Proclamation by the Queen of England announcing Queen Mary's
death—Elizabeth instructs Paulet to deliver Queen Mary to the
Sheriff of Northampton—Memorial from Walsingham with instructions
for the execution and interment—Unfinished paper by Lord Burghley
on Mary's execution—Letter from King James to Elizabeth requesting
her to spare his mother's life—Sir Robert Melville and the Master
of Gray wait on her and petition for Mary's life—Extraordinary
commission by Elizabeth to the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent to
execute the Scottish Queen—Letter of Queen Mary to Henry III.;
being the last letter she ever wrote.
During the six months over which our narrative extends, probably the
most imposing document that was issued was the proclamation by the
Queen of England announcing the sentence of Queen Mary. This remarkable
paper was drawn up with consummate ingenuity, and no doubt represented
the combined skill of Elizabeth, Burghley, and Walsingham. It is
founded ostensibly on the so-called Babington Conspiracy. In the full
knowledge of that plot which these three persons possessed, and in the
circumstances as now disclosed, the issue of this proclamation was
an audacious and an unwarrantable act, and cannot be defended. The
document may be summed up in one word, “infamous.” No one can blame the
Scottish Queen for encouraging every plot formed for her release from
the miserable life she was compelled to lead for the long period of
nineteen years. Not one of these plots, to her knowledge, had anything
to do with Elizabeth, and up to the day of her death she repudiated
the charge that she ever did anything against Elizabeth's life. When
this denial was so repeatedly given, Elizabeth's duty was to produce
proof in support of the charge, or, failing that, to release the Queen.
She neither did the one nor the other. Nothing was ever produced but
these notable “interpolations.” Notwithstanding these, she kept nagging
and torturing the Scottish Queen to confess her guilt; and when that
failed she executed her. During the captivity of Mary many plots were
formulated for her release, principally by the Catholic party or
individual members of that party, all of which are not recorded. It is
natural to suppose that the patience of the Catholics was exhausted
at the conduct of Elizabeth. Who could blame them if they got up a
rebellion or an invasion of England by the aid of France and Spain to
compel Queen Mary's release? And who could blame Savage and Ballard,
two noted Catholics, if they said they would themselves assassinate
Elizabeth, in order to release Mary? There might be reasons for
assassinating Elizabeth; there were none for assassinating Mary. When
we further consider this proclamation of the Queen of England, that it
is full of misstatements from beginning to end; when we also consider
the mock trial of the Scottish Queen, and the sentence made up and
delivered to Burghley, by royal command, before any trial took place,
we shall be surprised if any student of Scottish history will fail
to see that the Queen of England was herself the prime mover in the
matter for which she executed the Queen of Scots. We now reproduce this
document, which must at the time have greatly surprised and shocked the
English people:—
ELIZABETH, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France, and Ireland,
defender of the Faith, etc.: WHEREAS we were given to understand very
credibly (though to our great grief) that divers things were, and of
late had been compassed, imagined, and resolutely intended, tending
directly to the hurt and destruction of our royal person, and to
the subversion of the estate of our realm by foreign invasions and
rebellions at home, as well by the Queen of Scots remaining in our
realm under our protection, as by many divers other wicked persons
with her privity, who had freely confessed the same, and had thereupon
received open trial, judgment, and execution according to law for
their deserts. And though in very truth we were greatly and deeply
grieved to think or imagine that any such unnatural and monstrous
acts should be either devised or willingly assented to against us,
by her being a princess born, and of our sex and blood, and one also
whose life and honour we had many times before saved and preserved.
Yet were we so directly drawn to think the same to be true by the
sight and understanding of such proofs as were produced before us
upon matters that had proceeded from herself, as well as from the
conspirators themselves, who voluntarily and freely confessed their
doings jointly with her, and directed by her, against our person and
realm. Therefore we saw great reason to think the same too dangerous
to be suffered to pass onward to take their full effect. Wherefore
we were by sundry of our nobility, and others our loving subjects,
earnestly moved and counselled to take order for the investigation and
examination of these dangerous enterprises and conspiracies avowed to
be by the said Queen of Scots against us and our realm; and also to
use all present means with expedition, to withstand and prevent the
same. We were very unwilling to proceed against her, considering her
birth and estate, by such means as by the common laws of the realm
we might have lawfully done, which was by indictment and arraignment
before ordinary juries; therefore in respect both of our own honour and
of her person we yielded by advice, to proceed in the most honourable
way that could be devised for the examination, according to a late
Act of Parliament made 23rd November in the 27th year of our reign.
