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LIFE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
[Illustration: MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Engraved by A. Wilson
PAINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL BY JOHN WATSON GORDON R.I.A.]
CONSTABLE'S MISCELLANY OF
Original and Selected Publications
IN THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF
LITERATURE SCIENCE, & THE ARTS.
VOL. XXIV.
LIFE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, VOL. I.
[Illustration: LINLITHGOW PALACE
Drawn by W. Brown Engraved by W. Miller]
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR CONSTABLE & CO. EDINBURGH:
AND HURST, CHANCE & CO. LONDON.
1828.
LIFE OF
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
BY HENRY GLASSFORD BELL, ESQ.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
"AYEZ MEMOIRE DE L'AME ET DE L'HONNEUR DE
CELLE QUI A ESTE VOTRE ROYNE."
_Mary's own Words._
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR CONSTABLE & CO. EDINBURGH;
AND HURST, CHANCE & CO. LONDON.
1828.
PREFACE.
A new work on the subject of Mary Queen of Scots runs an eminent risk of
being considered a work of supererogation. No period of British history
has been more elaborately illustrated than that of her life and reign. She
ascended the Scottish throne at a time replete with interest; when the
country had awakened from the lethargy of ages, and when the gray dawn of
civilization, heralding the full sunshine of coming years, threw its light
and shade on many a bold and prominent figure, standing confessed in
rugged grandeur as the darkness gradually rolled away. It was a time when
national and individual character were alike strongly marked,--a time when
Knox preached, Buchanan wrote, Murray plotted, and Bothwell murdered. The
mailed feudal barons,--the unshrinking Reformers, founders of the
Presbyterian Church, and mailed in mind, if not in body,--the discomfited,
but the still rich and haughty ecclesiastics of the Romish faith, the
contemporaries and followers of the stern Cardinal Beaton,--all start
forth so vividly before the mind's eye, that they seem subjects better
suited for the inspired pencil of a Salvator Rosa, than for the soberer
pen of History. Mary herself, with her beauty and her misfortunes, shining
among the rest like the creation of a softer age and clime, fills up the
picture, and rivets the interest. She becomes the centre round which the
others revolve; and their importance is measured only by the influence
they exercised over her fate, and the share they had in that strange
concatenation of circumstances, which, as if in mockery of the nobility of
her birth, and the splendour of her expectations, rendered her life
miserable, and her death ignominious.
There is little wonder if such a theme, though in itself inexhaustible,
should have exhausted the energies of many. Yet the leading events of
Mary's reign still give rise to frequent doubts and discussions; and the
question regarding her character, which has so long agitated and divided
the literary world, remains undetermined. It is indeed only they who have
time and inclination to dismantle the shelves of a library, and pore over
many a contradictory volume,--examine many a perplexing hypothesis,--and
endeavour to reconcile many an inconsistent and distracting
statement,--who are entitled to pronounce upon her guilt or innocence.
Not that it is meant to be asserted, that unpublished manuscripts and
documents, calculated to throw new light upon the subject, slumber in the
archives of Government, or among the collections of the learned, which
have hitherto escaped the notice of the antiquarian and the scholar. On
the contrary, there is every reason to believe, that all the papers of
value which exist, have already been found, and given to the world. After
the voluminous publications of Anderson, Jebb, Goodall, Haynes, Hardwicke,
Strype, Sadler, and Murdin, it is by no means probable, that future
historians will discover additional materials to guide them in their
narrative of facts. But few are disposed to wade through works like
these; and they who are, find, that though they indicate the ground on
which the superstructure of truth may be raised, they at the same time,
from the diffuseness and often contradictory nature of their contents,
afford every excuse to those who wander into error. The consequence is,
that almost no two writers have given exactly the same account of the
principal occurrences of Mary's life. And it is this fact which would lead
to the belief, that there is still an opening for an author, who would
endeavour, with impartiality, candour, and decision, to draw the due line
of distinction between the prejudices of the one side, and the
prepossessions of the other,--who would expose the wilful
misrepresentations of party-spirit, and correct the involuntary errors of
ignorance,--who would aim at being scrupulously just, but not
unnecessarily severe--steadily consistent, but not tamely
indifferent--boldly independent, but not unphilosophically violent.
It seems to be a principle of our common nature, to be ever anxious to
wage an honourable warfare against doubt; and no one is more likely to fix
the attention, than he who undertakes to prove what has been previously
disputed. It is this principle which has attached so much interest to the
life of the Queen of Scots, and induced so many writers (and some of no
mean note) to investigate her character both as a sovereign and a woman;
and the consequence has been, that one half have undertaken to put her
criminality beyond a doubt, and the other as confidently pledged
themselves to establish her innocence. It may seem a bold, but it is a
conscientious opinion, that no single author, whether an accuser or a
defender, has been entirely successful. To arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion, the works of several must be consulted; and, even after all,
the mind is often left tossing amidst a sea of difficulties. The talents
of many who have broken a lance in the Marian controversy, are undoubted;
but, if we attend for a moment to its progress, the reasons why it is
still involved in obscurity may probably be discovered.
