the house from which the
shot had been fired. The door was strongly barricaded. Before they
could get the means to force an entrance, Hamilton was on his horse
and far away. The regent was carried to his lodgings, and died that
night.

Murray was Queen Mary's half brother, and the connection of his
fortunes with hers, considered in respect to its intimacy and the
length of its duration, was, on the whole, greater than that of any
other individual. He may be said to have governed Scotland, in
reality, during the whole of Mary's nominal reign, first as her
minister and friend, and afterward as her competitor and foe. He was,
at any rate, during most of her life, her nearest relative and her
most constant companion, and Mary mourned his death with many tears.

There was a great nobleman in England, named the Duke of Norfolk, who
had vast estates, and was regarded as the greatest subject in the
realm. He was a Catholic. Among the other countless schemes and plots
to which Mary's presence in England gave rise, he formed a plan of
marrying her, and, through her claim to the crown and by the help of
the Catholics, to overturn the government of Elizabeth. He entered
into negotiations with Mary, and she consented to become his wife,
without, however, as she says, being a party to his political
schemes. His plots were discovered; he was imprisoned, tried, and
beheaded. Mary was accused of sharing the guilt of his treason. She
denied this. She was not very vigorously proceeded against, but she
suffered in the event of the affair another sad disappointment of her
hopes of liberty, and her confinement became more strict and absolute
than ever.

Still she had quite a numerous retinue of attendants. Many of her
former friends were allowed to continue with her. Jane Kennedy, who
had escaped with her from Loch Leven, remained in her service. She
was removed from castle to castle, at Elizabeth's orders, to diminish
the probability of the forming and maturing of plans of escape. She
amused herself sometimes in embroidery and similar pursuits, and
sometimes she pined and languished under the pressure of her sorrows
and woes. Sixteen or eighteen years passed away in this manner. She
was almost forgotten. Very exciting public events were taking place
in England and in Scotland, and the name of the poor captive queen
at length seemed to pass from men's minds, except so far as it was
whispered secretly in plots and intrigues.

CHA