Kircaldy was defired to peruse this letter; and he preffed them no longer with his remonftrances. The Queen, in the mean time, fent a meffage to this generous foldier, complaining of the cruelty of her nobles, and reminding him that they had violated their engage, ments. He instantly addreffed an answer to it, recounting the reproaches he had made to them, ftating his advice, defcribing the furprize with which he had read her intercepted letter, and conjuring her to renounce and forget a moft wicked and flagitious man, and by this victory over herself to regain the love and refpect of her fubjects. The device of a letter from her to Bothwel, compleated the amazement of the Queen. So unprincipled a contempt of every thing that is moft facred, fo barbarous a perfeverence, in perfidioufnefs and injuftice, extinguifhed every fentiment of hope in her bofom. She conceived that he was doomod to inevitable deftruction, and funk under a pang of unutterable anguish*.' To this is fubjoined the following Note:

'Mr. Hume is candid enough to give up the authenticity of this letter; and, indeed, fo far as I have obferved, there is not the flighteft pretence of a reason to conceive it to be genuine. Hift. of Engvol. v. p. 120. It was not mentioned by the Earl of Morton, and his adherents, to Throgmorton, when Elizabeth interfered in the affairs of Scotland, upon the imprifonment of the Queen in the castle of Lochleven; a period of time when these statesmen were defirous to throw out every imputation to her prejudice, and when in particular they were abufing her with vehemence for her attachment to Bothwel. Keith, p. 419. Nor was it made ufe of by Murray before the English commiffioners. Mary, in the condition to which the nobles had reduced her, could not well think of a step of this fort, although her attachment to Bothwel had been as strong as they were pleafed to pronounce it. For, not to fpeak of the greatnefs of her diftrefs, fhe was guarded by them so strictly as to make it vain for her to pretend to elude their vigilance. In regard, too, to her love of Bothwel, it is not clear that it was ever real. While the King was alive, there are no traces of their improper intercourfe. The affair of Dunbar was a criminal feduction. The arts of a profligate man, the frailty of nature, and the violence of a temporary tenderness overcame her. There was no fentiment of love upon either fide. After her marriage his rudeness extinguished in her altogether any remain of kindness and refpect; and hence the coldnets with which the parted with him.

But we foon come to the grand ftroke of forgery, the capital artifice of that unprincipled band. Concerning this Dr. Stuart fpeaks in the following manner, p. 272.

But while the Regent,' the Earl of Murray, and his friends had anxieties upon account of the Earl of Bothwel, they were still more alarmed with apprehenfions on the part of the Queen. That Bothwel might be induced to reveal the whole bloody fecret, and to open up the scenes they had acted with him, was a terror that was

*Melvil, Memoirs, p. 167.

diftant

diftant, when compared with the dangers that might affail them, if the Queen fhould recover her liberty and grandeur. Their infults and cruelties had been fo vile and criminal, that, in this cafe they could not poffibly expect any mercy or pardon. Her condemnation or death, therefore, could alone operate a full fecurity to them. In a prifon fhe would be a fource to them of of constant difquiet. Her misfortunes would awaken the compaffion of her fubjects; her friends would continually uphold her hope of a deliverance; foreign ftates might be drawn to act decifively in her favour; and a naked fword would be perpetually fufpended over their heads, reminding them of their crimes, and threatening to revenge her wrongs. They were fully aware of their hazardous fituation; and it appeared to their matureft deliberation, that by the ample establishment of her guilt, they could effectuate with the greatest fecurity to themfelves her complete overthrow and deftruction. They had already fucceeded in detracting from her reputation, and in throwing a ftain upon her honour; and the letter which they had produced as intercepted from her to Bothwel, and with which they had imposed upon Kircaldy of Grange, encouraged them to adopt the only means in their power by which they could multiply at pleafure the proofs of her indifcretion. They had uniformly affirmed with confidence, that her love of Bothwel was incurable, and that it threatened the Prince and the nation with ruin. It was upon this foundation, that they refted the defence of their proceedings. They knew, therefore, that it was incumbent upon them to produce the vouchers of her paffion. The infamy of fuch a project did not deter them from its execution. They had been even accustomed to actions that were more atrocious. It was an expedient neceffary to them; and they hoped, by their management and resolution, to render it fuccefsful in the greatest degree.