The ablest literary man in Scotland, contemporary with Mary, was George
Buchanan; the Earl of Murray was his patron, and Secretary Cecil his
admirer. The first publication regarding the Queen, came from his pen; it
was written with consummate ability, but with a dishonest, though not
unnatural leaning to the side which was the strongest at the time, and
which his own interests and views of personal and family aggrandizement
pointed out as the most profitable. The eloquence of his style, and the
confidence of his statements, gave a bias to public opinion, which feebler
spirits laboured in vain to counteract.--Less powerful as an author, but
not less virulent as an enemy, Knox next appeared in the lists, and,
unfurling the banner of what was then considered religion, converted every
doubt into conviction, by appealing to the bigotry and the superstition of
the uninformed multitude. Yet Knox was probably conscientious, if the term
can be applied with propriety to one who did not believe that the Church
of Rome possessed a single virtuous member.--In opposition to the
productions of these authors, is the "Defence of Mary's Honour," by
Lesley, Bishop of Ross, an able but somewhat declamatory work, and as
liable to suspicion as the others, because written by an avowed partisan
and active servant of the Queen. A crowd of inferior compositions
followed, useful sometimes for the facts they contain, but all so strongly
tinctured with party zeal, that little reliance is to be placed on their
accuracy. Among these may be enumerated the works of Blackwood and
Caussin, who wrote in French,--of Conaeus, Strada, and Turner, (the last
under the assumed name of Barnestaple,) who wrote in Latin,--and of
Antonio de Herrera, who wrote in Spanish.
The calamities which, after the lapse of a century, again overtook the
house of Stuart, recalled attention to the discussions concerning Mary;
and though time had softened the asperity of the disputants, the question
was once more destined to become connected with party prejudices. From the
publication of Crawford's "Memoirs," in 1705, down to the appearance of
Chalmers's "Life of Mary," in 1818, the history of the Queen of Scots has
continued one of those standard subjects which has given birth to a new
work, at least every five years. A few of the more important may be
mentioned. In 1725, Jebb published his own life of Mary, and his
collection, in two volumes folio, of works which had previously appeared
both for and against her. The former production is of little value, but
the latter is exceedingly useful, and indeed no one can write with
fairness concerning Mary, without consulting it. Lives of the Queen by
Heywood and Freebairn, shortly succeeded, both of whom were anxious to
vindicate her, but in their anxiety, overshot the mark. In 1728,
Anderson's "Collections" were presented to the public, containing many
papers of interest and value, which are not to be found elsewhere. But
they are often disingenuously garbled, that Mary may be made to appear in
an unfavourable light; and a more recent author informs us, that they
were, in consequence, "sold as waste paper, leaving the editor ruined in
his character, and injured in his prospects."
In Scotland, the Rebellion of 1715, powerfully revived the animosities
which had never lain entirely dormant since the establishment of a new
dynasty, in 1688; and the transition from Charles to his ancestor Mary,
was easy and natural. The second Rebellion in 1745, did not diminish the
interest taken in the Queen of Scots, nor the ardor with which the
question of her wrongs or crimes was agitated. In 1754, Mr Goodall,
librarian to the Faculty of Advocates, made a valuable addition to the
works already extant on the subject, in his "Examination" of the letters
attributed to Mary. His habits of laborious research, combined with no
inconsiderable powers of reasoning, enabled him not only to bring together
many original papers, not before published, but to found on these much
acute argument, and deduce from them many sound conclusions. Goodall's
work will never be popular, because it is full of ancient documents, which
one is more willing to refer to than to read; but, as may be remarked of
Jebb and Anderson, he who means to write of Mary, should not commence
until he has also carefully perused the "Examination."
Four years posterior to Goodall's two volumes, appeared Robertson's
"History of Scotland." Of course, the leading events of Mary's reign were
narrated at length, but too much with the stiff frigidity which Robertson
imagined constituted historical dignity, and which was continually
betraying a greater anxiety about the manner than the matter. Accordingly,
what his style gained in constraint, his subject lost in interest. No one
has said so much of Queen Mary, to so little definite purpose, as
Robertson;--no one has so entirely failed in making us either hate or love
her. Besides, he thought her guilty, on the authority of Buchanan, and has
consequently thrown a false gloss over her character from beginning to
end. He was supported in his opinions, it is true, by the historian Hume,
but the latter having devoted most of his attention to the History of
England, cannot be supposed to have been very deeply versed in the affairs
of Scotland; and in so far as these are concerned, his authority is not of
the highest weight. Yet, from the reputation which these two writers have
acquired, and deservedly, upon other grounds, they have done more mischief
to Mary than perhaps any of her calumniators, the multitude being too
often inclined to forget, when once thoroughly _juratus in verba
magistri_, that he who distinguishes himself in one department, may be,
and commonly is, deficient in another.--In 1760, the credit both of
Robertson and Hume was a good deal shaken, by Tytler's "Enquiry" into the
evidence against Mary. This work is neither historical nor biographical,
but argumentative and controversial. It is founded upon Goodall, to whom
Tytler confesses his obligations, but the reasonings are much more lucidly
and popularly arranged; and though not so complete or so full of research
as it might have been, it is, upon the whole, the ablest and most
convincing production which has yet appeared on the side of the Queen of
Scots.
