Volume II Part 1 (1/2)

Life of Mary Queen of Scots

Volume II

by Henry Glassford Bell

CHAPTER I

THE PROPOSAL OF A DIVORCE BETWEEN MARY AND DARNLEY, AND THE CHRISTENING OF JAMES VI

It was in Decemillar, that a proposal was made to her by her Privy Council, which deserves particular attention It originated with the Earl of Bothwell, as now an active Cabinet Minister and Officer of State Murray and Darnley, the only two persons in her kingdoree, the reins of govern her interests betrayed by them, she knew not where to look for an adviser

Rizzio had been faithful to her, and to him she listened with some deference; but it was impossible that he could ever have supplied the place of a Prime Minister The Earl of Morton was not destitute of ambition sufficient to have made him aspire to that office; but he chose, unfortunately for hi Darnley's cause, in opposition to the Queen Both, in consequence, fell into suspicion; Morton was banished froain h she still had a partiality for her brother, Mary could not now trust him, as she had once done Gratitude and common justice called upon her not to elevate him above those men, (particularly Huntly and Bothwell), who had enabled her to pass so successfully through her recent troubles She made it her policy, therefore, to preserve as nice a balance of power as possible a her ministers Bothwell's rank and services, undoubtedly entitled him to the first place; but this the Queen did not choose to concede to him The truth is, she had never any partiality for Bothwell His turbulent and boisterous behaviour, soon after her return froave her, at that period, a dislike to hi hi him into banishment He had conducted hiht Mary the deceitfulness of appearances; and Bothwell, though much more listened to than before, was not allowed to assume any tone of superiority in her councils She restored Maitland to his lands and place at Court, in such direct opposition to the Earl's wishes, that, so recently as the h words upon the subject in the Queen's presence After Rizzio's iven to Bothwell

These Murray wished him to restore; but he declared positively, that he would part with theed at his obstinacy, told him, that ”twenty as honest ton robbed;” and through his influence with his sister, Maitland was pardoned, and his lands given back[1] Thus Mary endeavoured to divide her favours and friendshi+p ayle the Justice-General, and Huntly the Chancellor

It was in this state of affairs, when the contending interests of the nobility were in so accurate an equilibriuested to hih to take advantage of it As yet, his plans were ian to cherish the belief that a dazzling reach of poithin his grasp, were he only to lie in wait for a favourable opportunity to seize the prize With these views, it was necessary for hithen and increase his resources as much as possible His first step was to prevail on Murray, Huntly, and Argyle, about the beginning of October, to join with him in a bond of mutual friendshi+p and support;[2]

his second was to lay aside any enmity he may have felt towards Morton, and to intimate to him, that he would himself petition the Queen for his recall; his third and boldestwith the rest of the Privy Council the propriety of suggesting to Mary a divorce from her husband Bothwell's conscience seldom troubled him much when he had a favourite end in view He was about to play a hazardous ga would be proportionate Darnley had fallen into general neglect and odium; yet he stood directly in the path of the Earl's ambition He was resolved that means should be found to remove him out of it; and as there was no occasion to have recourse to violence until gentler methods had failed, a divorce was the first expedient of which he thought He knew that the proposal would not be disagreeable to the nobility; for it had been their policy, for soe, and Mary in particular, that it was Darnley's ill conduct that made her unhappy, and created all the differences which existed Nor were these representations altogether unfounded; but the Queen's unhappiness arose, not so ratitude, as froard, and at the sah the nobles were determined to shut their eyes upon the fact, it was nevertheless the share which they held in the government, and the necessity under which Mary lay to avail herself of their assistance, which alone prevented her froreat deal less with them There were even tireatness, and grievously disappointed in the fulfilladly have exchanged the splendors of her palace for the thatched roof and the contentment of the peasant It was on more than one occasion that Sir Jahs, and saw that she would not eat for no persuasion that my Lords of Murray and Mar could make her” ”She is in the hands of the physicians,” Le Croc writes fromillar, ”and is not at all well

