ecided, finally, to go to England.

The nearest stronghold in England was Carlisle Castle, which was not
very far from the frontier. The boundary between the two kingdoms is
formed here by the Solway Frith, a broad arm of the sea. Dundrennan
Abbey, to which Mary had retreated, was near the town of
Kirkcudbright, which is, of course, on the northern side of the
Frith; it is also near the sea. Carlisle is further up the Frith,
near where the River Solway empties into it, and is twenty or thirty
miles from the shore.

Mary sent a messenger to the governor of the castle at Carlisle to
inquire whether he would receive and protect her. She could not,
however, wait for an answer to this message, as the country was all
in commotion, and she was exposed to an attack at any time from
Murray's forces, in which case, even if they should not succeed in
taking her captive, they might effectually cut off her retreat from
Scottish ground. She accordingly determined to proceed immediately,
and receive the answer from the governor of the castle on the way.
She set out on the 16th of May. Eighteen or twenty persons
constituted her train. This was all that remained to her of her army
of six thousand men. She proceeded to the shore. They provided a
fishing-boat for the voyage, furnishing it as comfortably for her as
circumstances would admit. She embarked, and sailed along the coast,
eastward, up the Frith, for about eighteen miles, gazing mournfully
upon the receding shore of her native land--receding, in fact, now
from her view forever. They landed at the most convenient port for
reaching Carlisle, intending to take the remainder of the journey by
land.

In the mean time, the messenger, on his arrival at Carlisle, found
that the governor had gone to London. His second in rank, whom he had
left in command, immediately sent off an express after him to inform
him of the event. The name of this lieutenant-governor was Lowther.
Lowther did all in Mary's favor that it was in his power to do. He
directed the messenger to inform her that he had sent to London for
instructions from Elizabeth, but that, in the mean time, she would be
a welcome guest in his castle, and that he would defend her there
from all her enemies. He then sent around to all the nobles and men
of distinction in the neighborhood, informing them of the arrival of
the distinguished visitor, and having assembled them, they proceeded
together toward the coast to meet and receiv