Mary replied in the following terms: "I came into this kingdom under promise of assistance, and aid, against my enemies, and not as a subject, as I could prove to you had I my papers; instead of which I have been detained and imprisoned. I protest publicly that I am an independent sovereign and princess, and I recognise no superior but God alone. I therefore require that before I proceed further, it be recorded that whatever I may say in replying here to the Commissioners of my good sister, the Queen of England (who, I consider, has been wrongly and falsely prejudiced against me), shall not be to my prejudice, nor that of the princes my allies, nor the King my son, or any of those who may succeed me. I make this protestation not out of regard to my life, or in order to conceal the truth, but purely for the preservation of the honour and dignity of my royal prerogative, and to show that in consenting to appear before this Commission I do so, not as a subject to Queen Elizabeth, but only from my desire to clear myself, and to show by my replies to all the world that I am not guilty of this crime against the person of the Queen, with which it seems I am charged. I wish to reply to this point alone, I desire this protest to be publicly recorded, and I appeal to all the lords and nobles present to bear me testimony, should it one day be necessary."[34] [Footnote 34: Chantelauze, pp. 515, 516.] Bromley, in reply, utterly denied that Mary had come into the kingdom of England under promise of assistance from his mistress. He declared that he and his colleagues were willing to record the protest of the Queen of Scots, but without accepting or approving it. He affirmed that it was void and null in the eyes of the law, and should in no way be to the prejudice of the dignity and supreme power of the English sovereign, or to the prerogative or jurisdiction of the Crown. To this he called all present to bear witness.[35] [Footnote 35: See Appendix, p. 271.] The Commission, which was drawn up in Latin, was now read aloud. At the end Mary protested energetically against the Commission and the laws upon which it was based,--laws which, she observed, had been framed expressly to destroy her just claims to the English throne and to bring about her death. Gawdy, the Queen's sergeant, now rose, "having a blue robe, a red hood on the shoulder, and a round cap _à l'antique_," and with head uncovered, made a discourse explaining the Commission and the occasion which had caused it to be summoned. He discussed several points, namely, the seizure of Babington, the suspected correspondence between him and the Queen of Scots, and further details of the plot, mentioning the names of the six men who (as he declared) had conspired to murder Queen Elizabeth.