to employ their whole intereft for my relief. I have, likewise, endeavoured to procure for the English Catholics fome mitigation of the rigour with which they are now treated; and if I could hope, by my death, to deliver them from oppreffion, I am willing to die for their fake. I wish, however, to imitate the example of Efther, not of Judith, and would rather make interceffion for my people, than fhed the blood of the meanest creature, in order to fave them. I have often checked the intemperate zeal of my adherents, when either the feverity of their own perfecutions, or indignation at the unheard-of injuries which I have endured, were apt to precipitate them into violent councils. I have even warned the queen of dangers to which these harsh proceedings expofed herself. And worn out, as I now am, with cares and fufferings, the profpect of a crown is not fo inviting, that I fhould ruin my foul in order to obtain it. I am no stranger to the feelings of humanity, nor unacquainted with the duties of religion, and abhor the deteftable crime of affaffination, as equally repugnant to both. And, if ever I have given consent by my words, or even by my thoughts, to any attempt against the life of the queen of England, far from declining the judgment of men, I fhall not even pray for the mercy of God."

The unhappy Mary, notwithstanding, received fentence of death, which was accordingly executed. The circumstances of her behaviour at that awful period, are related by our hiftorian in the most pathetic terms of defcription: but we have only room to infert the concluding paragraph. She prepared for the block, fays he, by taking off her veil and upper garments; and one of the executioners rudely endeavouring to affift, fhe gently checked him, and faid, with a smile, that he had not been accuftomed to undrefs before fo many fpectators, nor to be served by fuch valets. With calm but undaunted fortitude, fhe laid her neck on the block; and while one executioner held her hands, the other, at the second stroke, cut off her head, which falling out of its attire, difcovered her hair already grown quite grey with cares and forrows *.'

Our hiftorian's character of the Scots queen, which has been fo variously reprefented by different writers, muft not be omitted. To all the charms of beauty, fays he, and the utmost elegance of external form, the added thofe accomplishments, which render their impreffion irrefiftible. Polite, affable, infinuating, fprightly, and capable of fpeaking and of writing with equal eafe and dignity. Sudden, however, and violent in all her attachments; becaufe her heart was warm and unfufpicious. Impatient of contradiction; because fhe had been accustomed from her infancy to be treated as a queen. No ftranger, on fome occafions, to diffimulation; which, in that perfidious

court

She was 44 years and two months old, at the time of her death.

court where he received her education, was reckoned among the neceffary arts of government. Not infenfible of flattery, or unconscious of that pleasure, with which almost every woman beholds the influence of her own beauty. Formed with the qualities which we love, not with the talents that we admire; the was an agreeable woman, rather than an illustrious queen. The vivacity of her fpirit, not fufficiently tempered with found judgment, and the warmth of her heart, which was not, at all times, under the reftraint of difcretion, betrayed her both into errors, and into crimes. To fay that she was always unfortunate, will not account for that long and almost uninterrupted fucceffion of calamities which befel her; we must likewife add that he was often imprudent. Her paffion for Darnly was rafh, youthful, and exceffive. And though the fudden transition to the oppofite extreme was the natural effect of her ill-requited love, and of his ingratitude, infolence, and brutality; yet neither thefe, nor Bothwell's artful addrefs, and important fervices, can juftify her attachment to that nobleman. Even the manners of the age, licentious as they were, are no apology for this unhappy paffion; nor can they induce us to look on that tragical and infamous fcene which followed upon it, with less abhorrence. Humanity will draw a veil over this part of her character which it cannot approve, and may, perhaps, prompt fome to impute her actions to her fituation, more than to her difpofitions; and to lament the unhappiness of the former, rather than accufe the perverfenefs of the latter. Mary's fufferings exceed, both in degree, and in duration, thofe tragical diftreffes, which fancy has feigned to excite forrow and commiferation; and while we furvey them, we are apt altogether to forget her frailties, we think of her faults with lefs indignation, and approve of our tears, as if they were shed for a perfon who had attained much nearer to pure virtue.

