The life of Mary Queen of Scots

Front matter

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Preface

The universal interest felt in the romantic and tragical career of Mary Stuart, seemed to demand an American biography, adapted to the popular mind. Such a work the one now offered to the public was designed to be. The authors mainly consulted and quoted are, Mrs. Strickland, Miss. Benger, Mignet, Mc- Crie, and Hume. Some of these historians, in their unqualified and extravagant admiration of the Queen of Scots, apologize for every fault, and illustrate glowingly every virtue. Others lean to the defence of Elizabeth, at the expense of Mary s cause.

Both extremes have been avoided in purpose, if not in fact, in this biography. Less pure and loving than Josephine, Mary Stuart was more beautiful, and tossed on more tempestuous seas ; a weary captive, she laid at length her crowned head on the executioner's block, affording an historical record, and a moral lesson, none can contemplate without benefit to the in tellect and to the heart.

CHAPTER I. Page

Personal and historical interest of Mary's life — Her ancestry —

Circumstances of her birth — Death of James V. — Henry VIII. of England, solicits the hand of Mary Stuart for the young Prince of Wales — Mary's coronation — The treaty with England broken, and an alliance with France formed — "War is declared by King Henry — Upon the death of Henry, Somerset becomes Protector — He prosecutes the plans of his late King — Battle of Pinkie — Mary's removal to Inchmahome — She sails for France — Her arrival — Her residence in the Convent — She is removed to the Palace — The Court of Henry II. — Mary's education — Letter to her Mother — Incidents — Her beauty and accomplishments — Her character at the age of fifteen, . IS

CHAPTER H.

The Dauphin — Mary's attachment to him — The treacherous conditions of marriage — The magnificent nuptials — The Commissioners' return to Scotland — Rejoicings and developments — Elizabeth ascends the Throne of England — Her person and character — Henry of France makes her the rival of Mary Stuart — Changes in the French Court — Death of Henry II. — Results — The Dauphin's joy at his elevation to the Throne — The condition of affairs in Scotland — The Regent's death — Treaty of peace — Death of Francis II. — Mary's

VI CONTENTS.

HA

Mourning — Elizabeth's condolence — Foreign Ambassadors — Catherine's jealousy — Mary prepares to return to Scotland — Letter of the Laird of Lethington — Negotiations — The Queen's journey ings — Elizabeth refuses a safe conduct —Mary's departure — Her adieu, 36

CHAPTER ffl.

The voyage — Mary arrives at Leith — Popular rejoicings- John Knox — Mary's religious concessions — Her public entry into Edinburgh — Interview with John Knox — The compromise — Lord James Stuart — Life at Holyrood — Conspiracies and revolt — Mary heads an army — Another interview with Knox — Correspondence with Elizabeth — Proposed meeting of the Sovereigns — Traits of character — Scenes in the Palace — Lovers — Lords Dudley and Darnley — Negotiations — James Mel vil's mission — Eandolph's visit to St. Andrews — The result — Murray 'a conspiracy and revolt — The wedding, 18

CHAPTER IV.

The immediate results of Mary's marriage with Darnley-— Campaign against Murray — Mary Stuart is victorious — She •writes to Archbishop of Glasgow — Issues a proclamation — She discloses her plans for restoring the Catholic faith — Letter to Philip II., of Spain — Mary marching a third time against Murray,, totally routs his faction — He flies to England — Elizabeth extorts a confession that she did not encourage the rebellion — Mary's policy — Rizzio's elevation — Darnley loses the Queen's confidence — His aspirations — Darnley plots Rizzio's death — The tragedy — Mary's feelings and conduct — Mary is a captive — Darnley relents — The flight — Mary gathers an army — Campaigns and victories — Trouble with Darnley increases — A son is born — Congratulations — Anticipations — Bothwell and Mary — Excursions — Darnley's plans — Yields to Mary — The Christening — A divorce or murder suggested to Mary — The Conspiracy — Mary's guilt — The Issue, 112

CONTENTS. Vll

CHAPTER V.

