366 ReJl(*tions on History, ^c, 



certaipJy reigned too short a time to wash 

 away the stain of any ferocious actions, which 

 ambition and civil wars ^ might have tempted 

 him to commit. 



In like manner, Mary Queen of Scots has 

 furnished historians with many subjects of 

 dispute. That she was beautiful and unfor- 

 tunate cannot be deniied, but whether she was 

 privy to the murder of Darnley, her husband, 

 or whether she fomented a popish conspiracy 

 in England, has not yet perhaps, been clearly 

 ascertained. Still the credibility of her remain^ 

 iag, history. :cafinot reasonably be impeached, 

 whilst it would be flagrantly absurd hence to 

 infer, that no degree of credit is due to the 

 usually received accounts of mankind. There 

 may be many doubts and difficulties in the 

 annals aiid records of nations, yet either human 

 testimony is not to be believed or the general 

 and leading circumstances are of an unques- 

 tionable nature. 



When the celebrated Raleigh, during: his im- 

 prisonment in the Tower' of London, was 

 writing the History of the World, a loud alter- 

 cation under his window interrupted his 

 studies and disturbed his reflections. Unable 

 to hear distinctly the nature or progress of the 

 dispute, he endeavoured to satisfy his curiosity, 

 by asking different individuals who soon after- 