With regard to the queen's perfon, a circumftance not to be omitted in writing the hiftory of a female reign, all cotemporary authors agree in afcribing to Mary, the utmost beauty of countenance, and elegance of fhape, of which the human form is capable. Her hair was black, though, according to the fafhion of that age, fhe frequently wore borrowed locks, and of different colours. Her eyes were a dark gray; her complexion was exquifitely fine; and her hands and arms remarkably delicate, both as to shape and colour. Her ftature was of an height that rofe to the majeftic. She danced, fhe walked, and rode with equal grace. Her tafte for mufic was juft, and fhe both fung and played upon the lute, with uncommon fkill. Towards the end of her life, fhe began to grow fat; and her long confinement and the coldness of the houfes in which he was imprisoned,

brought

brought on a rheumatism, which deprived her of the ufe of her limbs. No man, fays Brantome, ever beheld her perfon without admiration and love, or will read her history without forrow.'

Having clofed this melancholy fcene, the Hiftorian returns to the tranfactions of Scotland. He points out the artifices which Elizabeth ufed to footh James, and prevent him from revenging the death of his mother. He then takes notice of the domeftic regulations, which the King made in civil and ecclefiaftical affairs, and at length proceeds to relate the circumstances of his marriage with Ann of Denmark. The young Queen,' fays he, having fet fail towards Scotland, James made great preparations for her reception, and waited her landing with all the impatience of a lover; when the unwelcome account arrived, that a violent tempeft had arifen, which drove back her fleet to Norway, in a condition fo fhattered, that there was little hope of its putting again to fea, before the fpring. This unexpected difappointment he felt with the utmost fenfibility. He inftantly fitted out fome ships, and without communicating his intention to any of his council, failed, in perfon, attended by the Chancellor, feveral noblemen, and a train of three hundred perfons, in queft of his bride. He arrived fafely in a small harbour, not far diftant from Upflo, where the Queen then refided, and where the marriage was folemnized.

No event, our Author obferves, appears to be a wider deviation from his general character, than this fudden fally. James he adds, was not fufceptible of any refined gallantry, and always exprefled that contempt for the female character, which a pedantic erudition, unacquainted with politenefs, is apt to inspire. Thefe reflections are extremely judicious and elegant: and we entirely agree with the Writer, who concludes, that James took this gallant refolution more from political than amorous confiderations.

Our Hiftorian then proceeds to give an account of the diforders in the ecclefiaftical and civil ftate of Scotland, after the

It is remarkable, that James was fo defective in hiftory, that he declined an alliance with Denmark for fome time, being informed as he faid, that the King of Denmark was defcended but of merchants, and that few made account of him or his country, but such as spoke the Dutch tongue. Had he read of the ravages and conquests of the Danes, both in England and Scotland; or if he had known that marriages had been formerly contracted between his own family and that of Denmark, he could not have been fo ignorant to credit fuch information. We are obliged for this anecdote to that judicious Biogra pher, Mr. Harris, the Author of the Lives of James the First, and Charles the Firft.

King's return; and among other extraordinary inftances, takes notice of the feditious doctrine delivered by Mr. David Black, minifter of St. Andrew's, who affirmed, That the King had permitted the popifh Lords to return into Scotland, and by that action had difcovered the treachery of his own heart; that all Kings were the devil's children; that Satan had now the guidance of the court; that the Queen of England was an atheist; that the judges were miscreants and bribers; the nobility godless and degenerate; the privy counsellors cormorants, and men of no religion:" and in his prayer for the Queen, he used thefe words; "We muft pray for her for fashion's fake, but we have no cause, she will never do us good."