Of the five works of greatest consequence which have appeared since
Tytler's, only one has ventured to tread in the footsteps of Buchanan. The
first in order of date is the French "Histoire d'Elizabeth," in five
volumes, by Mademoiselle de Keralio, who devotes a large portion of her
book to Mary, and, with a degree of talent that does honour to the sex to
which she belongs, vindicates the Scottish Queen from the obloquy which
her rival, Elizabeth, had too great a share in casting upon her.--Nearly
about the same time, was published Dr Gilbert Stuart's "History of
Scotland." It came out at an unfortunate period, for Robertson had
pre-occupied the field; and it was hardly to be expected, that a writer of
inferior note would dispossess him of it. But Dr Stuart's History, though
too much neglected, is in many essential particulars, superior to
Robertson's, not perhaps in so far as regards precision of style, but in
research, accuracy, and impartiality. It would be wrong to say, that
Stuart has committed no mistakes, but they are certainly fewer and less
glaring than those of his predecessor.--Towards the end of the last
century, Whittaker stood forth as a champion of the Queen of Scots, and
threw into the literary arena four closely printed volumes. They bear the
stamp of great industry and enthusiasm; but his materials are not well
digested, and his violence often weakens his argument. The praise of
ardor, but not of judgment, belongs to Whittaker; he seems to have
forgotten, that there may be bigotry in a good as well as in a bad cause;
in his anxiety to maintain the truth, he often plunges into error, and in
his indignation at the virulence of others, he not unfrequently becomes
still more virulent himself. Had he abridged his work by one-third, it
would have gained in force what it lost in declamation, and would not have
been less conclusive, because less confused and verbose.--Whittaker was
followed early in the present century by Mr Malcolm Laing, who, with a
far clearer head, if not with a sounder heart, has, in his "Preliminary
Dissertation," to his "History of Scotland," done much more against Mary
than Whittaker has done for her. Calm, collected, and well-informed, he
proceeds, as might be expected from an adept in the profession to which he
belonged, from one step of evidence to another, linking the whole so well
together that it is at first sight extremely difficult to discover a flaw
in the chain. Yet flaws there are, and serious ones; indeed, Mr Laing's
book is altogether a piece of special pleading, not of unprejudiced
history. His ingenuity, however, is great; and his arguments carry with
them such an air of sincerity, that they are apt to be believed almost
before the judgment acknowledges them to be true. It is to be feared, that
he is powerful only to be dangerous,--that he dazzles only to
mislead.--The author whose two large quarto, or three thick octavo
volumes, brings up the rear of this goodly array, is Mr George Chalmers.
There was never a more careful compiler,--a more pains-taking investigator
of public and private records, deeds, and registers,--a more zealous
stickler for the accuracy of dates, the fidelity of witnesses, and the
authenticity of facts. His work, diffuse, tedious, and ill-arranged though
it be, full of perpetual repetitions, and abounding in erroneous theories,
(for it is one talent to ascertain truth, and another to draw inferences),
is nevertheless a valuable accession to the stock of knowledge previously
possessed on this subject. His proofs are too disjointed to be conclusive,
and his reasonings too feeble to be convincing; but the materials are
better than the workmanship, and might be moulded by a more skilful hand
into a shape of much beauty and excellence.
Such is an impartial view of the chief works extant upon Mary Queen of
Scots; and it would appear in consequence, that something is still wanting
to complete the catalogue. Three causes may be stated in particular, why
so many persons of acknowledged ability should have devoted their time and
talents to the investigation without exhausting it.
_First_, Several of the works we have named are Histories; and these,
professing as they do, to describe the character of a nation rather than
of an individual, cannot be supposed to descend to those minutiae, or to
enter into those personal details necessary for presenting the vivid
portraits in which biography delights. History is more conversant with the
genus or the species; and is addressed more to the judgment than to the
feelings. There is in it a spirit of generalization, which, though it
expands the mind, seldom touches the heart. Its views of human nature are
on a comprehensive scale; it traces the course of empires, and marks the
progress of nations. If, in the great flood of events, it singles out a
few crowned and conspicuous heads, making them the beacons by which to
guide its way, it associates itself with them only so long as they
continue to exercise an influence over the destiny of others. It is alike
ignorant and careless of those circumstances which make private life happy
or miserable, and which exercise an influence over the fate of those who
have determined that of so many others. Neither Hume, nor Robertson, nor
Stuart, nor Keralio, therefore, have said all of Mary that they might have
said;--they wrote history--not biography.
_Second_, Many of the productions we have named, are purely controversial,
consisting almost entirely of arguments founded upon facts, not of facts
upon which to found arguments. Among these may be particularly included,
Tytler, Whittaker, and Laing, works which do not so much aim at
illustrating the life and character of Mary, as of settling the abstract
question of her guilt or innocence. They present, therefore, only such
detached portions of her history as bear upon the question of which they
treat. To become intimately acquainted with Mary, we must have recourse to
other authors; to form an estimate of her moral character these might
suffice, were it fair to be guided on that subject by the opinions of
others.
_Third_, In most of the works, in which historical research is fully
blended with argumentative deductions, erroneous theories have been
broached, which, failing to make good their object, either excite
suspicion, or lead into error. Thus, Goodall and Chalmers have laid it
down as a principle, that in order to exculpate Mary, it was necessary to
accuse her brother, the Earl of Murray, of all sorts of crimes. By
representing Bothwell, as an inferior tool in his hands, they have
involved themselves in improbabilities, and have weakened the strength of
a good cause by a mistaken mode of treatment. Indeed this remark applies
with a greater or less degree of force, to all the vindications of Queen
Mary which have appeared. Why transfer the burden of Darnley's murder from
Bothwell, the actual perpetrator of the deed, to one who may have been
accessory to it, but certainly more remotely? Why confirm the suspicion
against her they wish to defend, by unjustly accusing another, whom they
cannot prove to be criminal? If Goodall and Chalmers have done this, their
learning is comparatively useless, and their labour has been nearly lost.
If the author of the following "Life of Mary Queen of Scots," has been
able in any measure, to execute his own wishes, he would trust, that by a
careful collation of all the works to which he has referred; he has
succeeded, in separating much of the ore from the dross, and in giving a
freshness, perhaps in one or two instances, an air of originality to his
production. He has affected neither the insipidity of neutrality, nor the
bigotry of party zeal. His desire was to concentrate all that could be
known of Mary, in the hope that a light might thus be thrown on the
obscurer parts of his subject, sufficient to re-animate the most
indifferent, and satisfy the most scrupulous. He commenced his readings
with an unbiassed mind, and was not aware at the outset, to what
conviction they would bring him. But if a conscientious desire to
disseminate truth be estimable, it is hoped that this desire will be found
to characterize these Memoirs. Little more need be added. The biography of
a Queen, who lived two hundred and fifty years ago, cannot be like the
biography of a contemporary or immediate predecessor; but the inherent
interest of the subject, will excuse many deficiencies. Omissions may,
perhaps, be pardoned, if there are no misrepresentations; and the absence
of minute cavilling and trifling distinctions, may not be complained of,
if the narrative leads, by a lucid arrangement, to satisfactory general
deductions. Fidelity is at all times preferable to brilliancy, and a sound
conclusion to a plausible hypothesis.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER I.
