7. Mary was married to the Dauphin in 1558. In the following year Henry II., her father-in-law, died, and she thus became Queen of France. 8. The Reformation had now taken firm root in the land, chiefly through the energy and stirring 'eloquence of Knox. When he preached at St. Andrews in 1559, he aroused a spirit of enthusiasm which soon spread over all Scotland. Elizabeth of England, who regarded Mary as a rival for her crown, both secretly encouraged and openly aided the reforming 1560 party. In 1560 a treaty was 'concluded on her behalf at Berwick with the Lords of the Congregation. Her army crossed the Border, and her fleet sailed up the Forth and blockaded the French troops in Leith. At this crisis Mary of Guise, the Queen-Regent, died; and a treaty was signed at Edinburgh, by which it was agreed that both the French and the English troops should leave Scotland. A.D. 9. In 1560 the Parliament adopted a Confession of Faith prepared by Knox and others. On the 20th December, in the same year, the first General Assembly of the Reformed Church of Scotland met. In 1567 it was 'recognized by Parliament as the National Church of Scotland. ac-ces-sion, coming to the throne. com-pel', force. con-clud-ed, finished; made. 1 John Knox-Born in 1505, near Gifford, in Haddingtonshire. He died in 1572. 2 Pink'ie-cleuch, about 5 miles east of Edinburgh. doc-trines, religious opinions. en-thu-si-asm, great zeal. 3 Inchmahome', beautifully situated on an island in the Lake of Menteith, in Perthshire. 4 The Dauphin, heir-apparent to the French crown. QUESTIONS.-1. What doctrines were now spreading? How did Wishart provoke Beaton? What was done to him? How was his death revenged?-2. Who joined the garrison of St. Andrews in 1547? What befell him?-3. When was the marriage project revived by the English? What battle was fought? Who won? By what was it followed?-4. Where was Mary sent for safety? Whom did Parliament resolve that she should marry? Where was she then sent?5. Who became Regent in 1554? What influence then became very strong in Scotland?-6. Who were alarmed for their liberties? What did they do in 1557 Mary.] MURDER OF RIZZIO. 147 and in 1559? What are these deeds called?-7. When was Mary married? When did she become Queen of France?-8. What was the effect of Knox's preaching in 1559? Who aided the reformers? What treaty did she conclude with them? By what was it followed? What were the terms of the Treaty of Edinburgh?--9. When was a Confession of Faith adopted? When did the first General Assembly of the Reformed Church meet? When was that Church recognized as the National Church of Scotland? 24.-MARY, DARNLEY, AND BOTHWELL. A.D. 1. BEFORE the end of the year 1560 Mary's husband, Francis II., died, and she returned to Scotland in August 1561. Her French training had filled her with strong 1561 hatred of the Reformers, and when she found Scotland divided into two powerful parties-Roman Catholic and Protestant-she naturally 'sympathized with the former. 2. Her gay and 'frivolous life soon turned from her the ablest and most earnest men in Scotland. In 1565 she married her cousin, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. 1565 She thereby disappointed Elizabeth, by whose advice she had promised to be guided in the choice of her second husband. She also lost the favour of her half-brother, the Earl of Murray, now the head of the Protestant party. A.D. 3. Darnley joined Lord Ruthven and others in a plot against an Italian musician named David Rizzio, whom Mary had made her secretary and chief favourite. One night 1566 at supper-time, Rizzio was dragged from the Queen's presence in Holyrood, and murdered in an 'adjoining passage. She wiped away her tears when she heard of his death, and said that thenceforth she would study 'revenge. A.D. A.D. 4. Soon after this event Mary gave birth to a son, afterwards James VI. The child was baptized in Stirling Castle in December. Darnley, though living in the 1566 castle, was not present at the ceremony. It was rather ⚫ominous that his place was filled by James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who had now thrown over the Queen that extraordinary spell which led to her ruin as well as to his own. 5. About Christmas, Darnley went to Glasgow to visit his father. There he was seized with small-pox. He had recovered, but was still weak, when he was 'surprised by a visit from the Queen. Poor Darnley was uplifted with delight. She offered to make up all their quarrels, promised that they should live together once more as in the days when they were happy, and gave him her hand upon it. 6. Darnley agreed to return to Edinburgh, and they travelled thither by easy journeys, as he was still in a weak state. Instead of taking him to the Palace, however, the Queen placed him in a small house belonging to one Robert Balfour, a creature of Bothwell's, in a suburb called the Kirk-of-Field.1 It was a house in a garden outside the town-wall, in a free and airy situation; better fitted, she said, for an 'invalid than Holyrood, the situation of which was low. 7. For eight or ten days Mary played the part of a kind and careful nurse. She passed much of every day with her husband, and slept several nights in a chamber below his. Meanwhile Bothwell was secretly making his preparations. By means of duplicate keys, his agents had free access to the house where the ill-fated King was lodged. He had placed in the Queen's service one Hubert, a Frenchman, a former servant of his own. Two fierce Borderers, Hay of Tallo and Hepburn of Bolton, readily became his tools. 