of nobilitie, the pillar Cf. No. Iv., 56. 
 
 of peace, the patrone of a godlie governement, ^ Bannat. Memor., 4; Spottiswoode, II. 
 
 and sign of Godis favour." The assassin is 122. 
 
 qualified as "unnatural monster, enemie of * Corresp. diplom., III., 35; Diurnal of 
 
 God and his countrey, and fuUie possessit with Occur., 157, 161. 
 Sathan." — Bannat. Memor., 2i. 
 
238 LETTER OF THE NOBLES TO ELIZABETH, 1570. 
 
 for the bitterness of feeling was so keen, and the pubHc mind so greatly- 
 upset, that it would have been impossible to make their hate deeper. It 
 is not that in those terrible quarrels some friendly voices did not arise to 
 preach peace and union, but when passions, a long time kept in check, 
 have once broken forth, time must be given them to calm down : to 
 oppose them would be to risk wreck and ruin. Kirkaldy did not cease, 
 meanwhile, to make wonderful efforts to calm the public minds, and 
 bring about a reconciliation betwixt the two parties. Sincerely attached 
 to the King, that generous man had not forsaken the Queen, but still 
 kept alive in his heart the hope of making the interests of mother and 
 son the same.' 
 
 He strengthened his party by setting Lethington free, and soon 
 after Lord Herries, the Duke of Chatelleraut and several other de- 
 fenders of Mary Stuart.^ From that time his leanings were openly 
 shown ; and the least skilful could see that if ever Kirkaldy triumphed, 
 the Queen should be free. 
 
 On the 1 6th of April the Queen's lords, despairing of peace between 
 the two sides so opposed, wrote to the Queen of England a letter full 
 of deep sadness : " The fyre (has) kindled in our houses," said they ; 
 " Christiane charitie will allow, nather policie permit, that quhairas we 
 requyre water at your handis to repres the rage of the flamb, you will 
 bring oyle, timber, and vther materiales, to incres and incres it; for so 
 doing with our lose of the lest, ye sail procure to your self the subuer- 
 sioune of moir. Your Maiestie is nocht ignorant how this estate is 
 dividit in factiones, not only the persones of the nobilitie, but, discend- 
 ing from them, the gentlement and commones vniversallie, in the whole 
 leiges ; and not so inequallie divydit that the ane so over far to over- 
 matche the other, but the victorie most be doubtfull, gif materis be 
 brocht ones to that pairt, that force most trie whois querrell is best. 
 The factiounes ar groundit vpoun the diversitie of the two tytles pre- 
 tendit to the Crowne be the mother and the sone, a pitiful caus, God 
 knows ! . . . And it is probable that sa lang as thair is tuo fac- 
 tiounes at home, nather factioune laike mentenance abread, but sail find 
 some prince or foren potentate, who be his countenance will feid the 
 meamore. . . . It is profitable for your Maiestie that strangeris haue 
 no pretensit culloure whairfoir to enter in this Yle, or to set force on dry 
 land so neir your Maiesties cuntrie ; It is honorable for your Maiestie to 
 set at ane accord the tuo persones which are maid the parteis, being your 
 
 1 Corresp. diplom., III., 117. 
 
 ^ Sadler's Papers, II., 114; Diurnal of Occur., 167, 171. 
 
CONDUCT OF KIRKALDY, 1570. 239 
 
 nixt cousingis, and most tender to you be bloud ; It is easie to your 
 Maiestie to bring it to pass, alsweill for your credite and auctoritie with 
 all the parties, as that the principall partie is in your realme . . . for 
 our opinione, we sie ho more convenient meanes to reduce this realme 
 to uniformitie, and consequentlie to procure the quyetnes of the whole 
 YIe, then that your Maiestie will enter with the Quenis hienes of Scot- 
 land in sic conditiones as may be honourable for all parteis, suire for 
 your Maiestie, safe for the Nobilitie of this realme, and apeirand to 
 continow the godlie amitie betwixt the two realmes, which is most 
 commodious for both." ' 
 
 Conciliation came neither from without nor from within; yet Kirkaldy 
 never broke with his adversaries ; his design was to gain time, and give 
 neither explanation nor satisfaction as to the damages done by the 
 Border lords in their inroads into England. He hoped that the English 
 Cabinet would blame all Scotland for the ravages committed by those 
 undisciplined men, and that the common danger would again bring the 
 Scots under one standard. That arrangement was not wanting in 
 skill, but, instead of attacking the whole country, the English demands 
 referred merely to the ravagers. Elizabeth even offered her troops to 
 the one who should hold the reins of government, to aid him in chastis- 
 ing those fierce warriors. Justice was not done to those complaints, and 
 war became necessary. 
 
 The factions still struggled with one another when the English neared 
 the Borders of Scotland. Rumour told great things of the men and the 
 equipment of the army. Elizabeth had lavished upon it all her cares, 
 and had amply furnished it with provisions of all kinds.^ Public opinion 
 was worked upon by the sight of the danger, and the people ran to arms.^ 
 The English threatened Scotland from three points. Sussex, about the 
 middle of April, was at Berwick, Sir John Forster at Carlisle, and Lord 
 Scrope in the Western Marches.'' The damage done by the English 
 troops was very great : the estates of the Lairds of Fernyhirst and 
 Buccleuch were ravaged; their houses taken and destroyed. Everything 
 was put to fire and sword in those luckless places.^ The dread of the 
 fires kindled by the English, and the swiftness of their progress, weakened 
 the courage of the Scots. Hume Castle surrendered without any show of 
 
 1 Divers Lords of Scotland to Q. Elizabeth, ' Corresp. diplom., III., 128. 
 
 i6tli April 1570. — State Paper Office. Banna- ■* Corresp. diplom., III., 139. 
 
 tyne places this letter at the end of March of = Diurnal of Occur., 170, sq. ; Corresp. 
 
 the same year. — 23, sq. diplom.. III., 140. Cf. Sadler's Papers, II., 
 
 s Corresp. diplom.. III., 1 11, 113, 117. 83, 149, sq. 
 
240 ENGLISH INVASION, 1570. 
 
 resistance ; fifty others were razed to the ground, and about three 
 hundred villages entirely burnt.' It was easy to follow the track of the 
 English soldiers by the ruin which they had left on their path. Behind 
 them the country was waste, and Sussex, happy at having pacified the 
 country by making it uninhabitable, advanced towards Glasgow. 
 The Queen's partisans scattered at his approach, and withdrew 
 to the mountains ; Drury took advantage of that retreat to pounce on 
 the Hamilton estates, and destroy the castle of that name.'' Lord 
 Scrope was less fortunate : incessantly harassed by bands that rushed 
 upon him, suddenly attacked him, and then retreated, he with diffi- 
 culty, in spite of his great personal bravery, upheld his honour. ^ 
 
 The King's partisans opposed the invaders only with feeble efforts ; 
 instead even of defending their national independence, they preferred to 
 place themselves under the high patronage of Elizabeth. They sent to 
 her, Robert Pitcairn, abbot of Dunfermline, and bade him entreat her to 
 use her influence and power towards withdrawing them from the state of 
 anarchy which had so long kept them apart. Elizabeth received their 
 deputation with words seemingly very disinterested. She replied that 
 she had thought it strange that since Moray's death she had received 
 no information regarding the affairs of Scotland ; her ignorance on the 
 subject had forced her, she said, to be silent ; she willingly consented 
 to take the part of mediatress, seeing that the matter was referred to her 
 arbitration, on condition that the Scots should abstain from all violence, 
 and leave the affairs as they were, until they had been enquired into 
 by means of a peaceful understanding.* Discord could not be more 
 surely fomented. That reply disconcerted the nobles who longed to 
 be done with the thing, and created new embarrassments for them. 
 They were obliged to appoint, temporarily, the Earl of Lennox as 
 Governor of the Kingdom. 
 
 Elizabeth, besides, had sufficient anxieties in her own country, with- 
 out making new enemies abroad by a hasty decision. She had been 
 excommunicated on the 25th of February ; but her vigilance had been so 
 
 1 A note of a Journey into Tividale by the fiamma, molti castelli et bellissime chiese sono 
 
 Earl of Sussex : " It is conceived by such as state ruinate fino da i fondamenti." Mary 
 
 know the enemies' part of Tividale that there Stuart to Pope Pius V. — Prince Labanoff, VII., 
 
 is razed, overthrovcn, and burnt in this journey, 21. 
 
 above fifty castles or piles, and above 300 ^ Diurnal of Occur., 177; Murdin's Papers, 
 
 villages." — Cabala, 175. " La mia patria hoggi 769. 
 
 di si trova involta in tante calamita, et dissipata ' Corresp. diplom., III., 140, 151. 
 
 et abattuta da tante correrie de gh Inglesi, che ■" Spottiswoode, II., 133, 134. 
 molte e molte ville sono state poste k fuoco et 
 
FELTON, 1570. 241 
 
 great, that no one in England had heard of it. On the 15th of May, 
 at daybreak the Bull was found to be posted on the door of the Bishop of 
 London. The scandal was enormous ; and, although exempt by schism 
 and heresy from obedience to Rome, all England, and the Queen chiefly, 
 experienced a feeling of anger and dread.' The most scrupulous search 
 was made to discover the guilty one. The act was a very daring one, 
 and it was well-nigh impossible to find him who had been so rashly bold. 
 A copy of the Bull was at last discovered in the room of a student of 
 Lincoln College. Astonishment gave way to fury ; evidently it was not 
 a young man to whom the thought had occurred. Tortures were used 
 to get at the truth, and the quivering lips of the sufferer gave the name 
 of Felton. 
 
 Felton was a gentleman who owned large estates in the neighbour- 
 hood of Southwark. He had become very energetic from daily struggles 
 in favour of Catholicism. He seemed neither sad nor anxious when he 
 was arrested ; but he confessed his guilt, taking upon himself all the 
 blame, and glorying in it. Put to the torture, he remained dumb. He 
 met attentions and torments without the least concern. Condemned 
 to death, he proclaimed himself a martyr to the Pope's supremacy. 
 The gibbet had been erected in front of the door upon which the Bull 
 had been posted. Felton reached the place of execution without 
 growing pale, cast a look of indifference o>n the door of the Bishop's 
 palace, and seemed busy with serious reflections. He was thinking 
 of Elizabeth. Notwithstanding his ardent proselytism, Felton was at 
 heart deeply attached to his country ; and was anxious at that supreme 
 moment to prove his devotedness to his Queen. He took from his 
 finger a diamond ring worth four hundred pounds, handed it to the 
 Earl of Sussex, and asked him to offer it to Elizabeth from him. 
 Then, having placed himself at t];ie disposal of the executioner, he died 
 nobly,'' on the 8th of August. 
 
 Desertion began then with persecution. Several Catholics of distinc- 
 tion were put in the Tower ; Lord Morley, son-in-law of the Earl of 
 Derby, took to flight and sought refuge at Dunkirk. His departure had 
 an unfortunate effect ; it was generally thought that he scrupled to 
 acknowledge Elizabeth after the publication of the Bull. It is, however, 
 more likely that Lord Morley fled so hurriedly only to avoid the pro- 
 
 > " On I'a incontinent ost^e," writes la Mothe ^ Camden, i., i86; Corresp. diplom., III., 
 
 Fdnelon,"mais pour donner entendre aupeuple 273; Balfour's Annales, I. 352; Lingard, 
 que c'est quelque aultre chose, Ton a imprim^ V., v. 
 un aultre placart." — Corresp. diplom., III., 173. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 H 
 
2 42 MARY AND ELIZABETH, 1570. 
 
 ceedings threatened for assisting at Catholic mass, in defiance of the 
 tyrannical act of Uniformity.' 
 
 An insurrection was to be feared, and Elizabeth had too much sense 
 to conceal it from herself. Her long experience of affairs made her more 
 fit than any one else to appreciate the situation. She thought she could 
 not avoid the danger, but by coming to terms with Mary Stuart, and 
 expressed her intentions to Sussex and Randolph, who knew better 
 than others the leaning of men's minds in Scotland.^ In taking that 
 resolution, was she acting with sincerity ? Or rather, had she not in 
 view, to calm the minds and gain ground, by putting off her decision in 
 a cause which interested the whole island ? It would be hard to say ; 
 but this much is certain : that Mary saw in it no hidden thought, and that 
 she willingly consented to all that was asked. Matters seemed likely 
 to settle down to peace ; for everybody felt the need of it. It was 
 partly that need which caused Lennox to be accepted as Regent, 
 against the wishes of several who reproached him with being a sworn 
 Englishman.^ 
 
 To hasten the decision of the question pending in London as to 
 Queen Mary's restoration, Lethington wrote to the Earl of Sussex a 
 letter, in which he blamed Elizabeth for duplicity, and for the detaining 
 the Queen of Scots a prisoner against all rights. That was intolerable. 
 He received a reply which likely freed him from the trouble of renewing 
 his request. The Earl told him bluntly, " that the Queen of Scots was 
 brought to captivity by him and his faction, and not by the Queen of 
 England. He asked him by what doctrine can he think that the causes 
 of their conduct were just then and are unjust now, or that the subjects 
 may depose or set up Princes as the sailor alters the course of his ship ? 
 He may, as the old fathers did, revocare errores suos, but he must con- 
 fess them to be errors, and not defend them to be no errors; he may 
 think it no absurdity that a thing should be considered ill to-day which 
 was good yesterday ; and they may think in Scotland that the deposing 
 and setting up of princes are indifferent matters, but in other places 
 they will be taken for great absurdities and grievous errors. The prin- 
 cipal persons in the matter are the same, and the causes are the same. 
 As to his former conduct to the Queen, he leaves it to his conscience ; 
 perhaps he dealt openly on one side, and secretly on the other. But 
 
 ' Corresp. diplom., III., 197; Hallam's Con- dolph, 31st May, State Paper Office; Corresp. 
 stitut. Histor)', I., 185, 186. diplom.. III. passim, 245, 253, 278. 
 
 ^ Q. Elizabeth's letters to Sussex and to Ran- ^ " Englishman-sworne." — Bannat. Memor., 
 
 132. 
 
MARY AND ELIZABETH, 1570. 243 
 
 if their wishes, in Scotland, had been compHed with by the Queen 
 of England, greater severity would have been used towards their 
 Sovereign than any one in England would have thought of." ' 
 
 On the I St of October, Elizabeth charged Chatsworth, Cecil and 
 Mildmay to treat in her name with Mary Stuart.^ The negotiation 
 lasted a fortnight, and the English ambassadors were surprised to find 
 in Mary so much prudence and skill. With the exception of a few 
 restrictions, the proposals were admitted without difficulty. The Queen 
 of Scots yielded with good grace to the demands of her position. Yet, 
 equally free from stubbornness and weakness, she did not fail to 
 maintain her rights, heedless of the danger which she might run. 
 
 The second article proposed, gave rise to a sharp discussion. Mary 
 was asked to ratify the treaty of Edinburgh, and renounce her rights to 
 the crown of England during the life of Elizabeth, or of any one of the 
 descendants of the latter. Mary insisted that they should make it her 
 legitimate descendants, and that caused a dispute. Elizabeth would 
 hear of nothing on that head ; she gave as a pretext her honour, 
 not that she was overmindful of it, for she was too intimate with 
 Leicester, though she was well aware people talked about it. It was 
 openly said that she had already had two children by that favourite, 
 and a certain Marsham was condemned to lose his ears for having 
 spoken of it too openly. ^ Those rumours forced Mary to insist upon 
 the legitimacy of the heirs. It was agreed that they should make it, 
 " any issue by any lawful husband." The rest was easily agreed to, 
 and Mary offered to hand over the Prince to Elizabeth, as a pledge of 
 her everlasting attachment."* A conspiracy formed by the Earl of 
 Derby's two sons, to help Mary to escape by one of the windows of the 
 castle,^ and the sickly state of that Princess,^ broke up those happy 
 negotiations. 
 
 Incidents giving rise to great uneasiness were occurring in Scotland, 
 where the base Lennox thought to establish his power by persecuting 
 his adversaries.' He tried, by tyranny, to make the infamy of his past 
 life be forgotten, and after long trembling himself, he wished to see 
 
 1 Earl of Sussex to Lethington, 29th July. — ^ Camden, ii., 187 ; Haynes' Collection, 608 
 
 Abridgment printed in J. Thorpe's Calendar, sq. ; Spottiswoode, II., 139 sq., 154. 
 
 I., 298. " Mary Stuart to the Bishop of Ross. — Prince 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., III., 319, 327, 336. Labanoff, III., 129. 
 
 ' Lodge's Papers, II., 47. ' Craufurd's Memoirs, 151 ; Lesley's Nego- 
 
 * Mary Stuart to EUzabeth, i6th Oct., 1570. tiations, 96. 
 — Prince Labanoff, II., 107. Corresp. diplom., 
 III., 367. 
 
244 KNOX'S INVECTIVES, 1570. 
 
 Others tremble. Mary Stuart had some jewels left ; Lennox, wishing 
 to get hold of them, ill-used, and then imprisoned, those who had them 
 in keeping.' Under his high patronage, and with views as covetous as 
 his own, a set of men gathered together, and brought about the greatest 
 disorders.^ 
 
 To crown outrage, and shock all decency, Buchanan, the foul 
 slanderer of the mother, was made tutor to her son and put in the place 
 of honour beside the Prince as a reward for his villany.^ Matters could 
 not go further : madness was rife, honest people were scoffed-at, and none 
 knew in whom to put trust. " You will be unable to believe," wrote 
 Verac to la Mothe F^nelon, " how little we can rely on the 
 people of this country ; and the more I see of them, the more I find 
 that they are not to be trusted, as they would betray their fathers 
 for a few pence."'* Elizabeth, in a way, encouraged the rebels, 
 while her troops laid the country waste on two different occasions.^ 
 Knox had recourse to fierce invectives, which spread terror 
 among the Queen's friends. Boldly assailed by them, he lost his 
 temper, and angrily exclaimed, " That I have called her an obstinate 
 Idolatrice, one that consented to the Murder of her own Husband, and 
 one that has committed Whoredom and villainous Adultery, I gladly 
 grant and never minds to deny : But Railing and Sedition they are 
 never able to prove in me, till that first they compel Esai, yeremie, and 
 Ezechiel, St Paul, and others, to recant ; of whom I have learned 
 plainly and boldly to call Wickedness by its own Terms, — a Fig, a Fig, 
 and a Spade, a Spade. 
 
 "If she be innocent of any of the Crimes laid to her Charge by me, 
 then may I be accused as a Railer ; but if their own Consciences bear 
 Witness to them that she is guilty in all the afore-named and every one 
 of them, and in many moe, let them study how they shall be absolved 
 before God, who threatens to cast Jesabel in a Bed, and them that 
 commit Fornication with her, in great Affliction, except they repent. 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to the Bishop of Ross, 24th that Buchanan, as a man, appears worse 
 
 November, 1570. — Prince Labanoff, III., than the worst, and that, as a historian of 
 
 125. Mary, he scarcely deserves the title of novelist. 
 
 ^ Various letters of Q. Mary to the Bishop of The chronicler, Francis Boteville or Thin 
 
 Ross. — Prince Labanoff, III., I2i, 163. blushes to give his opinion of such a man. 
 
 3 Mary Stuart to la Mothe F&elon.— Prince HoUinshed's Cronicles, App., ii., 476. 
 Labanoff, III., 201. The contemporaries de- * V&ac to la Mothe Fdnelon, 20th August, 
 
 pict him under the most gloomy colours. Crau- — Teulet, II., 416. 
 
 furd says pitiable things of him in the preface ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- 
 
 to his Memoirs, and relates a number of far go w, 7th January, 1571. — Prince Labanoff III. 
 
 trom flattering testimonies; it results therefrom 157. Corresp. diplom.. Ill, 294, 304. 
 
KNOX'S INVECTIVES, 1570. 245 
 
 How many flattered her when she raged in her Iniquity, under the 
 Cloak of Authority, some within this Realme, and within this same 
 City, understand ; but how that God, the just Judge, hath overthrown 
 her Pride, and disappointed their false flattering Promises, the whole 
 World can witness ; and yet they will not cease, but still will maintain 
 her as she were an Innocent, and unjustly handled of her Subjects. Let 
 her and her Maintainers complain upon God, who made her chief 
 Flatterers her chiefest Enemies. 
 
 " Now to the rest of my Accusations : I pray not for her ; I answer, 
 I am not bound to pray for her in this Place, for Sovereign to me she is 
 not. I prayed till I was forbidden, but this Manner of speaking the 
 World knows not. They term her their Sovereign, and themselves the 
 Nobility and Subjects professing her Obedience. In this they confess 
 themselves Traitors, and so am not I bound to answer them, nor yet 
 their Accusation, till that they give Answer to my Peremptor. 
 
 " As to the Imprecations made against her whereof I am accused, 
 I have willingly confessed, that I have desired, and in my Heart desire, 
 that God, of his Mercy, for the Comfort of his pure Flock within this 
 Realme, will oppone his Power to her Pride, and confound her and her 
 Flatterers and Assisters in their Impiety. I praise my God, he of his 
 Mercy has not disappointed me of my just Prayer, let them call it 
 Imprecation or Execration as it pleases them. It has oftner than once 
 striken, and shall strike, in Despite of Man, maintain and defend her 
 whoso list. 
 
 " I am further accused that I speak of their Sovereign, (mine she is 
 not) as that she were a Reprobate, affirming that she cannot repent ; 
 whereto I answer, that the Accuser is a Calumniator, and a manifest 
 Liar, for he is never able to prove that at any Time I have said that 
 she could not repent ; but I have said, and yet say, that Pride and 
 Repentance abide not in one Heart of any long Continuance. 
 
 " What Title she has, or ever had to this Realm, and to the Autho- 
 rity thereof, I list not to enter in Contention. How she was dejected 
 from it, let the Estates answer. 
 
 " What I have spoken against the Adultery, against the Murthers, 
 against the Pride, and against the Idolatry of that wicked Woman, I 
 spake not as one that entred in God's secret Counsel, but being one, of 
 God's great Mercy, called to preach, according to his blessed Will, 
 revealed in his holy Word, have oftner than once pronounced the 
 Threatenings of his Law against such as have been of Counsel, of 
 Knowledge, of Assistance, or Consent, that innocent Blood should be 
 
246 NORFOLK'S PROJECTS, 1570. 
 
 shed."' "No," added he at the end of his apology, "Mary Stuart 
 never was a Queen in my Opinion, and I am sure she is none now ; 
 nor shall I ever be forced against the Light of mine own Conscience, to 
 acknowledge her hereafter instead of our Sovereign the King, since 
 God and the People of this Land have laid her justly aside for her 
 crying Sins." '^ 
 
 Mary, only a little better from 9, dangerous illness, was sorely 
 grieved by those seditious acts, and vainly sought to bring a little quiet 
 to Scotland. She wrote first to the Duke of Alva, and then to the 
 Pope,^ hoping to get some help from them. Encouragement did not 
 fail her, but assistance was not easily got, and then it seldom reached 
 its destination. Norfolk had a detailed memoir handed to the Pope, 
 the King of Spain and the Duke of Alva, telling those illustrious per- 
 sonages in what plight the Catholics of Great Britain were, but was 
 none the better for it."* 
 
 Yet that cause, desperate as it looked, gained numerous partisans even 
 in England. The most of the English lords, influenced by Norfolk, or 
 urged on by their own convictions, had resolved to fight for her ; ^ in so far 
 as Norfolk had the idea of putting himself at their head, to re-establish 
 Catholicism in the two kingdoms.^ That great idea, if carried out, 
 might have spared England many barren strifes. But, through the heed- 
 lessness of some, the cowardice of others, and an amazing amount of 
 laziness which often destroys the best plans, the friends were found 
 wanting. Norfolk was left alone as before, and those fine projects 
 fell to the ground. The Scottish rebels plotted less and dared more. 
 
 Where the Leven falls into the Clyde, in one of the most hilly 
 districts of central Scotland, there rises, from a marshy plain, a rock, 
 isolated in the midst of the flat country that surrounds it ; bare, barren, 
 and steep, battered by the wind and the storm, more than five hundred 
 feet high, and so steep that it seems inaccessible. From whatever 
 side it is looked upon, there is nothing to be seen but blocks of stone 
 heaped on one another, here and there, and overhanging the base 
 of the rock, sometimes more inclined, but never less precipitous : 
 a gigantic wall which seems to reach the sky. That rock has two 
 unequal tops, rounded in the shape of paps, and looks like a sentry 
 
 1 Craufurd's Memoirs, note, 165, 166. ' Out of sixty-four lords, forty were favour- 
 
 ' Craufurd's Memoirs, 167. able, eighteen neutral, and six only were hos- 
 
 ' Instructions given to Ridolfi. — Prince La- tile.— Prince Labanoff, III., 251. 
 
 banoff, III., 221 sq. ' Apuntamientos, 357. 
 ^ Prince Labanoff, III., 234-249. 
 
TAKING OF DUMBARTON CASTLE, 1571. 247 
 
 placed by nature in front of the Highlands to guard them. On that 
 very steep rock there is a castle of poor architecture ; but the position 
 and elevation of it make it very important. One very narrow path, 
 partly hewn out by the hand of man, partly wrought by nature, leads 
 to the fortress. The two paps arc joined by walls, the foundations of 
 which show in several places great antiquity. Nature and genius have 
 done all to strengthen the place ; art nothing to make it beautiful. In 
 former days paltry buildings, built on old and very broad foundations ; 
 now-a-days, elegant little houses, good had they been in the plain, but 
 out of place on that height, degrade the place rather than deck it. 
 Such was, in the sixteenth century, and such is, at present, Dunbarton 
 Castle. Captain Crawford, of Jordan Hill, a very bold man," resolved 
 to take it, and did so without striking a blow. 
 
 From its position, walls, and garrison, the castle was thought im- 
 pregnable, being, along with Edinburgh, the only important place that 
 held out for the Queen. The Clyde, which flowed at the foot of it, 
 made it very useful for the landing of foreign troops : those were so 
 many temptations for one to take it, and so many inducements for the 
 holder to defend it. An old degraded soldier went and offered him- 
 self as a guide to the rebels. The proposal he made to them, to let 
 them into the place without cost, was at first taken coldly ; but as all 
 wa.s to be gained, and nothing lost, by pressing the Castle, they agreed 
 to it, after the deserter had shown his plan of attack. The next day 
 they took with them ladders, ropes and everything needed to scale 
 the rock and walls ; they seized upon the approaches, and in the 
 evening, Crawford left Glasgow at the head of a band of strong and 
 warlike men. He reached Dunbarton three hours after mid-night : 
 there was no moon, and the dark night was made darker by a friendly 
 fog. 
 
 The plan of attack was as strange as the cause which had led to it. 
 The ladders were put up at the steepest place, as it was more than 
 likely the fort would be less guarded in the portion which nature itself 
 defended. The besiegers in their hurry leaned the first ladder against 
 the rock, but it was upset with those upon it. Lest they should have 
 another mischance, Crawford and his guide scaled the height at the risk 
 of their lives. They reached with difficulty a tree which grew in a cleft 
 of the prodigious rock ; they fastened a ladder to it, and the ascent was 
 
 ^ M. Dargaud says of that warrior: "A sacrd (la Bible) avec son poignard." What a 
 la lueur d'une lampe militaire suspendue k writer that M. Dargaud is ! 
 I'un des piliers de sa tente, il feuilletait le livre 
 
248 DEATH OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF ST ANDREWS, 1571. 
 
 begun anew. An unforeseen accident again came to check their pro- 
 gress. A soldier fainted, and lay helpless on the ladder. All those 
 who had not yet gone up stopped. To throw the soldier down would 
 have been barbarous, to step over his body, dangerous : a thought 
 struck them ; they bound him firmly to the ladder, turned it, and went 
 on again. When they had reached a sort of very narrow esplanade, 
 made at the top of the rock by a hollow in the walls, they rested for a 
 while. The day was beginning to dawn : time was precious. They 
 hastened to cross the rampart, and shortly after they were in the fort. 
 
 Silence reigned there, for the garrison was asleep : the besiegers 
 could therefore take breath before beginning the attack. A sentry, 
 hearing the noise which the march of so great a number of men must 
 needs make, announced the danger. The rebels no longer hesitated ; 
 clamour succeeded silence. " Darnley! Darnley! God and the King!" 
 was shouted by one and all of Crawford's band. The alarm was given; 
 the soldiers started up from their sleep : fright seized them, and they 
 fled half naked in all directions, dread preventing them from taking 
 their arms. Confusion was among them, but what was the matter, who 
 were the enemies, or whither they should flee, no one could tell ; the 
 boldest tried to rally and seek for a leader, but finding none, they dis- 
 banded, hid or took to flight. The commander of the castle, more 
 dead than alive at seeing himself in such danger, had quickly gone 
 down the rock, jumped into a boat, and sailed towards Argyllshire, 
 leaving his wife, V6rac, the French ambassador, and the Archbishop of 
 St Andrews, in the hands of the enemy. ' 
 
 When the garrison learned who were attacking and when it knew the 
 state of affairs, it surrendered without resistance, and the besiegers held 
 the citadel. Verac and Lady Fleming were well treated in their captivity ; 
 but the same cannot be said of the Archbishop of St Andrews. That 
 unfortunate man had everything against him ; his title, his attachment to 
 the Queen, his personal merit, and even his name of Hamilton, made him 
 particularly the enemy of Lennox. He died wretchedly in spite of his 
 innocence. Dragged to Stirling, they endeavoured without success to 
 convict him of having had a hand in the murder of the King and the 
 Regent. The proofs brought forward disproved themselves ; but led 
 by passion and the thrist for revenge they condemned him to be hanged 
 and quartered. He is the first bishop of Scotland who died in that 
 
 ' Hemes' Memoirs, 131 sq. ; Craufurd's Memoirs, 173; Diurnal of Occur., 202 sq. ; Bannat. 
 Memor., 104 sq. 
 
THE TWO PARLIAMENTS, 1571. 249 
 
 dishonourable way ; the Regent saw in him a rival, and the Protestants 
 an enemy : that explains his sad fate.' 
 
 The King's party triumphed, and those, who on the Queen's side at 
 first had most confidence, began to doubt. But Edinburgh still held 
 out. The fortress being commanded by the intrepid Kirkaldy, who 
 had strongly espoused the Queen's side after the death of the Regent 
 Moray. The more desperate her cause, the more boldness and stub- 
 bornness he showed in defending it. He had been able to get together 
 a small body of troops, and provision the castle. An attack was expected ; 
 but all was ready for resistance. The mutineers who filled the town 
 had been overpowered and disarmed, the steeple of St. Giles was pro- 
 vided with a battery of cannon, and the gates and ramparts werefortified.'' 
 The Queen's lords having now no other shelter than this, had resolved 
 to defend it to the last. The Duke of Chatelleraut, Huntly, Hume, 
 Herries and several other men of note, joined Kirkaldy with troops 
 who were kept up by the aid of a small subsidy from France. Morton 
 followed them, and went to hold Leith ; each day thenceforth witnessed 
 some skirmish. Edinburgh soon looked like a sacked town ; the out- 
 skirts were ravaged, and the city, placed between the fire of the Castle 
 and that of the besiegers, was riddled with grape shot. The cannon 
 kept belching forth flames, and the balls fired from the two sides were 
 sent into the districts where enemies were thought to be.^ Civil war 
 was within, and the ministers instead of trying to bring about peace, 
 embittered men's minds by refusing to pray for the Queen. 
 
 The reverses were balanced by the victories, and the warlike 
 ardour slackened by degrees ; each of the two factions making use 
 of that lull to hold a Parliament. The King's partisans met in a 
 barn outside of Edinburgh ; the Queen's, in the town where they were 
 masters. They accused each other, each condemning and outlawing the 
 
 • Corresp. diplom., IV., 69. The following His enemies consecrated the two following 
 Latin distich was written on the gibbet on verses to his memory : — ■ 
 
 which he died ; Crevit, ut optabas, ramis felicibus arbos, 
 
 Et fructum nobis te generumque tulit. 
 
 Crescediufelix arbor semperquevireto: j^j^j^ Barclay was right when he Said: 
 
 O utinam semper taha poma feras. , , ^ it- it 
 
 " Nunquam musae dehcatius habent quam 
 On the morrow this other distich was found : cum in Scotos inciderent." 
 
 2 Herries' "Memoirs, 134. 
 infelix pereas arbor; sin forte virebis 3 -phe monster cannon which is now Seen 
 
 In primis utinam carminis auctor eat. ,„,., i^., i^ ,i, 
 
 m Edmburgh Castle, shot on that occasion, 
 
 The latter poet was, it is said, somewhat during two hours and a half, twenty-four 
 
 unfortunate. Condemned to death with his three-hundred-pound balls. It was the largest 
 
 son-in-law, he expired on the same gibbet. gun of the period. It is known by the name 
 
 of Mons Meg. 
 
 VOL. I. -2 1 
 
250 ELIZABETH'S ANXIETY, 1571. 
 
 Other for high treason.' The entire country took up the same line of 
 conduct, and the whole of Scotland was divided into two camps, which, 
 under the name of King's men and Queen's men, made it their business 
 to hate each other. Private hatreds broke out; revenge hid itself 
 under the cloak of religion and of policy that it might gain its ends. 
 Those who spoke the language of good sense and peace had to bear all 
 the anger of the rival factions. As they could not come to an under- 
 standing on either hand, they put off the holding of the parliament till 
 the end of August, and turned their eyes towards England. The 
 scenes which were going on there were somewhat suspicious and scan- 
 dalous ; craft was mingled with violence, and men's minds were excited as 
 much as in Scotland. Great pain is felt in giving such accounts ; an 
 unspeakable melancholy overwhelms the historian who, without malice 
 as well as without indolence, seeks to fathom those stormy times. He 
 meets everywhere headstrong, deep and untamable hatreds, everywhere 
 cunning, perjury and crime : against his will he dreads what may be 
 coming, and is afraid of the St. Bartholomew and those other fierce 
 hates which shed so much blood. 
 
 In England no one was safe. Elizabeth, tired of pleasures and 
 intrigues, had become very mistrustful. Cecil, created Baron Burghley, 
 together with the favourite Leicester and some men of that stamp, 
 had alone the privilege of approaching her without danger, and 
 they, even, were often obliged to put up with the whims of her hasty 
 temper. 
 
 Suspicions of a conspiracy founded upon various documents which 
 had been found, sent Bailly and the Bishop of Ross to prison ; spies 
 were encouraged, so were informers, and tortures were used to wring 
 the truth from poor wretches. The barbarous ages had returned. All 
 Bailly's coolness was required to turn away Elizabeth's anger from 
 Norfolk's head. He asserted that Norfolk had nothing to do with the 
 affair, and, to the very last, declared that the papers seized, touched 
 only Mary and the ambassador of Spain. The Bishop had also to 
 undergo several examinations before Sussex, Burghley, Sadler and 
 Mildmay. He stoutly denied the charge of ingratitude and rebellion, 
 and said that there was no question of Elizabeth in his plans, his sole 
 object being to obtain help in men and money, to defend the Scottish 
 interests of his Sovereign, and beat down the rebels. He was sent 
 
 ■' Diurnal of Occur., 214, 220, 239. Crau- Glasgow, 12th June, III. — 285-293 ; Bannat. 
 furd's Memoirs, 183. Corresp. Diplom. IV., Memor., 141-170; Memoirs of Kirkaldy, 
 iii. Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of xx.-xxiii. 
 
ELIZABETH AND MARY, 1571. 251 
 
 back to prison/ Elizabeth took her revenge by sending aid to those 
 of the Scots who were faithful to England/ and spread the report that 
 the King of France was changing his religion.^ 
 
 That fact shows the degree of deceit which had been reached. It 
 is true that in that respect the Court of France was scarcely more 
 reserved than the English one. The negotiations for the marriage of 
 Elizabeth with the Duke d'Anjou'' had so thoroughly displeased 
 the Prince that he grounded his refusal on the public prostitution of her 
 who was proposed to him for wife.' The result of all that was to 
 do away with any little good feeling which lingered on either side. 
 
 Mary was more calm though not less anxious ; she mourned and 
 pined away, hoping against hope. She knew that Elizabeth coveted 
 Scotland, and feared that, once mistress of that country, she might put 
 the royal family out of the way. It was while under that painful im- 
 pression that she wrote from Sheffield : " I do not fear so much for 
 my life, which I know she would take from me the moment she had 
 secured my kingdom, as for the desolation and ruin of those who are 
 my obedient subjects ; those she would hand over to my traitors and 
 rebels, excited and enraged against them ; my son should be at her 
 mercy, and what might become of him, God alone knows. The regret 
 at seeing before her a legitimate heir to that which, against all divine 
 and human right, she possesses, might bring upon the child treatment 
 as cruel as the mother has suffered. God forbid that the Crown 
 which, for so many centuries, has remained with the blood from which 
 
 ■^ Murdin's Papers, 19-32; 2d Examination, diplom. III., 451. An answer to the exclama- 
 
 31st October, 32-38; 3d Examination, 3d tion of Elizabeth when some one objected to 
 
 Nov. 41-45 ; 4th Examination, 6th Nov. 46-54; her marriage on account of disparity of age : 
 
 5th Examination, 60, 61. The Bishop of Ross " Commant suys-je pas encores pour luy satis- 
 
 to Mary Stuart, 8th Nov., Teulet II., 427 ; faire!" Ibid. 440, cf III., 460 sq. 467, IV., 186, 
 
 Lesley's Diary, Bannat. Club Miscell., III., 196. 
 
 120. ' " Mon fils m'a faict dire par le Roy," 
 
 " Corresp. diplom. IV., 215,244. Marie writes Catherine de M^dicis, "qu'il ne la veut 
 
 Stuart to la Mothe F&elon, 12th June. — jamais espouser, quand bien elle le vouldroit, 
 
 Prince Labanoff III., 282. d'aultant qu'il a tousjours si mal oui parler de 
 
 ' The same to the same, 28th June, Ibid. 295. son honneur et en a veu des lettres escriptes 
 
 * It is curious to read in the CLV. despatch de tous les Ambassadeurs qui y ont est^, 
 
 of la Mothe F^nelon, the sentiments of Eliza- qu'il penseroit estre deshonnore et perdre toute 
 
 beth towards the Duke d'Anjou. There are la reputation qu'il pense avoir acquise." 
 
 strong passages. Corresp. diplom. III., 438 Corresp. diplom. suppl^m. 179. The Duke 
 
 sq. In another audience the ambassador of d'Anjou, according to the ambassador of 
 
 France says to Elizabeth: " Qu'elle auroit bien Spain, had said " Yo estoy el mas contento 
 
 k faire k s'excuser envers Dieu et le monde, hombre del mundo de haver escapade de 
 
 si elle frustroit ses subjectz de la belle casar con una puta publica.'' Don Frances de 
 
 postdrit^ qu'elle leur pouvoit bailler et qu'ilz Alava to Philip II., nth May. Teulet, V., 8g. 
 
 attendoient d' elle pour les gouverner" Corresp. I do not translate. 
 
