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, my lords and gentlemen, that I am a sovereign
queen, anointed and consecrated in the church of God, 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, 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 ambas