Mary Queen of Scots: Extracts from her Addresses to the Commissioners
BY
C. A. Campbell
An excerpt from
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS IN HISTORY
1903
Introduction
Mary, Queen of Scots, was a 16th-century monarch who is remembered for her tumultuous reign, her tragic downfall, and her remarkable resilience in the face of adversity. Born in Scotland in 1542, Mary was the daughter of King James V and his French wife, Mary of Guise. Following her father's death just six days after her birth, Mary was crowned queen at the tender age of just nine months.
Mary's reign was marked by political instability, religious conflict, and personal tragedy. Despite her efforts to establish herself as a strong and capable ruler, Mary was forced to abdicate in 1567 following a scandal involving her husband, Lord Darnley, and her supposed involvement in his murder.
After spending nearly 20 years in captivity in England, Mary was ultimately executed on February 8, 1587, at the age of 44. Throughout her imprisonment, Mary made several attempts to secure her release and appeal to various figures for assistance, including the pope. In particular, Mary hoped to rally Catholic support for her cause and ultimately secure her return to the Scottish throne. However, her efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and Mary's execution remains one of the most tragic and controversial moments in Scottish history.
Mary Queen of Scots: Extracts from her Addresses to the Commissioners
Every word and act of this unhappy Princess, more especially as her life neared its close, have proved so interesting to students of her history, that I have deemed it well to reproduce here some of her speeches and utterances before the Commissioners appointed to try her.
On the first day of the trial, the Lord Chancellor, Bromley, having signified the causes which had impelled Elizabeth to take action against her as the disturber of religion and the public peace, Mary replied as follows:--
"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 recognize 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 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."
In the course of the afternoon discussion, she made bitter complaint of the unfair treatment to which she had been subjected:--
"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 ... Not content with this, my enemies now endeavour to complete my ruin, using against me means that 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 presences 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 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, and acknowledge them to have been traitors and 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."
Burleigh had reproached her with having assumed the arms of England, and a spirited discussion after a somewhat legal fashion followed. Passing with characteristic facility from that unprofitable topic, Mary proceeded in the following spirited and pathetic manner:--
"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 grand-daughter of Henry VII. This cannot be taken from me by any law, or council or 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 best Judge, and who never forgets His own, has until now, in His infinite mercy and goodness, preserved me from all dangers, 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, 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 on the friendship and promises of your Queen. Look here, my Lords, [at this point she took 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."
Her criticism of the second-hand evidence, secured from her secretaries in her absence, is so just that I cannot pass it over without giving, at least, some extracts from it. It will be observed, that while sharing in the suspicion not uncommon at the time, that Nau had betrayed her to save himself, her fairmindedness and charitable disposition prevented her from condemning him without a hearing.
"Why," she asked, "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." ......
"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 plainly see that what they have said is from fear of torture and death. Under promises 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 ... 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 yet I do not think that either the one or the other would have forgotten himself so far."
"I commanded him (Nau) 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."
* * * * *
"I dictated nothing to them (the secretaries) but what nature herself inspired me, for the recovery at least of my liberty. I can only be convicted by my words or by my own writings. If, without my consent, but 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."
On the morning of the second day, Mary made a strong and dignified protest against the manner in which the trial had been conducted, and after specifying the treatment she expected to receive when she consented to appear before the Commissioners, proceeded:--
"Instead of this, I find myself overwhelmed under the importunity of a crowd of advocates and lawyers, who appear to be more versed in the formalities of petty courts of justice, in little towns, than in the investigation of questions such as the present. And although I was promised that I should be simply questioned and examined on one point,--that, namely, concerning the attempt on the person of the Queen,--they have presumed to accuse me, each striving who should surpass the other in stating and exaggerating facts, and attempting to force me to reply to questions which I do not understand, and which have nothing to do with the Commission. Is it not an unworthy act to submit to such conduct of such people, the title of a princess, one little accustomed to such procedures and formalities? And is it not against all right, justice and reason to deliver her over to them, weak and ill as she is, and deprived of counsel, without papers or notes or secretary? It is very easy for many together, and, as it appears to me, conspiring for the same object, to vanquish by force of words a solitary and defenceless woman. There is not one, I think, among you, let him be the cleverest man you will, who would be capable of resisting or defending himself, were he in my place. I am alone, taken by surprise, and forced to reply to so many people who are unfriendly to me, and who have long been preparing for this occasion; and who appear to be more influenced by vehement prejudice and anger, than by a desire of discovering the truth and fulfilling the duties laid down for them by the Commission."
Referring to the complaint that, in Rome, public prayers had been offered for her, under the title of Queen of England, she remarked:--"If the Pope gives me the title of Queen, it is not for me to correct him. He knows what he does much better than I do. I thank him, all Christian people and all Catholic nations for the prayers they daily offer for me, and I pray them to continue to do so, and to remember me in their Masses."
As regards her attitude towards her Protestant subjects she said:--"You know very well that in my own kingdom I never interfered with any of the Protestants, but, on the contrary, tried to win them always by gentleness and clemency, which I carried too far, and for which I have been blamed. It has been the cause of my ruin, for my subjects became proud and haughty, and abused my clemency; indeed, they now complain that they were never so well off as under my government."
The trial ended on the 15th October. Mary rose from her seat before the Commissioners and passed out of the hall, addressing a few words of good-humoured reproach to the lawyers for their "quibbling," as she moved past the table around which they were seated. The Commissioners, in compliance with instructions received from Elizabeth, withdrew to Westminster before passing sentence. Assembled in the Star-Chamber ten days later, they declared Mary "to be accessory to Babington's conspiracy, and to have imagined diverse matters, tending to the hurt, death, and destruction of Elizabeth, contrary to the express words of the statute, made for the security of the Queen's life" (Camden). Parliament sat a few days after, and both houses, having sanctioned the sentence of the Commissioners, presented an address to Elizabeth, requesting her to publish and execute without delay the sentence against her dangerous rival.
Mary in the meantime was ignorant of what was being done since the rising of the Commission at Fotheringay. However, she maintained an extraordinary cheerfulness and surprised the observant Sir Amias by her "quietness and serenity." The feast of All Saints arrived, but without the joyous anthems and splendid ceremonial that marked it in Catholic lands. The Queen passed the day reading the lives of the Saints and Martyrs and praying in her oratory. In the afternoon she received a visit from Paulet. In the course of their conversation, this censorious pedant, anxious to execute the will of Elizabeth, who had instructed him to carefully observe whether his prisoner should reveal a disposition to sue for pardon, undertook to instruct her in the necessity of having a clear conscience and of confessing her crimes before God and the world. Mary promptly answered, saying:--"No one can say that he is free from sin. I am a woman and human, and have offended God, and I repent of my sins, and pray God to forgive me, doing penance for the same; but at present I do not know to whom I could or should confess--God forbid that I should ask you to be my confessor."