252 CAPTURE OF CHESEIN, 1571. 
 
 I spring, should be handed over to another of so doubtful and un- 
 certain legitimacy. I should more gladly choose death, yet that must 
 not hinder my friends from aiding me in my need." ' 
 
 Mary Stuart's fears were not vain. Her side fought successfully 
 enough against her enemies leagued with the English ;^ but it was to 
 be feared that if left to itself, unaided by either men or money, it 
 might be overcome : courage is not easily kept up when there is no 
 hope. The best conceived plans and the grandest projects failed in 
 their effect. A sort of fatality hung over that luckless band of men, 
 and cramped their efforts and those of their friends. Though forlorri, 
 they still relied on France. The King, indeed, sent them, under the 
 command of Chesein, a ship laden with provisions and money, but that 
 ship fell into the hands of the English, and thus became more hurtful 
 than useful to those for whom it was meant. ^ 
 
 That mishap seems to have occurred only to add, if possible, to the 
 despair of the Queen of Scots. Any woman, less Christian than she, 
 would have given way to her grief. Nothing was wanting : the penury 
 of her friends, the persecutions which they endured, the ill-luck of 
 Chesein, the imprisonment of her ambassador, the defection of her 
 party, and the projects of Elizabeth were grounds enough for despair. 
 Nevertheless, supported by her faith and the testimony of her conscience, 
 she stood fast. Her sorrowings only make her the more interesting, by 
 showing that she felt, like any other, the extent of her misfortune. Whilst 
 Elizabeth was talking of poisoning her,* the gentle victim was em- 
 broidering with her own hands the fine brocades which were to lend 
 brilliancy to her rival.^ 
 
 It was her duty to be particularly careful lest she should give her 
 adversaries any reason to suspect her fidelity. She was closely watched : 
 her acts were spied, and she had scarcely freedom of speech. " I am so 
 observed," she wrote, " and all those who are near me, that what I write 
 or cause to be written must be done by stealth ; and, for fear of surprise, 
 
 1 Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, ^ The loss of money amounted to 18,000 
 
 I2th June. — Prince Labanofif, III., 286. crowns. The ambassador, on hearing of that 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., IV., iii, 121, 137, 139, loss, sent into Scotland 2000 crowns, which 
 
 172. The Cardinal de Lorraine wrote in the were also seized. — Corresp. diplom., IV., 185, 
 
 course of the year to the Marshal de Secon- 188, 226, 227; Herries' Memoirs, 138. 
 
 digny (Brissac) : "Je n'entends point comme * Divers letters of Q. lylary. — Prince Laban- 
 
 on endure que I'Anglois conqulte I'Escosse; off, III., 271, 285, 338 ; ^orresp. diplom., III., 
 
 car de votre temps et du mien on eut dit qu'il y 392. ! 
 
 avoit de I'asnier : je confesse que je n'y entends = Mary Stuart to Elizabeth. — Prince Laban- 
 
 plus rien." — Biblioth. de Rouen; MSS. de off, III., 75, et passim. 
 Gaigni^res, portefeuille Leber 5716. 
 
MARY STUART'S PROJECTS, 1571. 253 
 
 hourly expecting a visit or a searching of my coffers, I instantly cause 
 the minutes of the cyphers to be burned, and, as a general rule, I should 
 be unable to have duplicates of them drawn out." ' That supervision, 
 however close, did not debar the captive from finding means to corre- 
 spond with her partisans, and to communicate her counsels to them. 
 Her hope lay in France. With men and money, one might gain in 
 Scotland great advantages — one might muster in a body the friends 
 whom fear or poverty had dispersed, and throw strong garrisons into 
 Edinburgh and Inchkeith Castle ; thence rule the country and pacify it, 
 by rushing unexpectedly on the enemy, retire within the walls if they were 
 in too great number, and wait and choose an opportunity to sally forth 
 again with a bold front." While the Queen liked to busy herself with 
 those strategic calculations, time seemed to pass more quickly, and her 
 captivity to be more bearable. 
 
 The men of her party well deserved that she should often think of 
 them. Lethington and Kirkaldy, though quite destitute, proved 
 the amount of energy which the defence of a good cause can call up : 
 attempts had been made to bribe them with money ; but they were 
 useless ; it had also been tried to frighten them, but with as little 
 success ; they alone upheld the rights of the Queen and prevented her 
 friends from joining the Royalists.^ Their Parliament held in August 
 opposed sentence against sentence, at the risk of irritating the King's 
 people, who looked upon them as enemies and traitors ; and, in spite of 
 the difficulties, they almost gained brilliant triumphs. 
 
 The King's lords assembled at Stirling, and thought they were in 
 perfect safety ; their number, their credit, and the strength of the Castle 
 were, according to them, strong guarantees that nothing could come to 
 disquiet them in so peaceful a retreat. Festivals and pleasures had come 
 after the solemnity of parliamentary condemnations. Kirkaldy undertook 
 to put an end to those amusements, and, if it were possible, to get rid of 
 the King's party by smiting it to the ground. He wished to command 
 the expedition in person. He changed his mind when his friends showed 
 him that all the hopes of the Queen and her party centred in him, 
 and that he ought not to endanger the common cause by risking his 
 life. He yielded to their wishes, and gave the command of a troop of 
 four hundred men to Claude Hamilton, the Earl of Huntly, and the 
 brave Scott of Buccleuch. 
 
 i Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, ' Diurnal of Occur., 206, 209, 212, sq., 
 
 ■28th August. — Prince Labanoff, III., 350. passim and almost throughout to page 247. 
 
 2 Prince Labanoff, III. and IV., passim. 
 
254 TAKING OF STIRLING CASTLE, 1571. 
 
 The better to cover their march, they bent their steps first towards 
 Hamilton, then, turning to the right, they passed Graham's Dike, and 
 were soon in sight of StirHng. Without stopping to examine the town, 
 they hastened to enter into it, lest they should give the enemy 
 time to assemble. It was four o'clock in the morning, and all were 
 asleep. Most of the nobles who had arrived for the holding of the 
 Parliament, not being able to find quarters in the Castle, had taken up 
 their lodging in town. The soldiers rushed on their houses, broke open 
 the doors, and seized Argyll, Glencairn, Cassillis, Eglinton, Montrose 
 and more than fifty men of note. Morton gave more trouble : he took 
 up his position in his house and kept within ; the soldiers set fire to the 
 buildings, and the flames forced him to surrender.' 
 
 If the besiegers had retired with their prisoners, the King's party 
 would have been very much endangered ; unfortunately every soldier 
 left his chiefs to go and pillage the houses and the shops. The Earl of 
 Mar, who had had leisure to look about him, came out of the Castle with 
 forty men, and opened a violent fire on the scattered aggressors. The 
 parts were changed. Terror seized the victors ; they handed over 
 their prisoners ; some surrendered ; the rest sought safety in flight. The 
 only two who perished were the Regent and an officer in the King's 
 party, who tried to defend him.° 
 
 That plan, so well conceived, and so happily executed, ended in 
 nothing, from want of discipline : Kirkaldy had the glory of boldness, 
 without reaping its profit. That was on the 3d of September 1571. 
 
 ^ Bannat. Memor., 183, 184; Hemes' « Letter from V^rac to la Mothe Ffeelon. — 
 
 Memoirs, 140; Diurnal of Occur., 247, Teulet, II., 425-427. Lethington and Kirkaldy 
 249. Vdrac to la Mothe Fdnelon, 7th Sept. to W. Drury, Sept. 6th.— State Paper Office ; 
 ■ — Teulet, II., 425. Craufurd's Memoirs, 203, sq. ; Spottiswoode, 
 
 II., 164, 165 ; Memoirs of Kirkaldy, 280-285. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1571—1572- 
 
 REGENCY OF THE EARL OF MAR — STRUGGLES IN SCOTLAND — MARY STUART ENCOURAGES HER 
 SERVANTS — DISCOVERY OF NORFOLK'S CONSPIRACY — CONDUCT OF THE BISHOP OF ROSS 
 ^SUSPICIONS ATTACHING TO THE AMBASSADOR €F FRANCE— MARY STUART'S DESPAIR 
 — BUCHANAN'S PAMPHLET — LEAGUE BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND — THE SCOTTISH 
 WAR — CONTINUATION OF NORFOLK'S TRIAL — PETITION ADDRESSED TO ELIZABETH — 
 DEATH OF NORFOLK — MARY STUART'S EXAMINATION — WEAKENING OF HER PARTY — 
 EXECUTION OF THE EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND — ST BARTHOLOMEW — NEGOTIATIONS 
 FOR THE MARRIAGE OF ELIZABETH WITH THE DUKE D'ALENCON — ^ELIZABETH'S DESIGNS 
 ON MARY — CONSENT OF THE EARL OF MAR — HIS DEATH. 
 
 AFTER the death of Lennox, the EngHsh party did all it could to 
 have the Earl of Morton, whom it had long had in its pay," 
 appointed to the Regency ; but the States, at that period of quarrels and 
 civil war, cast their eyes on the Earl of Mar, whose prudence and 
 peaceful nature were well known. He was elected ; yet, for all that, 
 peace was not restored in Scotland. The two factions, excited by their 
 victories, or by their misfortunes, were thirsting for war while express- 
 ing a desire for peace. The King's party obtained from England, at 
 the price of treason or to the detriment of their honour, the help which 
 they required; yet they could not prevail. Adam Gordon held the 
 North in check; the Hamiltons were masters in the West; Lord 
 Herries and Ker of Fernyhirst kept down the South ; the Queen's 
 partisans rose everywhere ; and if the enemy advanced as far as Edin- 
 burgh, it was only to get beaten by the Earl of Huntly."" 
 
 The Queen of England, irritated at seeing the King's party, whom 
 she supported, weakened by reverses, vented her anger on the servants of 
 the Queen of Scots. Archibald Beaton, Douglas and some others were 
 obliged to return to their homes. That new persecution caused Mary 
 more grief than the numberless vexations which she had endured until 
 then. "In seeing what is prepared against me," she said, " I can expect 
 
 1 Meville's Memoirs, 243. II., 17th December. — Teulet, V., 96; Tytler, 
 
 2 Spottiswoode, II., 169. Aguilon to Philip III., 342 ; M. Mignet, II., 170. 
 
2s6 MARY ENCOURAGES HER SERVANTS, 1571. 
 
 nothing but death, with which I have been so much threatened."' That 
 unhappy Princess, however, found in herself sufficient strength to en- 
 courage her servants. " My faithful and good servants," she wrote to 
 them, " as it has been the will of God to visit me with so much adversity, 
 and now with this close imprisonment and banishment of you, my ser- 
 vants, from beside me, I render thanks to the same God, who has given 
 me strength and patience to endure it ; and I pray the good God that 
 He be willing to grant you a like grace, and that you may console your- 
 selves, since your banishment is for the good service which you have 
 done me, your Princess and mistress. ... I recommend to you the 
 faith in which you have been baptised and taught in my company, having 
 remembrance that outside of Noah's ark there is no salvation. 
 Secondly, I command you to live in friendship and holy charity towards 
 one another, and to bear one another's imperfections ; and now, being 
 separated from me, to aid yourselves mutually with the means and 
 graces which God has given you." ^ 
 
 Mary Stuart was fated to shed tears until the end of her life, and her 
 cause was to bring misfortune on all those who should engage in its 
 defence. God gives by times great lessons to humanity : whether He 
 chastises tyrants or allows / them to prosper ; whether innocence be 
 calumniated or recognised. He ever has His views. It seems as if He 
 had wished, in England, to confound the Catholics by the extent of their 
 disasters, and blind the Protestants by the swiftness and certainty of 
 their successes. Born the day before, those innovators were all-powerful 
 on the morrow: the Catholics were forced to hide; and if any one dared 
 to speak out, it was at the peril of his life. Protestantism and Catho- 
 licism, at the period which occupies us, seem to have personified them- 
 selves in two women : the one hard-hearted, haughty and capricious, 
 making a show of virtues, worshipped, and always happy; the other, 
 gentle, humane, beautiful as the proscribed religion, slandered like it, 
 and destined to die like it : the one a tyrant — the other a martyr, 
 faithful images indeed of the two religions.^ 
 
 1 Mary Stuart to la Mothe Fenelon, 1 8th " Mary Stuart to her banished servants, 1 8th 
 September 1571.— Prince Labanoff, III., 376 ; September, Prince Labanoff, III., 378-382. 
 Corresp. diplom., IV., passim and 233, 236, ^ I do not pretend here to accuse the Pro- 
 242. The persecution was so great, according testants ; they are generally better than the 
 to la Mothe Fenelon, that Elizabeth had de- doctrine which they profess. I have more 
 creed " ne vouloir qu'on parle plus icy aulcune- than once had occasion to meet, in Germany, 
 ment pour elle."— Ibid., 238. In a letter written England and Scotland, persons who piqued 
 at the same period to the Regent of Scotland, themselves on erudition, and who had a very 
 Elizabeth complains in bitter terms of Mary erroneous idea of Catholicism. They re- 
 Stuart's ingratitude !— Bannat. Memor., 193. preached the Catholics with believing in 
 
DISCOVERY OF NORFOLK'S CONSPIRACY, 1571. 257 
 
 Mary did not know why her servants were taken from her ; no 
 doubt, on seeing such a wanton increase of severity, she sought what 
 might be the cause of it. Her conscience reproached her with nothing. 
 She was surrounded by mystery, and was a prey to all uncertainties. 
 Notable changes had taken place in her cause, and imprudent friends, 
 by wishing to serve it too well, hurled it into ruin. 
 
 A sum of money sent by the ambassador of France to the partisans 
 of Mary Stuart in Scotland' threw light upon a conspiracy. The bearer, 
 instead of handing the money to Bannister, the Duke of Norfolk's 
 steward, as he had been ordered, delivered it to Lord Burghley, with 
 the letters which accompanied the parcel. A certain number of persons 
 were compromised ; Hickford and Barker, the Duke's secretaries, and 
 Bannister, his steward, were at once arrested. 
 
 Hickford revealed the secret, and did so without any seeming 
 reluctance ; much more, he indicated the places where were concealed 
 the cyphers which his master had told him to burn. Barker and Ban- 
 nister were less easily managed; threats and tortures were used to wring 
 confessions from them.'' The Bishop of Ross and the Duke of Norfolk 
 were compromised by Barker's declaration ; and the Duke, examined 
 at first in his own palace, where he was kept prisoner, was taken a 
 second time to the Tower.^ His entrance had all the appearance of a 
 
 absurdities. I beg them not to judge too seems less wicked, uttered, in the midst of his 
 
 lightly : that is the only advice which I take drunken-monk conversations, excessively in- 
 
 upon myself to give them in this work. I tolerant words; that Knox was persecution 
 
 warn them, at the same time, not to trust the incarnate ; and that his disciples, the Regents 
 
 books of propagandists circulated by the two of Scotland, burnt more persons as witches 
 
 sides, but to study for themselves the lives of (Pitcairn's Trials and Diurnal) than the tri- 
 
 the great reformers, Luther, Calvin and Henry bunals of the Inquisition. I do not despair to 
 
 VIII. It is impossible, after that, to admit see England and Scotland, which abound in 
 
 that God has made use of such men to reform men who are really learned, lose much of their 
 
 His holy religion : the Reformation was a re- attachment for the Reformation. If ever those 
 
 ligious insurrection ; the hves of the reformers two countries return to Catholicism, they will 
 
 insulted morality and disgraced humanity. do so only by passing through scepticism, 
 
 The English Protestants have a right to re- which cruel malady has corrupted my poor 
 
 proach the Catholics with the reign of Bloody country and is about to attack them. 
 Mary. I reprobate those executions with as ' Corresp. diplom., IV., 226, 229 ; Lesley's 
 
 much sincerity as they, and am unable to tell Negotiat., 170. 
 
 all the horror with which they inspire me : re- "^ The gentle Elizabeth wrote to Thomas 
 ligion is learned, but cannot be imposed. I Smith, " We warrant you to cause them both 
 shall merely observe, without stopping at the (Barker and Bannister) or ether of them to be 
 declamations customary on such occasions, brought to the raik . . . and to find the tast 
 that Calvin condemned Servet to death ; that therofuntill they shall deale more playnly or un- 
 Bfeze taught ex professo that heretics should be till yow shall thynk mete." — Ellis, I., ii., 261. 
 handed over to the civil judge; that Cranmer The confessions of Hickford, Barker and Ban- 
 inserted the same clause in his code of ecclesi- nister are inserted in Murdin's Papers, 67-147. 
 astical discipline; that Luther himself, who '^ Lesley's Negotiations, 169-175. 
 VOL. I. 2 K 
 
258 CONDUCT OF THE BISHOP OF ROSS, 1571- 
 
 triumph. The people had no sooner learned the sad news, than they 
 ran to the Tower, " to see him and salute him, and tell him loudly that 
 he was more an honest man and a faithful subject of their Queen 
 than those who accused him, and that they prayed God to preserve 
 his Innocence, and to confound those who sought his death."' 
 
 The Bishop of Ross, taken from Ely to London, had also an exam- 
 ination to undergo before the Lord Mayor, as well as before the Council. 
 His design was to keep silent. He began by pleading his position as 
 ambassador, believing he could shield himself under that title.'' That 
 reply displeased the Council. He was informed that the advocates of 
 the Crown had decided that an ambassador who took part in a con- 
 spiracy lost his position, and was to be treated as a common subject.^ 
 To show that they had resolved to carry out that decision, they 
 threatened him with the severest tortures if he would not make a 
 confession. He was silent, and was taken back to the Tower. 
 
 Two days later, there was a fresh examination. Lesley then saw 
 how matters stood; dissimulation was thenceforward useless. Burghley 
 knew the steps which Ridolfi had taken with the Pope, the King of 
 Spain and the Duke of Alva ; he knew the share which each had had 
 in the conspiracy ; to deny the facts was to show very bad sense, and 
 to irritate a powerful enemy. He confessed all frankly.-* 
 
 The accomplices were numerous : the Earls of Arundel and South- 
 ampton, Lord Cobham and his brother Sir Thomas, the sons of the 
 Earl of Derby, Henry Percy and Thomas Stanley, were already 
 arrested ; and search was being made for other lords more or less com- 
 promised, = The ambassador of France was closely watched, and it 
 was made impossible to correspond with Mary Stuart ; the Spanish 
 ambassador left England.^ Burghley looked to everything with the 
 greatest care, extorted, or paid for information, and was active in 
 getting up Norfolk's trial. 
 
 That trial troubled England as much as a qivil war could have done; it 
 seemed as if terror were in the atmosphere, and as if every one breathed 
 it with the air. " The watch is increased by day and night," wrote the 
 ambassador of France, " throughout the towns in the principal parts of 
 
 1 Corresp. diplorp., IV,, 235. Teulet, V„ -]-] sq, Pririce Labanoff, III., 
 
 ^ Lesley to Mary Stuart, 8th November.^ 387, 
 
 Teulet, II., 428. 5 Lesley's Negotiat., 176 ; Prince Labanoff, 
 
 " Lesley's Negotiations, 189. His letter to III-, 357 ; Corresp. diplom., IV., 248, 261. 
 
 Mary— Teulet, II., 429. « Corresp. diplom., IV., 314, 377, 382 ; 
 
 « Lesley to Mary, loc. cit. Cf., the long dis- Mary to la Mothe Fdnelon.— Prince Labanoff^ 
 
 patch of the Duke of Alva to Philip II. — III,, 391. 
 
LETTER OF MARY TO ELIZABETH, 1571. 259 
 
 the kingdom, and on the roads too, so that there is nothing but fright and 
 dread upon all sides ; and those who are getting up the proceedings 
 show fear no less than those against whom they are being got up."' 
 
 Mary Stuart felt those things severely, and in spite of the assu- 
 rance which Burghley gave la Mothe Fenelon, and Killigrew gave 
 Catherine de M^dicis, that no harm would be done to her, the Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, in whose keeping she was, grew anxious about her.^ Her 
 position was deplorable ; her letters, when now and then received at 
 the Court of France, drew forth tears from the least compassionate ;^ 
 and he who could read the following lines without emotion, ought indeed 
 to be an object of pity : — " I am confined to my room ; they intend to 
 stop up the windows, and talk of making a false door, that they may be 
 able to enter when I am asleep ; entrance is to be forbidden to my 
 people, except to some valets, and my other servants are to be removed. 
 . . . . I am a wretched captive, and I entreat the King, my good 
 brother, to protect my kingdom, bound as he is by the old alliance, and 
 lend a hand, without heeding such arrangements as are proposed by my 
 enemies, to whom I have resolved to yield nothing as far as my state is 
 concerned ; I should rather lose all."'* 
 
 It would be wrong, however, to suppose from those last words that 
 Mary, proud of her right and her virtue, had shut herself up within 
 her own thoughts, faced Elizabeth's anger, and borne the tortures of 
 her prison, without seeking to explain herself. She did so over and 
 over again, but always in vain. She was reduced to ask from her 
 triumphant rival only trifling things : such as to settle with one of la 
 Mothe Fenelon's people, as to the rewards which were to be given to 
 her banished servants, or to those who were still in her service, and to 
 pay her debts. One of her letters to Elizabeth contained these remark- 
 able words : — " Although I do not wish to importune you with that 
 which concerns my position, which, knowing how far from dear it is to 
 you, I entrust to the mercy of God, resolved to live patiently in adver- 
 sity and in uncomfortable confinement as long as it shall please Him, 
 and to die when it shall please Him also to deliver me from this un- 
 happy world, wherein I know not how long it may be His will that I 
 
 1 Corresp. diplom., IV., 262. lagrimas." — Despatch of Secretary Aguilon to 
 
 Si Corresp. diplom., I v., 259, 262 ; Supplto., Philip II., 29th Dec. 1571, Teulet, V., 99. 
 
 283. The series of misfortunes which befel the cap- 
 
 ^ " La Reyna madre le dixo ayer que la tive may be followed in Lodge, vol. II., 
 
 Mota le havia embiado copia de una carta que passim from 65 to 130. 
 
 lade Scocia le scrivia, tan miserable y lamen- "Marie Stuart to la Mothe Fdnelon, 7th 
 
 table que no la havia podido leer sin muchas Nov. — Prince Labanoff, III., 392 sq. 
 
26o BUCHANAN'S PAMPHLET, 1572. 
 
 should remain, visited by Illness caused by so many unaccustomed 
 inconveniences, or by your cruel severity, I beg of you (forced 
 thereto by my conscience) to let me have a priest of the Catholic Church, 
 of which I am a member, to console me and teach me my duty ; which 
 request being granted, I shall pray God, both in prison and at my 
 death, to make your heart such as it may be agreeable to Him and 
 salutary to you ; and if I am refused, I leave to you the burden of 
 answering before God, for depriving me of the means of doing my duty, 
 having duly entreated and requested it from you in whom lies the 
 refusal or the permission. 
 
 " I have yet another request to make, of little importance for you, 
 but of deepest moment for me. It is, that it may please you, having 
 pity on a distressed mother, from whom they have torn her only child 
 and her only hope of future joy in this world, to permit me to write at 
 least open letters to enquire as to the truth of news regarding him, and 
 remind him of his sad mother ; so that, rejoicing at his good health, I 
 may also recall to him his duty towards God and towards me, without 
 which no human favour can profit him, for failing in one of those two 
 commandments, God might forget him in all others."' Mary was 
 allowed neither priest nor leave to write to her son ; and, by an outrage 
 which must have wounded her keenly, there was sent her, by the bearer 
 of her own letter, Buchanan's foul pamphlet.' 
 
 Elizabeth was on the best of terms with theCourt of France,for on both 
 sides they dreaded the King of Spain, who screened his ambitious views 
 behind religion. It was important that this monarch should see France 
 and England united. A treaty between the two nations seemed neces- 
 sary, were it only as a matter of form ; but great difficulties were in the 
 way of any league whatever. The first arose from the difference of 
 religions. Charles wished quietly to overlook that article, for fear of 
 irritating the Pope and the Catholics ; Elizabeth was anxious that the 
 parties should pledge themselves to support one another, even though 
 attacked on account of their religion. They succeeded in coming to an 
 understanding by introducing this general clause, " for any cause what- 
 soever." The second bore upon Mary Stuart. The King of France 
 wished to include her in the treaty ; Elizabeth would not hear of it, 
 believing she saw in Mary her most deadly enemy. That difficulty fell 
 like the other before this ambiguous clause, " that the present laws of 
 Scotland should be maintained." The treaty was signed at Blois, 
 
 1 Mary Stuart to Elizabeth, 29th October.— ^ Mary Stuart to la Mothe F&elon.— 
 
 Prince Labanoff, III., 389, 390. Prince Labanoff, IV., 5 ; Proofs, VI. 
 
NORFOLK'S TRIAL, 1572. 261 
 
 during the course of April 1572,' but Scotland gained nothing from it. 
 Neither France nor England sought to quell the struggles which wasted 
 that unhappy land. The sides represented by Morton and Kirkaldy had 
 been for several months waging a furious war against each other. There 
 was, in the first place, the siege of Edinburgh, ending in no gain, from 
 the courage of those within the walls ; then came a series of engage- 
 ments in the open field, a thousand times more destructive than would 
 have been a great battle. The fury of the parties increased with their 
 losses and with the stubbornness of their adversaries. The help promised 
 by France and Spain emboldened Kirkaldy;^ the revolt in Ireland, 
 while busying England, weakened Morton ; — yet no one lost courage. 
 Morton had destroyed the mills, and had placed troops here and there 
 to keep provisions from reaching Edinburgh Castle; but the hatred was 
 so violent, that this measure, capable of overwhelming Mary Stuart's 
 friends, only irritated them. Morton had also erected in the direction 
 of Leith a great gibbet, where he hanged in a mass all those who fell 
 into his power. They did the same on the other side, and rivalled them 
 in barbarity, until at length, broken down by hunger, and worn out with 
 tortures, the two parties consented to an arrangement (4th May) which 
 they broke a fortnight after, when the war became more and more 
 exhausting.3 
 
 Norfolk's trial was approaching. Everything likely to ruin the Duke 
 was collected most carefully ; a long case was drawn out. When 
 the time for examination had come, the prosecutor, in a lengthy speech, 
 called upon Norfolk to answer at once, and without further preparation, 
 the various accusations concerning persons, places, conversations and 
 dates. All England knew the charges which were brought against the 
 Duke, by the libels which had been spread ;'* he alone, locked up in the 
 Tower, debarred from all communication with the outside, was ignorant 
 of the mass of crimes laid to his charge. Before his peers, now 
 his judges, he was by no means put out; he asked to be confronted 
 with his accusers, and, on being refused by the Council, denied their 
 affirmations. His case was principally composed of three charges; his 
 intended marriage with Mary Stuart, aspirant to the throne of England, 
 his conspiracies with Ridolfi, and the money which he had sent to 
 the Scots. ^ Norfolk asked for an advocate ; but meeting with a 
 
 ^ Digges' Papers, 180 sq. ; Rapin Thoyras, ' Corresp. diplom., IV., 247, 259, 266, 269, 
 
 VII., 340, 341; Corresp. diplom., IV., 368; 273,312,337,442,457. 
 
 v., 72, 76, 83. * Corresp. diplom., IV., 261. 
 
 " Corresp. diplom., IV., 418. 
 
262 NORFOLK'S TRIAL, 1572. 
 
 refusal/ he explained his conduct in a calm tone, as one who has a 
 perfect command of himself. 
 
 To the first count he replied that the Queen of Scots was neither 
 the rival nor the enemy of the Queen of England, seeing that she had 
 ceased to use the English arms, and that she had often renounced her 
 rights during Elizabeth's lifetime; in answer to the second, he con- 
 fessed having spoken to Ridolfi, but only once, and only about money 
 matters ; accused, in the third count, of having sent money to the Scots, 
 he replied that he had never sent any, although he had allowed his 
 secretary to take charge of a certain sum for Lord Herries ; and that he 
 could not understand the last count at all, inasmuch as that lord was 
 the faithful servant of Mary, a relative of Elizabeth.'' 
 
 The debate was long and ended only at night-fall. The Lord 
 Seneschal asked the Duke if he had anything further to say in 
 his defence. " I hope in the justice of the laws," replied Norfolk. 
 The Lord Seneschal then caused the Duke to be led away, and said to 
 the peers : " You have heard how the Duke of Norfolk, accused of the 
 crime of high treason of which he does not acknowledge himself guilty, 
 entrusts himself to God and to your persons ; it is now for you to 
 decide whether he is so or not, and to speak in all conscience and 
 honour." 
 
 The assembly withdrew to deliberate and soon returned into the 
 first chamber. The Seneschal questioned the members of the jury 
 one after the other : " My Lord," asked he of Delaware, " what say 
 you, Is the prisoner guilty of these Treasons or not ? " — " Guilty," he 
 replied, putting his hand on his breast. The other Peers gave the 
 same answer. " Thomas, Duke of Norfolk," said the Lord Steward, 
 " thou hast been heretofore indicted of High Treason, and hast been 
 arraigned upon the same, and hast pleaded Not Guilty, and hast put 
 thyself upon thy peers ; the lords, thy peers, have found thee Guilty : 
 What hast thou to say, why I may not proceed to judgment ? " The 
 Duke answered : " The Lord's will be done ; God be judge between 
 me and my false accusers." 
 
 All the judges, hushing their hatred and their fanaticism, were 
 silent ; the edge of the axe, omen of death, had been turned towards 
 the Duke, and the Earl of Shrewsbury could not contain his tears on 
 reading the sentence : " Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, found guilty of 
 high treason, in spite of him, and declared such by the peers shall be 
 
 ' Camden, 217. I, ; Lesley's Negotiations, 179, sq.; Murdin's 
 
 '' Norfolk's Trial, Hargrave's State Trials, Papers, 150-180.. 
 
NORFOLK'S SENTENCE, 1572. 263 
 
 had from hence to the Tower of London, thence shall be drawn 
 through the midst of the streets of London to Tyburn, the place of 
 execution, there shall be hanged, and being alive shall be cut down 
 quick, his bowels shall be taken forth of his body, and burnt before his 
 face, his head shall be smitten off, his body shall be divided into four 
 parts or quarters ; his head and his quarters to be set up where it shall 
 please the queen's majesty to appoint ; and the Lord have mercy upon 
 him.'" 
 
 The Duke listened to the horrible sentence without growing pale, 
 and kept cool the whole time. " My lords," said he, " This is the 
 judgment of a Traitor, and I shall die as true a man to the Queen as 
 any that liveth ; you put me out of your company ; I trust shortly to 
 be in better company ; only I beseech you, my lords, to be humble 
 suitors to the queen's majesty for my poor orphan children, that it may 
 please her to be good to them, and to take order for the payment of 
 my debts, and some consideration of my poor servants." ^ Elizabeth 
 hesitated a long time to put the Duke to death ; three times she signed 
 and destroyed the warrant of execution. Those who had some interest 
 in Norfolk's death murmured at the delay.^ 
 
 The Queen's illness in the month of March turned away attention 
 from the trial and showed the rage which was felt against the Catholics, 
 with whom Norfolk had joined ; for, at the first report of the Sove- 
 reign's illness, the people, believing in poison, were driven by religious 
 frenzy to declare, that if the Queen died, the Papists must be burned 
 alive. When, at a later period, the cause of the indisposition was 
 learned, and when it was proved that the misfortune proceeded from 
 eating too much, the clamours died away, and the vows became less 
 ardent.* 
 
 The Commons, agreeing with the Peers, begged more earnestly that 
 the Duke of Norfolk be put to death. Their attitude induced Elizabeth 
 to sign a new warrant of execution. The Queen, however, mitigated 
 the sentence, and reduced it to simple beheading ; this time she 
 did not retract, because conspiracies to free the Duke from his 
 prison had been found out, and many thought that was purposely 
 done to hasten on the punishment. On the 2d of June, early 
 
 ^ Camden, II., 223. * Gregorio Leti. — Life of Elizabeth, I., 490. 
 
 " Camden, II., 224; Corresp. diplom., IV., Aguilon to Philip II., 23d March 1572. — 
 
 351 ; Sadler's Papers, II., 340, sq. Archives de I'Empire, Fonds de Simancas, 
 
 3 Corresp. diplom., IV., 377, 387, 391, 424. liasse B, 32, No. 85; Teulet; Corresp. diplom., 
 
 Murdin's Papers, a warrant by the Queen for IV., 410-41 2. 
 the Execution of the Duke of Norfolk, 177, 178. 
 
264 DEATH OF NORFOLK, 1572. 
 
 in the morning, the commander of the Tower warned the Duke that 
 his last hour had come. Norfolk hastened to make his last will and 
 testament, distributed his effects, and placed himself entirely at the 
 disposal of Alexander Nowel, Dean of St Paul's. He mounted the 
 scaffold with a firm step, declared his innocence of the treason laid to 
 his charge, and conversed peacefully with the Dean. The crowd 
 observed a melancholy silence ; they saw in him the gem of the 
 English nobility, and relative of Elizabeth, and seeing that he was 
 about to die, they could not restrain their tears. Sir Henry Lee 
 gave a noble example of the power of friendship. Heedless whether 
 his act should or should not be agreeable to Elizabeth, he mounted 
 the scaffold, embraced the Duke, and asked for the prayers of the 
 people in his favour : " The Duke of Norfolk," exclaimed he, " asks 
 the aid of your prayers ; be silent ; it is not the time to affect him." 
 Norfolk prayed, then rose and placed himself in the hands of the 
 executioner. 
 
 The bystanders were becoming more and more moved ; the heads- 
 man himself regretted that he should have to cut off a head so noble. 
 A cloth was handed to Norfolk with which he might cover his eyes. 
 '' Thanks," replied he, " I do not fear death." He knelt down and 
 bent his head over the block ; it fell with the first blow. The indif- 
 ferent pitied him : Mary wept for him.' 
 
 Elizabeth heard the news of his execution while she was with her 
 counsellors ; and instead of shedding tears, the hardened Queen 
 uttered the following words in reference to the deceased, " We have 
 cut the branches and the roots of Papism ; the trunk remains ; it must 
 be reft in sunder lest new branches shoot forth." " The English 
 ambassador was rather more energetic in comparing the royal captive 
 to a viper warmed in the breast of England.^ People laboured to 
 make public opinion hostile to the wretched Princess. But what, more 
 than all else, shows the hatred felt against her and the need to discredit 
 her, is the favour with which Elizabeth welcomed Buchanan's odious 
 libel. Shameless pamphlets, attacking and slandering her honour, 
 circulated freely ; on all sides cries for her death arose against her : 
 the Parliament itself asked for her execution ; * and this same Mary, of 
 
 1 Howell's complete collection of State '^ Gregorio Leti. — Life of Elizabeth, I ., 498. 
 
 Trials, I., 132-135; Camden, II., 225, 226. ■* Teulet, Papiers de Simancas, V., 103. 
 
 Sir Ralph Sadler to Burghley, Ellis, II. ii., * Prince Labanofif. IV., 45; Corresp. diplom., 
 
 329 ; Dargaud, Vie de Marie Stuart, 308. IV., 464, V., 2. 
 
MARY STUART'S EXAMINATION, 1572. 265 
 
 whom so much ill was said, astonished her keepers by her patience and 
 magnanimity.' 
 
 Norfolk's headless trunk was scarcely cold when the examination of 
 the captive was proceeded with. Lord William Delaware, Sir Ralph 
 Sadler, Bromley and Thomas Wylson were entrusted with the painful 
 task. Mary objected to such a measure, and if she did consent to 
 receive Elizabeth's commissioners, it was only as mere envoys, charged 
 to negotiate with her, a Queen, as between one Princess and another.^ 
 The commissioners reproached her with having assumed the arms of 
 England, with having thought of marrying Norfolk, with having 
 entered into criminal relations with him, and with having plotted, 
 together with the Kings of France and Spain, the Pope and other 
 Catholic Princes, to overthrow Elizabeth ; with having kept up a cor- 
 respondence with Ridolfi, with having caused Elizabeth to be excom- 
 municated, in short, with having given orders to her agents in France 
 to publish that she was to be Queen of England to the exclusion of 
 Elizabeth. Mary replied briefly and clearly to the charges made, and 
 justified herself easily.^ 
 
 The passions once let loose, were not easily curbed. Parliament 
 believing its severity justified by patriotism, proved exacting, and 
 laid aside the moderation which ought to have guided it. Eliza- 
 beth, finding her orders overstepped, feared, and with reason, too, that 
 she might rouse Europe, if ever the report of such a scandal should 
 spread. The French ambassador thought he could not keep silent any 
 longer.'* Matters went so far that the Queen of England trembled for her 
 own authority. The Puritans were the majority in the Parliament, and 
 their audacity was betrayed by the bitterness of their language. Bible 
 in hand, they breathed their spirit into the fickle rabble, and threatened to 
 overthrow everything. They had reason to repent of it, for they not only 
 did not obtain Mary's death, nor anything against her,^ but even saw them- 
 selves threatened. Two bills for regulating the form of worship had 
 been passed in the lower House. Elizabeth, feeling hurt that anything 
 
 ^ Sir Ralph Sadler, keeper of the Queen of ^ The answeres of the Queene of Scotts. — 
 
 Scots, spoke in such high terms of Mary to Prince Labanoff, IV., 48, sq.; Camden, II., 
 
 Elizabeth, " que la dicte Dame a diet que 229, 230 ; Balfour's Annales of Scotland, I., 
 
 cella estoit de divin, en la paroUe et en la 356, 359; Murdin's Papers, 218. 
 
 presance de la dicte Royne d'Escoce, quel'ung * Smolett's History, book v., chap, vii.. No. 
 
 et I'aultre contreignoit ses propres ennemys de 15 ; Corresp. Diplom. Ddpfeches, 254, 255, 
 
 dire bien d'elle."^Corresp. diplom., IV., 391. 256, and Tome IV., 460. 
 
 " Mary Stuart to la Mothe F^nelon, 19th ^ Corresp. diplom. V., 42, 43. 
 June. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 55. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 L 
 
266 EXECUTION OF THE EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND, 1572. 
 
 should have been decided without consulting her, uttered against them 
 such threats that terror reduced them to silence ; the bill, nevertheless, 
 of exclusion from the Crown was considered valid against Mary.' 
 
