656 ENGL 
Accordingly a comin'vffiort was ifiued for forty peers, with 
five judges, or the major part of them, “ to try and pafs 
fentence upon Mary, daughter and heir of James V. king 
of Scotland, commonly called queen of Scots, and dowa¬ 
ger of France.” Thirty-fix of thefe commiflioners ar¬ 
riving at the cattle of Fotheri'ngay, Nov. n, 1586, pre- 
fented her with a mandate from Elizabeth, commanding 
tier to fubmit to a trial for her late confpiracy. Mary 
pern fed the warrant with great compofure; but wonder¬ 
ed the queen of England fiiouid command her as a fub- 
-eft, who was an independent fovereign like herfelf. 
She would never, the (aid, (loop to any condefcenfion 
which would leffen her dignity, or prejudice the claims 
of her poftc'rity. The ljwsof England, the obferved, 
•w'ere unknown to her ; (he was deftitute of counfel ; nor 
could fire'conceive who were to be her peers, as (lie had 
but one equal in (he kingdom. She added, that, inftead 
of enjoying the protection of the laws of England, as the 
bad hoped to obtain, the had been confined in prifon ever 
fince her arrival in the kingdom ; fo that (lie derived nei¬ 
ther benefit nor fecurity from them. When the commif- 
fioners preilea her to fubmit to the queen’s pleafure, 
otherwife they would proceed againtt her as contumaci¬ 
ous, fne declared the would rather fuffer a thoufand 
deaths than own herfelf afubjeft to any prince on earth : 
that, however, the was ready to vindicate herfelf in a full 
and free parliament; as, for aught (he knew, this meet¬ 
ing of commiflioners was devifed againfi her life, on pur¬ 
pose to take it away with a pretext of juflice. She ex¬ 
horted them to confult their own confciences, and to re¬ 
member that the theatre of the world was much more ex- 
tenfive than that of the kingdom ot England. At length 
the vice-chamberlain Hatton vanquished her objections, 
by reprefenting that (he injured her reputation by avoid¬ 
ing a trial, in which her innocence might be proved to 
the fatisfaCtion of all mankind. This obfervation made 
i’nch an imprellion upon her mind, that (he agreed to 
plead, if they would admit her proteft, of difallowing all 
fubje&ion. 
The principal charge againfi her was urged by ferjcant 
Gaudy, who accufcd "her with knowing, approving, and 
confenting, to Babington’s confpiracy. This charge had 
been ftipported by Babington’s confellion, by the copies 
which were taken of their fuppofed correfpondence, in 
■which her approbation of the queen’s murder was ex- 
prefsly declared, by the evidence of her two fecretaries, 
Nairne and Curie, who (wore that (lie received Babing¬ 
ton’s letters, and that they had anfwered them by her or¬ 
ders. To thefe charges Mary made a mod fenfible de¬ 
fence ; flie faid Babington’s confeflion was extorted from 
his fears of the torture.; which was really the cafe : (lie 
alleged that the letters were forgeries; and (lie defied her 
fecretaries to perfift in their evidence, if brought into her 
prefence, which was refufed. She owned that (lie had 
ufed her endeavours to recover her liberty, which was 
only purfuing the dictates of nature ; but as for conceiv¬ 
ing a thought againfi; the life of the queen, (lie treated 
the idea with horror. Whatever might have been this 
queen’s offences, it is certain that her treatment was 
fhamefully fevere. She defired to be put in polfeflion of 
fuch notes as fhe had taken preparative,to her trial ; but 
this was refufed. She demanded a copy of her proteft; 
but her requeft was not complied with : five wished an 
advocate to plead her caule againfi fo many learned law¬ 
yers as had undertaken her accufation ; but even this was 
rejected ; and after an adjournment of fome days, fentence 
of death was pronounced againfi her in the Star-chamber 
in Weftminlter, all the commiflioners, except two, being 
prefent. At the fame time a declaration was publilhed 
by the commiflioners, implying, that the fentence againfi 
Jher did In no wife derogate from the title and honour of 
James, king of Scotland, fon to'the attainted queen. 
