Mary was now called upon for her defence; and she entered on it with composure and dignity. She denied all connexion with Babington's conspiracy, in so far as he entertained any designs injurious to Elizabeth's safety or the welfare of her kingdom;--she allowed that the letters which he was said to have addressed to her might be genuine, but it had not been proved that she ever received them;--she maintained that her own letters were all garbled or fabricated;[191] that as to the confessions of her secretaries, they had been extorted by fear, and were therefore not to be credited; but that, if they were in any particulars true, these particulars must have been disclosed at the expense of the oath of fidelity they had come under to her when they entered her service, and that men who would perjure themselves in one instance were not to be trusted in any;--she objected besides that they had not been confronted with her according to an express law enacted in the thirteenth year of Elizabeth's reign "that no one should be arraigned for intending the destruction of the Prince's life, but by the testimony and oath of two lawful witnesses, _to be produced face to face before him_;"--she maintained, that even supposing she were to allow the authenticity of many of the papers adduced against her, they would not prove her guilty of any crime; for she was surely doing no wrong, if, after a calamitous captivity of nineteen years, in which she had lost forever her youth, her health, and her happiness, she made one last effort to regain the liberty of which she had been so unfairly robbed; but that as to scheming against the life of the Queen her sister, it was an infamy she abhored;--"I would disdain," said she "to purchase all that is most valuable on earth by the assasination of the meanest of the human race; and worn out, as I now am, with cares and sufferings, the prospect of a crown is not so inviting that I should ruin my soul in order to obtain it. Neither am I a stranger to the feelings of humanity, nor unacquainted with the duties of religion, and it is my nature to be more inclined to the devotion of Esther, than to the sword of Judith. If ever I have given consent by my words, or even by my thoughts, to any attempt against the life of the Queen of England, far from declining the judgment of men, I shall not even pray for the mercy of God."[192]