8. A barrel of gunpowder was sent for to Bothwell's Castle of Dunbar, and "a fine lunt of half a fathom "2 was provided. If this powder be placed in the lonely house of Kirk-of-Field under cover of night; if it explode and blow the house and its inmates to destruction before morning, who will 'divine how the accident happened? Bothwell arranged his accident with He selected the spot where the powder was to be placed. The spot was in the Queen's room, right under Darnley's bed in the room above. care. Feb. 1567 9. The night of Sunday the 9th of February was fixed for the 'execution of the horrible plot. About ten o'clock on that evening the powder was brought in bags across the garden, and carried to the Queen's room. She sat talking with her husband, while the preparations for his murder were going on in the room below. A.D. 10. The Queen suddenly 'recollected that she had promised to be present and to dance at the wedding of a favourite maid of hers that night in the Palace. The Queen had promised her husband to pass that night in Kirk-of-Field. But the 'previ Mary.] MURDER OF DARNLEY. 149 ous engagement, now that she recollected it, would prevent her. She must keep her word, she said; and kissing her husband, she left him, and went by torch-light to Holyrood. 11. The ball was at its height in the Palace, when Bothwell, about midnight, slipped away, changed his rich suit of black velvet and satin for one of common stuff, and joined his 'accomplices at Kirk-of-Field. Hepburn lighted the match, let himself and Hay out of the house by means of the duplicate keys, and locked the doors after him. They found Bothwell in the garden. He asked them if they had "fired the lunt." They said, "It is done;" and the accomplices retired to a safe distance in the garden to await the result. Within the doomed house all was dark and still. The 'unsuspecting victim slept, and the red end of the burning match was creeping, with its low hiss, every second nearer to the powder. 12. The explosion seemed long in coming, and they began to think that the match had gone out. The fierce and impatient Bothwell was for going to see. Hepburn, knowing that he had made all sure, said, "Ye need not." A little afterwards the explosion burst with tremendous fury, throwing its fierce glare against the black sky, and alarming the silent city. The gang of murderers ran off. Bothwell returned to his rooms in the Palace, drank some wine, and went to bed. 13. Half an hour later, a startled knock shook his door, and a man, almost speechless with 'amazement, panted out, "The King's house is blown up, and I trow the King be slain!" Bothwell sprang from his bed, calling out, "Fie! treason! treason!" His brother-in-law Huntly, and other gentlemen, hurried into his room at the alarm. They went together to the Queen, and told her what had happened. She seemed overwhelmed with grief. The gentlemen retired: the Queen went calmly to bed, slept late, and ate an excellent breakfast. 14. As soon as day broke on Monday morning, multitudes crowded to the Kirk-of-Field. The house was a mere heap of blackened ruins, hollow like the crater of a volcano. The dead bodies of Darnley and his servant were found in the garden. No marks of violence or of fire appeared on the corpses. Bothwell came with a guard, and had the bodies removed. The corpse of Darnley was carried to Holyrood Chapel. The Queen "beheld it without any outward sign of joy or of sorrow." On the Saturday following, it was buried by night in the chapel, beside the body of David Rizzio. 15. There is no doubt that Bothwell was the chief ⚫insti gator of this deed. The events by which it was immediately followed strengthened the general belief that Mary was privy to the design, if she did not actively encourage it. Bothwell was forthwith advanced and favoured. He insisted on being tried for the murder of Darnley, and was of course acquitted. On the Queen's return from Stirling to Edinburgh, he waylaid her and carried her off to Dunbar. He then procured a 'divorce from his wife; and on the 15th of May-little more than three months after Darnley's murder-he and Mary were married. May 1567 A.D. June. 4 16. The nobles took up arms to force her to separate from Bothwell. Mary surrendered to them at Carberry Hill,3 near Musselburgh. Bothwell fled, and Mary was sent a prisoner to Loch Leven Castle. There she was obliged to 'abdicate in favour of her son-then one year old -and the Earl of Murray was appointed Regent. 5 17. After eleven months of captivity, Mary escaped from Loch Leven, and found an army of six thousand men 1568 ready to fight for her. Murray, with four thousand men, defeated her army at Langside, and she escaped to Dundrennan," and thence to England, where she cast herself on the mercy of Queen Elizabeth. A.D. ab-di-cate, give up the crown. ac-com-pli-ces, friends in crime; as-om-i-nous, foreboding evil. in-va-lid, a sick person. |