ous. As the queen herself was known perfectly to understand the circumstances and temper of the nation, this measure was imputed wholly to the suggestions of her foreign counsellors; and the Scots were ready to proceed to the most violent extremities against them. Attempts to en in a war with Engiand. The French, instead of extinguishgage the kingdom ing, added fuel to the flame. They had now commenced hostilities against Spain, and Philip had prevailed on the queen of England to reinforce his army with a considerable body of her troops. In order to deprive him of this aid, Henry had recourse, as he projected, to the Scots; and attempted to excite them to invade England. But as Scotland had nothing to dread from a princess of Mary's character, who, far from any ambitious scheme of disturbing her neighbours, was wholly occupied in endeavouring to reclaim her heretical subjects; the nobles, who were assembled by the queen regent at Newbattle, listened to the solicitations of the French monarch with extreme coldness, and prudently declined engaging the kingdom in an enterprise so dangerous and unnecessary. What she could not obtain by persuasion, the queen regent brought about by a stratagem. Notwithstanding the peace which subsisted between the two kingdoms, she commanded her French soldiers to rebuild a small fort near Berwick, which was appointed, by the last treaty, to be razed. The garrison of Berwick sallied out, interrupted the work, and ravaged the adjacent country. This insult roused the fiery spirit of the Scots, and their promptness to revenge the least appearance of national injury, dissipated, in a moment, the wise and pacific resolutions which they had so lately formed. War was determined, and orders instantly given for raising a numerous army. But before their forces could assemble, the ardour of their indignation had time to cool, and the English having discovered no intention to push the war with vigour, the nobles resumed their pacific system, and resolved to stand altogether upon the defensive. They marched to the banks of the Tweed, they prevented the incursions of the enemy; and having done what they thought sufficient for the safety and honour of their country, the queen could not induce them, either by her entreaties or her artifices, to advance another step. 1556. While the Scots persisted in their inactivity, D'Oysel, the commander of the French troops, who possessed entirely the confidence of the queen regent, endeavoured, with her connivance, to enrage the two nations in hostilities. Contrary to the orders of the Scottish general, he marched over the Tweed with his own soldiers, and invested Werk castle, a garrison of the English. The Scots, instead of seconding his attempt, were enraged at his preKumption. The queen's partiality towards France had long been suspected; but it was now visible that she wantonly sacrificed the peace and safety of i Strype's Memor. iii. Append. 74. Lesley, 196. Scotland to the interests of that ambitious and assuming ally. Under the feudal governments, it was in camps that subjects were accustomed to address the boldest remonstrances to their sovereigns. While arms were in their hands, they felt their own strength; and at that time all their representations of grievances carried the authority of commands. On this occasion, the resentment of the nobles broke out with such violence, that the queen, perceiving all attempts to engage them in action to be vain, abruptly dismissed her army, and retired with the utmost shame and disgust; having discovered the impotence of her authority, without affecting any thing which could be of advantage to France.i It is observable, that this first instance of contempt for the regent's authority can, in no degree, be imputed to the influence of the new opinions in religion. As the queen's pretensions to the regency had been principally supported by those who favoured the reformation, and as she still needed them for a counterpoise to the archbishop of St. Andrew's, and the partisans of the house of Hamilton, she continued to treat them with great respect, and admitted them to no inconsiderable share in her favour and confidence. Kirkaldy of The queen's mar dauphin. Grange and the other surviving conspirators against cardinal Beatoun, were, about this time, recalled by her from banishment; and, through her connivance, the protestant preachers enjoyed an interval of tranquillity, which was of great advantage to their cause. Soothed by these instances of the queen's moderation and humanity, the protestants left to others the office of remonstrating; and the leaders of the opposite factions set them the first example of disputing the will of their sovereign. As the queen regent felt how limited and precarious her authority was riage with the while it depended on the poise of these contrary factions, she endeavoured to establish it on a broader and more secure foundation, by hastening the conclusion of her daughter's marriage with the dauphin. Amiable as the queen of Scots then was, in the bloom of youth, and considerable as the territories were, which she would have added to the French monarchy, reasons were not wanting to dissuade Henry from completing his first plan of marrying her to his son. The constable Montmorency had employed all his interest to defeat an alliance which reflected so much lustre on the princes of Lorrain. He had represented the impossibility of maintaining order and tranquillity among a turbulent people, during the absence of their sovereign; and for that reason had advised Henry to bestow the young queen upon one of the princes of the blood, who, by residing in Scotland, might preserve that kingdom a useful ally to France, which, by a nearer union to the crown, would become a mutinous and ungovernable province. But at this time the constable was a prisoner in the hands of the Spaniards; the princes k Melv. Mem. 15. of Lorrain were at the height of their power; and their influence, seconded by the charms of the young queen, triumphed over the prudent but envious remonstrances of their rival. Dec. 14. 