OR,

MEMOIRS

OF

ILLUSTRIOUS AND CELEBRATED

WOME N,

OF ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES.

Alphabetically arranged.

BY MARY HAYS.

IN SIX VOLUMES.

VOL. V..

LONDON'?

PRINTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, 71, ST. PAUL'S

CHURCH-YARD.

By Thomas Davison, White-Friars.

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 factions 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

VOL. V.