Whereupon by our commission under the Great Seal of England, bearing
date Windsor, 6th October last, we did according to the said statute
assign, name, and appoint the lords and others of our Privy Council,
and so many other earls and barons, lords of Parliament, of the
greatest degree and most ancient of the nobility, as with the lords
and others of the Privy Council made the number forty-two, adding
also a further number according to the tenor of the aforesaid Act of
Parliament, of certain of the chief and other principal judges of the
courts of Record, Westminster, amounting in the whole to forty-seven,
to examine all things compassed and imagined, tending to the hurt
of our royal person as well by the Queen of Scots, by the name of
Marie, the daughter and heir of James V., late King of Scots, commonly
called the Queen of Scots and Dowager of France, as by any other by
her privity, and all the circumstances thereof, and according to the
tenor of the said Act of Parliament to give sentence or judgment as
upon good proof the matter to them should appear. Afterwards the
greater part of these councillors, lords, and judges—that is to say,
the number of thirty-six—did in the presence and hearing of the Queen
of Scots at Fotheringay, at divers days and times in public place,
very exactly, uprightly, and with great deliberation, examine all the
matters and offences whereof she was accused, and all the circumstances
thereof, and heard also what the same Queen did or could say for her
defence. Afterwards on the 25th October last, all the said council,
lords, and judges who had heard and examined the cause in the said
Queen's presence, with one assent and consent, after deliberation,
did give their sentence in manner following:—That after the first day
of June in the 27th year of our reign and before the date of the said
commission, divers things were compassed and imagined within this realm
by Anthony Babington and others with the knowledge of the Scottish
Queen, she pretending a title to the crown of our realm, tending to
the hurt, death, and destruction of our royal person; which sentence
the same lords and commissioners had caused to be put in writing and
duly engrossed, with the whole process of their proceedings, and have
subscribed the same as by a record thereof shown to us. And whereas
the same sentence so given and recorded, the Lords and Commons in
this present Parliament assembled have also at sundry times heard and
considered the principal evidence, proofs, and circumstances whereupon
the sentence was founded, and have by their assent in Parliament
affirmed the same to be a full, lawful, and true sentence, and so have
allowed and approved the same in writing presented to us. They have
also notified to us how deeply they did foresee the great and imminent
dangers which otherwise might and would grow to our person and to
the whole realm if this sentence were not fully executed. Therefore
they did by their humble petitions most instantly upon their knees,
pray, beseech, and with many reasons of great force and importance
move and press us that the said sentence so justly given and approved
might, according to the express tenor of the said Act of Parliament
by our proclamation under the Great Seal, be declared and published
and finally executed. But after such request made to us by the Lords
and Commons in Parliament, they perceiving by our own speeches and
answers how deeply we were grieved to hear of these horrible and
unnatural attempts of that Queen whose many former offences, manifestly
and dangerously committed against us, our crown and realm, we had
overlooked with our over great clemency, contrary to the advice and
request of our subjects in Parliament and otherwise. Therefore they
also, understanding from us how desirous we were to have some other
means devised by them to withstand these mischiefs intended against
us and the quiet state of the realm, and surety of our good subjects,
than by execution of the aforesaid sentence as was required: they did
after sundry consultations jointly with one accord, in the names of the
Lords of Parliament, even by the particular votes of those assembled,
and also of the Commons with one universal consent, representing the
state of the realm, allege, declare, and protest, that upon their long
and advised consultations by our commandment and for our satisfaction,
they could not by any means find or devise how the surety of our
royal person and the preservation of themselves and their posterity,
with the good state of the realm, might be provided for without the
publication and due execution of the sentence. Whereupon, being not
only moved by our grief, but also overcome with the earnest requests,
declarations, and important reasons of all our said subjects, the
nobles and Commons, whose judgment, knowledge, and natural care of us
and the whole realm we know doth far surmount all others being not
so interested therein; and perceiving also the sentence to have been
honourably, lawfully, and justly given conform to justice and the laws
of the realm, we did yield, and do according to the said statute by
this our proclamation under the Great Seal of England, declare, notify,
and publish to all our subjects and other persons whatever that the
said sentence is given in manner aforesaid to the intent that they and
every one of them by this proclamation may have full understanding
thereof. We do also instruct you that you record this our proclamation
in our Court of Chancery as speedily as possible; find place and time
for the proclaiming thereof; whereof fail you not. We have caused
this proclamation to be made patent and sealed with the Great Seal of
England.
