BISHOP LESLIE'S TESTIMONY. 135 



Ross, published in Latin at Rome his work entitled, 

 " Be Origine, Moribus, et Rebus gestis Scotorum." His 

 mature age at the time, and great attainments, still more 

 the part of the country where the See of Ross was 

 situated, make his opinion of the greatest value, and he 

 entirely confirms the statements already given. In 1561 

 he was the commissioner from the Scottish Roman 

 Catholics to wait on Queen Mary, then in France ; he 

 afterwards did all he could to alleviate and, if possible, 

 to terminate her imprisonment in England ; he was her 

 chief commissioner at the conferences of both York and 

 Westminster; signed on her behalf the articles of 

 agreement for her proposed marriage with the Duke of 

 Norfolk ; and finally, for joining in a conspiracy with 

 that nobleman against Queen Elizabeth in 1571, he was 

 " committed to the Tower, treated with the utmost 

 rigour, threatened with capital punishment, and, after a 

 long confinement, set at liberty, on condition that he 

 should leave the kingdom." Dr. Robertson calls him 

 Mary's "ambassador at the English Court," and repre- 

 sents him as being " equally eminent for his zeal and 

 his abilities." * It seems difficult to suppose that such 

 a man's description of the Scottish wild bull was, as has 

 been sometimes asserted, a mere transcript of that of 

 Boethius, though in its outline and mode of treatment it is 

 very similar, and some of its expressions are probably de- 

 rived from that source. Even if it had been, it would be the 

 testimony of an independent witness perfectly cognisant 

 of the subject on which he wrote. The account of 

 Bishop Leslie, after describing Stirling and Monteith, 



* The whole of the above quotations, and also the previous particulars 

 with regard to Bishop Leslie, are taken from various places in Dr. 

 Robertson's " History of Scotland." 



