Volume I Part 3 (1/2)

Francis, the young Dauphin, as e, was far inferior to her, both in personal appearance and mental endowies of his mind seem to have been repressed by the feebleness of his body But if unable to boast of any distinguishi+ng virtues, he was undegraded by the practice of any vice

He was amiable, timid, affectionate, and shy He are of his want of physical strength, and feared lest the more robust should make it a subject of ridicule He appears to have loved Mary with the tenderest affection, being probably anxious to atone to her, by every mark of devotion, for the sacrifice heherself to hiood reason to believe that Mary really loved Francis They had been playether; and though Francis cared little for the pleasures of society, and rather shunned than encouraged those ished to pay their court to him, Mary are that, for this very reason, he was only the more sincere in his passion for her It was not in Mary's nature to be indifferent to those who evinced affection for her; and if her fondness for Francis werebeen asserted, that ”pity is akin to love”

On the 24th of April 1558, the nuptials took place In Dece year, a letter fro that some persons of rank should be sent over froe; and in compliance with this desire, the Lord Jaht other persons of distinction, arrived at the French Court in March 1558[16] Their instructions coainst French encroaches of Scottish subjects; and, that no doubt ht of succession to the Scottish throne, they were to obtain fro of France a ratification of his former promise, to aid and support the Duke of Chatelherault in his claims upon the crown, in case Mary died without issue They were also to require a declaration to a similar effect from the Queen and Dauphin All these deed, however, that a very gross deceit was practised, upon this occasion, by the French Court It is said, that though, to satisfy the Scotch Coranted, Henry took secret rants entirely inefficacious

Mary, it is asserted, on the 4th of April, signed three papers, in the first of which sheof France, to be enjoyed by him and his heirs, should she die without children; in the second, (lest it ht not be deened to the King of France the possession of Scotland, after her decease without children, till he should be reireater su her residence in France; and, in the third, she protested, that whatever declarations she ht subscribe, in co the lineal succession of her crown, the genuine sense of herpapers[17] If this dishonourable transaction really took place, whilst it cannot involve Mary, a young and inexperienced girl of fifteen, in any serious blahest discredit both upon Henry and his advisers of the house of Guise There is good reason, however, to believe, that these instrueries It was not an uncommon trick in those tiainst a Catholic sovereign, by alleging, that he had promised away his country to some well known papist The Prince of Conde, in December 1568, was not aware of the authenticity of any such papers; for, if he had been, he would undoubtedly have mentioned them when he asked Elizabeth's assistance to establish the Protestant religion in France On the contrary, he truiven any credit, that Mary had ceded her right to the crown of England, in behalf of the King of France's brother, Henry Duke of Anjou After Mary's death, it was confidently reported, and with equal falsehood, that by her testa of Spain, unless her son became a Roman Catholic There is, besides, internal evidence of a striking nature, that these deeds were forgeries

For its discovery, we are indebted to the industry and research of Goodall[18]

Soe-contract between Francis and Mary, are sufficiently rened by it to the Queen, provided her husband died King of France, is 60,000 livres, or a greater suiven to a Queen of France If her husband died only Dauphin, the jointure was to be 30,000 livres The eldest son of theof France and Scotland; and if there were no sons, the eldest daughter was to be Queen of Scotland only, with a portion of 400,000 crowns, as a daughter of France,--every younger daughter being allowed 300,000 crowns Should her husband die, Mary was to be at liberty either to remain in France or return to Scotland, with an assurance that her jointure would be always duly paid her The Dauphin was to bear the naes of the crown-e, for which so many preparations had thus been made, was sole performed by the Cardinal of Bourbon, Archbishop of Rouen Upon this occasion, the festivities were graced by the presence of all the es of the Court of France; and when Francis, taking a ring froer, presented it to the Archbishop, who, pronouncing the benediction, placed it on the young Queen's finger, the vaulted roof of the Cathedral rung with congratulations, and the multitude without rent the air with joyful shouts The spectacle was altogether one of the e of spectacles, had been seen in Paris

