THE large room destined for the trial was situated, as we have said, in close proximity to Mary's apartments, and immediately over the great hall of the castle. According to Bourgoing it was "very spacious and convenient." At the upper end stood the dais of estate, emblazoned with the arms of England, and surmounting a throne the emblem of sovereignty. In front of the dais, and at the side of the throne, a seat had been prepared for Queen Mary, "one of her crimson velvet chairs, with a cushion of the same" for her feet.

drawing

Contemporary Drawing of the Trial of Mary Queen of Scots at Fotheringay.
From the Calthorpe MS.
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facsimile

List of Names, in Beale’s handwriting, of those present at the Trial.
Accompanying the Calthorpe Drawing.
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Benches were placed on each side of the room: those on the right were occupied by the Lord Chancellor Bromley, the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, and the Earls; on the left the Barons and Knights of the Privy Council, Sir James Crofts, Sir Christopher Hatton, Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir Ralph Sadler, and Sir Walter Mildmay. In front of the Earls sat the two premier judges and the High Baron of the Exchequer, while in front of the Barons were placed four other judges, and two doctors of civil law.

At a large table, which was placed in front of the dais, sat the representatives of the Crown: Popham, Attorney-General; Egerton, Solicitor-General; Gawdy, the Queen's sergeant; and Barker, the notary: also two clerks, whose duty it was to draw up the official report of the proceedings. The documentary evidence, such as it was, was arranged on the table. A movable barrier with a door divided the room into two parts, and at the lower end were assembled as spectators the gentlemen attendants and the servants of the Lords of Commission.

At nine o'clock the Queen made her entrance, escorted by a guard of halberdiers. She wore a dress and mantle of black velvet, and over her pointed widow's cap fell a long white gauze veil. Her train was borne by one of her maids of honour, RenÉe Beauregard. Mary was supported on each side by Melville and Bourgoing; and although, owing to the want of exercise and the severe rheumatism from which she suffered, she walked with great difficulty, it was with undiminished dignity of mien. She was followed by her surgeon, Jacques Gervais; her apothecary, Pierre Gorion; and three waiting-women, Gillis Mowbray, Jane Kennedy, and Alice Curle.

As the Queen advanced the Commissioners uncovered before her, and she saluted them with a majestic air; then, perceiving that the seat prepared for her was placed outside the dais and in a lower position, she exclaimed—

"I am a queen by right of birth, and my place should be there, under the dais;" but quickly recovering her serenity, she took her seat, and looking round at the assembled dignitaries, whose faces bore no sign of sympathy for their victim, she said mournfully to Melville—

"Alas! here are many counsellors, but not one for me."[32]

Her desolate position, without counsel to defend her, without secretary to take notes for her, despoiled even of her papers, must have seemed strange to Mary's generous nature. In Scotland the poorest of her subjects would have enjoyed the privileges now denied to herself.

Among the noblemen assembled to judge the Queen were some of her former partisans, such as my Lords Rutland, Cumberland, and others, who had taken a share in the late undertaking, and whose letters had been seized at Chartley, yet who now, to save their estates if not their lives, were forced to appear among her enemies. Very few of the English nobles were known to Mary by sight, and it was noticed that she often questioned Paulet, who was stationed behind her, regarding them. They on their side were doubtless eager to see this princess, whose beauty was renowned, and who with courage equal to her sorrows now faced her judges with all the dignity of her happier days.

The Lord Chancellor opened the proceedings by a speech, in which he declared that the Queen of England, having been surely informed, to her great grief, that the destruction of her person and the downfall of her kingdom had been lately planned by the Queen of Scots, and that in spite of her long tolerance and patience, this same Queen continued her bad practices and had made herself the disturber of religion and the public peace, Her Majesty felt impelled to convoke this present assembly to examine into these accusations. In thus acting Her Majesty was actuated by no unkind feeling, or desire of vengeance, but solely by a sense of the duty imposed upon her by her position as sovereign and her duty to her subjects. Bromley stated that the Queen of Scots should be heard in declaring fully all that should seem good to her for her defence and to establish her innocence. Then turning to Mary, he concluded with these words: "Madame, you have heard why we have come here; you will please listen to the reading of our Commission, and I promise you that you shall say all that you wish."[33]

Mary replied in the following terms: "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 recognise 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 by my replies 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."[34]

Bromley, in reply, utterly denied that Mary had come into the kingdom of England under promise of assistance from his mistress. He declared that he and his colleagues were willing to record the protest of the Queen of Scots, but without accepting or approving it. He affirmed that it was void and null in the eyes of the law, and should in no way be to the prejudice of the dignity and supreme power of the English sovereign, or to the prerogative or jurisdiction of the Crown. To this he called all present to bear witness.[35]

The Commission, which was drawn up in Latin, was now read aloud. At the end Mary protested energetically against the Commission and the laws upon which it was based,—laws which, she observed, had been framed expressly to destroy her just claims to the English throne and to bring about her death.

