“I would wish that all my papers were brought to you without reserve, that at last it may be manifest to you that the sole care of your safety was not confined to those who are so prompt to persecute me. If you will accord this my last request, I would wish that you would write for them, otherwise they do with them as they choose. And, moreover, I wish that to this my last request you will let me know your last reply. To conclude, I pray God the just judge of his mercy that He will enlighten you with His Holy Spirit, and that He will give me His grace to die in the perfect charity I am disposed to do and to pardon all those who have caused or who have co-operated in my death. Such will be my last prayer to my end, which I esteem myself happy will precede the persecution which I foresee menaces this isle, where God is no longer seriously feared and revered, but vanity and worldly policy rule and govern all—yet will I accuse no one nor give way to presumption—yet while abandoning this world and preparing myself for a better, I must remind you that one day you will have to answer for your charge, and for all those whom you condemn, and that I desire that my blood and my country may be remembered in that time. For why? From the first days of our capacity to comprehend our duties we ought to bend our minds to make the things of this world yield to those of eternity. “From Fotheringay this 19th December 1586.—Your sister and cousin, prisoner wrongfully, “MARIE (_Royne_).