 Mary Stuart's party received a severe check from those different 
 proceedings ; its greatest mainstay in England had been cut off, the 
 number of its enemies had increased through Buchanan's pamphlet, 
 and its Scottish partisans defended themselves with courage, but with- 
 out success. An illustrious victim, the Earl of Northumberland, was 
 also about to forfeit his head for his devotedness to Mary Stuart. 
 Since his defeat, he pined away in Lochleven Castle, whither Moray 
 liad sent him. A year and a half, spent in affliction and in expectation, 
 had brought about no change in his position. Yet his friends were 
 not idle ; they were busily engaged with his ransom, but just as they 
 were negotiating it, Morton, whose former friendship with Northumber- 
 land ought to have led him to conciliation, sold him to England for the 
 sum of two thousand pounds.'' The Earl was taken from prison at the 
 end of May, and put aboard a ship, which, instead of taking him to 
 Flanders, as he hoped, landed him at Coldingham. Taken to York, he 
 had to answer a series of questions sent from London, and he was con- 
 demned without any other form of procedure. That high personage 
 showed firmness after, as well as before, his condemnation ; proud of the 
 "cause for which he had fought, he defied, to the last, the grim furies of 
 his enemies. On the scaffold he boasted himself a Catholic, and died 
 praying. The itching-palmed Scots were generally blamed for meanly 
 selling him. 5 
 
 On the same day, in Paris, Admiral Coligny was, at the instigation 
 of Catherine de Medicis, wounded by Maureval. It was the prelude of a 
 fearful massacre. On the following day, 23d of August, the Huguenots, 
 irritated that their leader had been fired at, uttered, words of extreme 
 violence. Under any other circumstance, matters might perhaps have 
 gone no further ; but experience has long since shown what men can 
 do in a moment of excitement. The assassinations of the Duke de 
 Guise, the Marshall de St Andrd, and the Constable de Montmorency, 
 were still present to all minds ; and it was generally believed that if op- 
 portunity came, the Reformers would not hesitate to extinguish in blood 
 
 ' Don Diego de Zuiiiga to the Duke of Alva, » Camden, 1 1., 238 ; Diurnal of Occur., 299 ; 
 
 Teulet, v., 107 ; Hume, House of Tudor, V., Prince Labanoff, IV., 60 ; Various Letters in 
 
 xvii ; Lingard, History of England, V., vi. Murdin's Papers, 186, sq. ; Morton's Papers,75 ; 
 
 ''Elizabeth to Lord Hunsdon, i6th April, Teulet, II., 438 ; Corresp. diplom., V., 11&. 
 State Paper Office, Scotland. 
 
ST. BARTHOLOMEW, 1572. 267 
 
 the hatred which consumed them.' The Queen, alarmed at those 
 threats, assembled the King's Council in all haste, and the massacre 
 was decreed."" 
 
 The 24th of August saw a sad sight : the populace massacring all, 
 supposed to be heretics ; Paris turned into a slaughter-house ; honest 
 people seized with terror, and the ambitious giving thanks to God 
 that He had deigned to save the royal family. 
 
 It had been hoped to stay the massacre at that point ; but it con- 
 tinued in spite of the efforts made to check it. Lyons, Rouen, Orleans 
 and several other towns had their victims.^ About fifteen hundred Pro- 
 testants succumbed to that brutal vengeance. It is useless to describe 
 so many horrors : those barbarous scenes being too affecting to relate at 
 length ; let us rather study the causes of so lamentable an event. 
 
 The massacre did not spring from religious frenzy ; the clergy 
 and the enlightened Catholics making very great efforts to hinder the 
 shedding of blood. It was all political. The hatreds which had been 
 smouldering so long, burst forth like a fierce volcano.'* Coligny was the 
 tool of England ; he had encouraged the attacks against the ports of 
 Havre and Dieppe ; he had paid for the murder of the Duke de Guise, 
 and had tried to arrange the same fate for the King of France. ^ The 
 Huguenots, as a party, were scarcely more faithful to their country. 
 Elizabeth had made with them a treatjr (1562), which pledged her to 
 send them six thousand men to keep Dieppe and Rouen, and help them 
 to take Havre.^ The French ambassador complained of the proceeding. 
 Elizabeth deplored, as much as he did, those misfortunes ; " but," said 
 
 ^ Louis Paris, Notice on I'Aubespine, xxxii., Histoirede France, MS., No. 5736. The Grand 
 
 and Note. Duke of Tuscany, Cosmo L, wrote on the 
 
 ^ Lingard, History of England, IL, Note, subject from Florence, 1 6th September 1572, a 
 
 B B, at the end of the volume ; Corresp. diplom., letter of congratulation; it begins with these 
 
 VII., despatch 117 and 129. words, " Scrissi con le mie precedenti a V. 
 
 2 Corresp. diplom., V., passim, and 138, 146, M'^^ Christ™^ in congratulatione de suoi felici 
 
 161. successi, i quali quanto piu considero, tanto 
 
 ' The despatches of the Nuncio Salviati, piii li trovo di momento pero men' allegro di 
 
 published by Mackintosh, and analysed by nuouo con lei, et in purgare et quietare il suo 
 
 Lingard, leave no doubt as to the non-inter- Regno ritorno a offerir mele con ogni mio 
 
 vention of the clergy in that unfortunate affair. potere." — MS. portfolio Leber, Bibhoth. de 
 
 The project was only political. The King of Rouen, No. 5737. 
 
 France in his proclamation of the 26th August = Corresp. diplom., V. and VII. passim. The 
 said, " that this that is thus hapenit, was done grievances with which the Huguenots were re- 
 be his expres commandement, and not for proached are specially summed up in Tome 
 ony cans of religione." — Bannat. Memor., V., 144-146 ; William Cobbett, Letters on the 
 265. See also the frightful " D&laration Reformation, X., No. 270-291. 
 faicte par le Roy en sa Court de Parlement, " Rapin Thoyras, VII., 602. 
 le xxvi. Aost 1572;" Bibliotheque de Rouen, Sect. 
 
268 ST. BARTHOLOMEW, 1572. 
 
 she, " the troops were wanted in France to set free the King from his 
 captivity."' The Huguenots were then, as it were, the pioneers of the 
 English rule. Those considerations, though they do not justify the 
 massacres, serve, however, to explain them.^ 
 
 On hearing of that hellish crime, England and Scotland boiled with 
 rage f and the most violent Philippics were launched against the Catholics 
 from the Protestant pulpits. Anger and the spirit of vengeance soon 
 inflamed all Europe. It was said, and generally believed, that the 
 massacre had been decreed at the Council of Trent ; the names of the 
 princes and nobles who had approved of it"* were given ; there followed 
 a confederation of the various peoples of Germany, Switzerland, Flanders, 
 England and Scotland, who, in case of need, could bring forty thousand 
 men into the field against France. ^ 
 
 The St Bartholomew re-echoed throughout England. While the 
 people, maddened by invectives, openly pursued the French ambassador 
 with their insults, mingled with words of defiance and other indignities from 
 those who bore arms,^ the Court, not less irritated, yet more composed, 
 showed its displeasure after its own manner. The first audience asked for 
 by la Mothe F6nelon was refused him, and when at length they deigned 
 to grant him one, it was with dismal stiffness. Elizabeth was in her 
 private chamber, amid her counsellors and the principal ladies of her 
 court ; all were in mourning, and kept the deepest silence. The Queen 
 advanced a few steps to receive the ambassador, and having led him to 
 the embrasure of a window, asked him if it was possible, that a Prince 
 whom she loved and honoured, could be capable of such excesses. The 
 ambassador befriended his master as much as he could, showing that the 
 Huguenots were conspirators,'' that the admiral was a ringleader very 
 much to be dreaded, and that the massacre was not premeditated.^ 
 Elizabeth seemed reassured, and asked from the King only the 
 
 1 " Propter Regis Christianissimi fratris II., 441 ; Sandys, Bishop of London, to Burgh- 
 
 nostri, Francorum Regis suorumque subdito- ley, 5th September; Ellis, II., iii., 23. 
 
 rum defensionem contra dictosinimicos nostros, * Diurnal of Occur., 312. 
 
 dictum Regem detinentes veluti captivum cum = Confederation among the various nations, 
 
 Regina matre sua."- — Rymer Foedera et Acta, &c. ; Teulet, V., 113. 
 
 VI., iv., 117; Mdmoire d'Angleterre, Teulet, ^ Corresp. diplom. V., 121, 137. 
 
 II., 175. ' The King of France in his letter to Eliza- 
 
 ^ Catherine de Mddicis to Phihp II., 26th beth (21st Sept.) said likewise: "Avons est^ 
 
 August 1 572 ; Archives de I'Empire ; Fonds de contrainct y lascher la main k nostra trfes grand 
 
 Simancas, liasse b. 34, No. 144. regret pour dviter le danger Eminent de la con- 
 
 = The Countess of Northumberland to the spiration faicte en nostre personne et estat." 
 
 Cardinal de Lorraine, 20th October ; Teulet, Suppl. k la Corresp. diplom., lettre cxxix. 354. 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom. V., 122, 144. 
 
ELIZABETH AND THE DUKE D'ALENgON, 1575. 269 
 
 promise that, far the future, he should take the Protestants under his 
 protection. Catherine de Medicis rephed to EHzabeth that the 
 King of France, Hke the Queen of England, recognised the prin- 
 ciple of liberty of conscience, but that like her he also prohibited 
 in his kingdom every other worship than that which he professed 
 himself.' 
 
 Elizabeth, no doubt dissatisfied with that explanation, took measures 
 to have, at an early date, the opinion of her Parliament on the subject ; 
 meanwhile she fitted out ten war ships for service, sent them to Ports- 
 mouth to watch the channel and the Straits of Dover, put all the principal 
 ports of England in a state of defence, victualled her ships and 
 arsenals, stood stoutly by the Protestants of la Rochelle, and closely 
 watched the English Catholics.^ 
 
 Through those explanations the negotiations relative to Elizabeth's 
 marriage with the Duke d'Alenqon went on very slowly. Two serious 
 difficulties, to say nothing of Queen Elizabeth's indecision, had until 
 then shackled the efforts of the French envoys, de Foix and 
 de Montmorency : the Duke was disfigured by small-pox, and was 
 twenty-one years younger than the Queen of England.' The massacre 
 of the 24th of August almost brought to an end the contemplated alliance. 
 They managed, nevertheless, to renew the project, for a while broken 
 off. Elizabeth consented even to be the godmother of the young 
 Princess of France, and a settlement might at length be hoped for.* 
 But the virgin Queen, not thinking seriously of wedding, wasted time, 
 and fed those vain hopes only to keep France from thwarting her 
 policy. 5 
 
 While the Courts of France and England were hoodwinking each 
 other, Mary Stuart saw her position grow more dangerous day by day. 
 She knew she was more closely watched, and, badly treated before, her 
 treatment now was worse, for she could not penetrate the cloud of 
 mystery which enwrapped her existence, as no news reached her.* 
 That silence was of evil omen and foretold the storm. They were 
 unjust enough in England to accuse Mary of complicity in the massacre 
 of the 24th of August. The Bishop of London had publicly demanded 
 
 1 Digges' " The Complete Ambassador," 244 ' Corresp. diplom. IV., passim., 355 sq., V., 
 sq.; Corresp. diplom., V., 146. 19, 44, 54, 61 passim. 
 
 2 Corresp. diplom. V., passim, and 119, 136, ^ xhe Historic and Life of Mary Queen 
 148, 153-155, 162, 175, 198, 202, 207. of Scots, Udall, 238. Corresp. diplom. V., 
 
 3 Corresp. diplom. V., 24, 52, 135. 183. 
 * Corresp. diplom. v., 195,214, 225, VII., 399. 
 
270 PROJECTS AGAINST MARY, 1572. 
 
 her execution ; ' and there was a talk of holding a Parliament to try 
 her : her life was in danger.^ 
 
 When the French ambassador, who well knew about the threats 
 against the Queen of Scots, set forth to his master the sad position of 
 the " pouvre princesse" of whom they contemplated "parackever la 
 ruyne " little did he think that the position of which he drew so gloomy 
 a picture was so desperate. Killigrew was in Scotland ; everybody 
 knew that, but few knew the real reason of his mission. Some thought he 
 was sent to bring Lethington and Kirkaldy to make peace with the 
 Regent ; no one knew that he had gone to Scotland to ask for Queen 
 Mary's blood. On his arrival in Edinburgh he saw much of the well- 
 known enemies of the Queen ; he found a helper in Moray's former 
 confidant, Nicholas Elphinston, and an unhoped-for aid from the 
 harangues of old Knox. 
 
 From the pulpit, whither the Reformer had had himself carried, 
 he launched forth, as was his wont, the thunders of his eloquence which 
 this time alighted upon guilty heads. At the terrible accents of that 
 voice, which no one could hear without shuddering, the people rose 
 against " the atrocious murderer and arrant traitor who dared to call 
 himself King of France," ^ and were bent on overthrowing all that, near 
 or far, told of that country. 
 
 The secret instructions of the English envoy bore that the Queen 
 of England had made up her mind to hand Mary over to the Scottish 
 lords on three conditions : if they asked for her, if they pledged them- 
 selves to put her to death at once, and if they kept secret for ever that 
 Mary was put to death either with her will or at her wish."* To gain her 
 ends, Killigrew was to stir up private hatred, to appeal to the religion 
 and patriotism of the Scots, by showing them their brothers in love 
 and religion shamefully massacred ; the Louvre, the Vatican and the 
 Escurial beaming with joy and hope after that fatal day ; the peril of 
 the Reformation ; so many cares and anxieties borne in vain through 
 the conspiracy of papist Princes ; and the darkness of error ready again 
 to enshroud Europe. . . . To those frightful pictures he was to add 
 a sketch of Mary Stuart's life, to tell of her crimes, treacheries, and evil 
 deeds ; to hint that the hour of justice when she must make atonement 
 for her sins might be nigh ; that Elizabeth must be freed from the 
 
 ' Bishop Sandys to Lord Burghley. Ellis ' Vie de Knox. Musde des Protestants 
 
 II., iii. 25. Cfl^bres, II., 132. 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom. V., 133, 157, 176. Teulet, * Prince Labanoff, IV., 62, 63. 
 II., 441. 
 
PROJECTS AGAINST MARY, 1572. 271 
 
 uneasiness which she caused her ; that, although vengeance might 
 overtake her in England, it was better that such should happen in Scot- 
 land ; and that people never could be safe while she lived either here 
 or there ^ 
 
 Morton made up his mind to put Mary Stuart to death when the first 
 hints were given to him ; but it was quite otherwise with the Earl of 
 Mar. That honest Lord, who was ever considered a peaceful and noble 
 gentleman, could not consent to such a barbarous and disgraceful act. 
 His honesty embarrassed Killigrew, and caused delays which Burghley 
 regretted. As a last shift Killigrew applied to John Knox, and, along 
 with him, assembled the most influential Reformers, under the show of 
 considering means to escape the dangers with which they were threatened 
 by the Catholics. That " convention " rendered the Regent's position 
 precarious, and, in spite of good sentiments, he sent the Abbot of 
 Dunfermline to Killigrew with powers to treat of the "great matter" 
 which formed the object of the negotiation. The Earls of Mar and 
 Morton, the one against his will, the other gladly, consented to put 
 their Queen to death, on condition that Elizabeth should take the 
 young King of Scotland under her protection, that the sentence passed 
 upon Mary should not be prejudicial to her son, that a defensive league 
 should be concluded between the two kingdoms, that the Earls of 
 Huntingdon, Bedford, and Essex should be present at Mary's execu- 
 tion with two or three thousand men ; that those same troops should 
 thereafter be employed in reducing the Castle ; and finally that the 
 Queen of England should pay all arrears due to the Scottish troops.^ 
 
 The measures were agreed upon, and the conventions settled ; 
 nothing was left but to hand over the victim. Two things opposed the 
 carrying out of that shameful treaty, and for the time put a stop to those 
 evil designs which were finally given up only two years later. ^ The 
 first was the avarice of the English government, which would not buy 
 at so high a price the blood of the captive ; the second was the death of 
 the Earl of Mar. Raised to the Regency, he had found himself mixed 
 up with the conspiracies, but he never was cruel ; he had consented to 
 
 ' Secret Instructions, Murdin's Papers, a very faulty translation is inserted in Jebb's 
 
 224, 225. Various letters from Burghley to collection, was written on that occasion, as 
 
 Killigrew, and their answers. — Tytler III., is clearly seen from several passages of the 
 
 348 sq., and Proofs and Illustrations, No- original text, omitted in the translation. 
 
 xxiv. A Disputation betwixt a Politicke and ''' Prince Labanoff, IV., 63, note. Tytler III,, 
 
 a Histor. concerning the committing of the 352, 
 
 Queen of Scottis in England. MS. in the ^ M. Mignet, Histoire de Marie Stuart, II., 
 
 Univer. of Edinburgh. That memoir, of which 178. 
 
272 DEATH OF THE EARL OF MAR, 1572. 
 
 the death of her who had been his Sovereign and friend rather through 
 timidity than through conviction ; he had not dared to go against Kil- 
 ligrew, or separate himself from Morton whom he knew to be at once 
 very passionate and very dangerous. When the pressure which those 
 two personages exercised over him had disappeared along with their 
 presence, and when calm reflection had made him see the dishonour 
 which was about to blemish his life and the indelible stain which would 
 accrue, through his baseness, to broad Scotland, he drew near to those 
 of the Castle and endeavoured to rally them round the standard of 
 the young King.' Kirkaldy showed himself favourable to the views of 
 the Regent. He, also, was convinced that England, taking advantage 
 of the follies of his fellow-countrymen, strove only to make them last. 
 It mattered little to him to serve Queen or King, sure that if Mary 
 should recover her liberty, the interests of mother and son would easily 
 blend. The main point in his opinion was to wipe away those fierce 
 feuds which under the misleading name of party, gave rise to so much 
 woe. They understood one another, and secretly swore peace.^ 
 
 Full of those noble thoughts, the Regent repaired to Edinburgh 
 with the object of assembling the Parliament, and explaining that, in 
 the then state of matters, an agreement between the Queen's friends 
 and those of the King had become necessary. During a visit which he 
 paid to Morton, on the following day, he was magnificently received, 
 and left, it is said, poisoned, as Morton could find no other means of 
 preventing the reconciliation. ^ 
 
 1 Melville's Memoirs, 247. ' Corresp. diplom. V., 199; Rapin Thoyras, 
 
 * Craufurd's Memoirs, 238-241. VII., 347. Smolett, book v , chap, vii., 181. 
 
 Melville's Memoirs, 248. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1572—1576. 
 
 GIGANTIC PROJECT OF PHILIP II. — RELATIONS OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE — ELECTION OF 
 MORTON — DEATH OF KNOX — TREATY OF PERTH — ATTACK, BOMBARDMENT AND 
 ^SURRENDER OF EDINBURGH CASTLE — DEATH OF LETHINGTON — EXECUTION OF 
 KIRKALDY — MORTON'S EXCESSES — CAUBERON IN SCOTLAND— THE PURITANS AGITATE 
 ENGLAND — TROUBLES AMONG THJE CLERGY OF SCOTLAND — ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE^ 
 LESLEY OBTAINS HIS FREEDOM — MORTON INCLINES TOWARDS FRANCE — LEAGUE OF 
 THE MERCHANTS AGAINST MORTON — THE ENGLISH COVET THE PRINCE — CONDUCT OF 
 LADY LENNOX — DANGERS WHICH THREATEN MARY— RIGOURS— ELIZABETH'S ANGER 
 AGAINST LADY LENNOX — RECAL OF THE DUKE OF ALVA — CELESTIAL PHENOMENA — 
 ELIZABETH'S ANGER— NEW PROJECTS OF THE KING OF SPAIN— DEATH OF THE CARDINAL 
 DE LORRAINE — NEW SEVERITIES TOWARDS MARY — THE PRINCE'S LOVE FOR HIS MOTHER 
 — MARY STUART'S TRANQUILLITY — HER RESIGNATION — HER AMUSEMENTS — MORTON'S 
 IGNOBLE CONDUCT — DINNER OFFERED BY LEICESTER — ILLNESS OF BOTHWELL — HIS 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 SPAIN had then at the helm a prince gifted with vast genius, 
 shrewd in mind, bold in his undertakings, and the perfect ideal 
 of the monarch in the sixteenth century. Proud, haughty, imperious 
 and unwilling to have his ambition curbed by religion, he rather 
 made use of religion to help it on. As the state of affairs in England 
 was not to his liking, he formed the project of bringing back by main 
 force the whole island to the Catholic faith.' Whether political or 
 religious, it was a grand idea. True it is that no sovereign ever had 
 more enterprising generals to carry out his orders : the Duke of Alva, 
 alone, was a man capable of accomplishing what his master only dreamt 
 of. In Germany, Italy, Flanders and Portugal, he was ever victorious; 
 his campaign in the Low Countries was glorious enough to immortalise 
 any crowned head. England, Scotland and France, along with the Prince 
 of Orange, were unable to make him retreat one step, and the merciless 
 crushing which he always gave his foes hindered new insurrections : the 
 country was kept under.'' 
 
 1 "Su Magestad escrivio estos dias al Senor to the Minister of State Zayas, 6th Nov. 1572; 
 
 don Diego que no solamente no queria amistad Archives de V Empire, and Teulet, V., 109. 
 con la Reyna de Inglaterra, mas antes juntarse ^ Strada's History of the Low Countrey 
 
 con otros principes contra ella para reduzir Warres, translated by Stapylton, book vii., 
 
 aquel reyno i la fee cathohca (proposicion ver- passim; Corresp. diplom., V., 412, 425, 452, 
 
 daderamente digna de tal principe)." Aguilon VII., 313 ; Teulet, IV., 77. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 M 
 
274 MORTON MADE REGENT, 1572. 
 
 The idea imagined by the Sovereign of bringing England back to 
 CathoHcism was not repugnant to the Duke. Battles to fight and 
 heretic Englishmen to crush ; religion as a pretext, but policy as the 
 real end ; the glory and power of Spain so much the more incontestable 
 as England should be more humbled ; thenceforth no possible rivalry ; 
 Spain too much above the world to condescend to meddle with the 
 paltry quarrels of neighbouring states : such was the brilliant dream of 
 a Spaniard in the sixteenth century. The time for striking the blow 
 had not yet come ; but the colossal idea of the Invincible Armada was 
 slowly working itself out in the brain of Philip II. 
 
 England was fully alive to the danger she should run if the European 
 States came to an understanding, therefore she sowed division on all 
 sides. Steering clear of war herself, she helped it on among the Catholic 
 powers. Gathering with an anxious care the least rumours of dispute 
 between Protestants and Catholics, England aided her co-religionists, 
 and spent time in useless squabbles, while she secretly aimed at real 
 revolutions. 
 
 La Rochelle was for France a source of embarrassment, which 
 Elizabeth watchfully kept up. Caught several times aiding the French 
 Protestants, she replied to the complaints of the French ambassador by 
 formal denials,' and still went on with her manoeuvres. The French 
 refugees found shelter and protection beside her ; Montgomery was well 
 received, and Captain Sores quietly made his preparations in spite of 
 the Treaty of Blois.^ 
 
 In Scotland, Morton had just then been appointed Regent. All was 
 to be feared on the part of a man of such a disposition. The nobles, 
 especially those of the Queen's party, saw his elevation with regret, and 
 prepared to struggle stoutly. 
 
 The very day on which Morton reached power, old Knox, as if he 
 had completed his task, was lowered into the tomb. Scotland was 
 no longer to hear that powerful voice which swayed multitudes, sub- 
 dued and governed them at its will. An orator, ardent, gloomy and 
 tumultuous, and quite full of his cause, he sacrificed to it his interests and 
 affections. Justice must no doubt be done to his devotedness and self- 
 denial ; but it must also be done to the wild harshness of his disposition. 
 During his long life he caused blood and tears to flow by rousing the 
 hatred of the Protestants against the Catholics : that was not to be 
 pardoned. History records that he was " often fierce, unrelenting, and 
 
 1 Corresp. diplom., V., 223, 231, 233, 237. 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., V., 135, sq., 155, 175, 202, 207, 223, 240, sq., 253, 259, 270. 
 
MORTON AND KIRKALDY, 1572. 273 
 
 unscrupulous ; " ' it is right to add that he showed great disinterested- 
 ness and great perseverance. It is not for me to judge him. I profess 
 the religion which he fought against : if I consult my conscience, I must 
 condemn him ; but if I take heed that the Reformer considered Catho- 
 licism an idolatry, I must admire his zeal in rooting out that which he 
 thought an error, and I should have desired for his memory that he 
 had fought the doctrine without using any of those offensive personalities 
 which always indicate an arrogant, a brutal and a coarse mind. 
 
 Hardly had Morton acquired power, when he began anew the 
 negotiation which the death of the Earl of Mar had broken off He 
 wished, while all were at peace, to gather round him all the Scots, to 
 make himself master of all their positions, especially Edinburgh Castle, 
 reserving the option of afterwards throwing off the mask, or acting 
 secretly against Mary. Instead of addressing himself at once to the 
 whole of the Queen's party, he deemed it advisable to make the first 
 overtures to Kirkaldy and those of the Castle. Kirkaldy wished for peace, 
 but he wished it to be just. When he learned that the Regent entered 
 into parley only with him and his followers, and that he meant to ruin 
 Huntly and the Hamiltons, he answered that it was neither honest nor 
 just to lay the blame upon the richest ; that all the defenders of the 
 same cause were equally guilty ; that, for his part, he was resolved 
 never to make peace on such conditions, and never would betray his 
 friends. Morton, hopeless of obtaining anything from so virtuous a 
 man, turned to the Hamiltons and Gordons, gained them over to his 
 side by the Treaty of Perth, and prepared to overthrow Kirkaldy.'' 
 
 Both sides, full of courage, made active preparations for war. 
 The Regent's party, too cowardly to undertake alone the siege of the 
 Castle, united with the English, and blushed not to entrust the command 
 of its army to Sir William Drury.^ The English army, informed by 
 engineers of the state of the Castle, relied on a prompt and brilliant 
 victory. On the other hand, all seemed as if planned to discourage 
 Kirkaldy : V^rac, already twice imprisoned during his negotiations with 
 Scotland,* had just been cast by a tempest on the coast near Scar- 
 borough ; 5 he was kept for the time-being in England, and the help 
 sent from France did not reach Kirkaldy. His sister-in-law, seduced 
 
 ^ Tytler's History of Scotland, III., 355. 'Camden, II., 250; Melville's Memoirs, 
 
 2 Corresp. diplom., V., 259, 267, 273. Capi- 253. 
 tulation de Paix, etc. — Teulet, II., 446; Mel- ■* Corresp. diplom., IV., 53, 70, 73, 104, 113, 
 
 villa's Memoirs, 251, 252. 185, 193, 197, 212, 215. 
 
 ' Rapin Thoyras, VII. 
 
276 SIEGE OF EDINBURGH CASTLE, 1573. 
 
 by Morton,' handed over the fortress of Blackness, with all the 
 money and munitions which it contained.^ One of Knox's prophecies 
 was the talk of the whole country. On his deathbed, the Reformer had 
 sent word to Kirkaldy to forsake the Queen's cause, and surrender the 
 Castle. " If he will not," the dying man had added, " he shall be brought 
 down over the walls with shame, and hang with his face to the sun : so 
 God hath assured me." ^ The people frightened by the prediction, 
 became indifferent and almost hostile, and the nobles went over in 
 large numbers to the Regent's side. Left to his own resources, the 
 gallant Kirkaldy. vainly looked towards France for help : instead of 
 effective aid, he received from her only delusive promises.'* He was 
 obliged, with a garrison of a hundred and sixty men, to stand out against 
 the Scottish and English armies united. 
 
 The English laid siege to the place with formidable armaments, to 
 make Kirkaldy surrender the sooner, but neither threat nor summons 
 could make him flinch. On the 1 7th of May, the English artillery began 
 to play on the Castle. The cannons directed their fire on the principal 
 bastion, called David's Tower. The artillery of the Castle tried to 
 reply, but was soon silenced for want of ammunition. The bastions, with 
 their curtains, falling successively under the enemy's fire, the place was 
 dismantled. 5 Of the two wells which supplied the Castle, one was dried 
 up, and the other, filled up by the ruins of the walls, had become useless. 
 The garrison was forced to go armed to fetch water, or raise it by means 
 of a rope let down over the walls. In spite of his distress, Kirkaldy did 
 not think of surrendering ; he commanded the manoeuvres, and watched 
 over the defence coolly and quietly. Unable to triumph by force of 
 arms, the besiegers poisoned the water.^ The garrison was almost 
 entirely destroyed, and the intrepid Kirkaldy soon had only fifteen 
 healthy men around him.' He still struggled on, and the allies did not 
 know what to think of so obstinate a resistance. They sent two of their 
 men to him with proposals of peace, but in reality to pry into the state of 
 affairs in the Castle, and bribe the soldiers. That very night, two of 
 -the healthy men took to flight, and led the besiegers to hope for an easy 
 and early victory.^ 
 
 » Craufurd's Memoirs, 248. ° Advis sur les choses d'Escosse. — Teulet, 
 
 ' Tytler's History of Scotland, III., 358. II., 449 ; Melville's Memoirs, 254. 
 
 ' Calderwood's History, 60; M'Crie, Life of ' Advis sur les choses d'Escosse.^TeuIet, 
 
 J. Knox, 341 ; Spottiswoode, II., 182. II., 449 ; Smolett, V,, vii., 193. 
 
 * Corresp. diplom., VII., 418. 'Melville's Memoirs, 254 i; Teulet, IT., 
 
 ^ Journal of the Siege of Edinburgh Castle, 449. 
 Bannat. Miscell., II., 75. 
 
SURRENDER OF EDINBURGH CASTLE, 1573. 277 
 
 Lest Kirkaldy, through his stubbornness, should have to reproach 
 himself with the wretched fate of his unfortunate companions, he appeared 
 on the ramparts on the 26th of May, with a white rod in his hand. He 
 asked that the lives and property of his companions-in-arms should be 
 safe — that Lord Hume and Lethington, personal enemies of the Regent, 
 ■should have liberty to withdraw into England — and that he himself be 
 allowed to stay in his own country without hurt. Morton refused to grant 
 those conditions to the Castilians, who had done him very much harm : 
 by that term he contemptuously called Kirkaldy and his followers. As 
 a last condition, he required the soldiers to come out on foot and with- 
 out arms, and the others to surrender unconditionally to the Queen of 
 England.' 
 
 Kirkaldy was indignant ; the gallant warrior swore he would not 
 yield while a wall of the Castle stood. He preferred to be buried under 
 the ruins of the citadel defended by his bravery, rather than give in to 
 enemies whose hate was as great as their baseness. He shut himself 
 up in the Castle, resolved to die there. The soldiers, bribed by the 
 English, and discouraged by a struggle the importance of which they 
 did not see, mutinied, and threatened to hang Lethington from the loop- 
 hole of the rampart, if, within six hours, he had not induced the com- 
 mander to capitulate. Kirkaldy, foreseeing that nothing could bring 
 back his soldiers to . more worthy sentiments, secretly introduced into 
 the Castle, during the night of the 29th, two English companies. He 
 handed the place over to them, and gave up himself and his followers 
 as prisoners of Elizabeth, but not of the Regent.'' 
 
 The surrender of the Castle did not afford Morton the joy which he 
 had anticipated. His fears were put to flight, but his ambition was not 
 entirely satisfied ; and if, on the one hand, he was glad to see his 
 enemies overthrown, on the other, he was vexed that they had given 
 themselves up to his allies. 
 
 Before the English cabinet had decided as to the fate of the pri- 
 soners, Morton wrote to Lord Burghley claiming them, and Killigrew was 
 barbarous enough to demand and insist on their execution. ^ Kirkaldy 
 and Lethington, informed of the danger which they ran, wrote a letter 
 to the all-powerful Secretary, and offered their services to the English 
 government. -^ Resolved, as Elizabeth was, to humble the last defenders 
 
 > Camden, II., 251. Spottiswoode, II., 186-192 ; Memoirs of Kir- 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., V., passim from 253 kaldy, xxviii., 337-354. 
 to 374; Journal of the Siege, Bannat. Mis- ^ Tytler's History of Scotland, III., 361, 362. 
 
 cell., II., 72-78 ; Diurnal of Occur., 330 sq. ; « It is printed in Tytler's History of Scot- 
 
 land, III., 362. 
 
278 EXECUTION OF KIRKALDY, 1573. 
 
 of her rival, she however knew also, now and then, how to use clemency 
 when her own interests were at stake. She was on the point of waging 
 a war in Ireland, the result of which it was not easy to foresee," and a 
 captain like the Laird of Grange was precious under such circumstances. 
 She enquired as to the "quality and quantity of the prisoners' offences."^ 
 Morton and Killigrew did not take even the trouble to answer ; they 
 insisted on the necessity of putting them to death, and the Queen of 
 England gave them up to the Regent. 
 
 Morton soon took his revenge. He endeavoured, in the first place, 
 to rid himself of an accomplice who might reproach him with the death 
 of Darnley. Lethington was found poisoned ; and although the report 
 was spread that he had died as the ancient Romans died,^ no one 
 believed him a suicide.'* Whether voluntary or forced, that death saved 
 him from execution. Kirkaldy's lot was more severe. In vain did the 
 mass of the Scots protest against the execution ;= in vain did a hundred 
 noblemen propose to ransom his life at the price of twenty thousand 
 pounds Scotch and an annuity of three thousand silver marks, promising 
 to be for ever the faithful vassals of the houses of Angus and Morton : 
 the Regent was merciless.* Then were seen, to the eternal shame of 
 the Scottish Church, eager preachers maintaining that God's wrath 
 would be quenched only when the earth should be purified with blood, 
 and their voice found echoes.' That blood, the most noble which had 
 ever caused a heart to beat in those unhappy days, ceased to flow on 
 the 3d of August 1573 — shameful day — when Kirkaldy and his brother 
 were hanged at the Cross of Edinburgh. Neither God, nor France in 
 whom he placed his hopes, saved him from that ignominy.^ 
 
 That was a sad end for a man who was the glory of his country, and 
 the admiration of all Europe. Intrepid on the battle-field, prudent and 
 moderate in his counsels, bold in his ideas, and always equal to his task, 
 he deserved a better fate. No doubt, in a moment of error, he conspired 
 against his sovereign, and blamed her for a murder of which he was one 
 of the authors ; but he died for Mary, and thus blotted out that base- 
 ness. Elizabeth detested him, Morton feared him, and Henry II. had 
 
 1 Corresp. diplom., V., 383, 454. ' Morton to Killigrew, Sth August. — Tytler, 
 
 2 Tytler's History of Scotland, III., 362. III., 422. 
 
 3 Melville's Memoirs, 256. » "And als I argoued all the cais, 
 
 ■• Camden, II., 252 — see Proofs, vii. I hard ane say, within this place, 
 
 ^ Advis sur les choses d'Escosse. — Teulet, With help of God and France 
 
 II., 449. I sail, within ane litill space 
 
 " Camden, II., 252 ; Tytler's History of Scot- Thy dolouris all to drese ! " — • 
 
 land, III., 363; Corresp. diplom., V., 397. Kirkaldy's Ballad,Bannat.Memor.,88. 
 
MORTON'S EXCESSES, 1573. 279 
 
 admired him ; one could have wished a less ignoble end for him. His 
 death, however, robbed his life of none of its splendour; it was infamous 
 only for his enemies. He faced the scaffold, as he had defied Morton, 
 without ever degrading himself. Sir William Drury, Marshal of Berwick, 
 acknowledged the valour of the noble defender of Edinburgh by tender- 
 ing his resignation. Confused at what had happened, he thought his 
 rank was no longer an honour to him after losing his credit. La Mothe 
 Fdnelon, who saw him in London, feared new manoeuvres, especially 
 against the Bishop of Ross, whom Morton pursued with the utmost 
 hostility. Those fears were groundless ; Drury had seen too much 
 injustice : he never reappeared at Berwick." 
 
 The Queen's party was overthrown — ruined. The news of the fall 
 of Edinburgh Castle roused an echo, which Elizabeth tried to swell, 
 that she might complete the consternation and despair of the conquered. 
 " I have heard of the loss of my Castle of Edinburgh, and other sad 
 news," wrote Mary Stuart at a later time, " and I have noticed that 
 people take more delight in telling me of my losses than in consoling 
 me. 
 
 Morton, ever since he became Regent, had shown a changeable 
 disposition. Of a sour temperament and an ambitious spirit, he at 
 times became more easy, and thought of reconciling both parties ; but 
 when his violent nature gained the upper hand, he enraged those 
 whom he had the day before tried to quiet : he went from one extreme 
 to the other. As long as Kirkaldy lived, he was obliged to curb him- 
 self, but when the gibbet had freed him from that dangerous rival, he 
 let his great pride and haughtiness be seen.^ He gave way to all 
 excesses.* Pliant towards England alone, because he owed his rank to 
 her, he treated his subjects with very great roughness ; his avarice 
 was proverbial, and his debauchery well known.^ A faint-hearted 
 traitor, he wished, from fear of France, to place Scotland under the 
 guardianship of England by an Act of Parliament.* He intrigued 
 furiously in that direction with old Cauberon, and at the request of 
 that personage, he sent twelve hundred and fifty Scots to die on the 
 battlefields of Holland.' 
 
 Elizabeth, seeing what was taking place in Scotland, could at length 
 
 ' Melville's Memoirs, 259; Corresp. diplom., ° Corresp. diplom., VI., 32 ; Melville's Me- 
 
 V. 392. moirs, 249; M. Ch6ruel, Marie Stuart at 
 
 '^ Mary Stuart to Elizabeth. Prince Laba- Catherine de M^dicis, 73. 
 
 noff IV. 113. "Advis sur les choses d' Escosse. — Teulet, 
 
 » Melville's Memoirs, 260. II., 450. 
 
 * Corresp. diplom., V., 411. ' Corresp. diplom., V., 384, 413, 418, 425. 
 
28o THE PURITANS AGITATE ENGLAND, 1573. 
 
 believe herself Queen and Mistress of all Great Britain, and prepare to 
 enjoy in peace the delights of the throne, but just then religious passions 
 came to threaten her in the very heart of England. The Puritans were 
 a rigid and fault-finding sect, which clung more closely to Calvin than 
 to the Anglican Church. Implacable enemies of all authority, they hated 
 Catholics and Episcopalians. From questions of rites they came to the 
 stormy questions of politics, and were bold enough to deny the right 
 of the civil power to meddle with religious matters. That insolence 
 strongly irritated Elizabeth, and the Puritans, summoned before Parker, 
 their mortal enemy, had either to yield or give up their livings. 
 
 The Puritans did not yield or give up anything, and in several 
 places held secret meetings to consider the needs of their sect ; the 
 parties were thenceforward entirely separated. The Government 
 employed force, as the Non-Conformists would not give way, but 
 stubbornly clung to their cause. They had asked at first only some 
 trifling reforms ; they soon attacked the entire established order of 
 things. Cartwright, a professor of theology at Cambridge, took in hand 
 to draw up what, among the mere sectaries, were as yet but vague 
 cravings. From that there resulted a fierce struggle, in which the 
 Puritans had to cope with Catholics and Anglicans. They gathered 
 round them as many as possible to face their numerous enemies, 
 roused the people, and in the Parliament itself made a bold stand. 
 Elizabeth was forced to use rigorous measures, and put the most 
 headstrong into prison. She might, perhaps, have failed through the 
 obstinacy of the Puritans, had not Parker's death, and the peaceful 
 Episcopacy of Grindal, calmed, for a while, those violent quarrels which 
 were again to break forth with so much bitterness under Whitgift.' 
 