I believe the principal part of her disease to consist in a deep grief and sorrohich it seeet She is continually exclai ”Would I were dead!”[3] ”But, alas!” says Melville, ”she had over evil company about her for the time; the Earl Bothwell had a mark of his own that he shot at”[4]

One of his bolts Bothwell lost no ti to sue with the other proton, to join hi the Queen to consent to a divorce It could have been obtained only through the interference of the Pope, and Murray at first affected to have soreeable to him, it was not difficult to overcoton to hih to make her quit of him, so that you and my Lord of Huntly will only behold the matter, and not be offended thereat” The Lords therefore proceeded to wait upon the Queen, and lay their proposal before her Lethington, who had a better co her of the ”great nurateful for the honour received from her Majesty, had committed” He added, that Darnley ”troubled her Grace and them all;” and that, if he was allowed to remain with her Majesty, he ”would not cease till he did her some other evil turn which she would find it difficult to re for himself and the rest of the nobility, to obtain the consent of Parliaree to pardon the Earl of Morton, the Lords Ruthven and Lindsay, and their friends, whose aid they would require to secure a ton, and the rest, soon found that they had little understood Mary's real sentiree even to talk upon the subject at all; and it was only after ”every one of the her to the purpose,” that she condescended to state two objections, which, setting aside every other consideration, she regarded as insuperable The first was, that she did not understand how the divorce could be made lawfully; and the second, that it would be to her son's prejudice, rather than hurt whom, she declared she ”would endure all toruing, that though his father and mother had been divorced, there had never been any doubt as to his succession to his paternal estates; but his illustrations and Lethington's oratory met with the sa, by which any spot may be laid on my honour and conscience; and therefore, I pray ye rather let the oodness put a remedy to it That you believe would do me service, may possibly turn to my hurt and displeasure” As to Darnley, she expressed a hope that he would soon change for the better; and, proet rid, for a season, of her o for a tied his errors

She then dismissed Bothwell and his friends, who retired to meditate new plots[5]

On the 11th of Deceements for the baptism of her son, which she deternificence his future prospects justified Darnley, who had been with the Queen a week at Craigh with her, had gone to Stirling two days before[6]

Aland, France, Piedmont, and Savoy, to be present at the cere a nuncio into Scotland; but Mary had good sense enough to know, that her bigoted subjects would be greatly offended, were she to receive any such servant of Antichrist It ht facilitate the negotiations for the divorce proposed by her nobility, but which she was deterreat spiritual Head of her Church, expressing all that respect for his authority which a good Catholic was bound to feel; but she, at the same time, contrived to prevent his nuncio, Cardinal Laurea, fro further north than Paris[7]

The splendour of Mary's preparations for the approaching ceremony, astonished not a little the sober minds of the Presbyterians ”The excessive expenses and superfluous apparel,” says Knox, ”which were prepared at that time, exceeded far all the preparations that ever had been devised or set forth before in this country” Elizabeth, as if participating in Mary's s, ordered the Earl of Bedford, her aeous train; and sent by hiold, valued at upwards of 1000_l_ In her instructions to Bedford, she desired him to say jocularly, that it had been made as soon as she heard of the Prince's birth, and that it was large enough then; but that, as he had now, she supposed, outgrown it, it ht be kept for the next child It was too far in the season to ad any of the Ladies of her own realyle to represent her as God that lady, because she understood her to be much esteemed by Mary Toso many ambassadors, the Queen was permitted to levy an assesse, how a taxation of this kind could be ied thus The Privy Council called aboth of the Lords Tehs, and inforreatest princes in Christendoh their ambassadors, the baptism of the Prince It was therefore moved, and unanimously carried, that their Majesties should be allowed to levy a tax for ”the honourable expenses requisite” The tax was to be proportioned in this way; six thousand pounds from the spiritual estate;--four thousand from the barons and freeholders;--and two thousand frohs[8]

