to believe that it would be honorable or friendly to blame the oppressed party, and to seek the death of an innocent person that she may be the prey of a murderess? Ah! without reference to my rank, which is not inferior to yours, regardless of my sincere friendship to you, (for I have almost forfeited all reputation among the Princes of my own religion, because I have neglected them, that I might not excite troubles in your kingdom,) exposed to such great dangers, as hardly any Prince ever was exposed to, in expectation of some, at least, ostensible reasons and offers, to secure myself against the danger; notwithstanding all this, as the epilogue of all this negociation, you are so blinded by the words of those who (which God forbid!) will in the end ruin you, that, instead of a thousand thanks, which I had deserved for such remarkable and uncommon services, M. de Bellievre addresses me in language which, in truth, I do not well understand. For to say that, if I do not save the life of that person, I shall feel the consequences, appears to me to be the threat of an enemy; which, I assure you, will never put me in fear. But the shortest way is to dispatch the cause of so much calamity. It would grieve me if you should experience the effects of such ambitious dealing. Therefore, Sir, my good brother, please to acquaint me, (in order to end the business,) through my ambassador, in what sense I am to take those words,

for I will not live an hour, when any Prince can boast of having so humbled me, that I, to my shame, should have emptied such a cup.

"It is true M. de Bellievre has somewhat softened his language, by adding, that you by no means wished any danger to happen to me, and still less to prepare any for me. I therefore write to you these few words, and if you please to treat me accordingly, you shall never find a truer and safer friend. Otherwise, I am not so low, nor do I govern such a small kingdom, as to give way in right and honour to any Prince upon earth, who may offend me; and I doubt not, by God's grace, that my party will be strong enough to support me. Think rather, I beg you, on the means of maintaining, than of diminishing, my friendship. Your dominions, my good brother, cannot bear many enemies. For God's sake, never give the reins to the wild horses, lest they throw you from the saddle. I say this to you with a true and upright heart, and beg the Creator to grant you a long and happy life."

King James is said to have represented more sincerely and more earnestly, that neither honour nor interest required the execution of his mother; and he himself, setting aside all personal and filial considerations, must be placed thereby in the most unpleasant situation. But neither these remonstrances

nor the offer of hostages were thought satisfactory. At length a conversation on the subject took place between the Scotch ambassador and Elizabeth. The former said: "what should induce the people to attempt anything for Mary against your Majesty?" "Her hereditary right and her religion," answered Elizabeth. "If," continued the ambassador, "you transfer the hereditary right to our King, will not all the hopes of the Papists be destroyed?" "I hope so," replied Elizabeth. "Then," said the ambassador, "his mother will willingly renounce all her rights." "She has already been bereft of those rights," said Elizabeth. "If," concluded the ambassador, "she no longer has any rights, there is nothing more to fear from her." "She always remains formidable," replied Elizabeth, "because the Papists do not recognise the sentence as valid." In the sequel of the conversation, the Queen said, "that foreign guarantees and the transfer of the hereditary right to James, would by no means secure her." The latter should consider what she had done for him, and remain faithful to the Protestant religion and to the alliance with England. She could by no means be induced to make a promise to spare Mary's life, even for a short time; wherefore, James ordered in Scotland a prayer for his mother, that God might enlighten her with the light of truth, and save her from the danger with which she was threatened. But most of the clergy

refused to put up the prayer, which led to very indecent scenes in the churches; nay, many Scotch insisted on the execution of Mary.

Notwithstanding the harsh expressions of Elizabeth to the French and Scotch ambassadors, their declaration had excited many doubts in her mind. But the longer she hesitated, the more loudly and vehemently were the opinions for and against the Queen of Scotland expressed.

Her friends said, "when she openly and confidently sought aid from Elizabeth against rebels and insurgents, she was treated worse than a prisoner of war; and, after nearly twenty years' rigorous imprisonment, come absurd accusations of high treason, founded on the deposition of servants and criminals, whom her accusers have not the courage to confront with the innocent Queen. Words artfully drawn out, exaggerated, misinterpreted, invented, pass for acts; and there is no wonder that she, not aware of the danger, should fall into the pit which has been perfidiously dug for her. A Queen of Scotland is not subject to the English laws, and, if this were the case, she ought at least to be treated according to general principles. All the dangers which are complained of, have arisen from the ill treatment of Mary, and because, from the beginning, self-interest was preferred to justice, and envy to generosity. But, even if all the accusations were true, ought not the unhappy Queen to

be excused, nay, even justified, if, to escape the disgrace, misery and injustice, under which she was oppressed, she had adopted the most extreme and most violent means."

To this, others replied, "a Queen deposed and expelled for her crimes is no longer Queen, and least of all can she appear in England with equal rights to Elizabeth. For her, who deserved death, imprisonment cannot be considered as a too rigorous punishment, but as a favour; and even prisoners of war, nay, innocent persons, forfeit, by new crimes, all claims to clemency and hospitality. Free persons, holding offices, who gave evidence against Mary, are not passive slaves, and the noblest men of the kingdom must be acknowledged as impartial judges. Or shall we quietly sit with our hands before us, till Mary, who had the King her husband murdered, gets our noble Queen dispatched by a Babington; marries the murderer, as she did Bothwell, (26) and places him with herself on our unsullied throne. We may expect such scenes of blood, the Spanish inquisition, and the extirpation of all pure Christianity, if she ever attains the power, and if we are restrained by the royal title (which did not protect Jane Grey nor Catharine Howard, nor even the innocent Anna Boleyn, and which is here a vain shadow) from doing what justice, safety, and necessity, equally require. To refrain from doing this to a criminal is rather