Volume I Part 6 (1/2)

CHATELARD'S IMPRUDENT ATTACHMENT, AND KNOX'S PERSEVERING HATRED

Mary returned from her Northern expedition towards the conclusion of the year 1562 The two following years, 1563 and 1564, undistinguished as they were by any political events of importance, were the quietest and happiest she spent in Scotland Her moderation and urbanity had endeared her to her people; and, in her oell regulatedsatisfaction Nevertheless, vexations of various sorts led their bitterness in her cup of sweets An occurrence which took place early in 1563, demands our attention first

The poet Chatelard has been already mentioned as one of those who sailed in Mary's train, when she came from the continent He had attached himself to the future Constable of France, the Duke Danville, and was a gentle by the rand-nephew of the celebrated Chevalier Bayard The manly beauty of his person was not unlike that of his ancestor; and, besides being well versed in all the more active accomplishments of the day, he had softened and refined his manners by an ardent cultivation of every species of belles-lettres It was this latter circuained for him the occasional favourable notice of Mary A poetess herself, as much by nature as by study, her heart warhtful art

Chatelard wrote both in French and Italian; and, finding that Mary deigned to read and admire his productions, he seems thenceforth to have made her the only theme of his enamoured and too presumptuous Muse To the Queen this was no uncoracefully, and so Chatelard's effusions This condescension al poet's brain He had left Scotland with the Duke Danville, and Mary's other French friends, at the end of the year 1561; but he eagerly seized the opportunity afforded him, by the civil wars in France, to return before twelve months had elapsed The Duke Danville sent him to Mary's court, there is every reason to believe, to press upon her attention once more his own pretensions to her hand But Chatelard, in the indulgence of his ot the duty he owed his master; and, for every word he spoke in prose for the Duke, he spoke in verse twenty for hi accusto upon flattery as a part of a poet's profession, sination, and forgot them as soon as heard These smiles, however, were fatal to Chatelard ”They tempted hi the chariot of the sun” In February 1563, he had the audacity to steal into the Queen's bedchaer, and attempted to conceal himself till Mary should retire to rest He was discovered by her ed at his conduct, was unwilling, for a first offence, to surrender him to that punishment which she kneould be inflicted were it known to her Privy Council She was contented with repri him from her presence

This leniency was throay upon the infatuated Chatelard Only two nights afterwards, the Queen having, in the interval, left Edinburgh for St Andrews, he again committed the same offence As she went to St Andrews by the circuitous route of the Queensferry, she slept the first night at Dumfermline, and the second at Burntisland Here Chatelard insolently followed the Queen into her bedrooned, as the motive for his conduct, his desire to clear himself from the blame she had formerly imputed to him Mary commanded him to leave her immediately, but he refused; upon which she saw the necessity of calling for assistance The Earl of Murray was at hand, and ca boldness of Chatelard's conduct could no longer be concealed; the proper legal authorities were sent for froh; the poet was tried at St Andrews, and was condemned to death He was executed on the 22d of February, and conducted himself bravely, but as a confirmed enthusiast, even on the scaffold He would not avail himself of the spiritual advice of anyread Ronsard's Hymn on Death, he turned towards the place where he supposed the Queen was, and exclai voice, ”Farewell, loveliest and most cruel Princess whom the world contains!” He then, with the utmost composure, laid his head upon the block, and subnation, to his fate[73]

Mary remained at St Andrews till the middle of April, when she removed to Loch Leven, where she had better opportunities of enjoying her favourite a She went thither in considerable grief, occasioned by the news she had lately received from France, of the death of two of her uncles, the Duke of Guise, and the Grand Prior The fore of Orleans, by a Protestant bigot of the name of Poltrot; and the latter had been fatally wounded at the battle of Dreux Alluding triumphantly to the murder of the Duke of Guise, Knox expressed himself in these words, ”_God_ has stricken that bloody tyrant” This enmity to the House of Guise, which Knox carried even beyond the grave, was now no novelty Some months before, he had taken occasion to preach a severe serainst Mary and her friends, in consequence of an entertain news of her uncles' successes in the French civil wars Mary had, in consequence, sent for Knox a second time, when he repeated to her the principal part of his sermon, in a manner which made it appear not quite so obnoxious as she had been induced to believe She had then the h his words were sharp, she would not blaood opinion of her uncles, as they and he were of a different religion She only wished that he would not publicly round his charges Knox left Mary, ”with a reasonableit, remarked, ”He is not afraid!” Knox's answer is characteristic, and does hientlewory men, and yet have not been afraid above measure”

