On 20th January Paulet informed Sir Andrew Melville that he must leave his mistress and appear no more before her. Melville was the master of her household, and probably her most devoted and faithful friend and counsellor. The separation of Melville was the greatest calamity that could have befallen her. Thus they deprived her of the services of her priest and also of her steward, and on 23rd January Paulet's porter informed her chief baker that he must no longer carry the rod before dinner; the rod was an emblem of royal dignity. Mary remonstrated with Paulet, stating that it would neither hurt nor profit anyone; but Paulet was immovable, and Mary had to stand the insult. On 4th February, four days before the execution, Mary was ill, and her physician recommended herbs from the garden to cure her trouble. It will scarcely be credited that Paulet in a brutal manner refused to allow the herbs to be gathered—but afterwards he consented. All this persecution was by order of the Queen of England. Why, it may naturally be asked, was the Queen of Scots tortured in this manner after she had been tried and condemned and sentence of death pronounced? Surely her condemnation might have satisfied Elizabeth without resorting to those miserable tactics—cruelly insulting her and killing her by inches. Paulet, who was an uneducated man, was capable of administering the coarsest treatment, in all which he was supported by his mistress and received from her many expressions of gratitude for carrying out her wishes and keeping the Queen of Scots in constant misery. We may well ask, Was Elizabeth a woman, or was she a fiend in human form?