At our Manor of Richmond, the fourth day of December, the 29th year of
our reign, and in the year of our Lord God 1586.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.
Following on the issue of this proclamation Elizabeth wrote the
following letter to Paulet, which, taken in consideration with all the
letters she wrote to that individual, is probably the best of them all
for rank hypocrisy. A letter such as this is beyond words to criticise:—
Elizabeth to Paulet, 10th December 1586:
“Whereas you have had and still have the custody of the Queen of Scots,
against whom judgment has been given whereby she hath been judged
to have attempted our death and divers things to the hurt, death,
and destruction of our person, as by our late proclamation of 4th
December has been published. We have been continually by the states of
Parliament moved, urged, and pressed to cause further execution to be
made of the sentence, as without that it is solemnly protested that
they can by no device find means for the surety of our person, the
preservation of themselves, their posterity, and the realm. Whereupon
we are, against our own natural disposition, drawn to yield thereto;
and therefore we have directed our commission under the Great Seal to
the sheriff of the county of Northampton to repair to you and receive
the person of the said Queen into his charge, and without delay do
execution upon her as by our commission may appear to you. Therefore we
command you to deliver her into his charge, so that he without delay
shall in the presence of sundry noblemen and yourself, within our
castle (Fotheringay) do the execution, and that you aid and assist the
sheriff and others who shall be there for that service.”
After the issue of the proclamation and of this letter to Paulet we
have still some characteristic documents to produce in connection with
this great event in Scottish history. We do not think the public are
aware that the speeches of the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent at the
execution were prepared several weeks in advance by Elizabeth and her
ministers. This appears from a paper published by the Historical MSS.
Commission entitled, “Memorial from Walsingham respecting the execution
of the Queen of Scots,” and its purport to consider what speeches were
fit for the two earls to use at the time of the execution (noted in
margin by Burghley), to express her many attempts both for destruction
of the Queen's person (Elizabeth) and the invasion of the realm; that
the hope and comforts she hath given to the prince Palatine, traitors
of this realm, both at home and abroad, are the occasion of all the
attempts that have been made against Her Majesty's person. By the laws
of God and man she is justly condemned to die; the whole realm hath
oftentimes vehemently required that justice might be done, which Her
Majesty cannot longer delay. To appoint only the Scottish Queen's chief
officers and servants to assist at the execution, excluding the women;
to direct the earls what to do in case she shall desire any private
speech (noted by Burghley); _not to refuse it, so it be to three or
two at the least_; some special person to be appointed to take note of
her speech. The body to be buried in the night in the parish church
in such uppermost place as the two earls shall think fit. Whether not
meet to be embalmed? To take order that her jewels and plate may not
be embezzled by her servants. The lords at the court to give out that
_there will be no execution_.
The last sentence of this paper is very mysterious and quite
inconsistent with the proclamation of 4th December; unless it be that
that proclamation was not published at Fotheringay for fear of creating
a panic. In that event the people would have probably rescued the
Queen, and there can be no doubt that Elizabeth had this eventuality
before her and provided for it. She knew she had taken up a very
critical position. The execution of so high a personage as the Scottish
Queen was an astounding event; and, like all tyrannical rulers, she was
in terror lest by some accident the scheme would be overturned. It was
therefore in her opinion essential that the deed should be accomplished
with all possible privacy and all possible speed. It has further to be
noticed that in connection with the order for “no execution” there was
issued what was called the “Hue and Cry,” sent out on the pretence that
the Scottish Queen had fled from Fotheringay. This was done conform
to the following order from Elizabeth:—“These are to charge you in the
Queen's name that you make 'Hue and Cry' forward with all speed, and
that you appoint, watch, and keep watch in the Queen's highway and at
suspect places, and that you suffer none to pass without examination,
and that you make 'Hues and Crys' and send them forth with all speed to
every highway; for Fotheringay Castle is broke, and traitors are fled
out.”