Scotland and its Troubles during Mary's Infancy 11
CHAPTER II.
Scotland and the Scottish Reformers, under the Regency of
the Queen Dowager 25
CHAPTER III.
Mary's Birth, and subsequent residence at the French Court,
with a Sketch of the State of Society and Manners in France,
during the sixteenth century 42
CHAPTER IV.
Mary's Marriage, Personal Appearance, and Popularity 58
CHAPTER V.
Mary the Queen Dauphiness, the Queen, and the Queen Dowager
of France 74
CHAPTER VI.
Mary's return to Scotland, and previous negociations with
Elizabeth 88
CHAPTER VII.
Mary's arrival at Holyrood, with Sketches of her Principal
Nobility 108
CHAPTER VIII.
John Knox, the Reformers, and the turbulent Nobles 126
CHAPTER IX.
Mary's Expedition to the North 146
CHAPTER X.
Chatelard's imprudent Attachment, and Knox's persevering
Hatred 166
CHAPTER XI.
The domestic Life of Mary, with some Anecdotes of Elizabeth 182
CHAPTER XII.
Mary's Suitors, and the Machinations of her Enemies 198
CHAPTER XIII.
Mary's Marriage with Darnley 222
CHAPTER XIV.
Murray's Rebellion 232
CHAPTER XV.
The Earl of Morton's Plot 251
CHAPTER XVI.
The Assassination of David Rizzio 272
CHAPTER XVII.
The Birth of James VI 287
CHAPTER XVIII.
Mary's Treatment of Darnley, and alleged Love for the Earl
of Bothwell 295
INTRODUCTION.
During the reigns of James IV. and James V., Scotland emerged from
barbarism into comparative civilization. Shut out, as it had previously
been, from almost any intercourse with the rest of Europe, both by the
peculiarities of its situation, and its incessant wars with England, it
had long slumbered in all the ignorance and darkness of those remote
countries, which even Roman greatness, before its dissolution, found it
impossible to enclose and retain within the fortunate pale of its
conquests. The refinement, which must always more or less attend upon the
person of a king, and shelter itself in the stronghold of his court, was
little felt in Scotland. Though attached, from long custom, to the
monarchical form of government, the sturdy feudal barons, each possessing
a kind of separate principality of his own, took good care that their
sovereign's superior influence should be more nominal than real.
Distracted too by perpetual jealousies among themselves, it was only upon
rare occasions that the nobles would assemble peaceably together, to aid
the king by their counsel, and strengthen his authority by their
unanimity. Hence, there was no standard of national manners,--no means of
fixing and consolidating the wavering and turbulent character of the
people. Each clan attached itself to its own hereditary chieftain; and,
whatever his prejudices or follies might be, was implicitly subservient to
them. The feuds and personal animosities which existed among the leaders,
were thus invariably transmitted to the very humblest of their retainers,
and a state of society was the consequence, pregnant with civil discord
and confusion, which, on the slightest impulse, broke out into anarchy and
bloodshed.
Many reasons have been assigned why the evils of the feudal system should
have been more severely felt in Scotland than elsewhere. The leading
causes, as given by the best historians, seem to be,--the geographical
nature of the country, which made its baronial fastnesses almost
impregnable;--the want of large towns, by which the vassals of different
barons were prevented from mingling together, and rubbing off, in the
collision, the prepossessions they mutually entertained against each
other;--the division of the inhabitants, not only into the followers of
different chiefs but into clans, which resembled so many great families,
among all whose branches a relationship existed, and who looked with
jealousy upon the increasing strength or wealth of any other clan;--the
smallness of the number of Scottish nobles, a circumstance materially
contributing to enhance the weight and dignity of each;--the frequent
recourse which these barons had, for the purpose of overawing the crown,
to leagues of mutual defence with their equals, or bonds of reciprocal
protection and assistance with their inferiors;--the unceasing wars which
raged between England and Scotland, and which were the perpetual means of
proving to the Scottish king, that the very possession of his crown
depended upon the fidelity and obedience of his nobles, whose good-will it
was therefore necessary to conciliate upon all occasions, by granting them
whatever they chose to demand; and, lastly--the long minorities to which
the misfortunes of its kings exposed the country at an early period of its
history, when the vigour and consistency, commonly attendant upon the acts
of one mind, were required more than any thing else, but instead of which,
the contradictory measures of contending nobles, or of regents hastily
elected, and as hastily displaced, were sure to produce an unnatural
stagnation in the government, from which it could be redeemed only by
still more unnatural convulsions.
The necessary consequences of these political grievances were, of course,
felt in every corner of the country. It is difficult to form any accurate
estimate, or to draw any very minute picture of the state of manners and
nicer ramifications of society at so remote a period. But it may be stated
generally, that the great mass of the population was involved in poverty,
and sunk in the grossest ignorance. The Catholic system of faith and
worship, in its very worst form, combined with the national superstitions
so prevalent among the vulgar, not only to exclude every idea of rational
religion, but to produce the very lowest state of mental degradation.
Commerce was comparatively unknown,--agriculture but imperfectly
understood. If the wants of the passing hour were supplied, however
sparely, the enslaved vassal was contented,--almost the only happiness of
his life consisting in that animal gratification afforded him by the
sports of the chase, or the bloodier diversion of the field of battle.