"They had allured to them a partizan who was admirably qualified for entering into their purpofes, and for advancing them.This was George Buchanan, a man of high genius, and who was well acquainted with the world. He had this very year acted as a moderator of an affembly of the church, and had written a treatise in vindication of the depofition of the Queen. He was poor, had propenfities to pleasure, and was ambitious. The bounty and the power of the Regent could lead him to the fummit of his wifhes. He became attached to him with more vehemence than confifted with the integrity of his character. When put in motion by his patron, he fcrupled not to forget all the duties which he owed to his fovereign, and and all the refpect which he ought to have paid to himself. It was by his aid that thofe letters were framed; which the Regent and his cabal were to impute to Mary, and by the operation of which cy thought finally to accomplish her ruin. It was to them that they were to point as the decifive vouchers of her guilt.

While it was, therefore, their object to procure an effectual vindication of their own conduct and proceedings, it was not lefs anxioufly their defire to criminate their fovereign. For thefe purposes they held deliberations, of which the minute or memorial has fortu

nately defcended to pofterity. The Regent, the Earl of Morton, Maitland of Lethington, with the lords of the fecret council and other perfons of the cabal, after mature confideration determined, and agreed in declaring, that all the tranfactions in which they had been engaged from the time of the murder of the King were highly proper and meritorious; and that the righteoufnefs of their quarrel, the fecurity of their perfons and eftates, and the protection of their pofterity, ought to be provided for and amply eftablifhed by the three. Eftates affembled in parliament. They declared it likewife to be their firm opinion, that the Queen herfelf was the real caufe and impelling fpring of all the mifchiefs which had fo completely difordered the realm; fince it was most certain "By her letters to Bothwel "and their private marriage, that the was art and part of the actual "devife and deed of the murder of her husband; and that the fully "deferved the treatment she had already met with, and the refentment which might yet be fhewn to her *.'

As they had employed the ftrongest terms in expreffing the love of Mary to Bothwel, it was neceffary to throw into the letters the moft open and explicit language. The ftrain of them, accordingly, and their expreffion are of this kind. They breathe a paffion that is grofs and inordinate; they exprefs the wantonnefs of a mind practifed in vice, and loft to virtue; and they indicate a confent to the murder of the King . They give with exactness that picture of the Queen which the Regent and the cabal wifhed to pals for her likeness. To the tenor of her life, and to the teftimony of undoubted monuments of history they are in the most direct contradiction, To their paft tranfactions they have an obvious reference; and they correfpond with the purposes which it most concerned them to adopt, and for which they were to be active and ftrenuous. Their friend, fhip for Bothwel, his murder of the King, his eagerness for a trial, their protection of him, his acquittal, their bond inculcating his innocence, and preffing the Queen to take him for her husband, her conveyance to Dunbar, her feduction, her marriage, their rupture. with him, their permiffion to his flight, their accufations of him in his abfence, their attempt to involve her in his wickedness, their rebellion, the indignities with which they treated her, her imprisonment, her forced refignation of the crown, the elevation of Murray to be Regent, and in fine the project of the letters as the apology of their own proceedings, and the evidence of her guilt; thefe tranfactions, fo particular, fo united, and fo concurring are all the parts of a fyftem which carries in its bofom the full conviction of their deep deceit, their unprincipled profligacy, and their intrepid and fanguinary ambition. They were now to atchieve the last act of their drama; and by the death, or utter humiliation of the Queen to fecure their future tranquillity, and to enjoy at ease the luxurious pride of prosperity and greatness.'

In p. 296 we return to the conduct of Elizabeth again.

Upon revolving these measures and topicks, Elizabeth and her counsellors were induced to conclude that it was by far the wifest ex

*Haynes, p. 453:

*55.

Anderfon, Collections, vol. ii. p. 129. pedient

pedient to keep the Queen of Scots in confinement; to invent me thods to augment her diftrefs; to give countenance to the Regent; and to hold her kingdom in dependance and fubjection *,

