MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.-1542-156"

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5. This change in the queen he imputed to the influence of some of those about her, and sought for an object on whom to wreak his vengeance. There was in the court an Italian musician, named David Rizzio, who had lately acquired a great degree of confidence and favor with the queen, and had been made her secretary. Those who were themselves envious of Rizzio's fortune, found no difficulty in exciting the jealousy of Darnley.

6. One evening, when the queen was at supper with the secretary and some of the ladies of her court, Darnley, with a company of armed nobles, rushed into the room, and one of them, reaching over the queen's shoulder, stabbed Rizzio, as he clung to her garments for protection.

7. Some time afterwards the king was taken sick, when, to the surprise of every one, the queen paid him a visit, and took him with her to her palace of Holyrood House, and was to all appearance reconciled to him. The position of this palace in the city of Edinburgh, and upon low ground, and the noise of the court, furnished reasons for removing the king to a house in a more airy and retired situation. The queen accompanied him, and for several days attended upon him with every appearance of regard.

8. The marriage of one of her women, which was to be celebrated in her presence, obliged the queen to pass the night of the 9th of February, 1567, at her palace. About two o'clock on the morning of the 10th, the whole town was aroused by a great noise at the king's house, which was blown up by gunpowder. The king's lifeless body was found at some distance.

CHAPTER CXLVII.

Continuation of the Story of Mary. She seeks a Refuge in England from her rebellious Subjects.

1. THERE could be no doubt that the king's death was produced by design; and public opinion at once fixed on the Earl of Bothwell as his murderer. The earl was a man of considerable abilities and of boundless ambition, which, unrestrained by any religious or moral principles, would not scruple at the commission of any crime for its gratification.

2. He was one of the handsomest men of the age, and the cour. tesy of his manners contrasted favorably with the rude and savage demeanor of the majority of the Scotch nobles. Being in the palace at the time of Rizzio's murder, he had hastened to the assistance of the queen, and this service, with his constant deference and assiduity, gained for him her favor.

5. Upon whom did Darnley take vengeance? 7. What was Mary's subsequent treatment of Darnley? 8. Relate the particulars of his death.

CXLVII.-1. Upon whom did the public charge the murder of Darnley? 2. What of

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MARY SEEKS A REFUGE IN ENGLAND.-1568.

3. The influence which he soon acquired over her, led him to believe that the king was the only impediment to his arriving at the highest office. We have just stated the mode in which this impediment was removed. Bothwell was tried for the murder of the king and acquitted; for no one dared to appear as witness against a man of his influence, and who came to the place of trial attended, not only by his own retainers and vassals, but by a body of hired soldiers.

4. Bothwell's next step was even more bold; accompanied by a thousand armed men, he attacked the queen as she journeyed upon the road, and, dispersing her escort, carried her a prisoner to Dunbar. Although this was done apparently by violence, there were many who believed that the queen was a willing prisoner; for, so far from resenting the outrage, she not long after gave her hand in marriage to the offender. The reformers had uniformly maintained that the murder of Darnley had been committed with the previous knowledge and consent of the queen; her marriage with his murderer seemed to justify and confirm this opinion.

5. The question of her guilt or innocence has been sharply contested from that day to this. We have not space to detail the arguments on both sides. The facts adduced against her may, perhaps, be reconciled with her innocence. She was thoughtless and imprudent, and her education at the court of France was not favorable to the growth of religious principles; but there was nothing in her disposition which can make us suppose her capable of so monstrous a crime.

6. Although a large portion of the nobles of all parties, and of both religions, had in writing requested the queen to marry Bothwell, yet nearly the whole country now rose in arms against her. She was taken by her enemies and imprisoned at Lochleven Castle, where she was compelled to sign a resignation of her kingdom to her infant son, who was accordingly crowned by the title of James VI. The Earl of Murray, a half-brother of Mary, was made regent of the kingdom. 7. Bothwell meantime had fled from the country; and after leading a wandering and wretched life, supporting himself by piracy, he was at last thrown into prison in Denmark. He fell into a state of insanity, and lingered ten miserable years in that condition.