1557. The French king accordingly applied to the parliament of Scotland, which appointed eight of its members' to represent the whole body of the nation, at the marriage of the queen. Among the persons on whom the public choice conferred this honourable character, were some of the most avowed and zealous advocates for the reformation; by which may be estimated the degree of respect and popularity which that party had now attained in the kingdom. The instructions of the parliament to those commissioners still remain," and do honour to the wisdom and integrity of that assembly. At the same time that they manifested, with respect to the articles of marriage, a laudable concern for the dignity and interest of their sovereign, they employed every precaution which prudence could dictate, for preserving the liberty and independence of the nation, and for securing the succession of the crown in the house of Hamilton. Artifices of the French in the marriage treaty. This grant, by which Mary bestowed the inheritance of her kingdom upon strangers, was concealed with the utmost care from her subjects. They seem, however, not to have been unacquainted with the intention of the French to overturn the settlement of the succession in favour of the duke of Chatelherault. The zeal with which the archbishop of St. Andrew's opposed all the measures of the queen regent, evidently proceeded from the fears and suspicions of that prudent prelate on this head." The marriage, however, was cele- April 14, 1558. brated with great pomp; and the French, who had hitherto affected to draw a veil over their designs upon Scotland, began now to unfold their intentions without any disguise. In the treaty of marriage, the deputies had agreed that the dauphin should assume the name of king of Scotland. This they considered only as an honorary title; but the French laboured to annex to it some solid privileges and power. They insisted that the dauphin's title should be publicly recognised; that the crown matrimonial should be conferred upon him; and that all the rights pertaining to the husband of a queen should be vested in his person. By the laws of Scotland, a person who married an heiress, kept possession of her estate during his own life, if he happened to survive her and the children born of the marriage. This was called the courtesy of Scotland. The French aimed at applying this rule, which takes place in private inheritances, to the succession of the kingdom; and that seems to be implied in their demand of the crown matrimonial, a phrase peculiar to the Scottish historians, and which they have neglected to explain. As the French had reason to expect difficulties in carrying through this measure, they began with sounding the deputies, who were then at Paris. The English, in the marriage-articles between their queen and Philip of Spain, had set an example to the age, of that prudent jealousy and reserve with which a foreigner should be admitted so near the throne. Full of the same ideas, the Scottish deputies had, in their oath of allegiance to the dauphin, expressed themselves with remarkable caution." Their answer was in the same spirit, respectful, but firm; and discovered a fixed resolution of consenting to nothing that tended to introduce any alteration in the order of succession to the crown. With regard to each of these, the Scots obtained whatever satisfaction their fear or jealousy could demand. The young queen, the dauphin, and the king of France, ratified every article with the most solemn oaths, and confirmed them by deeds in form under their hands and seals. But on the part of France, all this was one continued scene of studied and elaborate deceit. Previous to these public transactions with the Scottish deputies, Mary had been persuaded to subscribe privately three deeds, equally unjust and invalid; by which, failing the heirs of her own body, she conferred the kingdom of Scotland, with whatever inheritance or succession might accrue to it, in free gift upon the crown of France, declaring all promises to the contrary, which the necessity of her affairs, and the solicitations of her subjects, had extorted, or might extort, from her, to be void and of no obligation." As it gives us a proper idea of the character of the French court under Henry II., we may observe that the king himself, the keeper of the great seals, the duke of Guise, and the cardinal of Lorrain, were the persons engaged in conducting this perfidious and dishonourable project. The queen of Scots was the only innocent actor in that scene of iniquity. Her youth, her inexperience, her education in a foreign country, and her deference to the will of her uncles, must go far towards vindicating her, in the judgment of every impartial person, from any im-saries of the house of Guise. The historians of all putation of blame on that account. Four of the deputies happening to die before they returned into Scotland, this accident was universally imputed to the effects of poison, which was supposed to have been given them by the emis nations discover an amazing credulity with respect gether with the queen. In consequence of this, the subjects took an oath of fidelity to him. Keith, Append. 20. His authority became, in some mea sure, co-ordinate with that of the queen; and without his concurrence, ma nifested by signing his name, no public deed seems to have been considered as valid. By the oath of fidelity of the Scotch commissioners to the dau phin, it is evident that, in their opinion, the rights belonging to the cro matrimonial subsisted only during the continuance of the marriage. Keith, Append. 