aused her no anxiety,
gradually gave way before want of exercise and the dampness of the
prisons in which she was confined; and she came to suffer from
constant pain in her side, rheumatism, and weakness of limbs--a state
of suffering and disease which was aggravated by the penuriousness of
Elizabeth, which would not permit to her even the accommodation which
that comparatively rude age afforded.

Her principal occupation was needle-work, and her amusement reading
and composition; she retained her early love of literature, and it was
now, next to her religious feelings and hopes, her best resource. The
unvarying mildness and saint-like patience with which Mary endured her
captivity are the more remarkable, if we remember that she was
disinclined to sedentary amusements, and by nature and habit fond of
walking, riding, gardening, and all exercises in the open air. Her
gentleness, therefore, under a restraint so heart-wearing, is a proof
of singular sweetness of temper and strength of mind, if not of a
clear and tranquil conscience.

But, if the situation of Mary was melancholy, that of her persecutor
was not to be envied. Plot succeeded plot, having for ostensible
object the relief of Mary. In fact, while she existed, Elizabeth was
stretched on the rack of fear and suspicion. In vain did she seek to
implicate Mary in these traitorous projects; Mary freely acknowledged
that she should seize with eagerness any means of deliverance from a
hateful captivity; but, as to being privy to any plot against the life
or throne of the queen, this she constantly and strenuously denied. At
last, a subservient Parliament were induced to pass a most infamous
law, which declared that not only the conspirators themselves, but
those in whose cause they conspired, however innocent, or ignorant of
their purpose, should equally suffer the penalties of treason.

Occasion was soon made for bringing Mary to trial under this law. The
arrival of the commissioners charged with the duty was a surprise to
her; a public trial was an indignity wholly unexpected, and she
protested against it. "I came," said she, "into the kingdom an
independent sovereign, to ask the queen's assistance, not to subject
myself to her authority. Nor is my spirit so broken by past
misfortunes, or intimidated by present dangers, as to stoop to any
thing unbecoming the dignity of a crowned head, or that will disgrace
the ancestors from whom I am descended, and the son to who