ny probability of success, she would assent
to it; and it served the purpose of Walsingham and the English ministry
to facilitate the communication of these schemes, as soon as they had
gotten an expedient for intercepting her answer, and detecting the
conspiracy. Now, Walsingham's knowledge of the matter is a supposition
necessary to account for the letter delivered to Babington.

As to the not punishing of Nau and Curle by Elizabeth, it never is the
practice to punish lesser criminals, who had given evidence against the
principal.

But what ought to induce us to reject these three suppositions is, that
they must all of them be considered as bare possibilities. The partisans
of Mary can give no reason for preferring one to the other. Not the
slightest evidence ever appeared to support any one of them. Neither at
that time, nor at any time afterwards, was any reason discovered, by the
numerous zealots at home and abroad who had embraced Mary's defence, to
lead us to the belief of any of these three suppositions; and even her
apologists at present seem not to have fixed on any choice among
these supposed possibilities. The positive proof of two very credible
witnesses, supported by the other very strong circumstances, still
remains unimpeached. Babington, who had an extreme interest to have
communication with the queen of Scots, believed he had found a means
of correspondence with her, and had received an answer from her. He,
as well as the other conspirators, died in that belief. There has not
occurred, since that time, the least argument to prove that they were
mistaken; can there be any reason at present to doubt the truth of their
opinion? Camden, though a professed apologist for Mary, is constrained
to tell the story in such a manner as evidently supposes her guilt. Such
was the impossibility of finding any other consistent account, even by a
man of parts, who was a contemporary!

In this light might the question have appeared even during Mary's trial.
But what now puts her guilt beyond all controversy is the following
passage of her letter to Thomas Morgan, dated the 27th of July, 1586:
"As to Babington, he hath both kindly and honestly offered himself and
all his means to be employed any way I would; whereupon I hope to have
satisfied him by two of my several letters since I had his; and the
rather for that I opened him the way, thereby I received his with your
aforesaid." Murden, p. 533. Babington confessed tha