Education was neglected and despised even by the wealthy, few of whom were
able to read, and almost none to write. As for the middle and lower
orders, fragments of rude traditionary songs constituted their entire
learning, and the savage war-dance, inspired by the barbarous music of
their native hills, their principal amusement. At the same time, it is
not to be supposed that virtue and intelligence were extinct among them.
There must be many exceptions to all general rules, and however
unfavourable the circumstances under which they were placed for calling
into activity the higher attributes of man's nature, it is not to be
denied, that their chronicles record, even in the lowest ranks, many
bright examples of patience, perseverance, unsinking fortitude, and
fidelity founded upon generous and exalted attachment.
It has been said, that under the reigns of the Fourth and Fifth James, the
moral and political aspect of the Scotch horizon began to brighten. This
is to be attributed partly to the beneficial changes which the progress of
time was effecting throughout Europe, and which gradually extended
themselves to Scotland,--and partly to the personal character of these two
monarchs. France, Germany, and England, had made considerable strides out
of the gloom of the dark ages, even before the appearance of Francis I.,
Charles V., and Henry VIII. James IV., naturally of a chivalric and ardent
disposition, was extremely anxious to advance his own country in the scale
of nations; and whilst, by the urbanity of his manners, he succeeded in
winning the affections of his nobles, he contrived also to find a place in
the hearts of his inferior subjects, even beside that allotted to their
own hereditary chieftain,--an achievement which few of his predecessors
had been able to accomplish. The unfortunate battle of Flodden, is a
melancholy record both of the vigour of James's reign, and of the national
advantages which his romantic spirit induced him to risk in pursuit of the
worthless phantom of military renown.
James V. had much of the ardour of his father, combined with a somewhat
greater share of prudence. He it was who first made any successful inroads
upon the exorbitant powers of his nobility; and though, upon more
occasions than one, he was made to pay dearly for his determination to
vindicate the regal authority, he was, nevertheless, true to his purpose
to the very last. There seem to be three features in the reign of this
prince which particularly deserve attention. The first is, the more
extensive intercourse than had hitherto subsisted, which he established
between Scotland and foreign nations,--particularly with France. The
inexhaustible ambition of Charles V., which aimed at universal empire, and
which probably would have accomplished its design had he not met with a
rival so formidable as Francis I., was the means of convincing the other
states of Europe, that the only security for their separate independence
was the preservation of a balance of power. Italy was thus roused into
activity, and England, under Henry VIII., took an active share in the
important events of the age. To the continental powers, against whom that
monarch's strength was directed, it became a matter of no small moment to
secure the assistance of Scotland. Both Francis and Charles, therefore,
paid their court to James, who, finding it necessary to become the ally of
one or other, prudently rejected the empty honours offered him by the
Emperor, and continued faithful to France. He went himself to Paris in
1536, where he married Magdalene, daughter of Francis. She died however
soon after his return home; but determined not to lose the advantages
resulting from a French alliance, he again married, in the following year,
Mary of Lorraine, daughter to the Duke of Guise, and the young widow of
the Duke of Longueville. Following the example of their king, most of the
Scotch nobility visited France, and as many as could afford it, sent their
sons thither to be educated; whilst on the other hand, numerous French
adventurers landed in Scotland, bringing along with them some of the
French arts and luxuries. Thus the manners of the Scotch, gradually began
to lose a little of that unbending severity, which had hitherto rendered
them so repulsive.
The second peculiarity in the reign of James V., is the countenance and
support he bestowed upon the clergy. This he did, not from any motives of
bigotry, but solely as a matter of sound policy. He saw that he could not
stand alone against his nobles, and he was therefore anxious to raise into
an engine of power, a body of men whose interests he thus identified with
his own. It is remarkable, that even in the most flourishing days of
Catholicism, when the Pope's ecclesiastical authority extended itself
everywhere, Scotland alone was overlooked. The king was there always the
head of the church, in so far as regarded all ecclesiastical appointments,
and the patronage of his bishoprics and abbeys was no slight privilege to
the Scottish monarch, denied as it was to other kings of more extensive
temporal jurisdiction. James converted into benefices, several of the
forfeited estates of his rebellious nobles, and raised the clergy to a
pitch of authority they had never before possessed in Scotland. He acted
upon principle, and perhaps judiciously; but he was not aware, that by
thus surrounding his priests with wealth and luxury, he was paving the way
for their utter destruction, and a new and better order of things.
It will be useful to observe, as the third characteristic of this reign,
the encouragement James gave to the arts and sciences. For the first time,
education began to take some form and system. He gave stability to the
universities, and was careful to select for them the best teachers. He was
fond of drawing to his court men of learning and genius. He was himself a
poet of considerable ability. He had likewise devoted much of his
attention to architecture--his fondness for which elegant study was
testified, by his anxiety to repair, or rebuild, most of the royal
palaces. He established also on a permanent footing, the Court of Session,
or College of Justice; and though his reign, as a whole, was not a happy
one, it probably redounded more to the advantage of his country than that
of any of his predecessors.
At his death, which took place in 1542, at the early age of 30,
accelerated by the distress of mind occasioned by the voluntary defeats
which his refractory nobles allowed themselves to sustain, both at Falla
and Solway Moss, Scotland speedily fell into a state of confusion and
civil war. The events which followed are indissolubly connected with the
subject of these Memoirs, and are related at length in the succeeding
pages.
LIFE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
CHAPTER I.
SCOTLAND AND ITS TROUBLES DURING MARY'S INFANCY.