During the interval between this fentence of the Scot- 
ttifh queen and its execution, Elizabeth aCted a pari re- 
4 N D. 
markable for diffimulation and Iiypocrify. When (he 
found that the tide of public prejudice ran (tfongly 
againfi Mary, and that the people were as eager as her¬ 
felf for the execution of that princefs, file commanded fe- 
cretary Davifon to prepare the warrant for her ftgiiature. 
As foon as it was produced before her, (lie figned it with 
as much cheerfulnefs and ■ felf-complacency as if it had 
contained the grant of a pardon. She even infulted the 
misfortunes of the injured queen by unfeafonable jocula¬ 
rity. Having defired the fecretary to inform his colleague 
Walfingham (then indil'pofed) of what (lie had done, dig 
added, with an air of levity, that (he was appiehenfive of 
his dying of grief at the intelligence. But, after (lie had 
thus given Her fanCtion to the public execution of Mary, 
her fear of the cenfures of mankind fiiggefled to her an 
expedient by which (lie hoped to remove the odium of 
her death on her keepers. She wilhed them to murder 
her in private, on pretence of the aflociatiou by which 
they had bound themfelves to revenge any attempt 
againfi the life of their own fovereign. This contrivance, 
(lie flattered herfelf, would tend to the propagation of an 
opinion that (lie,had not confented to Mary’s death, and 
that the officious zeal of private individuals had perpe¬ 
trated the deed without her knowledge. Pleated with 
the fuggeflion, (he ordered the two fecretaries of (late to 
write a letter to Paulet and Drury, who had the charge 
of the condemned queen, reproaching them with their 
want of loyalty and public fpirit, in not having relieved 
her, by fome decifive means, from the danger to which 
fhe was hourly expofed by the life of Mary ; urging the 
bond of affociation as a fufficient juftification of fuch a 
meafure to their own confciences as well as to the world; 
and reprobating their unkindnefs in wifhing to throw the 
odium upon her, acquainted a$ they were with the hu¬ 
manity of her difpofition, which rendered it fo unpleafing 
to her to order the execution even of the tawed criminal, 
that they might eafily fuppofe her to be peculiarly averfe 
to the idea of ifluing an order for the delivery of a prin¬ 
cefs of her own family into the hands of the executioner. 
Paulet and his afl'oeiate, though not remarkable for their 
tendernefs to Mary, had too much honour to perpetrate 
the infamous deed in which their unprincipled fovereign 
was defirous of employing them. She might command, 
they faid, their honourable fervices ; but they fcorned to 
a< 5 t the part of aflaflins. Mortified at their refufal, which 
(he ridiculed as the offspring, of idle fcrupulofity, Eliza¬ 
beth refolved to infligate fome lefs confcientious perfons 
to the fecret murder of the'Scottifh queen. But, being 
diffuaded from that refolution by the remonitrances of 
Davifon, (lie thought proper to have recourfe to the re¬ 
gular execution of the fentence. That minilter having 
communicated the warrant to the chancellor for the appli¬ 
cation of the great feal to it, Elizabeth fent a meflenger 
to countermand that operation ; and finding that it was 
already performed, (he reprimanded Davifon for his pre¬ 
cipitation. Wifiling to draw him into a fnare, that (lie 
might have a pretence for imputing Mary’s execution to 
him, (lie neither ordered him to iffue the warrant, nor to 
with-hold it. Conceiving it to be his duty to expedite 
a writ which had pafled through the neceflary forms, and 
which he knew the queen to be extremely defirous of 
executing, lie produced it before the privy council ; and, 
as Cecil lord Burghley, Hatton, and other experienced 
courtiers, penetrated her fchem.es. againfi Davifon, of 
which indeed he himfelf had fome fufpicion, they refolved 
to gratify her wifli, and eafily perfuaded the whole aflem- 
bly to concur in fending off the warrant, without further 
communication with their miftrefs. To allay the appre- 
henfions of Davifon, all the counfellors engaged to bear 
an equal (hare of the blame that might attend this mea- 
fure. 
In the mean time, accounts of this extraordinary fen¬ 
tence being fpread into all parts of Europe, the king of 
France was among the foremoft who attempted to foften 
the 
