09 - Celebrated Crimes - Mary Stuart by Alexandre Dumas

Celebrated Crimes is a unique series of historical narratives by a young, rising Alexandre Dumas, before he became renowned as the author of DArtagnan or Monte Cristo. The third volume focuses on the tumultuous life and tragic end of Mary Queen of Scots. Dumas meticulously delves into the controversial aspects of her reign, yet maintains a sympathetic perspective towards her. Remembered for her strong ties to France through education and marriage, Marys fate has been a subject of unending debate, especially in light of the role Elizabeth played in her downfall.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eight of Celebrated Crimes, Volume three by Alexandre Dumah,
translated by George Burnham Ives. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain. Chapter eight. On landing on the shores
of England, the Queen of Scotland found messengers from Elizabeth
in powered to express to her all the regret their
mistress felt in being unable to admit her to her
presents or to give her the affectionate welcome she bore

(00:23):
her in her heart. But it was essential, they added
that first of all the Queen should clear herself of
the death of Darnley, whose family, being subjects of the
Queen of England, had a right to her protection and justice.
Mary Stuart was so blinded that she did not see
the trap, and immediately offered to prove her innocence to
the satisfaction of her sister Elizabeth. But scarcely had she
in her hands Mary Stuart's letter then from Arbitrace, she

(00:45):
became a judge, and, naming commissioners to hear the parties,
summoned Murray to appear and accuse his sister. Murray, who
knew Elizabeth's secret intentions with regard to her rival, did
not hesitate a moment he came to England. In bringing
the casket containing the three letters. We have quoted some
verses in some of the papers which proved that the
Queen had not only been Bothwell's mistress during the lifetime

(01:06):
of Darnley, but had also been aware of the assassination
of her husband. On their side, Lord Harries and the
Bishop of Ross, the Queen's advocates maintained that these letters
had been forged, that the handwriting was counterfeited, and demanded
in a verification experts whom they could not obtain, so
that this great controversy remained pending for a future agis,
And to this hour nothing is yet affirmatively settled in

(01:28):
this matter, either by scholars or historians. After a five
month's inquiry, the Queen of England made known to the
parties that, not having in these proceedings been able to
discover anything to the dishonor of accuser or accused, everything
would remain as status quo till one or the other
could bring forward fresh proofs. As a result of this
strange decision, Elizabeth should have sent back the Regent to

(01:51):
Scotland and have left Mary Stuart free to go where
she would, But instead of that, she had her prisoner
removed from Bolton Castle to Carlisle Castle, from whose terraces
to crown. With her grief, poor Mary Stuart saw the
blue mountains of her own Scotland. However, among the judges
named by Elizabeth to examine into Mary Stuart's conduct was
Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. Be it that he was

(02:12):
convinced of Mary's innocence, be it that he was urged
by the ambitious project which since served as a ground
for his prosecution, and which was nothing else than to
wed Mary Stuart to affiance's daughter to the young King,
and to become Regent of Scotland. He resolved to extricate
her from her prison. Several members of the high nobility
of England, among whom were the Earls of Westmoreland and

(02:33):
in Northumberland, entered into the plot and undertook to support
it with all their forces. But their scheme had been
communicated to the Regent, he denounced it to Elizabeth, who
had Norfolk arrested. Mourned. In time, Westmoreland and Northumberland crossed
the frontiers and took refuge in the Scottish borders which
were favorable to Queen Mary. The former reached Flanders, where
he died in exile. The latter, given up to Murray,

(02:56):
was sent to the Castle of Lockhaven, which guarded him
more faithfully than it had done its royal prisoner. As
to Norfolk, he was beheaded. As one sees, Mary Stuart's
starr had lost none of its fatal influence. Meanwhile, the
Regent had returned to Edinburgh, enriched with presents from Elizabeth,
and having gained in fact his case with her. Since
Mary remained a prisoner, he employed himself immediately in dispersing

(03:19):
the remainder of her adherents, and had hardly shut the
gates of Lochlaven Castle upon Westmoreland, than in the name
of the young King James the sixth he pursued those
who had upheld his mother's cause, and among them more
particularly the Hamiltons, who, since the affair of sweeping the
streets of Edinburgh, had been the mortal enemies of the Douglasses. Personally,
six of the chief members of this family were condemned

(03:41):
to death, and only obtained commutation of the penalty into
an external exile on the entreaties of John Knox, at
that time so powerful in Scotland that Murray dared not
refuse their pardon. One of the amnestied was a certain
Hamilton of Bothwellha, a man of ancient Scottish times, wild
and vindictive, as then nobles in the times of James

(04:01):
the First, He had withdrawn into the highlands, where he
had found an asylum, when he learned that Murray, who
in virtue of the confiscation pronounced against exiles, had given
his lance to one of his favorites, had had the
cruelty to expel his sick and bedridden wife from her
own house, and that without giving her time to dress.
And although it was in the winter cold. The poor woman, besides,
without shelter, without clothes, and without food, had gone out

(04:24):
of her mind. Had wandered about thus for some time,
an object of compassion, but equally of dread, for everyone
had been afraid of compromising himself by assisting her. At
last she had returned to expire of misery and cold
on the threshold, whence she had been driven on learning
this news. Bothwellha, despite the violence of his character, displayed
no anger. He merely responded with a terrible smile, it

(04:48):
is well I shall adventure. Next day, bothwellhau left his
highlands and came down disguised into the plane, furnished with
an order of admission from the Archbishop of Saint Andrew's
to a house which this perlet, who as one remembers,
had followed the Queen's fortunes to the last moment, had
at Lynlithgow. This house, situated in the main street, had

