"You made the arrangement to your own interest and advantage," replied Mary; "I was not thereby bound to renounce my rights, or to abandon them to my own great prejudice and that of my successors, receiving nothing in return. I owed you nothing. I was not dependent on your Queen, nor am I now, and I was not obliged to cede to her rights so important. If I had shown such weakness I should have been always reproached with it as having acted to my own blame and dishonour."
"You have also," insisted Burleigh, "continued to assert your pretension to the English Crown."
"I have never," answered the Queen, "given up my rights; I do not now, and never will. I beg of you, before this assembly, not to press me to say more upon this matter, for I do not wish to offend any one. I pray you to be content. You and many here present know well the reasons which led me to act in this matter, and of which it is unnecessary to speak at present. I am not called upon to render you an account of my actions. You know well that I have been reasonable and have made generous offers. I have indeed offered more than I should have done. 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 granddaughter of Henry VII. This cannot be taken from me by any law, or council, 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 just Judge, and who never forgets His own, has until now, in His infinite mercy and goodness, preserved me from all danger, 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," continued Mary, "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 upon the friendship and promises of your Queen. Look here, my lords," she exclaimed, drawing 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."
After having recorded this noble speech of his mistress, Bourgoing thus continues his narrative: "As they read aloud at intervals letters from Babington to Her Majesty and from her to Babington, she utterly denied tout à plat having ever seen and received any such letters, much less of having replied to them."
Mary's judges of course laid much stress on this charge, the capital point in the accusation, and produced ciphers and other letters, and the depositions of those who were examined (as well as those of Curle and Nau), to prove that the Queen had received and answered Babington's letter, and that she was consequently accessory to the proposed assassination of Queen Elizabeth.
Mary was now closely questioned regarding the passage in her reputed letter to Babington which referred to "the four horsemen who were appointed in London to inform her when the blow fell," but replied that she did not know what it meant.
Turning to Walsingham (who had made some remarks), the Queen continued: "It is easy to imitate ciphers and handwriting, as has been lately done in France by a young man who boasts that he is my son's brother. I fear that all this is the work of Monsieur de Walsingham for my destruction: of him who I am certain has tried to deprive me of my life, and my son of his. As to Ballard, I have heard him spoken of. Information reached me from France that he was a very firm Catholic, and that he wished to serve me; but I was also told that he had 'great intelligence' with Monsieur de Walsingham, and that I must be on my guard. I know nothing more about him. I protest that I never even thought of the ruin of the Queen of England, and that I would a hundred times rather have lost my life than see so many Catholics suffer for my sake and be condemned to a cruel death through hatred to my person." In saying these words Mary burst into tears.
"No faithful subject," exclaimed Burleigh, "has ever been put to death on account of religion. Some have been for treason, because they maintained the Bull and the authority of the Pope against that of our Queen."
"Yet I have heard just the contrary," said Mary, "and read so in printed books."