minary at Rheims, came over to England in the disguise of a foldiër, under the affumed name of captain Fortescue, with the execrable defign of compaffing the death of a fovereign, whom he confidered as the enemy of his religion. The first perfon to whom he addreffed himself Babington's was Anthony Babington, of Dethick, in the county of confpiracy. Derby, a young gentleman of good family, and poffeffed of a very plentiful fortune. Babington had been long remarkable for his zeal in the catholic caufe, and in particular for his attachment to the captive queen. He therefore entered readily into the plot, and procured alfo the concurrence of fome other affociates. These were Barnwell, a gentleman of a confiderable family in IreJand; Charnock, a gentleman of Lancashire; Abington, whofe father had been cofferer to the houshould; and John Savage, a man of defperate fortune, who had ferved in the Low Countries, and came into England under a vow to deftroy the queen. He indeed did not feem to defire any affociate in the enterprize; and challenging the execution of it entirely to himself, refused for some time to permit any to fhare with him in what he esteemed his greatest glory. The next step was to apprize Mary of the confpiracy formed in her favour; and this they effected by conveying their letters to her through a chink in the wall of her apartment, by means of a brewer who ferved the family with ale. In thefe, Babington informed her of a design laid for a foreign invafion, the plan of an infurrection at home, the fcheme for her delivery, and the confpiracy for affaffinating the ufurper by fix noble gentlemen, as he termed them, all of them his friends; who, from the zeal which they bore the catholic caufe, and her majefty's fervice, would undertake the accomplishment of the purpose. To thefe, it was faid, Mary replied, that The approved highly of the defign; that the gentlemen might expect from her all the rewards which it fhould ever be in her power to confer; and that the death of Elizabeth was a neceffary circumftance, previous to any attempts, either for her own deliverance or an infurrection. These letters, with others to Mendoza, Charles Paget, the archbishop of Glasgow, and fir Francis Inglefield, were carried by Giffard to fecretary Walfingham; were decyphered by the art of Philips, his clerk; and copies taken of them. In order to obtain a full infight into the plot, Walfingham employed another artifice. Mary ap proves of the conspiracy. • State Trials, vol. i. p. 135. Camden, p. 515. He He fubjoined to a letter of Mary's a poftfcript in the fame cypher; in which Babington was defired to inform her of the names of the confpirators. Meanwhile Babington, anxious to haften the foreign fuccours, refolved to dispatch Ballard into France; and he procured for him a paffport under a feigned name. In order to remove from himself all fufpicion, he applied to Walfingham, pretended great zeal for the queen's fervice, and profeffed his intentions of employing the confidence which he had gained among the Catholics, to the detection of their confpiracies. Wallingham commended his loyal purposes, and promifing his affiftance in the execution of them, maintained with him a clofe correfpondence. A warrant, meanwhile, was iffued for feizing Ballard; and this incident, joined to the conscioufnefs of The conguilt, threw the confpirators into great apprehenfions. Spiracy is difcovered, They all took to flight, and lay concealed in different and the places, but were foon difcovered and thrown into prison. confpiraIn their examinations they contradicted each other, and tors exethe leaders were obliged to make a full confeffion of the cuted. truth. Fourteen were condemned and executed; of whom seven acknowleged the crime on their trial; the reft were convicted by evidence. The execution of these wretched men ferved only to pave the way for one of greater importance, in which a captive queen was to fubmit to the unjuft decifions of those who had no other right, but that of power, to condemn her. Though all England was acquainted with the detection of Babington's confpiracy, every avenue to the unfortunate Mary was fo ftrictly guarded, that she remained in utter ignorance of the whole matter. But her The queen aftonishment was equal to her anguish, when fir Thomas of Scots is Gorges, by Elizabeth's order, came to inform her of the made acquainted fate of her unhappy confederates. The time he chofe for with the giving her this intelligence, was when the was mounted difcovery of on horfeback to go a-hunting; after which fhe was not per the plot. mitted to return to her former place of abode, but was conducted from one gentleman's houfe to another, until and is fhe was was lodged in Fotheringay caftle, in the county conducted of Northampton, which was fixed upon as the last scene ingay of her trial and fufferings, Her two fecretaries, Nau, a castle. Frenchman, and Curle, a native of Scotland, were immediately arrested. All her papers were feized, and sent up to the council. Above fixty different keys to cyphers were discovered. The English council was divided in opinion about the measures to be taken against the queen of Scots. Some C 3 mem, to Fother Trial of the queen of Scots. The members propofed, that as her health was very infirm, her life might be fhortened by clofe confinement. To avoid any imputation of violence or cruelty, Leicefter advised that the fhould be difpatched by poifon; and he fent a divine to convince Walfingham of the lawfulness of that action; but the majority infifted on her being put to death by legal procefs. It was therefore refolved to try Mary, not by the common ftatute of treafons, but by an act which had paffed the former year, with a view to this very eyent; and the queen, according to that act, appointed a commiffion, confifting of forty noblemen and privy-counfellors, and empowered them to examine and pafs fentence on Mary, whom the denominated the late queen of Scots, and heir to James V. of Scotland. commiffioners came to Fotheringay caftle, and delivered her a letter from Elizabeth, commanding her to fubmit to a trial for her late confpiracy. Mary perufed the letter with great compofure; and as she had long forefeen the danger that hung over her, received the intelligence with out emotion or aftonishment. She