The publication of the “Hue and Cry” in these days was a common mode
of warning the people of any important event, and the official order
to issue this notice shows that the Queen of England took the utmost
precautions to make the people in the provinces believe that there
was no execution taking place at Fotheringay. If Elizabeth's conduct
had been just and lawful, and her sentence against the Scottish
Queen conform to the principles of justice, no such precautions
were necessary. Queen Mary, fourteen days after the issue of this
proclamation, wrote her last letter to the English Queen (see
Bourgoyne's _Journal_, pp. 250-55). This communication is the cleverest
of all her letters to Elizabeth. If she had adopted this style of
composition when her captivity began it might have been better for all
parties and led to different results. If Elizabeth had any feelings
at all, this letter, with its dignified eloquence and its bitter
reproaches, must have touched her to the quick. Elizabeth's refusal to
grant any of Mary's last requests, even the place of interment of her
remains, was an act which has rendered her name infamous to posterity.
Next in order in connection with these proceedings we have a paper on
the execution of Mary said to be by Lord Burghley:—
“Notwithstanding that the Scottish Queen had oftentimes sought the
destruction of Elizabeth, and has now been by order of justice
convicted and found guilty of attempting her death by certain
murderers, and that for the same she deserved death, and so by the
states of Parliament adjudged; and requests being importunately made to
Her Majesty that for the avoiding of danger to herself and the whole
realm she might be executed: Her Majesty, always inclined to mercy,
was most unwilling to assent thereto, as appeared by her answers to
Parliament, much to the comfort of all evil-disposed persons whose
estates depended on the Scottish Queen's life and well-doing in the
hope of her coming to this crown by depriving the Queen's Majesty of
her life, a life subject to daily peril so long as the Queen of Scots
is not executed. Her Majesty was continually solicited by all who saw
her perils and understood how much her enemies at home and abroad were
comforted and inspired with hope of the Scottish Queen's life and her
treasonable attempts against Her Majesty's life. Herewith followed
the vehement solicitations by Ambassadors out of France and Scotland
to save the Scottish Queen, without any stipulation how the Queen's
Majesty's life might be safe from the attempts and treasons of many
of them in England and abroad. For preserving the Scottish Queen to
be Queen of this realm, they would never desist from attempts against
Elizabeth's person. These Ambassadors were vehemently handled, in
promoting her foul acts intended for killing Her Majesty, and for
invasion and alteration of the whole state of the realm. There was also
discovered a practice between the French Ambassador and a lewd young
miscontented person named William Stafford, and one Maude, a prisoner
in Newgate, a mischievous, resolute person, how Her Majesty's life
should be taken, and all in favour of the Scottish Queen. After this
followed a seditious general stirring up of the common people into arms
by circulating billets in writing from one shire to another and from
town to town; which though the justices sought to pacify, yet though
it was stayed in one part it rose up again in another; and by these
seditious practices sought to procure a rebellion. The whole realm
was greatly stirred. Her Majesty, in view of these causes of danger
likely to arise to her own person and her realm, thought it needful
to have more regard how, if these dangers should continue by these
seditious persons and stirrers of the common people, some factious and
treasonable persons might by force recover the Queen of Scots out of
the house where she was, there might be some order in readiness for
prevention thereof, and therefore she signed a writing which had long
before been devised, which was an order to certain lords, the Earls of
Kent, Shrewsbury, Derby, Cumberland, and Pembroke, that they or any
three or two of them might have authority to cause execution of justice
to be done on the Queen of Scots. Which writing so signed was in the
custody of her secretary Davison, who took it to the Lord Chancellor
to put the Great Seal thereto, which was done very secretly, and
afterwards did declare the same to certain of the lords and others of
the Privy Council, who seem glad thereof; and being at the same time
greatly troubled with daily reports from many parts of the realm, of
the seditious stirring up of people to take arms, and seeing the....”
Left unfinished, 17th February 1587.
