[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors have been corrected
without note; inconsistent and archaic spellings in quoted material
have been retained as they appear in the original.]
The Tragedy of Fotheringay
[Illustration: _Walker & Boutall, Ph. Sc._
_Mary Queen of Scots,
from the Memorial Portrait
in the possession of the Trustees of Blairs College, Aberdeen._]
The
Tragedy of Fotheringay
FOUNDED ON
THE JOURNAL OF D. BOURGOING,
PHYSICIAN TO MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, AND
ON UNPUBLISHED MS. DOCUMENTS
BY THE
HON. MRS. MAXWELL SCOTT
OF ABBOTSFORD
LONDON
ADAM & CHARLES BLACK
1895
PREFACE
In compiling this book, my original intention was to deal
with the material afforded by Bourgoing's Journal, supplemented by
the Letters of Sir Amyas Paulet. Both narrate the events of the last
few months of Queen Mary's prison life, the details of which have
been hitherto little known. As time went on, however, and further new
and valuable matter was offered to me by the kindness of friends,
the scope of the work gradually expanded. Many details regarding the
Queen's execution and burial have been added, and I feel that some
apology is due for possible repetitions and other errors of style
which almost necessarily follow such a change of plan. Many of the
illustrative notes regarding Queen Mary's last moments are culled
from original contemporary accounts of the execution, for the use of
which I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. Joseph Stevenson,
S.J., LL.D. Some of these narratives are printed in the Appendix in
their entirety. The valuable collection of the Calthorpe MSS. has
furnished many interesting details, and I am especially indebted to
the courtesy of the present Lord Calthorpe for permission to publish
the two curious contemporary drawings of the trial and execution. The
value of these drawings is materially increased by the annotations in
Beale's handwriting. To him we owe several of the most interesting
notes regarding the execution, etc., and the knowledge that these
MSS. have come down to us under the direct guardianship of Beale's
descendants lends additional value to their testimony.
Robert Beale, whose name occurs so frequently in my narrative,
had long been employed in a subordinate position by Elizabeth's
Government, and in 1576 was sent by the Privy Council on an embassy
to the Prince of Orange. He was later appointed Clerk of Council to
the Queen, the office in which he comes before us at the time of
Queen Mary's trial and death, and his daughter Margaret married Sir
Henry Yelverton, Attorney-General, the ancestor of the Calthorpe
family, who thus became the possessors of the documents I have
referred to.
The frontispiece, taken from what is known as the Blairs portrait of
Queen Mary, has its own pedigree of unusual interest, although it
cannot claim to be an original portrait. The following description
of this picture is taken from the pen of the Right Rev. Bishop Kyle,
Vicar Apostolic of the Northern district of Scotland:--
This large picture of Queen Mary belonged once to Mrs.
Elizabeth Curle, wife and widow of Gilbert Curle, one
of the Queen's secretaries during the last years of her
life and at her death. Mrs. Curle herself was one of the
attendants at her execution. When, and by whom it was
painted, I have never learned. The attire and attitude
of the principal figure being the same in which it is
said Mary appeared on the scaffold, seem to testify
decisively that the picture is not what can be called an
original--that is traced from the living subject under
the painter's eye. The adjuncts were evidently added by
another and an inferior artist, but when, I have no means
of knowing. Mrs. Curle survived her mistress long, at
least thirty years. She had two sons, who both became
Jesuits. Of one, John, there is little known. He died in
Spain. The other, Hyppolytus, was long Superior, and a
great benefactor of the Scotch College of Douai. To that
College he bequeathed the property, not inconsiderable,
which he derived from his mother, and among the rest the
very picture now at Blairs. The picture remained in that
College (Douai) till the French Revolution. At the wreck of
the College it was taken from its frame, and being rolled
up was concealed in a chimney, the fireplace of which was
built up, and was so preserved. After the peace of 1815
it was taken from its place of concealment and conveyed
first to Paris, but ultimately to Scotland, through the
late Bishop Paterson and the Reverend John Farquharson,
who being the latter Principal, the former Prefect of
Studies in the Douai College at the time of the Revolution,
identified it as the picture that had been kept there
according to the tradition mentioned above.[1]--(From
_Annals of Lower Deeside_, John A. Henderson.)
[Footnote 1: The late Rev. Charles Gordon (well known in Aberdeen
as Priest Gordon, having been in charge of the Roman Catholic
Congregation for sixty years), then a student in the College,
assisted in concealing the picture.]