James V. left, as an inheritance to his kingdom, an expensive and
destructive war with England. He likewise left what, under such
circumstances, was a very questionable advantage, a treasury well stored
with gold, and a coinage in good condition, produced from the mines which
he had worked in Scotland. The foreign relations of the country demanded
the utmost attention; but the long minority necessarily ensuing, as Mary,
his only surviving lawful child, was but a few days old when James died,
awakened hopes and wishes in the ambitious which superseded all other
considerations. For a time England was forgotten; and the prize of the
Regency became a bone of civil contention and discord.
There were three persons who aspired to that office, and the pretensions
of each had their supporters, as interest or reason might dictate. The
first was the Queen-Dowager, a lady who inherited many of the peculiar
virtues, as well as some of the failings, of the illustrious house of
Guise, to which she belonged. She possessed a bold and masculine
understanding, a perseverance to overcome difficulties, and a fortitude to
bear up against misfortunes, not often met with among her sex. She was
indeed superior to most of the weaknesses of the female character; and
having, from her earliest years, deeply studied the science of government,
she felt herself, so far as mere political tactics and diplomatic
acquirements were concerned, able to cope with the craftiest of the Scotch
nobility. Besides, her intimate connexion with the French court, coupled
with the interest she might naturally be supposed to take in the affairs
of a country over which her husband had reigned, and which was her
daughter's inheritance, seemed to give her a claim of the strongest kind.
The second aspirant was Cardinal David Beaton, at that time the undoubted
head of the Catholic party in Scotland. He was a man whose abilities all
allowed, and who, had he been less tinctured with severity, and less
addicted to the exclusive principles of the Church of Rome, might probably
have filled with _eclat_ the very highest rank in the State. He
endeavoured to strengthen his title to the Regency, by producing the will
of James V. in his favour. But as this will was dated only a short while
before the King's death, it was suspected that the Prelate had himself
written it, and obtained the King's signature, at a time when his bodily
weakness had impaired his mental faculties. Beaton was, moreover, from his
violence and rigour, particularly obnoxious to all those who favoured the
Reformation.
James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, and next heir to the throne, was the third
candidate, and the person upon whom the choice of the people ultimately
fell. In more settled times, this choice might possibly have been
judicious; but Arran was of far too weak and irresolute a character to be
able to regulate the government with that decision and firmness which the
existing emergency required. He had few opinions of his own, and was
continually driven hither and thither by the contradictory counsels of
those who surrounded him. He had joined, however, the reformed religion;
and this, together with the inoffensive softness of his disposition, made
him, in the eyes of many, only the more fit to govern.
The annexation of Scotland to the crown of England, either by conquest or
the more amicable means of marriage, had for many years been the object
nearest the heart of Henry VIII. and several of his predecessors. That his
father, in particular, Henry VII., had given some thought to this subject,
is evident from the answer he made to such of his Privy Council as were
unwilling that he should give his daughter Margaret in marriage to James
IV., on the ground that the English Crown might, through that marriage,
devolve to a King of Scotland. "Whereunto the King made answer, and said,
'What then? for if any such thing should happen (which God forbid), yet I
see our kingdom should take no harm thereby, because England should not
be added unto Scotland, but Scotland unto England, as to the far most
noble head of the whole island; for so much as it is always so, that the
lesser is wont, for honour's sake, to be adjoined to that which is far the
greater.'"[1] How correct Henry VII. was in his opinion, the accession of
James VI. sufficiently proved.
Henry VIII., though aiming at the same object as his father, thought it
more natural that Scotland should accept of an English, than England of a
Scottish King. Immediately, therefore, after the birth of Mary, he
determined upon straining every nerve to secure her for his son Edward.
For this purpose, he concluded a temporary peace with the Regent Arran,
and sent back into Scotland the numerous prisoners who had surrendered
themselves at Solway Moss, upon an understanding that they should do all
they could to second his views with their countrymen. His first proposals,
however, were so extravagant, that the Scottish Parliament would not
listen to them for a moment. He demanded not only that the young Queen
should be sent into England, to be educated under his own superintendance,
but that he himself, as her future father-in-law, should be allowed an
active share in the government of Scotland. Having subsequently consented
to depart considerably from the haughty tone in which these terms were
dictated, a treaty of marriage was agreed upon at the instigation of
Arran, whom Henry had won to his interests, in which it was promised, that
Mary should be sent into England at the age of ten, and that six persons
of rank should, in the mean time, be delivered as hostages for the
fulfilment of this promise.
It may easily be conceived, that whatever the Regent, together with some
of the reformed nobility and their partisans, might think of this treaty,
the Queen Mother and Cardinal Beaton, who had for the present formed a
coalition, could not be very well satisfied with it. Henry, with all the
hasty violence of his nature, had, in a fit of spleen, espoused the
reformed opinions; and if Mary became the wife of his son, it was evident
that all the interests both of the House of Guise and of the Catholic
religion in Scotland, would suffer a fatal blow. By their forcible
representations of the inevitable ruin which they alleged this alliance
would bring upon Scotland, converting it into a mere province of their
ancient and inveterate enemies, and obliging it to renounce forever the
friendship of their constant allies the French, they succeeded in
effecting a change in public opinion; and the result was, that Arran found
himself at length obliged to yield to their superior influence, to deliver
up to the Cardinal and Mary of Lorraine the young Queen, and refuse to
ratify the engagements he had entered into with Henry. The Cardinal now
carried every thing before him, having converted or intimidated almost all
his enemies. The Earl of Lennox alone, a nobleman whose pretensions were
greater than his power, could not forgive Beaton for having used him
merely as a cat's paw in his intrigues to gain the ascendency over Arran.
Lennox had himself aspired at the Regency, alleging that his title, as
presumptive heir to the Crown, was a more legitimate one than that of the
House of Hamilton, to which Arran belonged. But the still more ambitious
Cardinal flattered only to deceive him; and when Lennox considered his
success certain, he found himself farther from the object of his wishes
than ever.
