I showed them on the canopy, in place of my coat of arms, the cross of my Saviour. You will be informed of all that was said; they have since been more indulgent. ”MARIE R. of Scotland, Dowager of France.” CHAPTER V Queen Mary's letter to Mendoza the Spanish Ambassador informing him of the sentence of death, her submission to it, and her references to Paulet's treatment of her—Her letter to Mendoza, 21st May 1586—Her remarkable letter to the Archbishop of Glasgow asserting her innocence of every charge against her, and her rebuke to the commissioners “that she would die a Queen in spite of them”—Her letter to Elizabeth with her requests regarding her death and interment—The Commendator of Pittenweem and King James—Letter of Bellievre, Chancellor of France, to Mary, 14th December 1586—The graphic interview of Bellievre and Chateauneuf with Elizabeth, when they demanded of her with a threat to spare Mary's life, or take the consequences—Elizabeth loses her temper. On the same day on which Queen Mary wrote to the Pope and to her uncle, the Duke of Guise, she also wrote to her devoted friends Don Bernard de Mendoza, the Spanish Ambassador, and the Archbishop of Glasgow. These letters, which we reproduce, were evidently written under deep emotion, and must have caused inexpressible grief to the friends who received them. There seems no doubt that Mary was quite estranged from her son for some time before her death. He was entirely under the control and in receipt of a pension from Elizabeth, which would account for it. Mary felt his conduct acutely; and not later than 21st May 1586 she wrote a private letter to the Spanish Ambassador (also given), in which her feelings on the subject are remarkably and excitedly expressed, even to the extent of handing her rights (if any) in the Scottish crown to the King of Spain, if her son continued in his present course of conduct. Mary has been taken to task for this letter by some of her enemies, who would make out, in defending her execution, that she sold the crown to the King of Spain. She wrote the letter in trying circumstances. The offer was simply to express how keenly she felt hurt by the behaviour of her son. There was nothing more in the letter than that. As a matter of fact, Mary had no rights in the crown to give away, but her enemies chose not to recognise this. We have not attempted to condense the two letters referred to—that to Mendoza and that to the Archbishop. They form a very important chapter in the last days of her life, and are letters that cannot be overlooked in surveying her history. A deliberate perusal of them will strengthen one's belief in the forgery of the letters in the appendix of this volume. The sentence we have put in italics in the letter to the Archbishop is a convincing proof of the Queen's innocence as regards