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a wooden balcony looking on to the square, and a
gate which opened out into the country. Bothwell Howe entered
it at night, installed himself on the first floor, hung
black cloth on the walls so that his shadows should
not be seen from without, covered the floor with mattresses
so that his footsteps might not be heard on the
ground floor, fastened a race horse ready saddled and bridled
in the garden. Hollowed out the upper part of the

(05:31):
little gate which led to the open country so that
he could pass through it at a gallop, armed himself
with a loaded arquebus, and shut himself up in the room.
All these preparations had been made, one imagines because Murray
was to spend the following day in Linlithgow, but secret
as they were, they were to be rendered useless. For
the regent's friends warned him that it would not be
safe for him to pass through the town, which belonged

(05:53):
almost wholly to the Hamilton's, and advised him to go
by it. However, Murray was courageous and accustomed not to
give way before a real danger. He did nothing but
laugh at apperil, which he looked upon as imaginary, and
boldly followed his first plan, which was not to go
out of his way. Consequently, as the street into which
the Archbishop of Saint Andrew's balcony looked was on his road,

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he entered upon it, not going rapidly and preceded by
guards who would open up a passage for him, as
his friends still counseled, but advancing at a foot's pace,
Delayed as he was by the great crowd which was
blocking up the streets to see him, arrived in front
of the balcony, as if by chance had been in
tune with the murderer. The crush became so great that
Murray was obliged to halt for a moment. This rest

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gave bothwell haw time to adjust himself for a steady shot.
He leaned his arquebus on the balcony, and having taken
aim with the necessary leisure and coolness, fired bothwell Howe
had put such a charge into the arquebus that the ball,
having passed through the Regent's heart, killed the horse of
the gentleman on his right. Murray fell directly, saying, my God,
I am killed. As they had seen from which window

(07:00):
the shot was fired, the persons in the Regent's train
had immediately thrown themselves against the great door of the house,
which looked on to the street, and had smashed it in.
But they only arrived in time to see bothwell Haw
fly through the little garden gate on the horse he
had got ready. They immediately remounted the horses they had
left in the street, and, passing through the house, pursued him.
Bothwellha had a good horse and the lead of his enemies,

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and yet four of them, pistol in hand, were so
well mounted that they were beginning to gain upon him.
Then bothwell Ha, seeing the whip and spur were not enough,
drew his dagger and used it to goad on his horse.
His horse, under this terrible stimulus, acquired fresh vigor, and,
leaping a gully eighteen feet deep, put between his master
and his pursuers, a barrier which they dared not cross.

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The murderer sought an asylum in France, where he retired
under the protection of the Gezes there, As the bold
stroke he had attempted had acquired him a great reputation.
Some days before the massacre of Saint Bartholomew, they made
him overtures to assassinate Admiral Coligni, but Bothwellhah Indignant, repulsed
these proposals, saying that he was the avenger of abuses
and not an assassin, and that those who had to

(08:06):
complain of the Admiral had only to come and ask
him how he had done, and to do as he
as to murray. He died the night following his wound,
leaving the regency to the Earl of Lennox, the father
of Darnley. On learning the news of his death, Elizabeth
wrote that she had lost her best friend. While these
events were passing in Scotland, Mary Stuart was still a prisoner,

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in spite of the pressing and successive protess of Charles
and Knight, and Henry the Third, taking fright at the
attempt made in her favor, Elizabeth even had her remove
to Sheffield Castle, round which fresh patrols were incessantly in motion.
But days, months, years passed, and poor Mary, who had
been born so impatiently her eleven months captivity in Lochleven Castle,

(08:48):
had been already led from prison to prison for fifteen
or sixteen years, in spite of her protests and those
of the French and Spanish ambassadors. When she was finally
taken to Tutbury Castle and placed under the care of
Sir Amyas Paulet, her last jailer. There she found for
her sole lodging two low and damp rooms were little

(09:08):
by little. What strength remained to her was so exhausted
that there were days on which she could not walk
on account of the pain in all her limbs. Then
it was that she, who had been the queen of
two kingdoms, who was born in a gilded cradle and
brought up in silken velvet, was forced to humble herself
to ask of her jailer a softer bed and warmer coverings.

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This request, treated as an affair of state, gave rise
to negotiations which lasted a month, after which the prisoner
was at length granted what she asked, and yet the unhealthiness, cold,
and privations of all kinds still did not work actively
enough on that healthy and robust organization. They tried to
convey to Paul what a service he would render the
Queen of England in cutting short the existence of her,

(09:50):
who already condemned in her rival's mind, yet delayed to die.
But Sir amyas Paulet, coarse and hearsh as he was
to Mary Stuart, declared there that so long as she
was with him, she would have nothing to fear from
poison or dagger, because he would taste all the dishes
served to his prisoner, and that no one should approach
her but in his presence. In fact, some assassins sent

(10:12):
by Lester, the very same who had aspired for a
moment to the hand of the lovely Mary Stuart, were
driven from the castle directly its stern keeper had learned
with what intentions they had entered it. Elizabeth had to
be patient, then, in contenting herself with tormenting her whom
she could not kill, and still hoping that a fresh
opportunity would occur for bringing her to trial. That opportunity

(10:33):
so long delayed. The fatal star of Mary, Stuart at
length brought a young Catholic gentleman, a last scion of
that ancient's chivalry, which was already dying out at that time.
Excited by the excommunication of Pious the Fifth, which pronounced
Elizabeth fallen from her kingdom on earth and her salvation
in heaven, resolved to restore liberty to Mary, who thenceforth

(10:53):
was beginning to be looked upon no longer as a
political prisoner, but as a martyr for her faith. Accordingly
braving the la law which Elizabeth had had made in
fifteen eighty five, and which provided that if any attempt
on her person was meditated by or four a person
who thought he had claimed to the Crown of England,
a commission would be appointed, composed of twenty five members, which,