In the background of this picture the execution of the Queen at
Fotheringay is represented, along with the portraits of Jane Kennedy
and Elizabeth Curle, the two maids of honour who were present on
the sad occasion. The royal arms of Scotland are painted on the
right-hand corner of the picture, and there are three inscriptions in
Latin, the translations of which are as follow:--
1. Mary Queen of Scotland, Dowager Queen of France, truly
legitimate Sovereign of the Kingdoms of England and
Ireland, mother of James, King of Great Britain, oppressed
by her own Subjects in the year 1568, with the Hope and
Expectation of Aid promised by her Cousin Elizabeth,
reigning in England, went thither, and there, contrary
to the Law of Nations and the Faith of a Promise, being
retained Captive after 19 years of Imprisonment on Account
of Religion by the Perfidy of the same Elizabeth and the
Cruelty of the English Parliament, the horrible Sentence
of Decapitation being passed upon her, is delivered up to
Death, and on the 12th of the Kalends of March--such an
Example being unheard of--she is beheaded by a vile and
abject Executioner in the 45th year of her Age and Reign.
2. In the Presence of the Commissioners and Ministers of
Queen Elizabeth, the Executioner strikes with his Axe
the most serene Queen, the Daughter, Wife, and Mother of
Kings, and after a first and second Blow, by which she was
barbarously wounded, at the third cuts off her Head.
3. While she lived the chief Parent and Foundress of the
Scotch College, thus the once most flourishing Queen
of France and Scotland ascends the fatal Scaffold with
unconquered but pious mind, upbraids Tyranny and Perfidy,
professes the Catholic Faith, and publicly and plainly
professes that she always was and is a Daughter of the
Roman Church.
The reliquary containing a portrait of Queen Mary, of which Lady
Milford kindly allows me to publish the photograph for the first
time, is very interesting, and the date can be fixed as being _not
later_ than 1622, but unfortunately the history of the medallion is
little known.[2] It was originally in the possession of the Darrell
family, and as a Darrell was appointed to be Queen Mary's steward
during her captivity, and a Marmaduke Darrell (presumably the same
person) attended the funeral at Peterborough, I would fain see a
connection between him and the miniature, but so far I have found no
proof of this.
[Footnote 2: For list of relics contained in the reliquary see
Appendix, p. 272.]
The two contemporary drawings of Queen Mary's trial and execution
from the Calthorpe MSS. are now also published for the first
time. The lists of spectators written by Beale are of particular
interest, and it is curious to compare the drawings of the trial with
Bourgoing's description of the scene (see p. xiii.) and with that
given in Appendix, p. 270.
In conclusion, I earnestly desire to express my grateful thanks for
the constant and valuable help and encouragement given to me by the
Rev. Joseph Stevenson, S.J., LL.D., to whose kindness I owe so much;
to Mr. Leonard Lindsay, F.S.A., and to other kind friends.
M.M. MAXWELL SCOTT.
_8th February 1895._[3]
[Footnote 3: Soon after these words were written my valued friend
Father Stevenson was taken from us. He died on the evening of 8th
February, the same day on which Queen Mary, whose honour he had done
so much to maintain, suffered death, and I by a further coincidence
finished the writing of this book.]
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. CHARTLEY 1
II. FOTHERINGAY 16
III. THE TRIAL--FIRST DAY 44
IV. THE TRIAL--SECOND DAY 69
V. SUSPENSE 83
VI. AFTER THE SENTENCE 107
VII. WAITING FOR DEATH 125
VIII. FURTHER INDIGNITIES 145
IX. THE DEATH WARRANT 163
X. THE LAST DAY ON EARTH 179
XI. THE END 200
XII. PETERBOROUGH 225
XIII. WESTMINSTER 244
APPENDIX 249
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, REPRODUCED FROM THE
PORTRAIT AT BLAIRS COLLEGE, ABERDEEN _Frontispiece_
CONTEMPORARY DRAWING OF THE TRIAL, }
REPRODUCED FROM THE CALTHORPE MS.[4] } _Facing each other
} at page 44_
FACSIMILE KEY TO ABOVE }
CONTEMPORARY DRAWING OF THE EXECUTION, }
FROM THE CALTHORPE MS. } _Facing each other
} at page 200_
FACSIMILE KEY TO ABOVE }
ENLARGEMENT OF THE EXECUTION SCENE,
AS GIVEN IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE ABOVE _To face page 220_
RELIQUARY CONTAINING MINIATURE OF
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, AND RELICS,
NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF LADY MILFORD _To face page 244_
[Footnote 4: "Dedans une grande salle à laquelle on entroit
immediatement de l'autre chambre de sa Majesté par une porte simple
... ils avoient dressé et tendu, au bout d'icelle, le dais de
la Reyne, et, des deux costez, au dessous, le long de la paroy,
estoient assis les seigneurs et toutte la noblesse sus nommée en la
commission, estat et ordre que dessus; et au meilleu, quelques tables
de long et les bancs où estoient assis les commissairs et la justice
sus nommée, chacun en leur ordre. Et au dessous, avoient dressé une
barrière laissant une partie qui se levoit pour entrer et sortir,
faisant separation comme d'un parquet auquel n'entroit personne que
ceulx qui avoient affaire pour la commission, et avoient charge en
icelle. Et en l'autre separation, en bas, estoient gentilshommes
et servans des dits seigneurs de la commission, auditeurs et
spectateurs."--From Bourgoing's Journal, Chantelauze, p. 513.]
