Spottiswoode Society > History of the affairs of the Church and State of Scotland from the beginning of the reformation to the year 1568 > Volume 2

20 THE HISTORY OF THE AFFAIRS [1561.
day before the Lord James. The day of his arrival was the
14th of April.i Having been graciously received, he de-
clared to her JSIajesty the things wherewith he was intrusted,
the sura whereof, as related by himself, was this^ — That her
Majesty would be pleased not to allow hei'self to be ensnared
by her brother's crafty speeches, who would probably advise
her to bring with her no French forces into Scotland, merely
on purpose that after he had insinuated himself so far into
her good graces, as to obtain under her the chief manage-
ment of affairs, he might with the more easiness crush the
ancient form of religion within the Realm ; which neverthe-
less, Mr Leslie assured the Queen, the Prior had not so
much at heart, notwithstanding all his outward pretences,
as to wrest the sceptre out of her hand, and to set the crown
upon his own head. Therefore he humbly entreated her
Majesty, either to cause retain her natural brother in France
until she had arrived in Scotland, and had settled her affairs
at home; or, that she would comply with another advice of
the Nobles that had sent him, namely, to land with her
ships in some port of the North of Scotland, especially at
Aberdeen, where her friends could easily convene an army
of 20,000 men, with which her JSIajesty might with security
advance towards Edinbui'gh, and defeat all the bad designs
of her enemies. After Mr Leslie had delivered his Com-
mission, he tells us — That the Queen commanded him to
remain by her until she should return to Scotland ; and
ordered him in the meantime to assure by writ the Lords
and Prelates who sent him, of her favour towards them,
and of her intention to return home. But it is very
Lorraine, Archbishop of that city, her own uncle. In the spring of the year,
her Majesty went to visit the Dulve and old Duchess of Guise, her grand-
mother, at Join\'ille, and the Duke of Lorraine at Nancy. There her
Majesty was taken ill of an ague, and from thence, for her healtli, slie
returned to Joinville. After her recovery, she went again in the month of
June to Eheims, and from thence to Paris, where she remained until she
set out for Calais, in order to embark for her own kingdom.
1 [Bishop Lesley arrived about the 9th of April, and obtained his first
audience with Queen Mary on the 14th. Some writers state that March
was the month when Bishop Lesley and Lord James Stuart appeared at
Vitry. See the " History of Scotland during the Reign of Queen INIaiy,"
by the Rev. James Carruthers. Edinburgh, 8vo. 1831, p. 145.— E.]
2 Be Eebus Oesiis Scotorum, authore Joanne Leslceo Episcopo Bossensi. —
[Libri x. Romse, 1578, 4to. lidem, jtixta exemplar Ronianum, 1676, 4to.— E.]