CHAPTER XII
"These stories of the States have been very interesting to me,captain," remarked Mr. Lilburn, breaking a little pause which hadfollowed the conclusion of the brief sketch just given of the earlyhistory of Louisiana.
"I feel flattered that my crude efforts in that line should be sohighly appreciated," returned the captain, with a gratified smile as hespoke, then added, "And now, if you feel like making a return in kind,Cousin Ronald, suppose you give us a page or two of Scottish history,than which I think there is hardly anything more interesting."
"I acknowledge that it is very interesting to me, a native of thatland, though now feeling myself a full-fledged American, but how is itwith these younger folk?" returned Mr. Lilburn, glancing inquiringlyaround upon the ladies and children.
It was Grandma Elsie who answered in tones of pleased anticipation,"Indeed, cousin, I should be delighted; for to me the history of thatgrandfather land of mine is only secondary in interest to that of this,my dear native land, largely peopled by the descendants of those whostruggled so bravely for civil and religious liberty in Scotland."
"Ah, cousin mine, I am glad to ken that you care for that auldfatherland o' yours and mine," returned the old gentleman, smilingaffectionately upon her. "There are many passages in her historythat are interesting and heart stirring to the pride and love of thedescendants of the actors in the same. But to what particular passagesin her history shall I call your attention now?"
The query seemed addressed to all present, and Elsie Dinsmore answeredquickly and earnestly, "Oh, tell us all you can about that beautiful,unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. I suppose you must have seen all thepalaces and castles she ever lived in there in Scotland?"
"Yes, my bonny bairn, I have, and regard them with great interestbecause of her one-time occupation of them. Linlithgow Castle is nowonly a picturesque old ruin, yet one may stand in the very room, nowroofless, to be sure, where Queen Mary was born. The walls of thatcastle were very thick and strong, but not then deemed strong enough toprotect the royal infant, born on the 7th of December, 1542. There wasrejoicing at her birth, but it would have been greater had she been alad instead of a lass. Her father, then on his deathbed, exclaimed whenhe heard the news, 'Woe to the crown of Scotland; it came with a lassand it will go with a lass.'
"Her sex was a disappointment to Scottish hearts, yet still theyloved her, and would do all in their power to protect and defend her,especially from the English King, Henry VIII., with whom they werethen at war, and who was doing all in his power to get possession ofthe little princess, purposing in time to marry her to his son, and sounite the two kingdoms under one crown."
"Why, that would have been a fine way to put a stop to the fightingbetween the two kingdoms, I should think," said Elsie Dinsmore.
"Perhaps, if he had offered good terms, but those he did offer wereso harsh that Scotland's Parliament rejected them, and for greatersecurity both Mary and her mother were taken from Linlithgow toStirling Castle, a grand fortress atop of a lofty hill above thebeautiful valley of Monteith. It seemed a safe place for the bonny babyqueen, but some wicked, treacherous men formed a plot to carry her offto England; but it failed because her guardians were so very cautiousas never to admit more than one person at a time to see her.
"So many dangers threatening her, it was thought best to crown herqueen as soon as possible, and when she was nine months old she wasone Sunday morning taken from her nursery to the chapel of the castle.There one of her nobles held her on the throne and spoke for her thewords she should have spoken had she been old enough. Then the Cardinalheld the crown over her head, and for a moment clasped her tiny fingersabout the scepter, and buckled the sword of state around her waist.Then every peer and prelate present, one after another, knelt beforeher, held his right hand above her baby head, and swore to defend herwith his life. But alas, alas! few o' them proved faithful to theiroath.
"A strange life lay before that little babe. She was perhaps six yearsof age when taken to France as a safer place for her than Scotland.She was married early in life to the young King Francis II., but inseventeen months his death made her a widow. She left France for herown land, and arrived at Leith in August, 1561, doubtless littledreaming the sad fate in store for her in the British Isles," sighedthe kind-hearted old gentleman, then for a moment he seemed lost inthought.
