proceedings should be conducted according to the old laws of Edward III., or to the new ones enacted expressly for this case. As soon as the latter was resolved upon, Elizabeth appointed forty-seven of the most distinguished lords and judges of the kingdom, among whom were several Roman Catholics, who were to investigate the the matter thoroughly, and to pass sentence.(22)

On their arrival at Fotheringay, on the 11th of November, 1586, and making known their commission to the Scotch Queen, she at first lamented, in general terms, her melancholy fate, and then answered: "I am a Queen, and as such responsible to no one, and will not appear before any court unless it were a free parliament. Without knowledge of the English laws, without counsel, deprived of my papers, abandoned by all, how can I satisfactorily prove my innocence? Besides, the new law, according to which I am to be judged, was contrived solely for my ruin, and I am condemned beforehand by the express words of the royal letter. Consider that England is not the world, and that all of

you will one day have to answer for the injustice of which you are guilty."

When the commissioners made their report to Queen Elizabeth, she wrote to Mary, "You have in various ways, sort, and kind, sought to take my life, and to bring my kingdom to destruction through bloodshed. I have never proceeded so hardly

against you, but have, on the contrary, protected and cherished you like my own self.

These trea

sons will be proved to you, and brought manifestly home to yourself: yet it is my will that you make answer to the nobles and peers of my realm, so as if I were present. I therefore require, demand, and order, that you do make answer, having been well informed of your arrogance. But deal plainly, and you may have more favour from us." Signed Elizabeth, without any subscription of sister or cousin.

Conformably with this letter, Sir Christopher Hatton, the Vice Chamberlain, represented to Mary that she could not refuse to answer, because a State must necessarily be ruined, if any person might conspire to overthrow it, and then declare that he is above all responsibility. "Everybody," he said, "and especially Elizabeth, wished that she might refute all the accusations against her, but longer hesitation in proving her innocence, must injure her reputation, and give double weight to the proofs that were produced." Moved by these representations, she answered, on the 14th of October, "I have never known Babington, nor received letters from him, or written to him. Let my handwriting be shewn to me, or confront me with my accusers; for their testimony, if I contradict it, cannot be admitted as proof, and they may very easily have written something different from what I

VOL. I.

Y

dictated. I have certainly wished for my deliverance, and have even applied to foreign powers for aid, but have never entered (to the destruction of my soul,) into plots against the life of Elizabeth. What individuals have undertaken for my interest, without my knowledge, I cannot answer for, and Elizabeth may remember how she herself was once in danger, though innocent, of suffering death, on account of Wyatt's conspiracy. If my servants have testified against me, they were either impelled by cowardice and fear, or they have spoken as liars and deceivers."

The subsequent conversations and negociations produced, on the whole, no more, and nothing new. After a repeated consideration of all the proofs; after Nau and Curl, without violence, hope, or reward, had again confirmed, by an oath, the genuineness of the letters, and the truth of their depositions, all the judges unanimously pronounced, on the 25th of October, the sentence of guilty on the Queen of Scotland; and this sentence was confirmed by the Parliament, on the 29th. As Elizabeth hesitated to have it carried into execution, the two Houses called on her, on the 7th of November, to let justice take its course: and on the 12th of November, the House of Commons declared by its Speaker, Mr. Puckering, that "clemency had availed nothing, and, if continued, would become cruelty to her own subjects; that Mary, building on the

Pope's bull of excommunication, considered the murder of Elizabeth as meritorious; that she was the root from which all rebellion, all treachery, sprung, the ground upon which all wickedness was built, and that these great evils would never cease but with Mary's death. The Britons like the Lydians said, we acknowledge one Queen, but cannot bear two. That the Holy Scriptures also pointed out what was to be done: Saul and Ahab had been deprived of their kingdoms for their unseasonable clemency towards the ungodly. Solomon had not spared his brother Adonijah, for much less important reasons. Her faithful and obedient subjects therefore hoped that Elizabeth would take that resolution which would certainly be pleasing to God."

In her verbal answer the Queen thanked God for support and deliverance out of many dangers, and said that at a time when all the proofs of Mary's guilt were before her, she had offered her, though in vain, that no public proceedings should ever take place, if she would privately confess her guilt. Elizabeth then continued: "if other nations and Kings could say with truth that by my death, this kingdom would become more happy and flourishing, I would willingly lay down my life, to procure you a better sovereign. For it is only on your account, and to preserve you from a worse ruler, that I wish to live on my own account, I assure you, I have

no great cause to wish for a long life, nor do I see in death such terrors as to make me greatly dread it. Yet, I do not deny it, flesh and blood, if this blow were impending, might well be moved, and endeavour to avert it. I have sufficient experience and knowledge of the world, I know what it is to be a subject, or a sovereign; what it is to have good neighbours and malicious enemies. I have found treachery in return for confidence, have seen great benefits undervalued, and instead of thanks, have met with ingratitude. Thus the remembrance of the past, the sense of the present, the prospect of the future, combine to make me believe, that an evil is the less in proportion to the shortness of its duration. If I had met my death through one of these conspiracies, my sufferings would have been but short, and if I should one day perish by a violent death, by the grace of God, I shall not be found unprepared. Thus I know how to endure these treasons better than my sex in general, nay, perhaps, with more firmness than many a man. But I will not wrong myself and this realm, and deny that, according to the ancient, and still more according to the recent laws, she might be called to account and condemned; as, however, the new law was not made to ensnare her, but only to give her warning, I would by no means have founded the investigation upon it, had not the judges solemnly assured me, that even the old law authorised