The third time that Knox was admitted into Mary's presence was at Loch Leven This, as indeed every interview she had with the celebrated Reformer, and she had only four, exhibits her character in a very favourable point of view It appears, that whilst the Queen reserved for herself the right of celebrating hout the rest of the kingdom Some instances had occurred in which this prohibition had been disregarded; and upon these occasions the over-zealous Protestants had not scrupled to take the law into their own hands Mary wished to convince Knox of the iht it necessary to defend his brethren; but his answer to the Queen's simple question,--”Will ye allow that they shall take h laboured, is quite inconclusive

That ”the sword of justice is God's,” erous precept upon which to forovern by experience that it was hopeless to atte to enter into an arguh she disliked the rudeness of hisStoicisood sense to hold any one responsible for the peculiarities of his belief, she could not help persuading herself, that she would finally soften the asperity of those horeed, only upon articles of faith With this view, she conversed with Knox upon various confidentialfor the moment the personal favour of her stern adversary ”This interview,” observes Dr M'Crie, ”sho far Mary was capable of disse, what artifice she could employ, and what condescensions she coulda favourite object” There is so very uncharitable in the construction thus put upon the Queen's conduct She had, no doubt, a favourite object in view; but that object was mutual reconcilement, and the establishs of forbearance and good will a all classes of her subjects The ”artifice” she used, consisted merely in the urbanity of her manners, and her determination to avoid all violence, in return for the violence which had been exhibited towards herself

Soon after this conference, Mary went to Edinburgh, to open in person the first Parliament which had been held since her return to Scotland Its session continued only fro that short period, business of some importance was transacted The Queen on the first day rode to the Parliament House in her robes of state,--the Duke of Chatelherault carrying the crown, the Earl of Argyle the sceptre, and the Earl of Murray the sword[74] She was present on three or four occasions afterwards; but on the first day she made a speech to the representatives of her people, which was received with enthusiastic applause This applause ood to Knox, ith even more than his usual discourtesy towards a sex who pride of women as was seen at that Parliament, was never before seen in Scotland” He was heartily borne out in his vituperations by the rest of the preachers The rich attire which Mary and the ladies of her court chose to wear, were abominations in their eyes They held forth to their respective flocks against the ”superfluity of their clothes,” the ”targeting of their tails,” and ”the rest of their vanity” It was enough, they said, ”to dran God's wrath not only upon these foolish women, but upon the whole realm” At this Parliament the Earldoms of Huntly and Sutherland were declared forfeited; an act was passed for preventing any one froether without the Queen's consent; soislative measures of a domestic nature were established; and an act of oblivion for all acts done from the 6th of March 1558, to the first of September 1561, was unanimously carried This act of oblivion was declared to have no reference whatever to a sih, the ratification of which was expressly avoided by the Queen Its object, hoas precisely the sareeable consequences whichthe first heat of the Reforift from Mary, and not as a consequence of his favourite Treaty of Edinburgh, was by noMeed upon the from the Queen a ratification of this treaty Even the Protestant Lords, however, felt how unjust such a demand would be The Earl of Murray himself, one of Knox's oldest and staunchest friends, refused to ask Mary to take this step Knox, in consequence, solemnly renounced Murray's friendshi+p, and a coldness subsisted between them for nearly two years Foiled in his object, the Refore He preached another ”thundering sermon” The object of this sermon was to convince the people, that as soon as a Parliament was assembled, they had the Queen in their power to make her do what they chose ”And is this the thankfulness that ye render unto your God,” said he, ”to betray his cause, when ye have it in your hands to establish it as you please?” Before concluding, he adverted to the report that her Majesty would soon be arded the safety of their country, to prevent her fro an alliance with a Papist

”Protestants as well as Papists,” says Knox's biographer, ”were offended with the freedom of this sermon, and some who had been most familiar with the preacher, now shunned his co more than usually bitter and unjust in a discourse which produced such results It was the occasion of the last and most memorable interviehich the Reformer had with Mary As soon as she was made acquainted with the manner in which he had attacked her, she summoned him to her presence

