600 



SCOTLAND. 



History. Having received from France a reinforcement, the 

 -">"*-'' queen regent detached a party to lay waste the adja- 

 cent country. In this pressing extremity, the lords of 

 the congregation turned their eyes towards England, 

 and Maitland and Melville were dispatched to solicit 

 succours from the queen of England. Elizabeth's mi- 

 nisters did not hesitate to grant a request so consonant 

 to the wishes and interests of their mistress, and they 

 instantly dispatched a squadron to cruise in the Frith 

 of Forth. After the flight of the congregation to Stir- 

 ling, the queen dowager took possession of Edinburgh ; 

 but her scheme was rendered abortive by the alliance 

 of her enemies with the English queen. Early in the 

 spring, Elizabeth sent 6000 foot and 2000 horse into 

 Scotland, under Lord Grey of Wilton. To meet their 

 allies, the forces of the Reformers assembled from all 

 parts'of the kingdom, and the combined army, amount- 

 ing to 13,000 men, besieged Leith. The French gar- 

 rison was speedily reduced to great difficulties, and 

 the queen dowager retired to the castle of Edinburgh, 

 where she died soon after. 



The French court now abandoned their schemes of 

 distant conquest. It became necessary to withdraw 

 the few veteran troops in Scotland, instead of sending 

 new reinforcements to that country. A negotiation 

 was therefore opened, through the mediation of Eliza- 

 beth. Two separate treaties were concluded at Edin- 

 burgh, and it was stipulated that the French troops 

 should immediately evacuate Scotland ; that Francis 

 and Mary should thenceforth abstain from bearing the 

 arms of England ; that an amnesty should be publish- 

 ed for all past offences ; that none but native Scots- 

 men should be eligible to fill any office of state, or hold 

 either civil or military authority ; that the parliament 

 should nominate twenty-four persons, of whom the 

 queen might select seven, and the estates five, for con- 

 ducting the government during their sovereign's ab- 

 sence ; and that Mary should make neither peace nor 

 war without the consent of parliament. 



Being masters of the kingdom, the leaders of the 

 congregation speedily completed the work of reforma- 

 tion. A parliament was convened, to settle the inter- 

 nal tranquillity of the country, and the protestant 

 members greatly outnumbered their adversaries. After 

 ratifying the late treaties, the Parliament approved of 

 a Confession of Faith which had been composed by 

 John Knox and other protestant leaders. Several acts 

 were passed against the catholics ; and the presbyterian 

 (brm of church government was established nearly as it 

 exists at present. Thus the Reformers, who had just 

 escaped ecclesiastical tyranny, proceeded to imitate 

 those examples of severity. 



Sir James Sandilands was sent to France, to obtain 

 the Queen's ratification of these acts. But Mary re- 

 fused to ratify them. The reformers, nevertheless, 

 immediately put them in execution. They abolished 

 .the mass, settled their ministers, and committed devas- 

 tations on the catholic edifices. Abbeys, churches, 

 and even mausoleums, perished in one common ruin. 

 The protestant nobility also dispatched ambassadors 

 to Elizabeth, to solicit a continuance of her support. 

 Francis and Mary continued to assume the title and 

 arms of England, and refused to ratify the treaty of 

 Edinburgh. By the death of Francis the -Second, 

 Elizabeth was delivered from the perils attending the 

 .union of Scotland with France, and the Scottish pro- 

 testants were freed from the terror of the French 

 power. Mary retired to Rheims, but still declined 



to ratify the treaty of Edinburgh, and to make a History. 

 solemn renunciation of her pretensions to the English ^-v**~ 

 crown. 



On learning the reverses of their queen, the Scots 

 sent a deputation to France, inviting her to return to 

 her native country, and assume the reins of govern- 

 ment. 



No sooner did the French galleys appear off Leith, 

 than the people of all ranks hastened towards the 

 shore, to behold and welcome their young sovereign. 

 She had attained her nineteenth year, was skilled in 

 various languages, and had studied music, poetry, and 

 rhetoric. Accustomed from her infancy to magni- 

 ficence and splendour, she was deeply affected with 

 the change, and was conducted to Holyrood house. 

 During these transactions, the protestant preachers 

 had received a considerable accession of numbers, from 

 a concatenation of events which Jiad contributed to the 

 rise and progress of the reformed doctrines. 



The first measure of Mary's government confirmed 

 the affections and confidence of her subjects. She be- 

 stowed her favours entirely through the protestant 

 leaders, invested her brother lord James with the au- 

 thority of her lieutenant, and appointed Maitland as 

 his deputy. But on the Sabbath-day after her arrival, 

 the queen commanded that mass should be celebrated 

 in the chapel of her palace, when her catholic servants 

 were insulted, and her conversion from popery was 

 publicly prayed for ; while Lindsay and the protestant 

 gentlemen of Fife exclaimed, " the idolater shall die 

 the death !" But the prior of St. Andrews, and the 

 other leaders of the protestants, restrained their zeal, 

 and obtained for the queen and her domestics the in- 

 dulgence of the free exercise of their religion. Mary 

 consequently issued two proclamations, declaring, that 

 <( any attempt to alter or subvert the protestant 

 religion without the sanction of the legislature, should 

 be considered a capital crime." 



She was now surrounded by a turbulent nobility, and 

 her religion was a popular theme of declamation from the 

 pulpits. She therefore despatched Maitland to Lon- 

 don, to signify her willingness to renounce all present 

 right to the English crown, provided she should be 

 declared, by act of parliament, next heir to the succes- 

 sion, in case of Elizabeth's decease without issue. 



Maitland was likewise instructed to express his 

 mistress's earnest desire to cultivate an amicable cor- 

 respondence with the queen of England. But Eliza- 

 beth would not condescend to name a successor ; and 

 sensible that Mary's proposal would seem reasonable, 

 ceased to demand the ratification of the treaty of Edin- 

 burgh. 



A convention of estates was summoned, chiefly on A.D. 1561. 

 account of ecclesiastical affairs. The general assembly 

 presenteda petition tothe states,requiring the suppression 

 of popery, and praying for a legal maintenance to the 

 protestant clergy ; but the nobles were now deaf to 

 their entreaties. The whole revenue of the protest- 

 ant clergy was settled at only twenty-four thousand 

 pounds Scots. 



Although the protestants filled the cabinet, they 

 did not possess the queen's confidence. The prior 

 of St. Andrews had been created earl of Murray ; and 

 the earl of Huntly raised the standard of insurrection, 

 with the avowed design of being revenged on Murray, 

 but in reality to rescue the queen from the hands of 

 the protestants. At the same time the archbishop 

 of St. Andrews endeavoured to unite and rout the 