8. Through the romantic attachment of George Douglas, brother to the Lord of Lochleven, Mary made her escape, and, raising an army, encountered Murray at Langside; but her troops were completely defeated; and she, having watched the battle from a neighboring eminence, fled from the field, and never paused till she gained the banks of a little river, which divides England from Scotland.

9. Here the Bishop of St. Andrews, who had accompanied her flight, caught hold of the bridle of her horse, and on his knees besought her to turn back; but she, preferring to trust to Elizabeth's generosity, rather than again encounter the insults of her own subjects, rushed through the stream to the other side. She sent forward

Bothwell? 3. To what did Bothwell aspire? 4. What step did he take to accomplish his object? 6. What was the consequence of the queen's marrying him? 7. What be came of Bothwell? 8. What followed Mary's escape from imprisonment 9. Relate hat happened to her after the defeat of her troops.

ELIZABETH DETAINS MARY A PRISONER.-1568.

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a messenger with a letter informing Elizabeth of the step she had taken, and herself proceeded to Carlisle to await the answer.

10. A contemporary letter-writer tells us, "There are six waiting-gentlewomen with her, although none of account except Mrs. Mary Seaton, who is praised as being the best busker (dresser) of a woman's head, that is to be seen in any country. Whereof we have seen divers experiences since her coming hither; and, amongst other pretty devices, yesterday she did set such a curled hair upon the queen, that was said to be a periwig, and that showed very delicately."

CHAPTER CXLVIII.

Elizabeth detains Mary as a Prisoner.-Plans for her Rescue.-The Duke of Norfolk is detected in such a Project, and executed.

1. WHATEVER Elizabeth's thoughts were on receiving Mary's letter, she concealed them with great dissimulation, and, pretending the utmost friendship for that unhappy queen, declared that before she could be received at the English court, it was necessary for Mary's honor, and her own satisfaction, that she should be cleared of the heavy charges made against her. Lady Scrope was sent under pretence of attending on her, but in reality to detain her in a sort of imprisonment.

2. Mary agreed to submit the matters in dispute between herself and her subjects to Elizabeth, who appointed commissioners to hear the parties. Mary appeared by representatives, and Murray attended in person. After a tedious succession of protestations and letters, in which both parties acted with great duplicity, and seemed equally afraid of arriving at the truth, the conferences ended without any definite result.

3. Elizabeth now declared that as Mary was by no means cleared by the investigation, she was herself justified not only in refusing to see her, but even in detaining her a prisoner; and she now placed her in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury. At first Mary was allowed to receive visitors, and her eloquence convinced every one who conversed with her of her innocence, however they might have been prepossessed with an opinion of her guilt.

4. The papists, too, all took her part, believing that Elizabeth's jealousy towards her was partly on account of her religion. Elizabeth soon had reason to repent of her crooked policy in detaining Mary, for she was subjected to a succession of alarms of insurrection and assassination. She took advantage of one of the earliest attempts at rebellion to subject Mary to more rigid confinement

CXLVIII.-1. What reply did Elizabeth make to Mary's letter? 2. What did Mary agree to? What was the result? 3. What treatment did she afterwards receive? 4.

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PLANS FOR MARY'S RESCUE.-1571.

and to forbid her having any intercourse with persons not of Lord Shrewsbury's family.

5. It was very easy to forbid, but more difficult to prevent, for Mary and her friends were ever on the alert. But Elizabeth's ministers were likewise vigilant; for Lord Burleigh, in one of his letters, desires Lord Shrewsbury "to be on the watch for a boy who was bringing letters from Scotland for Mary," adding, that "he might be known by a cut on his left cheek, and that the letters were sewed up in the seams and buttons of his coat."

6. Indeed, Shrewsbury was hardly less a prisoner than the queen, being never permitted to leave his own house, nor to invite any of his friends to come to see him. He was even severely reprimanded as having neglected his charge by taking a little ride one day for exercise; and Elizabeth was constantly tormenting him by her suspicions of his being too indulgent.