Seeing every other hope vain, Lennox set on foot a secret correspondence
with Henry, promising that monarch his best support, should he determine
upon avenging the insult he had sustained, through the vacillating conduct
of the Scotch. Henry gladly availed himself of the offer, and sent a
considerable force under the Earl of Hartford to the North, by sea, which,
having landed at Leith, and plundered that place, as well as the
neighbouring city of Edinburgh, again took its departure for England,
without attempting to penetrate further into the country. This was an
unprofitable and ill-advised expedition, for it only tended to exasperate
the minds of the Scotch, without being of any service to Henry. The Earl
of Huntly well remarked concerning it, that even although he might have
had no objections to the proposed match, he had a most especial dislike to
the manner of wooing.
The Earl of Lennox now found himself deserted in the midst of his former
friends, and went prudently into voluntary exile, by retiring into
England. Here Henry, in reward of his former services, gave him his niece,
the Lady Margaret Douglas, in marriage. She was the daughter, by the
second marriage, of Henry's sister, the Lady Margaret, wife of James IV.,
who, after the King's death, espoused Archibald Earl of Angus. By this
alliance, Lennox, though it was impossible for him to foresee such a
result, became the father of Henry Darnley, and a long line of Kings.
Shortly afterwards, an event well known in Scottish history, and which was
accomplished by means only too frequently resorted to in those unsettled
times, facilitated the conclusion of a short peace with England. Cardinal
Beaton, elevated by his success, and anxious, now that all more immediate
danger was removed, to re-establish on a firmer basis the tottering
authority of the Romish Church, determined upon striking awe into the
people, by some memorable examples of severity towards heretics. About the
end of the year 1545, he made a progress through several parts of his
diocess, accompanied by the Earl of Argyle, who was then Lord Justice
General, and other official persons, for the purpose of trying and
punishing offenders against the laws of the Church. At Perth, several of
the lieges were found guilty of arguing or disputing concerning the sense
of the Holy Scriptures, in opposition to an Act of Parliament, which
forbade any such freedom of speech, and five men and one woman were
condemned to die. Great intercession was made for them, but in vain; the
men were hanged, and the woman was drowned. Still farther to intimidate
the Reformers, a yet more memorable instance of religious persecution and
cruelty was presented to them a few months afterwards. George Wishart was
at this time one of the most learned and zealous of all the supporters of
the new doctrines in Scotland. He had been educated at the University of
Cambridge, and had, in his youth, officiated as one of the masters of the
grammar school at Montrose. His talents and perseverance rendered him
particularly obnoxious to the Cardinal, who, having contrived to make him
his prisoner, carried him to his castle at St Andrews. An Ecclesiastical
Court was there assembled, at which Wishart was sentenced to be burnt. It
may give us a clearer idea of the spirit of the times, to know, that on
the day on which this sentence was to be put in execution, Beaton issued a
proclamation, forbidding any one, under pain of church censure, to offer
up prayers for so notorious a heretic. When Wishart was brought to the
stake, and after the fire had been kindled, and was already beginning to
take effect, it is said that he turned his eyes towards a window in the
castle overlaid with tapestry, at which the Cardinal was sitting, viewing
with complacency the unfortunate man's suffering, and exclaimed,--"He who,
from yonder high place, beholdeth me with such pride, shall, within few
days, be in as much shame as now he is seen proudly to rest himself."
These words, though they met with little attention at the time, were
spoken of afterwards as an evident and most remarkable prophecy.
It was not long after this martyrdom, that Cardinal Beaton was present at
the marriage of one of his own illegitimate daughters, to whom he gave a
dowry of 4000 merks, and whose nuptials were solemnized with great
magnificence. Probably he conceived, that the more heretics he burned, the
more unblushingly he might confess his own sins against both religion and
common morality.
On the prelate's return to St Andrew's, Norman Lesly, a young man of
strong passions, and eldest Son to the Earl of Rothes, came to him to
demand some favour, which the Cardinal thought proper to refuse. The
particulars of the quarrel are not precisely known, but it must have been
of a serious kind; for Lesly, taking advantage of the popular feeling
which then existed against the Cardinal, determined upon seeking his own
revenge by the assassination of Beaton. He associated with himself several
accomplices, who undertook to second him in this design. Early on the
morning of the 29th of May 1546, having entered the castle by the gate,
which was open to admit some workmen who were repairing the
fortifications, he and his assistants proceeded to the door of the
Cardinal's chamber, at which they knocked. Beaton asked,--"Who is
there?"--Norman answered,--"My name is Lesly,"--adding, that the door must
be opened to him, and those that were with him. Beaton now began to fear
the worst, and attempted to secure the door. But Lesly called for fire to
burn it, upon which the Cardinal, seeing all resistance useless, permitted
them to enter. They found him sitting on a chair, pale and agitated; and
as they approached him he exclaimed,--"I am a Priest--ye will not slay
me!" Lesly, however, losing all command of his temper, struck him more
than once, and would have proceeded to further indignities, had not James
Melville, one of the assassins, "a man," says Knox, "of nature most gentle
and most modest," drawn his sword, and presenting the point to the
Cardinal, advised him to repent of his sins, informing him, at the same
time, that no hatred he bore his person, but simply his love of true
religion induced him to take part against one whom he looked upon as an
enemy to the gospel. So saying, and without waiting for an answer, he
stabbed him twice or thrice through the body. When his friends and
servants collected without, the conspirators lifted up the deceased
Prelate, and showed him to them from the very window at which he had sat
at the day of Wishart's execution. Beaton, at the time of his death, was
fifty-two. He had long been one of the leading men in Scotland, and had
enjoyed the favour of the French King, as well as that of his own
sovereign James V. Some attempt was made by the Regent to punish his
murderers, but they finally escaped into France.[2]
There is good reason to believe that Henry VIII. secretly encouraged Lesly
and his associates in this dishonest enterprise. But, if such be the case,
that monarch did not live long enough to reap the fruits of its success.