20. But the conspirators against Rizzio bound themselves to procure a grant of the crown matrimonial to Darnley, during all the days of his life. Keith, Append. 120. Good. i. 227. r Keith, Append. 20, s The bishop of Orkney, the earl of Rothes, the earl of Cassils, and lord Fleming. | to rumours of this kind, which are so well calculated to please the malignity of some men, and to gratify the love of the marvellous which is natural to all, that in every age they have been swallowed without examination, and believed contrary to reason. No wonder the Scots should easily give credit to a suspicion, which received such strong colours of probability, both from their own resent-cising that worship, which so great a part of the ment, and from the known character of the princes of Lorrain, so little scrupulous about the justice of the ends which they pursued, or of the means which they employed. For the honour of human nature, however, it must be observed, that as we can discover no motive which could induce any man to perpetrate such a crime, so there appears no evidence to prove that it was committed. But the Scots of that age, influenced by national animosities and prejudices, were incapable of examining the circumstances of the case with calmness, or of judging concerning them with candour. All parties agreed in believing the French to have been guilty of this detestable action; and it is obvious how much this tended to increase the aversion for them, which was growing among all ranks of men. catholics, both in power and in number; and, conscious of their own strength, they submitted with impatience to that tyrannical authority with which the ancient laws armed the ecclesiastics against them. They longed to be exempted from this oppressive jurisdiction, and publicly to enjoy the liberty of professing those opinions, and of exer The regent pre Itament to grant Notwithstanding the cold reception Fett part, which their proposal concerning the crown matrimonial met with from the Scottish deputies, the French ventured to move it in parliament. The partisans of the house of Hamilton, suspicious of their designs upon the succession, opposed it with great zeal. But a party, which the feeble and unsteady conduct of their leader had brought under much disreputation, was little able to withstand the influence of France, and the address of the queen regent, seconded, on this occasion, by all the numerous adherents of the reformation. Besides, that artful princess dressed out the French demands in a less offensive garb, and threw in so many limitations as seemed to render them of small consequence. These either deceived the Scots, or removed their scruples; and in compliance to the queen, they passed an act, conferring the crown matrimonial on the dauphin; and with the fondest credulity, trusted to the frail security of words and statutes, against the dangerous encroachments of power.' Continues to court The concurrence of the protestants the protestants. with the queen regent, in promoting a measure so acceptable to France, while the popish clergy, under the influence of the archbishop of St. Andrew's, opposed it with so much violence," is one of those singular circumstances in the conduct of parties, for which this period is so remarkable. It may be ascribed, in some degree, to the dexterous management of the queen, but chiefly to the moderation of those who favoured the reformation. The protestants were by this time almost equal to the The act of parliament is worded with the utmost care, with a view to pard against any breach of the order of succession. But the duke, not reyg on this alone, entered a solemn protestation to secure his own right. th. 76. It is plain that he suspected the French of having some intention set aside his right of succession; and, indeed, if they had no design of that kad, the eagerness with which they urged their demand was childish. nation deemed to be founded in truth, and to be acceptable to the Deity. This indulgence, to which the whole weight of priestly authority was opposed, there were only two ways of obtaining. Either violence must extort it from the reluctant hand of their sovereign, or by prudent compliances they might expect it from her favour or her gratitude. The former is an expedient for the redress of grievances, to which no nation has recourse suddenly; and subjects seldom venture upon resistance, which is their last remedy, but in cases of extreme necessity. On this occasion the reformers wisely held the opposite course, and by their zeal in forwarding the queen's designs, they hoped to merit her protection. This disposition the queen encouraged to the utmost, and amused them so artfully with many promises, and some concessions, that, by their assistance, she surmounted in parliament the force of a national and laudable jealousy, which would otherwise have swayed with the greater number. Another circumstance contributed somewhat to acquire the regent such considerable influence in this parliament. In Scotland, all the bishoprics, and those abbeys which conferred a title to a seat in parliament, were in the gift of the crown. From the time of her accession to the regency, the queen had kept in her own hands almost all those which became vacant, except such as were, to the great disgust of the nation, bestowed upon foreigners. Among these, her brother the cardinal of Lorrain had obtained the abbeys of Kelso and Melrose, two of the most wealthy foundations in the kingdom. By this conduct, she thinned the ecclesiastical bench, which was entirely under the influence of the archbishop of St. Andrew's, and which by its numbers and authority, usually had great weight in the house, so as to render any opposition it could give at that time of little consequence. The earl of Argyll, and James Stewart, prior of St. Andrew's, one the most powerful, and the other the most popular, leader of the protestants, were appointed to carry the crown