ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND, AND MARY QUEEN of

SCOTS.

Two queens, the one illustrious for strength of mind and great talents, the other celebrated for beauty, gracefulness, and attractive accomplishments, at nearly the same time, ascended the thrones of the two kingdoms, of which Great Britain then consisted; Elizabeth, that of England; Mary Stuart, that of Scotland. But this similarity of situation, instead of producing friendship and union of sentiment, excited the flame of jealousy, which their relationship of cousins served only to augment. Mary, who was an ardent Catholic, might entertain real scruples with respect to the birth-right of Elizabeth, the daughter of a protestant mother, and esteeming herself to be her presumptive heiress, would not have scrupled to have succeeded to her crown, even before her death.

The death of Mary's first husband, Francis II. of France, was the commencement of her misfortunes; and her imprudent choice of a second, completed their sum. Dazzled by the graces of the Lord Darnley, her relation, who was esteemed to be the handsomest man of his age, Mary gave him her hand; scarcely was he become her husband, when he ceased to be her lover; and because she would not permit him to abuse the regal power to his absurd caprices, he acknowledged not the obligation which he really owed her. The queen of Scots soon grew

cold towards him in her turn, and transferred her whole confidence to an Italian musician, named Rizzio. This unseemly exaltation naturally rendered him an object of hatred and envy to the nobles; and the king, joining in their resentment, conducted a party of them, by a private staircase, to the Queen's apartment, where she was at supper with her favourite and the Countess of Argyle. They murdered Rizzio before the eyes of Mary, vainly striving to protect him. Eleven months after this event, the house in which the king was sleeping was blown up by gunpowder, and he was crushed to death in the ruins. The public voice accused Mary, and the earl of Bothwell, her new favourite, of this crime. The queen made no attempt to stifle the report, by taking measures for the discovery of the guilty. Three months after, she was carried off by Bothwell, and was quickly married to him. The indignant Scottish nobles flew to arms; Bothwell escaped to the Orkney islands, where he subsisted for some time upon the products of piracy. At length, he was taken off the coast of Norway, by a merchant vessel which he had attacked; laden with chains, and confined in a dungeon, where he died mad about ten years after. Mary, abandoned by her own troops, gave herself up to the associated barons, and by them was obliged to yield the sceptre to her son, James VI. Her brother, the earl of Murray, was appointed regent during the minority of the young king. Escaping from the castle of Lochleven, in which she had been confined, Mary made a vain effort to recover her

lost authority; then fled to England, and implored the aid of her rival. Elizabeth promised all she wished, upon the condition of her being able to justify herself from the imputed murder of Darnley, her husband. This, Mary either could not, or would not do. She demanded to be conveyed to France; but this was refused, and she was placed in confinement.

The queen of Scots offered her hand to the duke of Norfolk, one of the most powerful of the English nobles, if he would endeavour to restore to her the sceptre of Scotland. He yielded to the temptation, and formed a plan for the deliverance of Mary, and her restoration to the throne. To assist the accomplishment of this project, the duke of Alba engaged to send ten thousand of his veterans from the Low Countries. This plan was discovered, and prevented by the able ministers of Elizabeth; Norfolk was beheaded, and the captivity of the unfortunate queen was rendered more severe. This captivity she endured for many years, with patience and firmness. The natural love of liberty, at last, overcame her fortitude, and she offered to pass the remainder of her life in England, as a private person. Elizabeth made her promises which were never fulfilled, fearing that she might escape into Spain, and thence direct the storm of war against England.

Doubtless, there was some foundation for such apprehensions; but a truly magnanimous soul would have preferred hazarding a little, to the treating of a queen and a relative with ungenerous inhumanity. Under pretext that she and

her friends were continually plotting against the life of Elizabeth, Mary was tried, and condemned to die. Some months, however, passed before the queen of England signed the sentence. At length, she put her seal to the instrument, and the queen of Scots, the daughter of James IV., the granddaughter of Henry VII., was beheaded in Fotheringay castle. She died like a Christian, forgiving her enemies, and praying that the reign of Elizabeth might be long and happy. When Elizabeth heard that the mournful event had taken place, she exhibited the appearance of excessive rage against her ministers, as having exceeded their powers and her orders, and of extreme sorrow rising even to despair. As soon as this melancholy catastrophe was known in Scotland, the universal indignation of the nation flamed out. All ranks and orders of the state offered their lives and fortunes to revenge the death of their queen. But James was indolent, feeble, and timid. A few slight excuses from Elizabeth were sufficient to appease his anger, and he was mean enough to receive a pension from the hand of the imperious queen who had just shed the blood of his mother.

Philip, the tyrant of Spain, had secretly favoured all the plots which had been formed against the crown, and the life of Elizabeth; while, on her side, she had aided the people of the Netherlands to resist his cruelly oppressive sway. Philip, therefore, resolved to make a grand effort, to avenge at one stroke, the church, Spain, and Mary.

He began by obtaining from Pope Sextus V.

a bull which declared queen Elizabeth unworthy of the throne, and gave her crown to the first occupant. He then equipped the most powerful fleet which the ocean had ever borne upon its bosom.

This fleet consisted of 130 large ships, and carried nearly thirty thousand men. Thirty thousand more veteran troops, commanded by Farnese, prince of Parma, the most illustrious general of that age, were to join the armament in transport vessels from Flanders; and to be landed in England in order to conquer the country in behalf of Philip. Castilian vanity bestowed upon this fleet and army, the proud title of the Invincible Armada. Elizabeth had foreseen this tempest, and had conceived the hope of dissipating it, and of saving her kingdom from its fury. Her own navy was reduced to twentyeight small vessels; but she possessed the love of her people, and found resources, of which tyrants could never have dreamed.

Elizabeth called upon the maritime cities of her dominions to furnish contingents of ships according to their several abilities. They emulously obeyed the call, and even exceeded the demands made upon them. London equipped thirty vessels, instead of fifteen, its appointed quota. The body of nobility, of whom no such exertion was expected, armed forty-three ships. All those, from whom the government requested loans, lent their money without interest. The Roman Catholics, likewise, nobly showing that love of country was, in their hearts, predominant over religious differences, and delighted to see