PAGE,

Mary's movements after the death of Darnley — Mary at Seton — Popular feeling —The Earl of Lennox writes Mary — Letter from Elizabeth — Mary's intimacy with Bothwell — The mock trial and acquittal of the Earl — His arrogance and designs — The banquet — The nobles sign the bond praying Mary to marry Bothwell — His rudeness to the Queen — Her devotion to him — The stratagem to hasten the wedding — its success — Mary's return to Edinburgh — The nuptials — Domestic discord — Embassies — Eebellion — Feeling in the Court of Charles IX., of France — The confederates march towards Bothwick Castle — Bothwell escapes — Mary's flight The preparations for battle — Mediation of De Croc — The Queen's extremity — March to Edinburgh — Her distress— The warrant for her imprisonment — Mary Stuart in Lochleven Castle, lit

CHAPTER VL

New dangers threaten Mary — Sir James Melvil — Elizabeth's interposition — The designs and action of the Confederates — Throckmorton's embassy and instructions — The coronation of James — The arrival of Murray — His interview with Mary — Is proclaimed Kegent — The people approve the measure — Elizabeth only interferes — Murray triumphs — « Both well's fate — His companions — Mary in prison — Attempts to escape — She is at length successful — Raises an army — The battle — Mary flies — Reaches Carlisle — "Writes Elizabeth — Throws herself on the mercy of the Queen of England — Negotiations — Elizabeth demands a trial of Mary — Letters to her from the Captive — ■ • Preparations for the conference — The Court at York — The position and error of Mary, 212

CHAPTER VH.

The conference — Letter of Mary Stuart to the King of Spain —The Scotch Commissioners withdraw — Murray accuses

Vlll CONTENTS.

PASS.

Mary — Elizabeth proposes to her Prisoner a reply to the evidence — Mary refuses — The Queen of England writes to Mary — Mary vindicates her course — The .conference closes

— Mary Stuart's letter to Elizabeth — The conflict of royal determinations — Mary is removed to the Castle of Tutbury — Murray's movements — The Duke of Norfolk aspires to the hand of Mary — His designs discovered by Elizabeth — Mary is more closely confined — The Duke, is arrested — Mary writes to Elizabeth — Insurrection — Murray is triumphant — His assassination — His character — Letters of Mary — Negotiations with Elizabeth — Conspiracy

— It is detected — Norfolk's death and character — Mary's condition, 268

CHAPTER VIII.

Changes in the Regency of Scotland — Massacre of St. Barthol- • omew — Its effects on Elizabeth and Mary's prospects — Designs against Mary — Death of Knox — The total overthrow of her party in Scotland — Letter to Elizabeth — Lenity oi the English Queen — Correspondence of Mary Stuart — Another conspiracy — Letters to Archbishop of Glasgow — Execution of Morton, Regent of Scotland — A new conspiracy

— Its failure — Letter of Mary to Elizabeth, 322

CHAPTER IX.

Mary Stuart is arraigned before the High Court of Justice — Scenes of the trial — Elizabeth hesitates to pronounce the sentence of death, according to the unanimous voice of the Commissioners — The* result of the trial is announced to Mary — Letters to friends — Her last message to Elizabeth — Interference of Foreign Courts — Unnatural conduct of James VI. — Elizabeth signs the wai-rant of Mary's execution

— Paulet refuses to slay his prisoner privately — The officers of justice repair to Fotheringay Castle — The scenes there

— The warrant is read to Mary — Her reply — Affecting interviews — Her last night — "Writes her will — Prospect of death, 402

CONTENTS, IX

CHAPTER X.

Mary Stuart's last slumber — The morning dawns — The interview with her servants — Her devotions — The summons — The Captive's death-march — Her address on the scaffold — Religious scenes — The Victim prepares for the sacrifice — The fatal stroke — Funeral ceremonies — Effect of Mary's execution on the public mind — Her character, 433

LIFE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.

CHAPTER I.

personal and historical interest of mary's life fler ancestrs

— circumstances of her birth death of james v. henry the

viii. of england, solicits the hand of mary stuart for the young

prince of "wales mary's coronation the treaty with england

broken, and an alliance "with france formed war is declared

by king henry upon the death of henry, somerset becomes

protector he prosecutes the plans of his late king battle

of pinkie — mary's removal to inchmahome — she sails for France

— her arrival her residence in the convent she is removed

to the palace the court of henry ii. mary's education —

letter to her mother incidents her beauty and accomplishments her character at the age of fifteen.

The name of Mary, like that of Josephine, awakens a universal and mournful interest. Born to royalty, she was the most beautiful and accomplished sovereign in the world during a stormy period of the Scottish monarchy, and after a captivity of nearly half of her life-time, died on the scaffold, in the full maturity of her womanhood ; illustrating the mutability of " all things terrene," and how great a misfortune may be the heritage of greatness. The peninsula of Northern Britain, which was the mountainous home of the Gallic race, after the ceaseless war of clans for centuries, and invasions of the Saxons, Angles, and Danes, became an independent monarchy abont the middle of the fourteenth century, when David II. ascended the throne founded by his illustrious father, Robert Bruce. An alliance with France modified the severe manners of the Scottish nobility, and opened a refuge for the unfortunate Mary. Of the four kings who reigned before Mary's father took the sceptre, James I. and James HE. died by the hands of the assassin, and James II. and James IY. were slain in battle. James Y. succeeded to the throne in 1513, then only eighteen months old, under the regency of Margaret of England, his mother.