THE
TRAGEDY OF FOTHERINGAY
CHAPTER I
CHARTLEY
"Ceux qui voudront jamais escrire de cette illustre Reine
d'Ecosse en ont deux tres-amples sujets. L'un celui de
sa vie y l'autre de sa mort, l'un y l'autre tres mal
accompagnés de la bonne fortune."
BRANTÔME.
Three hundred years have passed since Brantôme wrote these lines,
and his prevision has been fully verified. Writers of every
opinion--friends and foes--have taken as their theme the life and
death of Mary Stuart, and it would now seem as if nothing further
could be written on the subject, fascinating though it has proved.
Fresh historical matter bringing new evidence, however, comes to
light now and then, and the publication in France, some years ago,
of such testimony is our excuse for adding a short chapter to the
history of Queen Mary. That this evidence relates to her last days
and death, is very welcome, for we hold that in Queen Mary's case we
may specially apply her own motto, "In my end is my beginning." Her
death was the crown and meaning of her long trial, and the beginning
of an interest which has continued to the present day.
The journal of Queen Mary's last physician, Dominique Bourgoing,
published by M. Chantelauze in 1876, which recounts the events of the
last seven months of Mary's life, informs us of many details hitherto
unknown, while the report of the trial of which Bourgoing was an
eye-witness is most valuable and interesting. Taken together with
the Letters of Sir Amyas Paulet, which, although written in a very
different spirit, agree in the main with Bourgoing's narrative, the
journal presents us with a complete picture of the daily life of the
captive Queen and the inmates of Fotheringay. In the preface to his
valuable book M. Chantelauze tells us of his happy acquisition of the
manuscript copy of Bourgoing's journal at Cluny, discusses the proofs
of its authenticity, and refers us to the passage in Queen Mary's
last letter to Pope Sixtus V., which we must consider as Bourgoing's
"credentials."
"Vous aurez," writes Mary, "le vrai récit de la fasson de ma dernière
prise, et toutes les procédures contre moy et par moy, affin
qu'entendant la vérité, les calumnies que les ennemys de l'Eglise
me vouedront imposer puissent estre par vous réfutées et la vérité
connue: et à cet effet ai-je vers vous envoyé ce porteur, requérant
pour la fin votre sainte bénédiction."[5]
[Footnote 5: Fotheringay, 23rd November 1586. Labanoff, tom. vi. pp.
447-454. Among Mary's last requests to her brother-in-law, Henri
III., there is a passage referring also to Bourgoing. It runs thus:
"Further, I beseech him to take my physician into his service,
and to give credit to what he shall say, and to pay regard to my
recommendation of him."]
Bourgoing's Journal in effect begins from the moment specified by
the Queen, at her "last taking," and contains, as she says, the full
account of the proceedings taken against her. Although the interest
of the narrative centres in Fotheringay, Bourgoing also gives new and
interesting particulars of the way in which the Queen was removed
from Chartley, the imprisonment at Tixall, and the return to Chartley
before the journey to her last prison of Fotheringay.
Bourgoing begins his journal on Thursday, the 11th of August 1586,
at Chartley, where the Queen had now been since the previous
Christmas, and at a moment of the gravest importance for her safety.
The fatal conspiracy known as the Babington Plot had been arrested,
and the unhappy agents in it were awaiting their cruel doom. It was
determined that Mary should be removed from Chartley, her secretaries
sent to London, and her papers seized, while she was still ignorant
of the fate of Babington and his companions. For this purpose
William Wade, a sworn enemy to Mary, was sent down to Staffordshire
to take the necessary measures, and in order that this might be
done secretly, he and Sir Amyas Paulet, Mary's keeper, met at some
distance from the castle, and there arranged their plan of action.
