ger upon her lips as a sign of imposing silence; and, having given them her blessing, desired them to pray for her. One of her maids, whom she had appointed for that purpose, covered her eyes with a handkerchief. The Queen then laid herself down without any signs of fear or trepidation; and her head was severed from her body, at two strokes, by the executioner. He instantly held it up to the spectators, streaming with blood. The convulsions of death were still writhing the countenance. The Dean of Peterborough exclaimed, "So perish all Queen Elizabeth's enemies!" The solitary voice of the Earl of Kent responded, "Amen!" The attention of all the other spectators was fixed on the melancholy scene before them; zeal and flattery alike gave place to pity and admiration of the expiring Princess. Mary died on the 8th of February 1587, in the forty-fifth year of her age, and the nineteenth of her captivity in England.

She was a woman of great accomplishments, natural as well as acquired. The beauties of her person and the graces of her air combined to form the most lovely of women, and the charms of her address and conversation rendered the impression indelible which her figure had made.

It was her misfortune to be educated at a polished but profligate court, where the principles of virtue and morality were practically disregarded. Whatever embellishments her education added to her beauty, had the unfortunate tendency, with the devotion which was at all times paid to her personal charms, of rendering her temper, naturally violent, extremely impatient of contradiction. Habituated to the splendour and gallantry of the most licentious court in Europe, she could not endure those restraints which the severer manners of her native country imposed.

The vivacity of her spirit, not sufficiently tempered with sound judgment, and the warmth of her heart, which was not at all times under the restraint of discretion, betrayed her both into errors and into crimes.

Nursed from her infancy in a blind attachment to the Roman Catholic religion, every means had been employed, before she left France, to strengthen this prejudice, and to inspire her with aversion to the Reformed opinions that had been embraced by her people. She was taught that it would be the great glory of her reign to reduce her kingdom to the obedience of the Romish see, and

T

to cooperate with the Popish princes on the Continent in extirpating heresy. With these unfortunate prepossessions, Mary came into Scotland; and it must be admitted, that neither the circumstances of her situation, the conduct of her countrymen, nor the genius of the age, were favourable to a change in her senti

ments.

Her education and early connexions made her a Catholic; her misfortunes had the unhappy effect to make her a bigot; and her tragical fate, combined with her religious prejudices, induced her to believe that posterity would regard her as a martyr.

Her cruel sufferings and celebrated beauty have been so eloquently described by her modern advocates, that her crimes have been cast into the shade. At the distance of two hundred years, her memory has called forth the zeal and chivalrous defence of a more enthusiastic band of champions than ever were mustered for her defence in her lifetime.

The political parties which were formed in Scotland during her reign, have subsisted, under various denominations, ever since.

CHAPTER IX.

Reconciliation between Elizabeth and James. Threatened invasion of Eng. land. The Spanish armada is dispersed. The King's marriage. Tumulis in Edinburgh. Conspiracy of the Catholic nobles-detected.

WHEN Queen Elizabeth was informed of Mary's execution, she affected the greatest surprise and concern. Her countenance changed; her speech faultered; sighs, tears, and lamentations, with weeds of mourning, were employed to display the greatness of her sorrow. She affirmed that Mary had been put to death without her knowledge and against her inclination. Under the pretence that he had exceeded his commission, Davidson, her secretary, was fined ten thousand pounds, and imprisoned.

These hypocritical appearances were assumed to appease the young King of Scotland, who publicly avowed his determination to employ the whole force of his kingdom in order to avenge his mother's death. He recalled his ambassador from the English court, and refused an audience to an envoy who had been sent with a letter of condolence and apology from Elizabeth. Many

of his nobles advised him to take up arms without delay; and the Catholics recommended a union with Spain.

After allowing James a decent interval tó vént his grief and anger, Elizabeth employed her emissaries to induce him, by every motive of hope and fear, to forbear hostilities. Her exertions were successful, and James fell into a good understanding with the court of England.

The safety of Britain, and the preservation of the Reformed religion, required the steady coöperation of the Scots and English. Philip of Spain projected not only the invasion but the conquest of England; and as Elizabeth's power and credit were the chief bulwarks of the Protestant religion, he hoped, by subduing that princess, to unite the whole Christian world in the Catholic communion. Both Elizabeth and Philip endeavoured to secure the alliance of the King of Scots; who conducted himself with judgment and prudence. In a convention of the nobles, he avowed his resolution of acting in concert with Elizabeth against the common enemy, and offered to send an army to her assistance. He informed the English ambassador, that he expected no other favour from Philip than what Polyphemus had promised to Ulysses,-that when he had devoured all his companions, he would make him his last morsal.