The biography of Mary Stuart, therefore, .has not only the interest of tragedy, but is a focal point in history, in which the past and present meet, with an intensity of life, perhaps, unknown in the annals of woman, if we except the rise and decline of the Empress, whose destiny was the dial of Napoleon's fa^e.

Mary Stuart was born December 8, 1542 — (according to Miss Benger's Memoirs, December 7,) — at the palace of Linlithgow, situated on the shore of a beautiful lake in the heart of Scotland. Her father, James Y., assumed the reins of government when seventeen years old, and at twenty-three, married Magdalen, daughter of Francis I. She died two years later, and the King married Mary, eldest daughter of Claude de Guise, of Lorraine, and widow of Louis of Orleans — an accomplished and fascinating woman. There was a sad omen in the circumstances attending the birth of Mary. James, who had refused to meet Henrv the Eighth of England at York, to form a religions union, was caressed and flattered by the cardinal and bishops, while the increasing spirit of faction spread among his nobles. When, therefore, his army came to battle with five hnndred English, at Solway Moss, they immediately fled. His proud and passionate heart was stnng with mortification, and weakly yielding to the calamity, he died a few days after hearing the tidings of Mary's birth. Upon the factions desertion of his forces, " the King passed ont of Holyrood Honse to Falkland, and there became heavy and dolorous, that he never ate nor drank that had digestion ; and so he became vehement sick that no man had hope of his life : then he sent for certain of his lords, both spiritual and temporal, to have their counsel, but ere they came, he was well nigh strangled to death by extreme melancholy. By this the post came to the King out of Linlithgow, showing him good tidings that the Queen was delivered. The Kin$. inquired whether it was a man-child or a woman ; & J. messenger said, ' It is a fair daughter ;' the King answered, Adieu ! farewell : it came with a lass, and it will pass with a lass ; and so he recommended himself to the mercy of Almighty God, and spake little from that time forth, but turned his back to his lords, and his face to the wall. At this time Laird Beaton, Cardinal of Scotland, standing in presence of the King, seeing him begin to fail of his strength and natural speech, held a throck of paper to his grace, and caused him to subscribe the same, wherein the said cardinal wrote what pleased him, for his own particular thinking, to have authority and preeminence in the government of the country. But we may know hereby the King's legacy was very short, for in this manner he departed, as hereafter I shall show you. He turned him upon his back, and looked and looked and beheld all his nobles and lords about him, and gave a little smile of laughter, then kissed his hand, and offered the same to all his nobles round about him, thereafter held up his hands, and yielded his spirit to God."

No sooner was the King buried, than the unconscious infant, his only daughter, became the object of political intrigue and bitter jealousies. The English monarch dispatched Sadler, a distinguished negotiator, to secure the marriage of his son Edward to the heiress of Scotland. His design was to consolidate the interests of the two kingdoms, and establish abiding peace. The difficulties to be overcome were manifold. The nobility were divided. A large party was dependent on England, another sympathized with France, and a third, the smallest faction, was composed of genuine patriots — high-minded men, ready to defend with their blood, the independence and glory of their ancient realm. The clergy were of course hostile to the Reformation, and actively fanned the flame of discord between England and semi-catholic Scotland. Meanwhile, the Earl of Arran, through the ascendency of the nobility, was appointed by Parliament Regent of the kingdom. To him Sadler proposed the alliance. Cardinal Beaton, who had aspired to the regency, employed his influence over the earl, to prevent the consummation of the politic scheme, and obtain a similar arrangement with France a papal power. Although Arran vacillated, Henry the YIII. might have succeeded, had not his fiery and impetuous nature urged his claims too vehemently. He demanded the guardianship of Mary till she was of marriageable age, and also asked the surrender of several of the most impregnable fortresses in Scotland. This exaction roused popular feeling, and Henry was compelled to contract his royal ambition, to the simple requisition, that the juvenile Queen be sent to England when she had reached her tenth year, and espouse the Prince of Wales. On the 1st of July, 1543, a treaty was concluded between the Eegent and King Henry. During this excitment, spreading over two monarchies, and enlisting the diplomacy of lords and kings, Mary Stuart was smiling in the dreams of helpless infancy at Linlithgow. The loch sparkled beneath the castle windows — fountains sent up their showers of diamonds — and the soothing accents of Janet, her nurse, were more welcome than the salutations of steel-clad barons and earls, who came to look on the child, and congratulate the widowed mother. It was well that neither parent nor offspring saw the strange contrasts and fearful hours of the future. Mary was about nine months old, when her coronation was appointed, on the 9th of September, 1543, at Stirling Castle— less than a score of miles from Linlithgow — where this pageant had for many years been witnessed.

