Whether Mary would or would not accept an offer of deliverance that involved the life of Elizabeth, is a purely speculative question, which does not affect the nature of the evidence produced against her. This, however, may be observed, that nearly four years earlier, when a conspiracy similar to the Babington plot against the life of Elizabeth was being organized by some of her friends on the Continent, she, on being acquainted of it, "refused," (so wrote the Papal Nuncio at Paris to the Cardinal of Como), "to listen to it." But, when hope in Elizabeth's good intentions completely failed, and increased rigour deepened the misery of her prison-life, reasons which had hitherto seemed inadequate might now convince her that she was not obliged to live with the axe of the executioner or the dagger of the assassin, raised over her head because liberty could be brought to her only through the blood of her jailer.
CHAPTER XIII.
EXTRACTS FROM HER ADDRESSES TO THE COMMISSIONERS.
Every word and act of this unhappy Princess, more especially as her life neared its close, have proved so interesting to students of her history, that I have deemed it well to reproduce here some of her speeches and utterances before the Commissioners appointed to try her.
On the first day of the trial, the Lord Chancellor, Bromley, having signified the causes which had impelled Elizabeth to take action against her as the disturber of religion and the public peace, Mary replied as follows:--
"I came into this kingdom under promise of assistance and aid against my enemies, and not as a subject, as I could prove to you had I my papers; instead of which I have been detained and imprisoned. I protest publicly that I am an independent sovereign and princess, and I recognize no superior but God alone. I therefore require that before I proceed further, it be recorded that whatever I may say in replying here to the Commissioners of my good sister, the Queen of England (who, I consider, has been wrongly and falsely prejudiced against me), shall not be to my prejudice, nor that of the princes, my allies, nor the king, my son, or any of those who may succeed me. I make this protestation not out of regard to my life, or in order to conceal the truth, but purely for the preservation of the honour and dignity of my royal prerogative, and to show that in consenting to appear before this commission I do so, not as a subject to Queen Elizabeth, but only from my desire to clear myself, and to show to all the world that I am not guilty of this crime against the person of the Queen, with which it seems I am charged. I wish to reply to this point alone, I desire this protest to be publicly recorded, and I appeal to all the lords and nobles present to bear me testimony should it one day be necessary."
In the course of the afternoon discussion, she made bitter complaint of the unfair treatment to which she had been subjected:--
"I have, as you see, lost my health and the use of my limbs. I cannot walk without assistance, nor use my arms, and I spend most of my time confined to bed by sickness. Not only this, but through my trials, I have lost the small intellectual gifts bestowed on me by God, such as my memory, which would have aided me to recall those things which I have seen and read, and which might be useful to me in the cruel position in which I now find myself ... Not content with this, my enemies now endeavour to complete my ruin, using against me means that are unheard of towards persons of my rank, and unknown in this kingdom before the reign of the present Queen, and even now not approved by rightful judges, but only by unlawful authority. Against these I appeal to Almighty God, to all Christian princes, and to the estates of this kingdom duly and lawfully assembled. Being innocent and falsely suspected, I am ready to maintain and defend my honour, provided that my defence be publicly recorded, and that I make it in the presences of some princes or foreign judges, or even before my natural judges; and this without prejudice to my mother the Church, to kings, sovereign princes and to my son. With regard to the pretensions long put forward by the English (as their chronicles testify) to suzerainty over my predecessors, the Kings of Scotland, I utterly deny and protest against them, and will not, like a femme-de peu de coeur, admit them, nor by any present act, to which I may be constrained, will I fortify such a claim, whereby I should dishonour those princes, my ancestors, and acknowledge them to have been traitors and rebels. Rather than do this, I am ready to die for God and my rights in this quarrel, in which, as in all others, I am innocent."
Burleigh had reproached her with having assumed the arms of England, and a spirited discussion after a somewhat legal fashion followed. Passing with characteristic facility from that unprofitable topic, Mary proceeded in the following spirited and pathetic manner:--
"God and you know whether I have a right or not to the crown of England. I have offered myself to maintain the rights of my sister, Queen Elizabeth, as being the eldest, but I have no scruple of conscience in desiring the second rank, as being the legitimate and nearest heir. I am the daughter of James V., king of Scotland, and grand-daughter of Henry VII. This cannot be taken from me by any law, or council or assembly, or judgment, nor consequently can my rights. I know well that my enemies and those who wish to deprive me of those rights have done up till now all that they can to injure me, and have essayed all illegitimate means, even to attempting my life, as is well known, and has been discovered in certain places and by certain persons whom I could name, were it necessary; but God, who is the best Judge, and who never forgets His own, has until now, in His infinite mercy and goodness, preserved me from all dangers, and I hope that he will continue to do so and will not abandon me, knowing that He is all truth, and that He has promised not to abandon His servants in their need. He has extended His hand over me to afflict me, but He has given me this grace of patience to bear the adversities which it has pleased Him to send me. I do not desire vengeance. I leave it to Him who is the just Avenger of the innocent and of those who suffer for His name, under whose power and will I take shelter. I prefer the conduct of Esther to that of Judith, although both are approved by the Church. I pray God to do with me according to His good pleasure, to His praise and honour, and to the greater glory of His Church, in which I wish to live and die, in which I have been brought up and educated, and for which (as I have already protested several times), I would shed my blood to the last drop, being resolved to suffer all that God wishes. I do not fear the menaces of men. I will never deny Jesus Christ, knowing well that those who deny Him in this world, He will deny before His Father. I demand another hearing, and that I be allowed an advocate to plead my cause, or that I be believed on the word of a Queen.... I came to England relying on the friendship and promises of your Queen. Look here, my Lords, [at this point she took a ring from her finger], see this pledge of love and protection which I received from your mistress, regard it well. Trusting to this pledge, I came amongst you. You all know how it has been kept."