 The clergy of Scotland, though less turbulent, were not in a better 
 condition, while among those of the higher rank, the heartburnings were 
 many. After the death of the Archbishop of St Andrews, Morton had 
 the revenues of that see given to himself People grumbled that a lay- 
 man should have the audacity to appropriate Church revenues. He 
 made Archbishop, an old man named Douglas, at one time rector of 
 the College of St Andrews, and gave him a small portion of the tithes. 
 The example was contagious, and the sees of Glasgow and Dunkeld 
 were given to those who asked least. Then followed a general 
 uneasiness, and those bishops lost both the temporal goods and the 
 little respect they still had left to them. The Bishop of Dunkeld, 
 
 ^ Hallam's Constitutional History of England, I., 256-268; Corresp. diplom., V., 435, 462, 470. 
 
ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE, 1573. 281 
 
 brought, six months after, almost to poverty, was condemned in an 
 assembly of the clergy.' 
 
 Helpless as were those bishops, they were none the less hated by 
 the public. Their very name was loathed ; for it contained something 
 august, which in recalling Catholicism, clearly proved that the reform was 
 not thorough. There were long discussions as to whether Episcopacy, as 
 it existed in Scotland, was, or was not, according to the Scriptures. Some 
 earnestly wished to put an end to it, in the hope of sharing the spoil ; 
 others, more prudent or less greedy, drew back before so bold a reform, 
 and the question was left unsettled. Morton, during this controversy, 
 behaved as a crafty politician. Unwilling to mix himself up in a specu- 
 lative discussion condemned by his acts, he fostered the dispute, that 
 he might act more freely while public attention was turned from him. 
 
 Small party quarrels were about to give way to schemes of great 
 ambition. The young Prince, after a few days' illness, lay at death's 
 door, and no one pitied his condition ; he was allowed to struggle with 
 the grim slayer, while no interest was taken in his health. Had the 
 Prince died, Scotland, torn asunder by factions, would have been lost 
 as a nation. Already the Hamilton s and the Stuarts sought to flatter 
 Elizabeth by reminding her of the influence of England at the time 
 of John Baliol.' The Prince's recovery made those ambitions needless. 
 Scotland still lay under the heel of Morton, who seemed for a moment 
 to forget his former grudges, in order to work out his own ends. He 
 undertook to rob the captive Queen of her faithful Lesley ; but the 
 latter preferred imprisonment to a guilty freedom, waiting Elizabeth's 
 good pleasure to send him to France.^ Morton, however, was more 
 successful with Lord Hume : he gained him over by giving him back 
 his castle, which the English had held since May iS7^-* 
 
 To hold out amid those turns of fortune's wheel, Scotland must, in 
 the sixteenth century, have possessed an unwonted vitality, and in the 
 present day, when things have changed, it is wonderful how a state so 
 small in population has been able to play so important apart in history. 
 In spite of that wretched civil war which raged so long in its very centre, 
 it had the strength to check England, disquiet Spain, and send its 
 soldiers into France, Sweden, Holland and Denmark to fight under all 
 banners. 
 
 Morton, who had scorned France on his accession to power, was not 
 
 'Robertson's History of Scotland, II., 40, 'Prince Labanoff, IV., 100; Corresp. di- 
 
 ^4. plom., v., 450. 
 
 " Corresp. diplom,, V., 452. " Corresp. diplom., V., 430, 450 ; VI., 33. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 N 
 
282 LEAGUE OF THE MERCHANTS AGAINST MORTON, 1574. 
 
 long in changing- his poHcy ; for necessity taught him to act more wisely. 
 For a long time the encouraged flatterer of England, he saw himself 
 thrown aside in London, because nothing more could be got out of him. 
 The English Cabinet no longer showed him any attentions but those usual 
 between master and slave. The money which he asked was sent him as 
 to a salaried valet ;' he was no longer free in his conduct ; Elizabeth paid 
 him for work done, and, as a natural consequence, she had him closely 
 watched. That passive obedience, though handsomely paid, at last 
 wearied him. On the steps of the throne, he felt less free than his 
 subjects. To throw off the yoke of England, he sought the aid of 
 France. Killigrew's watchfulness prevented it. Besides, all Scotland 
 was disturbed. His unbounded avarice and pride, unbearable after 
 his fall, and his hard-heartedness and rapacity in seizing the property 
 of the clergy and coveting the Crown jewels, had galled the Scots.^ 
 
 The merchants gave the signal for the revolt, and dragged the 
 lords into it. Morton seeing his authority in danger, gained over the 
 Earl of Huntly by magnificent promises, drew near to Elizabeth, and 
 revenged himself for failing to connect himself with France, by com- 
 bating the interests of that country.^ But Scotland protested, and, after 
 taking that step, was more disposed to renew the old Franco- Scottish 
 alliance.* 
 
 That sudden change lowered the reviving fortune of the Regent, 
 and caused rebellions to be more dreaded. Morton saw himself at 
 once without authority, and without reputation, and the more lonely 
 and degraded he felt, the more erect he stood in the midst of the 
 flatterers who surrounded him, heaping disdain upon his former 
 friends, and venting upon them the bad humour which he could not 
 display in public. " One day," says Melville, " the Laird of Carmichael 
 complained to me that the Regent acknowledged so badly the services 
 which he had rendered him, and declared that he was resolved to 
 forsake him. I answered him that he ought to profit by the examples 
 of the Laird of Grange, and of Walter Melville, my brother, who had 
 lost the good graces of the Regent, because they were too honest men : 
 that I myself having wished to speak to him with the same freedom 
 as I had used before he became Regent, had deserved his wrath and 
 his aversion, although I had served him usefully on many occasions ; but 
 that others, on the contrary, who had previously been his enemies, had 
 
 ' Melville's Memoirs, 260 ; Tytler's History of ' Corresp, diplom. VI., 64,. 126, 142, 166, 
 
 Scotland, IV., 3, 4. 204,211,227. 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., VI., 76, 77. ^ Corresp. diplom. VI., 247. 
 
THE ENGLISH COVET THE PRINCE, 1574. 283 
 
 become his great favourites, because they admired and approved every act, 
 and because their backbones were supple enough to allow them to make 
 profound bows. Those people have taken possession of his mind, and we 
 are hated by him. Apparently you have followed our example and our 
 stupid conduct ; but undeceive yourself, and change your manner if you 
 would make a fortune. And since you see that your friend has become 
 Regent, imagine you have never known him before, and act as if you 
 were entering the service of a new master. Forget your past services, 
 accustom your back to bend very low, and let the expression ' your 
 GRACE ' be often repeated : especially, do not pry into his actions, 
 but comply blindly with all that pleases him, and if you do not feel 
 the better for it, say I know nothing about it. If you act in any other 
 way you will hasten nothing but your ruin." 
 
 " Mr. Carmichael thanked me kindly for my advice, and appeared 
 anxious to follow it. Indeed he adopted my plan, and did so well that 
 he was employed and rewarded, and that he obtained influence to do 
 good to his friends ; but," adds the witty chronicler, " I found him not 
 thankful afterwards to me for my counsel."' 
 
 Those, however, who were too noble to yield to that servitude, 
 stood aloof from the Regent as much as they could without showing 
 too openly their displeasure ; personal dignity would have been re- 
 garded as rebellious. In England, where that fear did not exist, it was 
 freely talked about. Elizabeth was getting tired of Morton's baseness, 
 and laughed at his feeble threats ; the calumnies which he had so often 
 used against the Queen and her partisans, had become, on his part, so 
 much a matter of course, that they were no longer profitable to him : be- 
 sides they were displeasing to Elizabeth. After having thought well of 
 the calumniators," she had come to punish them.^ There now remained 
 for Morton only one way of really pleasing her, and that was to place in 
 her hands the Prince of Scotland whom France, Spain and England 
 disputed.* Morton tried to do so in concert with Killigrew and the 
 Countess of Lennox ; ^ but the Earl of Huntly and Alexander Erskine 
 opposed it so vigorously, and the French ambassador threw so many 
 olastacles in the way, that the Regent saw his favourite plan fail.^ The 
 English and Scottish Governments were irritated at the check ; there 
 
 1 Melville's Memoirs, 261. * Various Spanish Papers, Teulet, V., 112, 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom. V., 471. Mary Stuart to 122, 126 ; Corresp. diplom. VI., 149, 166, 238, 
 
 la Mothe Fdnelon, loth March, 1574. Prince 242. 
 
 Labanoff, IV., 117. ' Corresp. diplom. VI., 249, 261. 
 
 ' Corresp. diplom. VI., 44. ' Advis sur les choses d'Escosse, Teulet 
 
 II., 450. Corresp. diplom. VI., 254, 287. 
 
284 ELIZABETH'S ANGER AGAINST LADY LENNOX, 1574. 
 
 was an outburst of zeal and persecution ; the envoys of the Arch- 
 bishop of Glasgow were thrown into prison, and la Mothe F^nelon 
 was forbidden to communicate with Mary Stuart and her son.' 
 
 The marriage of Darnley's brother with Elizabeth Cavendish, 
 daughter of the Countess of Shrewsbury, which was celebrated a month 
 later, added to the fury of the persecution, and gave rise to great mis- 
 trust, especially of the Countess of Lennox who was put under arrest,^ 
 and of Mary, who was blamed for that wedding.^ Although there were 
 no proofs, that Princess had the sad fate to feel her miseries grow 
 greater day by day.* 
 
 Amidst those trials, she was also deprived of a man who had pro- 
 mised her much, and who would certainly have kept his word, had he 
 not had continual wars on his hands. The Duke of Alva had been 
 replaced by the feeble Requesens, to the great joy of the Flemish, 
 whom the Duke had subdued and kept down with severity.^ 
 
 Frightful prodigies seen in the middle of the month of November, 
 suddenly spread terror and desolation among the followers, by turns 
 voluptuous and busy, of Queen Elizabeth, and made those who acted as 
 haughty arbiters of human destinies tremble on their thrones, by re- 
 minding them of their littleness. People saw with stupor two large 
 fire brands flash across the sky rivalling the sun in brightness, and 
 threatening to consume the earth, sea-monsters running on shore, and 
 the Thames overflowing its banks in an alarming manner.* Elizabeth 
 was frightened, and in all haste she sent for the best astrologers to learn 
 of them her future. The interpretations were not few ; but had the 
 good F^nelon been superstitious, he might have believed that those 
 fires, those waters, and those sea-monsters were only the forerunners 
 of a storm which was to burst over Elizabeth's head. 
 
 That storm was provoked through a trifling matter of ceremony 
 which no historian would ever have mentioned, had not its consequences 
 been so dangerous. The Duke de Guise had ordered the persons 
 who accompanied Lord North to uncover themselves in presence of 
 the King, and the Queen had presented to Elizabeth's envoy a jester 
 dressed up in the English fashion, whose outward appearance reminded 
 one of Henry VI I L : such were the two grievances. In communicating, 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom. VI,, 265, 275,376. * Corresp. diplom. VI., 311, 319, 328. 
 
 ' Prince Labanoff, IV., 258; Corresp. diplom. ' Camden, 11. 253. 
 
 VI., 319, 328. * Corresp. diplom. VI., 298 ; Camden, 
 
 ' Camden, II., 361 ; Corresp. diplcm. VI., II., 263. 
 299. 
 
DEATH OF THE CARDINAL DE LORRAINE, 1574. 285 
 
 to the French ambassador, the sorrow which such proceedings caused 
 her, EHzabeth uttered words so unworthy of her position, and so far 
 from respectful to the ambassador, that la Mothe Fenelon, after 
 strongly denying that Catherine de Medicis had made a fool of Henry 
 VIII., thought of exacting a retractation, under penalty of at once break- 
 ing off his relations with the Court. "It occurred to me. Sire," wrote 
 the ambassador to his master, " that I ought to insist that the said 
 lady, previous to my leaving her Chamber, should retract what she had 
 said of the Queen, your mother, or let me leave her kingdom." The 
 thought that the rupture might be more hurtful than useful to his 
 country, kept the ambassador in England.' 
 
 Elizabeth owed the French a grudge for it, and to revenge her- 
 self, formed the plan of a' vast conspiracy against France. Her pur- 
 pose was to seize Calais, Boulogne, Dieppe, Havre and Cherbourg, 
 kindle war in all corners of French territory, kill the King, if possible, 
 and sack the country from one end to the other. La Mothe Fenelon 
 checked the conspiracy by giving the Queen of England such an idea of 
 the French forces that she gave way to words of praise about the troops. 
 Never was that expedition brought up again ; it was given up within 
 a week, like the one which the King of Spain intended to send to 
 Scotland.^ 
 
 The close of the year 1 5 74 witnessed the removal of a man who had 
 played a great part in France and whose death was an irreparable loss 
 to Mary : the Cardinal de Lorraine had breathed his last at Christmas. 
 The sad news was not at first told to the captive Princess, and the poor 
 creature wrote to her uncle, already dead a fortnight, a letter full of the 
 most tender sentiments. " My good uncle," she wrote, " I see the little 
 hope which the state of affairs in France can afford me. It is very 
 annoying to me, not only on account of myself, but also on account of 
 my good wishes for the country wherein I have been brought up and 
 wherein dwell those who are most dear to me. May God in His mercy 
 be willing to see to it, and protect you ; for from this country (England) 
 you may expect all the bad treatment that can be dreamt of, especially 
 against our house, on account of the fidelity which it bears to the Court 
 of France." She begged him to answer for her good faith, if it happened 
 to be doubted at the Court. " Besides, my good uncle," added she, 
 " I entreat you to pardon me if I have written to you too freely regard- 
 ing the displeasure which I felt at certain proceedings of our people in 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., VI., 332. 
 
 ' Advertissement d'Aulcunes choses. — Corresp. diplom., VI., 337, sq., 348. 
 
286 DEATH OF THE CARDINAL DE LORRAINE, 1574. 
 
 my affairs. ... I implore you not to be angry with me for it, but 
 send me a secretary, and I shall inform you, according to your desire, 
 of what I think of him. Meanv/hile, I thank you with all my heart for 
 the offers which it has pleased you to make to me in your open letters. 
 I entreat you only to take particular interest in the poor banished Scots 
 and English, and beg you to bid them hope on. ... I write to you 
 so freely, because I desire to be able some day to do you a service, for 
 it is what I wish in this world as much as any other thing ; and in con- 
 clusion, my good uncle, I pray you to love me and command me as a 
 daughter who loves you as she loves herself" ' 
 
 The Cardinal, alas ! could no longer love his unfortunate niece : he 
 was no more. That touching letter was not answered. When Mary 
 learned what had happened, she was not astonished : a vague presenti- 
 ment had already told her of it, and her sleep had been disturbed by 
 dreams of the Cardinal's death. She bore the loss with resignation. 
 " I am much astonished," she wrote to her ambassador in France, "that 
 in times of so sad news I have had neither counsel nor consolation from 
 you. I attribute it to the very depth of your regret at my loss ; but 
 God be praised that He has given me strength to bear my afflictions. 
 Though I cannot as yet keep these eyes from weeping, yet true it is, 
 that my long-lasting adversities have taught me to hope for rest only 
 beyond the tomb. Alas ! I am a prisoner, and God takes from me one 
 of those whom I loved most dearly. What more shall I say ? He has 
 taken from me at once my father and my uncle : I shall follow, when it 
 shall please Him, with small regret; but, I beg of you, console me, and 
 do not grieve, for by so doing you take from me again a good friend and 
 servant whom, I feel assured, I have in you." ^ 
 
 Those few words give a correct idea of Mary Stuart : resigned to 
 the will of God, attached to her relatives, and full of affection for her 
 servants. There is a vast difference betwixt Mary, a woman full of grief 
 and resignation, and that intriguing, jealous, wicked and venomous 
 Queen, whom biassed writers have sketched from the foolish dreams of 
 their impure hearts. The truth will out, I am sure of it. The time for 
 hatred is past : Buchanan and his imitators are dead ; the others shall 
 pass away, and of all those calumniators, now saluted as historians, 
 there will remain, in a century, only the degraded name. The future 
 generations, raised above ignorance or stupid belief, shall hasten to . 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to the Cardinal de Lorraine. « ^^i-y stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 
 
 9th January 1575.— Prince Labanoff, IV., 251, 20th February 1575.— Prince Labanoff, IV., 
 sq. 266. 
 
THE PRINCE'S LOVE FOR HIS MOTHER, 1575. 287 
 
 forget them, and Mary shall stand forth the lily of innocence twining 
 round the palm of martyrdom. 
 
 During that time Elizabeth's counsellors had their eyes fixed upon 
 Scotland. Unable to fetter Morton, who was ever stirring and chang- 
 ing, just as it suited his interests, they were disposed to make a league 
 with the Scots, to undertake the care of the young King, marry him to 
 a Princess of Spain, and finally declare him the heir of Elizabeth.' That 
 arrangement was to form an indissoluble tie between England and 
 Scotland, pacify Philip II. by the lure of a rich alliance, and weaken 
 France : a bold plan, which failed, like many other advantageous 
 measures, through the natural aversion of Elizabeth to appointing a 
 successor for herself. Scotland remained at peace, not suspecting any- 
 thing, and Morton, ever avaricious, continued to rule, relying on England. 
 No notice had been taken of Mary in that political arrangement ; she 
 was treated worse at that period than she had been for several months 
 before it. The affair of the Countess of Lennox had soured Elizabeth ; 
 the cyphers found on the envoys of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the 
 reports made by Killigrew and Morton had caused her uneasiness. 
 Persons of every rank were confined in the Tower ; there were examin- 
 ations which led to nothing certain, so that the " bitter inquisition " had 
 no result.^ 
 
 Those persecutions made Mary's partisans more circumspect. On 
 the death of the Duke of Chatelleraut, some sought refuge at the 
 Court of England,^ and stayed there until the young Prince got older. 
 That little Prince, born in misfortune, brought up by strangers, lulled 
 to sleep by the din of war, and growing in the midst of conspiracies, 
 was ripe at an age when other children are unable to think for them- 
 selves. To talk openly in his presence of his mother and of the state of 
 his country was usual, because they thought they had to deal with a 
 mere thoughtless child. He listened and was silent. When he spoke, 
 it was to defend the Queen with a wisdom which surprised his masters 
 themselves. When the powers disputed the possession of him, he had 
 the boldness to say to Morton's counsellors, " I shall go neither to 
 France nor elsewhere without an order from my mother ; and, in spite 
 of you all, I shall do what may be pleasing to her."+ On another 
 occasion he silenced a lord, calling him double-faced, for at first praising 
 
 1 Corresp. diplom., VI., 364. * Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., VI., 168, 265, 376, 427, 26th December 1574. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 
 
 429, 441. 246, 265. 
 =■ Corresp. diplom., VI., 381, 404. 
 
z88 MARY STUART'S TRANQUILLITY, 1575. 
 
 Morton's government, and then supporting the Queen's party.' The 
 report of his prudence had travelled through France before it reached 
 the ear of Philip II.° 
 
 The heart of the son did not forget his mother, though slanderous 
 tales were poured into his youthful ear. Mary deserved more sympathy 
 than was usually shown her. Those who knew the gentle captive could 
 not but feel that secret emotion which, in many, produces a real enthusi- 
 asm. Misfortune threw a halo of glory around her beauty, and persecu- 
 tion, which tried her courage, showed to the world her heavenly virtues. 
 Thence that charm of person which created in generous hearts an eager 
 desire to see her less unhappy. In comparing her to that horrid Eliza- 
 beth, whose lustful life reminds one of Messallina,^ and whose ferocity told 
 of Nero, a shameful mixture of pride and meanness; who would pass for a 
 virgin despite her amours;-* who sulked at her favourites when she did not 
 beat them ; = who joined to the vices of woman the excesses of tyrants ; 
 who lodged in the Tower, had killed or burnt alive,^ those who resisted 
 her, the few honest men who then lived, .untouched by fear, were 
 irresistibly drawn towards the Queen of Scots ! Both born Queens, 
 they had not the same disposition ; they led not the same life ; they 
 came into the world to show all the energy of woman's mind : a violent, 
 harsh, and despotic energy in Elizabeth ; a gentle but firm energy in 
 Mary Stuart. But for those two Queens, at variance with each other 
 through a mysterious destiny, it is hard to believe that at the same 
 period a woman could be despotic even to fury and her rival patient 
 even to martyrdom. 
 
 The quiet which Mary enjoyed in her tribulations is wonder- 
 ful. Scarcely had she returned from Buxton, whither she had 
 gone to recover her health,' when she went back to her customary 
 occupations. Her existence was a problem. Overwhelmed with 
 miseries and ill usage ; threatened by Elizabeth, whose periodical 
 outbursts were to be dreaded ; ^ running the risk of dying, sometimes by 
 
 1 Melville's Memoirs, 263. * Mary to Elizabeth. — Prince Labanoff, VI., 
 
 ^ Don Diego de Zuniga to Philip II., 9th 51, sq. 
 
 March 1575. — Teulet, V., 125. ^ Harington's Nugae Antiquse, 167; Smolett's 
 
 3 Lingard's History of England ; Corresp. History of England, book v., chap, viii., No. 
 
 diplom., II., 121, sq. ; Harington's Nugse 58. 
 
 Antiquae, 166. Those various accounts are * Corresp. diplom., VI., 490; Gregorio Leti, 
 
 supported; but there are certain anonymous Vie d'Elizabeth, I., 499. 
 
 despatches from Simancas which defy all ' M. Mignet, II., 192. 
 
 description. I have already had occasion to * Corresp. diplom., V., 450, 471 ; VI., 
 
 quote a specimen. 34. 
 
MARY STUART'S RESIGNATION, 1575. 289 
 
 poison,' often by violence ; ■' persecuted in her faith ; ' half ruined in 
 France ; * overpowered by grief and by sickness ; ^ forgotten by the 
 Princes, her relations ; * equally in danger from both England and 
 Scotland ; ' deprived of her ambassador in London,^ and of her secre- 
 tary ; ' stricken in her family ; " heart-broken for her servants and 
 friends ; " Mary found in the depth of her heart a strength which 
 surprises, and which exercised so great an influence around her that 
 Elizabeth feared lest she should draw over Leicester," and Burghley 
 himself '3 
 
 To those who said she did but pretend to be serious when she 
 asked leave to practise her religion, she answered : " Your libel affirms 
 it, some renegade preachers, who make it a business to sow discord 
 broad-cast through my kingdom, maintain it and condemn me, but let 
 them know I do not play at such games ; I respect religion as becomes 
 a Christian lady who puts her hope in God alone." '"* 
 
 To those who squandered her revenue in France, she wrote : " I 
 wish to make friends and save money, and do not mean to enrich the 
 servants of others." '^ 
 
 To Kings she said : " You must neither threaten nor flatter Eliza- 
 beth ; but warn her, and afterwards force her to speak or to act." '* 
 
 In reference to the King of France she expressed this opinion 
 which time was to confirm : "If the King is brave, he will be feared in 
 England ; if he is soft,, he will be set at nought ; you may take my 
 word for it." '' 
 
 '^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. ' Various letters of Mary Stuart to the 
 
 — Prince Labanoff, IV., 126. Corresp. diplom., Archbishop of Glasgow. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 
 
 v., 450. 186, 209, 216. 
 
 = Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow " Mary Stuart to la Mothe Ffeelon. — 
 
 and to the Cardinal de Lorraine. — Prince La- Prince Labanoff, IV., 263. 
 banoff, IV.,205,232. Corresp. diplom., VI., 265. " Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to la Mothe Fdnelon. — Prince — Prince Labanoff, IV., 258. Corresp. diplom., 
 
 Labanoff, IV., 94, 95. VI., 265. 
 
 * Declaration and various letters of Mary '^ Mary Stuart to la Mothe F&elon. — 
 Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, and to Prince Labanoff, IV., 194, 
 
 the Treasurer Dolu. — Prince Labanoff, IV., " Lodge's Papers, II., 83, 116, 163; Prince 
 
 137, 161, 173. 180, 304. Labanoff, IV., 275. 
 
 ^ M. Mignet, II., 192. Mary Stuart to " Mary Stuart to la Mothe Fdnelon. — Prince 
 
 Elizabeth, and to la Mothe F^nelon, IV., 44, Labanoff, IV., 95. 
 
 241. " Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. 
 
 ^ M. Ch^ruel, Marie Stuart et Catherine de — Prince Labanoff, IV. 180. 
 
 Mddicis, 67. '° Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow 
 
 '' Corresp. diplom., VI., 497. Instructions and to the Cardinal de Lorraine. — Prince La- 
 given to Killigrew.— State Paper Office. banoff, IV., 122. 
 
 * Corresp. diplom., V., 471; Camden, II., " Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. 
 252. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 245. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 
 
290 HER AMUSEMENTS, 1575. 
 
 In the midst of her misfortunes she was anxious that nothing 
 should be wanting to her friends. Now, it was the command of the 
 Scottish guard which she soHcited for Adam Gordon ; ' then a benefice 
 for the Archbishop of Glasgow ; " at other times, she asked wages for 
 her servants,^ or recommended to her ambassador, the persons who had 
 aided her/ Her heart was feeling for the unfortunate ; and, though 
 destitute, she yet found means of comforting others more unhappy than 
 herself. To be in misfortune was sufficient to secure a right to her kind- 
 ness. A poor widow, victim of her own misconduct, one day came to 
 ask charity from her: Mary had nothing to give her; she wrote to la 
 Mothe-Fenelon : " as to that poor widow I do not know what I can do 
 for her ; she has not behaved properly, to tell the truth ; but, if con- 
 sidering her great need, you will give her a hundred crowns, I shall 
 have them repaid to you." = She had 
 
 "A tear for pity, and a hand 
 Open as day for melting charity." 
 
 Amid those dangers Mary busied herself with philosophy, and 
 while from the outside her ruin was being conspired, she wrote verses 
 on the Inconstancy and Frailty of the World. What might she not 
 say ? She had but to review her own past to become eloquent. She 
 wrote : — 
 
 " Estre venu des parens geneureux, 
 N'empesche point qu'on ne soit malheureux. 
 Les beaux habits, les jeu, les ris, la danse, 
 Ne laissent d'eux que dueil et repentance ; 
 Et la beaut^, tant agr^able aux yeux, 
 Se part de nous, quand nous devenons vieux : 
 Boire et manger et vivre tout k False 
 Revient aussi k douleur et malaise : 
 Beaucoup d'amis, richesse, ny sgauoir, 
 De contenter, qui les a, n'ont pouuoir. 
 Brief tout le bien de ceste vie humaine 
 Se garde peu et s'acquiert k grand peine." ' 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. ° " To be born of generous parents does not 
 
 — Prince Labanoff, IV., 169. hinder one's being unfortunate. Rich dresses, 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow games, laughter and dancing leave but sorrow 
 
 and to the Cardinal de Lorraine. — Prince La- and repentance ; and beauty, so pleasing to 
 
 banoff, IV., 234, 254. the eye, forsakes us when we grow old ; a 
 
 ' Memoir sent by Mary Stuart to France. — life of merriment, eating and drinking, ends 
 
 Prince Labanoff, IV., 229, sq. also in grief and discomfort ; many friends, 
 
 ^ Various letters of Mary Stuart to the riches and knowledge, have not the power to 
 
 Archbishop of Glasgow. — Prince Labanoff, satisfy those who have them. In short, all 
 
 IV., 184, 235, 238, 248, 266. the good of this human life is enjoyed but a 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to la Mothe Fdnelon. — short time, and is acquired with great hard- 
 Prince Labanoff, IV., 223. ship." 
 
HER AMUSEMENTS, 1575. 291 
 
 On feeling the world escape from her, she turned towards God and 
 asked from Him patience and advice, and the mercy of being ever faith- 
 ful to Him ; — 
 
 " Permets Seigneur, que tousjours mon bon Ange 
 Soit prfes de moy, et t'offre ma loiiange 
 Mes oraisons, mes larmes et souspirs, 
 Et de mon coeur tous les justes desirs. 
 Ton sainct Esprit sur moy face demeure 
 Tant que voudras qu'en ce monde je dure." ^ 
 
 Similar sentiments form again the subject-matter of two sonnets 
 which that unfortunate Princess composed in her moments of weariness/ 
 
 After poetry, she devoted her leisure hours to the working of 
 various articles for dress, several of which were sent to Elizabeth. 
 She had rich tissues sent her from France, and embroidered them with 
 so much art, that those works of her hands called forth universal 
 admiration.3 Mary was glad to know that her gifts were welcomed, 
 and her happiness was expressed in words as artless as they were 
 delicate.* It is touching to see her doing her utmost to enhance the 
 already faded beauty of Elizabeth. She wrote to la Mothe Fdnelon : 
 " I am delighted to hear from you that the Queen, my good sister, has 
 been pleased with my verses. ... I have no leisure at present to 
 write her, as the writing of this despatch takes up all my time. I 
 am busy trimming a head-dress for her, but I have so few work -girls 
 to help me in delicate work, that I cannot have it ready for some time. 
 I shall work at nothing else, unless remind her every now and then of 
 me, seeing that she does me the honour to receive my work in good 
 part. But I wish you to let me know what she likes most, for, as 
 regards novelties, we see nothing here to help invention. If a little 
 net-work pleased her -more than anything else, I should do some. 
 Meanwhile, I beg you to get me some gold footing with silver spangles, 
 as fine and as delicate as possible, and send me six ells of it, and also 
 twenty ells of double footing, or any other narrow open lace, all gold." ^ 
 
 Elizabeth, fond of wearing ornaments embroidered by her rival, 
 
 ' " Grant, Lord, that my good angel be ever 213, and I'lre de Dieu, &c., in Bannat. Miscel., 
 
 near me, and offer Thee my praise, my prayers, I., 348. 
 
 my tears and sighs, and all the just desires of ^ Corresp.diplom., VI., 123,349. Castelnauto 
 
 my heart. May Thy Holy Spirit be with me the King, 29th February 1576. — Teulet, III., 3. 
 
 as long as it shall please Thee that I should ■■ Various letters of Mary to Elizabeth, the 
 
 remain upon earth." — Meditation composed Archbishop of Glasgow, and la Mothe Fdnelon. 
 
 by Mary Queen of Scots, Bannat. Miscel., I., — Prince Labanoff, IV., 171,213, 240. 
 
 343, sq. ' Mary Stuart to la Mothe F^nelon, 14th 
 
 ^ Que suis-je hdlas ! &c., in the Life of Mary September 1574- — Prince Labanoff, IV., 222, 
 
 Queen of Scots, by Henry Glassford Bell, II., 223. 
 
292 _ HER AMUSEMENTS, 1575. 
 
 received them greedily. Two things especially excited her vanity : 
 the work was perfect, and it was wrought by Mary's hand. She longed 
 for it. Proud and impatient she used this revolting language to the 
 French ambassador : " I am older than the Queen, my sister ; and old 
 people willingly grasp with two hands, and give with but one finger." " 
 
 Far from the din of the world, and leaning on the Good God, Marry, 
 though seeing her plans and those of her partisans fail wretchedly, 
 sought consolation in nature. She reared little birds, and delighted to 
 foster life around her as she felt herself gradually sinking. What she 
 could not get in England, she sought from the Continent. " My Lord 
 of Glasco," she wrote, " I beg you will get for me some turtle-doves 
 and some of those Barbary fowls, that I may see if I can rear them in 
 this country. ... I should delight in feeding them in a cage, as I 
 do all the little birds which I can find. They are the pastimes of a 
 prisoner." " Three months after, she wrote, " If the Cardinal de Guise, 
 my uncle, has gone to Lyons, I feel sure that he will send me a couple 
 of beautiful little dogs, and that you also will buy me a couple ; for, 
 except reading and working, I have no other amusement than the 
 little animals which I can get. You would need to send them to me 
 in hampers, warmly wrapped." ^ Later, she said, " I am very fond of 
 my little dogs, but I am afraid they may get big." + 
 
 Unfortunate Princess, she was weary of life ; she felt at heart the 
 baseness and duplicity of mankind, more than her own miseries. Scorned 
 by those whom she had tried to serve, she found rest among her turtle- 
 doves and little dogs, graceful symbols of innocence and fidelity. There 
 she felt free ; and if the sight of her prison came at times to grieve her, 
 she consoled herself with the thought that the little animals about 
 her, prisoners like herself, were nevertheless cheerful. Her patience 
 was angelic : no more complaints, no more recriminations against 
 Elizabeth. The quiet which she enjoyed in the very midst of dangers, 
 while reminding her of the happy days which she had spent in her con- 
 vent at Rheims, led her back irresistibly to religion. " I am in such a 
 condition," she wrote, " that I wish freedom to go and serve God in 
 private life, and quit all that I have, and I swear to you, my God, that 
 but for the clamours of the poor Catholics who have hope but in me, 
 I should never be Queen or Dowager." = 
 
 1 Corresp. diplom., VI., 398. * The same to the same, 12th February 
 
 2 Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- 1576.— Prince Labanoff, IV., 282. 
 
 gow.— Prince Labanoff, IV., 183. = Mary to the Archbishop of Glasgow.^ 
 
 3 The same to the same, 22d September, Prince Labanoff, IV., 180, 181. 
 1574. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 229. 
 
DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT OF MORTON, 1575. 293 
 
 In such a frame of mind, Mary was certainly more at rest than her 
 enemies. Morton could hardly stand against a restless nobility ever 
 ready to attack him. The revolt, which fear could no longer keep in 
 check, was breaking out around him, and he was forced to withdraw into 
 Edinburgh Castle, thinking that those who rebelled against him could not 
 reach him there.' He had already quarrelled with England, and he wks 
 now on the point of having to struggle against her and Scotland combined. 
 An unexpected event hastened the end, and gave the Regent the greatest 
 fright that he had felt since his entrance into public life. The Wardens 
 of the Marches, who had met in conference at Redsquair, agreed to hand 
 over the fugitives to each other ; but when Sir John Carmichael, 
 Warden for Scotland, had given up the English, Sir John Forster 
 refused to return the Scots. They came to blows, and the English got 
 the worst of it, George Heron and twenty -four others being killed. 
 Sir John Forster and several other English gentlemen were made 
 prisoners, as well as the son of the Earl of Bedford. That adventure 
 put Elizabeth into a great rage. The Regent, frightened at the bold- 
 ness of his men, treated the prisoners with every possible attention, and 
 without enquiring whether the fault lay with the English or the Scots, 
 he sent the brave Carmichael to London to apologize to the Queen and 
 pacify her. That step turned to his shame, for Elizabeth found, after 
 inquiry, that the Scots were right.^ Despite the exceptional cowardice 
 of the Regent, the contest was more to the profit of Scotland than of 
 England, from the fact that it threw an obstacle in the way of Killigrew, 
 who had returned with large sums of money to gain possession of the 
 person of the Prince.^ 
 
 I think I ought not to pass over in silence a diversion which Lei- 
 cester gave Elizabeth at the period which we have now reached, were 
 it only to show what was in the sixteenth century a princely merry- 
 making in England. La Mothe Fenelon, from whom I borrow this 
 account, was among those invited ; but the thought that his health could 
 not stand so severe a trial kept him from joining the circle. " The 
 Earl of Leicester," he says, "has given lodging in his castle to the 
 Queen and her ladies, fourteen earls, and seventeen other principal 
 lords; and has treated the whole Court to a hundred and sixty dishes in 
 twelve days, and consumed, among other things, sixteen hogsheads of 
 wine, forty hogsheads of beer, and ten oxen, each day ; with so great 
 
 I Corresp. diplom., VI., 451, 459, 464, 472. ^ Craufurd's Memoirs, 281, 282; Camden, 
 
 3 Gorresp. diplom., VI., 478 ; Tytler's His- 11., 269, 270; Spottiswoode, II., 198; Corresp. 
 tory of Scotland, IV., 7. diplom., VI., 478, 480. 
 
2 94 ARRIVAL OF CASTELNAU, 1575. 
 
 an abundance of all other sorts of good meats, fruits and preserves, 
 that people have been amazed at it. Four hundred servants dressed 
 in fresh liveries, besides gentlemen clad in velvet, served. They 
 enjoyed hunting and other field sports, and comedies and dancing in- 
 doors, all got up so admirably, that, for a long time past, nothing more 
 magnificent has been seen in this kingdom." ' 
 
 The removal of la Mothe F^nelon, which took place in the month of 
 September, very much grieved the Queen of Scots. She felt the loss 
 keenly when she saw removed from her one so devoted as he had been. 
 La Mothe F^nelon was for Mary more than a counsellor ; he was a friend 
 who neglected no opportunity of doing her good. Until the end he 
 had shown by his acts how great an interest he took in her misfortunes ; 
 he had deserved the reproach of being as much the ambassador of the 
 Queen of Scots as of the King of France.'' Believing that Mary was 
 innocent, he ever served her with zeal and disinterestedness ; he had 
 suspected on his arrival in England that hatred would pursue that Prin- 
 cess until death, and he had resolved to support her cause.^ Through 
 seven long years he was as devoted to her as on the first day. " I shall 
 do all in my power," he wrote to Henry III., "to get leave to visit the 
 Queen of Scots and the Prince, her son, on the part of your Majesty, 
 and I shall there do you all the service that it may please you to com- 
 mand me, without sparing my health, or even my life, if need be."* 
 Mary appreciated all the delicacy of the ambassador's conduct ; she felt 
 grateful to him for his attachment, and called herself " his very much 
 obliged and good friend ;"5 and would gladly have given him other 
 proofs of her gratitude. She said to him, "You have obliged me so 
 much in all ways, that I cannot thank you enough, in my present state. 
 In my powerlessness, I hope my relatives will be grateful, and reward 
 you and yours, on all occasions that may offer, for services done me. As 
 for me, I can testify my gratitude only by praying God constantly, as I 
 do with all my heart, that he may grant you a long and happy life."^ 
 
 On having accredited to her Court, Castelnau de Mauvissiere, Mary 
 lost by the change, and perhaps la Mothe F6nelon, whom Castelnau 
 had provoked by his conduct,' took care to warn her of his successor's 
 
 ' Corresp. diplom., VI., 479. " Je me fusse ^ Corresp. diplom., I., 23. 
 
 trouv^ Ik, ainsi que le diet Sieur Comte m'en * Corresp. diplom , VI., 495. 
 
 avoit fort prye, mais je ne me suys estimd ' Various letters of Mary to la Mothe Fdne- 
 
 avoyr assez de santd pour I'ozer employer, si- Ion. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 209, 224, 242. 
 non Ik ou I'exprfes service de Vos Majestez le " Mary Stuart to la Mothe Fdnelon, 14th 
 
 requerra." — Id. ibid. September, 1574. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 221. 
 
 ^ Corresp. diplom., VI., 419 ; VII., 447. ' Corresp. diplom., VI., 479. 
 
