Kent, observing that Mary often made the sign of the cross with the crucifix she held in her hand, rudely exclaimed, "Madame, what does it avail you to hold in your hands this vain image of Christ if you do not bear Him in your heart?"
"How is it possible," returned the Queen gently, "to have such an image in one's hands without the heart being profoundly touched by it? Nothing is more suitable for a Christian about to die than to bear in his arms the true mark of his redemption."
Shrewsbury now proposed that as the Queen would not listen to the Dean's exhortation, they should all pray for her in common. "I thank you, my lords," said Mary, "but I cannot pray with you, because we are not of the same religion. Pray if you wish, I will pray also."[148] Fletcher now commenced to pray in English that God would grant repentance to Mary; that He would bless Queen Elizabeth in granting her a long life, victory over her enemies, and the triumph of the Protestant religion. This prayer was repeated in chorus by the assembly.
Meanwhile the Queen prayed aloud in Latin, repeating some of the penitential Psalms. The "Miserere," "In te Domine-speravi," "Qui habitat in adjutorio," etc.[149]
When the Dean had finished his prayer there was a deep silence. Mary continued to pray aloud, but now in English, often striking her breast with her crucifix and kissing it with great devotion.[150] With hands clasped and eyes raised to heaven, she prayed thus: "Send me your Holy Spirit, Lord, that at the hour of my death He may enlighten me and enable me to understand the mystery of your Passion, so that I may persevere in your faith till my last breath, and that I may bear with patience the torment inflicted in my person on the Catholic Church. Grant, Lord," continued Mary with great fervour, "that my death may ensure the peace and union of all Christendom, peace between Christian princes, the conversion of England to the true faith, the perseverance of Catholics in their creed and their constancy in martyrdom."
Mary also prayed for the Pope and pastors of the Church, and for all her enemies, "that He would pardon them as she did;"[151] for Queen Elizabeth, "that it would please Him to give her His blessing, so that she might worship Him in the truth;"[152] and for her son's conversion to the Catholic faith. She declared that she hoped to be saved in, and by, the blood of Christ, at the foot of whose crucifix she would shed her blood,[153] and lovingly confided herself to the protection of the blessed Virgin and all the saints, invoking in particular St. Peter, and St. Andrew, the patron of Scotland. When her prayer was finished the Queen once more kissed the crucifix, and looking upon it with an expression of love and immense confidence, she exclaimed, "As Thy arms, my God, were extended on a cross, so receive me into the arms of Thy mercy. Extend to me Thy mercy, and pardon me all my sins." "Then turning herself towards the side on which her attendants were, she asked them in like manner to pray her Saviour to condescend to receive her, and forthwith she embraced them with great fortitude ... kissing her cross without ceasing." The Queen now rose and reseated herself.[154] Kent and Shrewsbury approached, and asked her if she had no secret matter to reveal to them, but she replied that she had said enough, and was not disposed to say more. Then seeing that the time had come, without being asked, she rose and prepared herself calmly and cheerfully for death.[155] The executioner, his face hidden by his black mask, advanced to remove her dress, but the Queen gently moved him aside with her hand, saying smilingly, "Let me do this; I understand this business better than you; I never had such a groom of the chamber."[156] She took out the pins of her head-dress, and calling Jane Kennedy and Elizabeth Curle, who were praying at the foot of the scaffold, she began, with their assistance, to disrobe, observing that she was not accustomed to do so before so many. The poor women, unable to restrain their emotion, wept bitterly, and uttered heartrending cries, "and crossed themselves, praying in Latin;" but their mistress placed her finger on their mouths and chid them tenderly. "Do not weep any more," said she. "I am very happy to go from this world; you should rejoice to see me die for such a good quarrel; are you not ashamed to cry? If you weep any more I will send you away, as I promised for you."[157] The Queen then took from her neck the gold cross, wishing to give it to Jane Kennedy. "My friend," she said to the executioner, "you cannot make use of this, leave it to this lady; she will give you more than its value in money." But Bull seized it roughly, saying, "It is my right," and put it into his shoe.[158] The Queen had now laid aside her mantle and veil, her collar and pourpoint, and remained in her brown velvet skirt and black satin bodice with long sleeves.[159] "Then she, with a smiling countenance, turning to her men-servants as Melville and the rest, standing upon the bench near the scaffold, crossing them with her hand, bade them farewell, and bade them pray for her until the last hour. Then embracing her women, she blessed them, making the sign of the cross on their foreheads."
"Adieu for the last time," she said in French. "Adieu, au revoir;" and when Jane Kennedy had bandaged her eyes, she desired them to go down from the scaffold. The executioners fell on their knees at the Queen's feet, begging her, as was the custom, to forgive them her death. "I forgive you with all my heart," she replied, "for in this hour I hope you will bring to an end all my troubles." The Queen, who was seated on her stool, unbound, and still holding her crucifix, raised her head and stretched out her neck, thinking she was to be beheaded with a sword, according to the privilege granted in France to royal persons.[160] "My God," she said fervently, "I have hoped in Thee; I give back my soul into Thy hands." The executioners, seeing her mistake, assisted her to rise and conducted her to the block, where they made her kneel down, and as she knelt upright, still thinking she was to be beheaded with the sword, they made her lie flat with her head on the low block, only a few inches high.[161] As the Queen repeated the words "In te Domine-speravi," Lord Shrewsbury raised his wand to give the fatal signal.
Walker & Boutall, Ph. Sc.