my son, to die or endure such other penalties as you may pronounce upon me, if it is only thus that the Queen, my good sister, who has so bad an opinion of me, and who has been misinformed in that I have attempted any plot against her person, can be satisfied of my innocence and of the good will which I have borne and still bear towards her, as I have frequently shown in the offers which I have made, and in my conduct. In order, then, that it may not be considered that I refuse to reply because I am guilty, and lest it may be thought that ambition may have induced me to commit any act, blameable or unworthy of my sacred person, I offer to reply to you upon this point only-Upon the life of the Queen, of which I swear and protest that I am innocent; but on no other matter whatever, as to intelligence, friendship or correspondence which I may have had with foreign princes. In making protest of this, I demand, also, a written copy of the act of accusation." * It is unnecessary for me to follow the course of the trial; suffice it to say that it is difficult to see how any jury or court could do otherwise than bring in a verdict of guilty on the evidence laid before them. Mary denied everything that was charged against her, and to any proofs which were brought forward of her complicity in the conspiracy of Babington, she only replied by denials, and by a refusal to acknowledge the right of any to question her. There are, however, one or two unpublished words of hers that it may be desirable to read. For instance, at the close of the second day's sitting, the diary says the proceedings had been "conducted in such a manner that the poor Princess said to us, in returning to her chamber, she remembered the Passion of Jesus Christ, and, without making any comparison, it appeared to her that they were doing in her case as the Jews did to Christ, when they cried, Away with Him; crucify * Marie Stuart, &c., p. 512. Him,' and she was sure there were none in the company who had any pity for her, or who would say what they thought." Another speech of hers, of which the English accounts of the trial give no particulars, reads as follows in the diary : "Her Majesty remonstrated on the wrong which the Queen had done her in keeping her prisoner, who had come on parole and a princess to a country where she had been, for nearly eighteen years, annoyed by treatment so bad that the meanest person should not have been subjected to it, though she had given no occasion for it, and there was still less right; by such treatment she had lost her health and the use of her limbs, as they could see; she could neither walk nor use her arms; she was ill, and almost always confined to her bed; old before her time, and consumed with misery, having lost the little spirit God had given her; unable to remember that which she had seen and read that could aid her at the present time, and the knowledge of matters that had enabled her to conduct and direct the necessary business which appertained to the state to which God had called her, and of which she had been traitorously and unjustly deprived by those who had detained her, and prevented her from claiming her rights. Not content with this, her enemies, by their ill-will, were trying to ruin her by proceeding in this trial by methods not customary in her own country, and not known in this kingdom before the reign of the present Queen, and further than that, by judges sanctioned only by illegal authority, from whom she appealed to the Omnipotent God, to His Church, and to all Christian princes, and to the estates of the realm duly and legitimately assembled. She was ready and willing to sustain and defend her honour, and prove herself innocent of the suspected wrongs, if they would give her public opportunity in the presence of some princes or foreign judges; and would show to such judges that she had done nothing against her mother the Church, or against kings, sovereign princes, or her son. Specially with respect to the right which the English have long claimed over the predecessors of her Majesty, Kings of Scotland, which right she utterly denied, and, as a woman or person of courage, would never admit or strengthen by any act of hers. She would be able to show them she was not ambitious, and that she had never undertaken anything against the Queen, from ambition or wish to reign; that she was past all that, and for herself wished only to pass the remainder of her life in peace, rest and tranquillity of spirit. Her age and weakness rendered her unwilling to take the responsibility of reigning, and gave her no opportunity of wishing for or aspiring to any government or public charge, being ill and diseased in her body, and having only probably but two or three years to live in this world; and considering the pain and wretchedness which surrounded her to-day in her endeavour to obtain justice and the recognition of her rights, in this age so evil disposed and so full of all wickedness and trouble, which seemed to fill all parts of the earth." Poor woman! her own kingdom rejected her; her French friends did not want her, and now the asylum in which had she been disposed she might have lived peaceably and died happily, was to be refused her. The long course of restlessness, duplicity and chicanery of which her letters give ample proof, had produced its natural result, and it was necessary for the peace of the realm that she should die. One of the Scottish historians says: "Had Queen Mary abandoned the world and its politics, the opportunity might have been given for her abiding in England in a retirement becoming a fallen monarch. From the moment, however, when she set foot on English soil she was so beset by dreams of superseding her rival, that she could not conceal them from those around."* The next day, the diary says, Mary made a noble speech, which, however, covers only the same ground as the last, and which it is needless to recapitulate. It would, indeed, be very desirable that a complete translation of the diary should be made, as it contains many speeches of Mary, in her defence, which are either ignored or summarised in the English reports, and a knowledge of which is necessary to complete the history of the trial. One charge against her does not appear to have been reported at all-that of her having incited Pius V to issue a bull of excommunication against Elizabeth. Mary denied this, and said she had no power in the matter, and that the Pope issued his bulls when he thought fit; to which the Chancellor replied that they did not care for the Pope or anyone like him. The question of Jesuits and their doings gave rise to considerable discussion which is not mentioned in the English reports, but which the diarist details in full. The trial completed, the Commission, whose powers extended no further than to hear what Mary had to say, adjourned their sittings till the 29th October, and went back to London to make their report, and to assist in the Session of Parliament then about to commence. Sir Amias appears, according to our diarist, from this time to have treated Mary rather more courteously than had been his wont. The change of locality and the reduction of her staff had probably rendered it impossible for Mary to continue her correspondence with the outside world, and the non-delivery of her letters saved Sir Amias from the frequent scoldings he had received for his want of care, and in consequence Mary recovered her health and spirits so much that Bourgoing says he never saw her so joyous or so well during the last 66 * Burton's History of Scotland, 2nd Ed., v. 256. seven years, giving her mind only to recreation, specially to uttering her opinion upon matters written in the Chronicles of England,* from which she seems to have gathered subjects of conversation with Sir Amias, who says, under date of Oct. 24, in his letter to Walsingham,† "She added that the histories made mention that this realm was used to blood. I answered that if she would peruse the Chronicles of Scotland, France, Spain and Italy, she would find that this realm was far behind any other Christian nation in shedding of blood, although the same was often very necessary where dangerous offences did arise. She was not willing to wade farther in this matter, and indeed it was easy to see she had no meaning in this speech to reach her own cause, but did utter it by way of discourse after her wonted manner." On All-Saints' Day, after dinner, Paulet had a conversation with Mary, in the course of which, " talking courteously, she said she had no occasion to be uneasy or troubled. She knew well in her conscience what she had done, and she had replied to all said against her. God and she knew that she had never attempted, or consented to any attempt, to kill or murder any one, and her conscience was perfectly clear and free from any connivance with anything of the sort, and, being innocent, she had rather reason to rejoice than to fear or to be troubled, having confidence in God, the protector of good and innocent people. Few people in her position had gone through so much trouble as she had. At the pleasure of God, she had suffered, and she had been preserved, God having always succoured and helped her. She feared not now, but if it was His will, she was ready to endure death. She had been born in troublous times; the Queen, her mother, had brought her up with much trouble; *Marie Stuart, &c., p. 539. + Letter Books of Sir Amias Paulet, p.301. |