BOTHWELL'S DECLARATION, 1576. 295 
 
 disposition. This, however, is certain, that the captive, informed of his 
 blunders and of his weakness for England,' accorded him at first but 
 little esteem." Their relations, however, became more intimate, when 
 Castelnau joined la Mothe Fenelon, and tried to loosen the deeply- 
 cutting and cruel cord of her captivity. ^ 
 
 England and Scotland, busy with their wars and their ambitions, had 
 forgotten Bothwell. Morton reaped the benefit of the King's murder, 
 and was far from heeding the lot of his unfortunate accomplice who 
 reaped only the loss. Bothwell had made up his mind on the subject. 
 Forgotten by his friends and fellow-countrymen, detained at the Castle 
 of Malmoe, he led there a noisy and dissolute life ; there was nothing 
 but hunting and feasting. It mattered little to him by whom and how 
 Scotland was governed, seeing that he had no longer anything in com- 
 mon with it. If, at times, in the midst of his orgies, he turned towards 
 the past, it was to curse it and proclaim the innocence of the Queen.'* 
 
 That rough life soon ruined his constitution. In the spring of 
 1576, when very ill, and in fear of the near approach of death, he made 
 a very solemn avowal of Mary Stuart's innocence. That avowal 
 crossed the seas, and thrilled all hearts in England, France and Scot- 
 land. No one was indifferent to it : honest hearts welled over with 
 hope, while the wicked, terrified by that phantom which they thought 
 had vanished, trembled on seeing the veil which covered their criminal 
 plots, rent asunder. It was a period of most anxious suspense, for 
 everybody knew Mary Stuart's distress. Guilty, she was pitied ; but 
 if innocent, is she not worthy of the crown of martyrdom ? The secret 
 of devotion to her cause was explained. 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- ' "Et vivens et moriens Reginam minime 
 
 gow. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 285, 315. consciam fuisse religiosa asseveratione saepe- 
 
 ^ Various letters of Mary Stuart. — Prince numero contestatus est." — Camden, II., 118; 
 
 Labanoff, IV., 328, 329, 347, 372. Affaires du Comte de Boduel, App. iv., 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to M. de Mauvissi&re, 12th xhii. 
 March, 1576. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 307. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1576— T578. 
 
 BOTHWELL'S declaration — ELIZABETH'S ANXIETY — MARY'S JOY — STEPS TAKEN BY MARY 
 TO PROCURE THE DECLARATION — BARCLAY IMPRISONED — HAPPINESS OF THE YOUNG 
 PRINCE — FREDERICK II. AND BOTHWELL — CONDUCT OF LADY LENNOX TOWARDS THE 
 REGENT AND MARY STUART — MARY'S RIGHTS ACKNOWLEDGED — PROJECT OF ALLIANCE 
 WITH DON JUAN OF AUSTRIA — FEARS IN ENGLAND — WALSINGHAM'S ANXIETY — 
 DRAFT OF A WILL OF MARY STUART — LEICESTER AT BUXTON — OXFORD BLACK 
 ASSIZES — A COMET APPEARS — PUBLIC OUTCRY AGAINST THE CATHOLICS — MORTON 
 AND THE PRINCE — EMIGRATION OF SCOTS — MARY STUART'S FEARS FOR HER SON^ 
 HER LOVE FOR HIM — PERSECUTION OF MARY STUART — AFFAIRS IN FLANDERS — 
 PROJECTS FORMED IN REFERENCE TO THE YOUNG PRINCE— MARY AND DON JUAN — 
 THE EARLS OF ARGYLL AND ATHOLE OPPOSE MORTON — DOWNFALL OF THE REGENT. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the attacks upon Mary's habits, inno- 
 cence and Hberty, she remained firm, and resolved to endure 
 anything rather than forfeit her honour. Weak as she appeared, 
 she was, however, the trouble of crowned heads. She often em- 
 bittered Elizabeth's prosperity, and drove into her heart, anxiety, 
 remorse and black envenomed envy. Her name uttered in a moment 
 of joy was enough to check the laugh on the lips of the Queen of 
 England. By dint of misfortunes nobly borne, Mary had gained 
 general esteem ; her enemies had relented, and those who still thought 
 her guilty, could not help pitying her sad fate. Elizabeth, embarrassed 
 with her victim, did not know whether she ought to pardon her or put 
 her to death. Her pride balanced her pity. She reproached herself 
 with cruelty, was sorry she had gone so far, and then redoubled her 
 severity to stifle remorse. She wished her out of the world, that she 
 might have no longer before her eyes the living proof of her hatred 
 and ferocity. Mary bore ill treatment patiently, awaiting a better lot, if 
 not in this life, at least in the next. 
 
 Matters were in that state when Bothwell's testamentary declaration 
 made its appearance. The odious ruffian, frightened by the approach 
 of death, dared not take with him to the tomb the frightful secret of so 
 many revolutions and so many disasters. Before the Bishop of Scania 
 
BOTHWELL'S DECLARATION, 1576. 297 
 
 and eight lords, with death staring him in the face, he made the solemn 
 confession that the Queen had never known of the conspiracy to bring 
 about the King's death, and, therefore, could not have consented to it ; 
 that he, and his friends, by his order, had done the deed with the consent 
 and written approval of various lords, who, however, were not present 
 at the execution. He then named the principal accomplices." 
 
 That important declaration, sent by Frederic II. to Elizabeth, 
 gave her trouble. It was all over; there was no resource left. Mary 
 Stuart's innocence was proclaimed ; Europe was undeceived, and the 
 barbarous gaolers of that noble Princess were covered with shame. 
 Elizabeth destroyed the document which was sent her, thinking she 
 could at the same time destroy the truth. ^ But it was too late ;» the 
 report of the declaration had gone over the world. Catherine de 
 Mddicis had asked Frederic for Both well's testament in due form, and 
 Mary likewise demanded that the declaration should be presented 
 to her. " I have been informed," she wrote to her ambassador in 
 France, " of the death of the Earl of Bothwell, and that, with his last 
 breath, he made an ample confession of his crimes, and declared himself 
 author, and guilty of the murder of the late King, my husband, of which 
 he clears me, and swears my innocence at the risk of his soul's damna- 
 tion ; and as that testimony would be of great importance to me against 
 the false calumnies of my enemies, I pray you to inquire as to its truth 
 by any means whatever. Those who were present at the said declara- 
 tion, since signed and sealed by them, in form of a testament, are Otto 
 Braw, of the Castle of Elcembro, Paris Braw, of the Castle of Vascut, 
 Mons. Gullunstarne, of the Castle of Fulkenster, the Bishop of Skonen, 
 and four bailiffs of the town. If de Monceaulx, who formerly negotiated 
 in that country, would take a journey there, to inquire more particularly 
 into the matter, and bring back the proofs thereof, I should be glad to 
 employ him for the purpose, and to have money given him for his 
 journey."^ The Archbishop of Glasgow also, thought de Monceaulx 
 ought to be sent to Denmark ; but the wretched state to which Mary's 
 dower from France had been reduced, and the consequent want of money 
 compelled him to delay, as de Monceaulx would not " undertake the 
 journey unless he got ready money."'* Economy had to be practised till 
 the money was found ; but by a fatality, de Monceaulx, after receiving 
 the money, refused to go to Denmark, asserting that the five hundred 
 
 ' Teulet, Lettres de Marie Stua[t, 242, 244 ; ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 
 
 Bishop Keith, App., 144. ist June 1576. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 330. 
 
 ^ Bishop Keith, App., 143. * Bishop Keith, App., 142. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 P 
 
298 HAPPINESS OF THE YOUNG PRINCE, 1576. 
 
 livres, offered him for the journey, were due to him for previous 
 services.' 
 
 In spite of that unfeeHng conduct, Bothwell's testament was coming 
 to Hght ; it was spoken of in London as a well known matter. Scotland 
 alone seemed still unaware of that which was of such vast importance 
 to her. A certain Gartely or Barclay brought the news of it from 
 England. He was imprisoned for repeating what he had heard in 
 London. That severity on the part of Morton, while arousing 
 curiosity, served rather to give publicity to the declaration than to hush it 
 up, and the lords hostile to the Regent were not long in procuring it. 
 
 One day, when the Controller Tullibardine was mentioning it to 
 a gentleman in the Prince's chamber, the child, rising from the table 
 at which he was writing, came forward to them and demanded to see 
 what the Controller had in his hand. Tullibardine, after several refusals, 
 was obliged to show it to him. The young Prince read it from 
 beginning to end, gave it back without saying a single word, and 
 quietly resumed his work. When he had finished, he began to converse 
 with the gentlemen of his household so heartily, and so graciously, 
 that the Controller noticed it. " Tullibardine," >/ replied the Prince, 
 " have I not very good reason to rejoice, for whereas up till this time 
 grievous accusations and calumnies have been all along instilled into 
 my mind against her Majesty, my mother, this day I have seen a clear 
 declaration of her innocence."^ 
 
 The proofs of her innocence grew stronger and stronger ; and the 
 meshes of that subtly-woven net in which the guilty nobles had enfolded 
 the Queen of Scots were giving way, and hope foretold that she should 
 yet be free from it. The King of Denmark did not confine himself to 
 the reports of his agents, but questioned the prisoner himself, who said 
 in reply, " the Queen is innocent of aU knowledge or previous informa- 
 tion about the death of her husband : the bastard Moray began, Morton 
 planned, and I did the deed."^ 
 
 Through those repeated confessions some of the least wicked- 
 hearted regicides were driven to atone for the murder, and repair, 
 
 'Bishop Keith, App., 142. " And wchmaye move the mind not obstinate, 
 
 2 Bishop Keith, App., 143. Tohoulde me innocent from this theire deed, 
 
 f ,. ^'^ ' , . It IS for trueth reported but of late 
 
 3 Regma casdis Darnloeanae nee conscia nee That Bothwell who in Denmarke had ill speed, 
 
 prescia . . . MurraviuS Spurius, OrSUS est, I" prison dyed when sighinge hartc did bleed, 
 
 Murtonius duxit, ego csedis hujus telam per- !!?"'' "'f''™ ^^ ^^"'^ ^^ ^'^ '° ^''"^^ <=»•' 
 
 .„ T.-. , , „ . , T_. f ^ Ihat I no knowledge had thereof at all," 
 
 texul. '—Michael Eytzmger-S History of Queen _Leg=nd of Mary Queen of Scots, attributed to Thomas 
 Mary, MS. copy in the collection of the author, Wenman (i6th century.)— Strophe cxxvii., Edition MDCCCX., 
 
 74. The legend agrees with history on that ^' *^' 
 
 important point — See Proofs, viii., end of Vol. I. 
 
CONDUCT OF LADY LENNOX, 1576. 299 
 
 as much as lay in their power, the evils of which they were the authors. 
 James Balfour, who had had a hand in arranging the assassination bond,' 
 openly took that course, and told the story of that fearful conspiracy.^ 
 But what, next to Bothwell's confession, gave the prisoner the most 
 lively joy, was to find herself again loved by Darnley's mother. That 
 woman, at the instigation of her husband, had offered her daughter-in- 
 law shameful affronts. Lennox himself, forgetting all that was seemly, 
 and outraging humanity by conduct which cannot be too strongly 
 branded, taught Mary Stuart's son false tales concerning his mother,^ 
 while Lady Lennox was associating with the murderers, who called them- 
 selves the avengers, and was loudly crying for justice and punishment. 
 
 Mary had patiently borne the curses of her mother-in-law, and kept 
 a silence as modest as it was significant. The first time she wrote to 
 her was on the loth of July 1570. " Madame," said she, "if the wronge 
 and false reportes ennemies well knowen for traytors to you, alas to 
 muche trusted of me by your advise, had not so farr sturred you against 
 my innocency (and I must sale against all kindnes), that you have not 
 onelie as it were condemned me wrongfullle, but so hated, as your 
 woordes and deedes hath testefied to all the worlde a manifest misliking 
 in you against your own blood, I would not have obmitted thus long my 
 duetie in writing to you, excusing me of those untrew reportes made of 
 me : but hoping with Goddes grace and tyme to have my innocencie 
 knowen to yow, as I trust it is alreadle to the most part of all indifferent 
 persons, I thought best not to trouble you for a time till now that suche 
 a mater is moved that toucheth us bothe, which is, the transporting of 
 your little sonne and my onelie childe* in this cuntrey, to the which, 
 albeith I were never so willing yet I wolde be glad to have your advise 
 therein as in all other thinges towching him. I have borne him, and 
 God knoweth with what danger to him and to me bothe, and of you he 
 is dissended, so I mene not to forget my duetie to you in showing 
 therein anye unkindnes to you, how unkindlie that ever you have delt 
 with me, but will love you as my aunte, and respect you as my mother 
 in lawe." = 
 
 The subdued tone of that letter produced an impression on Lady 
 Lennox : she thought of seeking a reconciliation with Mary. The bold 
 
 ^ Tytler's History of Scotland, IIL, 231. banks (Annals of Scotland, 19), a cotemporary 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, author who lived in Edinburgh, leaves no 
 
 18th March 1580. — Prince Labanoff, V., 137. ground for the statement, sometimes made, that 
 
 ^ M. Wiesener, Marie Stuart, et le Comte Mary had had a daughter also, 
 de Bothwell, 510. * Mary Stuart to the Countess of Lennox, 
 
 ' That passage, added to that of Mariorey- loth. July 1570. — Prince Labanoff, IIL, 77, 78. 
 
300 CONDUCT GF LADY LENNOX, 1576. 
 
 statements of her husband and his friends scarcely prevented her from 
 rushing into the arms of her daughter-in-law, whom she had so cruelly- 
 persecuted ; and from that day she regretted the past and deeply pitied 
 Mary Stuart. Morton especially was annoyed at the change : the hourly 
 wails of a disconsolate mother justified Mary's captivity in the face of 
 Europe ; but as soon as those two women became friends, the idea of 
 still keeping the Queen of Scots a prisoner must be given up. That 
 reconciliation became day by day more likely. 
 
 The period of blind submission was past. Lady Lennox had been, 
 
 like her daughter-in-law, severely dealt with by the English government, 
 
 and innocent herself, she felt how shockingly Mary had been treated. 
 
 Communion in misfortune opened her eyes : she lamented the fate of 
 
 her poor daughter-in-law. Unfortunately she did so in vain : she had 
 
 helped to bring about Mary's ruin, but could do nothing to save her 
 
 from the abyss. In her distress, and to pour at least a little balm in the 
 
 wounds which she had helped to keep open, she worked for Mary a small 
 
 piece of embroidery, in which her white hairs were mingled with the 
 
 linen threads.' Later, on the 6th of November 1575, she wrote: "It 
 
 may please your Majesty, I have received your token and mind, both by 
 
 your letter and other ways, much to my comforth, specially perceiving 
 
 what zealous natural care your Majesty hath of our sweet and peerless 
 
 Jewell in Scotland (James VI.) ... I beseech your Majesty, 
 
 fear not, but trust in God that all shall be well ; the treachery of your 
 
 traitors is known better than before. I shall always play my part to your 
 
 Majesty's content, willing God, so as may tend to booth our comforts. 
 
 And now must I yield your Majesty my most humble thanks for your 
 
 good remembrances and bounty to our little daughter (Arabella Stuart) 
 
 here, who some day may serve your Highness, Almighty God grant, 
 
 and to your Majesty long and happy life." ^ 
 
 A mother must be thoroughly aware of the innocence of her to whom 
 she thus writes ; and those who wish to reconcile those words with a 
 guilt more or less great in Mary Stuart, know nothing of the human 
 heart, and deceive themselves. Nothing compelled the Countess of 
 Lennox to make such a confession ; on the contrary, that step might 
 have brought upon her the anger of both Elizabeth and Morton, who 
 were far from forgiving. In short, had there been only the bloody 
 body of Darnley, the remembrance of which time could not destroy, 
 
 1 .Miss Strickland, V., 231. 'third volume of Miss Strickland's Life of Queen 
 
 " Teulet, Suppldm. au Prince LabanofF, 246. Mary. 
 The letter is reproduced in fac-simile in the 
 
CONDUCT OF LADY LENNOX, 1576. 301 
 
 and those ruins of Kirk-of-Field, which were preserved as a testimony 
 against Mary Stuart, everything made it a duty for her to prolong her 
 silence. Something, then, more certain than a vague sentiment was 
 needed, and that was a clear and immovable conviction. The hand of 
 any mother in the world would refuse to write such words to a woman 
 red with blood and stained by infamy. 
 
 The end of the letter, written in the handwriting of Elizabeth 
 Cavendish, is a proof that all the Lennox family held the same opinion 
 regarding Mary Stuart's innocence. Every word springs from the 
 heart, and goes right to the heart. She said, " I most humbly thank 
 your Majesty that it pleased your Highness to remember me, your pore 
 seruant, both wyth a token and in my Lady Grace's leter, which is not 
 litell to my comfort. I can but wysh and pray God for your Majesty's 
 long and hapy estate, tyl time I may do your Majesty beter seruis, 
 whych I think long to do ; and shall allways be as redy therto as any 
 seruant your Majesty hath, according as by duty I am bound. I besech 
 your Hines parden thes rude lines, and accept the good hart of the 
 wryter, who loves and honers your Majesty vnfaynedly." 
 
 " Your Majesty most humble and lowly servant during Life, 
 E. Lennox." The Countess signed opposite, " Your Majesti's most 
 humble and loveing mothere and aunt, M. L." (Margaret Lennox).' 
 
 That letter, artless and touching in its simplicity, never reached 
 Mary ; it was intercepted, and perhaps the captive never learned that 
 her mother-in-law was so devoted to her. It was a misfortune for Mary 
 then ; but now, it is a homage paid to her memory, and a testimony so 
 much the more precious as it was providentially handed down to us by 
 her deadliest enemies. 
 
 That likely re-union, so much to be wished for, made Morton 
 furious. Seeing that flattery and falsehood had no longer any power 
 over the Countess, and that, on the contrary, her love for Mary Stuart 
 grew apace, he tried to frighten her, and wrote to her a letter, " the 
 most insolent and the most disdainful that a king could write to the 
 lowest lord among his subjects." The Countess of Lennox communi- 
 cated the letter to her daughter-in-law, so that Morton's efforts, instead 
 of separating them, strengthened their friendship. Mary Stuart said on 
 the subject : " I praise God that she (the Countess) is beginning to 
 know, day after day, the faithlessness and wicked intentions of those 
 who have in days past made use of her name against myself, their 
 
 ' Miss Strickland, fac-simile, III., 373. 
 
302 CONDUCT OF LADY LENNOX, 1576. 
 
 designs having always been against our race, as clearly appears 
 now."' 
 
 The Countess of Lennox was drawing near to the end of her troubles. 
 Her health, undermined by grief and care, had been much weakened, and 
 the death of Charles, the only son she had left, dealt her the last blow, 
 when she followed him to the grave after a year had gone. " This good 
 lady," wrote Mary, " was, thanks to God, in very good correspondence 
 with me these five or six years bygone, and has confessed to me by 
 sundry letters under her hand, which I carefully preserve, the injury she 
 did me by the unjust pursuits which she allowed to go out against me 
 in her name, through bad information ; but principally she said, through 
 the express orders of the Queen of England, and the persuasion of 
 her Council, who also took much solicitude that she and I might never 
 come to good understanding together. But how soon she came to 
 know of my innocence, she desisted from any further pursuit against me ; 
 nay went so far as to refuse her consent to anything they should act 
 against me in her name."^ 
 
 To prevent the compromising confessions which might have been 
 made by Darnley's old servants who had remained until then with the 
 Countess of Lennox, Leicester took them forcibly to his castle, and at 
 the same time seized the papers of" the Lennox family.^ That was a 
 useless precaution ; for what has reached us is quite enough to prove 
 Mary's innocence. Those stray fragments ; the confessions of Bothwell, 
 Sir J. Balfour, and Lady Lennox ; the acts of Lethington and Kirkaldy, 
 the words spoken at the gibbet by those found guilty, to which are soon 
 to be added those of Morton and Archibald Douglas, as well as Mary 
 Stuart's attitude, all clearly show her innocence. As time passes, proofs 
 accumulate, hatred weakens, and the guilty listen to the whisperings of 
 conscience ; remorse and conviction will not allow so great a secret 
 to be kept for a lifetime ; the good and bad of the human heart 
 bring about the same result ; the story told by the murderers begins to 
 vary little by little, and all of them during life, or at the near approach 
 of death, confess things long locked in their bosoms. 
 
 To keep the narrative clear, and ^void referring again to Mary 
 Stuart's relations with her mother-in-law, I have been obliged to 
 relate them in full up to the death of the Countess, in the month of 
 March, 1578, without heeding the order of events. The Queen of 
 
 1 Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. her ambassador in France, 2d May, 1578. — 
 — Prince Labanoff, IV., 398. Bishop Keith, app. 146. 
 
 ^ Queen Mary to the Archbishop of Glasgow, ^ M. Wiesener, Marie et le Comte de Both-; 
 
 well, 525. 
 
MARY'S RIGHTS ACKNOWLEDGED, 1576. 303 
 
 Scots had, however, other grounds for rejoicing. The year 1 576, which 
 had seen her innocence shine forth from under a cloud of suspicion, was 
 besides to see her rights to the throne of England acknowledged and 
 proclaimed. Elizabeth first brought forward the subject. That haughty- 
 sovereign was not so blinded by the splendour of her throne, as not to 
 see the anxieties and leanings of a certain class regarding her successor. 
 The marriage which she had been for so long a time negotiating with 
 the Duke d' Alen^on, who had become the Duke d' Anjou, did not quite 
 please the English people. Elizabeth herself attached value to it only 
 because it served her policy. She had other anxieties ; her prestige as a 
 queen had lost its charms and its sweetness ; her heart was glutted with 
 cruelty ; her policy, shrouded in falsehood, was everywhere mistrusted ; 
 the foreigner hated her ; her own people trembled before her ; there were 
 warlike preparations without ; discord was fermenting within ; the people 
 full of hatred and mistrust waited only for the best time to break out. 
 She felt old before her time. In one of those moments of disgust which 
 later on often saddened her old age, she had the will of King Henry 
 VIII. brought her. She read it, saw Mary Stuart's rights clearly stated, 
 and said that she had no other will than that of her father. Neverthe- 
 less the idea of Mary Stuart being her heir troubled her ; the mere 
 thought being unbearable, she laid the question before the two Presidents 
 of the Chambers, begging them to reply. They, afraid to answer, 
 asked the Queen's leave to keep silent on the subject, but Elizabeth 
 insisted. " Madam," replied the jurisconsults, " the throne belongs by 
 right to him to whom nature gives it." Elizabeth was not satisfied with 
 that reply ; she wished to know precisely who was her heir ; and she 
 did hear it : " What," exclaimed she, " the Queen of Scots my heiress ! " 
 She sent away the two presidents. Deeply troubled in mind by that 
 decision she called Leicester and Walsingham. " I see clearly," said 
 she to them, " that henceforth people will court my heir ; the old are 
 slighted ; the setting sun is forsaken that one may turn towards the 
 beams of the rising sun."' Influenced by their decision, she, for a 
 moment, wisely thought of attaching Mary Stuart to her person, but 
 jealousy again getting the master, she forbade any one, under penalty 
 of high treason, to talk of her successor, and again became cold and 
 harsh tempered.'' 
 
 1 Castelnau to the King, 29th February, and ^ Castelnau to the King and to the Queen- 
 
 8th April. — Teulet, III., 4, 5 ; Mary Stuart to mother. — Teulet, III., 9, 17. 
 the Archbishop of Glasgow, 31st May. — Prince 
 Labanoff, IV., 315. 
 
304 DRAFT OF A WILL OF MARY STUART, 1577. 
 
 Rumours then current in France changed those frivolous anxieties 
 into real fears. The report was that a colossal invasion got up by the 
 King of Spain, and given in charge to Don Juan, was about to attack 
 England, ravage the island, overthrow Elizabeth, and place upon her 
 throne, Mary Stuart, as Queen of Great Britain. People said that 
 the hand of the Scottish Queen was promised to him who should 
 free her.' The idea of an invasion soon vanished ; but it was not so 
 with the marriage ; it was long a source of uneasiness to the English. 
 Walsingham busied himself about it, watching every step of Mary 
 Stuart's friends ; but, to his great grief, he was not able to find out 
 anything precise. "^ 
 
 The broken health of the victim, while warning her that each day 
 brought her nearer to the tomb, led her to write in the spring of the 
 year 1577 the draft of a will which has been preserved for us. In it 
 are found the following words which give proof of her Christian heroism. 
 " In order to go my way with a clearer and more entire heart, and 
 from this moment throwing off all resentment for injuries, calumnies, 
 rebellions, and other offences which have been done me during my life, 
 by my rebellious subjects and other enemies, I leave my vengeance to 
 God, and beg Him to pardon them, with the same earnestness as I 
 entreat His pardon for my faults, and the forgiveness of all those 
 whom I may have offended in deed or in word."^ She afterwards 
 settled the order of her succession ; the throne belonged to her son, 
 and in the event of his death, to the house of Lennox or Hamilton ; 
 but for her son she imposed a restriction. The martyr queen could 
 not suffer an apostate son ; the daughter of the Guises rose above 
 the question of blood when it was a matter of defending her 
 faith. She made a gift to the Catholic King of her rights over 
 England and elsewhere, if her son stubbornly remained a heretic* 
 That settlement would go to prove that her religious feelings were 
 stronger than motherly love, had not Mary at the same time chosen 
 infallible means for bringing her son back to Catholicism by asking 
 the Guises to bring him up beside them in France.^ Neither Spain 
 nor France could be dissatisfied ; the former would have the rights to 
 the throne, the latter the heir to that same throne, and France, which 
 
 ^ Various Letters of Mary Stuart. — Prince ^ Prince Labanoff, IV., 353. 
 
 Labanoff, IV,, 346, 365, 371. Strada's His- * Id. Ibid, 354. 
 
 tory of the Low Countreys Warres,VIII, 16. ° Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. 
 
 •2 Mary Stuart to Andrew Beaton and the — Prince Labanoff, IV. 399., 
 Archbishop of Glasgow. — Prince Labanoff, 
 
 IV., 378, 383- 
 
THE BLACK ASSIZES OF OXFORD, 1577. 305 
 
 had declared that it no longer had anything to do with Scotland or its 
 Queen," was interested in watching over the Prince so as to protect its 
 own interests. Mary gave proof of real genius in that combination. 
 
 The few weeks which the Queen of Scots spent at Buxton were 
 for her a period of sweet rest. Either by chance or design, the 
 Earl of Leicester, too, happened to be at Buxton. His relations with 
 the Sheffield prisoner were full of good will, and seemed somewhat 
 confidential. Mary kept reserved, and she was right to be so ; for 
 Leicester was watched. Burghley jealo.us of the favourite, had set 
 out after him, and had come into his (Burghley' s) estate near Buxton, 
 on his way to the watering place, when very unexpectedly a letter from 
 Elizabeth reached him, bidding him return to the capital. He did so 
 with regret ; and for the disgrace into which Leicester soon after fell 
 Burghley doubtless was to be thanked. That season at the watering- 
 place, already hurtful to Leicester through Burghley's jealousy, became 
 almost fatal to him through the anger of Sussex, who threatened to 
 kill him, no matter by what means, if Elizabeth forbade single combat. 
 The all-powerful favourite, made anxious by those threats, returned to 
 Court, and gave up all thought of interceding in favour of the Queen of 
 Scots. "" 
 
 With the exception of those private quarrels, England was peaceful, 
 and the people, under an iron rule, lived free from all anxiety. The 
 severity with which the least breach of the law was punished ensured 
 public quiet. A frightful disease was the result of that severity. The 
 large numbers of prisoners huddled together in the Oxford dungeons 
 were first attacked, and then gave the disease to those about the courts, 
 of whom about three hundred were cut off in a few days. The scourge 
 was carried by the Thames to London, where it spread terror and 
 dismay. There was a panic, and historians have since written of the 
 time as the Black Assizes of Oxford.^ 
 
 Elizabeth had scarcely recovered from her fright, when she fell into 
 low spirits, owing to the appearance of a comet. Superstition, ever 
 awakened by those wandering bodies, was now fully roused ; it was 
 noised abroad that the same comet had approached the earth at the 
 deaths of Henry VIH., Prince Edward and Mary, father, brother and 
 sister of Elizabeth. The sufferings of the Queen from a severe catarrh 
 were also grounds for dread. The Bishop of London deemed the 
 
 ^ M. Mignet,HistoiredeMarieStuart, II.,202. Camden, II., 285; Sergeant Fleetwood 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- to Lord Burghley, 30th July 1577. — Ellis, II., 
 
 gow. — Prince Labanofif, IV., 57°, 371. iii., S3 sq. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 Q 
 
3o6 PUBLIC OUTCRY AGAINST THE CATHOLICS, 1577. 
 
 matter so important that he made it the subject of a sermon ; others 
 imitated him. From that time, several fanatical preachers discoursed 
 at great length on the influences of the comet, and launched their most 
 solemn curses against France ahd Spain, because the comet looked 
 towards those two countries.' 
 
 I should not have said anything of the comet, or of the interpretations 
 to which it gave rise, had not its return been the signal for the persecu- 
 tion of the Catholics. Cuthbert Maine was the first to pay with his life 
 for his attachment to the old belief. He was executed in Cornwall ; 
 while the gentleman who had given him shelter was condemned to im- 
 prisonment for life and to forfeiture of his estates. The hatred of the 
 Reformers, growing with success, now fell in bitter words on Mary 
 Stuart."' 
 
 That Princess had something else to do at the time than repel the 
 foolish threats uttered against her, all her solicitude being for the young 
 Prince. Morton was becoming more and more powerful. That Regent, 
 greedy and brutish, had by his boldness restored peace to turbulent 
 Scotland. Hatred dared not attack him; all courage gave way before his 
 violence. To ruin him, people attempted to make him odious to the 
 Prince. That attempt had no more success than open force had had, 
 for the Regent undertook his own defence, and the dread of him wrung 
 a forgiveness little likely to have been shown to his statements. On 
 seeing him, supported by Sir William Drury and a powerful escort, 
 come to justify himself before the Prince, one must have thought 
 rather of a foreign invasion than of a Regent's visit. The Prince 
 and those around him, through fear, were forced to confess that the 
 state was administered in the best way. History, exempt from fear, 
 has given another verdict, and has confirmed what the ambassador 
 Castelnau said of Morton, that he was "ever avaricious and exacting 
 towards the people, much more hated than loved, and every day in 
 danger of being killed." ^ The oppression of Scotland for so many 
 years was the cause of those successive emigrations which greatly 
 weakened the countr)?^ during Morton's regency.'^ 
 
 The Prince felt, as it were, the counter-stroke of that tyrannical 
 government. His education was carried on under great difficulties. 
 A room being set apart for his games, he was. seldom seen in the 
 
 ' Castelnau to the Queen-mother. — Teulet, * Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- 
 
 III., 17, 18. gow, Sth November 1577. — Prince LabanofF, 
 
 ^ Camden, II., 286. Castelnau to the Queen- IV., 400. Corresp. diplom., VI., 497 et passim, 
 
 mother. — Teulet, III., i6. Various Despatches of Simancas. — Teulet, V., 
 
 Castelnau to the King. — Teulet, III., 14, 15. 130, 141, 159. 
 
MARY'S LOVE FOR HER SON, 1577. 307 
 
 garden, never in the park/ Whatever interest might have been taken 
 in him by the lords entrusted with his education and safe-keeping, they 
 could not allow him that liberty. They were severe from prudence, 
 fearing that Morton might carry off the Prince, and the zeal with which 
 they watched over him gained for several among them the praise of 
 Mary Stuart." Morton, meanwhile, did all he could to make them 
 odious to their royal pupil ; but the child would love them. " Why," said 
 he one day to the Prince, " do you not go to the hunt in the neighbour- 
 hood of Stirling ? Why do you not take more freedom ?" " My books 
 suffice me," replied the young King; "besides, I shall be free in two 
 years." That reply, which required no commentary, irritated the Regent, 
 and he showed his annoyance by bitter words, in which injured pride 
 was mingled with dread. ^ 
 
 It will be easily understood that Mary, informed of Morton's deal- 
 ings, sought to save her son. Her letters are full of the most tender 
 sentiments, and of a mother's most natural aspirations : she lived only for 
 her son and her faith. On the 2d of September she wrote, "It will be 
 a consolation for me to hear news of my son, and to let him have news 
 from me ; the object of all my hopes being the preservation of this 
 poor child, forsaken by all his friends, and left me as certainly the best 
 pledge for the end of my adversities and the prolongation of my life.""* 
 " Yes," she wrote two months later, " any man of good sense will know 
 the little heed I took of my own safety, and the troubles which may 
 have befallen me in this captivity, as long as I had in view the safety 
 of my son and the Catholics of this island. . . It would be difficult 
 to induce me to change the state in which I have lived since my widow- 
 hood, as neither my liberty nor my private will is so dear to me as the 
 bringing back this island to the Catholic Church, and the preserving 
 of my rights for my son ; those are the points for which I wish to live, 
 and for the attainment of which I am pleased to bear such treatment in 
 my captivity. "5 
 
 I Castelnau to the King. — Teulet, III., 15. once free, might convert her son to Catholi- 
 
 Nau to Castelnau. — Ibidem, III., 49. cism ; the King of Spain hoped so, and it is 
 
 ^ Various Letters of Mary Stuart, IV., 399 ; almost certain that such would have happened 
 
 v., 5, 25. if this religious and tender mother had had 
 
 3 Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- her child under her own charge." — Gray's 
 
 gow. — Prince Labanoff, IV., 398. Papers, 136. "Adhocautem institutum pro- 
 
 * Mary Stuart to Castelnau, 2d September. movendum, filium meum ad Ecclesiae sinum 
 
 ■ — Prince Labanoff, IV., 393. accersere omnibus maternae pietatis ofificiis jam 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- aggressa." — MaryStuartto PopeGregory XIII. 
 
 gow, 6th November. — Prince Labanoff, V., 4, Teulet, Suppldm. au Prince Labanoff, 305. 
 
 8, 9. "It was feared in England that Mary, (31st July 1581.) 
 
3o8 PERSECUTION OF MARY STUART, 1577. 
 
 Her treatment continued to be rigorous. Elizabeth, hardened in 
 her hatred, was never weary of persecuting ; she wished to force con- 
 victions, and to prove to the world by the great and lasting punishments 
 that she did not doubt the guilt of the Queen of Scots. 
 
 In presence of that cold and premeditated barbarism which nothing 
 could soften, Mary, calmer than upon the throne, bore her destiny with 
 heroism. She had seen her friends fall around her, and the men of her 
 party and their plans fail ; she had seen the daughter of Henry VHL, 
 like one of those women whom antiquity depicts to us as bloodthirsty, 
 brandishing the axe over the head of her defenders, unmercifully ruin- 
 ing her most brilliant prospects, and everywhere spreading terror and 
 sorrow; she herself was exposed to the greatest dangers, being on the eve 
 of a closer seclusion, where it would be almost impossible to correspond 
 with her ambassador ; ' her soul, nevertheless, rose equal to the dangers ; 
 she took in, with the same glance, her position and the means of support- 
 ing it. "If it so happened," she wrote, "that I should be deprived of 
 my letters and communications, you may, under pretence of sending 
 me some book, write in white between the lines (alum seems to 
 me the most suitable, or gall-nut) ; and although such stratagems 
 are risky and vulgar, they may be of use to me in extreme need, if 
 sent me by the carrier of this place, who is not so closely watched, 
 that, among the things which he brings me, he may not hand to me 
 secretly what may be written on in that manner, without his noticing 
 it himself "° 
 
 Elizabeth dreaded very much the complaints of her victim. The 
 peculiar position of her government obliged her to make friends among 
 the Catholics. France, it is true, caused her but little trouble, because 
 Catherine de Medicis gladly saw in prison the Princess who had 
 formerly supplanted her at the Court.^ But Don Juan, on account 
 of his power and ambition, was an ever-present and ever-serious 
 danger. Fear forced the English Cabinet to impose new sacrifices 
 upon itself, so as to check the Prince in the midst of his conquests. 
 The rumours which had caused so many troubles during the pre- 
 vious year were again set afloat : it was maintained that the King 
 of Spain had had the English ports examined, that Mary Stuart's 
 hand was promised to Don Juan, that of the young Prince to a 
 Princess of Lorraine, and that the invasion of England was talked 
 
 > Don. J. de Vargas Mexiato Philip II., 31st December 1577. — Teuletj'^V., 132. 
 '^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. — Prince Labanoff, V., 10. 
 ■* Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. — Prince Labanoff, V., 23. 
 
AFFAIRS IN FLANDERS, 1578. 309 
 
 of on the Continent.' Because of those rumours, circulated by the 
 ministers themselves, the English government got ready men and money, 
 and sent them secretly to the Prince of Orange. Flanders again took 
 up arms, and the insurrection gained ground. In a short time the Low 
 Countries were in a blaze. Don Juan saw himself forsaken : he had 
 neither men nor money. Chance provided him with money, and the 
 arrival of Alexander Farnesse gave him hope for another victory : he 
 defeated the enemy at the battle of Gemblours (21st January).^ 
 
 Although that victory established the power of Philip II. in the 
 Low Countries, and permitted him to act with more boldness, the 
 affairs of Scotland derived no benefit from it. Catherine de Medicis 
 joined with Elizabeth to make matters worse ; and, by the perfidious 
 manoeuvres of those two Queens, the Scots found themselves abandoned 
 all at once by the Pope and by the Kings of France and Spain. The 
 project of Mary to send her son to the Continent, if any reliable guar- 
 antee were given, became impracticable, and any family union with the 
 Catholic powers, morally impossible.^ 
 
 Very fortunately Morton had no longer any chance of handing over 
 the Prince to the English, pre-occupied as he was with the turn which 
 his own affairs were taking. By his harshness and excesses of all 
 kinds, which no good quality redeemed, he had himself prepared his 
 ruin ; and, if one thing is to be wondered at, it is that it did not come 
 sooner. The lords who lived in Stirling reluctantly bore the iron yoke 
 which Morton had placed upon them ; but as they were too weak to 
 overthrow the established government, they took their revenge by 
 lowering him in the eyes of the young Prince. Their words filled the 
 child's heart with a bitter hatred, which Mary's son did not dissemble. 
 A faction was formed, which ambition and anger rapidly swelled. The 
 Earls of Argyll and Athole, whom Morton had had the imprudence to 
 accuse falsely of treason, entered into it through a desire for vengeance. 
 In an interview with the young Prince, they showed him a sad picture 
 of the state of the country ; of the degradation into which the nobility 
 was falling; of the misery and despair of the Scots, unmercifully robbed; 
 of the injustice of which they themselves, the richest and most powerful 
 lords, had been the victims ; in short, they persuaded the Prince to 
 
 ' Don J. de Vargas Mexia to Philip II., i6th 1578. — Archives de I'Empire ; Fends de 
 
 February 1578. — Archives de I'Empire; Fends Simancas, liasse B. 45, No. 39 ; Prince Laban- 
 
 de Simancas, liasse B. 45, No. 30; and Teulet, off, V., 16. 
 
 v., 137. ' Various letters of Mary Stuart. — Prince 
 
 ■•^ G. de Curiel to Philip II., loth January Labanoff, V., 5,22,23, 57-59. 
 