Gawdy, the Queen's sergeant, now rose, "having a blue robe, a red hood on the shoulder, and a round cap À l'antique," and with head uncovered, made a discourse explaining the Commission and the occasion which had caused it to be summoned. He discussed several points, namely, the seizure of Babington, the suspected correspondence between him and the Queen of Scots, and further details of the plot, mentioning the names of the six men who (as he declared) had conspired to murder Queen Elizabeth.

As soon as Mary had replied that she had never spoken to Babington, that, although she had heard him spoken of, she did not know him and had never "trafficked" with him, and that she knew nothing of the six men whom they had alluded to, another lawyer, in the same dress as Gawdy, rose and read "certain letters which they said Babington had dictated of his own free will before his death, from memory." These, and other copies of letters said to have passed between the Queen and Babington, were also shown, together with the confessions of the conspirators, and the depositions of Curle and Nau, which were declared to be signed by them.

The Queen protested against this second-hand evidence brought against her, and demanded to see the originals of the letters. "If my enemies possess them," said she, "why do they not produce them? I have the right to demand to see the originals and the copies side by side. It is quite possible that my ciphers have been tampered with by my enemies. I cannot reply to this accusation without full knowledge. Till then I must content myself with affirming solemnly that I am guiltless of the crimes imputed to me. I do not deny," continued the Queen, "that I have earnestly wished for liberty and done my utmost to procure it for myself. In this I acted from a very natural wish; but I take God to witness that I have never either conspired against the life of your Queen, nor approved a plot of that design against her. I have written to my friends, I confess; I appealed to them to assist me to escape from these miserable prisons in which I have languished for nearly nineteen years. I have also, I confess, often pleaded the cause of the Catholics with the Kings of Europe, and for their deliverance from the oppression under which they lie, I would willingly have shed my blood. But I declare formally that I never wrote the letters that are produced against me. Can I be responsible for the criminal projects of a few desperate men, which they planned without my knowledge or participation?"

The whole morning from about ten o'clock was occupied in reading the depositions and letters of Babington, the accusers doing their utmost to make Mary appear guilty, "without any one saying a single word for her."[36]

During the reading of the confession attributed to Babington, Mary was much moved by the allusion made therein to the Earl of Arundel and his brothers, as also to the young Earl of Northumberland; and she exclaimed with tears, "Alas! why should this noble house of Howard have suffered so much for me? Is it likely," continued she, "that I should appeal for assistance to Lord Arundel, whom I knew to be in prison? or to Lord Northumberland, who is so young, and whom I do not know? If Babington really confessed such things, why was he put to death without being confronted with me? It is because such a meeting would have brought to light the truth, that he was executed so hastily."

About one o'clock the Queen retired to take her dinner, after which she returned to the hall and the proceedings were resumed. Bourgoing describes so graphically the position of the Queen and her judges, that we give his own words:—

"Her Majesty having dined and returned to the same place, they continued to read aloud letters tending to the same end, the deposition and confession of M. Nau and M. Curle written on the back of a certain letter and signed by them, and also some others touching her intelligence with them. Her Majesty replied first to one and then to another without any order, but on hearing any point read, would, without being interrogated by them, say whether it were true or not. For their manner of proceeding was always to read or speak to persuade the lords that the Queen was guilty. They always addressed the lords, accusing the Queen in her presence, with confusion and without any order, and without any one answering them a word, in suchwise that when we returned to her room the poor Princess told us that it reminded her of the Passion of Jesus Christ, and that it seemed to her that, without wishing to make a comparison, they treated her as the Jews treated Jesus Christ when they cried, 'Tolle, Tolle, Crucifige'; and that she felt assured that there were those in the company who pitied her, and did not say what they thought."

In spite, however, of the vehemence of those "Messieurs les Chicaneux," as Bourgoing terms them, Mary preserved her calmness; and the hotter they grew, the more courageous and constant was she in her replies. She now recapitulated much of what she had before said to the Commissioners in her own room, in order that the assembly might know her sentiments; and after pointing out the injustice of her long imprisonment, she thus continues: "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. Also the knowledge of matters of business which I formerly had acquired for the discharge of those duties in the state to which God called me, and of which I have been treacherously despoiled. Not content with this, my enemies now endeavour to complete my ruin, using against me means which 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 presence 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 I 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 as well as myself, and acknowledge them to have been traitors or 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.