The procession, upon leaving the church, proceeded to the palace of the Archbishop, where a ess, as itthe people, in the na and Queen of Scots In the afternoon, the royal party returned to the palace of the Tournelles--Catherine de Medicis and Mary sitting together in the sa on each side Henry and Francis followed on horseback, with a long line of princes and princesses in their train The chronicler of these nuptials is unable to conceal his rapture, when he describes the manner in which the palace had been prepared for their reception Its whole appearance, he tells us, was ”light and beautiful as Elysiu supper, which was served upon a 's band of ”one hundred gentlemen”

poured forth delicious strains of music The members of Parliament attended in their robes; and the princes of the blood perfor asconcluded, a series of the nificent masks and mueant, twelve artificial horses, of adold, and ridden by the young heirs of noble houses, attracted deserved attention They were succeeded by six galleys, which sailed into the hall, each rich as Cleopatra's barge, and bearing on its deck two seats, the one filled by a young cavalier, who, as he advanced, carried off froently placed in the vacant chair, the lady of his love A splendid tourna the whole of these solemnities, every eye was fixed on the youthful Mary; and, inspired by those feelings which beauty seldom fails to excite, every heart offered up prayers for her future welfare and happiness She was now at that age when feminine loveliness is perhaps most attractive

It is not to be supposed, indeed, that in her sixteenth year, her charms had ripened into that full-blown maturity which they afterwards attained; but they were, on this account, only theSome have conjectured that Mary's beauty has been extolled far beyond its real ue and erroneous notions exist regarding it But that her countenance possessed in a pre-e which constitutes beauty, is sufficiently attested by the unanimous declaration of all cote together hints scattered here and there, that any accurate idea can be for ceased to exist, unless in the fancy of the enthusiast Generally speaking, Mary's features were h without the insipidity that would have attached to theular Her nose exceeded a little the Grecian proportion in length Her hair was very nearly of the same colour as James V's--dark yellow, or auburn, and, like his, clustered in luxuriant ringlets Her eyes,--which so portraits of her scattered everywhere, conceive to have been gray, or blue, or hazel,--were of a chestnut colour,--darker, yet h, open, and prominent Her lips were full and expressive, as the lips of the Stuarts generally were; and she had a small dimple in her chin Her coreat deal of colour in her cheeks Her e stature, and Mary was also above the coe exceedingly graceful and dignified[19]

In this description of Mary's personal appearance, we have placed a good deal of reliance on the research and accuracy of Chalmers It will be observed, that our account differs, in many essential particulars, froh, according to the fashi+on of that age, she frequently wore borrowed locks, and of different colours Her eyes were a dark gray; her complexion was exquisitely fine; and her hands and arms remarkably delicate, both as to shape and colour Her stature was of an height that rose to the majestic”

Where Robertson discovered that Mary's hair was black, or her eyes gray, he does not mention That her eyes were _not_ black, we have the direct testiland, as ordered by Cecil to be present at the death of the Scottish Queen, and who describes her as having ”chestnut-coloured eyes” As to her hair, and her other features, though Melville, in his Memoirs, certainly seems to imply that the former was auburn, yet, as he does not expressly say so, we suspect correct conclusions can be arrived at only by a reference to the best authenticated portraits which have been preserved of Mary This, however, is far fro a criterion by which opinions should be rashly fore of history, likenesses of whoht after; and, in proportion to the anxiety inals, has been the tes said to be originals of Mary Queen of Scots, are the impositions of picture-dealers When the deeneral, it was not at all unusual to despatch emissaries over the Continent to pick up every picture, the costueneral appearance of which in the least rese Mary's life, and for some time after her death, the fame of her beauty, and the interest attached to her fortunes, induced numerous ladies of rank, who flattered themselves that they were like her, to have portraits painted in the style then well understood by the phrase _a la Mary Stuart_ There was, in particular, a celebrated Continental beauty of those days--a Countess of Mansfeldt--(we speak on the authority of a living artist of celebrity), who resembled Mary in many particulars, and all whose portraits (nor were they few in number) when they afterwards came into the hands of the picture-dealers, were affirmed to be Maries