3'o - DOWNFALL OF THE REGENT, 1578. 
 
 assemble the States, and elect a Council which might rule in his name. 
 Alexander Erskine, governor of the young King, endorsed those views.' 
 
 Letters of convocation were now drawn out in the name of the 
 Prince, and sent almost exclusively to Morton's enemies, who were in 
 a majority in the parliament. Morton had prepared himself for the 
 struggle ; but, on seeing men's minds excited to such a degree, he seemed 
 resolved to quit the Regency. He perhaps hoped by that mark of dis- 
 interestedness to keep on his side those who were least hostile to him ; 
 or, labouring under a delusion as to his own merits, he possibly thought 
 he was the only man capable of governing Scotland. Whether his 
 reflections were such or not, Morton, shut up in his castle at Dalkeith, 
 which the people called the Lion's Den, seemed quite careless as to the 
 debates. When Lord Herries came to inform him, while in Edinburgh, 
 of the King's will, and ask him to resign the Regency, he received the 
 news with an apparent joy. He immediately repaired to the Market 
 Cross, and, in presence of all the people, laid down his authority in 
 favour of the young King, and withdrew, firm and unmoved, to his 
 estates, where he devoted himself to agriculture and gardening. "" 
 
 From his retreat he could hear the far-off echoes of the public 
 rejoicings, held rather on account of his fall than for the accession of the 
 new King ; and those repeated cheers no doubt more than once pierced 
 that heart which pride and ambition had already wounded. He felt 
 himself degraded ; he had outlived his days of prosperity ; much more, 
 he lived only to be the scorn and laughing-stock of the people. The 
 act of approbation which the King had given him by way of discharge, 
 and the pardon which he had obtained for his past crimes, offences 
 and treason, did not suffice to reassure him. The public ill-will, far 
 from being quieted, grew apace. The ambassador of England, seeing 
 that the esteem for Morton had fallen with his power, did not know how 
 to raise it. "All the devils in hell," he wrote, "are stirring and in great 
 rage in this country."^ All that he could obtain for this faithful ally 
 of England was to have him appointed a mere member in the Council 
 of Regency.* 
 
 ' Don J. de Vargas Mexia to Philip IL — ^ Randolph to Killigrew, 20th March. — 
 
 Teulet, v., 138; Craufurd's Memoirs, 290. Tytler, IV., 13. 
 
 ^ De Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 26th April. * Castelnau to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 
 
 • — Teulet, v., 148; Moyse's Memoirs, 2; Crau- 20th March 1578. — Archives de I'Empire ; 
 
 furd's Memoirs, 292-296. Fonds de Simancas, liasse B. 46, No. 150. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1578— 1581. 
 
 STIRLING SURPRISED — MORTON'S RETURN TO POWER — HOSTILITIES IN SCOTLAND— MARY'S 
 COMPARATIVE LIBERTY — ELIZABETH'S ILLNESS — HER RELATIONS WITH THE KING 
 OF SCOTLAND — DEATH OF ATHOLE — ELIZABETH'S NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE DUKE 
 D'ANJOU — HUMILIATION OF THE HAMILTONS — NAU'S JOURNEY TO SCOTLAND — UNFOR- 
 TUNATE POSITION OF MARY STUART — HER RESOLVES ABOUT HER SON — ARRIVAL OF 
 D'AUBIGNY IN SCOTLAND — CALUMNIES SPREAD AGAINST MARY — D'AUBIGNY IN FAVOUR 
 AT COURT— ENMITY BETWEEN D'AUBIGNY AND MORTON — FRESH CRUELTIES TOWARDS 
 MARY — AFFAIRS IN IRELAND — PERSECUTION OF THE CATHOLICS — ARREST OF MORTON 
 — HIS TRIAL AND EXECUTION. 
 
 T^LIZABETH was sorely grieved at the fall of a man who was so 
 -■— ^ devoted to her, but the time for action had not yet come ; the 
 war in Flanders did not permit her to send troops into Scotland, and she 
 was, besides, too much threatened even in England to think of defending 
 Morton. Don Juan had not entirely given up his plans, and the Duke 
 de Guise, after planning the invasion, earnestly begged Philip II. to 
 come to some conclusion.' Those various circumstances enabled the 
 Scottish lords to form their government in perfect freedom. The 
 power, outside the Council of twelve, was entirely in the hands of the 
 Earls of Athole and Argyll.^ 
 
 Although apparently resigned, Morton left no means untried to 
 regain power. A first attempt, to seize the young King while walking, 
 very nearly succeeded, and the Prince must have fallen into the hands 
 of his enemies, had not the scheme been revealed in time. The Prince's 
 governor and his attendants were sauntering within a few steps of the 
 ambuscade, when a horseman rushed up, shouting, Treason ! The 
 lords made off at full gallop, and closed the gates of the Castle behind 
 them. Three cannon shots let the Scots know that the King was in 
 danger. Several conspirators were seized, but the rest fled : the 
 ambuscade numbered about eight hundred men.^ 
 
 ^Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 13th April, Teulet, V., 143, sq. 
 
 2 Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 6th May, Teulet, V., 149. Cf. the Argyll Letters, 17. 
 
 'Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 14th May, Teulet, V., 154, 155. 
 
312 MORTON'S RETURN TO POWER, 1578. 
 
 Morton now tried to get by stratagem what he could not get by 
 boldness. He drew near to the young Earl of Mar, and to the Countess, 
 his mother, and made them understand that Alexander Erskine was 
 bent upon their ruin, and that he had resolved to remove them from 
 the King's person, drive them into obscurity, and make them power- 
 less ; he insisted on the need they had to defend their rights 
 without delay, so as to avoid the ignominy which was sure to follow 
 on their disgrace. Those considerations induced the ambitious 
 Countess and her son to join with Morton, and on the 26th of April 
 they took possession of the Castle by treachery, and handed it over 
 to Morton's friends." 
 
 The unexpected return of the former rule, and its severity, while 
 making the lords fear revenge and reprisals without end, induced 
 them to come to terms with Morton. Four persons on each side met 
 near Dalkeith to settle the difference, but while they were discussing 
 the clauses of the agreement, the ex- Regent left Dalkeith in the middle 
 of the night, and hastened to Stirling, where he was warmly welcomed. 
 That bold step put quite a new face on matters ; the whole of Scot- 
 land, a prey to fear, could only hope on ; the Regent's former friends 
 who had forsaken him in his misfortune, dreaded his revenge, and 
 joined with his enemies to oppose him ; ambition, until then listless and 
 unaspiring, embraced the side of the restoration. The result was a 
 kind of civil war : bands of armed men overran the country as in the 
 time of an invasion. 
 
 A letter, really from Morton, but as if from the young King, which 
 letter called together the nobility, not at Edinburgh, as 'was usual, 
 but at Stirling, increased the disorder, and justified the fears. The 
 lords of the northern counties, considering that royal order as a mockery, 
 refused to obey ;° others, less obstinate, but not less mistrustful, came 
 with their followers and their vassals armed as for war. The Earl of 
 Athole offered a most energetic resistance. " The King," said he, 
 " is (then) Morton's prisoner ; the pretended councillors are his slaves ; 
 a Parliament to which all the nobles may repair without fear, and where 
 they may deliberate with freedom, is absolutely necessary for quieting 
 the nation after disorders of such long continuance ; but in an assembly 
 called contrary to all form, held within the walls of a garrison, and over- 
 awed by armed men, what safety could members expect ? What 
 
 1 Balfour's Annales, I., 366, 367 ; Tytler's ^ Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 17th August. 
 
 History, IV., 14. — Teulet, V., 157. 
 
HOSTILITIES IN SCOTLAND, 1578. 313 
 
 liberty could prevail in debate ? Or what benefit result to the 
 public ? "• 
 
 Morton would not be checked either by the opposition which he 
 met, or by any other consideration. On the 25th of July the Parliament 
 was opened by the King in person. The lords had just taken their 
 places, when Montrose and Lindsay came forward in the name of 
 Athole, Argyll and their adherents. The two envoys complained 
 that the Parliament was held in Stirling, against all precedent, and 
 against the will of a great number of the nobles, and at last pro- 
 tested their disavowal. Lindsay showed his determination with a 
 fierce energy. Morton interrupted him, and ordered him to be seated. 
 " I shall sit down," replied the old Lord, " only in obedience to the 
 command of my King." The King repeated Morton's order, and the 
 difficulty seemed to be over. Morton took Athole's place without 
 any one speaking of the rudeness of that conduct, and the States pro- 
 ceeded to the election of the " Lords of the Articles." That last affront 
 offered to the persons whose opinions Lindsay represented, roused his 
 indignation. " My Lords," exclaimed he, " I call you all to witness 
 that every act of such a Parliament is null, and the choosing of the 
 lords an empty farce." That second attack irritated Morton. " Think 
 ye," cried he, towering with rage, "that this is a court of churls or 
 brawlers ? Take your own place, and thank God that the King's 
 youth keeps you safe from his resentment." " I have served the King 
 in his minority," said Lindsay, " as faithfully as the proudest among 
 ye, and I think to serve his Grace no les truly in his majority." 
 Morton, not wishing to prolong the discussion, whispered a few words 
 to the King, and the latter, blushing, spoke these few words : " Lest 
 any man should judge this not to be a free Parliament, I declare it free, 
 and those who love me will think as I think." Lindsay was silent ; 
 Montrose, on the contrary, made all speed to Edinburgh to the lords 
 siding with the young Prince, and, in the name of the young Prince, 
 called them to come and drive away his oppressors." 
 
 Athole did not hesitate to raise the royal standard. He had had 
 painted thereon these telling words : " Liberty I crave, and cannot 
 it have." The firmness, power and well-known disinterestedness of 
 the Earl drew around him Morton's enemies, and in a week he was 
 found to be the Regent's most formidable enemy. Feeling he was 
 
 ' Robertson's History of Scotland, 11., 64. 
 ^ Craufurd's Memoirs, 302, sq. ; Tytler's History, IV., 16. 
 VOL. I. 2 R 
 
314 HOSTILITIES IN SCOTLAND, 1578. 
 
 well enough supported, he then repaired to Edinburgh, along with the 
 Earl of Argyll, several members of the Council, and some of the 
 nobility, raised large forces, and advanced at the head of seven or eight 
 thousand men, to within three leagues of Stirling, to rescue the King." 
 
 Morton, enraged when he saw revolt become so serious, gave the Earl 
 of Angus five thousand men to face his enemies. Scottish blood must 
 again have flowed freely in civil war, had not the English ambassador 
 interfered. Morton pledged himself to make changes in the Govern- 
 ment, changes favourable to the nobles, and to withdraw from the King's 
 person, but he had no intention to keep any of his promises when the 
 danger had passed.^ 
 
 That unexpected truce made the Scots believe in a milder rule, 
 and filled their hearts with joy ; Elizabeth, more than any one else, 
 must have rejoiced at the success of her enterprise. On learning, 
 from the Abbot of Dunfermline, that English influence was at the 
 lowest ebb in Scotland, she had concentrated her forces at Berwick ^ 
 and had at the same time given money to Morton and those about him, 
 with the view of strengthening his party.* She wished to quell the move- 
 ment. Her activity, the craft of her ambassadors, and the good fortune 
 which did not cease to favour her, gave her that pleasure. Spain, as 
 usual, intended to do great things but did nothing ;= so that after much 
 agitation, the Scottish government remained quite the same as before : 
 the Prince, a slave though King, Morton, the Regent save in name, 
 the Chancellor Athole, Lieutenant-General, without the power.^ The 
 only real good brought about was that the nobles could more easily 
 approach the person of their King.' 
 
 Don Juan's death, which happened in the course of the same year, 
 allowed Elizabeth's Government to look forward to a long time of 
 peace, and Mary Stuart was treated with less severity. The Earl of 
 Shrewsbury became more and more indulgent to the Princess. He 
 endeavoured to lighten as much as possible the hardships of her captivity; 
 he proposed to her the various little recreations which he could allow her, 
 
 ^ Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 26th August, ■■ Castelnaude Mauvissifere to the King, 19th 
 
 Teulet v., 159; Castelnau de Mauvissi^re September. — Teulet, III., 35. 
 
 to the King, 27th August, Teulet, III., 33 : » Various Papers of Simancas. — Teulet, V., 
 
 Moyse's Memoirs, 11-22. i6o, 165, 167. 
 
 ^Vargas Mexia to Phihp II., 19th Sept. " Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 7th December. 
 
 Teulet, v., 163 ; Papers of Castelnau de Teulet, V., 172. 
 
 Mauvissi^re, Teulet, III., 35, 39,41. ' Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- 
 
 3 Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- gow. — Prince Labanoff V., 57. 
 gow, 15th September- — Prince Labanoff, V., 56. 
 
MARY'S COMPARATIVE LIBERTY, 1578. 315 
 
 and he worked warmly for her interests.' He could not help feeling 
 deep-seated admiration for the woman who filled Europe with the story 
 of her misfortunes and her patience. 
 
 Certain it is that Mary required an extraordinary amount of courage 
 to bear her lot. The sixteenth century was no stranger to violence, 
 hatred and desperate actions ; the rage for destruction and murder was 
 natural to it; but it offered no example of a patience so lasting and so con- 
 stant, of a firmness so steady and unshaken, amid misfortunes. The 
 woman must certainly have sunk under oppression ; but the Christian, 
 the daughter of the Guises, was invincible. She feared God only, and 
 had before her eyes nothing but religion. All her actions tended to 
 the triumph of Catholicism ; in spite of her poverty, she yet found 
 wherewithal to supply the wants of monasteries and needy seminaries.'' 
 " There is no particuler joye nor restitution nor advancement on earth 
 that I desire saveinge onely the relief of the Catholique Church, and 
 fortitude thereof, to the universall florishinge and restablishment of her 
 faith and religion, but specially in this pore isle. To which ende if it 
 longe afore, dedicate and abandon my life in a thowsand mo tormentes, and 
 shall please him to make me serve in anythinge, I doe even nowe, as I have 
 all I can have in this world thereunto, wishing no greater felicitye and 
 consolation than in that quarrell tp leave the miseryes of this wretched 
 vale. "3 Another time she wrote : " My continual sufferings have taught 
 me to disdain the world in order to seek the cure for my ills only in 
 Jesus Christ, my Saviour. He has shown me the way by going to 
 Calvary; I shall follow thither; may I follow Him also to Heaven."* 
 
 The young King of Scotland, ill versed in worldly matters, had 
 neither the patience nor the discretion of his mother. One time he 
 asked Elizabeth for the estates of the Earl of Lennox, as an inheritance, 
 but, on being refused he got into a towering rage, and spoke strongly 
 against England.^ According to a Spanish diplomatic note he uttered 
 words so wanting in respect to Elizabeth, that the English ambassador 
 retired without taking leave.^ No doubt, as a general rule, the words 
 of a child ought not to be heeded ; in this case they must be heeded 
 for they show the leaning of the lords about him, and throw a light 
 upon the situation. 
 
 » Mary Stuart to Castelnau de Mauvissifere. * Mary Stuart to Father Edmond, zrst 
 
 —Prince Labanoff, IV., 394, v. 69. November, 1578. — Prince Labanoff, V., 72. 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- ^ Rapin Thoyras, VII., 368. 
 
 gow. — Prince Labanoff, V., ii, 210. " Vargas Mexia to Phihp II., 31st Dec. 1578. 
 
 3 Mary Stuart to Dr. Allen, 3d August, — Teulet, V., 175. 
 1577. — Prince Labanoff, IV, 375. 
 
3t6 DEATH OF THE EARL OF ATHOLE, 1579. 
 
 The people as well as the nobility had that ill feeling for the Eng- 
 lish ; high and low now opened their eyes to the danger, while their 
 common dread of England helped to bind together the rich and poor. 
 The English having been imprudent in interfering in a dispute between 
 Scotsmen of the Border, were startled to see all Scotland pursue them 
 and drive them out, after inflicting on them great losses. The Queen 
 of England complained to the Council of Scotland. "Was it in Eng- 
 land or in Scotland the war took place ? " asked the Prince sharply. 
 " In Scotland," was the reply. " Well all the fault lies with the invaders ; 
 they had no right to enter the country without my consent : if my sub- 
 jects penetrated thus into England, I should gladly see them get the 
 same treatment."' 
 
 Do what he would, Morton saw power slipping from his grasp. The 
 young King liked better to listen to the Earls of Athole and Argyll, 
 and Morton, far from hoping to conquer in the end, could see, looming in 
 the distance, a fall only greater than the first. The Parliament held in 
 Stirling in the month of April confirmed his fears, for there it was 
 unanimously resolved that the Prince should journey through Scotland, 
 and have himself recognised as King.° 
 
 Morton, seeing so great unanimity, had to yield, and seemed pleased 
 to be relieved of affairs, while he brooded over the thoughts of a fearful 
 revenge. Some time after he invited the Councillors to a grand festival 
 in token of rejoicing. Near the end of the repast the Earl of Athole 
 became ill. At first no notice was taken of the matter ; but the illness 
 made such rapid strides that the Earl was, a moment after, at death's 
 door. The guests remembered that seven years before the Earl of 
 Mar had died poisoned at Morton's table, and the consternation was 
 general. Morton affected pity, and, by the interest which he seemed 
 to take in Athole, sought to re-assure the guests. The lords fixed 
 their eyes upon the ex- Regent, but vainly tried to catch an expression 
 of emotion or trouble on his countenance ; his features were cold and 
 hardened by hatred ; the sick Earl was at once taken to Kincardine. 
 
 Astonishment and fear prevented the nobles from accusing Morton ; 
 they retired without showing their anger, lest they should expose them- 
 
 -\^ 04'' - 
 
 ' " El principe que estava ya informado Englaterra, holgaria que se hiziesge con ellos 
 
 pregunto promptamente que donde havia sido ? otro tanto ; con una promptitud y auctoritad 
 
 Y haviendole dicho que en su reyno, i-espondio que diz que dex6 espantados ci todos." — Vargas 
 
 que d €1 pesava, pero que ellos havian tenido la Mexia to Philip II., 25th April, 1579. Teulet, 
 
 culpa, pues no era razon entrar en reyno ageno V., 192. 
 
 y con mano armada sin licencia del Principe ; ^ Estat du Royaulmed'Escosse. — Teulet, V., 
 
 y que quando los suyos entrassen en el de 193. 
 
ELIZABETH AND THE DUKE D'ANJOU, 1579. 317 
 
 selves to his rage ; but when they were out of his reach, they loudly 
 accused him. Athole's death, which happened on the morrow, spread 
 a gloomy sadness over Scotland, and called forth an outcry. The 
 name of the poisoner was in every mouth, and any one on seeing 
 Morton's calmness might have imagined that he had done nothing. 
 Hardened by crime, his was a face proof against shame ; he heard 
 with indifference the cries and lamentations of the Scots all over the 
 country, rising even to Stirling, and when he was informed of the 
 accusations which were made against him, his sole reply to them was 
 contempt. The physicians who had been called in to decide as to the 
 cause of death were of different opinions ; some declared the poisoning 
 was evident, and that there was no doubt on the subject ; others denied 
 the poisoning, without, however, assigning any reason for so extra- 
 ordinary a death. Public opinion did not hesitate to speak out, and the 
 people, in their everyday talk laid at his door, Athole's death and that 
 of the Earl of Mar.^ 
 
 Cheerful gossip replaced in London the wails which resounded 
 around Stirling ; people talked of Elizabeth's marriage with the Duke 
 d'Anjou. De Bacherville and de Rambouillet had already been 
 charged to negotiate the marriage, but success had not as yet 
 responded to their hopes. The Duke d'Anjou chose as his new 
 representative at the Court of England, de Simier, the craftiest 
 and most artful courtier that he could possibly find. That man, a 
 thorough master in all that concerned the artifices of the Court, soon 
 made his way, and, ere long, got very far into the Queen's good graces. 
 In his outward appearance, his manners, his conversation, and even the 
 smallest of his actions, he was singularly graceful. The Queen got so 
 fond of him that she could not spend a week without seeing him at 
 least three or four times ; when he did not appear at Court she was 
 sad and disappointed ; moreover, she always offered him the most 
 
 ' The contemporary author, Marioreybanks, was poisoned." And again: "The Lady 
 
 a citizen of Edinburgh, does not even hint at Athole and certain of her umquhile husband's 
 
 any grounds for doubting it. " In Appryle friends, with the doctors and surgeons who 
 
 1579," says he, "the said Earl of Athole was were present at the opening of the said Earl, 
 
 poyssonit in Striueling." Annals of Scotland, having repaired to Stirhng to give certificate 
 
 29. Moyse in his memoirs says distinctly that whether he was poisoned or not; after long 
 
 the poisoning was proved. " Being embowelled reasoning it was declared by them to the 
 
 upon the declaration of the doctors and the King's Majesty and Council that his body was 
 
 apothecaries present, that there was poison poisoned, which was his death." — Moyse's 
 
 within the corps, the laird of GrandtuUy, Memoirs, 32, 35. Various State Papers, 
 
 sister's son to the said Earl, and certain others Teulet III. 73, V., 194, 214. Camden, II., 294. 
 
 his special servants, came back in haste to the Prince Labanoff, V., 92. 
 King's Majesty, and assured his highness he 
 
31 8 ELIZABETH AND THE DUKE D'ANJOU, 1579. 
 
 gracious welcome. That intimacy gave currency to certain statements 
 which envy, hatred and jesting quickly spread. It was alleged that 
 the virgin -Queen took certain "indecent liberties with the Duke 
 d'Anjou's envoy, and that she revealed to him, in private, the secrets 
 of the kingdom." Be that true or false, it is at least certain, that Simier 
 returned the compliment by communicating important disclosures to 
 her. Leicester gave him grounds for so doing by constantly teasing 
 the cunning courtier. The latter was at first patient, as was becoming 
 in a stranger ; but soon unable to bear it any longer, he took his 
 revenge by relating to Elizabeth how Leicester had poisoned the Earl 
 of Essex, and repudiated his own wife to marry the widow of his 
 victim. That revelation was a thunderbolt for Elizabeth, who thought 
 herself the sole idol of the happy favourite. The little girl Ashley, 
 her confidante, a witness to her complaints, stupidly took the Earl's 
 part. " What ! " exclaimed the Queen, " shall I forget myself so 
 far as to prefer my creature to the first Princes of the Christian 
 universe ? " Leicester's excessive intimacy with Elizabeth had made 
 him so vain, that on learning that reply, he uttered threats which 
 brought on him imprisonment." According to the habit which they had 
 contracted of meddling with everything but their religion, the Church- 
 people increased the scandal by their declamations, and it was found 
 necessary to silence them.'' That measure completely roused the 
 public irritation, and hatred armed the hand of a murderer, at the risk 
 of killing Elizabeth at the same time as the French courtier.^ Peace 
 was entirely restored when the Duke d'A-njou arrived incognito at 
 Greenwich. His unexpected coming pleased Elizabeth ; his attentions 
 and his good manners gained for him the heart of that Princess ; but 
 his stay in England was deemed too short in the Queen's opinion. 
 Immediately after his departure she assembled the lords of her Council 
 and laid before them the marriage question. 
 
 In taking that step Elizabeth was persuaded that the lords would 
 be unanimous in advising her to do what the Parliament had formerly 
 asked her as a favour. Against her expectation the contrary opinion 
 prevailed.* Her passion for the Duke became stronger by contra- 
 diction, and showed itself in sobs ; she dismissed her counsellors, 
 
 1 Murdin's Papers, 318, 559; Prince La- a curious dissertation on the advantage which 
 
 banoff, VI., 52 ; Camden, II., 298. ' would accrue to Elizabeth by remaining a 
 
 ^ Lodge's Illustrations of British History, virgin (1. In respect of God; II. In respect 
 
 II., 212. of the Prince; III. In respect of the common 
 
 ^ Camden, II., 298. weal) or by marrying. It is really a very 
 
 • Sir Henry Ellis has inserted in his letters peculiar but rather indelicate document. 
 
HUMILIATION OF THE HAMILTONS, 1579. 319 
 
 remained alone, sighing to herself, and shed abundant tears that 
 afternoon and the following day. It was evident to all that the 
 virgin-Queen was no longer anxious to abide by her resolution to live 
 in celibacy ; her counsellors yielded through pity, and signed the 
 preliminaries of the marriage.' 
 
 In Scotland, also, tears were being shed, and with more reason. 
 Morton, having no longer to dread the Earl of Athole, launched his fury 
 against the Hamiltons, solely to humble that powerful family which he 
 dreaded. After uselessly trying to gain them over to him by family 
 alliances,^ he had come to blows. Wicked instincts leagued together 
 for that end ; Morton wished to ruin them on account of their power ; 
 the courtiers, on account of their prodigious wealth which they hoped 
 to divide ; and the young King, because they were, after him, the 
 legitimate heirs to the Crown. In a few days the ex-Regent seized 
 the castles of Hamilton and of Draffen, put two of the members of 
 the family to death, and detained as prisoners the Duchess of Chatel- 
 leraut with her unfortunate son, the Earl of Arran.^ That poor Earl, 
 who had become mad, ought, one would think, to have called forth 
 more compassion than hatred. Morton crowned his evil deeds by con- 
 fining him in a narrow prison, under the pretext of rebellion, and that 
 criminal action was approved of by the Parliament.'' It would have 
 been all over with the most illustrious family in Scotland, had not 
 Lord Arbroath and Claud Hamilton, his brother, fled amid innumerable 
 dangers, the one to the Court of England, the other to that of France, 
 where they were welcomed with distinction. ^ 
 
 Nau's arrival in Scotland caused Morton some anxiety, and checked 
 those evil-doings. Mary, uneasy regarding the health and happiness of 
 her son, had sent her secretary to enquire personally about the state of 
 the Prince. His presence gave rise to a warm discussion in the King's 
 Council, for he was the bearer of various presents, among others, of 
 eight small pieces of artillery, gilt and silvered,* and letters intended to 
 be placed in the hands of the Prince. The address on those letters 
 which gave James VI. only the title of Prince gave rise to controversy. 
 There were long debates in the Council, and the young Prince's 
 determination had obtained Nau's reception, when Morton, who had 
 
 ' Murdin's Papers, 318-342. ^ Various State Papers, Teulet, III., 54, 62, 
 
 2 Corresp. diplom., VI., 481. 67, 69, 98; V., 195, 196, 202; Camden, 
 
 ^ Prince Labanoff, V., 79. II., 300, 301. 
 
 ' Robertson's History of Scotland, II., ^ Castelnau de Mauvissifere to the King, 
 
 63. 26th July 1 579.— Teulet, III., 52. 
 
320 UNFORTUNATE POSITION OF MARY STUART, 1579. 
 
 come up from Stirling in all haste, made the balance incline to the 
 opposite side, and had Nau informed that he could not obtain admis- 
 sion, unless he gave James VI. the title of King.' On his protesting, 
 it was proposed to him, by way of coming to terms, to divest himself of 
 his title of ambassador, and to solicit an audience from the King as a 
 private individual, together, however, with the promise of giving Mary 
 only the title of mother and not that of Queen of Scots. Nau justly 
 considered the proposal a farce, and persisted in abiding by the 
 terms of his commission. The one who had made the proposal was 
 the King's physician. On seeing Nau refuse what he, a doctor, con- 
 sidered as an exceptional favour, he could not contain himself, and 
 growing pale with rage he ordered the Secretary of the Queen of 
 Scots to leave the country, and strongly threatened him. "If you 
 were one of the Counsellors of his Grace the Prince," replied the 
 secretary, " I should leave at once, while reserving the right to ask you 
 at a later period an explanation of your words ; but you are nothing, 
 and your reply would not be valid. I therefore take those who ac- 
 company you as witnesses of my resolution : I consider your injunctions 
 as null, and if I must change my language, I prefer to retake the road 
 to England. As far as a request of audience as a private individual is 
 concerned, thank the lords of Council for their advice, and tell them 
 that if, as a private individual, I am to respect the established govern- 
 ment as ambassador of the Queen of Scots, I cannot submit to it 
 without wronging the interests of her who has sent me." " So," added 
 Nau in the letter in which he describes his journey, " after various 
 messages on both sides, I set out on the following day after dinner, 
 having seen, owing to the misconduct of those who were around my 
 said Grace, his heart instead of his body." "^ One of the gentlemen 
 who accompanied Nau was admitted to the King's presence, handed 
 him the artillery, and withdrew at once, having been able to obtain, 
 from the son for the mother, only the barren wishes of weakness. 
 Morton had managed to thwart Mary's envoys to the end by con- 
 demning the Prince to silence while they stayed. ^ 
 
 The mother, in England, was not more happy than the son, in Scot- 
 land : she was watched even more closely than before; her communica- 
 tions with the outside became rare and difficult, and her letters reached 
 their destination only after the greatest precaution. Walsingham was 
 
 ' Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 4th July 1 579. — Prince Labanoff, V., 96. 
 
 ^ Nau to Castelnau de Mauvissi^re, 7th July.— Teulet, III., 48, 49. 
 
 2 Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 4th July. — Prince Labanoff, V., 97. 
 
MARY AND HER SON, 1579. 321 
 
 busy trying to find out the intrigues which were of a nature to com- 
 promise Elizabeth's safety or honour. His investigations went so far, 
 that the ambassador of France was obliged to burn several letters 
 addressed to Mary, for fear of finding himself compromised.' That 
 rigorous supervision happened very inopportunely for Mary. More 
 than ever, she needed to write, so as to frustrate Elizabeth's designs on 
 the Prince of Scotland. The Queen of England, despairing of ever 
 having the Prince in her power, thought of marrying him according to 
 her fancy. Projects multiplied ; each day saw one given up in favour 
 of another ; but, in spite of the daily changes, Elizabeth remained very 
 firm in her resolution to bring about the marriage. A young Princess 
 of Denmark and the daughter of the Prince of Orange were the 
 matches to which Elizabeth gave the preference.' The carelessness of 
 the Catholic princes alarmed the captive. "If there in they find," wrote 
 Mary, "greatar difficulty then advantage for themselfis, I desire not to 
 treat in it any farther, nor requyre them of any thing above there forces 
 and good will ; considering that this doing I set myself heir in danger 
 of lyfe, and of the richt, which perteaneth me within this realme . . . 
 remaning justly discharged before God and the world of my obligations 
 to the Catholick Churche, and to the Princes therof ... I may 
 presently, without forfending them, provyde for the most urgent neces- 
 sitie of my affaires, be some good agreement with this Queen." ^ She 
 kept her word : seeing herself forgotten, she wrote to Elizabeth to 
 recommend the Prince to her, to complain of the " barbarism " with 
 which he was treated by the " factious murderers of his father," and to 
 ask her protection. That letter breathes motherly love in all its strength 
 and sweetness. Mary deplores the " narrow confinement in which they 
 detain her poor child," and requests Elizabeth's favour only " because 
 she cannot provide for him herself."* 
 
 Elizabeth would perhaps have favourably welcomed the proposals 
 of the Queen of Scots, if calumny, already so often a mischief-maker 
 betwixt the two Queens, had not come to break off unexpectedly 
 a friendship which was striving to grow. In all that concerned her 
 habits and her alliances. Queen Elizabeth was extremely susceptible, and 
 Mary's enemies profited by that disposition to set those two rival women 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 4th July. — Prince Labanoff, V., 91, 93. 
 
 4th July. — Prince Labanoff, V., 85. Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 29th September 
 
 " Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 23d Oct. 1579. — Teulet, V., 199. 
 
 1579 and 2ist Feb. 1580. — Teulet, V., 201, 211. ■• Mary Stuart to EUzabeth, 5th September. 
 
 3 Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, — Prince Labanoff, V., 102. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 8 
 
322 D'AUBIGNY IN SCOTLAND, 1580, 
 
 against each other. Words, very far from favourable to Elizabeth's 
 marriage with the Duke d'Anjou, were attributed to Mary Stuart The 
 Queen of England, justly offended, got into a rage, enough to frighten 
 even the innocent. Mary was soon informed by Castelnau of what was 
 going on. Feeling herself hurt not less than Elizabeth, she protested, 
 and earnestly asked for the names of the slanderers, that she might be 
 able to give a bold denial to the audacious insinuation, and check by 
 her attitude those who might still dream of accusing her falsely. " I 
 tell you," she wrote to the French ambassador, " that whosoever, with- 
 out any exception, has made such a report to the Queen of England, 
 my good sister, has wickedly and infamously lied and has spoken 
 against all truth and against his conscience, of which I accuse him 
 before God . . . if he dare not appear before men."' Mary and 
 Castelnau insisted upon having the names of the guilty : Elizabeth 
 refused to give them.^ Calumny, driven out in England, made for 
 Scotland, and tried to make mischief between mother and child. 
 Without accusing any one, it is probable that the English Cabinet had 
 something to do with those rumours ; and the nature of the calumny 
 circulated in Scotland, leads one to believe that the ministers themselves 
 had put it forth in the interest of their cause. It was said that Mary 
 disinherited her son to the profit of the Duke d'Anjou ; and although 
 that assertion was at first sight void of likelihood, as well as of founda- 
 tion, the effect which it was meant to produce on the Prince could be 
 only disastrous. 3 
 
 Very fortunately the time for intrigues was past : the avenger of 
 Mary Stuart had at length reached the Court of James VI. His 
 name was Esme Stuart, but he was known as the Count d'Aubigny. 
 Accredited to the Prince despite Mary and Elizabeth,'' that secret agent 
 of the Guises was fated to free the King from the servitude under which he 
 was groaning, and to crush Morton. He was held in great favour from 
 the very first. Arbroath Abbey, taken from the Hamiltons, gave him a 
 position, and the title of Earl of Lennox conferred upon him a rank, 
 and placed him at the head of the nobility.^ He grew more powerful 
 notwithstanding the efforts which the English, along with Morton and 
 
 1 Mary Stuart to Castelnau de Mauvissifere, 20th January 1580. — Prince Labanoff, V., 
 
 2ist November 1579. — Prince Labanoff, V., 118. 
 
 109. * Various letters, Prince Labanoff, IV., 388, 
 
 ■■' Castelnau de Mauvissifere to Mary Stuart, V., 61, 124, 134; Teulet, V., 194. 
 
 7th December. — Teulet, IIL, 59. * Various papers, Teulet, III., 56, 75, V., 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow, 215; Prince Labanoff, V., 157. 
 
D'AUBIGNY AND MORTON, 1580. 323 
 
 the Hamiltons, made to overthrow him.' Gentle in manner, polite and 
 frank, he had won for himself the good wishes of James VI. The skill 
 which enabled him to foresee as well as shape the course of action of 
 the King, made him absolute master, and he set about ruining Morton. 
 The first attack was skilfully directed. Instead of blaming the 
 ex- Regent, the young King, prompted by d'Aubigny, asked to have 
 the reins of government in his own hands. That request astonished 
 Morton. The King went further, and thereupon accused him of having 
 poisoned the Earl of Athole, so that, at last, the Prince and the powerful 
 lord came to an open rupture.^ He had a warm dispute with him, and 
 reproached him in Council with the wish to hand him over to England, 
 or poison him. Morton did not change countenance ; he asked the 
 name of the accusers. " Here are your accusers," replied the Prince, 
 showing Argyll and d'Aubigny. Called upon to justify himself, the 
 former Regent protested against the accusation ; and, as there were no 
 direct proofs to meet his denial, his innocence was proclaimed by sound 
 of trumpet.^ 
 
 Reassured in reference to Athole, Morton in his turn came forward 
 as an accuser, and denounced d'Aubigny as a Catholic. That cry of the 
 ex- Regent roused the passions of even the lowest ranks of society. 
 The people did not like Morton ; the nobles hated him, and wished his 
 ruin ; but fanaticism was stronger than enmity. At the alarm-cry, all 
 forgot their personal hatreds in religious zeal. The King was in desper- 
 ation, because he was passionately fond of d'Aubigny. He would have 
 defended him against all his personal enemies, but it seemed dangerous 
 to defend him against the impetuous fury of the masses."* 
 
 That Catholic Lord, enraged at seeing himself the victim of a wretch 
 such as Morton, made up his mind to go over to Protestantism, intending, 
 however, to return, later, to his former religion.^ From that moment 
 he communed with his own thoughts, and vowed an implacable hatred 
 against the tyrant. Morton, suddenly abandoned by the people, who 
 redoubled their affection for the King and the Earl of Lennox, implored 
 the help of Elizabeth. Sir Robert Bowes uselessly interested himself 
 in his favour, and although supported by the English troops massed on 
 
 \ Mendoga to Philip II., 30th March 1580. ^ Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 31st May 1580. 
 
 — Teulet, v., 214; Prince Labanoff, V., 132, — Teulet, V., 220. 
 140, 157. * Castelnau de Mauvissifere to the King, 22d 
 
 " Castelnau de Mauvissi&re to the King, 2d April. — Teulet, III., 71. 
 March. — Teulet, III., 69. Mendoga to Philip ^ Moyse's Memoirs, 42. 
 
 II. — Idem, v., 215. 
 
324 D'AUBIGNY AND MORTON, 1580. 
 
 the frontiers, he obtained absolutely nothing.' The strife grew more and 
 more bitter, and reached its utmost height when the Earl of Lennox 
 heard himself accused of wishing to carry off the Prince.'' Scotland, 
 England and France began to feel that the upshot, whatever it might 
 be, would ruin one of the two parties, and that, under those two men, 
 there were struggling two currents of contrary ideas — royalty or tutelage, 
 the authoritative or oligarchical principle. 
 
 The two champions being determined to fight until, according to 
 Castelnau's expression,' " the one or the other should be ruined," took 
 the necessary measures, each on his own side. Morton built his hopes on 
 England ; d'Aubigny, with nothing to rely on, save the encouragements 
 of a boyish King, asked for Dunbarton Castle, and had it given to 
 him.-* Guarded by the precipitous rocks of the old stronghold, he was 
 now able to brave the wrath of Morton, and, backed by James Stuart, 
 second son of the Laird of Ochiltree, alone, he felt strong enough to 
 attack the ex- Regent. 
 
 James Stuart, the new-comer, as much a soldier as d'Aubigny, was 
 also a courtier, and had fought for fighting's sake in the wars of Flanders, 
 where, by his bravery, he had risen to the rank of colonel. The Arch- 
 bishop of Glasgow had lured him from the army by hinting what a 
 brilliant part he might play in .the island. On his arrival he found 
 Scotland boiling with secret enmities, but in the dark as to what she 
 wished or had a chance of getting. With many faults, the Colonel had 
 fine qualities ; his active spirit showed itself far-sighted in guessing the 
 feelings of the multitude, and stubbornly anxious to gratify those feel- 
 ings when found out. He soon saw how thoroughly Morton was hated 
 by all ; he joined d'Aubigny, and thought of nothing, save to crush the 
 ex- Regent. 
 
