u 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, 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 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 use of the help and
succour 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 would set me at liberty, that I accepted his offer, if he could
do it without compromising the one or the other of us: that is all.

"As to my secretaries," added the queen, "not they, but torture 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
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 had threatened, the trial was continued
despite her absence.

However, M. de Chateauneuf, the French ambassador to London, saw matters
too near at hand to be deceived as to their course: accordingly, at the
first rumour which came to him of bringing Mary Stuart to trial, he wrote
to King Henry III, that he might intervene in the prisoner's favour.
Henry III immediately despatched to Queen Elizabeth an embassy
extraordinary, of which M. de Bellievre was the chief; and at the same
time, having learned that James VI, Mary's son, far fro