Both she and her husband had already been found guilty by Parliament of high treason, and sentence of death was passed in November 1553, although but for Suffolk’s action they would undoubtedly both have been pardoned. Now, however, recognising the disastrous consequences of her mildness, Mary allowed herself to be guided by those who had from the beginning advocated a policy of rigid justice; and on the day after Wyatt’s arrest, she signed the warrant for their execution.
Modern writers have not hesitated to accuse Mary of cruelty and vindictiveness in causing the death of two persons who, although usurpers, were but tools in masterful and unscrupulous hands. This opinion does not appear to have been shared by her contemporaries, who threw the blame generally, not on the Queen, but on the Duke of Suffolk, “who would have died more pitied for his weakness, if his practices had not brought his daughter to her end”.[413] They argued, that to lay claim to a throne is a matter of so deep an import, that even in deploring the necessity of executing the Lady Jane and her husband, “their death being not easily consented to, not even by the Queen herself,” they could not help exculpating Mary, who adopted the measure for State reasons and not from personal animosity.[414] It is strange that, with so great a personal reputation for clemency, in the midst of a ferocious age, Mary should have come to be regarded as an example of unparalleled cruelty, by all subsequent generations. When we remember that during nearly the whole of Elizabeth’s reign, the rack, the thumbscrew and the terrible instrument known as “the Scavenger’s Daughter” were never at rest, and that under Mary, contrary to the custom of every court of justice in Europe, torture was seldom applied to an accused person, the unfairness with which she has been treated by historians is unmistakeably apparent. Contemporaneous annalists, such as Holinshed and Stow, are guiltless of the injustice; Foxe was the first of Mary’s libellers, and Strype, who wrote at the end of the seventeenth century, was not only biassed by Foxe, but was embittered by the mass of calumny heaped upon her memory by Anabaptists and Iconoclasts.
The Bishop of Winchester, preaching before her on the 11th February, “axed a boon of the Queen’s highness, that like as she had before time extended her mercy particularly and privately, so through her lenity and gentleness much conspiracy and open rebellion was grown, according to the proverb nimia familiaritas parit contemptum; which he brought then in for the purpose that she would now be merciful to the body of the commonwealth, and conservation thereof, which could not be, unless the rotten and hurtful members thereof were cut off and consumed”.[415]
The next day, Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley were beheaded, he on Tower Hill, in presence of the people, she within the Tower precincts, in consideration of her royal descent. Mary had sent them permission to take leave of each other, but Jane declined the favour, saying that they would meet soon in heaven. Before laying her head on the block, she acknowledged in a few words her guilt in having consented to her father-in-law’s treason, although she had not been one of the original conspirators.
Brett, with twenty other prisoners, was taken into Kent to be executed. On leaving the Tower, he expressed himself in these words: “I am worthy of no less punishment than I do now go to suffer; for besides mine offence, I refused life and grace three times when it was offered; but I trust God did all for the best for me, that my soul might repent, and thereby after this life attain to the more mercy and grace in his sight”.[416]
When the extreme penalty of the law had been suffered by about sixty of the most prominent rebels, a general pardon was extended to the mass of the Kentish insurgents. Four hundred prisoners, with halters round their necks, rode into the tilt yard at Whitehall, where the Queen, from a balcony pardoned them, and ordered them to return home in peace. Of those who still remained in the Tower, eight were pardoned by her prerogative alone. Renard in his despatch of the 27th March says with curious logic:—
“Sire, the Queen of England sent for me last Saturday, and told me that persuaded by the Comptroller, Southwell, Petre, and those who had examined the prisoners, she had pardoned eight of them, having found no ground for suspecting or accusing them of treason in the late rebellion. Among others were the Marquess of Northampton, affirming that he had returned to the old religion, Cobham and his eldest son, Davet (Daniel) and four others whom she did not name, and added that from time immemorial, it had been the custom for the kings of England, on Good Friday to pardon some prisoners. To this I answered that since it had pleased her to dispense mercy, I could not and ought not to make any objection, especially as she had done it by the advice of her Councillors, but that she might have deferred the pardon till it had been ascertained whether they were concerned in the plot or no; for if they were, she had only thus increased the number of her enemies by so many persons, setting them at liberty to strengthen Elizabeth’s party.”[417]
He then goes on to say, that he had expressed doubts regarding the coming of Philip, on account of the divisions in the Council, objecting that he could not come in arms, and yet that if anything befell him, it would be a most disastrous and lamentable scandal. He had advised that the greatest precautions should be taken for his safety, and the Queen had replied with tears in her eyes, that she would rather never have been born, than that any harm should happen to the Prince, that the Council would do their utmost to receive him worthily, that they were making great expense with that object, that the Council should be reformed and reduced to six members, a measure advised by Paget and Petre, and that she, herself, would do all she could, to conciliate her subjects in the matter. The people, she thought, were anxious for the coming of his Highness, and she would exert every effort to have the proceedings against Elizabeth and Courtenay concluded before his arrival.[418] These proceedings had arisen from Wyatt’s behaviour in the Tower, which was singularly at variance with his dashing courage during the revolt. Being questioned with regard to two intercepted notes which he had addressed to Elizabeth, the one advising her to remove to Donnington, the other informing her of his triumphant arrival at Southwark, Wyatt admitted having written to her more than once. Lord Russell, only son of the Earl of Bedford, owned to having carried letters between him and the Princess, and Croft confessed that he had urged her to go to Donnington. All this, together with an intercepted packet containing three letters from de Noailles to Henry II., and a copy of a letter from Elizabeth to the Queen, in answer to one which Mary had sent her, added to Elizabeth’s refusal to obey Mary’s summons, constituted strong presumptive evidence that she was in league with the rebels.[419] Wyatt then denounced Courtenay, who was at once arrested and brought to the Tower, where the two were confronted with each other, Wyatt accusing him of being as great a traitor as himself. He further declared that the object of his rising was to place Courtenay and Elizabeth on the throne. He subsequently repeated the statement, and the second time added, that Monsieur d’Oysel, who came to London in January, on his way to Scotland to take up his functions as ambassador of France at that court, had united his efforts to those of de Noailles, and that they had conspired with Croft to prevent the Queen’s marriage, and to compass her death. The King of France, to enable them the more easily to carry on the chief enterprise, having promised them men and money, was to attack Calais and Guisnes, the moment they set foot in London. Besides this, he was to organise a descent from Scotland, with which object he had already sent some officers to that country, to prepare the way, and he purposed despatching the Vidame de Chartres, with artillery, ammunition, money and soldiers, to begin the war in conjunction with the Scots.[420]
It was not until Wyatt had directly accused Elizabeth of connivance with Henry II. that Mary was convinced of the necessity of securing her person. More than a fortnight had elapsed since the Princess had declared herself unable to travel, and there was still no sign of her coming. The Queen now repeated the summons, but not, as Foxe would have us believe, with inconsiderate cruelty, and rough haste. Lord William Howard, her uncle, Sir Edward Hastings and Sir Thomas Cornwallis, who were sent to escort her, treated her throughout with courtesy and consideration. The Queen’s two physicians accompanied them, in order to decide whether she were well enough to travel, and that she might accomplish the journey with the greatest amount of comfort possible, Mary sent her own litter.
“The Lord Admiral, Sir Edward Hastings and Sir Thomas Cornwallays to the Queen.