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to the exclusion of every other tribunal, would be empowered
to examine into the offense and to condemn the guilty persons,
whosoever they might be. Babington, not at all discouraged by
the example of his predecessors, assembled five of his friends,
Catholics as zealous as himself, who engaged their life and
honor in the plot of which he was the head,
and which had as its aim to assassinate Elizabeth and

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as a result, to place Mary Stuart on the English throne.
But this scheme, well planned as it was, was revealed
to Walsingham, who allowed the conspirators to go as far
as he thought he could without danger, and who the
day before that fixed for the assassination, had them arrested.
This imprudent and desperate attempt delighted Elizabeth, for, according to

(11:56):
the letter of the law, it finally gave her rival's
life ind to her hands. Orders were immediately given to
Sir Amyas Paulet to seize the prisoner's papers and to
move her to a Fatheringay Castle. The jailer, then, hypocritically,
relaxing as usual severity, suggested to Mary Stuart that she
should go riding, under the pretext that she had need
of an airing. The poor prisoner, who for three years

(12:19):
had only seen the country through her prison bars, joyfully
accepted and left Tutbury between two guards mounted for greater security,
on a horse whose feet were hobbled. These two guards
took her to Fatheringay Castle, her new habitation, where she
found the apartment she was to lodge, and already hung
in black. Mary Stuart had entered alive into her tomb.
As to Babbington and his accomplices, they had been already beheaded. Meanwhile,

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her two secretaries, Curl and Now, were arrested, and all
her papers were seized and sent to Elizabeth, who, on
her part, ordered the forty commissioners to assemble and proceed
without intermission to the trial of the prisoner. They arrived
at Fatheringay the fourteenth October fifteen eighty six. The next day,
being assembled in the Great Hall of the castle, they
began the examination. At first Mary refused to appear before them,

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declaring that she did not recognize the commissioners as judges,
of they not being her peers, and not acknowledging the
English law which had never afforded her protection and which
had constantly abandoned her to the rule of force. But
seeing that they proceeded none the less, and that every
columny was allowed, no one being there to refute it,
she resolved to appear before the commissioners. We quote the

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two interrogatories to which Mary Stuart submitted, as they are
set down in the report of Monsieur de Belliefre too
Monsieur de vill Roy Monsieur de Bellievre, as we shall
see later, had been specially sent by King Henry the
Third to Elizabeth intelligence for Monsieur vile Roy. Of what
was done in England by Monsieur de Belliefre was about
the affairs of the Queen of Scotland in the months

(13:50):
of November and December fifteen eighty six. And at January
fifteen eighty seven, the said lady being seated at the
end of the table in the said hall, and they
said comissioners about her, the Queen of Scotland began to
speak in these terms. I do not admit that any
one of you here assembled as my peer, or am
I judge, to examine me upon any charge. Thus would

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I do and now tell you, as of my own
free will, taking God to witness, that I am innocent
and pure in conscience of the accusations and slanders of
which they wish to accuse me. For I am a
free princess and born a queen, obedient to no one
save to God, to whom alone I must give an
account of my actions. This is why I protest yet

(14:32):
again that my appearance before you be not prejudicial either
to me or to the Kings, Princes and potentates, my allies,
nor to my son, and I require that my protest
be registered, and I demand the record of it. Then
the Chancellor, who was one of the commissioners, replied, in
his turn the protested against the protestation. Then he ordered

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that there should be read over to the Queen of
Scotland the commission in virtue of which they were proceeding,
a commission founded on the statue and law of the Kingdom.
But to this Mary Stuart made answer that she again
protested that the said statutes and laws were without force
against her, because these statutes and laws are not made
for persons of her condition. To this, the Chancellor replied

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that the commission intended to proceed against her even if
she refused to answer, and declared that the trial should proceed,
for she was a doubly subject to indictment, the conspirators
having not only plotted in her favor, but also with
her consent, to which the said Queen of Scotland responded
that she had never even thought of it. Upon this
the letters, it was aledge she had written to Babington,

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and his answers were read to her. Mary Stuart then
affirmed that she had never seen Babington, that she had
never had any conference with him, had never in her
life received a single letter from him, and that she
defied anyone in the world to maintain that she had
ever done anything to the prejudice of the said Queen
of England. That, besides, strictly guarded as she was away
from all news, withdrawn from and deprived of those nearest her,

(16:00):
surrounded with enemies, deprived finally of all advice, she had
been unable to participate in or to consent to, the
practices of which she was accused. That there are, besides,
many persons who wrote to her what she had no
knowledge of, and that she had received a number of
letters without knowing whence they came to her. Then Babington's
confession was read to her, but she replied that she

(16:20):
did not know what was meant. That Besides, if Babbington
and his accomplices had said such things, they were base men,
false and liars. Besides, added she show me my handwriting
and my signature, since you say that I wrote to Babington,
and not copies counterfeited like these, which you have filled
at your leisure with the falsehoods it has pleased you

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to insert. Then she was shown the letter that Babbington,
it was said, had written her. She glanced at it,
then said, I have no knowledge of this letter. Upon this,
she was shown her reply, and she said again, I
have no more knowledge of this answer. You will show
me my own letter and my own signature, containing what

(17:03):
you say. I will acquiesce in all but up to present.
As I have already told you, you have produced nothing
worthy of credence, unless it be the copies you have
invented and added to with what seemed good to you.
With these words, she rose, and with her eyes full
of tears. If I have ever said she consented to

(17:23):
such intrigues, having for object my sister's death, I pray
God that he have neither pitied nor mercy on me.
I confess that I have written to several persons that
I have implored them to deliver me from my wretched prisons,
where I languished a captive and ill treated princess for
nineteen years and seven months. But it never occurred to