He was accoentleentle te with Knox The Reforitation She told him she did not believe any prince had ever sube she had experienced froorous ainst ht your favour by all possible means; I offered unto ye presence and audience whensoever it pleased ye to admonish me; and yet I cannot be quit of you” She then passionately burst into tears, so that, as Knox says with apparent satisfaction, they could scarce ”get handkerchiefs to hold her eyes dry; for the tears and the howling, besides wo, stayed her speech” The preacher, when he was allowed to speak, complacently assured her Majesty that when it pleased God to deliver her froe of darkness and error wherein she had been nourished, she would not find the liberty of his tongue offensive He added, that in the pulpit he was not his own master, but the servant of Him who commanded that he should speak plain, and flatter no flesh upon the face of the earth Mary told hied to knohat rank he held in the kingdoe Knox, whose self-esteeh neither an Earl, Lord, nor Baron, he was a profitable and useful member of the commonwealth, and that it became him to teach her nobility, ere too partial towards her, their duty ”Therefore, Madam,” he continued, ”to yourself I say that which I spake in public: whensoever the nobility of this realm shall be content, and consent that you be subject to an unlawful husband, they do as much as in them lies to remove Christ, to banish the truth, to betray the freedom of this realm, and perchance shall in the end do se so unwarranted and uncalled for again drew tears frorief, attempted to soften down its harshness Knox looked on with an unaltered countenance, and con to his own children, when he saw occasion to chastise them, he said,--”Madahted in the weeping of any of God's creatures; yea, I can scarcely well abide the tears of mine own boys, when mine own hands correct the; but, seeing I have offered unto ye no just occasion to be offended, but have spoken the truth as my vocation craves of me, I must sustain your Majesty's tears, rather than dare hurt my conscience, or betray the coer under the necessity of sustaining tears he could so ill abide, Mary commanded him to leave her presence, and wait her pleasure in the adjoining roo him, and who had overheard so how nation, would hardly acknowledge him In his oords, ”he stood as one whom men had never seen” His confidence, however, did not forsake hiether, and richly dressed, he took the opportunity, that he ratuitous advice ”Fair ladies,”

he said with a smile, ”how pleasant were this life of yours, if it should ever abide, and then in the end that we ear: but fy upon that knave, Death, that will come whether ill or not; and when he has laid on the arrest, then foul worms will be busy with this flesh, be it never so fair and so tender; and the silly soul I fear shall be so feeble, that it can neither carry with it gold, garnishi+ng, targeting, pearl, nor precious stones” Shortly afterwards Erskine, who had somewhat pacified the Queen, cao home[75]

As the Queen and Knox came just once more into public contact, and that only a feeeks after the date of the above interview, it may be as well to terminate our interference with the affairs of the Refor, a disturbance took place one Sunday during her absence at the Chapel of Holyrood Some of her domestics and Catholic retainers, had assembled for the celebration of worshi+p, after the form of the Ro in Edinburgh the Sacrament of the Supper, and were consequentlyof the Catholic practices carried on at Holyrood, they proceeded thither in a body, burst into the Chapel, and drove the priests from the altar To quell the riot, the Coed to obtain the assistance of the Magistrates, and even then it was not without difficulty that the Godly were prevailed upon to disperse Two of their number, who had been more violent than the rest, had indictht felony, hamesucken, and invasion of the Palace” Knox and his friends determined to save these two men from punishment, at whatever risk The means they adopted to effect their purpose were of the es by displaying the power of the accused; and with this view, Knox wrote circular letters to all the principal persons of his persuasion, requesting theh on the day of trial He thus assuether, in direct opposition to one of the acts of the late Parliament When those letters were shown to the Queen, and her Privy Council, at Stirling, they were unanimously pronounced treasonable, and Knox was summoned to appear before a convention of nobles, to be held in Edinburgh a feeeks afterwards, for the purpose of trying him It was, however, intimated to him, that as the Queen wished to be lenient, if he would acknowledge his fault, and throw himself upon her mercy, little or no punishhtest concession, and in consequence nearly lost the friendshi+p of Lord Herries, ho intimate

On the day of trial, public curiosity was much excited to know the result

The Lords assembled in the Council Chamber at Holyrood; the Queen took her seat at the head of the table, and Knox stood uncovered at the foot The proceedings were opened by Secretary Maitland, who stated the grounds of the accusation, and explained in what ed