 Mary took an opposite course, and gave up the struggle just when 
 resistance might have been a gain to her. She had entered into 
 correspondence with Elizabeth, reminding her of the promises which 
 she had received, and the uselessness of a longer confinement. " Believe 
 me," wrote she, " you can make me more attached to you by setting me 
 free from prison, thereby increasing the obligation which my heart 
 should owe to you for such a kindness ; but you cannot gain my love 
 by keeping my body within four walls, for those of my rank and nature 
 
 ^ Vargas Mexia to Philip II. — Teulet, V., ' Castelnau de Mauvissifere to the King, 
 
 220. 25th September. — Teulet, III., 75. 
 
 1 Prince Labanoff, V., 144. * Mendoga to Philip II.— Teulet, V., 215. 
 
FRESH CRUELTIES TOWARDS MARY, 1580. 325 
 
 are not wont to bend before strength, as you may have seen in the 
 past."' 
 
 That letter did no good : Elizabeth, believing she had a right 
 to suspect Mary in reference to d'Aubigny, refused all concession. 
 The change in the prisoner's manner of acting, coinciding with the 
 struggle which divided Scotland, and disturbed England, led to the 
 belief that a secret bond existed between those various centres of 
 sedition. England seemed threatened with wars civil and foreign, 
 and Walsingham accordingly took no rest ; the laws were rigorously 
 carried out. Leicester, since his disgrace, making common cause 
 with the Puritans, imparted a new audacity to that party, naturally 
 inclined to rashness in doctrine and action. The dark furies of the 
 sect henceforth broke out, not on religious questions only ; they burst 
 forth on a Subject likely to raise fiercer wrath and greater danger. The 
 alliance with the Duke d' Anjou had roused the jealousy of Leicester, and 
 was to him a pretext to join the Puritans. In taking such a resolution, 
 the former favourite thought he might throw an obstacle in the way of 
 Elizabeth's marriage with the Duke, yet go no further. In his blind 
 passion he thought no one would think otherwise than he had thought ; in 
 that, he stupidly misjudged the spirit of the Puritans. They took advan- 
 tage of Leicester's influence to oppose France, and afterwards would not 
 let him curb their zeal. They set their face with all energy against the 
 French alliance, and then borrowed from old Knox his arguments and 
 thunderbolts to curse the government of women.^ Nay more, they 
 offered the throne of England to the young King of Scotland.^ Leicester, 
 driven by those whom he had wished to lead, found himself exposed to 
 the anger of the English and French Governments, without being able 
 either to raise himself or assist the Hamiltons, who also had leagued 
 themselves with the Puritans to recover their position in Scotland.* 
 
 The English Cabinet, kept awake by so many intrigues, redoubled 
 its vigilance towards the poor captive, fearing that under her name, or 
 for her help, conspiracies should be formed on the continent against 
 Elizabeth, or Morton, her faithful ally. Mary sometimes made use of 
 the Earl of Shrewsbury's servants to send off her letters, and Elizabeth's 
 ministers learned it from their spies. So, on the 4th of May, they arrested 
 
 1 Mary Stuart to Elizabeth, 2d May. — Prince ^ Vargas Mexia to Philip II., 29th November. 
 
 Labanoff, V., 147. — Archives de I'Empire; Fonds de Simancas, 
 
 ^ Castelnau de Mauvissifere to the King, 8th liasse B., 49, No. 149. 
 
 February and 2d March. — Teulet, III., 64, * Various Letters of Mary Stuart. — Prince 
 
 70. Labanoff, V., 39, 117, 156, 189. 
 
326 AFFAIRS IN IRELAND, 1580. 
 
 Jailheur, one of the Earl's servants, just as he landed from France. 
 That arrest might have had important results, yet Jailheur, in spite of 
 what had befallen him, managed to hand the Sheffield captive two 
 letters from the Archbishop of Glasgow, which had not been found 
 upon him.' 
 
 Elizabeth might well feel proud, for she was now at liberty to concen- 
 trate her troops against Scotland. Ireland had just fallen. That fine 
 country did not allow itself to be conquered without a struggle. It 
 kept up for a long time an unequal contest,, armed itself with patriotism 
 to repulse the invaders, and deservedly attracted the eyes of Europe, 
 until at length, dragged down by the force of circumstances, it was 
 subdued. Its fall was too painfully re-echoed, not to tell its story. 
 
 War had been raging in that country for eighteen years without 
 any real truce. When the parties stopped fighting for a little, they 
 gave way, rather from fatigue than any peaceful feeling. During 
 those momentary suspensions the old hatreds accumulated and soured, 
 and fresh massacres came at intervals after former massacres. A 
 thrilling desire for war overran the island, and in a single night a land 
 which, on the eve, was thought peaceful and asleep, was armed for its 
 defence. 
 
 One of the legitimate children of the Earl of Tyrone, despoiled of 
 his heritage by the despot Henry VIII. to the profit of his bastard 
 brother Matthew, was the first to stir up revolt in the heart of Ireland. 
 His name was Shane O'Neill. He had claimed as his right to be 
 the King of Ulster. Not getting anything, he raised the war-cry. 
 A great number of Irishmen, attracted by misfortune or by patriotism, 
 rallied round his banner. The crafty Earl of Sussex had, however, 
 sufficient influence over the Irish warrior to induce him to come to 
 London, and do homage to Elizabeth. He appeared at court in the 
 costume of his country, followed by a numerous guard, all clad in 
 yellow. Elizabeth took a certain delight in seeing those fierce men, 
 who, though they were her nearest neighbours, did not excite less 
 curiosity, according to Camden's expression, than if they had been 
 Indians or Chinese.^ She offered their chief a gracious welcome, which 
 the wild O'Neill did his best to acknowledge, but when the Queen came 
 to ask him an account of his conduct towards the bastard Matthew, he 
 answered haughtily, " What I have done has been well done ; it was 
 my right; I am the son of Conn O'Neill ; Matthew is the sad offspring 
 
 ' Prince Labanoff, V., 151. 2 Camden, I., 69. 
 
AFFAIRS IN IRELAND, 1580. 327 
 
 of a farrier." Elizabeth, despairing of conquering so bold a nature, 
 dismissed the man with kind words. 
 
 For a year after his return to his native land, Shane O'Neill was 
 friendly to the English, and did them some signal services, then, to 
 avenge real or imaginary wrongs, he rushed anew into revolt. His turbu- 
 lent nature, joined to great boldness, soon organised rebellion. During 
 several years, battles followed treaties, and treaties battles, without 
 securing peace for Ireland. Elizabeth was grieved to see all the 
 resources of her states swallowed up in that war-loving island ; her 
 army was permanently settled there, and the costs of the war exceeded 
 six millions tournois. She could not keep up the struggle without 
 losing ground in Scotland and on the Continent, where all was in a 
 blaze. In that emergency, she caused to be offered to Shane the 
 English titles which his father had borne, provided he swore obedience 
 to her authority. " If your mistress is Elizabeth, Queen of England," 
 replied he to the envoys, " I am O'Neill, King of Ulster ; I have never 
 made peace with her but at her own request ; my blood places me 
 above mere titles, for which I feel only contempt. My forefathers 
 have reigned in Ulster : they acquired this kingdom with their sword ; 
 my sword shall preserve it." 
 
 Those words were the signal for a new struggle. The English, 
 angry at Shane's reply, asked for reinforcements, and prepared for a 
 campaign of extermination. Shane O'Neill, beaten in a furious engage- 
 ment, near Dundalk, took his revenge by ravaging the country. The 
 English were almost always successful in the pitched battles ; Shane in 
 the surprises. His badly disciplined troops went carelessly into action, 
 rushing on the enemy without keeping their ranks, and without 
 listening to any other command than that of their courage. The 
 English troops, advancing in good order, had easily the best of their 
 adversaries ; yet both sides suffered enormous losses. Shane at last 
 sought the woods and impracticable places, so as to harass the enemy ; 
 but his ranks, thinned by the sword, were weakened still more by deser- 
 tion. No longer able to trust to the fate of great battles, he withdrew 
 among the Ulster Scots, so as to rest and wait for an opportunity. 
 While at a feast, he was killed, at the instigation of Piers, an English 
 officer. His head, fixed on a spear, was exposed in Dublin ; the pieces 
 of his body, which had been quartered, were attached to the gates of 
 the principal towns in the hands of the English, as the trophies of 
 an exemplary vengeance ; his name and his title were blotted out by 
 Act of Parliament, under penalty of treason; his lands were confiscated; 
 
328 AFFAIRS IN IRELAND, 1580. 
 
 and upon his death, England hoped soon to be the peaceful mistress of 
 Ireland.' 
 
 Shane O'Neill's death had not the effect which England had antici- 
 pated. The Irish continued to be restless ; on all sides rose youthful 
 captains, jealous of gaining immortality by ruining the English dominion 
 in the island. Want of union made their goodwill useless ; they were 
 defeated or bribed, one after another. 
 
 On the proposal of the Secretary, Sir Thomas Smith, the English 
 Cabinet thought of founding colonies in Ireland, in the districts confis- 
 cated on account of treason. That innovation, introduced under pleasing 
 colours, led a number of adventurers to emigrate. They almost all 
 perished, and the Earl of Essex, whom Elizabeth had sent to command 
 them, died suddenly in Dublin. Leicester was accused of having had 
 him poisoned, so that he might marry his widow. 
 
 Colonizing failed, as war had failed, in presence of the tenacity of 
 the Irish. The quarrel, still furious, showed no signs of waning ; the 
 English were not able to become absolute masters, and the natives were 
 not subdued. The Irish, unable to destroy the invaders, appealed to 
 the sovereigns of Europe. The Pope heard the cries of his children 
 oppressed by despotism ; Spain followed suit ; and aid reached Ireland 
 in spite of treachery.'' 
 
 War broke out again with violence, and in every direction people 
 were in arms. Fitz-Eustace and Pheogh MacHugh united with the 
 Earl of Desmond ; the O' Byrnes, the O'Connors, the O'Carrols, the 
 MacGeoghans, and the Kavanaghs, rose at the same time ; the English 
 were defeated, then victorious ; but they covered themselves with eternal 
 shame by massacring the soldiers who had surrendered on parole, (i 580.) 
 
 The Earl of Desmond, standing alone amid the wreck of Irish 
 nationality, sought in the woods and marshes a shelter, which his estates 
 could no longer afford him. Incessantly pursued by the English hired 
 assassins, he withdrew into uninhabited places, and lived there in com- 
 parative safety. At length some marauders, who had lost their way 
 during the night, were attracted to his hut by the glimmer of a lamp. 
 They found an old man, with long hair, seated on the ground before a 
 small fire. Thinking they recognised him, they seized him, and made 
 
 ' Rymer, Fcedera et Acta, VI., iv., 136. September 1565. — Teulet, II., 235 ; and vari- 
 
 For the relations of Mary Stuart with Shane ous letters of Lethington and Randolph. — 
 
 O'Neill, see Letters to the Argyll Family, a Bishop Keith, app., 168. 
 
 publication of the Maitland Club, 5 ; the letter ^ Castelnau de Mauvissifere to the King, 20th 
 
 of Paul de Foix to Catherine de Mddicis, 29th October 1580. — Teulet, III., 78. 
 
PERSECUTION OF THE CATHOLICS, 1580. 329 
 
 use of threats and insinuations to find out who he was. The old man 
 kept obstinately silent. The cut-throats were furious at getting no 
 information, and one slashed the arm of the old man with his sword. 
 Pain loosened his tongue, but he had scarcely time to say, " I am the 
 Earl of Desmond," before he was slain. His head, sent to Elizabeth, 
 was stuck up on London Bridge.' 
 
 Elizabeth, victorious over Ireland, thought to revenge herself on 
 the Pope, by persecuting the Catholics in her kingdom. The presence 
 of Doctor Sanders, as nuncio in the Irish army, kindled her wrath : per- 
 secution was decreed. That treatment, welcomed by the Puritans with 
 joy, cast a mournful gloom over England. The tears of the Catholics 
 moistened the English soil, and their sobs rose even to heaven. The 
 prisons received their victims ; the Tower of London was soon too 
 small for so many captives. Several, instead of groaning in dungeons, 
 preferred to emigrate, and seek, no matter where, a land where more 
 pity lingered. By a just retribution, while the faithful fled, priests left 
 the English seminaries on the Continent, and returned to England, to 
 preach and die there. They did indeed find death there, but a horrible 
 death^ — the gibbet or the wheel. ^ 
 
 There was a Catholic whom Elizabeth could neither hang nor put 
 to the wheel, and he alone did more harm to England than all of 
 that religion put together. He was d'Aubigny. He had resolved on 
 Morton's fall, without heeding either the difficulties or the consequences 
 of such an overthrow. The hour for action had come ; Scotland was 
 enthusiastic at the triumphant entry of the King into Edinburgh ^ — the 
 moment could not be more favourable. 
 
 Except a certain coldness, and some slander, nothing led Morton 
 to foresee that his fall was so nigh. On the 31st of December, he 
 went as usual to the Council ; there the King's favourites awaited him. 
 The last day of the year 1580 was to be for him the last day of his 
 power and of his liberty. In the middle of the session, James Stuart, 
 driven as it were by duty, threw himself at the King's feet, accused 
 Morton of having been "art and />art" in Darnley's murder, and offered 
 to prove his accusation under the usual penalties. Morton was not, 
 
 » Camdeni Historia ab anno 1562 ad 1583 ; du Shisme d'Angleterfe, traduction de Mau- 
 
 Thomas Lelland, History of Ireland, II., pas- croix, 396 sq. ; Strype's Annals, I ., 223, 337 
 
 sim ; Murdin's Papers, 353-366. — II., passim et app., 102 ; Bishop Challoner, 
 
 ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- Memoirs of Missionary Priests, almost the 
 
 gow, 27th September 1580. — Prince Labanoff, whole of Vol. I. 
 v., 179; Camden, IL, 314; Sanderus, Histoire * Robertson's History of Scotland, II., 72. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 T 
 
330 ARREST OF MORTON, 1581. 
 
 however, put out by so unexpected an attack ; he merely cast a look of 
 contempt on James Stuart, then, addressing the King with firmness, 
 said, " I know not by whom this informer has been set on, and it were 
 easy for one of my rank to refuse all reply to so mean a person ; but I 
 stand upon my innocence, I fear no trial. The rigour with which I 
 have prosecuted all suspected of that murder is well known, and when 
 I have cleared myself, it will be for your Majesty to determine what 
 they deserve who have sent this perjured tool of theirs to accuse me." 
 
 Those words uttered quietly, and with a freezing contempt, happening 
 to be used towards a man so violent as was James Stuart, awoke in his 
 heart an unspeakable anger. He replied with as much contempt, and 
 more bitterness, "It is false, utterly false, that any one has instigated me 
 to make the accusation. A horror for the crime, and zeal for the 
 safety of my Sovereign have been my only counsellors ; as to his pre- 
 tended zeal against the guilty, let me ask him where has he placed 
 Archibald Douglas, his cousin ? That most infamous of men, who 
 was an actor in the tragedy, is now a Senator, promoted to the highest 
 seat of justice, and suffered to pollute that tribunal before which he 
 ought to have been arraigned as the murderer of his Prince." ' 
 
 It is hard to say what might have happened had not the King 
 interposed ; for Morton's hand was on his sword, and James was ready 
 to defend himself The accuser and the accused withdrew grumbling. 
 The ex- Regent, put under arrest in his own house, was afterwards 
 locked up in Edinburgh Castle under the guard of Alexander Erskine, 
 whence he was taken to Dunbartoii. 
 
 Elizabeth saw that second fall with displeasure, and sent Sir Robert 
 Bowes to Scotland to plead the cause of the captive. Her envoy could 
 not obtain a hearing, so that in wishing to plead for Morton, the English 
 Cabinet did itself harm. The exceptional position in which Morton's 
 arrest placed England and Scotland required unwonted activity and 
 skill. Randolph was sent to Scotland. He lavished gold and words, 
 made an appeal to the ex-Regent's friends and urged them to rise 
 and act, showing them, beyond the borders, the English troops under 
 the orders of Hunsdon and Huntingdon, ready to aid them ; but it was 
 of no use : Morton had no friends left, and those English troops, in- 
 stead of bringing the Scots to listen to Randolph, drove them to the 
 party of James VI. Randolph, to save his life, had to make for England 
 by night, while the envoys of the Prince of Orange, and of the King of 
 
 1 Tytler's History, IV., 31 ; Robertson II., 75; Craufurd's Memoirs, 325, 326. 
 
TRIAL OF MORTON, 1581. 331 
 
 Navarre had no better success ; James VI. refused every concession. It 
 is related that he said even this : " If the English are very anxious to 
 have the said Earl of Morton, I shall send them the body but must 
 keep his head." ^ 
 
 Although every one was glad to be rid of Morton, it was not, how- 
 ever, without a certain amount of terror that one looked to the future. 
 A despotic government was overthrown ; those who had brought about 
 that result had done a good deed, but what was to be the new form of 
 government ? None could guess. The Presbyterians began to dread, 
 and it was of the last importance for the King to pacify Scotland by 
 reassuring the public mind alarmed by Randolph's false insinuations. 
 Having that object in view, he issued a Protestant profession of faith,^ 
 ordering all his subjects to submit to it without delay. That confession 
 rallied round him the Scots, who, through conscientious scruples inclined 
 towards England. The King took advantage of that to begin im- 
 mediate proceedings against Morton, in spite of Elizabeth's threats.^ 
 Those who still thought of defending the prisoner, were subdued or 
 driven away ; Angus was banished ; the Earl of Mar was obliged to 
 resign the command of Stirling, and the others were scattered and 
 declared rebels. 
 
 As the trial approached, Morton was brought from Dunbarton 
 to Edinburgh ; on his arrival in the capital, he was placed in the hands 
 of his enemy, James Stuart, newly created Earl of Arran. The name 
 of the keeper enabled the prisoner to guess the fate which awaited 
 him ; he entered his prison quite convinced that he should leave only 
 for the scaffold. 
 
 He was taken out on the ist of June, after five months' imprison- 
 ment, to appear before his judges. He repaired thither in sad apparel, 
 between two companies of soldiers, and found the door of the Tolbooth 
 guarded by two other bands of soldiers. On his way he saw nothing 
 but soldiers and armed citizens. There was a vast difference between 
 that threatening escort of soldiers and citizens, and the one which he had 
 had, in the same town, during the regency; and in comparing his present 
 position with his past prosperity, remorse must have entered his soul. 
 When he reached the Court, he in vain looked round for friends ; of 
 
 1 Various State Papers, Teulet, III., 88, 97. = The text of it is published in Teulet III. 
 
 Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glasgow. 83 sq. 
 
 — Prince Labanoff, v., 188, 189; Spottiswoode ^ Mary Stuart to the Archbishop of Glas- 
 
 II., 274, 275. gow, and to Elizabeth. — Prince Labanoff, V., 
 
 20s, 329. 
 
332 SENTENCE OF MORTON, 1581. 
 
 those who had been such, some were not to be seen, while others 
 tried to atone, by the violence of their invectives, for their baseness in 
 previously seeking his good graces. 
 
 The proofs adduced against him were composed of written acts and 
 of words. Burdened at once with the reproaches which the Queen of 
 Scots had addressed to him, with his engagement with Bothwell, 
 signed by his own hand, and presented by Sir James Balfour, with the 
 will of the captive of Malmoe, and with his own conduct towards Archi- 
 bald Douglas, he defended himself badly, denied a portion of the 
 facts, and challenged his judges, without being able to prove his entire 
 innocence : his words only justified the Queen of Scots.' Found guilty, 
 he was sentenced to the punishment of a traitor. The King was pleased, 
 by a last favour, to spare him the ignominy of such a death, and com- 
 muted the penalty into a sort of beheading which Morton himself had 
 invented." The execution was fixed for the morrow. 
 
 During that night, from the ist to the 2d of June, which might be 
 called the armed vigil, Morton slept quietly, and the following morning 
 found him at table in company with some Scottish ministers. The 
 conversation was quite Socratic ; the condemned one spoke largely of 
 religion and of morality, and finished by absolving himself, promising 
 himself heaven on leaving this earth. Is that pretension, on the part of 
 a man unprincipled and stained with blood, who states himself to be 
 pure in the eyes of Him who fathoms at His will the innermost recesses 
 of the heart, to be called firmness or sacrilegious insolence? The 
 historian has no right to pass judgment on that point : it is the secret 
 of the other world. Yet, on seeing a man with such a reputation assume 
 the title of just on the very scene of his crimes, and speak freely of his 
 evil deeds, without thinking either of repentance or of atonement, one 
 must admit with the Protestant Tytler that it is " difficult not to be pain- 
 fully struck." 3 At mid-day the ministers were still around him. 
 
 When the keeper came to Morton and told him that his last hour 
 had come, the ex- Regent seemed astonished that the time had passed 
 away so rapidly, and asked for a few minutes to prepare himself. 
 
 1 "Cum Mortonius extremum supplicium sim. from 79 to 104, V., 221, 228; Camden 
 
 subiturus esset, fassus est Bothwellium secum 333 sq. 
 
 egisse ut in regicidium consentiret : quod ' Tytler's History, IV., 36. Morton's Con- 
 
 cum omnino abnueret nisi Regina sub chiro- fession, Laing III., 354 sq., and Bannat. Me- 
 
 grapho mandaret ; Bothwellium respondisse : mor., 317 sq. That confession has been 
 
 hoc neutiquam fieri posse, at facinus ipsa in- altered as M. Jules Gauthier notices and 
 
 consult^ perpetrandum esse." — Camden, 1. 118. proves in his Histoire de Marie Stuart, III. 
 
 " Various State Papers. — Teulet, III., pas- 137. 
 
EXECUTION OF MORTON, 1581. 333 
 
 " But, my Lord," said the keeper, " they will not wait, and all things 
 are ready." " If it be so," replied Morton, " I praise God I am ready 
 also." After a short prayer he followed the keeper. He mounted the 
 scaffold courageously : " Sure I am," said he to those who stood around 
 him, " the King shall lose a good servant this day." He afterwards 
 spoke with a certain bluster which the people took for heroism : all 
 went well as long as his eye did not rest on the knife which was to 
 cut off his head ; but when face to face with it, he grew pale and gave 
 way to a base despair. He did not wish to die. The ministers could 
 not keep him up ; he had no faith. In the excess of his agony he fell 
 down on his face, sobbed aloud and became convulsed. That pitiable 
 condition which might have moved the most hardened was looked 
 upon with joy by the Presbyterian ministers, for they saw in it the 
 outward sign of the inward working of the Spirit of God in the heart of 
 Morton." The ex-Regent rose more calm, spoke to his friends, shook 
 them by the hand, bade them a last farewell, and laid his neck on the 
 knife of the maiden. ° 
 
 The head of the redoubtable Douglas was immediately taken to 
 the Tolbooth, and fixed above the door. The avaricious Regent, the 
 richest lord in Scotland, was quietly buried the evening after his execu- 
 tion, and his body laid, unmarked, among those of the vilest criminals.^ 
 
 His adulteries* and murders have earned for him a reputation fit 
 to dishonour a convict-prison, and history demands for him a severe judg- 
 ment. Heartless, without honour or religion, having disowned the 
 rights of blood, killed his King, ruined his Queen, and made her people 
 groan under an iron yoke, he left, at his death, no other fame than that 
 of an ambitious, violent and rapacious wretch capable of daring all to 
 enrich himself and remain in power. Elizabeth regretted his death : 
 " This young Prince," said she to Castelnau, in speaking of James VI., 
 " begins too early to dip his hands in the blood of his subjects." ^ 
 
 1 "During the tyme of the quhilk prayer, the burgh. It is somewhat similar to the guillo- 
 
 Erle of Mortoun lay on gruife, upoun his face, tine, with this noteworthy difference, that the 
 
 befoir the place of executioune, his body knife is a fixture, and that a heavy body 
 
 making grit rebounding with sychis and sobis, adjusted between the two standing posts of 
 
 quhilk ar evident signes of the inward and the machine, performs the operation by falling 
 
 michtie working of the Spirit of God." — Bannat. on the neck of the culprit. 
 
 Memor. 331. The continuator of HoUinshed, ^ Spottiswoode, II., 276-279. 
 
 II., 426. * Craufurd's Memoirs, 219. 
 
 * That instrument, of which several historians = Castelnau de Mauvissifere to the King, 20th 
 
 have formed a somewhat false idea, is still to June, 1581. — Teulet, III., 116. 
 be seen in the Antiquarian Museum, Edin- 
 
PROOFS. 
 
 NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 I. 
 
 FAULTS FOUND WITH THE FRENCH, AND BITTER WORDS UTTERED AGAINST THEM. 
 
 " When Monsr. Dessie and the Rhingrave had put of their harnes and shifted theim, they 
 both passing the stretes went to the Governor's lodging to have spoken with him, who wold 
 not be spoken with all that night nor this day untill IX. aclock in the morning, so as they 
 departed for that present, and havinge audience with the Govemer this daye unto whom, not 
 showing anny frendely countenaunce, he answered they were come rather to spoile and distroye 
 the realme then to assist and defend yt, as was promysed ; and seing no better successe of their 
 service, with also considering the slaughter lately made by the Frenche uppone the liege people 
 and specially the Hammyltons, he told them playnly and openly in the hearing of manny that 
 without more ado the matier should be enquered uppon and thoffenders shall suffre therfore 
 without remyssion, and so departed from theym and they retorned to their lodginges very sadly. 
 . . . . The French are at this present in suche desperacion as they had rather adventer and 
 be killed with Englishmen then by the Scottes." — Extract from a Letter from Thomas Fisher to 
 Somerset, nth October 1548. 
 
 " Et fot, k ce propos, que je vous die que, sy le Roy ne donna queque ordre k sa quevalerie 
 qu'yl a pardesk, notre pe'is ne saroit seuportd les mos quy font. Car y vous fot antandre que notre 
 pe'isant n'a rien a luy et ne demeure seu le tfere que sin ou six ans, et ce pendant les povre jans 
 gagne se quy peulve pour vivre. Sy sent &tes, y fot quy balle Ife fermes k leur metres de four- 
 mant et d'orge ; de quoy y ne leur reste que I'avoine de quoy vive. On Ife met dehors de leur 
 mdson ; ung n'a james poi6 ung liart de noriteure de chevas. Y breule le boys quy se trouve 
 dedans la m^son, comme bans, table et telle chose. Se poure endroit de peis a souteneu la 
 guerre euit ans et hx. tons \h jours breul^ des anemis. Je vous proumfes que s'k chose ynseupor- 
 table ; y se mfete au dessdpoir et s'an teue queque fois. Monsieur de Thermes an h bien marry 
 (fS-chd), ausy sont les quapitfenes de chevos-ldgieres, mfes y n'y peule donner ordre." — The Queen- 
 Dowager of Scotland to the Duke d'Aumale, 12th November 1548. Teulet's collectiojt. 
 
 " Pour I'oprfesion qu'y s'& ffete au peuple par \h jans de guerre, y s'et mis an tel desespoir quy 
 se prfegne et Ifeve centre nous, et, oii y me souloient (avaient accoutumd) aimer, y me vodr^e 
 voir morte, leur sanblan que je suis c6se de leur mal." — The same to the Cardinal de Guise, 2()th 
 November Y^i,^, ibidem. 
 
 " Le Gouverneur, ne voyant que parolles et ddlais et nul effet, commenga k murmurer et dire 
 que les Francois ne faisoient aultre chose que gasteret destruire le pais." — Report of St Mauris, 
 Teulet. 
 
336 NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 n. 
 
 DEATH OF CHASTELARD. 
 
 Mr Hosack, in his beautiful defence of Mary Stuart, writes : — 
 
 " It is impossible to acquit the Queen of all blame in this unfortunate affair. Chatelar was 
 condemned to death for his audacious conduct, and she allowed him to perish on the scaffold. 
 It may be said, and it is no doubt true, that if she had interfered to save his life, the worst con- 
 struction would have been put upon her motives ; but it would have been better to incur such 
 imputations than to allow a punishment to be inflicted so disproportioned to the offence." — 
 9S. 
 
 The remark does Mr Ho.sack honour, and I am truly grieved to 
 have to differ from one of the modern authors whom I most esteem ; 
 but it is important to look into the question without allowing one's self 
 to be affected by the sad end of the poor youth. In my opinion 
 Chastelard's two attempts ought to be considered, not merely as incon- 
 siderate steps, but as really intended against the royal majesty. Senti- 
 ment has nothing to do with the matter. Any wretch,- who, with the 
 view of defaming a queen, should make any attempt on her virtue, is 
 guilty of leze-majesty, and is condemned as such ; the same punishment 
 was due to Chastelard. No doubt it is painful to see any one con- 
 demned to death for having loved too much ; no doubt, Chastelard 
 meant no harm, and did not intend to defame the Queen, but he 
 wittingly and premeditately gave grounds for suspicion of Mary's 
 virtue. The law, in such a case, was bound to consider the crime, 
 and the intention. 
 
 It may perhaps be pleaded that there were extenuating circum- 
 stances in the case, seeing that Mary had emboldened the gentleman, 
 by accepting his verses, and thanking him for them. 
 
 " Marie, says M. yules Gauthier in Ms Life of Queen Mary, faisait r^ponse comme Mar- 
 guerite de Valois r^pondait k Marot. Ce commerce podtique dtait de mode alors : ' Parler d'amour 
 meme aux dames du plus haut rang de si bas qu'on le fit, c'^tait le droit de tout pofete et un reste 
 des moeurs chevalresques.'" — {Nisard.) f. Gauthier, Histoire de Marie Stuart, I., i6o. 
 
 Chastelard could not at that time have had much faith in the 
 Queen's replies, since poetic missives of the same kind were common 
 at the Court of the Valois. 
 
 " Cependant, says Brantome, lui, s'embrase couuertement d'un feu par trop haut sans que 
 I'objet en peuue mais, car qui pent defendre d'aimer ? Brule qui voudra sur des feux couuerts." 
 
 ■ — Brantome, discours sur Marie Stuart. 
 
 The crime being brought home, could Marj'' pardon ? No. Firstly, 
 because she had already been openly insulted by a certain Captain 
 
NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 337 
 
 Heiborne, who offered her some indecent Hnes on an obscene picture, 
 {Chalmers, I., 99), and it would not have done for her to treat those 
 insults as jokes. Secondly, because the ministers who " commented at 
 pleasure" on the adventure, would not have failed to cry out still 
 louder {Sanderson, 30) ; and what proves that clemency would have 
 been a mistake, is that Knox, in spite of Chastelard's death, left in 
 writing that Mary was passionately fond of him. 
 
 "Amongst the minions of the Court, said he, there was one named Monsieur Chatelet, a 
 Frenchman, that at that time passed all others in credit with the Queen. In dancing of the 
 purpose — so term they that dance, in the which man and woman talketh secretly ; wise men 
 would judge such fashions more like the bordell (brothel), than to the comeliness of honest 
 women. In this dance, the Queen chose Chdtelet, and Chatelet took the Queen, for he had the 
 best dress. All this winter Chatelet was so familiar in the Queen's cabinet, early and late, that 
 scarcely could any of the nobility have access unto her. The Queen would lie upon Chatelet's 
 shoulder, and sometimes privily would steal a kiss of his neck ; and all this was honest enough, 
 for it was the gentle entreatment of a stranger." — History of the Reformation, Book IV. 
 
 If Knox has given so much prominence to the story, after Chaste- 
 lard's death, what would he not have said had Mary saved his life ? 
 
 Accordingly it follows : — 'Firstly, that Chastelard deserved death ; 
 secondly, that Mary had neither the right nor the power to pardon him. 
 As for those familiarities " like the bordell," I shall not stop to refute 
 them. The praises lavished on Mary, at that period, by Melville and 
 Randolph, who were familiar with her, and at heart her enemies, utterly 
 destroy those foul charges, which, hatched in the licentious imagination 
 of an impure old man, smack of their origin. With him I leave 
 the shame and the responsibility. 
 
 III. 
 
 ACCOUNT GIVEN BY THE QUEEN OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH PRECEDED AND FOLLOWED 
 
 THE ABDUCTION AT FOULBRIGGS. 
 
 " His (Bothwell's) Deportmentis in this Behalf may serve for ane Exempill, how cunninglie 
 Men can cover yair Designeis, quhen thai half ony greit Jnterpryis in held quhill (until) yai 
 half brocht yair Purpois to pas. We thocht his Continewance in the awayting upoun ws, and 
 Reddines to fulfill all oure Commandmentis, had procedit onelie upoun the acknawlegeing of his 
 Dewtie, being oure borne Subject, without furder hid Respect ; quhilk movit ws to mak him the 
 bettir visage, thinking nathing less yan that the same being bot ane ordinarie Countenance to 
 sic Nobillmen as we fand affectionate to our Service, sould encourage him, or give him Bauldnes 
 to luke for ony extraordinar Favour at oure Handis : Bot he, as weill hes apperit sensyne, 
 making his Proffeit of everie Thing mycht serve his Turne, nocht discovering to oure Self his 
 Intent, or yat he had ony sic Purpois in held, wes content to intertene oure Favour be his gude 
 outwart Behaviour, and all Meanis possibill. And in the mene tyme went about be practising 
 VOL. I. 2 U 
 
338 NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 with ye nobillmen secretlie to make yame his Friendis, and to procure yair Consent to the 
 Furtherance of his Intentis : and swa far procedit be Meanis with yame, befoir yat evir the 
 same come to oure Knawlege, that oure haill Estaittis being heir assembht in Parlament, he 
 obtenit ane writting subscrivit with all yair Handis, quhairin thai nocht onlie grantit thair Con- 
 sentis to oure Mariage with him, bot alswa obleist thameselfis to set him forwart thairto with 
 thair Lyvis and Gudis, and to be Inymeis to all wald disturb or impede the samyn ; quhilk 
 Lettre he purchest, geving thame to undirstand that we wer content thairwith.'' 
 
 "And the samyn being anis obtenit, he began afar of to disco vir his Intentioun to ws, and 
 to assay gif he mycht be humill sute purches oure gude Will : Bot finding oure Answer nathing 
 correspondent to his Desyre, and casting befoir his Eyis all Doubtis that custumabillie Men usis 
 to revolve with thameselfis in semblabill Interprysis, the Outwardnes (untowardness) of oure 
 awin Mynd, the Persuasionis quhilk oure Friendis or his Unfriendis mycht cast out for his 
 Hinderance, the Change of thair Myndis quhais consent he had alreddie obtenit, with mony 
 uther Incidentis quhilk mycht occur to frustrat him of his Expectatioun, he resolved with himself 
 to follow furth his gude Fortoun, and all Respectis laid apart, ayther to tyne all in ane Hour, or 
 to bring to pas that Thing he had takin in hand ; and swa resoluit quiklie to prosecute his 
 Deliberatioun, he sufferit nocht the Mater lang to sleip, bot within four Dayis thaireftir, findeing 
 opportunitie, be ressoun we wer past secretlie towartis StrivelingXa visite the Prince our derrest 
 Sone, in oure returning he awayted ws be the Way, accumpaneit with a greit Force, and led ws 
 with all Dilligence to Dunbar." 
 
 " In quhat Part we tuke that Maner of Dealing, bot speciallie how strange we fand it of 
 him, of quhome we doubtit less than of ony Subject we had, is easie to be imagined." 
 
 " Being thair, we reprochit him, the Honour he had to be sa estemit of ws, the Favour we 
 had alwayis schawin him, his Ingratitude, with all uther Remonstrances quhilk mycht serve to 
 red ws out of his Handis. Albeit we fand his Doingis rude, zit wer his Answer and Wordis bot 
 gentill. That he wald honour and serve ws, and nawayis offend ws ; askit Pardoun of the Bauld- 
 nes he had tane to convoy ws to ane of our awin Housis, quhairunto he was drevin be Force, 
 alsweill as constranit be Lufe, the Vehemencie quhairof had maid him to set apart the Reverence 
 quhilk naturallie as oure Subject he bure to ws, as alswa for Saiftie of his awin Lyff. And thair 
 began to mak ws a Discours of his haill Lyff, how unfortunate he had bene to find men his 
 Unfriendis quhome he had nevir offendit ; how thair Malice nevir ceasit to assault him at all 
 Occasiounis, albeit, onjustlie ; quhat Calumpnyis had thai spred upoun him twiching the odious 
 Violence perpetrated in the Persoun of the King oure lait Husband ; how unabill he was to safe 
 himself from Conspiraceis of his Innemies, quhome he mycht not knaw, be ressoun everie Man 
 professed himself outwartlie to be his Friend ; and zit he had sic Malice, that he could not find 
 himself in Suirtie, without he wer assurit of oure Favour to indure without Alteratioun ; and 
 uther Assurance thairof could he not lippin in, without it wald pleis ws to do him that Honour 
 to tak him to Husband ; protesting a,lwayis that he wald seik na uther Soveraintie bot as of 
 befoir, to serve and obey ws all the Dayis of oure Lyff, joyning thairunto all the honest Language 
 that could be usit in sic a cais." 
 
 " And quhen he saw ws lyke to reject all his Sute and Offeris, in the End he schowed ws 
 how far he was procedit with oure haill Nobilitie and Principallis of oure Estaittis, and quhat 
 thai had promeist hirri undir thair Handwrittis. Gif we had caus yan to be astoneist, we remit 
 ws to the Jugement of the King, the Quene, oure Uncle, and utheris oure Friendis. Seing oure 
 self in his Puissance, sequestrat frome the Cumpany of all oure Servandis and utheris quhome of 
 we mycht ask Counsale ; zea, seing thame upoun quhais Counsale and Fidelitie we had befoir 
 dependit, quhais Force 4ucht and mon manteine oure Authoritie, without quhome in a maner we 
 ar nathing ; (For quhat is a Prince without a Peopill .?) befoirhand alreddie zealded to his 
 apetyte, and swa we left allane as it wer a Pray to him : Mony Thingis we revolved with oure 
 self, bot nevir could find ane Outgait. And zit gaif he ws lytill Space to meditate with oure self, 
 evir pressing ws with continewall and importune Sute." 
 