"By this you can see that I am not ambitious, nor would I have undertaken anything against the Queen of England through a desire to reign. I have done with all that; and as regards myself, I wish for nothing but to pass the remainder of my life in peace and tranquillity of mind. My advancing age and my bodily weakness both prevent me from wishing to resume the reins of government. I have perhaps only two or three years to live in this world, and I do not aspire to any public position, especially when I consider the pain and dÉsÉsperance which meet those who wish to do right, and act with justice and dignity in the midst of so perverse a generation, and when the whole world is full of crimes and troubles."[37]

Burleigh, "no longer able to contain himself," here interrupted the Queen, reproaching her with having assumed the name and arms of England, and of having aspired to the Crown. "What I did at that time," replied Mary, "was in obedience to the commands of Henry the Second, my father-in-law, and you well know the reason."

"But," retorted Burleigh, "you did not give up these practices even after we signed the peace with King Henry."

"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."

"The authors of such books," retorted Burleigh, "also declare that the Queen has forfeited the royal prerogative." When Burleigh ceased speaking, Walsingham, who keenly felt the Queen's accusation, rose, and bowing his head addressed her, assuring her that she had been misinformed as to his sentiments.

"I protest," said he, "that my soul is free from all malice. God is my witness that, as a private person, I have done nothing unworthy of an honest man, and as Secretary of State, nothing unbefitting my duty. You have been told that I wish you ill, that I have often said things to your disadvantage, that I have confessed myself to be your enemy, nay, even that I planned that the death of yourself and your son should happen on the same day; but I assure you that I bear ill-will to no one, I have attempted no one's death. I protest that I am a man of conscience and a faithful servant to my mistress. I confess," continued Walsingham, "that I am ever vigilant regarding all concerning the safety of my Queen and country; I have closely watched all conspiracies against either. As for Ballard, if he had offered me his assistance I could not have refused it, and should probably have rewarded him. If I had any secret dealings with him, why did he not declare them in order to save his life?"

The Queen, impressed by his denial, assured Walsingham that she paid no attention to what she had heard against him, and had not believed it, adding that she implored him to give no more credit to those who calumniated her, than she gave to those who accused himself. "If you were not received in Scotland as you merited," continued Mary, "it was no fault of mine; I do not think that you wish to revenge yourself upon me, who knew nothing of it." She then declared that some of the ciphers were hers. "There had been others older and some more recent," she said, "but this is nothing, for people can use the same cipher on occasions, according to the correspondence they have in different places, and for this reason it is possible that Morgan, who formerly served me, may have used my ciphers, in consequence of the connections which he has with the other princes."

At the name of Morgan, Burleigh, with his usual vehemence, reproached the Queen. "You know well, madame," said he, "that Morgan professes to be your servant, and you have pensioned him, although you are well aware that he plotted the death of the Queen along with Parry, for which crime he is still a prisoner in France, having been pursued and accused by Lord Derby, in the name of Her Majesty."

"You know well," replied Mary, turning towards the audience, "that I have not joined in this undertaking, nor suborned any one." At this appeal several gentlemen present declared loudly that she was entirely innocent of such a crime. "You see by this," continued Mary, "the evil will of some of your Queen's councillors towards me. If any one has undertaken anything against the person of the Queen, it is not I. For long people have conspired against her, of which you have had many proofs. I am grieved that Morgan should have mixed himself up with such matters, but I cannot answer for his actions. I cannot do less than aid him in his necessities in recognition of his services, which I shall never forget, in the same way that I aid others who have assisted me."

As Burleigh still insisted that Morgan was Mary's pensioner, she again denied it, adding that she had desired money to be given to him from time to time for his use; "but," continued she, "has not England pensioned Patrick Gray and other Scotsmen, my enemies, and even my son himself?" "It is true," replied Burleigh, "that, through the negligence of its Regent, the revenues of Scotland are so diminished that the Queen in her goodness has made some gifts to your son, the King of Scotland, who is her own relation." After this avowal Burleigh let the matter drop, and fresh discussions regarding the confessions of Nau and Curle now arose.

Mary's judges maintained that the Queen's secretaries had confessed that their mistress had received "certain letters," and that she had replied to them, that they had done everything by her command, that they had written nothing without communicating it to her, as was her custom, as she allowed nothing to be produced without her knowledge. Thus Mary's "direction" of the conspiracy was proved, they declared, and it was "by her command that the secretaries wrote in her cabinet, where the despatches were made up, and that this was done generally in her presence; that after writing them they read them to her, that the despatches were closed and sealed in her cabinet, and that they had often tried to deter her from such enterprises."