Mr. Black's difcourfe was without doubt unpardonably free: and this circumftance leads us to exprefs our concern at the conduct of fome modern divines, who affect to be politicians in their pulpits. When they ftep out of the way of their function, and interfere with civil affairs, in which the interest of religion is no way concerned, they deferve to be reprimanded. What laws are moft conformable to the conflitution of the church, may be a fubject proper for their confideration; but what allian ces are profitable to the nation, should be discussed at the council-board, not in the pulpit. If we allow the clergy to talk against Jew bills, we cannot excufe their meddling with treaties.

Our Hiftorian, in the enfuing pages, difclofes all the particulars, and ftates the different relations, of Gowry's confpiracy, the reality of which fome Writers have doubted. The hiftory then drawing towards a conclufion, comes to the death of Eliza beth, whom our Author thus characterizes.

Foreigners often accuse the English of indifference and difrefpect towards their Princes. But without reafon; no people are more grateful than they, to thofe Monarchs who merit their gratitude. The names of Edward III. and Henry V. are mentioned by the English of this age, with the fame warmth as they were by those who shared in the bleflings and fplendor of their reigns. The memory, of Elizabeth is ftill adored in England. And the Hiftorians of that kingdom, after celebrating her love of her people; her fagacity in difcerning their true intereft; her fteadiness in pursuing it; her wisdom in the choice of her miniiters; the glory fhe acquired by arms; the tranquility fhe fecured to her fubjects; and the increafe of fame, of riches, and of commerce, which were the fruits of all these; juftly rank her among the moft illuftrious Princes. Even the defects in her character, they obferve, were not of a kind pernicious to her people. Her exceffive frugality was not accompanied with the

love of hoarding; and though it prevented fome great undertak ings, and rendered the fuccefs of others incompleat, it introduced economy into her adminiftration, and exempted the nation from many burdens, which a Monarch, more profufe or more enterprizing, muft have impofed. Her flowness in rewarding her fervants, fometimes difcouraged useful merit; but it prevented the undeferving from acquiring power and wealth, to which they had no title. Her extreme jealousy of those Princes, who pretended to dispute her right to the crown, led her to take fuch precautions, as tended no lefs to the public fafety, than to her own; and to court the affections of her people, as the firmest fupport of her throne. Such is the picture the English draw of this great Queen.

Whoever undertakes to write the hiftory of Scotland, finds himfelf obliged, frequently, to view her in a very different, and in a lefs amiable light. Her authority in that kingdom, during the greater part of her reign, was little inferior to that, which the poffeffed in her own. But this authority, acquired at first by a fervice of great importance to the nation, the exercised in a manner extremely pernicious to its happiness. By her industry in fomenting the rage of the two contending factions; by fup plying the one with partial aid; by feeding the other with falfe hopes; by balancing their power fo artfully, that each of them was able to distress, and neither of them to fubdue the other; the rendered Scotland long the feat of difcord, confufion, and bloodshed and her craft and intrigues, effecting what the valour of her ancestors could not accomplish, reduced that kingdom to a state of dependence on England. The maxims of policy, often little confonant to thofe of morality, may, perhaps, juftify this conduct. But no apology can be offered for her behaviour to Queen Mary; a scene of diffimulation without neceffity; and of feverity beyond example. In almost all her other actions, Elizabeth is the object of our highest admiration; in this we muft allow, that fhe not only laid afide the magnanimity which became a Queen, but the feelings natural to a woman.'

This character of Queen Elizabeth is, in our opinion, drawn, with equal fpirit and impartial juftice. Certainly, whatever we determine of her political, no one can juftify her moral principles. Perhaps we may be warranted in fuggefting, that the benefits which refulted to the nation from her political conduct, were owing rather to accident, or the neceffity of her affairs directed by prudent council, than to her own good inclinations, or patriot virtues. It is certain, that fhe inherited a large portion of her father's arbitrary and tyrannic difpofition. Whoever reads. her fpeeches to her parliament, will find many of them delivered in the very language of defpotifm. But words were not all. On many occafions fhe exerted abfolute power, and committed acts

of