MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS 



favourite valet. The fetivitie had nl long 

 eaaved in llir |huv. when, ahmit t o hour* alt. i 

 nil-liiii-lil. the II.IIIM- in which the king rdciit 

 l>luwn u|i by gum>.ler ; nn.l hi* lilelcM body ww 

 found in UM neighbouring ;. .i.I.-n 



Tlie chief actor in thi trn-.-o.ly WM undoubtedly 

 June* Hepburn. Karl of Uothw.-l! ..|..i. an 1111- 

 cnipuliHit noMc. !>. nimv Moray ' revolt, ami 

 till moreinc- Ui//io ' rniinl.-r. li.i.l enjoyed a large 

 bare of the queen'* fnvnnr. Hut there wt-n- -u-pi 

 ctim> that tin- .(iii-<-ii herwdf was in>t wholly ignoi.int 

 of tin* plot, and l!n--e ii>piciom> cimlil not l.tn 

 I.- -ir.-in.-th.-m-d by what followed. (In tlie I'-'tli 

 of April BothwaO M (nought to a mock trial, 

 niul acquitted ; ,.ii id,- -.Mill In- intci, .-|.ti-d the 

 queen on IIIT way fn>tu l.inlithgow to Kdinhurgh, 

 anil carried her. illi M-nn.-l, . -lm\v of i.-i-tuii-\ 

 t I'linUir. On tin- "tli of May Iw wait divoi.-e.l 

 from tlie young ami comely wife \\lnun lie li.nl 



iii.-uiii-d liiili- more than a twelie ntli liefoie ; on 



tin- 12th Mary publicly pardoned hi M-izun* of her 

 - Hi. anl ciVtil him lliik<- of Oiknev ; ainl on 

 the l.'ith only three month* afti-r lior hiisliand'* 

 HUM. I. -i -I..- iniiri.-l the man whom every one 

 regarded u hU inunlerer. 



Thin fatal teu at once arrnv-il her nobles in amis 

 against her. She wan able to lend an army n-.-iiti-t 

 tli<-iii, luit it nu-lti-d awav without striking a blow 

 on tin- lii-lil of i',.rU-ii\ { l.'iili June), when nothing 

 WM left to ln-r hut to aliamlon liulhwell anil 

 urrender hci*clf to ihi- confederate Ionia. Tln-y 

 I--I her li F.-linhuigh. where thr in-nlt- of lln> 

 rabble anil miff at |*rtin with liothwell threw 

 ln-r into ucTi a fn-n/y th.-it xhe rcfiued all nourish 

 iiii-iit. ami, ni-hin^- to tin- wimlow of tin; room ill 

 whirh kite wax k<-nt |iri-om-r. ralh-il for help, anil 

 hnvMil hi-r-.-ll to tin- |MII|I|I- half naked. 



From Etlinlniixh -In- w.vi Imrriiil to I/nchleven, 

 where, on tin- - .'4th of July, "lie ww prevaihil ii|i-m 

 to i>n> *" """I "' nllii-;iiion in favour of her 

 iwn. who, five ilayi- afl-rwariln. wan crowned at 



iii^. Kcaiiinx from her Ulaml-prUoM (ln-n- 

 >hr wMcontiniilof Klill honi (winn)on lln-'Jil of May 

 Ii68, she f-.uii-l IH-I-I-II in a few <lav at the ln-ail of 

 Ml army of (MNio HH-II. On tin- I'Jtii it wan im-t and 



.!! liv tin- Id-;;''!!! Moray at l.air_--hli', near 

 <ilaX" w - Four il.i\- nfli-rwanli, in Bpita of tin- 



atim of IH-I IM-.I fiic-iti|i, Mary rnwxetl tin- Sol 

 way, an-l thn-w hena-lf on tin- |in>t<-<-tioii of (.IIU-I-M 

 Kli/.il-ili, only to liml hrrwlf a priioner for 

 life. From <'arliiile, her lii>l |ihii-i- of captivity, 

 he wa taken, in July, to llollon ; from liolton 

 he wa rarriiil. in Fchruary I.VJ'.I, to Tiithury; 

 from Tiillniry hi- |MUMV>| in (ucci-wion to \Vinx 

 fi-M. '- ,. -it-worth, Shi-Hii-ld, Bnxton, 



('hartley, and lat of all to Ftli-rinxhay. The 

 |*mw>ncii of Mary iii I'.ii^'litnd wan a roimtant nonrce 

 of iinrainpi to Kli/alx-lh ami her mlviuwT. A 

 large minority in tli" ronntry wi-n- till ratlmli.-. 

 and natur.illv look<-l to Mary iu> tin- Ilk. -Is n-tnn-r 

 at tlie old faith. Plot follo'wi-,1 plot, tln-n-lori-. to 

 effort IwnMiverani-e. and to place her on tin- thn.ii.- 



d Kliulieth. Of thnw plot tin- iii'xt fa 



that of Antony lUl.injton. hii-h had for it-, ol.j.i-t 

 UM awaMinalion of ('.li/nln-th and tin- drlJM-rancc 

 of Me-. The ron>pitary wan di->\. 

