n
battle by rebels; James IV. perished in a battle which was lost; Mary
Stuart was driven from her throne, became a fugitive in Scotland,
and, after languishing for years in prison, was condemned by English
judges and beheaded; James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, her son,
died at his palace at Theobalds, not without strong suspicion of being
poisoned; Charles I. was betrayed by his own subjects, and, in terms
of a sentence by English judges, lost his life on the scaffold; James
VII. of Scotland and II. of England was driven from his kingdoms, and,
to fill the cup of bitterness to the brim, the birth of his son, as
legitimate heir, was disputed. The misfortunes of Prince Charles are
too well known to require us to do anything more than refer to them.
In his attempt to regain the throne of his ancestors, he was driven to
such a strait that he was compelled, after many of his supporters had
been put to death, to escape for his life under the guidance of a
woman--Flora Macdonald, renowned in history.

A few days before the death of Henry IV. of France, his queen had two
strange dreams. She thought all the jewels in her crown were changed
into pearls--a dream that much disturbed her, as pearls were
understood to signify tears. On the following night she had another
dream which caused her greater uneasiness--that the king was stabbed
in one of his sides. The king, as well as the queen, had presentiments
that a sad calamity was about to happen them. On the day before his
Majesty was killed he was very uneasy, and said something sat heavy on
his heart. Before entering the coach in which he was assassinated, he
took a tender farewell of the queen, kissing her thrice, and pressing
her close to his breast. For a time he hesitated whether he would go
out or not; but all at once he resumed his wonted courage, forbade the
guards to follow him out of the Louvre, and drove away in an open
carriage. The fates were against his Majesty: the fiat had gone forth,
and that day the hand of a regicide plunged a knife into the
sovereign's body, exactly as the queen had seen in her midnight
vision.

CHAPTER LV.

Dreaming Dictionaries--Dreaming of an Anchor--Sick
Persons' Dreams--Coloured and Rich Raiment--Dreaming
of Fruit--Funerals, Hearses, Graves--Dreams sometimes
to be read contrariwise--Seeing Candles in the Visions
of Night, what they foretell--Darkness and
Gloom--Jewellery, Gold, and Sil