Till the cereave splendid banquets every day to the aht disturbance occurred, which, as it serves to illustrate a There seelish and French envoys upon matters of precedence; and Mary on the whole was inclined to favour the English, being now land than with France It happened, however, that at the banquet in question, a kind of ot up, under the superintendance of one of Mary's French servants, called Sebastian, as a fellow of a clever wit He contrived a piece of workreat table; and its ed, that, upon the doors of the great hall in which the feast was to be held, being thrown open, it moved in, apparently of its own accord, covered with delicacies of all sorts A band oftheeant It was preceded, and this was the cause of the offence, by a nu tails, and carrying whips in their hands These satyrs were not content to ride round the table, but they put their hands behind thelishmen, who took it into their heads that the whole was done in derision of the that which they should not seem to have understood” Several of the suite of the Earl of Bedford, perceiving the their tails or rumples,” were so exasperated, that one of them told Sir James Melville, if it were not in the Queen's presence, ”he would put a dagger to the heart of the French knave Sebastian, whoed did it for despite that the Queen made more of them than of the Frenchmen” The Queen and Bedford, who knew that the whole was athe wrath of the hot-headed Southerns

In the midst of these festivities, Mary had various cares to perplex her, and various difficulties to encounter When she first cao, as usual, to the Castle, but was residing in a private house He left it, however, upon the Queen's arrival, and took up his residence in the Castle with her,--a fact of some consequence, and one which Murray has himself supplied[9] But Darnley's sentied; and it was iether, with any degree of harmony, even in presence of the ambassadors Mary was extre his weakness and ardness to foreigners; but he was as stubborn as ever; and though he had given up thoughts of going abroad, it was only because he hoped to put into execution soayeties, he continued sullen and discontented, shutting hi with no one, except his wife and the French envoy, Le Croc, for whohten his bad hu to Caive hier inspired by his contee, had not yet subsided; and there is not a state paper extant, in which she acknowledges Darnley in other terms than as ”Henry Stuart, the Queen of Scotland's husband” It seems likely that this, added to the other reasons already mentioned, was the cause why Darnley refused to be present at the christening of his son[10] Mary had another cause of vexation The baptisreater part of her nobility, in consequence, not only refused to take any share in the ceremony, but even to be present at it All Mary's influence with Murray, Huntly, and Bothwell, was exerted in vain They did not choose to risk their character with the Reforratify her ”The Queen laboured rease, and candles, and such other things, but all refused”

On the 19th of December 1566, the baptism, for which so many preparations had been made, took place[11] The ceremony was performed between five and six in the afternoon The Earls of Athol and Eglinton, and the Lords Se of the Catholic persuasion, carried the instruments The Archbishop of St Andrews, assisted by the Bishops of Dumblane, Dunkeld, and Ross, received the Prince at the door of the chapel The Countess of Argyle held the infant at the font, and the Archbishop baptized him by the name of Charles James, James Charles, Prince and Steward of Scotland, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Lord of the Isles, and Baron of Renfrew; and these names and titles were proclaimed three times by heralds, with sound of tru of France, her brother-in-law; but she gave him also the naood kings of Scotland, his predecessors, had been called by that naether with the Earl of Bedford, reyle had afterwards to do penance for the share she took in the business of the day,--a circuy at this time, ere able to triuhter, and their Sovereign's sister It is also worthy of notice, that of the twelve Earls, and numerous Lords then in the castle, only two of the former, and three of the latter, ventured to cross the threshold of a Catholic chapel[12]

Elizabeth was probably not far wrong, in supposing that her font had grown too small for the infant James He was a remarkably stout and healthy child, and as Le Croc says, he ht in their arms Mary was very proud of her son, and from his earliest infancy, the establishment of his household was on the overness A certain Mistress Margaret Little, the spouse of Alexander Gray, Burgess of Edinburgh, was his head-nurse; and for her good services, there was granted to her and her husband, in February 1567, part of the lands of Kingsbarns in Fife, during their lives The chief nurse had four or five wo's clothes,” &c