The Queen's health had improved at Chartley, and she was now able
to take exercise on horseback. Paulet therefore proposed to her to
ride to Tixall, the house of Sir Walter Aston, which was situated a
few miles off, to see a Buck hunt. This proposal Mary accepted with
pleasure, and probably with some surprise at the unusual courtesy of
Sir Amyas.
On 16th August the party set out. "Her Majesty," says Bourgoing,
"arrayed herself suitably, hoping to meet some pleasant company,
and was attended by M. Nau, who had not forgotten to adorn himself;
Mr. Curle, Mr. Melvim, and Bourgoing, her physician; Bastien Pages,
mantle-bearer; and Annibal, who carried the crossbows and arrows of
Her Majesty. All were mounted and in good apparel, to do her and the
expected company honour, and indeed every one was joyous at the idea
of this fine hunt."[6]
[Footnote 6: Chantelauze, p. 467.]
The Queen, who was very cheerful, rode on for about a mile, till Nau
observed to her that Sir Amyas was some way behind. She stopped
till he came up and spoke very kindly, saying she feared that, as
he was in bad health, he could not go so fast; to which he replied
courteously. The party proceeded a short way "without thinking more
about it," says Bourgoing, "when Sir Amyas, approaching the Queen,
said: 'Madame, here is one of the gentlemen pensioners of the Queen,
my mistress, who has a message to deliver to you from her,' and
suddenly M. George,[7] habited in green serge, embroidered more than
necessary for such a dress, and, as it appeared to me, a man of about
fifty years, dismounted from his horse, and coming to the Queen, who
remained mounted, spoke to her as follows: 'Madame, the Queen, my
mistress, finds it very strange that you, contrary to the pact and
engagement made between you, should have conspired against her and
her state, a thing which she could not have believed had she not seen
proofs of it with her own eyes and known it for certain. And because
she knows that some of your servants are guilty, and charged with
this, you will not take it ill if they are separated from you. Sir
Amyas will tell you the rest.'
[Footnote 7: Sir Thomas Gorges.]
"To which Her Majesty could only reply that, as for her, she had
never even thought of such things, much less wished to undertake
them, and that from whatever quarter she (Elizabeth) had received
her information, she had been misled, as she (Mary) had always shown
herself her good sister and friend." A melancholy scene now took
place. Nau and Curle, who wished to approach their mistress, were
forced back, and taken off to a neighbouring village. They never saw
Mary again. Melville was also removed.
The Queen's party now turned back and proceeded a mile or two,
when Bourgoing, who, as he tells us, had placed himself as near
as he could to his mistress, saw that they were following a new
route; to this he drew the Queen's attention, and she called to Sir
Amyas, who was ambling slowly in front, to know where they were
going. On hearing that they were not to return to Chartley, Mary,
"feeling very indisposed, and unable to proceed," dismounted from
her horse and seated herself on the ground. She now implored Sir
Amyas to tell her where she was to be taken; he replied that she
would be in a good place, one finer than his, that she could not
return to her former residence, and that it was mere loss of time
to resist or remain where she was. She saying she would prefer to
die there, he threatened to send for her coach and place her in it.
The Queen remained inconsolable; and here it is very touching to
observe Bourgoing's efforts to comfort and encourage his mistress,
his entreaties to Paulet, his affectionate remonstrances with the
Queen herself, and even the very improbable ideas that he propounds
to console her, such as that perhaps Elizabeth was dead and Mary's
friends were taking these strange measures to place her person in
safety. At last the Queen was persuaded to proceed, but first, aided
by Bourgoing, she withdrew a few yards, and there under a tree she
"made her prayer to God, begging Him to have pity on her people and
on those who worked for her, asking pardon for her faults, which she
acknowledged to be great and to merit chastisement. She begged Him
to deign to remember His servant David, to whom He had extended His
mercy, and whom He had delivered from his enemies, imploring Him to
extend also His pity to her, though she was of use to no one, and
to do with her according to His will, declaring that she desired
nothing in this world, neither goods, honours, power, nor worldly
sovereignty, but only the honour of His holy name and His glory,
and the liberty of His Church and of the Christian people; ending
by offering Him her heart, saying that He knew well what were her
desires and intention."[8]
[Footnote 8: Chantelauze, p. 469.]