Thus, in the lapse of years, the truth beca himself to be too hastily misled, has lent his name to the disse made extensive inquiries on this subject, has recorded, that he never could ascertain the authenticity and originality of any portrait of Mary, except of that in the possession of the Earl of Morton, which was painted when she was at Lochleven Chalmers, in order to come as near the truth as possible, employed Mr Pailou, an artist of ability, to co to the Earl of Morton, with two or three other undoubted originals which have been discovered since Walpole wrote Pailou co the outline of his picture froinal He then proceeded to the exaenuine portraits of Mary, one in the Church of St Andrew in Antwerp, another in the Scotch College at Douay, and a third in the Scotch College at Paris Neither did he forget the profile heads of Mary struck upon her coins, nor theher on her toht a correct likeness Mr Pailou thus made Lord Morton's picture the basis of his own, but, as he advanced, constantly referred to the others, ”till he got the whole adjusted and coloured” Though we cannot exactly approve of thus cooking up a picture from various different sources, and should be inclined to think, that too much was left by such a mode of procedure to the arbitrary taste of the artist, we nevertheless feel satisfied that Mr Pailou has hit upon a tolerably accurate likeness His picture, engraved by Scriven, forms the frontispiece to the second volume of Chaliven with great success But the painting is far froood deal too round and pluhtly aquiline--a decided mistake,--and the neck is

The portrait of Mary, which forms the frontispiece to the present volureater reliance than on any hich we are acquainted, is an engraving executed expressly for this work, froinal picture of much merit[20] It was painted when Mary was in France, by an Italian artist of eminence, who flourished as her cotemporary in the sixteenth century, and whose name is on the canvas It would have been ie it represented Mary, though, froht have been concluded that it was taken a year or two before she became Dauphiness, had not the painter fortunately obviated the difficulty, by inserting inature the date, which is 1556, when she was just fourteen It is upon this picture that we have chiefly founded our description of Mary's personal appearance What gives us the greater confidence in its authenticity and accuracy, is, that it very exactly corresponds with two other portraits, believed on good grounds to be originals This is a strong circumstance, for it is a very coree The paintings to which we allude are, first, one at the seat of Logie Alious habit It gives precisely the sa in this voluht From the style and other circumstances, it is very probable, that both pictures were painted by the same artist The second is in the possession of his Grace the Duke of Hamilton, and is in one of the private apartments at Hamilton palace It represents Mary at a somewhat more advanced period of life, but the features are quite the sainal, in the collection of the Marquis of Salisbury, at Hatfield House, and which has been engraved for Miss Benger's Memoirs, which very closely resembles our own To be yet more assured, we have carefully exaold and silver coins Soeneral reseold real staree minutely with our picture,--a circu corroboration of its truth It is unnecessary toentered thus eneral interest[21]