Five ladies of distinction were appointed to the honourable office of ”Rockers” of the Prince's cradle For his kitchen, Jae, had a master-cook, a foreman, and three other servitors, and one for his pantry, one for his wine, and two for his ale-cellar He had three ”chalmer-chields,” one ”furnisher of coals,” and one pastry-cook or confectioner Five musicians or ”violars,” as they are called, completed the number of his household To fill so manyof bread, beef, veal, es, wine and ale Thus, upon the life of the infant, the comfortable support of a reasonable nurace and affability of Mary's manners, won for her, upon the baptismal occasion, universal admiration She sent home the ambassadors with the most favourable impressions, which were not less loudly proclaiifts of value To Bedford, in particular, she gave a chain of diamonds, worth about six or seven hundred pounds To other individuals of his suite, she gave chains of pearl, rings, and pictures[14] But she was all the ti an effort to appear happier and more contented than she really was

”She showed so oodly coood measure, her forive us soht to think otherwise, so long as she continues to be so pensive and melancholy She sent forsore I arieved for the many troubles and vexations she meets with” Mary did not ithout cause One source of uneasiness, at the present moment, was the determination of her ministers to force from her a pardon for the Earl of Morton, and seventy-five of his accon wasindeed, was the facility hich she allowed herself to be persuaded to forgive the deadliest injuries which could be offered to her Murray, froh Cecil, had induced Elizabeth to desire Bedford to join his influence to that of Mary's Privy Council in behalf of Morton The consequence was, that the Queen could no longer resist their united importunities, and, with two exceptions, all the conspirators against Rizzio were pardoned These exceptions were, George Douglas, who had seized the King's dagger, and struck Rizzio the first blow; and Andrew Kerr, who, in the affray, had threatened to shoot the Queen herself Robertson, with great inaccuracy, has said, that it was to the solicitations of Bothwell alone that these cri before Bothwell, whose weight with Mary was never considerable, could have obtained, unassisted, her consent to such a measure; and the truth of this assertion is proved by the clearest and directest testimony In a letter which Bedford wrote to Cecil on the 30th of Decee:--”The Queen here hath now granted to the Earl of Morton, to the Lords Ruthven and Lindsay, their relaxation and pardon[15] _The Earl of Murray hath done very friendly towards the Queen for the to your advice_; the Earls Bothwell and Athol, and all other Lords _helped_ therein, or else such pardons could not so soon have been gotten”[16] It is no doubt true, that Bothas glad of this opportunity to ingratiate himself with Morton, and that, in the words of Melville, he ”packed up a quiet friendshi+p with hinorant of the real influence which secured a remission of their offences froreatly offended that any of his forain into favour They would return only to force him a few steps farther down the ladder, to the top of which he had so eagerly desired to climb They were recalled too at the very ti to co Prince, and, after crowning hiovernment as his father Whether this report was true or not, (and perhaps it was a belief in it which induced the Queen to reh), it is certain that Darnley declared he ”could not bear with so in the Court, and that either he or they behoved to leave the sa on the 24th of Decened, to visit his father at Glasgow But it was not with Mary he had quarrelled, ho for the last ten days, and whoh, as soon as she had paid so[18]

CHAPTER II

OCCURRENCES IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING DARNLEY'S DEATH

We are now about to enter upon a part of Mary's history,in its details, than all that has gone before A deed had been determined on, which, for audacity and villany, has but few parallels in either ancient or modern story The manner of its perpetration, and the consequences which ensued, not only threw Scotland into a ferment, but astonished the whole of Europe; and, even to this day, the amazement and horror it excited, continue to be felt, whenever that page of our national history is perused which records the event Ambition has led to the coreat interests of society, it is only in a few instances, of which the present is one of the most conspicuous, that it has been able to involve in uilty But, even where this is the case, ti the mantle of mystery to moulder away, enables us to point out, on one hand, those who have been unjustly accused, and, on the other, those ere both the passive conspirators and the active murderers A plain narrative of facts, told without violence or party-spirit, is that upon which most reliance will be placed, and which will bethethe falsehoods of the calumnious