He died only a few months later than the Cardinal; and, about the same
time, his cotemporary, Francis I., was succeeded on his throne by his son
Henry II. These changes did not materially affect the relative situation
of Scotland. They may, perhaps, have opened up still higher hopes to the
Queen Dowager, and the French party; but, in England, the Duke of
Somerset, who had been appointed Lord Protector during the minority of
Edward VI., was determined upon following out the plans of the late
monarch, and compelling the Scotch to agree to the alliance which he had
proposed.
In prosecution of his designs, he marched a powerful army into Scotland,
and the result was the unfortunate battle of Pinkie. The Earl of Arran,
whose exertions to rescue the country from this new aggression, were
warmly seconded by the people, collected a force sufficiently numerous to
enable him to meet and offer battle to Somerset. The English camp was in
the neighbourhood of Prestonpans, and the Scotch took up very advantageous
ground about Musselburgh and Inveresk. Military discipline was at that
time but little understood in this country; and the reckless impetuosity
of the Scotch infantry was usually attended either with immediate success,
or, by throwing the whole battle into confusion, with irretrievable and
signal defeat. The weapons to which they principally trusted, were, in the
first place, the pike, with which, upon joining with the enemy, all the
fore-rank, standing shoulder to shoulder together, thrust straight
forwards, those who stood in the second rank putting their pikes over the
shoulders of their comrades before them. The length of these pikes or
spears was eighteen feet six inches. They seem to have been used
principally on the first onset, and were probably speedily relinquished
for the more efficient exercise of the sword, which was broad and thin,
and of excellent temper. It was employed to cut or slice with, not to
thrust; and, in defence against any similar weapon of the enemy, a large
handkerchief was wrapt twice or thrice about the neck, and a buckler
invariably carried on the left arm.[3]
For some days the two armies continued in sight of each other, without
coming to any general engagement. The hourly anxiety which prevailed at
Edinburgh regarding the result, may be easily imagined. To inspire the
soldiers with the greater courage, it was enacted by Government, that the
heirs of those who fell upon this occasion in defence of their country,
should for five years be free from Government taxes, and the usual
assessments levied by landlords. At length, on Saturday the 10th of
September 1547, the Scotch, misled by a motion in the English army, which
they conceived indicated a design to retreat, rashly left their superior
situation, and crossing the mouth of the Esk at Musselburgh, gave the
Protector battle in the fields of Pinkie, an adjoining country seat. They
were thus so exposed, that the English fleet, which lay in the bay, was
enabled, by firing upon their flank to do them much mischief. The Earl of
Angus, who was leading the van-guard, found himself suddenly assailed by a
flight of arrows, a raking fire from a regiment or two of foreign
fusileers, and a discharge of cannon which unexpectedly opened upon him.
Unable to advance, he attempted to change his position for a more
advantageous one. The main body imagined he was falling back upon them in
confusion; and to heighten their panic, a vigorous charge, which was at
this moment made by the English cavalry, decided the fortune of the day.
After a feeble resistance the Scotch fled towards Dalkeith, Edinburgh, and
Leith, and being hotly pursued by their enemies, all the three roads were
strewed with the dead and dying. In this battle the Earl of Arran lost
upwards of 8000 men; among whom were Lord Fleming, together with many
other Scotch noblemen and gentlemen.
The English army advanced immediately upon Leith, which they took and
pillaged; and would have entered Edinburgh, had they not found it
impossible to make themselves masters of the Castle. The fleet ravaged the
towns and villages on the coasts of the Forth, and proceeded as far north
as the River Tay, seizing on whatever shipping they could meet with in the
harbours by which they passed.
Far, however, from obtaining by these violent measures, the ultimate
object of his desires, Somerset found himself farther from his point than
ever. The Scotch, enraged against England, threw themselves into the arms
of France; and the Protector, understanding that affairs in the south had
fallen into confusion, in his absence, was obliged to return home, leaving
strong garrisons in Haddington, and one or two other places, which he had
captured. The Earl of Arran, and Mary of Guise, sent immediate
intelligence to Henry II., of all that had taken place; and, sanctioned by
the Scottish Parliament, offered to conclude a treaty of marriage between
his infant son, the Dauphin Francis, and the young Scottish Queen. They,
moreover, agreed to send Mary into France, to be educated at the French
Court, until such time as the nuptials could be solemnized. This proposal
was every way acceptable to Henry, who, like his father Francis, perfectly
understood the importance of a close alliance with Scotland, as the most
efficient means for preventing the English from invading his own
dominions. He sent over an army of 6000 men, to the aid of the Regent; and
in the same vessels, which brought these troops, Mary was conveyed from
Dumbarton into France. Henry also, with much sound policy, in order to
strengthen his interests in Scotland, bestowed, about this time, upon the
Earl of Arran, the title of the Duke of Chatelherault, together with a
pension of some value. During a period of two years, a continual series of
skirmishings were carried on between the Scotch, supported by their French
allies, and the English; but without any results of much consequence on
either side. In 1550, a general peace was concluded; and the marriage of
the Scottish Queen was never afterwards made the ground of war between the
two countries.
From this period, till Mary's return to her own country, the attention of
Scotland was entirely engrossed with its own affairs, and the various
important events connected with the rise, progress, and establishment of
the Reformation. As these effected no slight change in the political
aspect of the country, and exercised a material influence over Mary's
future destiny, it will be proper to give some account of them in this
place; and these details being previously gone through, the narrative, in
so far as regards Queen Mary, will thus be preserved unbroken.