The day was one of universal and thrilling interest

18 MARY QUEEK OF SCOTS.

in Scotland. The first female sovereign on the throne of Bruce, was to be invested with crown and scepter. Two rival kingdoms, and the reformers of Europe were concerned in the significant event. To behold the magnificent scene, came pilgrims from highland and lowland, and from adjacent realms, winding up the hill sides from the beautiful vales, to the rocky summit, frowning with the battlements and towers of Stirling Castle. In the glittering train that followed the infant Mary, the Earl of Arran bore the crown — Lennox held the scepter. It is a singular fact, that the fathers of Darnley and Bothwell, the immediate instruments of Mary's tragical overthrow, were among the attendants, who assisted in her coronation. Cardinal Beaton placed the symbol of regal power upon the brow of the laughing babe, around whom factions sternly faced each other, and the shouts of the multitude made the old fortress rock to its base. The only bewildered and unconscious being there, was the heiress to scarcely less than a crown of thorns. When the imposing ceremonies had passed, and the intrigues of aspiring men were renewed, the Earl of Arran began to feel the force of a long cherished family preference for French alliances, and the artful appeals of Cardinal Beaton. Renouncing his Protestant tendencies, he joined the Catholic party, of which the Queen Dowager, distinguished for her dissimulation and diplomacy, was the head. The covenant with England was therefore annulled, and on the 15th of December, less than six months after the treaty with Henry was formed, an alliance with France was signed

MART QUEEtf OF SCOTS. 19

at Edinburgh, by the Regent and Estates of Scotland, who at the same time ratified, in Mary's name, all the treaties which had been made between the realms, since the reign of Robert Brace.

This was the signal of war, which was declared by the enraged monarch of England, and a fleet was dispatched to the Erith of Forth. This armament left black desolation in its path along the coast, and at length threatened with the torch of conflagration the noble city of Edinburgh. Upon the southern frontier hnng the English army, ravaging the Scottish plains with frequent and lawless incursions. It was the folly of a prince, haughtily impatient of restraint, to anticipate success by urging young Edward's right to Mary's hand, upon the resolute Scotch, with the ruthless enterprise of a freebooter. The inevitable result was, a deepening hatred of the English, and more determined resistance. From France, auxiliary troops were called, to prosecute vigorously the war. The whole country was in a state of alarm. Persecution went abroad, with unrelenting cruelty. The castle of St. Andrews and the French galleys received the leaders of the English Reformation in Scotland. The virtuous and gifted Wishart went to the stake under the religious despotism of Cardinal Beaton; and bloody deeds were everywhere common. The death of Henry YIII. in January, 1547, left his experiment of uniting the houses of the Stuarts and the Tudors, a total failure, and the kingdoms of Scotland and England wider asunder than at any previous period.

The Duke of Somerset, uncle of Edward YI., was appointed Protector of the kingdom, during the minority of the Prince, and carried forward energetically the plans of the late King. With an army of eighteen thousand men, he appeared on Scottish soil, and offered to retire, only on conditions that Mary should remain in her native land till old enough to marry, and that all negotiations with France cease forever. But the spirit of national independence, which spumed the humiliation of concession, lived among the highlands, and in the palaces of the divided nobility. The Earl of Arran gathered a force of more than thirty thousand soldiers, and marched to the banks of the Eske, four miles from Edinburgh, where Somerset had taken his position. The Protector then renewed his proj)osals to evacuate the realm, and also repair damages which he had committed, upon the same terms as before. The Scotch, confident of victory, refused, and after some manceuvering, the battle opened. The strife was fierce ; and when the clashing of spears had died away, and the tempest of arrows ceased, there lay ten thousand of Arran's host on the field, and the remainder were fiying hotly before the shouting enemy, whose loss was scarcely two hundred men. This decisive contest was called the battle of Pinkie, from the seat of a nobleman near the scene of bloody encounter. The English, advancing to Leith, finally entrenched themselves in the southern part of the country, and received the surrender of the lairds along that frontier. Somerset, alarmed by cabals against him at home, hastened to London ; and Scotland, improving the delay, turned anxiously to France, tendering that power the guardianship and inheritance of Mary Stuart. The Princess had passed the period of these exciting events at Stirling Castle, under the care of her governors, Lords Erskine and Livingston, a lovely, laughing girl, not six years of age, when the tidings of defeat at Pinkie reached the royal fortress.