7. The immense wealth and the splendor of the family of the Duke of Norfolk rendered him, beyond all question, the second person in the kingdom, and the qualities of his mind well corresponded with his high station. He enjoyed the good opinion of both the religious parties, and was equally in favor with the queen and the people.

8. He entered heartily into the cause of the Queen of Scots, and carried on a correspondence with her, though so secretly that even the vigilant Burleigh did not for some time discover it. At last, in 1571, Mary wishing to send some money to her friends in Scotland, Barrister, a confidential servant of the duke, was the person fixed on to take it.

9. The money, and a letter which was to accompany it, were sent to Barrister by a person not in the secret; and he, perceiving that there was some mystery, took the letter to Lord Burleigh, who thus discovered that the duke was conspiring with Mary to dethrone Elizabeth. Norfolk was brought to trial, and, believing that some papers had been destroyed which he ordered his secretary to burn, denied being concerned in the plot.

10. But these papers, instead of being destroyed, had been hidden by the secretary beneath the mats in the duke's chamber, and under the tiles of the house, and were produced at his trial to prove his guilt. He was condemned to death, and the sentence was executed June 2d, 1572. Elizabeth declared, with what sincerity we cannot say, that she could have forgiven him, if, instead of denying his guilt, he had made a free confession.

What was a consequence of Elizabeth's crooked policy? 5. What severe measures did she adopt towards Mary? 7. What of the Duke of Norfolk? 8. Of his correspondence with Mary? How was it discovered by Burleigh? 10. What became of Norfolk?

PLOT TO ASSASSINATE ELIZABETH.-1586.

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CHAPTER CXLIX.

A new Plot in favor of Mary is detected, and the Conspirators punished.-Mary is put to Death by order of Elizabeth.

1. MARY passed sixteen weary years in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, at the end of which time Elizabeth, thinking him too indulgent, relieved him of his onerous charge. During this long period, Mary had never ceased plotting to recover her liberty.

2. The papists, who hoped through her means to re-establish their religion in England, formed, in 1586, a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, and to place Mary on the throne. The arrangements were made known to Mary by means of letters conveyed to her through a chink in the wall; and her answers, expressing her approbation, were returned in the same way.

3. But with all their secrecy the plotters could not escape the vigilance of the ministers. Indeed, the man who carried the letters was a spy of the government, and constantly brought them to Walsingham, one of Elizabeth's secretaries of state, to read. They were then re-sealed, and taken to the persons they were meant for, who did not discover the treachery of their messenger.

4. When Walsingham had obtained the information he wanted, he thought it time to secure the conspirators; fourteen of whom were condemned and executed, before Mary had any idea that the plot was discovered. One day, as she was taking the air on horseback, she was met by a messenger from Elizabeth, who informed her of the death of her friends, and that she must set off instantly, without returning to the house, or making any preparations, for Fotheringay Castle, in Northamptonshire.

5. Commissioners soon made their appearance to try her for the part she had taken in the late conspiracy. That she had assented to it, was clearly proven, and, on the 25th of October, 1586, sentence of death was pronounced upon her. The news of this procedure excited the utmost astonishment in other countries.

6. The young King of Scotland sent an urgent remonstrance to Elizabeth, on her unjustifiable conduct towards his mother. Whether he was sincere in this, has been doubted; he had been brought up by the Scottish reformers, and had been taught from his infancy to consider her a very wicked woman. It is certain that one of his ambassadors secretly advised Elizabeth not to spare Mary.

7. Elizabeth affected the utmost reluctance to execute the sentence, and some of her courtiers thought her sighs and tears were those of sincere regret. At length, after some months of duplicity and apparent indecision, she signed the death-warrant, or order for Mary's death. But when she found it had been despatched to

CXLIX.-1. How long did Mary remain in Shrewsbury's charge? 2. By whom was a new plot formed? 3. How detected? 4. What was the result? 5. What was the consequence to Mary? What effect did the news of her condemnation produce? What did Mary's son do? 7. What appearance did Elizabeth assume? What artifice

6.