 " In the End, quhen we saw na Esperance to be red of him, nevir Man in Scotland anis 
 makand ane Mynt to procure our Deliverance, for that it mycht appeir to be thair Hand writtis 
 and Silence at that Tyme, that he had won thame all, we wer compellit to mitigat our Dis- 
 
NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 339 
 
 pleasour, and began ta think upoun that he propoundit ; and yan wer content to lay befoir oure 
 Eyis the Service he had done in Tymes past, the offer of his Continewance heireftir ; how un- 
 willing oure Peopill ar to ressave a Strangear unacquainted with thair Lawis and Custumis, that 
 thai would not sufifir ws lang to remane unmareit, that this Realme being devidit in Factionis as 
 it is, cannot be contenit in Ordour, onles oure Autoritie be assistit and furthset be the Fortifica- 
 tioun of a Man quha n[ion tak Pane upoun his Persoun in the Executioun of Justice, and sup- 
 pressing of thair Insolence that wald rebell, the Travail quhairof we may na langer sustene in 
 oure awin Persoun, being alreddie weryit, and almaist brokin with the frequent Uprores and 
 Rebellion! s rasit against ws sen we come in Scotland; how we have bene compellit to mak four 
 or fyve Lieutenentis attanis in divers Partis of the Realme, of quhome the maist Part, abusing 
 oure Autoritie, hes, under cuUour of oure Commissioun, raisit oure Subjectis within thair Charge 
 aganis oure self : And seing Force wald compell ws in the End, for Preservatioun of oure awin 
 Estait, to inclyne to sum Mariage, and that the Humour of our Peopill wald nocht weill degest 
 a foreyn Husband, and that of oure avrin Subjectis thair wes nane, eyther for the Reputatioun of 
 his Hous, or for the Worthines of himself, alsweill in Wisdome, Valzeantnes, as in all uther 
 gude Qualities, to be preferrit, or zit comparit to him quhome we have takin ; we wer content to 
 accomode oure self with the Consent of oure haill Estaittis, quha, as is befoir said, had alreddie 
 dedarit thair Contentationis." 
 
 " Eftir he had be thir Meanis, and mony utheris, brocht ws agaitward to his Intent, he partlie 
 extorted, and partlie obtenit our Promeis to tak him to oure Husband : And zit not content thair- 
 with, fearing evir sum Alterationis, he wald nocht be satisfeit with all the just Ressounis we could 
 allege to have the consummatioun of the Mariage delayit, as had been maist ressounabill, quhill we 
 mycht communicat the same to the King, the Quene, oure Uncle, and utheris oure Friendis ; bot as 
 be a Bravade in the Begynning he had win the fyrst Point, sa ceased he nevir till be Persuasionis 
 and importune Sute, accumpaneit nottheles with Force, he hes finalie drevin ws to end the Work 
 begun at sic Tyme and in sic Forme as he thocht mycht best serve his Turne, quhairin we cannot 
 dissembill that he hes usit ws utherwayis than we wald have wyssit, or zit have deservit at his 
 Hand, having mair Respect to content thame by quhais Consent grantit to him befoir hand he 
 thinkis he hes obtenit his Purpois, althoch thairin he had bayth frustrate ws and thame, than 
 regarding oure Contentatioun, or zit weying quhat wes convenient for ws, that hes bene norissed 
 in oure awin Religioun, and nevir intendis to leif the samyne for him or ony Man upoun 
 Earth." — The History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland, Bishop Keith, 389, 390, 
 391- 
 
 IV. 
 
 ACCOUNT BY DU CROC OF HIS NEGOTIATIONS ON THE MORNING OF THE IStH OF JUNE 1567. 
 
 " La Royne et le due estant advertis, deslogferent k mesme heure pour veftir au-devant 
 d'eux, et trouvant une place k propos ils s'arfestferent. Les seigneurs les ayans descouvert, 
 estant k demye-lieue prSs, aussi de leur cost^ s'arrestSrent ayant un petit ruiSseau k passer. 
 
 "Je me trouvois en toutes les peines du monde; si ne voulliije pas demourer iriutille en ma 
 charge : je me pansay que de partir avec les seigneurs ce seroit donner k pansel' que je me 
 declarerois de leur costd Je les laissay aller pour trois heures, et aprfes je les rencontray sur le 
 bord du ruisseau n'ayant que dix chevaulx avec moy. lis feirent semblant d'estre fort aise de 
 me voir. Je leur feis entendre la peine en quoi je pouvois estre pour le desplaisir que Votre 
 Majeste recevroyt quant elle entendroyt ceste pauvre journfee. Je les priois en I'honneur de 
 Dieu qu'ils regardassent si, en votre nom, je pourroys faire quelque service k la Royne et k eulx 
 aussi. Je leur remonstray, quant qu'il y eust, ils avoient affaire k leur souveraine, et peult-estre, 
 quant Dieu les auroyt tant favorise que de gagner la bataille, ils seroient en plus grande peine 
 qu'ils ne sont. lis me disrent qu'ils ne savent que deux poincts pour ^viter I'effusion du sang: 
 le premier, si la Royne se voulloyt tirer k part de ce malheureux qui la tenoit, ils I'iroient recong- 
 
340 NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 noistre, la servir k genoulx et luy demeurroient trhs humbles et trhs obeissants subjects et 
 serviteurs ; I'autre, si je voullois tant faire pour eulx de luy porter que, si il (Bothwell) vouUoit 
 se mettre entre les deux armdes, il s'en trouveroit ung qui sortiroient de leur costd et luy soub- 
 stiendroient qu'il est vray meurtrier du feu Roy ; s'il voulloyt un second, jusqu'k quatre, dix et 
 douze, il s'en trouveroyt. Je leur respondis que de ces deux poincts je ne parleroys de Fung ni 
 de I'autre, que je penserois faire grand desplaisir k la Royne; les priant me donner quelque 
 autre expddiant. lis me dirent qu'ils n'en savoyent point d'autre et qu'ils aymeroyent mieulx 
 s'ensevelir tous une fois que la conduite de la mort du Roy ne feust sceu, estimant que s'ils n'en 
 faisoient leur debvoir que Dieu les en punyroit. Je les priai me permettre que j'allasse trouver 
 la Royne, que je I'avois tousjours cognue princesse de si grande bont^ que peult-estre je trouverois 
 quelque moyen avec elle. lis feirent semblant de ne le trouver pas bon; de quoy je me plaignis 
 grandment, et que ce seroit donner k entendre que je me rendrois de leur coste, et protestay 
 devant Dieu et eulx que, si je ne faisois rien avec Sa Majesty, je me rendrois pr^s d'eulx et me 
 retirerois. Aprfes avoir parle ensemble. Monsieur de Ledington porta la parolle et me dit : que 
 me tenant pour ambasadeur d'ung si grand prince que est Vostre Majeste, k laquelle ils veuUent 
 demourer trhs humbles et affection^s serviteurs, d^sirant surtout de conserver I'alliance de ce 
 royaume avec le votre, que j'avois toute puissance de sortir et rentrer en leur armde, aller vers 
 la Royne et oil bon me sembleroyt, et que pour cest effect ils me feroyent conduire seurement, 
 Je les remerciay bien fort de la bonne voUuntd qu'ils portoient k Votre Majestd, les priant d'y 
 continuer ; je leur demanday done d'aller trouver la Royne. lis me baill&rent cinquante chevaulx, 
 que je menay jusque k leurs coureurs, qui avoient desjk passd le ruisseau, oii il pouvoit avoir 
 deux cens chevaux, et huict cens qui les soubstenoient. 
 
 " Ainsy que j'approchois I'arm^e de la Royne, il me vint au-devant le cappitaine Cladre, 
 avec XXV. ou XXX. chevaulx qui me men&rent k Sa Majestd ; et, aprfes I'avoir sallude, et baisd 
 les mains, je lui feis entendre la peine en quoy la v6tre seroit, et aussi la Royne sa belle-m^re, si 
 elle savoyt I'estat en quoy je la voyois; luy remonstrant que j'avois parlez aux seigneurs de 
 I'assemblde et leur avois diet ce qui est cydessus escrit, je la suppliay, I'ayant tousjours congnue 
 princesse de si grande bontd, qu'elle pensast et consid^rast que c'estoyt ses subjects, qu'ils se 
 disoient tels, et trfes humbles et affection^s serviteurs. Sa Majesty me respondit qu'ils le luy 
 monstroient trfes mkl, allant contre ce qu'ils avoient signds, et que eux-mesmes I'avoyent marine 
 k'celluy qu'ils avoyent justifiez du faict dont aujourd'hui ils le voulloint accuser ; que toutfois, 
 s'ils se vouUoient recognoistre et luy demander pardon, elle estoyt preste de leur ouvrir les bras 
 et de les embrasser. Sur ces propos le due arriva, qui estoyt fort attentif k la'conduite de son 
 arm^e ; nous nous salluasmes, mais je ne me pr^sentay point pour I'embrasser. II me demanda 
 tout hault, affin que son armde I'entendist, d'une parolle fort assur^e, si c'estoyt k luy qu'ils en 
 voulloyent. Je lui respondis, puisqu'il le vouUoit sgavoir, tout hault, que je venois de parler k 
 eux et qu'ils m' avoyent assures d'estre trhs humbles subjects et serviteurs de la Royne ; et tout bas 
 luy dist qu'ils estoient ses ennemys mortels. II demanda, parlant tout hault affin que chacun 
 cogneust les asseurances qu'il leur avoyt faite, qu'il n'avoyt jamais pensd de faire deplaisir a ung 
 seul, mais au contraire plaisir k tous, et qu'ils n'en pouvoient parler que par envye de sa gran- 
 deur ; que la fortune estoit libre k qui la pouvoit recevoir, et qu'il n'y en avoyt ung seul d'eux qui 
 n'eust bien vouUu tenir sa place; mais puisque ainsi estoit, il me pria, et de fort grande affection, 
 de faire tant pour luy et en I'honneur de Dieu, pour mettre la Royne hors de la peine oil il la 
 voyoit, de laquelle il disoit porter une peine extreme, et aussi pour ^viter I'effusion du sang, que 
 je prins la peine de dire aux autres que, s'il y en avoyt aulcun d'eulx qui voullut sortir hors de la 
 troupe et se mettre entre les deux armies, encore qu'il eust ceste honneur que d'avoir espousd la 
 Royne, pourveu qu'il fust homme de quallitd, il le combattroyt, affirmant sa cause si juste qu'il 
 s'asseuroyt avoir Dieu pour luy. Je ne le vouUu accepter de luy, non plus que des autres, aussi 
 que la Royne dist qu'elle ne I'endurera pas, et qu'elle espousoit ceste querelle avecque lui ; et 
 enfin mon propos estoyt tousjours que je m'estimerois bien heureux si, au nom de Vostre Majesty 
 je pouvois faire service k la Royne et aux deux armdes. II me dist qu'il ne falloyt done plus 
 parler, pour ce qu'il voyoit ses ennemys qui s'approchoient et avoient desjk passd le ruisseau, 
 que si je voullois ressembler k celluy qui moyennoit une paix et amyitid entre les deux armies 
 de Scipion et d'Annibal, ayant leurs deux armdes prest k se joindre comme des deux icy, ne 
 
NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 341 
 
 pouvant rien faire, il ne se vouUust rendre partial d'ung coste ni d'autre, il print une place pour 
 juger, et au partir il eust autre veue, le plus grand passe-temps qu'il vist jamais ; et que si je 
 vouUois faire le semblable, je n'auroiz jamais tant de plaisir, mais que au contraire je n'aurois 
 jamais veu chose qui m'enuyast tant que ce que je voyois. II fault que je dise que je vis ung 
 grand cappitaine parler de grande asseurance et qui conduisoit son armde gaillardement et sage- 
 ment. Je m'y amusai assez long temps et jugeois qu'il auroyt du meilleur, si ses gens lay estoyent 
 fidelles. Je le louois de ce qu'il voyoit ces enemys rdsoUu et ne se pouvoyt asseurer de la moytie 
 des siens', et toutefois il ne s'estonna point. Son armee estoyt de quatre mil hommes ; il avoyt 
 trois pieces de campagne, les ennemys n'en avoyent point et ne pouvoient estre plus de trois mil 
 cinq cens hommes au plus ; les deux armdes faisoient nombre de huit mil hommes. II n'avoyt 
 ung seul seigneur de nom ; sy aussi I'estimois beaucoup qu'il commandoit tout seul, et je faisois 
 double des autres pour (ce) qu'ils estoyent plusieurs testes, et y avoit une grande cryerie parmi 
 eulx. Je pris congd de la Royne avec extreme regret, la laissant la larme k I'oeil, et allay trouver 
 les autres pour veoir si je pouvois rien faire ; et leur remonstray que j'avois trouvez la Royne 
 pleine de bontd, qu'elle m'avoyt dist que, s'ils se vouUoient recognoistre, que Sa Majesty leur 
 ouvriroyt les bras. lis me dirent r^solument qu'ils ne parleroyent jamais d'appointement s'ils 
 n'avoyent celluy qu'ils demandoient, et prirent pour raison que ce parlement leur porteroit 
 dommage, pourquoy misrent tous leur morion en la main et me priferent en I'honneur de Dieu 
 de me retirer en me remerciant de ce que j'en avois faict : et je me retiray." — Recueil des Lettres 
 de Marie Stuart, Pri7ice Labanoff, VII., 11 5- 120. 
 
 V. 
 
 CONSPIRACY OF THE NOBLES AGAINST MARY. 
 
 I HERE give the various phases of the Conspiracy in favour of Moray, 
 and also the names of the titled conspirators, so that the reader may 
 the more easily understand the parts played by the leaders of the 
 nobility. 
 
 Proposed a Divorce at Craigmillar — Conventicle at Dunkeld — 
 
 Lethington. 
 Moray. 
 
 Argyll. 
 Bothwell. 
 
 Conventicle at Whittingham- 
 
 Lethington. 
 Bothwell. 
 
 Morton. 
 Archibald Douglas. 
 
 Compromised in the Murder- 
 
 Bothwell. Huntly. 
 
 Lethington. Lindsay. 
 
 Archibald Douglas. Caithness. 
 
 Argyll. Ruthven. 
 
 Morton. Balfour, etc. 
 
 Moray. 
 
 Morton. 
 
 Lindsay. 
 
 Caithness. 
 Athole. 
 
 Subscribers of theBondof Ainslie- 
 
 Moray.i 
 
 Morton. 
 
 Argyll. 
 
 Huntly. 
 
 Cassillis. 
 
 Sutherland. 
 
 Rothes. 
 
 Glencaim. 
 
 Sinclair. 
 
 Caithness. 
 Boyd. 
 Seton. 
 Oliphant. 
 Semple. 
 Ross. 
 Herries. 
 Hume, 
 etc. 
 
 I " Read," says the learned M. Wiesener, " Read, the 
 worthy acolyte of Buchanan, did not take the trouble to verify 
 the names, for he erroneously places at the head of the list 
 Moray, who, since the gth April, had left for France. That 
 
 error is characteristic ; if it proceeded from the pen of a giddy- 
 head, it is because that giddy-head knew perfectly well that 
 the agent of all the machine was the Earl of Moray." — 
 323, note 2. 
 
342 
 
 NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 Acquitted Bothwell — 
 
 Morton. J. Hamilton of Ar- 
 
 Argyll. 
 
 R. Pitcairn. 
 
 Lindsay. 
 
 J. M'Gill. 
 
 H. Balnaves. 
 
 Rothes. 
 
 Caithness. 
 
 Cassillis. 
 
 Ross. [broath. 
 
 Semple. 
 
 Herries. 
 
 Oliphant. 
 
 Forbes. 
 
 J. Gordon of Loch-" 
 
 L. Boyd. [invar. 
 
 Ogilvie, etc. 
 
 Fought at Carberry Hill against 
 Mary— 
 
 Athole. Hume. 
 
 Glencairn. Lindsay. 
 
 Semple. 
 
 Morton. 
 
 Mar. 
 
 Kirkaldy. 
 
 Ruthven. 
 Sinclair, etc. 
 
 Accused Mary at Westminster- 
 
 Moray. 
 
 Morton, 
 
 the murderer of Damley, 
 and Bothwell's advocate. 
 
 Bishop of Orkney, 
 
 who had performed the mar- 
 riage. 
 
 Ijindsay, 
 
 Darnley's murderer, and a 
 conspirator at Dunkeld. 
 
 R. Pitcairn. 
 
 M'Gill, and 
 Balnaves, 
 
 who, leagued with Lindsay, 
 had acquitted Bothwell. 
 
 Lethington, 
 who had proposed the divorce 
 and prepared the murder. 
 
 Buchanan, 
 the pamphleteer. 
 
 Were in the pay of England- 
 Morton. Ruthven. 
 Angus. Lindsay. 
 Athole. Boyd. 
 Argyll. Herries. 
 Montrose. M'Gill. 
 Rothes. Buchanan. 
 Glencairn. etc. 
 
 Appeared later 
 party — 
 
 Lethington. 
 
 Argyll. 
 
 Huntly. 
 
 Herries. 
 
 Cassillis. 
 
 Athole. 
 
 in Mary Stuart's 
 
 Kirkaldy. 
 
 J. Balfour. 
 
 Rothes. 
 
 Ogilvie. 
 
 Sinclair. 
 
 Seton. 
 
 Hume. 
 
 Died on the scafifold, convicted of 
 having taken part in the King's 
 murder — 
 
 Morton, 
 
 the author of all the conspiracies. 
 
 VI. 
 
 INTEREST TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH CABINET IN THE DEFAMATION OF MARY STUART IN 
 
 THE " DETECTION." 
 
 On the 20th of October 1568, Knollys wrote to Cecil : — 
 
 " All thyngs consydered, I see not howe hyr Majestie can vfith honor and safetie detaine 
 this Queene, unles she shall be utterlye disgraced to the worlde, and that contrarie partie be 
 thorolye mayntayned." — Knollys to Cecil, 20th October 1 568, Goodall. 
 
 In October 15 71 Cecil sends to France, 
 
 " divers of Buchanan's little latin books to present, if need be, to the King, and likewise 
 to some of the other noblemen of his Council ; for they will serve to good effect to disgrace her ; 
 which must be done, before other purposes can be attained." — Cecil to Walsingham, \st 
 November 1571, Digges. 
 
 The work was badly received in Paris, and the King ordered his 
 ambassador to complain to Elizabeth — ■ 
 
 " En ce qu'elle a dernierement permis estre imprimd ce livre duquel I'intitulation seulle est 
 si honteuse et tant au deshonneur de ma dicte belle-soeur que, gardant le respect et honnestetd 
 
NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 343 
 
 qui doibt estre entre tous princes et princesses, elle ne pouvoit jamais souffrir avec raison le 
 diet livre estre mis en lumifere quelque inimitie qu'elle luy porte." — Charles IX. to la Mothe 
 Fenelon, Correspondance diplomatique. 
 
 The ambassador complained, but instead of getting the work sup- 
 pressed, he saw, to his sorrow, a new edition largely distributed. 
 
 " They have set out in Ingland," wrote Alexander Hay to John Knox, "our Queue's lyfe and 
 process, baith in Latin and Inglish, quhairin is contenit the discourse of hir tragical doingis, the 
 process of the Erie Bothwell's clenging, hir sonnettis and letteris to him, the depositiounis of the 
 persounis execute, and cartellis efter the King's murthour. In appeirance thay leive nathing 
 unset out tending to hir infamie." — Alexander Hay to John Knox, i^tk December 1571, 
 Goodall. 
 
 Again entreated, Elizabeth merely replied that it was impossible to 
 forbid such a work. 
 
 " Dize que en Inglaterra se ha imprimido un libello diffamatorio contra la de Escocia ; y que 
 haviendo la Reyna madre, k instancia deste embaxador, escripto i. la de Inglaterra que los 
 defendiesse y hiziesse recoger los que se havian vendido, he ha respondido rasamente que no 
 queria : y que cada dia inventan cosas nuevas contra la dicha de Escocia para justificarse con 
 su pueblo la de Inglaterra del aprieto en que la tiene, y escusarse con estos de la palabra y 
 promessa que les tiene dada de ponerla en libertad." — Aguilon to Philip II., 29/^4 December 
 1 57 1, Teulet. 
 
 Buchanan was rewarded for his masterpieces with an annuity of 
 ;^ioo from the English Treasury, and Bailly was put into prison for 
 having brought into England the refutation of those calumnies. 
 
 VII. 
 
 DEATH OF LETHINGTON. 
 
 Melville, Craufurd, Calderwood, and Spottiswoode think that 
 Lethington, foreseeing an ignominious death, avoided it by poisoning 
 himself, and the most of the cotemporary authors are of that opinion ; 
 almost all suspect poison. The question is whether Lethington took 
 it himself or had it given him by Morton, lest that accomplice should, 
 on his way to the gallows, reveal important secrets. 
 
 Here we can only conjecture, as we have no direct proofs. Mary 
 Stuart, however, in a letter to Elizabeth, accused the lords of having 
 poisoned Lethington {Blackwood, 642) ; and his widow wrote to Cecil, 
 asking that the body should be respected, so strongly persuaded was 
 she that his death was an execution {Chalmers, III., 615). Killi- 
 grew, in his letter of the 1 2th of June, speaks of poison, but does not 
 tell us whether it was Morton, or some other one, who administered it. 
 
 If the documents do not fully prove that Lethington was poisoned 
 
344 NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 by another, the conduct of the nobles leaves scarcely any doubt on 
 the subject. The body was buried hurriedly. 
 
 " I have been pressed," wrote Drury to Cecil, " by the Earl of Athole and others, that the 
 body of Lidington might be buried, and not remain above the earth, as it does." — Drurfs 
 Letter to Burghley, iSt/t June isy3, Chalmers. 
 
 The funeral rites were performed so hastily that the people 
 were frightened, and believed in a contagious disease. 
 
 " Upoun the nynt day of Junij, Schir Williame Maitland youngar of Leithingtoun, sumtyme 
 secretar, depairtit at the plessour of God in Leith, and incontinent, without any moir, wes laid in 
 laid in the bedhous of Leith ; bot within few dayes na man durst com neir for ev'ill fair." — 
 Diurnal of Occurrents, 334. 
 
 The mystery which shrouded that death, the haste with which 
 the body was got rid of, the widow's letter, and Mary Stuart's accusa- 
 tion, are certainly not without some value. My conviction is that 
 Lethington was poisoned by Morton's orders, and that he and Mar 
 and Athole were victims. I do not, however, mean to impose my 
 opinion on the reader ; he may assert the contrary, though with fewer 
 proofs and still less likelihood. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE WILL OF BOTHWELL. 
 
 The obstinacy with which several historians persist in throwing 
 aside the Will of Bothwell, or at least in underrating its importance, 
 obliges me to lay before the reader the various proofs upon which I 
 rest to maintain its authenticity. 
 
 I shall in the first place grant, to my adversaries, that the original 
 text is lost, and that it has been impossible for me to discover in 
 France or in England anything which can take its place in an absolute 
 manner ; but in the absence of the original, or of a certified copy, we 
 have two extracts which so perfectly agree as to the names of the 
 witnesses and the Queen's innocence, that it is impossible to help 
 seeing in them the summary of the same document. They, again, are 
 so different in the details, that it is impossible to admit that they spring 
 from the same source. Whence, I conclude, a priori, that there has 
 existed an authentic will of Bothwell which has served for the two 
 extracts, or that two forgers, without having any understanding 
 together, have imagined one, each on his own side, and that they have 
 agreed on the essential points, which would be most wonderful. 
 
 Here are, in juxtaposition, the two summaries such as they are 
 
NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 345 
 
 published by the archivist Teulet. The first has been printed by 
 Bishop Keith from a copy of the sixteenth century ; the second is pub- 
 lished from the two versions in the British Museum : — 
 
 ANALYSIS REPKODUCED BY BISHOP KEITH. 
 
 " Le Comte de Bothuel, malade k I'extr^mitd, 
 au chclteau de Malmay, a vdrifid ce qui suit : 
 
 " L'dvesque de Scone, avec quatre grands 
 seigneurs, k sgavoir : les seigneurs Berin 
 Gowes, du chiteau de Malmay ; Otto Braw, 
 du chateau d'Ottenbrocht ; Paris Braw, du 
 chateau de Vescut, et Mr Gullunstarne, du 
 chateau de Fulcenstrie, avec les quatre baillifs 
 de la ville priferent ledict Comte de declarer 
 librement ce qu'il sgavoit de la mort du feu 
 roy Henry (Darnley) et des autheurs d'icelle, 
 comme il vouloit rdpondre devant Dieu au 
 jour du jugement, Ik oil toutes choses, tant 
 cach^es soient-elles, seront manifestoes. 
 
 " Alors le comte remonstrant, pour sa grande 
 foiblesse qui le ddtenoit, qu'il ne pouvoit dis- 
 courir tout ce qu'il en sgavoit par lui-meme, 
 affirma la Reine innocente de la dicte mort ; 
 lui seul, ses parents et quelque noblesse, 
 autheurs d'icelle. 
 
 " Estant derechef prid des diets seigneurs de 
 declarer quelques-uns, nomma my lord Jacques, 
 comte de Murray ; my lord Robert, abbO de 
 Sainte- Croix (maintenant comte des isles Or- 
 cades), tons deux frferes bastards de la Reine ; 
 les comtes Argueil, Crawford, Glencarn, Mor- 
 ton, my lord Boyd, les barons de Ledington, 
 Buccleugh et Grange. 
 
 " Poursuit aprfes, comme par enchantement 
 auquel, d^s sa jeunesse, h. Paris et ailleurs, il 
 s'estoit beaucoup addend, il avoit tird la Royne 
 k I'aymer, soy ddpestrant de sa femme. 
 
 " Le mariage corisommO, cherchoit tout 
 moyen k faire mourir le petit prince, et toute 
 la noblesse qui n'y vouloit entendre. 
 
 "Aprfes comme (il) avoit ddbauche deux 
 filles d'un grand seigneur de Danemarque, les 
 menant en Escosse, et deux autres d'un grand 
 seigneur de la ville de Lubecque, souls ombre 
 de mariage avec leurs filles, et tant d'autres 
 filles nobles, tant en France que Danemarque, 
 Angleterre et Escosse ; demandant pardon k 
 Dieu, recepvant son corps, estant attenud 
 mourut. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 COPY IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 
 
 " The confession of my lord Bothwell before 
 y dyed, in presence of dyvers lords of Den- 
 marke, being maire lang in latin and danisk. 
 
 The lords present weare these : baron Gowes 
 of Malmye castle. Otto Brawe of Elsinbronche 
 castell, Monsieur Gullionestarne of Fowltostie 
 castell, the Bishop of Skone and four Baylies 
 of the towne ; who desired him that he would 
 declare his conscience and say nothinge by 
 the truth, concernand the Kinge and Queene 
 of Scotland with the child. 
 
 " In primis, he did take it upon his death, 
 that the Queene never knew nor consented to 
 the death of the Kinge, but he and his friends 
 by his appointment, dyvers lords consenting 
 and subscriving thereunto ; whilk yet was not 
 there present at the deed dooinge. 
 
 " There names be : lord James earl of 
 Murray, lord Morton, lord Robert, the bishop 
 of Saint-Andrews, with dyvers others whome 
 he sayd he could not remember at that present. 
 
 " Lykewise he sayd that all the friendship 
 which he had of the Queene, he gatt alwayes 
 by witchcraft, and the inventions belanginge 
 thereunto, specially by use of sweete water, and 
 that he found means to put away his owen wife, 
 to obteyne the Queen. 
 
 " Lykewise he confessed that he had so 
 deceived dyvers gentilwomen in France and 
 in England, with many other wyld facts, and 
 deeds, whilk he sayd weare lange to rehearse ; 
 asking God forgeveness thereof. Farther 
 more, he confessed that he tooke tway lordes 
 daughters out of Denmarke into Scotland, and 
 made them beleve he would marry them, and 
 dyd deflouer theym of theyr virginities, and 
 likewise many gentilwomen of Scotland. 
 
 " Item, he did confess that he had deceived 
 
 2 X 
 
346 NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 tway of the burgmaster's daughters of Lubeck, 
 with many lyke, whilk he sayd were lang to 
 rehearse ; and forgave all the world, and was 
 sorrowfull for his offences ; and did receive 
 the sacrament, that all the thinges he speake 
 weare trew. And so he dyed." 
 "Tout cecy, plus h. plein, a est6 escrit en 
 latin et danois, signd du seel du Roy de Dane- 
 marque et des assistants susnommez, et vien- 
 dra quelque jour en lumifere pour avdrer 
 I'innocence de la Reine d'Ecosse. 
 
 " L'adjointe copie ayant est^ donn^e par un 
 marchand digne de foy, assistant alors k la 
 dernih'e attestation du diet comte." 
 
 Against the authenticity of the will, Teulet alleges two reasons. 
 The first is : that the French version proceeds from a tradesman, and 
 that " it is impossible to believe that a common tradesman was allowed 
 to be present at the last moments and last confessions of a State 
 prisoner so important as was Bothwell ; " the second is : " what Both- 
 well is made to say regarding the supernatural means which he had 
 made use of to seduce the Queen." 
 
 To the first reason, I answer that there is no proof that the trades- 
 man was, as the eminent archivist calls him, a "simple marcAand." He, 
 like so many others of his colleagues since the formation of the Hanse- 
 atic league and the extension of maritime commerce, may have been 
 extremely rich, and, on that account, have discharged the duties of 
 bailie at Malmoe. The last words of the extract, "I'adjomle copie 
 ayant estS donnde par tm marchand digne de foy, assistant alors a la 
 deriiiere attestation du diet Comte" even lead one to understand it so, 
 seeing that no one, except the lords named and the four bailies, was 
 present at Bothwell's last moments, and that it would have been impos- 
 sible to make such a mistake within a space of a few lines. That fact 
 is most apparent. Besides, that objection can apply only to the French 
 copy, for the two English extracts are free from it. 
 
 I confess the spells and witchcraft are inadmissible, though public 
 opinion admitted them in the sixteenth century. Bothwell may have 
 tried superstitious practices, and he was accused of witchcraft by the 
 Scottish lords, by their ambassador in Denmark, and even by the 
 French ambassador. It is impossible then to make that objection, 
 without criticizing all those who have spoken of Bothwell, and the 
 whole sixteenth century. 
 
 To enable the reader to form an opinion on that subject, I am about 
 to lay before him all that Mary's correspondence and the documents 
 
NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 347 
 
 of the time relate regarding that will. I have already quoted several 
 passages in my text. The reader will then kindly pardon me if I 
 reproduce them here, on account of the great importance attaching to 
 that declaration. 
 
 " On m'a donnd advis,'' wrote the Queen of Scots to her ambassador on the 1st of June 1576, 
 " de la mort du Comte de Bothwel, et que, avant son d&ez, il fist une ample confession de 
 ses fautes, et se d^clara autheur et coupable de I'assassinat du feu Roy mon mary, dont il me 
 descharges bien expressdment, jurant sur la damnation de son 4me pour mon innocence ; et 
 d'autant que, s'il estoit ainsi, ce tesmoignage m'importeroit de beaucoup contre las faulses calom- 
 nies de mes ennemys, je vous prie d'en rechercher la v&it^ par quelque moyen que ce soit. 
 Ceulx qui assistferent k la dicte declaration, depuis par eulx signee et sellde, en forme de testa- 
 ment, sont Otto Braw du chasteau d'Elcembro, Paris Brau du chasteau de Vascut, Mons. 
 Gallunstarne du chasteau de Fulkenster, I'dvesque de Skonen, et quatre baillifz de la ville. Si 
 de Monceaulx, qui a aultrefoys n^gotie en ce pays 1^, y vouldroit faire un voyage pour s'en 
 enqudrir plus particuliferement, et en rapporter les attestations, je serois bien aise de I'y em- 
 ployer, et luy faire donner de I'argent pour son voyage." — Keith and Prince Labanoff. 
 
 I must here notice a point, till now neglected by the apologists of 
 Queen Mary, which is, in my opinion, of immense importance. Mary 
 Stuart's letter, written in cipher, was classed in Vol. IX. of the Memoirs 
 of the Scottish College in Paris. The extract made by the historian 
 Keith referred to p. 143 ; now, the abridgment of Bothwell's will was 
 at p. 145. It was then annexed immediately to Mary's letter, as an 
 answer to that same letter, and as a valid document. It suffices to 
 peruse Bishop Keith's History, and compare his extracts with the 
 originals, to be convinced that the Scottish Memoirs were a collection 
 as regular as the best kept collection of Archives. No faulty document 
 or error of transcription is to be found. 
 
 On the 30th of July, the Archbishop of Glasgow answers her : — 
 
 " II y a desjk longtemps que nous avons entendu les nouvelles de la mort du Cointe de 
 Bothuel ; et d^s ce temps, la Reine-M&re a escrit (ainsi que M. de Lansac m'assure) k I'Ambas- 
 sadeur du Roy en Danemarq, pour envoyer le testament en forme : ce qu'il n'a encore fait. Je 
 trouverois bon d'y envoyer de Monceaux qui entreprendroit volontiers le voyage ; mais vous 
 voyez le peu de puissance que j'ay de luy delivrer de I'argent." — Keith. 
 
 Mary writes to him anew on the 6th of January 1577 : — 
 
 " J'ay eu avis que le Roy de Danemarcque a envoyd h, cette Reine (Elisabeth) le testament 
 du feu Comte de Bothuel, et qu'elle I'a supprim^ secrfetement, le plus qu'il luy a ^td possible. 11 
 me semble que le voiage de Monceaux n'est ndcessaire pour ce regard, puisque la Reine-Mfere 
 y a envoyd, comme vous me mandez." — Keith and Prince Labanoff. 
 
 Two days previously, the Archbishop of Glasgow wrote to Mary : — 
 
 " Gartely (Barclay) dfes son arrivde en Escosse fut fait prisonier, parce qu'il divulgua ce qu'il 
 avoit entendu k Londres, du testament du feu Comte de Bothuel ; et, k ce que Ton dit, a est^ 
 contraint d'envoyer un homme en Danemarcq pour la vfrification d'iceluy. Monceaux n'a 
 voulu entreprendre le voiage sans avoir argent contant. Les 500 livres qu'il a receu par votre 
 liberalitd, avoient estd ddpendus, k ce qu'il dit, avant qu'ils dtoient receus. 
 
348 NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 " Sur ce propos, je ne veux oublier k vous dire ce qui m'a est6 rapportd par un gentilhomme, 
 qui m'a dit I'avoir entendu du ControUeur TuUibairn, qui estoit dans la chambre de Monseigneur 
 le Prince Qacques VI.) votre fils, k Sterlyng ; ayant le dit Tullibairne entre ses mains la copie 
 du dit testament, en le lisant k un autre gentilhomme, mon dit Seigneur vint k I'improviste les 
 acoster de la table ou il escrivoit, et a force voulu voir ce que le dit Tullibairn tenoit entre ses 
 mains, encore qu'il luy refusa deux ou trois fois. Et I'ayant leu de mot k mot, sans leur dire 
 aucune paroles, le leur remit entre les mains. Et aprfes avoir achev^ ce qu'il avoit k escrire, il 
 se mit plus guay que de coutume, a entretenir les gentilhommes qui estoient a I'entour de luy ; 
 ce qu'il continua toute cette apr^s din^e, k son souper et aprfes souper: ce qui rendit toute 
 I'assistance curieux de sgavoir I'occasion. Ensorte que ledict Tullibairn luy demanda aprfes 
 souper, en luy disant, qu'il I'avoit tousjours aimd et honord, mais k cette heure-lk, plus que 
 jaimais, le voyant si gaillard et dispose, avec un si bon visage, entretenir les Seigneurs qui le 
 visitoient. II luy respondit, Tullibairne, n'ay-je pas juste occasion, m'ayant ^t^ imprimd si sou- 
 vent et de si long temps, les accusations et les calomnies de la Majesty de la Reine ma mfere, de 
 ce que aujourd'huy j'ay vil une si ouverte approbation de son innocence?" — Keith. 
 
 The will was then acquiring a certain publicity. 
 Blackwood, in his " Martyre de Marie Stuart" published eleven 
 years after, says : — 
 
 " Bothwell d&dda, ayant auparauant confess^ sa faute, et demand^ pardon k Dieu auec vn 
 tres-aspre remors de coscience, en despitant et blasmant grandement sa perfidie, et les autheurs 
 d'icelle, lesquels il ddclara par noms et surnoms k I'Euesque et autres Seigneurs de Dannemarc, 
 qui assistferent k sa mort, et furent tesmoins de ses derniers propos. Par lesquels il deschargea 
 la Royne sa Maistresse entiferement du crime k elle impost par ceux mesmes qui I'auoient 
 commis et perpetr^, appellant Dieu k tesmoin de son dire, qui ne contenoit autre chose que la 
 narration de I'homicide par luy execute, de son marriage auec sa Maistresse, et de la fagon 
 comme il y auoit procedd par le conseil et aduis de Mourray, Morton, et leurs adherants, comme 
 cy-dessus a estd deduit, lesquels propos ayant estd fidellement recueillis de la bouche de 
 Bodwel, et raportez au Roy de Dannemarc, furent de puis enuoyez k plusieurs Princes 
 Chrestiens, et nommdment k la Royne Elizabeth." 
 
 Eytzinger, a cotemporary historian, copied by the author of " Maria 
 Stuarta Innocens," in J ebb, writes : — 
 
 " Bothuellium etiam in mortis articulo rex Danise aggressus, per Dei paulo post futuri 
 judicis obtestationem, petiit ut liberam jam vocem emitteret, indicem innocentiag aut sceleris 
 reginae Mariae futuram, post multum variumque sermonem de multi variaque re quern cum 
 rege habuit, liberi altaque voce ita sibi Deum propitium precabatur, ut regina caedis Darlceanae 
 nee conscia nee prescia. Regi de percussore quoerenti pergere : Murravius spurius, inquit, 
 orsus est, Murtonius duxit, ego caedis hujus telam pertexui. Literas reliquit scriptas, mediumque 
 perscriptum, locum notatum, fidem datam, aUas res indices caedis et authorem." — 74. 
 
 Those various testimonies are confirmed by a legend of the sixteenth 
 century, which I have quoted in the course of the work, and which 
 was quoted by Camden also. 
 
 But what proves that, in the sixteenth century, Bothwell's will did 
 not give rise to the doubts which it awakens now-a-days is that the 
 document was the first presented to Morton at the time of his trial. 
 
 " The first is the Lorde Bothwell's testament."— Z«/&r from Forster to Wahingham, 
 Chalmers, II., 419. 
 
NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. 349 
 
 That is the juridical proof of the existence and authenticity of the 
 will, and the tone in which Forster speaks of it, shows that Walsingham 
 knew all about it. 
 
 " One of these documents, probably that sent to Elizabeth, was,'' says Miss Strickland, 
 " extant as recently as the middle of the last century, in the royal library in St James' Palace, as 
 Mr Hamilton affirms in his ' Observations on Buchanan,' and he makes a quotation from it 
 which indicates that he had seen it. Its disappearance may easily be accounted for, by the 
 confusion caused by the vile and neglected state in which the MSS. were so long allowed to lie 
 in the cellars of Old Harrington House." — Miss Strickland's Life of Mary Qiceen of Scots, V., 
 248, note. 
 
 The reader can now, with full knowledge of the facts, easily form 
 an opinion. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 Turnbull &= Spears, Printers, Edinburgh.