It is by no means clear that Lord Burghley was the writer of this
paper. It is unfinished and unsigned, two points against Burghley's
authorship. Burghley was unlikely to leave a paper on this or on any
subject unfinished. The paper is reproduced from the Report of the
Historical MSS. Commission, and except the title, there is nothing
to identify it with Burghley. It evidently belongs to one of two
classes, namely, it is either a forgery of Walsingham and Phillips,
or, if Burghley's, it is written under a total misapprehension of the
facts as recorded in the official papers deposited in the State Paper
Offices. The age that produced it was pregnant with forgery. Forgery,
deciphering, and the surreptitious opening and closing of letters,
were at that period in a high state of perfection. If we want an
illustration of this we have only to refer to the treatment experienced
by Mary and to the remarkably cunning artifice of the brewer's
cart,[16] due to the ingenuity of Walsingham, when every letter she
wrote or received was opened and copied quite unknown to her. Again, no
man knew better than Burghley that Mary was never except once arraigned
for being concerned in a plot against Elizabeth (Babington Plot), and
of which she was totally innocent. If she had “ofttimes sought the
destruction of the Queen's Majesty,” we would have had some proof of
it, especially as every effort was made at the time to publish slander
against the Scottish Queen. Considering the mock trial at Fotheringay
and the unfounded charges brought against her, none of which Burghley
could prove, we should think it very unlikely that he would write such
a paper ten days after the execution. The primary object of the paper
was to defend Elizabeth's sentence of execution, a sentence that could
not be defended without resorting to the most unblushing falsehoods
such as compose the text of this paper.
At the last moment King James came forward with a letter to Elizabeth
on behalf of his mother. He was very blameworthy not to have come
forward at an earlier stage. His letter need surprise no one who has
studied his character. It had no effect whatever on Elizabeth. The
letter is dated 26th January 1587, and proceeds to say:—
“I have resolved in few words and plain to give you friendly and best
advice, appealing to your ripest judgment to discern thereupon. What
thing, madam, can more greatly touch me in honour both as a King and
as a son than that my nearest neighbour, being in strictest friendship
with me, shall rigorously put to death a sovereign prince and my
natural mother? She being alike in sex and state to her that so uses
her; albeit subject I grant to a harder portion, touching her, too, so
nearly in proximity of blood? What law of God can permit that justice
shall strike upon them whom He has appointed supreme dispensers of the
same under Him, whom he hath called gods, and therefore subject to the
censure of none on earth, whose anointing by God cannot be defiled by
man unrevenged by the author thereof; they being supreme and immediate
lieutenants of God in heaven, cannot therefore be judged by their
equals on earth. What a monstrous thing it is that sovereign princes
themselves should be the examples of the profaning of their own
sacred diadems! Then what should move you to this form of proceeding
(supposing the worst, which in good faith I look not for at your
hands): honour or profit? Honour were it to you to spare when it is
least looked for! Honour were it to you, which is not only my friendly
advice but my earnest suit, to make me and all the princes in Europe
eternally beholden to you in granting this my reasonable request! And
now, I pray you pardon my free speaking, to put princes to straits
of honour where through your general reputation and the universal,
almost all, misliking, you may dangerously peril, both in honour and
utility, your person and state. You know, madam, how small difference
Cicero concludes to be betwixt _utile_ and _honestum_ in his discourse
thereof, and which of them ought to be framed to the other. And now,
madam, to conclude, I pray you so to weigh these few arguments that
if I ever presumed on your nature so the whole world may praise your
subjects for their dutiful care of your person and for your princely
pity—the doing thereof only belongs to you, the performing thereof only
appertains to you—and the praise thereof will ever be yours! Respect
then, good sister, this my first, so long-continued and so earnest,
request, and despatch my ambassadors with such a comfortable answer as
may become your person to give and as my loving and honest devotion
unto you merits to receive.
“But in case any do vaunt themselves to know further of my mind in
this matter than my ambassadors do, I pray you not to take me to be
a chameleon, but, by the contrary, them to be malicious impostors.
And thus praying you heartily to excuse my rude and lengthy letter, I
commit you, madam and dearest sister, to the blessed protection of the
Most High, who must give you grace to resolve in this matter as may be
honourable for you and most acceptable to Him.
JAMES R.”
After the attempt of James had failed the Master of Gray (Patrick,
7th lord) was sent with Sir Robert Melville to make a last effort.