With regard to the asseverations of cotemporary writers, as to the effects which Mary's beauty produced, ant to be believed They prove, nevertheless, that, whatever beauty eht suffused upon the face, froift which Nature had lavishly bestowed on Mary A year or two previous to her h the streets of Paris, with a lighted torch in her hand, a wo the croas so struck with her appearance, that she could not help stopping her to ask,--”Are you not indeed an angel?” Brantoe of fifteen, to the sun at mid-day He tells us also, that the brother of Francis, afterwards Charles IX, never saw even a picture of Mary, without lingering to gaze upon it, declaring passionately, that he looked upon Francis as the happiest man on earth, to possess a creature of so th of asserting, that no man ever saw Mary who did not lose his heart to her He is pleased, likewise, with soh compliments at the expense of her native country It appears that Mary, aot her early residence at Inchmahome, in the quiet lake of Monteith Actuated by these recollections and other ard for Scotland in various ways; and, ahland costuly; and Brantoreatly puzzled by the novelty of the dress, is nevertheless forced to declare, that when arrayed after ”the barbarous fashi+on of the savages of her country, she appeared a Goddess in a arb” Mary herself, was so fond of this costume, that she wore it in one of the portraits which were taken of her in France If she appeared so beautiful thus ”_habillee a la sauvage_,” exclaims Brantome, ”what must she not be in her rich and lovely robes nole_, or with a bonnet _a l'Italienne_; or in her flohite dress, contending in vain with the whiteness of her skin!” Even when she sung, and accompanied herself upon the lute, Brantome found occasion to discover a new beauty,--”her soft snowy hand and fingers, fairer than Aurora's” ”Ah royauly adds, ”Je croy que, maintenant, vos jours sont encore bien plus courts qu'ils n'estoient, et vos nuits plus longues, puisque vous avez perdu cette Princesse qui vos illuminoit!” The historian, Castelnau, in like manner, pronounces Mary ”the most beautiful and accomplished of her sex;” and Mezeray tells us, that ”Nature had bestowed upon her every thing that is necessary to for, that ”by the study of the liberal arts and sciences, especially painting, ood qualities, that she appeared to be the most amiable Princess in Christendoe, not only were the brains of all the jewellers, embroiderers, and tailors of Paris put in requisition, but a whole host of French poets felt themselves suddenly inspired Epithalamiums poured in from all quarters, spiced with flattery of all kinds, fehich have been borne down the stream of time so honourably for their author's abilities as that of Buchanan, who, having long struggled with poverty, had at last risen to independence, under the patronage of Cardinal Lorraine This poem is well known, but is not more compli Mary to Venus, concludes his song with these lines:--

”Par une chaine a sa langue attachee Hercule a soi les peuple attiroit; Mais celle ci tire ceux qu'elle voit Par une chaine a ses beaux yeux attachee”

Hoeneral, cannot have been entirely erated

In Scotland, through the instigation of the Queen Regent, Mary's nuptials, which were far froreeable to a numerous party, were celebrated with probably less sincere, and certainly much more homely expressions of pleasure Orders were sent to the different towns ”to , the celebrated great gun of Edinburgh Castle, was fired once; and there is a charge of ten shi+llings in the treasurer's accounts of that year paid to certain persons for bringing up the cannon ”to be schote, and for the finding and carrying of her bullet after she was schote frae Wardie Muir to the Castel of Edinburgh,”--a distance of about two miles A play was also enacted, but of what kind it is difficult to say, at the expense of the city of Edinburgh

CHAPTER V

MARY THE QUEEN DAUPHINESS, THE QUEEN, AND THE QUEEN DOWAGER OF FRANCE

Shortly after the espousals, Mary and her husband retired to one of their princely sued the duties of a respectful and attentive wife, in a ained for her the adhtful as society and ae have been to her, she readily accommodated herself to the peculiar ten all the gaieties of the court

But the intriguing and restless a quiet About this tilish throne, died; and although the Parliament of that country had declared that the succession rested in her sister Elizabeth, it was thought proper to clairound upon which they built this clai Henry VIII

on,of his brother Arthur, and by her he had one child, Mary Pretending after having lived with her eighteen years, that his conscience rebuked hi his brother's wife the partner of his bed, he procured a divorce fro Anne Boleyn, by who tired of this neife, she was sent to the scaffold to make way for Jane Seymour, by whom he had one son, Edward Of this uxorious monarch's other three wives, it is unnecessary to speak

Henry had procured frohters illegitily succeeded hi their former act, in order to save the nation frohter Mary,--not, however, without a protest being entered in behalf of the Scotch Queen by her guardians Upon Mary's death, the opportunity again occurred of pressing the clai, it will be remehter of Henry VII, and sister, consequently, of Henry VIII Henry was, therefore, Mary's rand-uncle; and if his wives, Catharine and Anne Boleyn, were legally divorced, she had certainly a better right to the English Crown than any of their illegiti Soon after the accession, however, of Edward VI, the Parlia with the voice of the whole nation, had declared theitimate; and as Elizabeth now quietly took possession of the throne, and could hardly by any chance have been dispossessed, it was, to say the least, extremely ill-advised to push Mary forward as a rival claimant