tory. The Earl of Gowrie was trapped to the scaffold. The whitening skulls of his two gallant sons stood on the gable of the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for more than forty years. 12. For the next two years Arran was supreme. His tyranny and 'insolence were unbounded. The King was merely a tool in his wicked hands, most of the other nobles having been banished from the Court. At the same time Acts were passed against the Presbyterian Church and in favour of Episcopacy, in consequence of which many Presbyterian ministers fled to England. At length Arran's conduct became 'insuffer1585 able. The banished lords returned. Arran fled from A.D. the Court, and a regular form of government was adopted. This was followed by the restoration of Presbytery. a-gree-a-ble, pleasant. ar-rest-ed, seized; made prisoner. as-so-ci-at-ed, banded together. bairns, children. bishop-ric, office of a bishop. coun-ter-feit, pretend; feign. cour-te-sy, politeness; civility. de-mand-ed, asked in a strong way. fu-ri-ous-ly, with fury; fiercely. in-come, money which comes in; pay. in-so-lence, rudeness. in-suf-fer-a-ble, not to be borne; unbearable. 1 No quarter, showing no mercy | miles north-west of Perth, on the river to enemies. Almond. 2 Men of straw.-Tulchan bishops they were called, "tulchan" being the Gaelic name for a stuffed calf set beside a cow to induce her to give milk. ་་ 3 George Buchanʼan, a well known Scottish author. He is called the Scottish Virgil," from the excellence of his Latin poetry. Born, 1506; died, 1582. 4 Ath'ole, in the centre of Perthshire. 5 Castle of Ruthven (pron. Riv'en). Called also Huntingtower, about 3 6 Ar'ran, James Stewart, second son of Lord Ochiltree. His sister was John Knox's wife. In 1596 he was killed in Dumfries-shire by Sir James Douglas, a nephew of Regent Morton. 7 Len'nox.-He was Esmé Stewart, a Scotsman brought up in France. He was a nephew of Regent Lennox, and therefore a cousin of Darnley. 8 The Tolbooth', an old prison which stood in the centre of Edinburgh, and was therefore called "The Heart of Midlothian." QUESTIONS.-1. Who succeeded to the regency? How long did he hold it? Where was he killed?-2. Who was the next Regent? What did he try to do? What was his end? When did Knox die? What had he lived to see?-3. Who succeeded Mar? What showed his cruelty?-4. What castle did he take? Who James VI.] BABINGTON'S CONSPIRACY. 157 was its commander? What was done to him? What did Morton's rulo accomplish? 5. What effect had his success on him? What did his enemies advise the King to do? What did Morton do? How old was the King? What was the fate of Morton ?-6. By whom had James been educated? What kind of man did he show himself to be as he grew up? Into whose hands did he fall at the outset of his reign? What led to the Raid of Ruthven ?-7. Where had James gone to hunt? Who invited him to his castle? What did the Earl do when the King was within his walls?-8. What did the lords present to him next morning? How did he answer it? What did he wish to do? Who stood with his back against the door? What did Glammis say when the King began to weep? In what year did this take place?-9. What did Arran do when he heard of the affair? What did he find? Where was he confined? What became of Lennox?-10. How was James treated by the lords? How did he throw them off their guard? How did he escape from them?-11. Who returned to Court? In what mood? Who suffered death for the Raid of Ruthven ?-12. How long thereafter was Arran supreme? What ecclesiastical measures were at the same time passed? When did Arran flee from the Court? What followed? 27.-END OF THE RIVAL QUEENS. 1. FROM the time that Mary took refuge in England, she had been the centre of plots 'designed to overthrow Elizabeth and Protestantism, and to place her on the throne. In 1569 the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland had headed a rising with that view in the north. It had been vigorously put down, but the hopes of the party were not at an end. Three years later, the Duke of Norfolk had been executed for a *similar plot, in connection with which it was planned that he should marry Mary. 2. The most serious of these plots, however, was that known as Babington's Conspiracy. Its two chief objects were to murder Elizabeth and to set Mary free. Babington and thirteen other 'conspirators were executed; and it was resolved to bring Mary to trial for supporting the plot. It was said that she had received letters telling her of the progress of the conspiracy, and had returned answers to them through a chink in her prison wall. But the 'evidence on which 1586 this statement rests is not beyond question. There is no doubt, on the other hand, that the English Government found Mary a very troublesome prisoner. As long as she lived, plots were sure to be formed from time to time in her favour. It was not likely, therefore, to