James's zeal was nobly seconded by the devotion of his subjects. For the defence of his person and government, in oppo sition to all enemies foreign and domestic, a bond was framed and subscribed by the nobles, the clergy, and the people. The Spanish armada, which was designed to annihilate the English navy, and transport an army for the subjugation of Britain, at last sailed. It consisted of one hundred and twenty vessels, strongly built, and of immense size; it carried two thousand six hundred and thirty great pieces of brass ordnance, and had on board eight thousand mariners and nineteen thousand soldiers. Philip had employed all the power of his dominions in Europe, and exhausted the treasures of the Indies, in preparing this armada; and the Pope, in his infallibility, gave it the appellation of Invincible.

Continual disasters attended its course: Tremendous storms and successive battles combined with the ill conduct of the Spaniards to frustrate its object; and not one half of the invincible armada returned to Spain. Seven hundred Spaniards, who had been

A.D.

forced on shore by a tempest, were treated by James with 1588. great humanity, and permitted to return home.

Disappointed in his expectations of conquering England by a naval armament, Philip proposed to transport a body of troops from the Low Countries to Scotland; whence, with the aid of the disaffected in that kingdom, he hoped to make a successful attack upon England. In order to accelerate his design, he remitted a sum of money, to be distributed by some Catholic priests among the Scottish nobles most zealous for Popery.

The artful address of these ecclesiasties, seconded by the powerful influence of bribes and promises, overcame the virtue of the Earls of Huntly, Crawford, Errol, and Bothwell; who offered their services to the King of Spain, and engaged, with the aid of six thousand men, to make him master of the kingdom. These treasonable designs were detected by the vigilance of Elizabeth's ministers. Induced by motives of interest and policy, James was inclined to sooth rather than to irritate the Catholics; and, notwithstanding the urgent solicitations of Elizabeth and the remonstrances of the Scottish clergy, a short imprisonment was the only punishment inflicted upon Bothwell and his associates.

The royal clemency was ungratefully requited by the noble delinquents; who soon after attempted a more daring enterprise, to seize the King's person, for the ostensible purpose of removing Chancellor Maitland from his councils: But that minister's sagacity, and their unguarded conduct, disconcerted their machinations. The malecontents immediately retired to the Northern parts of the kingdom, and unfurled the standard of rebellion; but being closely pursued by a small force under the King in person, they surrendered, and threw themselves on his mercy. They were tried, and convicted of treason; but James, agreeably to his mild policy, confined them a few months, and then set them at liberty.

It might have been expected, that James's magnanimity in ge nerously overlooking his personal wrongs, for the preservation of the liberties of Britain, would have conciliated that malignant jealousy towards him with which Elizabeth had been so much agitated during his mother's lifetime. The King's marriage was on many accounts an event which the Scots desired; and he had made overtures for that purpose to the eldest daughter of the

King of Denmark; who, being a remote prince, and not powerful, could give little umbrage to Elizabeth.

But Elizabeth seemed desirous to prevent every incident that might render the accession of the King of Scots more acceptable to the English nation. She so artfully corrupted his ministers and perplexed his negotiations, that the Danish Monarch, impatient of delay, wedded his daughter to the Duke of Brunswick. James then paid his addresses to her younger sister the Princess Ann; but he still encountered obstacles and delays, through the intrigues of Elizabeth. His impatience became excessive. The citizens of Edinburgh, secretly encouraged by him, threatened to tear Chancellor Maitland in pieces, whom they blamed for disappointing the wishes of the King and the expecta tions of his people.

An embassy, with ample powers, was immediately sent by the Scottish court to Denmark. The articles of marriage were settled; the ceremony was performed by proxy, and the Princess embarked for Scotland: But her fleet was driven, by a storm, on the coast of Norway. This tempest, and some others that happened near the same time, were believed by the Scots and Danes to have been occasioned by a combination of the Scottish and Danish witches. Though a great believer in sorcery, James encountered the perils of a voyage across the North Sea, in order to conduct his bride home. A train of three hundred persons, including the Chancellor and many noblemen, attended him to Norway, whence he accompanied his bride to Copenhagen. After spending the winter in that city, amidst great festivity, he return, ed home next spring, and was joyfully received by his subjects.

The Presbyterian clergy opposed the performance of the cere mony of unction at the Queen's coronation; which, they averred, was either a Jewish or Popish rite, and therefore Antichristian. But the King was as much bent upon the ceremony as they were averse to it, and his authority prevailed. The solemnity of the coronation was performed with great magnificence. Mr Bruce, A.D. a Presbyterian divine, set the crown upon the Queen's head, 1590. and administered the sacred unction.

The complaisance of the clergy in this instance, with their zealous and successful exertions for the preservation of the public peace during his absence, reconciled the King in some measure to their austere manners and to the Presbyterian form of govern