(17:44):
me even in thought, to write, or even to desire
such things against the Queen. Yes, I also confess to
having exerted myself for the deliverance of some persecuted Catholics.
And if I had been able and could yet with
my own blood protect them and save them from their pain,
I would have done it, and would do it for
them with all my power, in order to save them

(18:05):
from destruction. Then, turning to the Secretary Walsingham, but my
lord said she, from the moment I seek you here,
I know whence comes this splow. You have always been
my greatest enemy and my sons, and you have moved
every one against me and to my prejudice. Thus accused

(18:25):
to his face, Walsingham rose, Madame, He replied, I protest
before God, who is my witness, that you deceive yourself,
and that I have never done anything against you unworthy
of a good man, either as an individual or as
a public personage. This is all that was said and

(18:45):
done that day in the proceedings till the next day,
when the Queen was again obliged to appear before the Commissioners,
and being seated at the end of the table of
the said hall, and the said commissioners about her, she
began to speak in a loud voice, you are not
unaware of my life. Lords, and gentlemen, that I am
a sovereign queen, anointed and consecrated in the Church of God,

(19:05):
and cannot and ought not, for any reason whatever, be
summoned to your courts or called to your bar, to
be judged by the law and statutes that you lay down.
For I am a princess and free, and I do
not owe to any prince more than he owes to me.
And on everything of which I am accused towards my
said sister, I cannot reply if you do not permit
me to be assisted by counsel, and if you go further,

(19:29):
do what you will. But from all your procedure, in
reiterating my protestations, I appeal to God, who is the
only just and true judge, and to the Kings and Princes,
my allies and confederates. This protestation was once more registered,
as she had required of the commissioners. Then she was
told that she had further written several letters to the

(19:50):
princes of Christendom against the Queen and the Kingdom of England.
As to that, replied Mary Stuart, it is another matter,
and I do not deny it, and if it was
again to do, I should do as I have done
to gain my liberty. For there is not a man
or woman in the world of less rank than I
who would not do it, and who would not make

(20:10):
use of the help and succor of their friends to
issue from a captivity as harsh as mine was. You
charge me with certain letters from Babington. Well, I do
not deny that he has written to me, and that
I have replied to him. But if you find in
my answers a single word about the Queen my sister,
well yes, there will be good cause to prosecute me.
I replied to him who wrote to me that he

(20:31):
would set me at liberty, that I accepted his offer
if he could do it without compromising the one or
the other of us. And that is all. As to
my secretaries, added the Queen, not they but tortures spoke
by their mouths. And as to the confessions of Babington
and his accomplices, there is not much to be made
of them. For now that they are dead, you can

(20:52):
say all that seems good to you, and let who
will believe you with these words. The Queen refused to
answer further. If she were not given counsel and renewing
her Protestation. She withdrew into her apartment, but as the
Chancellor have threatened, the trial was continued despite her absence. However,
Monsieur de Chateauneuf, the French ambassador to London, saw matters

(21:14):
too near at hand to be deceived as to their course. Accordingly,
at the first rumor which came to him of bringing
Mary Stewart to trial, he wrote to King Henry the
Third that he might intervene in the prisoner's favor. Henry
the Third immediately despatched a Queen Elizabeth in embassy extraordinary,
of which Monsieur de Bellievre was the chief, And at
the same time, having learned that James the sixth, Mary's son,

(21:35):
far from interesting himself in his mother's fate, had replied
to the French minister Coursel, who spoke to him of
her I can do nothing. Let her drink which she
has spilled. He wrote him the following letter to decide
the young prince to second him in the steps he
was going to take. Twenty first November fifteen eighty six, Coursel,

(21:55):
I have received your letter of the fourth October last,
in which I have seen the discourse that the King
of Scotland has held with you concerning what you have
witnessed to him. Of the good affection, I bear him
discourse in which he has given proof of desiring to
reciprocate it entirely. But I wish that that letter had
informed me also that he was better disposed towards the
Queen his mother, and that he had the heart and

(22:16):
the desire to arrange everything in a way to assist
her in the affliction which she now is. Reflecting that
the prison where she has been unjustly detained for eighteen
years and more, has induced her to lend an ear
to many things which have been proposed to her for
gaining her liberty, a thing which is naturally greatly desired
by all men, and more still by those who are
born sovereigns and rulers, who bear being kept prisoners. Thus

(22:39):
with less patience. He should also consider that if the
Queen of England, my good sister, allows herself to be
persuaded by the counsels of those who wish that she
should stain herself with Queen Mary's blood, it will be
a matter which will bring him to great dishonor inasmuch
as one will judge that he will have refused his
mother the good offices that he should render her with

(22:59):
the so said Queen of England, and which would have
perhaps been sufficient to move her if he would have
employed them as warmly and as soon as his natural
duty commanded him. Moreover, it is to be feared for
him that his mother dead, his own turn may come,
and that one may think of doing as much for
him by some violent means as to make the English
succession easier to seize for those who are likely to

(23:21):
have it after the said Queen Elizabeth, And not only
to defraud the said King of Scotland of the claim
he can put forward, but to render doubtful even that
which he has to his own crown. I do not
know in what condition the affairs of my said sister
in law will be when you receive this letter, but
I will tell you that in every case I wish
you to rouse strongly the said King of Scotland, with

(23:44):
remonstrances and everything else which may bear on this subject,
to embrace the defense and protection of his said mother,
and to express to him on my part that as
this will be a matter for which he will be
greatly praised by all the other kings and sovereign princes.
He must be assured that if he fails in it,
there will be great censure for him, and perhaps a