They were long refused an audience of Elizabeth, and when it was at
last granted they could not help asking themselves whether they had
received a favour or an insult. These ambassadors, in the name of James
and the Scottish nobles, answered for all that Mary might thereafter
attempt, and proposed a resignation of her rights to the throne of
England in favour of her son. “That would be arming my enemy with two
rights instead of one, and making him stronger to do me hurt,” said
Elizabeth. She scorned the idea of Mary's resignation in favour of her
son. “Is it so!” she exclaimed; “then I put myself in a worse case
than before. By God's passion that were to cut my own throat; and for
a duchy or earldom to yourself, you or such as you would cause some of
your desperate knaves to kill me. No, by God! we shall never be in that
place.” Just as she was leaving, Melville asked her to spare Mary's
life for eight days. “No,” replied she sharply; “not for an hour.”[17]
[Illustration: MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.
_From the Collection of_ MRS. FRASER-TYTLER, _at Woodhouselee_.]
In the beginning of February 1587 Elizabeth was thirsting for the blood
of the Queen of Scots. From the contemporary records of the time she
would seem to have been getting neither rest nor sleep; and until the
culminating act of the drama had been accomplished there was no rest
for her. This act, which was to disgrace her memory for all time, was
now to be _un fait accompli_. The following paper is the text of the
royal commission to those who were intrusted with the execution of the
Scottish Queen—the most discreditable commission which was ever given
by a Sovereign to a subject. It is not too much to say that these men,
who had the awful duty to perform compulsorily, must have had a heavy
weight on their consciences for the remainder of their lives.
We reproduce the text of the commission by Elizabeth to the Earl of
Shrewsbury, the Earl of Kent, and others, to proceed to the execution
of the Queen of Scots, February 1587:—
“Elizabeth by the grace of God, etc., To our right trusty and
well-beloved cousins, George, Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl Marischal of
England; Henry, Earl of Kent; Henry, Earl of Derby, George, Earl of
Cumberland; Henry, Earl of Pembroke, greeting:—Whereas the sentence
given by you and others of our Council, nobility, and judges against
the Queen of Scots, Mary, daughter and heir of James the Fifth, late
King of Scots, commonly called the Queen of Scotland and Dowager of
France, as to you is well known. All the states in our late Parliament
assembled did not only deliberately, with great advice, allow and
approve the sentence as just and honourable, but did also with all
humbleness and earnestness, at sundry times require, solicit, and
press us to proceed to the publishing of the same, and thereupon to
direct such further execution against her person as they did adjudge
her to have duly deserved, adding that the forbearing thereof was and
would be a certain and undoubted danger, not only to our own life but
to themselves, their posterity, and the public state of this realm,
as well for the cause of the gospel and the true religion of Christ
as for the peace of the realm. Whereupon we did, though the same was
with some delay of time, publish the sentence by proclamation, and yet
hitherto have forborne to give direction for the further satisfaction
of the aforesaid request made by the states of Parliament whereby we
understand by all sorts of our loving subjects, both nobility and
council, and also of the wisest and best devoted of all other our
subjects of inferior degrees, how greatly and deeply from the bottom
of their hearts they are grieved and afflicted with daily, yea and
hourly, fear of our life, and thereby consequently with a dreadful
doubt and expectation of the ruin of this present godly and happy state
of the realm, if we shall forbear the final execution as it is desired,
and neglect their general and continual requests, prayers, counsels,
and advices. And thereupon, contrary to our own natural disposition,
being overcome with the evident weight of their counsels and the
daily continuance of their intercessions, importing such a necessity
as appears directly tending to the safety not only of ourselves but
also of the weal of the realm. We have condescended to suffer justice
to take place, and for the execution thereof upon the special trust,
experience, and confidence which we have in your loyalty, faithfulness,
and love, both towards our person and the safety thereof, and also
to your native country, whereof you are noble and principal members.
We do, will, and by warrant hereof do direct, and authorise you, as
soon as you shall have time convenient, to repair to our castle of
Fotheringay, where the Queen of Scots is in custody of our right trusty
servant and counsellor Sir Amias Paulet, and there, taking her into
your charge, to cause by your commandment execution to be done upon her
person in the presence of yourselves and the said Sir Amias Paulet, and
of such other officers of justice as you shall command to be there,
to attend upon you for that purpose. And the same to be done in such
manner and form, and such time and place, there and by such persons
as to you (five, four, three of you) shall be thought convenient,
notwithstanding any law, statute, or ordinance to the contrary. And
this our Letters Patent, sealed with the Great Seal of England, shall
be to you and every one of you, and to all who shall be present or
shall be by you commanded to do anything appertaining to the aforesaid
execution, a full, sufficient warrant and discharge for ever. And
further, we are also pleased and contented, and by these presents we
do, will, command, and authorise our Chancellor of England to deliver
to each of you the duplicates of these Letters Patent, to be for all
purposes duly made, dated, and sealed with our Great Seal of England as
these presents are.
