MEMOIRS OF DISTINGUISHED WOMEN. MARY MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS: queen of Scots, daughter of James the Fifth, and of Mary of Lorraine, his second wife, was born December 14th, 1542, a few days before the death of her father. An unsuccessful war against England had left the kingdom in a perilous state: many persons of the first rank had, at the unfortunate battle of Solway, fallen into the hands of the English, and were still detained prisoners at London. The religious disputes attending the reformation, added rage to the fac tions by which the state was rent. The govern ment of a queen was unknown to the Scots, a fierce and martial people, who required to be reStrained by a strong hand; while a long and feeble minority gave encouragement to faction by the hope of impunity. James, who saw the tempest gather, had neglected to provide against its effects his daughter and his kingdom were in despair abandoned to the chances of fortune, without a protector, a guardian, or a guide. The choice of the nobles at length fell on the earl of Arran, next heir to the queen, whose proximity of blood gave him a title to the regency; a man of mild, unambitious temper, timid and irresolute, with inferior abilities, fitted rather to the enjoyment of private life, than to steer the helm of the state in turbulent times. Scarcely had he taken possession of his new dignity, when a negociation was opened with England, teeming with fatal consequences to himself and the kingdom. Henry VIII. after the death of James, conceived a project of marrying his only son Edward with the infant queen of Scots. To the prisoners, taken at Solway he imparted his plan, and gave to them a promise of liberty, on condition that they should aid his designs: on receiving their assent to his proposition, he allowed them to return to Scotland, that by their presence in the parliament, which the regent had summoned, they might be the better enabled to fulfil their engagement. A cause entrusted to such, zealous advocates could scarcely have failed of success, had the temper of Henry fitted him to improve so favourable an occasion. The designs he had formed upon Scotland, which he had not the dexterity to disguise or conceal, were but too obvious; but when, instead of temporising with the jealousy of the Scots, he demanded that the person of their queen should be immediately committed to his charge, and that the government of the kingdom should, during her minority, be placed in his hands, he at once alarmed and incensed the whole nation. His conditions were indignantly rejected, and, after some dark and unsuccessful intrigues, he was compelled to make concessions; to consent that the queen should, till she was ten years of age, continue in Scotland, and that he should himself be excluded from any share in the ma❤ nagement of the state. The treaty was still so advantageous to England, that the regent by agreeing to it lost much of the public confidence. His enemies, by complaining that the kingdom was about to be degraded into a province of England, and that the true catholic faith would be extinguished under the tyranny of an excommunicated heretic, addressed themselves to the prejudices and the passions of the people. Animated by the pride of independence, and the dread of innova tion, the nation declared against the alliance. The regent, nevertheless, with an irresolution characteristic of a weak mind, ratified on the 25th of August the treaty with Henry: on the 3d of September he withdrew from Edinburgh, met the adverse party, renounced the friendship of England, and declared for the interest of France. Henry, to gain the regent, had not been sparing of magnificent promises, but, on finding his influence less than he had been willing to believe, he no longer treated him with the same respect. The person of the young queen was in the custody of his adversaries, who increased daily in numbers and popularity. They formed, at Stirling, a separate court, and talked of electing another regent. The French king was ready to afford them protection, and the nation, through hatred of the English, would have united in their defence. Thus circumstanced, the earl of Arran was compelled to change his measures, and to go over to the side of the triumphant party. Henry was not of a temper to submit tamely to the indignity he had suffered. A considerable body of troops, destined for France, received his orders to sail for Scotland. Having landed near Leith, and made themselves masters of the place, they marched directly to Edinburgh, entered it with equal ease, set fire to the town, plundered the adjacent country, and, |