"Can you tell us in what town and castle she made her home?" askedElsie Dinsmore.
"Holyrood Castle in Edinburgh," replied Mr. Lilburn. "It was in thechapel of that castle she was married to her cousin, Henry Stuart, LordDarnley, in July, 1565. She was then about twenty-three years of age."
"Did she love him, Cousin Ronald?" asked Elsie Raymond.
"No doubt of it, lassie, for she had plenty of other offers; it reallyseemed as though every royal bachelor and widower wanted her for awife. And small wonder, for she was very sweet and beautiful.
"She called Darnley the handsomest man she had ever seen; doubtless itwas his good looks she fell in love with, but a few weeks of wifehoodwith him showed her that his character was far less admirable thanhis looks; he was vain, selfish, ungrateful, took all her favors asa matter of course and asked for more. Soon after their marriage theEnglish ambassador wrote of them, 'The Queen doth everything in herpower to oblige Darnley, but Darnley does not do the least thing tooblige her.' She had a few weeks of happiness during their weddingjourney through the interior of Scotland, but soon after that Darnleybegan treating her with brutal unkindness. At a public banquet, onlyfour months after their marriage, he began to drink to excess, urginghis guests to do the same. Queen Mary tried quietly to check him, buthe turned upon her with such vulgar violence that she left the room intears. And he was so insolent to the Court in general that he was soonalmost universally detested."
"And I should hardly think it was possible for poor Queen Mary to go onloving him," said Elsie Dinsmore.
"Nor should I," said Mr. Lilburn; "for certainly he was very differentfrom what she had believed him to be when she married him. And, poorlady, she greatly needed the right sort of husband to protect and helpher, for the nobles who surrounded her were treacherous, unprincipledmen, ready to commit any crime that would enable them to governScotland to suit themselves, by making the sovereign a mere cipher intheir hands. I presume you all know something of the brutal murder ofRizzio?"
"Yes, sir, I believe we do; but please tell us the whole story aboutit," said Elsie Raymond.
"He was a singer in the chapel of Holyrood Castle, had a voice ofwonderful power and sweetness, which so pleased the Queen that she madehim leader of the singing in her chapel services. He was a homely man,but a clever linguist, faithful and prudent, and Queen Mary made himher private secretary. The treacherous lords wanted to get rid of himbecause he was not one of them, yet had so great influence with theQueen; they determined to murder him, and that on the pretence thatthe Queen was so fond of him as to make Darnley jealous. It was all apretence, just to trump up a reason for murdering Rizzio.
"One evening in March, 1566, Queen Mary was in her library at supper,with three friends as her guests--a lady, a gentleman and Rizzio. Shedid not know that her Lord Chancellor Morton had, just after dusk,led a body of armed men into the courtyard of this, her HolyroodCastle. Some of these men had hidden themselves in Darnley's room,just underneath these apartments of hers, and a winding staircase ledup from them. Suddenly Darnley, who had come up this private stairway,entered the room, sat down in a vacant chair beside her, put his armaround her waist and gave her an affectionate kiss.
"It was a Judas kiss, for at the same time the murderers whom he wasassisting had stolen softly into the Queen's bedroom, and now theycrowded through the doorway into her presence. She was alarmed, and atonce demanded the reason for their intrusion.
"They said they meant no harm to her, only to the villain near her.
"Rizzio understood, and said to her, 'Madam, I am lost!' 'Fear not,'she answered, 'the King will never suffer you to be slai
n in mypresence, nor can he forget your many faithful services.'
"The words seemed to touch Darnley's heart and make him unwilling toperform his part in the wicked work, and Ruthven exclaimed fiercely,'Sir, look to your wife and sovereign.'
"At that Darnley forced Mary into a chair and held her there so tightlythat she could not rise, while one of the ruffians presented a pistolto her side and swore a horrible oath that he would shoot her dead ifshe resisted.