(24:04):
notable injury to himself in particular. Furthermore, as to the
state of my own affairs, you know that the Queen,
Madame and Mother is about to see very soon the
King of Navarre, and to confer with him on the
matter of the pacification of the troubles of this kingdom,
to which, if he bear as much good affection as
I do for my part, I hope that things may
come to a good conclusion, and that my subjects will

(24:25):
have some respite from the great evils and calamities that
the war occasions them. Supplicating the Creator Corsela, that he
may have you in his holy keeping. Written at Saint
Germain a Lais, the twenty first day of November fifteen
eighty six, signed Henry and below Brullard. This letter finally
decided James' sixth to make a kind of demonstration in

(24:47):
his mother's favor. He sent Gray, Robert, Melville and Keith
to Queen Elizabeth, But although London was nearer Edinburgh than
was Paris, the French envoys reached it before the Scotch.
It is true that on reaching Calais the twenty seventh November,
Monsieur de Bellievre had found a special messenger there to
tell him not to lose an instant from Monsieur de Chateauneuf, who,
to provide for every difficulty, had chartered a vessel ready

(25:09):
in the harbor. But however great the speed these noble
lords wished to make, they were obliged to wait the
wind's good will, which did not allow them to put
to sea till Friday, the twenty eighth, at midnight next day. Also,
on reaching Dover at nine o'clock, they were so shaken
by sea sickness that they were forced to stay a
whole day in the town to recover, so that it
was not till Sunday the thirtieth that Monsieur de Bellievre

(25:32):
was able to set out in the coach that Monsieur
de Chateauneuf sent him by Monsieur de Bracyllonne, and take
the road to London, accompanied by the gentlemen of his suite,
who rode on post horses, but resting only a few
hours on the way to make up for lost time.
They arrived at last in London Sunday, the first of December.
At mid day, Monsieur de Bellievre immediately sent one of

(25:53):
the gentlemen of his suite, named Monsieur de Villiers, to
the Queen of England, who was holding her court at
Richmond Castle. The decree had been a secretly pronounced already
six days and submitted to Parliament, which was to deliberate
upon it with closed doors. The French ambassadors could not
have chosen a worse moment to approach Elizabeth, and to
gain time, she declined to receive Monsieur de Villiers, returning

(26:14):
the answer that he would himself know the next day
the reason for this refusal, and indeed next day the
rumor spread in London that the French embassy had contagion,
and that two of the lords in it having died
of the plague at Calais. The Queen, whatever wish she
might have to be agreeable to Henry the Third, could
not endanger her precious existence by receiving his envoys. Great

(26:34):
was the astonishment of a Monsieur de Bellievrette learning this news.
He protested that the Queen was led into error by
a false report and insisted on being received. Nevertheless, the
delays lasted another six days, but as the ambassadors threatened
to depart without waiting longer, and as upon the whole Elizabeth,
disquieted by Spain, had no desire to embroil herself with France.

(26:56):
She had Monsieur de Bellievre informed on the morning of
the seventh of December that she was ready to receive
him after dinner at Richmond Castle, together with the noblemen
of his suite. At the appointed time, the French ambassadors
presented themselves at the castle gates, and, having been brought
to the Queen, found her seated on her throne and
surrounded by the greatest lords in her kingdom. Then, Messieurs
de Chateauneuf and de Bellievre, oh, the one the Ambassador

(27:18):
in ordinary and the other the Envoy Extraordinary, having greeted
her on the part of the King of France, began
to make her the remonstrances with which they were charged.
Elizabeth replied not only in the same French tongue, but
also in the most beautiful speech in use at that time,
and carried away by passion, pointed out to the envoys
of her brother Henry, that the Queen of Scotland had
always proceeded against her, and that this was the third

(27:41):
time that she had wished to attempt her life by
an infinity of ways, which she had already borne too
long and with too much patience, But that never had
anything so profoundly cut her to the heart as her
last conspiracy. That event, added, she with sadness having caused
her to sigh more and to shed more tears than
the loss of her relations, so much the more that

(28:02):
the Queen of Scotland was her near relative and closely
connected with the King of France, And as in their
remonstrances Messieurs de Chateauneuf and de Bellievre had brought forward
several examples drawn from history, she assumed in reply to
them on this occasion, oh the pedantic style which was
usual with her, and told them that she had seen
and read a great many books in her life, and

(28:22):
a thousand more than others of her sex and her
rank were wont to, but that she had never found
in them a single example of a deed like that
attempted on her, a deed pursued by a relative whom
the King her brother could not and ought not to
support in her wickedness, when it was, on the contrary
his duty to hasten the just punishment of it. Then
she added, addressing herself specially to Monsieur de Bellievre, and

(28:45):
coming down again from the height of her pride to
a gracious countenance, that she greatly regretted he was not
deputed for a better occasion, that in a few days
she would reply to King Henry, her brother, concerning whose
health she was solicitous, as well as that of the
Queen Mother. You must experience such great fatigue from the
trouble she took to restore peace to her son's kingdom,
And then, not wishing to hear more, she withdrew into

(29:08):
her room. The envoys returned to London, where they awaited
the promised reply. But while they were expecting it unavailingly,
they heard quietly the sentence of death given against Queen Mary,
which decided them to return to Richmond to make fresh
remonstrances to the Queen Elizabeth. After two or three fruitless journeys,
they were at last, December fifteenth, admitted for the second
time to the royal presence. The Queen did not deny

(29:31):
that the sentence had been pronounced, and as it was
easy to see that she did not intend in this
case to use her right of pardon, Monsieur de Blievra,
judging that there was nothing to be done, asked for
a safe conduct to return to his king. Elizabeth promised
it to him within two or three days. On the
following Tuesday, the seventeenth of the same month of December,
Parliament as well as the chief lords of the realm,

