"If your Majesty," retorted one of the lords, "was reigning peacefully in your own kingdom, and some one were to conspire against you, would you not proceed against him, were he the greatest king in the world?" "Never," replied Mary, "never would I act in such a manner; however, I see well that you have already condemned me--all you do now is merely for form's sake. I do not value my life, but I strive for the preservation of my own honour, and the honour of my relatives and of the Church. You frame laws according to your own wishes," continued the Queen; "and as in former days the English refused to recognise the _salique_ law in France, so I do not feel bound to submit to your laws. If you wish to proceed according to the common law of England, you must produce examples and precedents. If you follow the canon law, those only who framed it can interpret it. Roman Catholics alone have the right to explain and apply it." To this Burleigh replied that the canon law was used ordinarily in England, especially regarding marriages and kindred matters, but not in what touched the authority of the Pope, which they neither desired nor approved. "In consequence then," continued Mary, "you cannot avail yourselves of the privilege of him whose authority you deny. The Pope and his delegates alone can interpret the canon law, and I know of no one in England who has received this authority from the sovereign pontiff. As for the civil laws, they were made by the Catholic Emperors of old, or in any case, sanctioned by them; and these laws can only be applied by such as approve their authors, and would wish to imitate them. As these laws were often obscure and difficult, and people wished to interpret them, each according to his own idea, universities were established in Italy, France, and Spain. Here in England, where none such exist, you do not possess the knowledge of the true spirit and interpretation of these laws, but you interpret them according to your own wishes, and in such a way as to serve the law, and the police law of your country. If you wish to try me by the true civil law, I demand that some members of the universities be allowed to judge my case, so that I may not be left to the judgment of such lawyers as are subservient to the laws of England alone. But I see that you wish to prevent me from benefiting either by the canon or the civil law. You wish to reduce me to subject myself to the law of this country; but," continued the Queen earnestly, "I have no knowledge of this law. It is not my profession, and you have taken from me all power of studying it. Kings and princes usually have around them such persons as are versed in these matters, but I have no one. I therefore beg you to give me information in order that I may know how those in my position have been treated in the time past, and what has been admitted by law or precedent, either favourable to my case or not."