faid, however, that the wondered the queen of England fhould command her as a fubject, who was an independent fovereign, and a queen like herself. She would never, fhe faid, ftoop to any condefcenfion which would derogate either from her own dignity or that of her fon. The laws of England, the obferved, were unknown to her; fhe was deftitute of counfel; nor could he conceive who were to be her peers, as fhe had but one equal in the kingdom. She added, that though fhe had lived in England many years, he had lived in captivity, and not having received the protection of the laws, fhe could not, merely by her invoJuntary refidence in the country, be supposed to have subjected herself to their jurifdiction. When the commiffioners preffed her to fubmit to the queen's pleasure, otherwife they would proceed against her as contumacious, the declared, he would rather fuffer a thoufand deaths than own herself a fubject to any fovereign on earth. That, however, fhe was ready to vindicate herfelf in a full and free parliament; but could not view these commiffioners in any other light than as men appointed to justify, by fome colour of legal proceeding, her condemnation and execution. She exhorted them to confult their own confcience and character in trying an innocent perfon; and to remember that these transactions would come under the revifal of a theatre more extenfive that the kingdom of England. At length the vice-chamberlain, Hatton, re pre prefenting that the injured her reputation by avoiding a trial, in which her innocénce might be proved to the fatisfaction of all the world, overcame her objections. She therefore agreed to plead, upon condition that they would admit her proteft, of difallowing all legal fubjection; and this being entered upon record, they proceeded to trial. The lawyers of the crown then opened the charge against the captive queen. They proved, by intercepted letters, that he had allowed cardinal Allen and others to treat her as queen of England; and that she had kept a correfpondence with lord Paget and Charles Paget, in view of engaging the Spaniards to invade the kingdom. Mary feemed not anxious to clear herself from either of thefe imputations. She only faid, that she could not hinder others from ufing what ftyle they pleafed in writing to her; and that the might lawfully try every expedient for the recovery of her liberty. An intercepted letter from her to Mendoza was next produced, in which the promised to transfer to Philip her right to the kingdom of England, if her fon fhould refufe to be converted to the catholic faith; an event, she faid, of which there could be no expectation while he remained in the hands of his Scottish fubjects. This part of the charge alfo fhe took no pains to deny, or rather the feemed to acknowlege it. The only part of the charge which Mary pofitively denied, was her concurrence in the defign of affaffinating Elizabeth. This charge was fupported by Babington's confeffion; by the copies taken of their correfpondence, in which her approbation of the queen's murder was exprefsly declared; and by the evidence of her own two fecretaries, Nau and Curle, who fwore that the received Babington's letters, and that they, by her orders, had anfwered them. This evidence was farther confirmed by the teftimony of Ballard and Savage, to whom Babington had shown thofe letters, declaring them to have come from the captive queen. To thefe charges Mary made a fenfible and refolute defence. She infifted that Babington's confeffion was extorted from his fears of the torture; and with this, it is certain, he was threatened. She alleged, that the letters were forgeries, and the defied her fecretaries to perfift in their evidence if brought into her prefence. But this demand, however equitable, was not then fupported by law in trials of high-treafon, and was often refufed even in other trials, where the crown was profecutor. The claufe, contained in an act of the thirteenth of the queen, was a novelty; that the fpecies of treafon there enumerated must be proved by two witneffes, confronted with the prifoner: but Mary was not tried upon that act; and the minifters and crown-lawyers of this reign were always fure to refufe every indulgence beyond what the ftrict letter of the law, and the fettled practice of the courts of juftice, required of them. A.D.1586. Oct. 25. Sentence againf Mary During the courfe of the trial, as a letter between Mary and Babington was reading, mention was made in it of the earl of Arundel and his brothers. On hearing their names the burst into a flood of tears, and exclaimed, "Alas! what has the noble houfe of the Howards fuffered for my fake!" She affirmed, with regard to the fame letter, that it was easy to forge the hand-writing and cypher of another; fhe was afraid that this was too familiar a practice with Walfingham, who, fhe alfo heard, had frequently practifed both against her life and her fon's. Walfingham, who was one of the commiffioners, rofe up, and protefted, that, in his private capacity, he had never acted any thing against the queen of Scots; nor, in his public capacity, had ever tampered in any manner unbefitting his character and office. Mary declared herself satisfied of his innocence, and begged he would give as little credit to the malicious accufations of her enemies, as the now gave to the reports the had heard to his prejudice. The trial being finished, the commiffioners adjourned from Fotheringay caftle to the Star-chamber, at London, where, after taking the oaths of Mary's two fecretaries, who vouched the authenticity of the letters produced, they pronounced sentence of death upon the queen of Scots, and confirmed it by their feals and fubfcriptions. The fame day a declaration was published by the commiffioners, implying, that the fentence against her did no wife derogate from the title and honour of James, king of Scotland, fon to the attainted queen. The opportunity was now come which Elizabeth had long defired, for executing vengeance on a competitor, who had firft been the object of her envy, and afterwards of her apprehenfion. But fhe was reftrained from gratifying her refentment by a variety of confiderations. She knew the odious colours in which this fingular examplè of vindictive and unauthorized jurifdiction would be viewed |