Knox made a declamatory and very unsatisfactory reply The substance of his defence was, that there were lawful and unlawful convocations of the people, and that, as the Act of Parliaation every Sunday, neither could he be held to have transgressed it by writing letters to the heads of his church, calling theion

The sophistry of this reasoning was easily seen through It was answered for the Queen, that his sermons were sanctioned by Government, and that their tendency was supposed to be peaceable; but that the direct purpose of the letters in question was to exasperate the e, in particular was read, in which Knox said, alluding to the two persons ere indicted,--”This fearful suainst them, to make, no doubt, a preparative on a few, that a door reater multitude” ”Is it not treason, my Lords,” said Mary, ”to accuse a Prince of cruelty? I think there be acts of Parliaainst such whisperers” Knox endeavoured to evade the force of this remark by a very evident quibble ”Madam,” he said, ”cast up when you list the acts of your Parliaainst them; for I accuse not in my letter your Grace, nor yet your nature, of cruelty But I affirain, that the pestilent Papists who have inflaainst those poor men at this present, are the sons of the Devil, and therefore must obey the desires of their father, who has been a liar and a ” More words were spoken on both sides, but nothing further was advanced that bore directly upon the subject in hand It is worthy of notice, however, that Knox, in the course of his defence, actually forgot himself so far as to institute a co been fully heard, he was ordered to retire, and after souilty was put to the nobles There being a considerable preponderance of Protestant lords at the , it was carried that Knox had not committed any breach of the laws He evinces his triu spitefully in his History,--”That night was neither dancing nor fiddling in the Court; for Madam was disappointed of her purpose, whilk was to have had John Knox in her will by vote of her nobility” His acquittal certainly disappointed Mary; but it only served to convince her otry and justice were inco this chapter, one of the peculiarities of the Scottish Refor thinker and a bold man, cannot be denied; yet, as has been before remarked, he himself confesses that he was much addicted to superstition This weakness, if real, lowers him considerably in the scale of intellect; and, if affected, proves that, amidst all the pretensions of his new doctrines, he still retained a taint of priestly craft Alluding to the year of which we speak, (1563), he has incorporated into his History the following ree ”God froave declaration that he was offended at the iniquity that was committed even within this realreat abundance, which in the falling freezed so vehemently, that the earth was but one sheet of ice The fowls both great and small freezed, and could not fly; many died, and some were taken and laid before the fire, that their feathers ht resolve; and in that same month the sea stood still, as was clearly observed, and neither ebbed nor flowed the space of twenty-four hours In the hteenth days thereof, were seen in the firmament battles arrayed, spears and other weapons, and as it had been the joining of two ars were not only observed, but also spoken and constantly affirement and credit But the Queen and our Court made merry”[76] It would thus appear, that Knox's th and ie and fear, sound sense and superstition, or that duplicity was enerally supposed

CHAPTER XI

THE DOMESTIC LIFE OF MARY, WITH SOME ANECDOTES OF ELIZABETH

The su various excursions through the country She had not yet visited the west and south-west of Scotland Shortly after the rising of Parliaow, and from thence went on to Duhbourhood of its romantic scenery, she spent some days, and then crossed over to Inverary, where she visited her natural sister, the Countess of Argyle, to who Inverary, she passed over the Argyleshi+re hills, and ca the course of the river, she next visited Toward Castle, near the entrance of the Bay of Rothesay Here she crossed the Frith of Clyde, and landing in Ayrshi+re, spent several weeks in this Arcadian district of Scotland She then went into Galloway, and before her return to Edinburgh, visited Dumfries, and other towns in the south Her next excursion was to Stirling, Callander, and Duhbourhood of which places she remained till late in the season The earlier part of 1564, she spent at Perth, Falkland, and St Andrews; and in the autuain went as far north as Inverness, and from thence into Ross-shi+re ”The object of that distant journey,” says Chalmers, ”was not then known, and cannot be coh the country of the Gordons, which had once been held out as so frightful

She reht at Gartley, where there is still a ruined castle, and the parish whereof belongs even now to the Duke of Gordon She rode forward to Aberdeen, without seeing Huntly's ghost, and went thence to Dunnottar, where she re the coast road, to Dundee She then crossed the Tay into Fife, and diverging for a few days to St Andrews, she returned to Edinburgh about the 26th of September, after an absence of two months”