(29:52):
were convoked at the Palace of Westminster, and there in
full court, and before all sentence of death was proclaimed
and pronounced against Mary Stuart. Then the same sentence, with
great display and great solemnity, was read in the squares
and at the cross roads of London. Whence it spread
throughout the kingdom. And upon this proclamation the bells rang
for twenty four hours, while the strictest orders were given

(30:13):
to each of the inhabitants to light bonfires in front
of their houses, as is the custom in France on
the eve of Saint John the Baptist. Then, amid the
sound of bells by the light of these bonfires, Monsieur
de Balieva, wishing to make a last effort in order
to have nothing with which to reproach himself, wrote the
following letter to Queen Elizabeth. Madame. We quitted your majesty yesterday, expecting,

(30:37):
as it had pleased you, to inform us to receive
in a few days your reply, touching the prayer that
we made you on behalf of our good Master, your
brother for the Queen of Scotland, his sister in law
and confederate. But as this morning we have been informed
that the judgment a given against the said Queen has
been proclaimed in London. Although we had promised ourselves another
issue from your clemency and the friendship you bear to

(30:57):
this said Lord King, your good brother, nevertheless to neglect
no part of our duty, and believing in so doing
to serve the intentions of the King, our Master, we
have not wanted to fail to write to you this
present letter, in which we supplicate you once again very humbly,
not to refuse his Majesty the very pressing and very
affectionate prayer that he has made you, and that you

(31:18):
will be pleased to preserve the life of the said Lady,
Queen of Scotland, which the said Lord King will receive
as the greatest pleasure your Majesty could do to him,
while on the contrary, he could not imagine anything which
would cause him more displeasure and which would wound him
more than if he were used harshly with regard to
the said Lady Queen, being what she is to him,

(31:39):
and as Madame the said King, our Master, your good brother,
when for this object he despatched us to Your Majesty
and not conceived that it was possible in any case
to determine so promptly upon such an execution, We implore you, Madam,
very humbly, before permitting it to go further, to grant
us some time in which we can make known to
him the state of the affairs of the said Queen

(32:01):
of Scotland, in order that before your Majesty takes a
final resolution, you may know what it may please his
very Christian Majesty to tell you and point out to
you on the greatest affair which, in our memory has
been submitted to men's judgment. Monsieur de Saint Cyr, who
will give these presents to your Majesty, will bring us
if it pleases you. Your good reply, London, the sixteenth

(32:24):
day of December fifteen eighty six, signed to Bellievre and
de L'Or espine Chateauneuf. The same day, Monsieur de Saint
Cyr and the other French lords returned to Richmond to
take this letter, but the Queen would not receive them,
alleging indisposition, so that they were obliged to leave the
letter with Walsingham, her first secretary of State, who promised

(32:45):
them to send the queen's answer the following day. In
spite of this promise, the French lords waited two days more.
At last, on the second day, towards evening, two English
gentlemen sought out to Monsieur de Bellievre in London and VivaVoce,
without any letter to confirm. They were charged to say
announced to him on behalf of their Queen, that, in
reply to the letter that they had written her, and

(33:06):
to do justice to the desire they had shown to
obtain for the condemned, a reprieve, during which they would
make known the decision of the King of France. Her
Majesty would grant twelve days. As this was Elizabeth's last
word and it was useless to lose time in pressing
her further. Monsieur de gen Ville was this immediately despatched
to His Majesty, the King of France, to whom, besides
the long despatch of Monsieur de Chateauneuf and de Bellievre,

(33:29):
which he was charged to remit, he was to say,
viva voce, what he had seen and heard relative to
the affairs of Queen Mary during the whole time he
had been in England. Henry the third responded immediately with
a letter containing fresh instructions from Messieurs de Chateauneuf and
de Bellievre. But in spite of all the haste Monsieur
de Genlis could make, he did not reach London till

(33:49):
the fourteenth day, that is to say, forty eight hours
after the expiration of the delay granted. Nevertheless, as the
sentence had not yet been put into execution, Monsieurs de
Bellievre and de Chateauneuf set out at once for Greenwich Castle,
some miles from London, where the Queen was keeping Christmas,
to beg her to grant them an audience in which
they could transmit to Her Majesty their King's reply. But

(34:10):
they could obtain nothing for four or five days, however,
as they were not disheartened, and returned unceasingly to the charge.
January sixth, Monsieurs de Bellievre and de Chateauneuf were at
last sent for by the Queen as on the first occasion.
They were introduced with all the ceremonial in use at
the time, and found Elizabeth in an audience chamber. The

(34:32):
ambassador's approached her, greeted her, and Monsieur de Bellievre began
to address to her with respect, but at the same
time with firmness. His masters were remonstrances. Elizabeth listened to
them with an impatient air, fidgeting in her seat. Then,
at last, unable to control herself, she burst out, rising
and growing red with anger. Monsieur de Bellievre said she,

(34:53):
are you really charged by the King, my brother to
speak to me in such a way? Yes, Madame, replied
Monsieur d de Bellievre, bowing, I am expressly commanded to
do so, and have you this command under his hand?
Continued Elizabeth. Yes, Madame, returned the ambassador with the same calmness.
And the King, my master, your good brother, has expressly

(35:16):
charged me, in letters signed by his own hand, to
make to your majesty the remonstrances which I have had
the honor to address to you. Well, cried Elizabeth, no
longer containing herself, I demand of you a copy of
that letter signed by you, and reflect that you will
answer for each word that you take away or add. Madame,

(35:37):
answered Monsieur de Bellievre. It is not the custom of
the Kings of France or of their agents to forge
letters or documents. You will have the copies you require
tomorrow morning, and I pledge their accuracy on my honor. Enough, sir, enough,
said the Queen, and signing to everyone in the room
to go out. She remained nearly an hour with Monsieurs
de Chateauneuf and de Bellievre. No one knows were passed