 tain letter* of Mary appi.. \inx- tin- d.-ath of 

 .l*th Jell into the hand, of \Valinham ; 

 and. mainly on UM evidence of conii* of il,--.- 

 ku*n. Mary ww braoght to trial in s..pt,MuU-r 

 lAMk HenUoce of di-atli wan prnnounnil a^iin-i 

 br on UM ih ( IM..I.-. ; i.nt it WIV . ( , m tii 

 UM lit of February IM7 that Kli/l.-ih i.,k 

 mnn to dg UM warrant of I-M- Mti.m. It wan 

 carrWJ n li.-n Marv laid her 



bnvl apoo UM Mark ith the dignity of a i,ii.-.-n 

 and UM eoartaney and ir.u-nnti..n of a mmivr. 



r<- i -nation of a 

 rincing to UM Iwt hrr dootion to the church' of 



her fath.-i-. In.' tli* afti-iird* In-r 1- 



luiiiiil with ^I't-iit (Hinip ut I'eterliorongh, whence, 

 in Ilil'J, it :LS ii-movil to Kiii^ Henry VII. 's 

 Cha|H-l at \\'i-stniiii>ti-r, where it "till lies in a 

 Kiiinptuoils tolnh i-iiTliil hv JaiiM"!- \ I. 



The character of Mary was Ion.; one of the most 

 ficii-i-lv-vexed qaestionn of history, and is still 

 in deflate, although the great preponderance of 

 authority seem* now to lie on the Hide of tlii.M- who 

 U-lieve in li.-r criminal love for Itothwell and 

 her guilty knowle<lge of his conspiracy nj:aiiiNt 

 lu-r hatband'! life. Her heauty and inTonipli>li- 

 iiieiit*. have never liet'H dbpateo. She wu- 

 fdeA by every one to be the immt chariniii},' 

 princess of her time. Her large nharp features 

 infill |n.ihap>. have INM-II thought handsome ratliei 

 than jieautitul, hut for the winning viviicity mid 

 high joyous spirit \\hii-h nniinHted them. It lias 

 IKN-II i|iie!-tiiiinil whether her .-\e^ were ha/el or 

 dark gray, but there U no (jiiestion as to their star- 

 like Urigutnen. Her romple.vion, although lie>h 

 and clear, would seem to have Keen without the 



lirilliance so con HI among our it-land Iteauties. 



Her hair appear- to have changed with her years 

 from a ruddy yellow to aiiliurn, and from auburn to 

 dark brown or black, turning gnu long IK-I'OI-I- ils 

 time. Her hiist wan full and linely shaped, and sin- 

 carried her large statelv ligure with majesty and 

 grace. She show cd to advantage on horseliacfc, and 

 still more in the dance. The charm of her soft, sweet 

 voice i ilescrilM-d as irresistible ; and she sang well, 

 aceompanviii^' herself on the harp, the virginal, 

 and still oftener on the lute, which set off the 

 lieauty of her long, delicate, white hand. The 

 consciousness how that hand wa- admired may 

 have made it more diligent in knitting and in 

 embroidery, in lioth of which she excelled. Her 

 manner was sprightly, all'alile. kindly, frank per- 

 haps to excess, if judged by the somewhat austere 

 rule already beginning to prevail among her 

 Scottish subjects. She spoke three or four lan- 

 giiagcs, was well and variously informed, talked 

 admirably, and wrote Inith in jirose and in verse, 

 alwayn with ease, and sometime- with grace or 

 vigour. In the ling of which she was the centre 

 were statesmen like Moray and Lethington, sol- 

 diers like Kirkaldy of (Jrange, men of letters like 

 Buchanan, Leslie, Sir Ki.-haid Maitland, and Sir 

 James Melville. The first poet of France published 

 verses deploring bis absence from her brilliant 

 court: l>um\il|e, the flower of French chivalry, 

 repined at the fate which called him away from 

 it sj. -...in : ItrantAme and the younger Scali^er 

 delighted to" speak, in old age, of the days which 

 they passed beneath its roof. 



Man's pro-e writings have benn collected by the 

 enthnsia-t ie devotion of I'rince Alexander Lahanoll', 

 in his Hrrurit t/cx I.ettre-s de Marie Stuart (~ vols. 

 IH44I. Setting aside the twelve so-called 'sonnets' 

 which she is said to have written to Ilothwell, and 

 whiclmnrviveonly in a French version of an English 

 tianslation, no more than six pieces of her poetry, 

 containing in all less than Mx> lines, are now known. 

 They have no remarkable merit. The l-st is the 

 IKH-III of eleven stanzas on the death of her first 

 huhhand, Francis II., printed by Brantome. The 

 i- a Meditation of a hundred lines, written 

 in I.'.TJ. and published two years afterwards by her 

 hful follower, Bishop Leslie of Ross. All are 

 in French, except one sonnet, which is in Italian. 

 The sweetly simple lines U-ginning ' Adieu, plai-ant 

 IMIVI dc France,' so often ascrilied to her, are 

 probably the work of A. <:. Meninier de Qnerlon, a 

 French journalist, who died in 1780. A volume of 

 Fn-ncli verse on the Institution of a Prince, which 

 lie wiote for the use of her son, has lieen lost since 

 10-27. along with a Latin speech in vindication of 

 learned women, which, when no more than thirUsen. 



