attempt the life of the queen, by shooting at her while she was taking the air on horseback. The conspiracy, however, was betrayed by one of his associates; and Parry being thrown into prison, confessed the guilt, and suffered the punishment of death.

About the same time, the prince of Orange perished at Delft, by the hands of an assassin; and the States sent a solemn embassy to London, and made anew an offer to the queen, of acknowledging her for their sovereign, on condition of obtaining her protection and assistance. Elizabeth, however, again declined the sovereignty, but entered into an alliance with the States, and sent the earl of Leicester with a considerable army to their relief.

The queen, while she provoked so powerful an enemy as the king of Spain, by her open aid to the revolted Flemings, took care to secure herself on the side of Scotland, by forming an alliance with James for the mutual defence of their dominions, and of their religion, now menaced by the open combination of all the catholic powers of Europe. But the unfortunate Mary, whose impatience of confinement and unsubdued spirit, together with her zeal for popery, impelled to the most desperate acts, engaged in designs against Elizabeth, which afforded her enemies a reason or pretence for effecting her complete ruin.

Ballard, a Romish priest, encouraged by the hopes of succours from the pope, the king of Spain, and the duke of Guise, came over to England, and bent his endeavours to effect at once an assassination, an insurrection, and an invasion. The first person to whom he confided his intentions was Anthony Babington, a young gentleman of Derbyshire, who was ardent in the cause of Mary and of the catholic religion. Babington employed himself in increasing the number of the associates in this desperate undertaking; and he communicated the project to Mary, who approved highly of the design, and who observed, that the death of Elizabeth was necessary, before any other attempt should be made. Ballard, however, being arrested, his confederates became alarmed, and took to flight; but be ing seized, they were tried, condemned, and executed.

The lesser conspirators being thus depatched, measures were taken for the trial of the queen of Scots, who was conducted to Fotheringay castle, in the county of Northampton. A commission, consisting of forty noblemen and

privy-counsellors, was appointed and empowered to pass sentence on Mary, who was described in the instrument as late queen of Scots, and heiress to James V. of Scotland.

On this awful occasion, Mary behaved with great dignity. She protested her innocence, and declared that Elizabeth had no authority over her, who was an independent sovereign, and not amenable to the laws of England. Her objections, however, were over-ruled; her letters, and the confessions of the conspirators, were produced in evidence against her; and a few days after, sentence of death was pronounced against her. Both houses of parliament ratified this sentence, which was certainly illegal, if not unjust; and they urged the queen to consent to its publi- . cation and execution.

Elizabeth, however, affected great reluctance to execute the sentence against Mary, and asked if it were not possible to secure the public tranquility by some other expedient than the death of the queen of Scots; but when foreign powers interfered, and interceded in behalf of the unfortunate Mary, Elizabeth became obdurate, and determined to execute the sentence. The interposition of James, who remonstrated in very severe terms in favour of his mother, was unavailing; and Elizabeth, tired with importunity, and dreading the consequences, ordered Davison, her secretary, privately to draw a warrant for the execution of the queen of Scots; which, she afterwards said, she intended to keep by her, in case any attempt should be made to rescue Mary. She signed the warrant, and commanded Davison to procure the great seal to be affixed to it; but when Davison told her that the warrant had passed the great seal, she blamed his precipitation. Davison acquainted the council with the transaction; and they endeavoured to persuade him to send off the warrant, promising to take on themselves the whole blame of the measure. The secretary, not sufficiently aware of their intention, complied with the advice; and the warrant was despatched to the earls of Shrewsbury and Kent, and some others, ordering them to see the sentence executed on the queen of Scots.

Mary, informed of this commission, though somewhat surprised, betrayed no symptoms of fear. The night before her execution, she called in all her servants, drank to them, and bade them a solemn farewell. Next morning

A. D.

she dressed herself in a rich habit of silk and velvet; and having declared her resolution to die in the ancient catholic and Roman religion, her head was severed from her body by the executioner. Thus perished, in the forty-fifth year of her age, and the nineteenth of 1587 her captivity in England, Mary, queen of Scots, a woman of great accomplishments, both of body and mind. The beauty of her person, and the charms of her address and conversation, rendered her the most amiable of woWhether we consider her faults as imprudences or crimes, certain it is, that she was betrayed into actions which can with difficulty be accounted for, and which admit of no apology or extenuation. In her numerous misfortunes, we forget her faults; and the accomplishments which she possessed render us insensible to the errors of her conduct.

men.

When Elizabeth was informed of the execution of Mary, she affected the utmost surprise and indignation. She wrote an exculpatory letter to James; and she committed Davison to prison, and ordered him to be tried for a misdemeanor. He was condemned to imprisonment during the pleasure of the queen, and to pay a fine which reduced him to beggary.

The dissimulation of Elizabeth, however, was too gross to deceive any person; and James and his nobles breathed nothing but revenge. When, however, James began coolly to reflect on the consequences of a war with England, and that he might thereby forfeit the certain prospect of his succession to the English throne, he stifled his resentments, and gradually entered into a good correspondence with the court of England.

While Elizabeth insured tranquility from the attempts of her nearest neighbour, accounts were received of the vast preparations made by the Spaniards for the invasion of England, and for the entire conquest of this kingdom. In all the ports of Sicily, Naples, Spain, and Portugal, Philip had for some time been equipping vessels of uncommon size and force, and filling them with stores and provisions. The most renowned nobility of Italy and Spain were ambitious of sharing in the honour of this great enterprise; and the Spaniards, ostentatious of their power, and confident of success, had already denominated this armament "The Invincible Armada."