(36:00):
in that interview, except that the Queen promised to send
an ambassador to the King of France, who she promised
would be in Paris, if not before, at least at
the same time as Monsieur de Bellievre, and would be
the bearer of her final resolve as to the affairs
of the Queen of Scotland. Elizabeth then withdrew, giving the
French envoys to understand that any fresh attempt they might
make to see her would be useless. On the thirteenth

(36:22):
of January, the ambassadors received their passports and at the
same time noticed that a vessel of the Queen's was
awaiting them at Dover. The very day of their departure,
a strange incident occurred. A gentleman named Stafford, a brother
of Elizabeth's ambassador to the King of France, presented himself
at Monsieur de Traps, one of the officials in the
French Chancellery, telling him that he was acquainted with a

(36:43):
prisoner for debt who had a matter of the utmost
importance to communicate to him, and that he might pay
the greater attention to it. He told him that this
matter was connected with the service of the King of
France and concerned the affairs of Queen Mary of Scotland.
Monsieurda Traps, although mistrusting this overture from the first, and
did not want in case his suspicions deceived him to
have to reproach himself for any neglect on such a

(37:06):
pressing occasion. He repaired then with mister Stafford to the
prison where he who wished to converse with him, was detained.
When he was with him, the prisoner told him that
he was locked up for a debt of only twenty crowns,
and that his desire to be at liberty was so
great that if Monsieur de Chateauneuf would pay that sum
for him, he would undertake to deliver the Queen of
Scotland from her danger by stabbing Elizabeth. To this proposal,

(37:28):
Monsieur de Trappe, who saw the pitfall laid for the
French ambassador, was greatly astonished and said that he was
certain that Monsieur de Chateauneuf would consider as very evil
every enterprise having its aim to threaten in any way
the life of Queen Elizabeth or the peace of the realm. Then,
not desiring to hear more, he returned to Monsieur de
Chateauneuf and related to him what had just happened. Monsieur

(37:50):
de Chateauneuf, who perceived the real cause of this overture,
immediately said to mister Stafford that he thought it strange
that a gentleman like himself should undertake with another gentleman
such treacher, and requested him to leave the embassy at
once and never to set foot there again. Then Stafford withdrew,
and appearing to think himself a lost man, he implored
monsie de Traps to allow him to cross the channel

(38:12):
with him, and the French envoys misched. De Traps referred
him to Monsieur de Chateauneuf, who answered mister Stafford directly
that he had not only forbidden him his house, but
also all relations with any person from the embassy. That
he must thus very well see that his request could
not be granted. He added that if he were not
restrained by the consideration he desired to keep for his brother,
the Earl of Stafford, his colleague, he would at once

(38:34):
denounce his treason to Elizabeth. The same day Stafford was arrested.
After this conference, Monsieur de Traps set out to rejoin
his traveling companions, who were some hours in advance of him. When,
on reaching Dover, he was arrested in his turn and
brought back to prison in London. Interrogated the same day,
Monsieur de Traps frankly related what had passed, appealing to

(38:54):
Monsieur de Chateauneuf as to the truth of what he said.
The day following there was a second interiorgatory, and great
was amazement, when, on requesting that the one of the
day before should be shown him, he was merely shown,
according to custom and English law, counterfeit copies in which
were avowals, compromising him as well as Monsieur de Chateauneuf.
He objected and protested, refused to answer or to sign

(39:17):
anything further, and was taken back to the tower with
redoubled precaution, the object of which was the appearance of
an important accusation. Next day, Monsieur de Chateauneuf was summoned
before the Queen and there confronted with Stafford, who impudently
maintained that he had treated of a plot with Monsieur
de Traps and a certain prisoner for debt, a plot
which aimed at nothing less than endangering the Queen's life.

(39:40):
Monsieur de Chateauneuf defended himself with the warmth of indignation,
but Elizabeth had too great an interest in being unconvinced
even to attend to the evidence. She then said to
Monsieur de Chateauneuf that his character of ambassador alone prevented
her having him arrested like this accomplice Monscheur d Traps
and immediately despatching, as she had promised, an ambassador to
King Henry the th third. She charged him not to

(40:01):
excuse her for the sentence which had just been pronounced
and the death which must soon follow, but to accuse
Monsieur de Chateauneuf of having taken part in a plot
of which the Discovery alone had been able to decide
her to consent to the death of the Queen of Scotland,
certain as she was by experience that so long as
her enemy lived, her existence would be hourly threatened. On

(40:22):
the same day, Elizabeth made haste to spread not only
in London but also throughout England the rumor of the
fresh danger from which she had just escaped, so that when,
two days after the departure of the French envoys, the
Scottish ambassadors, who, as one sees, had not used much speed, arrived,
the Queen answered them that their request came unseasonably at
a time when she had just had proof that, so

(40:44):
long as Mary Stuart existed, her own Elizabeth's life was
in danger. Robert Melville wished to reply to this, but
Elizabeth flew into a passion, saying that it was he
Melville who had given the King of Scotland the bad
advice to intercede for his mother, and that if she
had such an adviser, she would have him beheaded, to
which Melville answered, but that at the risk of his

(41:06):
life he would never spare his master good advice, and
that on the contrary, he who would counsel a son
to let his mother perish would deserve to be beheaded.
Upon this reply, Elizabeth ordered the Scotch envoys to withdraw,
telling them that she would let them have her answer.
Three or four days passed, and as they heard nothing further,
they asked again for a parting audience to hear the

(41:28):
last resolve of her, to whom they were sent. The
Queen then decided to grant it, and all passed, as
with Monsieur de Bellievre, in recriminations and complaints. Finally, Elizabeth
asked them what guarantee they would give for her life
in the event of her consenting to pardon the Queen
of Scotland. The envoys responded that they were authorized to
make pledges in the name of the King of Scotland,