“ELIZABETH R.”
The following letter was written by Queen Mary to her almoner de Prean
the evening before her death, 7th February 1587:—
“I have striven this day for my religion and against receiving my
last consolation from the heretics. You will hear from Bourgoyne and
the others that at least I made protestation of my faith, in the
which I will die. I require to have you to make my confession and to
receive from you my sacrament. This has been cruelly refused to me,
as well as permission to carry away my body and the power of leaving
by will freely, or of writing anything, except it pass through their
hands and by the good pleasure of their mistress. I must therefore,
confessing grief for my sins in general, as I had intended to do to you
in particular, imploring you in the name of God this night to watch
for me, praying that my sins may be remitted, and to send me your
absolution and pardon, if at any time I have offended you. I shall
endeavour to see you, though in their presence as they have accorded to
me my _maître d'hôtel_ (Melville), and if it is permitted me, before
them all on my knees I will ask your benediction. Advise me as to the
most proper prayers for this night and for to-morrow morning. The time
is short and I have no leisure to write, but I will recommend you with
the rest (of her household) above all. Your benefice shall be assured
to you, and I will recommend you to the King (of France). Advise me of
all you can think of for my soul's help—by writing. I will send you a
last little token.
MARIE R.”
The final scene, the last act of the drama, will be found narrated in
Bourgoyne's _Journal_, and need not be repeated here.
The following is the last letter Queen Mary ever wrote:—
“Fotheringay, 8th February 1587:
“Monsieur, my Brother-in-law,—Having been permitted by God, as I
believe for my sins, to throw myself into the arms of this Queen my
cousin, where I have had many troubles, and where I have spent nearly
twenty years, I am at last by her and her Government condemned to
death, and having requested my papers (taken away by them), to the end
that I might make my testament, I have not been able to select anything
that might be of use to me, nor to obtain liberty to make a register of
them, nor that after my death my body might be conveyed according to my
desire to your kingdom, where I have had the honour to be Queen, your
sister, and former ally.
“This day, after dinner, I received notice of my sentence, that I
should be executed to-morrow like a criminal at eight o'clock in the
morning.
“I have not had leisure to give you a full recital of all that has
happened, but if it please you to believe my physician, and the rest
of these my heart-broken attendants, you will hear the truth, and how,
thanks to God, I despise death, and truthfully protest that I receive
it innocent of any crime so long as I have been in their power. The
Catholic religion and the maintenance of the right which God has given
me to this crown are the two points of my condemnation—and yet they
will not allow me to say that it is for the Catholic religion that I
die, but for the fear of changing theirs; and as a proof of this, they
have taken away my chaplain (to my sorrow), whom, although he is in
the house, I have not been able to receive, either that he might come
to confess me or to administer the sacrament at my death, but they
have greatly insisted on my receiving the consolation and instruction
of their minister, brought hither for this purpose. The bearer of
this and his companions, the greater part of whom are your subjects,
will testify to you how I bear myself in this my last act. It remains
that I pray you, as the most Christian King, my brother-in-law and
former ally, and as one who has always professed your love for me,
that at this time you make proof of your virtue in all the points
following: first, of your charity—relieving me in a matter which to
satisfy my conscience I cannot accomplish without your aid—to reward
my broken-hearted attendants, continuing to them their wages; second,
causing prayers to be made to God for a Queen who has borne the title
of most Christian, and dies a Catholic, stript of all her goods.
“As to my son, I recommend him to you so far as he shall deserve, for I
cannot answer for him.
“I have taken the liberty of sending you two rare stones for your
health, wishing for you that it may be perfect, with a happy and
long life. You will receive them as from your very affectionate
sister-in-law, who thus testifies to you in the presence of death her
kindly feelings towards you.
“I recommend to you once more my attendants. You will give orders, if
it please you, that for my soul I may receive payment of part of that
which you owe to me, and that to the glory of Jesus Christ, to whom I
shall pray for you to-morrow at my death, you allow thereof sufficient
to found an obit for me, and to make the necessary alms.
“Wednesday, two hours after midnight.—Your very affectionate and loving
sister,
MARIE R.”