and prepared to defend with vigour his new acquisitions.

By the influence of his army in Scotland, he obtained the concurrence of the parliament with the overtures made to him: in vain were the remonstrances of a few patriots against concessions so extravagant, by which Scotland was made a province of France, and Henry II. changed from an ally into master of the kingdom. The friendship of France had thus become more fatal to the nation than the enmity and violence of England. A measure of so much importance was precipitately decided, and the interest of a faction, and the passions of a moment, suffered to triumph over the honour of the nation.

No time was allowed by the French to the Scots to reflect on the probable consequences of this rash resolution. The fleet which had brought over their forces still remained on the coast, and the young queen was, without delay, conducted into France. Mary was at this time six years of age by her education in the most refined and polished court in Europe, she acquired those accomplishments that gave lustre to her charms, and imbibed those prejudices which necessarily led to her subsequent misfortunes.

The mother of Mary had, in 1554, acquired

the regency of Scotland, a dignity which had long been the object of her ambition. Two years afterwards, aware of the precarious foundation of her power, which rested on the balance of contending factions, she sought to strengthen her interest by hastening the conclusion of the marriage of her daughter. Obstacles had, in the mean time, arisen in the French court, against the completion of the engagement. The constable Montmorenci had used all his interest to defeat an alliance, which reflected so much honour on the house of Lorraine. With this view, he had represented to Henry the difficulty of maintaining order in the absence of the sovereign among a turbulent people, and recommended him to bestow the hand of the young queen on one of the princes of the blood, who, by residing in Scotland, might preserve the kingdom as an useful ally to France. Over this envious but prudent council, the charms of Mary, now in the opening bloom of youth, which had captivated the heart of the dauphin, aided by the influence of her uncles, the princes of Lorraine, finally prevailed. In the ensuing year 1557, the French monarch applied to the parliament of Scotland, which appointed eight of its members to represent at the marriage of the queen the body of the nation: among these deputies, on whom the public choice had fallen,

were some of the avowed and zealous advocates of the reformation, which had gained rapid ground in Scotland. The instructions of the parliament on this occasion did credit to the wisdom of that assembly while in the marriage articles a laudable care was taken for the interest and dignity of the queen, every precaution was also employed for preserving the independence of the nation, and for securing the succession in the Scottish line.

The young queen, the dauphin, and the king of France, ratified by the most solemn oaths every article, which they confirmed under their hands and seals. Under these appearances a scene of artifice was concealed. Previous to the transaction, Mary had been persuaded privately to subscribe three deeds, equally invalid and unjust.

By these, in the failure of heirs, she conferred the kingdom of Scotland, its inheritance and succession, as a free gift upon the crown of France, with a declaration, that all promises to the contrary which might be extorted from her should be void and of no obligation. In this disgraceful project Henry II., the keeper of the great seals, the duke of Guise, and the cardinal of Lorraine, were engaged. The youth of Mary, her foreign education, and her respect for the advice of her uncles, will, in this transaction, plead with every

candid mind in her excuse. The grant by which she bestowed her kingdom upon strangers was carefully concealed from the Scots: they seem, however, to have had some intimation of what had passed.

The nuptials between Mary and the Dauphin were, on the fourteenth of April, 1558, celebrated with great pomp. In the marriage treaty, the commissioners had agreed that the dauphin should assume the name of king of Scotland; a title which they considered merely as honorary, but to which the French laboured to annex some solid privileges. They insisted on its being publicly acknowledged, that the crown-matrimonial should be conferred upon him, and that he should be invested with all the rights pertaining to the husband of a queen.

The princes of Lorraine, intoxicated with successful ambition, extended their daring schemes yet farther. The marriage of their niece to the dauphin allied them nearly to the royal dignity, the only object which was yet unattained. To gratify their vanity, which had in proportion to their elevation become inordinate, and render their niece more worthy of the heir of the French monarchy, they set on foot her claim to the crown of England, founded on the declared illegitimacy of Elizabeth. The capricious Henry VIII. who

had caused both his daughters to be disinherited by act of parliament, and in his last will, with his characteristic inconsistency, called them back to the throne on the demise of their brother Edward, had (passing by the posterity of his eldest sister Margaret queen of Scotland) appointed the line of succession to continue in the younger sister, the descendant of the duchess of Suffolk. The validity of these deeds was never recognised by foreigners, though Mary had reigned in England without any complaint from the neighbouring princes.

But the same cause which had facilitated her accession, raised an obstacle to the elevation of her sister Elizabeth. Rome trembled for its faith under a protestant queen of her abilities; the same fear seized the court of Spain; and France beheld, indignantly, a throne to which the queen of Scots had pretensions, occupied by a princess whose birth, in the opinion of the catholics, excluded her from any legal right of succession. Instigated by the Guises, Henry. persuaded his daughter-in-law to assume, with her husband, the title of king and queen of England, a fatal presumption which led to the most disastrous consequences. The naval power of England was growing in reputation; the marine of France had been wholly neglected; the territories of Elizabeth therefore could only be approached