In thefe rcfolutions there were indeed an evident injustice, and a favage rigour. But objections of this kind, it was thought, might be taken away or concealed by expreffions of lenity, and under appearances of respect aud affection. It was contended in vain, that a plan more moderate in itself, and in effect equally deftructive of the confequence of the Queen of Scots, would preferve better the national integrity and honour. It was propofed to reftore Mary to her kingdom, under limitations and conditions that would give Elizabeth the most ample opportunities to interfere in her affairs, and to direct and govern them t. This fcheme, however, was derided as. precarious and uncertain. The prime counsellors of Elizabeth knew well her temper and difpofitions; and they encouraged them. No. fentiment of generofity opened itfelf in her bofom. The greatness of replacing an injured and fuffering princefs upon her throne, and of recovering to her the full and undiminished enjoyment of her rank and rights, never once entered into her conceptions. It was in her power, by atchieving this magnanimous part, to gain to her for ever the gratitude and attachment of her fifter Queen, and to cover her brow with the most honourable laurels. But the chose to indulge in jealoufies, and anger, and rivalfhip, to add to the ferment of miferable paffions, and to feed the cankers that were wasting her heart,' And in p. 352, we have this note..

Notwithstanding the ability and the partiality of Elizabeth's commiffioners, it is very remarkable that the papers in the conferences at York and Westminster lead to a strong cenfure of the English, Queen. It is also to be inferred, that this cenfure would have been greatly stronger, if Secretary Cecil had not in many places altered and interlined thefe papers. It is likeways known that Mr. Anderfon, the editor of the Collections about Mary, actually omitted and fuppreffed, with defign, many of the vouchers which were the most favouroble to her actions and memory. Under almost every difadvantage, the fuperiority of her caufe evinces itself, and is a forcible admonition, that truth is the daughter of time.'

TH

[To be continued.]

ART. V. The Hiftory of Lord Belford and Mifs Sophia Woodley: in a Series of Letters. 3 vols 1 2mo. 9s. Noble. 1784. HIS hiftory has a diftant refemblance to the old romance of Sir Charles Grandison and Miss Harriet ByThe heroine runs away from a graceless ravifher, and, in this flight first encounters Lord Belford. They mutually fall in love with each other; but Lord Belford is prevent-, ed by an unhappy entanglement which had befallen him in his travels, from declaring his paffion. Perceiving, however,

ron.

*Anderfon, Collections, vol. iv. p. 34, 42. + Ib. p. 40, 44•

the

the growing partiality of Mifs Woodley, he makes her the confident of his foreign adventure. He informs her, that having become fecurity for an imprudent friend, and being diftreffed for money, a certain lady, called Julia, fells her jewels, and privately fends him the fum produced by them, fifteen hundred pounds. The next day Julia goes mad-- for the lofs of her jewels, we fuppofe---for no earthly reafon befide can be affigned for the freak. She raves, however, on Belford; a bleeding fcene follows, and his lordship promifes to marry her if the recovers.

Soon after this confidence Lord Belford hears fhe has shut herself up in a nunnery, and immediately declares his paffion to Mifs Woodley. It was all a mistake, fomebody of a fimilar name had taken the veil. Julia arrives in England at this critical period, and claims his hand. What a diftrefs! Conveniently, however, the adventures in the evening air, takes cold, dies, and Lord Belford is united to his Sophia Woodley.

From this abftract the reader will perhaps accuse our partiality. "What the dickens!" if he be a mafter of the fame elegant ftile with our author, he will exclaim; call you this a diftant resemblance ?---Yes, Sir, we do, and we beg leave to obferve, that however unfavourable matters may appear, we are perfectly juftified in afferting, that there is by no means an exact coincidence between our author and Mr. Richardfon, that on the contrary our author has an original manner, a vein fui generis, to which that popular novelift might in vain have afpired. As there is no point we hold dearer than the integrity and independence of our decifions, we will beg leave to go a little out of our way, and justify our affertion by a short extract. It fhall be from the interview between Lord Belford and Mifs Woodley, after Julia's arrival in England.

"The moft rigid ftoic would have wept at beholding the meeting of thefe lovers: it puts to defiance all defcription, or even the mind to conceive their diftrefs. Belford tenderly took the pale trembling hand of his (once) Sophia, and preffing it to his lips, in faltering accents enquired of her health. "I am better, greatly better," faid the angel," how is your Lordship?" To be brief, I foon found I could not stand this fcene." The letter writer accordingly retires, but immediately returns again." I now and then," fays fhe, "caught "the found of Sophia's voice concluding a few fentences, in which were-" No more, my Lord-an union was not good for us.-Heaven thought it not proper."---Good God, exclaims the writer, what is their magnanimity! What dignity of virtue do they poffefs! I really look up to

them