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L r F E 
 
 h 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM DAVISON, 
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE 
 
 j^ribp (Counsellor 
 
 TO 
 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH. 
 
 —♦— 
 
 Di (si qua est coelo pietas, quae talia euret) 
 Persolvant grates dignas, et praemia reddant 
 Debita. Virq. 
 
 BY 
 
 NICHOLAS HARRIS NT CO LAS, Esa. 
 
 OF THE INNER TEMPLE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY AND FOR JOHN NICHOLS AND SON, 
 25 , PARLIAMENT STREET. 
 
 I 823. 
 

 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
1 
 
 I> a & s' a/ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 So many works have recently appeared on 
 the reign of Elizabeth, that it is necessary 
 the motives which have produced another 
 should be explained, lest the idea that no¬ 
 thing new can be said on any of the events 
 which occurred in that period, should create 
 a prejudice against the present publication. 
 
 The connection of William Davison, one 
 of the Secretaries of State to Queen Eliza¬ 
 beth, with the fate of Mary Queen of Scots, 
 has obtained for him the notice both of His¬ 
 torians and Biographers, and he is in a great 
 degree identified with that event. In exa¬ 
 mining his conduct on that occasion, that 
 of Elizabeth is necessarily reviewed; hence 
 every thing which relates to it is of great 
 
 a 2 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 interest, as additional light is thrown on an 
 obscure point of history, and new traits are 
 developed in the character of that extraor¬ 
 dinary woman. From the original matter 
 inserted in this volume, sufficient evidence 
 is perhaps adduced to form a conclusive 
 opinion of her real intentions towards her 
 kinswoman. 
 
 Some of the manuscripts in the British 
 Museum were found to contain very im¬ 
 portant particulars of Davison: especially, 
 two circumstantial narratives of what occur¬ 
 red between Elizabeth and himself relative 
 to the warrant for Mary’s execution ; a copy 
 of his examinations in the Tower, by two 
 Privy Counsellors; and his pathetic appeal 
 to the Queen’s feelings: neither of which 
 documents have, it is presumed, been before 
 noticed. 
 
 The will of Davison, which has hitherto 
 escaped observation, affords considerable 
 information about him after his dismissal 
 from Elizabeth’s councils, at which epoch 
 of his life all his former Biographers have 
 left him ; and very little has been known of 
 him subsequent to his commitment to the 
 Tower. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 V 
 
 Several letters from the most illustrious 
 of Davison’s contemporaries are introduced; 
 of these a few have already been published ; 
 but the one from King James to Archibald 
 Douglas, all of those from Sir Philip Syd¬ 
 ney, and the majority of the others, were 
 copied from the originals, and are for the 
 first time printed. 
 
 The Appendix contains the four Narra¬ 
 tives, or, as they are termed, “Apologies,” 
 left by Davison. The two first, and which 
 are the fullest and most satisfactory, have 
 never before, it is believed, been cited or 
 published; and although the third may be 
 found in many works, it was thought ad¬ 
 visable to collect the whole of the evidence 
 which exists on the subject. The fourth is 
 given in Robertson’s “History of Scotland;” 
 but it is inserted for the same reason. The 
 three examinations of Davison, whilst he 
 was a prisoner in the Tower, a paper writ¬ 
 ten by him, relative to the conduct of Lord 
 Burleigh towards him, and two copies of his 
 trial before the Star Chamber, will also be 
 found at the end of the volume. 
 
 The question of the guilt or innocence of 
 the Queen of Scots is not in the slightest 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 way discussed; nor are Davison’s sentiments 
 on the necessity of her destruction either 
 approved or defended : all which is claimed 
 for him on that point is, that he was guided 
 by the most conscientious feelings, and that 
 the opinions he expressed were dictated by 
 his anxiety for Elizabeth’s personal safety, 
 his zeal for the Protestant Religion, and his 
 devotion to the welfare of his Country. That 
 these excitements might have misled his 
 judgment is by no means improbable, for his 
 inflexible integrity was no protection against 
 the prejudices and errors of his times. It 
 is admitted that he was Mary’s political 
 enemy; but he was a generous and open ad¬ 
 versary; and although a mistaken patriotism 
 induced him to advise the Queen to execute 
 the sentence passed on her, his love of jus¬ 
 tice made him reject with abhorrence every 
 suggestion for putting her to death by si¬ 
 nister or illegal means. As this was the 
 most momentous transaction in Davison’s 
 life, an apology can scarcely be required for 
 the space appropriated to the relation of it. 
 