On the way to Tixall, where Mary was to be lodged, two more of her
attendants were separated from her; one, Lawrence, who held her
bridle rein, and was observed to talk with her, and Elizabeth
Pierpoint, one of her women.
Hitherto nothing has been known of the Queen's imprisonment at
Tixall. Bourgoing, however, tells us a few facts. We learn that
Paulet allowed Mary's apothecary, two of her women, and Martin, an
equerry, to join her, and Bourgoing remained for one night before
being sent back to Chartley. In the evening of her arrival at Tixall,
Mary sent to ask for pen and paper to write to Queen Elizabeth; but
this Paulet refused, saying he should allow no letter to be sent till
he had authority from the Court.
"On the morrow, the 17th August," writes Bourgoing,[9] "Her Majesty
being still in bed, I was sent for by Sir Amyas to speak with him.
Before descending I asked Her Majesty if she had anything to acquaint
him with, but she said I should first learn what he wanted of me; and
afterwards I was not permitted to return to the Queen, but was taken
to Chartley, where I remained a prisoner with the rest, awaiting the
return of the Queen."
[Footnote 9: Chantelauze, p. 476.]
Bourgoing describes the search made at Chartley, and mentions the
three coffers of papers of all sorts that were carried off by Wade
and his companions. On 26th August the Queen was brought back to
Chartley. On leaving Tixall a crowd of beggars, attracted no doubt by
her well-known charity, assembled at the park gate, but she was as
poor as they. "I have nothing to give you," she said; "I am a beggar
as well as you--all is taken from me."[10]
[Footnote 10: Paulet to Walsingham, 27th August, Record Office.]
Bourgoing's Journal thus records this day: "Thursday the 26th Her
Majesty was brought back to Chartley with a great company, after
being strictly detained at the place of Tiqueshal; she was welcomed
by each one of us, anxious to show our devotion, not without tears on
both sides, and the same day she visited us, one after the other, as
one who returns home." Then he adds briefly: "After that the tears
were over (Her Majesty) found nothing to say except about the papers
which had been taken away, as has been related above."[11] But here
Paulet's correspondence with Walsingham gives us further details, in
which he describes the Queen's very just indignation at the manner
in which her drawers and cabinets had been ransacked and every paper
carried off. Then, turning to Paulet, she said that there were two
things which he could not take from her--her royal blood and her
religion, "which both she would keep until her death."
[Footnote 11: Chantelauze, p. 479.]
Early in September Paulet received orders to take possession of
all the Queen's money. Bourgoing gives a long account of the way in
which the commission was executed. Mary was ill in bed, but Paulet
insisted on seeing her. He and Mr. Baquet[12] entered her apartment,
leaving his son and a good number of other gentlemen and servants,
all armed, in the anteroom. Paulet sent all the ladies and servants
out of her room, "which made us all anxious," says Bourgoing, "not
knowing what to expect from such an unusual proceeding and being
unaccustomed to such words. The best I could do was to keep myself
by the door, under the pretext that Her Majesty was alone, and two
men with her, (where I remained) very sad and thoughtful." In the
end Gervais, the surgeon, was also permitted to remain along with
Bourgoing. When Paulet informed Mary that he must have her money, she
at first absolutely refused to give it up. When at last Elspeth Curle
had, at the Queen's bidding, opened the door of her cabinet, the
Queen, "all alone in her room, which no one (of us) dared approach,
and guarded by Sir Amyas's people, rose from her bed, crippled as
she was, and without slipper or shoe followed them, dragging herself
as well as she could to her cabinet, and told them that this money
which they were taking was money which she had long put aside as a
last resource for the time when she should die, both for her funeral
expenses and to enable her attendants to return each to his own
country after her death." Mary pleaded for some time, but Sir Amyas,
while assuring her she should want for nothing, refused to leave her
any of the money.
[Footnote 12: Probably the Mr. Bagot who is mentioned by Paulet.]
Some days later Sir Amyas again visited the Queen, and interrogated
her at length regarding her knowledge of Babington and the
conspiracy, concluding by saying "that she would be spoken to more
fully about it, as it was necessary that the whole thing should be
cleared up. From this Her Majesty took occasion to think she would be
examined, but no one imagined this would be in the manner we shall
hereafter see."[13]
[Footnote 13: See also the _Letter Books of Sir Amyas Paulet_, pp.
288-292.]