lose a fair chance of getting rid of her. A.D. 3. She was tried in Fotheringay Castle1 in October 1586, and was condemned. On the 8th of February following she was executed in the great hall of the same castle. She was in the forty-fifth year of her age, and had been a captive in England upwards of eighteen years. Feb. 8, 1587 A.D. 4. In the year 1600 a mysterious affair, known as the Gowrie Conspiracy, made a great noise in the land. It was said that the King had been decoyed to Gowrie House,2 and attacked or threatened by Alexander Ruthven and his brother the Earl of Gowrie-sons of that Earl of Gowrie who had been put to death for the Raid of Ruthven eighteen years before. A.D. The King with difficulty reached a window and shouted 1600 for help. His attendants burst in, and slew, first Ruthven, and then the Earl. That was in August. Three months later, the bodies of the slaughtered nobles were produced in Parliament, to have sentence of attainder and •forfeiture passed on them. 5. The death of Elizabeth, in 1603, made James VI. the ⚫unquestioned King of the whole island. All the ⚫de1603 scendants of Henry VIII. were dead. It therefore beA.D. came necessary to go back to the line of his elder sister Margaret, the wife of James IV. of Scotland, from whom James VI. was directly descended. called the Union of the Crowns. This event is at-tain-der, loss of rights as a citizen. | de-signed', meant; intended. ev-i-dence, proof. for-feit-ure, loss of property. sim-i-lar, like; much the same. Charter of the Church of Scotland. It ratified the main provisions of The Second Book of Discipline (approved by the General Assembly in 1578), and affirmed the independence of the Scottish Church. Marischal College, Aberdeen, was founded in 1593; and in the same year the last clan battle of note on the Borders was fought near Lockerby, between the Maxwells and the Johnstons. 1587 A.D.] MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. 159 QUESTIONS.-1. Of what was Mary the centre in England? When was the first plot? Where was the rising? When was the second? Who was executed for it? 2. Which was the most serious of all these plots? What were its two chief aims? Who were executed for it? What charges were alleged against Mary? Why was the English Government anxious to get rid of Mary?-3. Where was she tried? When was she executed?-4. What mysterious affair took place in 1600? Describe it. Who were slain ?-5. What effect on the Succession had the When did she die? How was James the nearest heir? death of Elizabeth? 28. MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. 1. I LOOKED far back into other years, and lo! in bright array I saw, as in a dream, the forms of ages passed away. It was a stately convent1 with its old and lofty walls, And gardens with their broad green walks, where soft the footstep falls; And o'er the antique dial-stone the creeping shadow passed, And little recked they, when they sang, or knelt at vesper prayers, That Scotland knew no prouder names-held none more dear than theirs ; And little even the loveliest thought, before the holy shrine, 2. The scene was changed. It was the court, the gay court of Bourbon,2 And 'neath a thousand silver lamps a thousand courtiers throng: 3. 4. Ah! who shall blame, if scarce that day, through all its brilliant hours, She thought of that quiet convent's calm, its sunshine and its flowers? The scene was changed. It was a bark 5 that slowly held its way, And o'er its lee the coast of France in the light of evening lay; And on its deck a Lady sat, who gazed with tearful eyes Upon the fast 'receding hills, that dim and distant rise. 6 No 'marvel that the Lady wept,—there was no land on earth She loved like that dear land, although she owed it not her birth; It was her mother's land, the land of childhood and of friends,It was the land where she had found for all her griefs amends,The land where her dead husband slept the land where she had known The 'tranquil convent's hushed repose, and the 'splendours of a throne: No marvel that the Lady wept-it was the land of France— The breeze comes forth-she is alone on the 'unconscious sea! The scene was changed. It was an eve of raw and surly mood, And in a turret-chamber high of ancient Holyrood' Sat Mary, listening to the rain, and sighing with the winds, That seemed to suit the stormy state of men's uncertain minds. The touch of care had 'blanched her cheek-her smile was sadder now; The weight of royalty had pressed too heavy on her brow; She thought of all her blighted hopes-the dreams of youth's brief day, And summoned Rizzio with his lute, and bade the minstrel play The songs she loved in early years—the songs of gay Navarre; The songs perchance that 'erst were sung by gallant Chatelar:8 They half beguiled her of her cares, they soothed her into smiles, They won her thoughts from bigot zeal and fierce domestic broils: |