 Considerable trouble has been taken to 
 obtain all the information which is extant 
 concerning this celebrated Statesman ; and 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 it is sanguinely hoped that such particulars 
 of him have been discovered as will be in¬ 
 teresting to the Publick, and attain the ob¬ 
 ject which has actuated his Biographer in 
 submitting this Memoir to its notice — that 
 of exhibiting the character of the unfortunate 
 Davison in its true colours, of removing 
 those suspicions which have prevented his 
 greatest advocates from totally acquitting 
 him of guilt or imprudence, and of vindi¬ 
 cating that reputation which it was the wish 
 of his ungenerous Sovereign to traduce and 
 destroy. 
 
 August 30, 1822. 
 
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. 
 
 Fac-Similes of the Hand-writing of William Davison 
 
 [to face the title. 
 
 -of the Earls of Leicester and Essex, Lord 
 
 Burleigh, and Sir Francis Walsingham.P. 26 
 
 -of Sir Philip Sydney.P. 30 
 
 -of Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of 
 
 Scots, and James I.P. 
 
 Genealogical Table 
 
 P.213 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM DAVISON, 
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. 
 
 It is the province of Biography to collect 
 those particulars of the lives of men who 
 have been eminent in the service of their 
 country, which are too minute for the his¬ 
 torian, and to enter into that extensive in- 
 dagation of their conduct which the nature 
 and object of history entirely preclude. A 
 wish is often entertained to become ac¬ 
 quainted with the private characters of 
 statesmen who attained the plenitude of 
 power and prosperity; and a strong desire 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 is generally felt to learn what befel them 
 after the sun of royal favour, to which alone 
 they sometimes owed their celebrity, had 
 entirely set. The historian necessarily leaves 
 those who possessed his attention, when 
 they cease to be concerned in the trans¬ 
 actions which he records; but the biogra¬ 
 pher, like a faithful friend, attends them 
 wherever adversity may drive them; and 
 steadily follows the luminary, whose rise 
 and apex excited his admiration, through 
 its obscurations and wane, to its natural 
 and total extinction. 
 
 Few men have ever so severely expe¬ 
 rienced the vicissitudes attendant on public 
 life, or suffered so cruelly from the selfish 
 policy and injustice of their sovereign, as 
 William Davison, one of the Secretaries 
 of State to Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 Of the ancestry of this celebrated indivi¬ 
 dual nothing is known, and even the time 
 and place of his birth have not been ascer¬ 
 tained. Whilst the guest of Sir James Mel- 
 vill, during his residence in Scotland, as se¬ 
 cretary to Mr. Killegrew, he told Sir James 
 “that he was come of Scotsmen from 
 
 * Memoirs of Sir James Melvill, ed. 1735, p. 314, 315. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 3 
 
 this remark it has been concluded that he 
 was either born in Scotland, or descended 
 from natives of that country. * His name f 
 renders it very probable that his family were 
 Scotch; but, from his being a genealogist, 
 and nothing relative to his own pedigree 
 being given in his manuscripts, it may 
 fairly be presumed that it was obscure; 
 and this opinion is supported by his having 
 had a grant of arms, the registry of which 
 is the only record of him in the Heralds’ 
 College. The cause of his introduction to 
 the court of Elizabeth, and the appoint¬ 
 ment he first held in it, are subjects of 
 conjecture: by his marriage he was allied 
 to many persons of considerable importance; 
 amongst others to the celebrated Earl of 
 Leicester, who addressed him in all his let¬ 
 ters as his cousin; to Sir William Cecil, 
 afterwards Lord Burleigh; and to Sir Henry 
 
 * Kippis’s Biographia Britannica. 
 
