In the circumstances this was a noble letter, but on James it was quite lost. He had been repeatedly asked to befriend his mother, but we have no evidence that he ever did so. With him “the love of money was the root of all evil,” for he was constantly in want of money. Elizabeth aided him, and in fact controlled him; but that was no reason for allowing his mother to be murdered when he could have prevented it. King Henry III. of France behaved to Queen Mary as a brother and exerted himself more than anyone else to save her. But what is to be said of her son, on whom this eloquent letter of the King of France was lost!
It is evident from the conduct of Elizabeth that Mary's life could not have been saved except by military force, and nothing should have prevented James from appealing to arms. The kings of France and Spain would have given him the necessary assistance. The more we know of James the less do we feel enthusiasm for him.
On 23rd November 1586 sentence of death was communicated to Queen Mary by Buckhurst, by order of Elizabeth. It does not appear that Mary was surprised by the announcement; it would rather appear that for some time she had been daily in expectation of it. To an ordinary individual the intimation would have been overwhelming, it would have crushed him to the earth. Mary, however, was made of sterner stuff. She had an overflow of spirits, which during her captivity did her great service and was a great factor in preventing her falling into melancholy. It may be said that her brilliant spirit never left her, but carried her through all her troubles up to their final termination. On the very day when she received this crushing intimation she sat down and wrote a long and beautiful letter to the Pope, a letter which His Holiness could not read without emotion. She also wrote to the Duke of Guise. These letters have been preserved and are as follows (slightly condensed):—
“Holy Father; And so it is that it has pleased God by his divine providence to make an order in his Church by which he has willed that under His Son Jesus Christ crucified all those who should believe in Him and be baptized in name of the Holy Trinity should acknowledge one universal and Catholic Church....