Stirling was now in danger of assault, and it was determined to remove Mary to the island of Inchmahome, in the lake of Monteith.* There was a mon^ astery there, sheltered by its isolation from the foraging troops of the English army. It was a romantic retreat, devoted to religious purposes mainly, and like Calypso's island to the young captive of Stirling Castle. In addition to the curators of her person, she was attended by Erskine, the prior of Inchmahome, the parson of Balmacellan, the nurse, Janet Sinclair, her governess, Lady Fleming, daughter of James Fourth, and over all, Mary of Guise, whose clear intellect was stimulated to activity and vigilance by maternal affection. To increase the pleasures of an Dnly daughter, and give completeness to her culture, she formed a social group, or school, of four girls, about the same age, and bearing the name of the Queen. The first was Mary Beaton, niece of the car dinal ; the second, Mary Fleming, daughter of Lord Fleming ; the third, Mary Livingston, and the fourth, Mary Seaton.

Little is known of Mary Stuart's history in Inchmahome. She had begun an acquaintance with the

* Mr. Abbott puts Mary's removal to Inchmahome about three years earlier, which does not agree with Mignet and others.

|| M A If. V IjUKMI «» |. ii C<.CI

I iv ii. ii language ! and, if i aid, with other classics. I loubtloi h, i < ■ pi in" i he "■ i •■• ,.i"ii;ii recital Ions, mal in . 1 1 1 < i v . |m i i In c childn n , si y< ars of age, pa nod i heir I lino an ol hem do, amid 1 l" 1 pleasanl i cone i of quiet life, In |m enile pastimes, and ramble over i he •• i eon ei planade of I heir consecrated liome In a lew iiH.ni h i i he M.n \ u ere remo> ed from fcld i tran qui] mi. I dollghl fill i ofnge, to l Miini-.H ion < In i le ; whore bold and pomantb scenery has ftirnishod glow in- Mi. •in. -m lor I loot! i Ii i ong, This hrun lor, w hicb oontomplated Hi»- Interference of Mm- Duke of Somor

• >n MkiI aooount, of short continuance. Admiral \ 11 legognon, with Poui galleys, wras In the Clyde, to con \ <v the Queen and her retinue bo the dominioni of 1 1< in \ 1 1 p who had succeeded Francis I. The fleet sailed from harbor the Tth of A.ugush The parting vritli her mother was affecting ; but it is affirmed l>v

i rapliors, that n<> murmurs escaped (in- young en

He's lips. Hho wept with a multitude of h or people, .1 the royal vessel floated away, and her native land began to reoede from her radianl • •\< > Beared^ had ilir Hi .I passed out Into the deep, before Iho Kngli l» squadron arrived :H Si. Abb's Head, i<» oppose Its de parture from 1 1 » « ^ coast of Scotland, After :i pirn anl

vnviiJVN ('"• ll vin.", Mary, \y i I Ii lirr company , an i \ c.l al

l*i«i, AngiiHl. l.'Uli, IMS. gho was received with nil pomp by tli4 King of France, and ili< x pro< e Ion moved on io Paris amid the regal splondor of that oxl i a\ .i ■•.mi period of French history, Prison doors wore thrown open .'ii the approach of the cavalcade,

M A K. y OJI ICION ()K MOOTS. i53

and 1,1m captives restored to freedom. T f. was a strangely exciting scone to the Laughing giiil who whs the cause of it ail.