"'Fire,' she replied, 'if you have no respect for my life,' and herhusband pushed away the weapon.
"But now others of the murderous crowd were in the room, lightingit up with the glare of torches, and Rizzio, clinging to the Queen'sdress, begged piteously, 'Save my life, madam! Save my life for God'sdear sake!'
"But she could not. The assassins rushed upon him, overturning thetable with its lights and dishes. Queen Mary fainted, and Rizzio wasdragged out into a narrow passageway and stabbed again and againuntil his shrieks were hushed in death. There is still a stain uponHolyrood's floor said to have been caused by his blood."
"And what about Queen Mary? Did they hurt her, Cousin Ronald?" askedNed, much interested in the story.
"When she came out of her faint, poor lady! those lawless nobles,wicked murderers, told her she was their prisoner, then set a guard ather door, and left her to spend the night in anxiety, horror and fear."
"Oh, how wicked and cruel they were!" exclaimed Elsie Raymond. "I hopethey got punished for it somehow!"
"It looks as though Darnley did," said Mr. Lilburn, "for in a littleless than a year after the murder of Rizzio he, having gone with a fewfriends to a private house, was in the night blown up with gunpowder;and only about two months afterward Queen Mary married the Earl ofBothwell. That disgusted her best subjects, so that they made her aprisoner and forced her to abdicate in favor of her son, James VI.
"Queen Mary escaped from her prison, collected a large army, and foughtfor the recovery of her crown and throne, but was defeated, then fledto England. But Queen Elizabeth, though her cousin, was very jealous ofher, kept her imprisoned for many years, then had her beheaded."
"Had she any right to do that?" asked Elsie Dinsmore in indignant tones.
"No," replied Mr. Lilburn; "none but the might that is said to makeright. Queen Mary was in her power, with none to defend her. QueenMary, when on trial, said to her judges, 'I am a Queen, subject tonone but God. Him do I call to witness that I am innocent of all thecharges brought against me. And recollect, my lords, the theatre of theworld is wider than the realm of England.'"
"And did they kill her, Cousin Ronald?" asked Ned.
"Yes; they beheaded her in Fotheringay Castle. It is said that everyone was impressed by the melancholy sweetness of her face and theremains of her rare beauty as she drew near the spot where her life wasto be ended. Her executioners knelt down and asked her forgiveness forwhat they were about to do, and she replied, 'I forgive you and allthe world with all my heart.' Then turning to the women who attendedher, she said, 'Pray do not weep. Believe me, I am happy to leave theworld. Tell my son that I thought of him in my last moments, and that Isincerely hope his life may be happier than mine.'
"Then there was a dreadful silence as she knelt down and laid her headupon the block. In another minute the chief executioner held it up inhis hand, saying, 'So perish all the enemies of Queen Elizabeth.'"
"What a shame!" cried Ned. "I hope the time came when Queen Elizabethhad to have her head chopped off."
"No," replied Mr. Lilburn; "but hers was not a happy death. She seemsto have been almost crazed with grief and remorse over the death ofEssex, threw herself on the floor, and lay there, refusing food andmedicine for several days and nights, till death came to end thesorrowful scene."
"Then, perhaps, she suffered more than Queen Mary did in her dyingtime, as I certainly think she deserved to," said Elsie Dinsmore.
"Yes, I think she did," responded Mr. Lilburn; "it seems very possiblethat her cruel, unjust treatment of her cousin, Queen Mary, may havehelped to burden her conscience and increase her remorse till she feltthat life was a burden too heavy to bear."
"Do you think she really wanted to die, and was courting death, CousinRonald?" asked Grandma Elsie.
"Her refusal of food and medicine looks like it," he replied; "yetone can hardly suppose that death would be anything but a terror toone whose character was so far from Christian. Her public conduct wasworthy of the highest encomium, but not so with her private life. Yet Iwadna wish to sit in judgment on her at this late day."