and other ensigns of royalty to the dauphin. But from this they were diverted by the part they were called to act in a more interesting scene, which now begins to open. Before we turn towards this, it is Elizabeth sucnecessary to observe, that on the seven- ceeds to the crown of England. teenth of November, one thousand five hundred and fifty-eight, Mary of England finished her short and inglorious reign. Her sister Elizabeth took possession of the throne without opposition; and the protestant religion was, once more, established by law in England. The accession of a queen, who, under very difficult circumstances, had given strong indications of those eminent qualities, which, in the sequel, rendered her reign so illustrious, attracted the eyes of all Europe. Among the Scots, both parties observed her first motions with the utmost solicitude, as they easily foresaw that she would not remain long an indifferent spectator of their transactions. Under many discouragements and much oppression, the reformation advanced towards a full establishment in Scotland. All the low country, the most populous, and at that time the most warlike, part of the kingdom, was deeply tinctured with the protestant opinions; and if the same impressions were not made in the more distant counties, it was owing to no want of the same dispositions among the people, but to the scarcity of preachers, whose most indefatigable zeal could not satisfy the avidity of those who desired their instructions. Among a people bred to arms, and as prompt as the Scots to act with violence; and in an age when religious passions had taken such strong possession of the human mind, and moved and agitated it with so much violence, the peaceable and regular demeanour of so numerous a party is astonishing. From the death of Mr. Patrick Hamilton, the first who suffered in Scotland for the protestant religion, thirty years had elapsed, and, during so long a period, no violation of public order or tranquillity had proceeded from that sect; and though roused and irritated by the most cruel excesses of ecclesiastical tyranny, they did, in no instance, transgress those bounds of duty which the law prescribes to subjects. Besides the prudence of their own leaders, and the protection which the queen regent, from political motives, afforded them, the moderation of the archbishop of St. Andrew's encouraged this pacific disposition. That prelate, whose private life contemporary writers tax with great irregularities, governed the church, for some years, with a temper and prudence of which there are few examples in that age. But some time before the meeting of the last parliament, the archbishop departed from those humane maxims by which he had hitherto regulated his conduct; and, whether in spite to the queen, who had entered into so close a union with the protestants, or in compliance with the importunities of his clergy, he let loose all the rage of persecution against the reformed; sentenced to the flames an aged priest who had been convicted of embracing the protestant opinions; and summoned several others suspected of the same crime, to appear before a synod of the clergy, which was soon to convene at Edinburgh. Nothing could equal the horror of the protestants at this unexpected and barbarous execution, but a The murder of cardinal Beatoun was occasioned by private revenge; and being contrived and executed by sixteen persons only, cannot with justice be imputed to the whole protestant party. the zeal with which they espoused the defence of a cause that now seemed devoted to destruction. They had immediate recourse to the queen regent; and as her success in the parliament, which was then about to meet, depended on their concurrence, she not only sheltered them from the impending storm, but permitted them the exercise of their religion with more freedom than they had hitherto enjoyed. Unsatisfied with this precarious tenure by which they held their religious liberty, the protestants laboured to render their possession of it more secure and independent. With this view they determined to petition the parliament for some legal protection against the exorbitant and oppressive jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts, which, by their arbitrary method of proceeding, founded in the canon law, were led to sentences the most shocking to humanity, by maxims the most repugnant to justice. But the queen, who dreaded the effect of a debate on this delicate subject, which could not fail of exciting high and dangerous passions, prevailed on the leaders of the party, by new and more solemn promises of her protection, to desist from any application to parliament, where their numbers and influence would, in all probability, have procured them, if not entire redress, at least some mitigation, of their grievances. They applied to another assembly, to a convocation of the popish clergy, but with the same ill success which hath always attended every proposal for reformation, addressed to that order of men. To abandon usurped power, to renounce lucrative error, are sacrifices, which the virtue of individuals has, on some occasions, offered to truth; but from any society of men no such effort can be expected. The corruptions of a society, recommended by common utility, and justified by universal practice, are viewed by its members without shame or horror; and reformation never proceeds from themselves, but is always forced upon them by some foreign hand. Suitable to this unfeeling and inflexible spirit was the behaviour of the convocation in the present conjuncture. All the demands of the protestants were rejected with contempt; and the popish clergy, far from endeavouring, by any prudent concessions, to sooth and reconcile such a numerous body, asserted the doctrines of their church, concerning some of the most exceptionable articles, with an ill-timed rigour, which gave new offence.