(41:49):
their master, and all the lords of his realm, that
Mary Stuart should renounce in favor of her son, all
her claims upon the English crown, and that she should
give as security for this undertaking the King of France
and all the princes and lords, his relations and friends.
To this answer, the Queen, without her usual presence of mind, cried, what.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
Are you saying, Melville? That would be to arm my
enemy with two claims while he has only one. Does
your majesty, then regard the King my master as your enemy?
Replied Melville. He believed himself happier, Madame, and thought he
was your ally. And no, no, Elizabeth said, blushing, It

(42:30):
is a way of speaking. And if you find a
means of reconciling everything, gentlemen, to prove to you on
the contrary, that I regard King James the sixth as
my good and faithful ally, I am quite ready to
incline to mercy. Seek then, on your side, added she,
while I seek on mine. With these words, she went
out of the room, and the ambassadors retired with the

(42:53):
light of the hope of which she had just let
them catch a glimpse. The same evening, a gentleman at
the court sought out the Master of Gray, the head
of the embassy, as if to pay him a civil visit,
and while conversing, said to him that it was very
difficult to reconcile the safety of Queen Elizabeth with the
life of her prisoner. That besides, if the Queen of

(43:13):
Scotland were pardoned and she or her son ever came
to the English throne, there would be no security for
the Lord's commissioners, who had voted her death. That there
was then only one way of arranging everything, that the
King of Scotland should himself give up his claims to
the Kingdom of England. That otherwise, according to him, there
was no security for Elizabeth and saving the life of
a Scottish queen.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
The Master of Gray, then, looking at him fixedly, asked
him if his sovereign had charged him to come to
him with his talk. But the gentleman denied it, saying
that all this was on his own account and in
the way of opinion. Elizabeth received the envoys from Scotland
once more, and then told them that, after having well considered,
she had found no way of saving the life of

(43:55):
the Queen of Scotland while securing her own, that accordingly
she could not grant it to them. To this declaration,
the Master of Gray replied that since it was thus,
he was in this case ordered by his master to
say that they protested in the name of King James,
that all that had been done against his mother was
of no account, seeing that Queen Elizabeth had no authority
over a queen, as she was her equal in rank

(44:18):
and birth. That accordingly they declared that immediately after their return,
and when their master should know the result of their mission,
he would assemble his parliament and send messengers to all
the Christian princes to take counsel with them as to
what could be done to avenge her, whom they could
not save. Then Elizabeth again flew into a passion, saying
that they had certainly not received from their king a

(44:38):
mission to speak to her in such a way. But
they thereupon offered to give her this protest and writing
under their signatures, to which Elizabeth replied that she would
send an ambassador to arrange all that with her good
friend and ally, the King of Scotland. But the envoys
then said that their master would not listen to anyone
before their return, upon which Elizabeth begged them not to

(44:59):
go away at once, because she had not yet come
to her final decision. Upon this matter. On the evening
following this audience, Lord Hingley, having come to see the
Master of Gray, and having seemed to notice some handsome
pistols which came from Italy Gray directly he had gone,
asked this nobleman's cousin to take them to him as
a gift from him. Delighted with this pleasant commission, the

(45:20):
young man wished to perform at the same evening, and
went to the Queen's palace, where his relative was staying,
to give him the present which he had been told
to make to him. But hardly had he passed through
a few rooms than he was arrested, searched, and the
arms he was taking were found upon him, Although these
were not loaded. He was immediately arrested. Only he was
not taken to the tower, but kept a prisoner in

(45:40):
his own room. Next day there was a rumor that
the Scottish ambassadors had wanted to assassinate the Queen in
their turn, and that pistols given by the Master of
Gray himself had been found on the assassin. This bad
faith could not but open the envoy's eyes. Convinced at
last that they could do nothing for poor Mary Stuart,
they left her to her faith and set out next

(46:01):
day for Scotland. Scarcely were they gone than Elizabeth sent
her secretary Davison to Sir Amyas Poulet. He was instructed
to sound him again with regard to the prisoner. Afraid,
in spite of herself of a public execution. The queen
had reverted to her former ideas of poisoning or assassination,
but Sir Amyas Paulet declared that he would let no
one have access to Mary but the executioner, who must,

(46:24):
in addition, be the bearer of a warrant perfectly in order.
Davison reported this answer to Elizabeth, who, while listening to him,
stamped her foot several times, and, when he had finished,
unable to control herself, cried God's death. There's a dainty fellow,
always talking of his fidelity and not knowing how to
prove it. Elizabeth was then obliged to make up her mind.

(46:45):
She asked Davison for the warrant. He gave it to her, and,
forgetting that she was the daughter of a queen who
had died on the scaffold, she signed it without any
trace of emotion, then, having affixed to it the Great
Seal of England. Go, said she laugh, tell walsinghim that
all is ended for Queen Mary. But tell him with precautions,
for as he is ill, I am afraid he will

(47:07):
die of grief when he hears it. The jest was
the more atrocious in that Walsingham was known to be
the Queen of Scotland's bitterest enemy. Towards evening of that day, Saturday,
the fourteenth, Baiale, Walslingsome's brother in law, was summoned to
the palace. The Queen gave to his hands the death warrant,
and with it an order addressed to the Earls of Shrewsbury, Kent, Rutland,

(47:30):
and other nobleman in the neighborhood of Fatheringay to be
present at the execution. Beale took with him the London executioner,
whom Elizabeth had had dressed in black velvet for this
great occasion, and set out two hours after he had
received his warrant. End of Chapter eight recording by John
Vanstan Savannah, Georgia