Keenly aware of the injustice of this second-hand manner of producing evidence, the Queen protested. "Why," said she, "are not Nau and Curle examined in my presence? they at any rate are still alive. If my enemies were assured that they would confirm their pretended avowals, they would be here without doubt. If they have written, be it what it may, concerning the enterprise, they have done it of themselves, and did not communicate it to me, and on this point I disavow them. Nau, as a servant of the King of France, may have undertaken things not according to my wishes; he had undertakings that I did not know of. He confessed publicly that he belonged to the King of France, that he did not depend on me, and would only do for me what he thought good. He often complained of me because I could not consent to many of his projects, and would not authorise them. I know well that Nau had many peculiarities, likings, and intentions, that I cannot mention in public, but which I much regret, for he does me great injustice. For my part, I do not wish to accuse my secretaries, but I see plainly that what they have said is from fear of torture and death. Under promise of their lives, and in order to save themselves, they have excused themselves at my expense, fancying that I could thereby more easily save myself; at the same time, not knowing where I was, and not suspecting the manner in which I am treated. For more than twelve months Nau has not written in his own cabinet; he has hid himself from every one, and has written his despatches in his own private room, for his own convenience and to be more at his ease, as he said, as Sir Amyas and all the household can attest.

"As to Curle, if he has done anything suspicious, he has been compelled to do it by Nau, whom he feared much to displease, and to avoid whom he fled. And yet," added the Queen, "I do not think either the one or the other would have forgotten himself so far. As I was ill during most of the time, I could not attend to business, and generally I did not know what they were doing, but trusted to Nau."

"It is true," replied Burleigh, "that Nau avows himself a subject of the King of France; but he has been Secretary to the Cardinal of Lorraine, and he is the sworn servant of your Grace. He obeys your commands. It is of his own free will, and without being in any way constrained, that he has made his depositions, to which he has sworn, and written them and signed them with his own hand."

"No doubt he was Secretary of the King," returned Mary, "and received wages from him, terming himself his banker in this country, and under this pretext he was very disobedient to me. I commanded him, it is true, and in a general way supported his doings, as all princes are accustomed to do, but it is for him to answer for his private doings; I cannot but think he has been acting under constraint in this matter. Feeling himself to be feeble and weak by nature, and fearing torture, he thought to escape by throwing all the blame on me. A criminal is not allowed to be sworn, and his assertions are not believed; his oath is worthless. The first oath which he has taken to his master renders all others null and void; and Nau can make none that can prejudice me. And I see well," continued Mary, examining one of the written depositions attributed to Nau, "that he has even not written or signed as he is accustomed to do, supposing that, as you all affirm, he has written it with his own hand; may it not be that while translating and putting my letters into cipher, my secretaries may have inserted things which I did not dictate to them? May it not be also that letters similar to those now produced, may have come to their hands without, however, my seeing them? The majesty and safety of princes would be reduced to nought, if their reputation depended upon the writing and witnesses of their secretaries. I dictated nothing to them but what nature herself inspired me, for the recovery at last of my liberty. I can only be convicted by my words or by my own writings. If, without my consent, they have written something to the prejudice of the Queen, your mistress, let them suffer the punishment of their rashness. But of this I am very sure, if they were now in my presence, they would clear me on the spot of all blame, and would put me out of case. Show me, at least, the minutes of my correspondence written by myself; they will bear witness to what I now assert."

The Queen's defence, so clear and unanswerable, silenced for a time the accusers, and they took refuge in insult. "Then," says Bourgoing, "the Chicaneurs made a great noise, calling out and striving to prove and exaggerate the facts, with fury repeating all that had been said or written,—all the circumstances, suspicions, and conjectures. In short, all the reasons they could imagine were brought to the front to make their cause good, and to accuse the Queen without allowing her to reply distinctly to what they said. Like 'madmen' they attacked her, sometimes one by one, sometimes all together, declaring her to be guilty, which gave occasion to Her Majesty to make a very noble speech on the next morning."[38]

Thus ended the first day of the trial. No notice was taken of the Queen's demands. Her secretaries were never examined in her presence, and her own notes, so earnestly begged by her, were never produced. It was declared later on, indeed, in the star-chamber, that these notes had been destroyed by Mary's own order, but no one dared assert this before herself. Our readers will probably agree with M. Hosack, who thus admirably sums up the result of this day's work:—

"It cannot be denied that, even according to their own account, she had maintained throughout a decisive superiority over her opponents. Without counsel, or witnesses, or papers, and armed with nothing but her own clear intellect and heroic spirit, she had answered, point by point, all their allegations. Knowing the weakness of their proofs, they had artfully mixed up the charge of conspiracy with the scheme of invasion; and Burleigh, taking upon himself the functions of Crown prosecutor, had sought to draw her attention from the main question in dispute, by dwelling on a variety of topics, which were only intended to bewilder and confuse her. But apparently perceiving his design, she brought him back again and again to the real point at issue between them."[39]