* concerning the influence of prosperity to alter the character and to corrupt the heart. The queen, say they, having reached the utmost point to which her ambition aspired, no longer preserved her accustomed moderation, but, with an insolence usual to the fortunate, looked down upon those by whose assistance she had been enabled to rise so high. But it is neither in the depravity of the human heart, nor in the ingratitude of the queen's disposition, that we must search for the motives of her present conduct. These were derived from another, and a more remote, source, which, in order to clear the subsequent transactions, we shall endeavour to open with some care. Ambitious views Lorrain. The ambition of the princes of Lorof the princes of rain had been no less successful than daring; but all their schemes were distinguished by being vast and unbounded. Though strangers at the court of France, their eminent qualities had raised them, in a short time, to a height of power superior to that of all other subjects, and had placed them on a level even with the princes of the blood themselves. The church, the army, the revenue, were under their direction. Nothing but the royal dignity remained unattained, and they were elevated to a near alliance with it, by the marriage of the queen of Scots to the dauphin. In order to gratify their own vanity, and to render their niece more worthy the heir of France, they set on foot her claim to the crown of England, which was founded on pretences not unplausible. The tragical amours and marriages of Henry VIII. are known to all the world. Moved by the caprices of his love, or of his resentment, that impatient and arbitrary monarch had divorced or beheaded four of the six queens whom he married. In order to gratify him, both his daughters had been declared illegitimate by act of parliament; and yet, with that fantastic inconsistence which distinguishes his character, he, in his last will, whereby he was empowered to settle the order of succession, called both of them to the throne upon the death of their brother Edward; and, at the same time, passing by the posterity of his eldest sister, Margaret queen of Scotland, he appointed the line of succession to continue in the descendants of his younger sister, the duchess of Suffolk. In consequence of this destination, the validity whereof was admitted by the English, but never recognised by foreigners, Mary had reigned in England without the least complaint of neighbouring princes. But the same causes which facilitated her accession to the throne, were obstacles to the clevation of her sister Elizabeth, and rendered her possession of it precarious and insecure. Rome trembled for the catholic faith, under a protestant queen of such eminent abilities. The same superstitious fears alarmed the court of Spain. France beheld with concern a throne, to which the queen Anders. Diplom. Scot. Nos. 68 and 164. • Forbes's Collect. i. 253, 269, 279, 404. They persuade the title of queen of England." of Scots could form so many pretensions, occupied by a rival, whose birth, in the opinion of all good catholics, excluded her from any legal right of succession. The impotent hatred of the Roman pontiff, or the slow councils of Philip II., would have produced no sudden or formidable effect. The ardent and impetuous ambition of the princes of Lorrain, who at that time governed the court of France, was more decisive, and more to be dreaded. Instigated by them, Henry, soon after the death of Mary, persuaded his daughter-inlaw, and her husband, to assume the title of king and queen of England. They affected to publish this to all Europe. They used that style and appellation in public papers, some of which still remain. The arms of England were engraved on their coin and plate, and borne by them on all occasions. No preparations, however, were made to support this impolitic and premature claim. Elizabeth was already seated on her throne; she possessed all the intrepidity of spirit, and all the arts of policy, which were necessary for maintaining that station. England was growing into reputation for naval power. The marine of France had been utterly neglected; and Scotland remained the only avenue by which the territories of Elizabeth could be approached. It was on that side, Resolve to invade therefore, that the princes of Lorrain England. determined to make their attack; and, by using the name and pretensions of the Scottish queen, they hoped to rouse the English catholics, formidable at that time by their zeal and numbers, and exasperated to the utmost against Elizabeth, on account of the change which she had made in the national religion. In order to this, necessary to check the reformation in Scotland. It was in vain to expect the assistance of the Scottish protestants to dethrone a queen, whom all Europe began to consider the most powerful guardian and defender of the reformed faith. To break the power and reputation of that party in Scotland became, for this reason, á necessary step towards the invasion of England. With this the princes of Lorrain resolved to open their scheme. And as persecution was the only method for suppressing religious opinions known in that age, or dictated by the despotic and sanguinary spirit of the Romish superstition, this, in its utmost violence, they determined to employ. The earl of Argyll, the prior of St. Andrew's, and other leaders of the party, were marked out by them for immediate destruction; and they hoped, by punishing them, to intimidate their followers. Instructions for this purpose were sent from France to the queen regent. That humane and sagacious princess condemned a measure which was equally violent and impolitic. By long residence in Scotland, she had become acquainted with the cager and impatient temper of the nation; she well knew the power, the number, and popu f Ibid. i. 152. |