After a brief residence w the palace of St. Oor-

removed to a convent, t<> complete her education. She was subjected bo strict rules of discipline, :iinl regularly accustomed to j*>in the num in their devotional exercises, and ascetic humiliations: and so rend

ily di<l she comply with wh;ite\ cr w:is required by

ber spiritual directors, that they began to elu.u-isn ambitious hopes of their royal pupil, and bo beast that she had :», religious rocation. This persuasion ■was toe, agreeable to sel&love and f<> enthusiasm, to be confined to their own community ; the auni oiii ciousiy proclaimed their conviction that the little Mary Stuart would be a saint on earth : and with

such zeal was the rumor propagated, that it eren reached the King, who had just returned foona Bon* logne, and who, not relishing the suggestion, Lmme diately demanded that his daughter in Law elect should be transferred to apartments (a the palace, where she could dlo Longer be accessible to sainted maids, or exposed to their pious seduc/tions. Accord ing to her Learned biographer,* the execution of this mandate drew from fc£ary more tears Mian she had shed on leaving Scotland. Whether the endearing manners of the community had so strongly engaged her affections, or Mint, in the tranquillity of her retreat, so congenial bo the simple wishes of childhood, * Oonnui in .M/1>.

the sensibilities of her nature had prematurely expaneled, we are assured not only that she evinced deep sorrow at this change of residence, but that she eagerly embraced every permission that was offered, of revisiting the sisters of the community, and long after employed her needle in embroidering an altar-piece for the church of their convent.* In the palace, as before, Mary was attended by her two scholastic preceptors, her governess, the Lady Fleming, and her curator, Reid, Bishop of Orkney, who had succeeded Lord Livingston in that important trust. Her Marys continued to be her constant companions ; and as she discovered uncommon aptitude to application, nothing was omitted to stimulate her exertions or increase her diligence. Exclusive of the Latin and French, she began also to study the Italian language ; but music was rarely cultivated by the great as a science, and it was not till a later period that she learnt to play on the virginals and clavichords.

The education of Mary was precisely such as was given to the daughters of France, with certain sup plementary literary advantages, for which she appears to have been exclusively indebted to the superintendence of her uncle, Cardinal Lorraine. In the education of a royal personage, mental cultivation, however highly valued, was of subordinate importance to the acquisition of those external accomplishments, essentially necessary to that public exhibition which is unavoidably imposed on the station of a sovereign. For those who live exposed to the public gaze, alter-

* Concerns in Jebb.

nately the objects of criticism and admiration, to be wanting in a dignified carriage, or gracious demeanor; to be untasteful in dress, of ungraceful speech, or shy, repulsive manners, has ever been an irreparable defect, for which neither moral nor intellectual qualifies could compensate to their possessor. To guaranty the royal pupils from this misfortune, appears to have been a primary object with the French teacher: and whilst the prince was taught to ride, to fence, and to perform all the athletic exercises suited to his sex and rank, he was at the same time habituated to speak in public, to recite discourses, which he, perhaps, scarcely understood, and to address, in a tone of confidence and friendship, those to whose persons and character he was almost a stranger."

The influences which were to attend Mary, appear in a brief and vivid description of royalty. " This court was then the most magnificent, the most elegant, the most joyous, and, we must add, the most lax in Europe. Still retaining certain military customs of the middle ages, and at the same time conforming to the intellectual usages of the time of the renaissance, it was half-chivalric and half-literary, mingling tournaments with studies, hunting with erudition, mental achievements with bodily exercises, the ancient and rough games of skill and strength with the novel and delicate pleasures of the arts. Nothing could equal the splendor and vivacity which Francis I. had introduced into his court, by attracting thither all the principal nobility of France, by educating as pages B * therein young gentlemen of all the provinces, by adorning it with nearly two hundred ladies belonging to the greatest families in the kingdom, and by establishing it sometimes in the splendid palaces of Fontainbleau and St. Germain, which he had either built or beautified, on the banks of the Seine, and sometimes in the spacious castles of Blois and Amboise, which his predecessors had inhabited, on the banks of the Loire. A careful imitator of his father's example, Henry II. kept up the same magnificence at his court, which was presided over with as much grace as activity by the subtle Italian, Catherine de Medici, whose character had been formed by Francis L, who had admitted her into the petite ~bande de ses dames favorites, with whom he used to hunt the stag, and frequently sport in his pleasure-houses! The men were constantly in the company of the women ; the Queen and her ladies were present at all the games and amusements of Henry II. and his gentlemen, and accompanied them in the chase. The King, on his part, together with the noblemen of his retinue, used to pass several hours every morning and evening in the apartments of Catherine de Medici. " There," says Brantome, " there was a host of human goddesses, some more beautiful than others ; every lord and gentleman conversed with her he loved best ; whilst the King talked to the Queen, his sister, the dauphins, (Mary Stuart,) and the princesses, together with those lords and princes who were seated nearest him." As the kings themselves had avowed mistresses, they were desirous that their subjects should follow their example, " and if they did not do so," says Brantome, " they considered them coxcombs and fools."