As we are speedily to enter upon a new and h not a happier period, of Mary's life, we should wish to avail ourselves of the present opportunity, to convey to the reader some notion of her domestic habits and amusements, and hohen left to herself, she best liked to fill up her tientleness of her manners, had endeared her even more than her personal attractions, to all who frequented her court She had succeeded, by the fir a overn, her powers of conversation, and varied accomplishments, she had iance we in vain look for under the reign of any of her predecessors There is a vast difference between an over-degree of luxuriousness and a due attention to the graces Under the influence of the former, a nation becomes effeminate, and addicted to every species of petty vice; under that of the latter, its characteristic virtues are called only more efficiently into action The tree is not the less valuable divested of its rugged bark It is to the exaree, that is of Scotch society, which speedily placed this country more upon a par with the rest of civilized Europe Had the precepts of John Knox been strictly followed, the blue bonnets of a rigid, unbending Presbyterianism would probably to this day have decorated the heads of two-thirds of the population A scarcity which prevailed about the commencement of the year 1564, drew from this stern Refor and excessive banqueting used in city and country, wheresoever the profane Court repaired, provoked God to strike the staff of bread, and to give his ed differently of the effects produced by these ”profane banquetings,”--and so will the political economists of more modern times

It was only, after the perfored in recreation She sat soularly every day with her Privy Council; and, with her work-table beside her and her needle in her hand, she heard and offered opinions upon the various affairs of State To the poor of every description, she was, like her ly attentive; and she herself benevolently superintended the education of a number of poor children To direct and distribute her charities, two ecclesiastics were appointed her _elcemosynars_; and they, under her authority, obtained money froave an annual salary also to an advocate for the poor, who conducted the causes of such as were unable to bear the expenses of a lawsuit; and to secure proper attention for these causes, she not unfrequently took her seat upon the bench when they caular She ell versed in history, of which she read a great deal Every day after dinner she devoted an hour or two to the perusal of some Latin classic, particularly Livy, under the superintendence of George Buchanan In reward for his services, she gave hiuel in Ayrshi+re, worth about 500_l_ a year This grant was probably made at the request of the Earl of Murray, as Buchanan's patron, and to whom he always considered himself more indebted than to the Queen Buchanan, whose talents for controversial writing it was foreseen ht be useful, had also a pension of 100_l_ a year froeography; and her library in the Palace of Holyrood contained, alobes, which were at that time considered curiosities in Scotland,--”the ane of the heavin, and the uther of the earth” She had, besides, several maps, and a few pictures, in particular portraits of her father, herfond of all sorts of exercises, she frequently received aave audience, in the Palace gardens She had two of these,--the southern and the northern; and, not contented with their h the King's Park, and sos or Arthur Seat She had gardens and parks attached to all her principal residences throughout Scotland,--at Linlithgow,--at Stirling,--at Falkland,--at Perth,--and at St Andrews It was in one of her gardens at Holyrood that she planted a syca in tie and valuable tree, was an object of curiosity and admiration even in our own day It was blon only about ten years ago, and its as eagerly sought after, to be made into trinkets and costly relics

To her female followers and friends, Mary was ever attentive and kind For her four Maries, her co all the vicissitudes of her fortune At the period of which rite, she still enjoyed the society of all of the afterwards becastone of Lord Semple Mary Beaton and Mary Seaton reuillon, who had come with the Queen from France, and to whom she was extremely partial, continued in her service for several years, her husband being appointed Master of the Household They both returned to their own country when the troubles in Scotland began There wereto the court, whose names possess no interest, because unconnected with any of the events of history

Mary's establishment was by no means expensive or extraordinary She does not appear to have had so great a variety of dresses as Elizabeth, yet she was not ill provided either Her co, which was till the day of her second e of Florence, bordered with black velvet Her riding-habits were e of Florence, stiffened in the neck and body with buckram, and trims, she seems to have been remarkably well supplied She had thirty-six pair of velvet shoes, laced with gold and silver; she had ten pair of hose woven of gold, silver, and silk, and three pair woven of worsted of Guernsey Silk stockings were then a rarity The first pair worn in England were sent as a present froloves of worsted of Guernsey are also , of Mary's wardrobe She was fond of tapestry, and had the walls of her cha from France She had not much plate; but she had a profusion of rare and valuable jewels Her cloth of gold, her Turkey carpets, her beds and coverlids, her table-cloths, her crystal, her chairs and foot-stools covered with velvet, and garnished with fringes, were all celebrated in the gossiping chronicles of the day