Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 7.djvu/205

Rh had permitted in some other instances of a similar kind. She ordered the town council to deprive the provost and baillies instantly of their offices, and to elect others in their stead.

All the French friends who had accompanied her to Scotland, excepting her uncle, the marquis D'Elbeuf, disgusted with the treatment which they met with from the reformers, now returned to their own country; and the young and inexperienced queen was thus left nearly alone, to maintain the elevated and dangerous position in which hereditary right had placed her, against the stormy and conflicting interests and passions of those by whom she was surrounded. She was now thrown upon her own resources, and, at a most critical period, left to rely wholly upon the firmness and energy of her own character, to carry her through the arduous part which destiny had assigned her.

The fame of Mary's beauty and accomplishments, as was naturally to be expected, procured her many suitors, not only amongst her own nobility, but amongst foreign princes. She, however, declined all addresses of this nature, and resolved, in the mean time at least, to remain as she was: a resolution, which it had been well for the unfortunate queen she had always adhered to.

In the month of August, 1562, little of any interest having occurred in the interval, Mary set out on a progress through the northern part of her dominions, accompanied by her brother, the earl of Murray, and a numerous train of nobles and attendants. On this expedition she spent three months, when she again returned to Edinburgh. The two following years, viz., 1563 and 1564, were undistinguished by any public event of importance, and were, on that account, probably the happiest that Mary ever spent in her native land.

Though no circumstance of national consequence, however, occurred during this period, one of a singular and melancholy interest did take place. This was the execution of the young French poet, Chatelard. This unfortunate gentleman, who was attached to Mary's court, had fallen wildly and desperately in love with his royal mistress. He wrote numerous verses to her; and, encouraged by the unreflecting approbation with which they were received, and mistaking the good-natured courtesy of Mary for a return of his passion, he madly intruded himself into her bed-room. Here he was discovered by her maids of honour; but, after being severely reprimanded by the queen for his audacity, was allowed, from a natural feeling of lenity, as it was his first offence, to escape further punishment. Undeterred by the imminence of the danger to which he had been exposed, and of which he must have been fully aware, Chatelard, in two nights afterwards, again entered the queen's bedchamber. On this occasion, it was at Dunfermline, where Mary had stopped for one night on her way to St Andrews. Highly incensed by the young man's insolent pertinacity, Mary, after having in vain ordered him to quit her apartment, called out for assistance, and was instantly attended by the earl of Murray, who happened to be within hearing. The unfortunate Cbatelard was immediately taken into custody, tried at St Andrews, condemned to death, and executed on the 22nd of February, 1563. Before laying his head on the block, which he did with the utmost composure, he turned towards the house in which the queen lodged, and where he presumed her at the moment to be, and exclaimed, "Farewell, loveliest and most cruel princess whom the world contains!"

Mary, if she had not hitherto enjoyed positive happiness, had at least been free from any very serious annoyances, since her accession to the throne. This comparative quiet, however, was now about to be disturbed, and the long series of miseries and misfortunes, which render her history so remarkable, were on the eve of assailing her. These began with her unfortunate marriage to