In Queen Mary's Country.

Although Linlithgow Castle is at present nothing but a picturesque old ruin, one may yet stand within the very room (now desolate and roofless) which saw the advent of the infant princess. The walls of the building were, evidently, of great strength and thickness; but they were not deemed strong enough at that time to protect the future queen. War was then being waged between Scotland and England, and Henry VIII. was using every means to get this little princess into his blood-stained hands; for by his third unfortunate wife, whom he had wedded only a few hours after the ax had fallen on the neck of Anne Boleyn, he now possessed a son. This prince, he had resolved, should marry Mary, Queen of Scots, and thus unite the kingdoms under one crown. The terms of his proposal, however, were so harsh that Scotland's Parliament refused them, and in the conflict which ensued, both Mary and her mother were taken for greater security from Linlithgow to Stirling Castle. Surely no safer nor more healthful place could have been found for her than this grand fortress, towering on a lofty cliff above the enchanting valley of Monteith. Yet, even here, though the child thrived in the pure mountain air, dangers and intrigues threatened her on every side, since the English King regarded her with hatred because both she and Scotland's liberty had not been given to him submissively.

Linlithgow Castle.

The Quadrangle, Linlithgow Castle.

A plot was formed whereby some of her own treacherous nobles were to visit Stirling, profess a great desire to see the child, and then, if Mary was produced, to seize and carry her off to England; but so extremely cautious were her guardians, that only one visitor was ever admitted at a time to see her, and even then in the presence of armed men. We cannot, therefore, be surprised that, with all these dangers threatening her, the coronation of the little Queen was solemnized as soon as possible. One Sunday morning, when she was nine months old, Mary was taken from her nursery, and with much solemn pageantry was carried into the chapel of the castle. There one of her nobles held her on the throne, and spoke for her the words which her young lips could not yet frame. Then the Cardinal held the crown over her infant brow, clasped for a moment her tiny fingers about the sceptre, and even buckled round her waist the sword of State. How strange the contrast between the pretty, helpless babe, and all the mailed men surrounding her, bearing the implements of royalty and war! Alas! though every peer and prelate present knelt before the child, held his right hand above her little head, and swore to defend her with his life, how few of them kept the oath!

Stirling Castle.

A volume would hardly suffice to trace in sequence and detail the strange events of Mary's life; but every traveler who feels the slightest interest in her history visits, at least, her principal place of residence, Holyrood Castle, at Edinburgh. Within the chapel of this building, at the age of twenty-three, Mary was married to Lord Darnley. There is no doubt that she loved him; for when, on the death in France of her youthful husband, Francis II., she returned to Scotland, she had no lack of suitors. They fairly flocked to her, and every royal bachelor and widower in Christendom was not without some hope of winning her for a wife. She gave her heart It was a hasty, reckless marriage, like many others made before and since that time; for men and women do not seem to grow much wiser in this respect. A few weeks were enough to render all too plain her husband's character. Up to the time of the wedding Darnley had managed to conceal his faults; but having secured his prize, he boldly showed the vanity and selfishness which in reality controlled his conduct. Mary (besides the precious privilege of her love) had given him every honor in her power to grant; yet Darnley, with detestable ingratitude, took all these favors as a matter of course, and coolly asked for more, - demanding nothing less than equal sovereignty with her. The English ambassador wrote of them soon after their marriage: "The Queen doth everything in her power to oblige Darnley; but Darnley does not do the least thing to oblige her."