The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-08-27


Nary Stnart's Sins and Prayer.
II Mary, who was born in Scotland,
wished to live there, she could not en-
Joy her wish-for out of the "A years that
she lived she scarcely spent dozen in
her native country, to which she much
preferred France. the country of her
mother, who was daughter of the
Duke OF Curse. In her marriage-treaty
with Francis IL she made Scotland q
province of France, and she allowed
herself also to be proclaimed heir to
the throne of England. This claim,
which Elizabeth acknowledged by SCI
lecting Mary's son as her successor, was
very offensive to the masses of the En-
giish people, and was the occasion of
many political troubles for Mary. But
she was her own worst enemy when
she undertook to govern Scotland after
the death of her French husband, in
Elizabeth then being firmly es-
tablished as the English queen. To
the long list of works published for
and against Mary, British Jesuit,
Rev. Joseph Stevenson, has now added
curious one, "The History OF Mary
Stuart, by Claude Nau, her Secretary"
This title does not very well describy
the book, since the part written be
Nau, and discovered by this editor in
Sir Robert Cotton's collections, makes
but 100 pages or so, while the intro
duction and appendix are more than
500. There are matters Of some i'm
portance in the fragmentary papers OF
the French secretary, and others quite
as valuable in series of reports from
Catholic priests found among the ar
chives in the Vatican. The editor is
bound, as q good Catholic, to defend
the Catholic Mary as well as he can
against the hereto Elizabeth-and he
takes the ground that she had nothing
to do with the murder of Darnley, al
though Boutwell,, whom she so dis
gracefully married, was the murderer.
Nau's account, by hypothesis, was de-
rived from Mary herself, and she dis
coursed with her secretary in the En-
glish castle, where she was imprisoned;
If SO, we have Mary's own version of
some events In her strange career. Nau
says that the Scotch lords, particularly
Moray, Morton and Maitland of Leth-
ington, "after having used Boutwell, to
rid themselves of the King (Darnley),
designed to make him their instrument
to ruin the Queen. Their plan was to
persuade her to marry the Earl of Both
we'll, so that they might charge her
with being in the plot against her late
husband, and consenting party to his
DEATH"
This theory of Darnley's murder is q
very extreme one, and carries with it,
If accepted, an entire rejection of the
casket letters from Mary to Boutwell,,
which Buchanan published in 1871,
since these letters show great love from
Mary to Boutwell, before Darnley's
murder. One strange circumstance is
reported by Nau on the authority of
Mary, that she was seriously i'll at
Lochleven in July, 1867, "the result of
miscarriage of twins, her issue by Both
WE'LL" to whom she had only been
married on May 10, of that year, while
Darnley had been killed by Boutwell,
February 9. This fact, if it be one,
strengthens the opinion that Mary was
guilty with Boutwell, before DarnIey's
death, as the casket letters imply.
Father Stevenson does not dwell much
on these letters, but evidently believes
them forgeries, as Mr.. Meline treats
them in his spirited vindication of
Mary against Froude. But after all,
Mary is the worst of all witnesses
against herself-for her whole connec-
ton with Boutwell,, apart from the let
tiers, is inconsistent with any theory Of
her innocence, unless she were fool
of which, except in love matters. no one
accuses her. She was one of the most
acute and subtle of women, and must
be presumed to have known very we'll
what she was doing. 1t is impossible
equally to believe Mary innocent and
not to compassionate her-a creature
of so many "graces and virtues" as she
described herself in one of her prayers
during her extreme illness at Jedburgh
before the death of Darnley. This
prayer is attached to will made by
her-or rather letter of dying request
at the end of which is the long prayer.
Father Stevenson prints it from the
original at Edinburgh, where 1t was
fret printed by Mr.. Small, the Uni
versity librarian, in 1881. Mary says
therein:
o my God, of Thy infinite goodness
Thou hast appointed me (albeit / be un-
worthy to rule and govern the people,
which has been committed to my charge,
and to be unto them lantern and light
of good life, and for this purpose hast
endued me with divers graces and vir-
tues, the which, nevertheless, / have
not used as my duty required. 0 my
most merciful Creator, confess that L
have not used Thy gifts to the advance
ment of Thy glory and honor, and good
example of life to my people that has
been committed under my charge, as 1
ought to have done, but rather 1 have
offended Thy majesty, not using my
eyes as my duty required, for the which
cause presently Thou most worthily hast
taken from me the power of them.
This last word was said because
Mary was then suffering from tempo
rary blindness 1t was not until many
years afterward-more than twenty
that she suffered death by the execu-
toner, as did her grandson, Charles L.,
sixty-two years after her.
The Game OF Names.