About 15th September Paulet began to speak to Mary of the intended
move to Fotheringay; he did not tell her the name of the place, but
said that it would be very beneficial for her health to move from
Chartley, and that she should be taken to one of the Queen's castles
situated thirty miles from London. He also informed Mary that he
now understood why her money had been taken from her. He perceived,
he said, that it was for fear she should give it away or use it for
some dangerous purpose on the road, and he had been assured she
would receive it back when she should reach her journey's end. The
Queen was quite willing to leave Chartley, and was anxious to take
the journey before her indisposition should increase. Bourgoing thus
continues:--
"From now they commenced to prepare the luggage and everything for
the departure which was fixed for the Tuesday following, the 20th of
the said month, but was deferred till the next day on account of the
change in the appointed lodging, which was supposed to be Worcester
or else Chazfort (?); but both were changed and Fotheringay was
chosen, a castle of the (English) Queen's in Northamptonshire.... Of
all these things we were only told secretly, and Her Majesty never
knew for certain where they were taking her, not even on the day
she reached her new dwelling, but used to think sometimes they were
taking her one way, sometimes another. Before starting in the morning
they would tell her whether she had a long or a short journey to
make, sometimes the number of miles, but they would never tell her
the place where she was to sleep that night."
On the Monday before the party left Chartley, Sir Thomas Gorges and
Stallenge (Usher of Parliament) arrived "with their pistols in their
belts." This arrival caused anxiety among Mary's followers, who
were only reassured when they observed that Gorges and Stallenge
addressed her more courteously than they expected.
"The following Wednesday, which was St. Matthew's Day (21st
September), Her Majesty being ready to start, the doors of all the
rooms were locked where her servants were, who were to remain behind,
and the windows were guarded for fear that they should speak to
her, or even see her." Mary was carried to her coach, as she was
still unable to walk. As the Queen started, Sir Thomas Gorges, who,
together with Stallenge, accompanied the party, accosted her, and
informed her that he had something to say to her from his mistress.
"I pray God," replied Mary, "that the message is better and more
agreeable than the one you recently brought me." To which Gorges
answered, "I am but a servant." "With this Her Majesty was content,
telling him that she could not consider him to blame."[14] It was not
till the next day that the message was delivered.
[Footnote 14: Chantelauze, p. 490.]
The Queen and her escort spent the first night at Burton,[15] and the
next morning before starting, Mary, who had been in great anxiety to
know what he had to say, sent for Sir Thomas. The message, in part
similar to the previous one, was to the effect that Elizabeth was
utterly surprised that Mary should have planned such enterprises,
and even to have hands laid on her who was an anointed Queen. Gorges
swore that his mistress had never been so astonished or distressed by
anything that had ever happened. "My mistress knows well," he said,
"that if your Majesty were sent to Scotland, you would not be in
safety; your subjects there would do you an ill turn; and she would
have been esteemed a fool had she sent you to France without any
reason."
[Footnote 15: Miss Strickland says that the Queen's passage through
Burton is recorded by a Latin inscription engraved on a window at
Hill Hall Castle.]
To this Mary replied very fully, declaring that she had never planned
anything against the Queen of England or the State. "I am not so
base," said she, "as to wish to cause the death or to lay hands on
an anointed Queen like myself, and I have comported myself towards
her as was my duty." Mary remarked that she had several times warned
Elizabeth of things to her advantage, and then reverted to her own
long imprisonment, and her many sufferings. "If all the Christian
prelates, my relations, friends, and allies," continued she, "moved
by pity, and having compassion for my fate, have made it their duty
to comfort and aid me in my misery and captivity, I, seeing myself
destitute of all help, could not do less than throw myself into their
arms and trust to their mercy, but, however, I do not know what were
their designs, nor what they would have undertaken, nor what were
their intentions. I have no part with this, and have not been the
least in the world mixed up in it. If they have planned anything, let
her (Elizabeth) look to them; they must answer for it, not I. The
Queen of England," concluded Mary, "knows well that I have warned
her to look to herself and her Council, and that perchance foreign
kings and princes might undertake something against her, upon which
she replied that she was well assured of both foreigners and her own
subjects, and that she did not require my advice."[16]
[Footnote 16: This conversation with Gorges is mentioned in
Bourgoing's Journal alone. See Chantelauze, pp. 401, 402.]
Gorges' only reply was that he prayed God this was true, but he
showed Mary every courtesy by the way, "as well for her lodgings as
for requisite commodities for the journey." Nothing of any importance
occurred during the remainder of the journey, and on 25th September
the party reached Fotheringay.