SCOT L A N D. 



603 



husband';. miinUT. He therefore demanded nf the 

 I'.nglMt fun .nisMoners, whether they were invested 

 with authority to pronounce sentence agniiibt the 

 queen, in case her guilt should be proved ; whether 



y would deliver an actual sentence without delay ; 

 whether she would he delivered into the hards of the 

 ut. or be so effectually restrained as to be unable 

 to tli;>tm-b the government now established in Scotland; 

 and whether Elizabeth would acknowledge the young 

 kin^, and protect the regent. Instead of resolving 

 them, Elizabeth removed the confidence to Wftn.m- 

 ster, and appointed new commissioners. She likewise 

 admitted the regent to an audience; who, encouraged 

 !>y the assurances of Elizabeth's protection, laid aside 

 liis reserve, and charged the queen of Scots with be- 

 ing accessary to the contrivance and execution of her 

 husband's murder. The earl of Lennox, supporting 

 this accusation, craved vengeance for the blojd of his 

 0:1. 



But Elizabeth wished to obtain evidence, and Mur- 

 ray produced some love-letters and sonnets from Mary 

 to Bothwell, containing proofs of her guilt. Mary's 

 commissioners endeavoured to change the inquiry into 

 a negotiation; but finding it impracticable, they broke 

 iMpihe conference without making any reply. Having 

 obtained these evidences, Elizabeth issued orders for 

 her removal to Tutbury. She wrote to her as if the 

 presumptions of her guilt had amounted to proof; in 

 hopes, but in vain, of constraining her to confirm her 

 resignation of the crown. 



The proceedings were now ended, and Elizabeth re- 

 solved to detain Mary a prisoner in England, hoping 

 that the proofs of her guilt would apologize for the se- 

 verity of her treatment. The regent, before his depar- 

 ture, had an audience of Elizabeth, who assured him 

 wf her favour and support, but declined acknowledging 

 the young king of Scots, or treating with Murray as 

 regent of Scotland, Mary recriminated upon the re- 

 gent, by accusing him of having devised and excited 

 the murder of the late king, and endeavoured to raise 

 her adherents in Scotland. She caused a report to be 

 circulated, that Murray had agreed to convey the 

 young prince into England, to surrender the fortresses 

 in Scotland, and to acknowledge the superiority of 

 England. To counteract these reports, Elizabeth pub- 

 lished a counter-proclamation. 



With the view of strengthening the queen's party, 

 the court of France sent over the duke of Chatelhe- 

 rault to Scotland, and Mary invested him with the au- 

 thority of her lieutenant-general in Scotland, together 

 with the title of her adopted father. An accommoda- 

 tion was effected between the hostile factions, although 

 Argyll and Huntly refused to be included in the treaty. 

 The regent commanded his guards to seize the duke of 

 Chatelherault and Lord Herries, and imprisoned them 

 in the castle of Edinburgh. A blow so decisive, pro- 

 duced immediate tranquillity. 



The duke of Norfolk now openly avowed his design 

 of marrying the queen of Scots; but he was committed 

 to the tower, and Mary was removed to Coventry, 

 where her imprisonment was rendered more painful. 

 These transactions were succeeded by an attempt to 

 restore the qeeen of Scots by force of arms. The earls 

 of Northumberland and Westmoreland had warmly es- 

 poused her interest, and were encouraged by a promise 

 of money and troops from the king of Spain. But 

 Elizabeth concerted her measures with so much vigour, 

 that the chiefs of the conspiracy fled to Scotland, and 

 the common people dispersed. Elizabeth now opened 



a negotiation with the regent, for delivering Mary into H 



<ndi; but the French and Spanish ambaMador* 'v- * 

 remonstrated, and the project wan abandoned by the 

 sudden death of the regent, who was aataMinated ut 

 Linlithgow by Hamilton of Hothwellhaugh. A. U. 1*70. 



On the death of the earl of Murray, the queen's 

 party seemed for a while to triumph. At length, by 

 the recommendation of Elizabeth, the earl of Lennox 

 was chosen regent. After being tantalized with the 

 hopes of liberty, Mary found herself under stricter cat- 

 tody than ever. Conceiving herself abandoned by the 

 court of France, she corresponded with Philip of Spam, 

 who supplied herself and her friends in Scotland with 

 money. 



A scheme for rescuing Mary, and overturning the 

 English government, was concerted by the bishop of 

 Ho>s, the Spanish ambassador, and Hidolphi, an agent 

 of the pope. It was proposed, that the duke of Alva 

 should land 10,000 men in England ; that the duke of 

 Norfolk, who had renewed his engagements with 

 Mary, should join his friends, together with the Eng- 

 lish catholics ; and that the combined forces should 

 ui*rch to London, and oblige Elizabeth to submit to 

 whatever conditions they might impose. But the 

 English nation was delivered from the threatened dan- 

 ger by the discovery of the plot to Lord Burleigh. 



The unfortunate queen of Scots, who had been the 

 remote cause of these commotions, was treated with 

 greater severity ; and no person was permitted to see 

 her but in the presence of her keepers. The English 

 commons voted an address to Elizabeth, praying that 

 Mary might be tried and capitally punished. The 

 state of her affairs in Scotland was very unpromising. 

 Dumbarton castle, the only fortress in the kingdom 

 that owned her authority, was surprised and taken by 

 Captain Crawford of Jordanhill. 



Crawford seized in it the archbishop of St. Andrews. A.D.1S7I. 

 He was carried to Stirling, and, as he had been for- 

 merly attainted, was, without any formal trial, exe- 

 cuted. This enraged the queen's party, and Kirkaldy, 

 the governor of Edinburgh castle, seized the metro- 

 polis, and issued a proclamation denouncing the autho- 

 rity of the regent as usurped and unlawful. Huntlv, 

 Home, and Herries, assembled with their followers at 

 Edinburgh, which they garrisoned. The factions 

 which divided the kingdom were both influenced by 

 religious considerations. The prince's adherents de- 

 fended his authority as the best support of the protest- 

 ant religion ; the queen's partisans hoped, by her re- 

 storation, to re-establish popery ; and the nobles, who 

 respectively adhered to them, assembled in different 

 parliaments. Only three peers and two bishops assem- 

 bled in the queen's parliament ; and they passed an act, 

 attainting two hundred of the prince's friends, who 

 were assembled at Stirling, where Lennox and his par- 

 tisans were surprised in the heart of the town. The 

 earl of Mar, with only thirty soldiers, sallied out and 

 fired upon the enemy. The townsmen armed them- 

 selves, and joined, when the assailants, in their turn, 

 surrendered themselves, and the regent fell a sacrifice. 

 Mar was elected to the regency, and concluded a 

 truce with the queen's party, by means of the French 

 and English ambassadors: but he shortly died, and was 

 succeeded by the earl of Morton, who acted in concert 

 with Elizabeth. 



The captive queen's influence rapidly declined in 

 both kingdoms. Her partisans in Scotland were glad 

 to submit to the king's authority, and accept of an in- 

 demnity for all past offences. Still the nobles were 