 f In a letter, given in Collins’s Peerage (ed. 1779, vol. II. 
 p. 402), from Henry Percy, eighth Earl of Northumberland, 
 to the Earl of Shrewsbury, dated Alnwick, 6th August 1557, 
 he speaks of a “Richard Davyson" who was mortally 
 wounded in a skirmish in the town of Fenwick; and describes 
 him as one of the “ best borderers and guides" which the 
 Scotch forces possessed. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 Killegrew, * with whom he commenced his 
 diplomatic career, but it is not likely that 
 the connexion was formed sufficiently early 
 to allow his first appearance in public life to 
 be attributed to that cause. To Sir James 
 Melvill’s memoirs f we are probably indebted 
 for the earliest information respecting him : 
 it appears from them that he accompanied 
 Mr. Killegrew, in June 1566, as Secretary to 
 the embassy to congratulate the Queen of 
 Scots on the birth of her son. The passage 
 from which we learn this, contains also an 
 insinuation against him, which is transcribed, 
 in order to point out its injustice : — “ He 
 (Davison) had been in Scotland before, and 
 was at my house, in company with Sir Henry 
 Killegrew, my old friend, when he was resi¬ 
 dent in Scotland; at which time he acknow¬ 
 ledged to me that he was come of Scotsmen, 
 and was a Scotsman in his heart, and a fa¬ 
 vourer of the King’s right and title to the 
 crown of England. He desired me to keep 
 all secret from Mr. Killegrew, promising, if 
 he could find the means to be employed 
 
 * Vide Genealogical Table. 
 
 f P.314,315. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 5 
 
 here, that he would do good offices.” * It 
 is difficult precisely to understand what is 
 meant by this observation, unless the author 
 intended to assert, that Davison entertained 
 designs at variance with his integrity and 
 duty. The inaccuracy of part of the para¬ 
 graph from which the above has been ex¬ 
 tracted has been already alluded to; f and 
 the injustice of the insinuation is apparent 
 from the improbability of his making any 
 communication to Sir James Melvill which 
 he wished to be kept secret from Mr. Kille- 
 grew, on an occasion when the latter was 
 present. A possibility certainly exists that 
 this conversation occurred with Melvill in 
 the very words in which he relates it; if so, 
 the presumption is, that Davison had a poli¬ 
 tical object in professing his attachment to 
 Scotland, and that Killegrew was perfectly 
 acquainted with it; although it might be ne¬ 
 cessary to persuade Sir James that his zeal 
 for the interest of that country entirely arose 
 from personal feelings, and that it was not 
 only unconnected with his official situa- 
 
 * Melvill’s Memoirs, p. 314,315. 
 t Kippis’s Biographia Britannica. 
 
6 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 tion, blit in opposition to the duties which 
 it imposed. When, however, it is remem¬ 
 bered that part of what is attributed to him 
 w r as in unison with his opinions on the suc¬ 
 cession of James to the throne of England, 
 it is most probable that Melvill’s memory 
 on that occasion was imperfect; for until 
 Davison’s appointment as Secretary of State, 
 his very enemies have admitted the unble¬ 
 mished integrity of his political character. 
 His talents and acquirements, united to the 
 extraordinary address and assiduity which 
 always distinguished him, caused him to be 
 selected to accompany Mr. Killegrew.* For 
 nearly ten years nothing farther is known of 
 him. Killegrew returned from Scotland in 
 the July of the same year; f but whether 
 Davison remained after his departure, or 
 came back with him, is uncertain. His 
 biographers remark, that there are strong 
 reasons for believing that he remained at¬ 
 tached to the court, and was employed in 
 affairs of importance during that period. J 
 
 * Biographia Britannica. 
 
 + Burleigh's Notes of the Reign of Elizabeth, in Murdin’s 
 Burleigh Papers. J Biographia Britannica. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 7 
 
 The grounds for this supposition are not 
 stated; but it must be observed, that he 
 is not mentioned in any work on the reign 
 of Elizabeth between the years 1566 and 
 1576. 
 
 On the death of Zuniga, governor of the 
 Low Countries, and commander of Reque- 
 sens, in February 1576, Davison was sent to 
 the States as her Majesty’s agent, to conti¬ 
 nue the treaty of peace. * His instructions 
 are dated March 29, 1576: they com¬ 
 mand him to assure the States of her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s commiseration; to deny the accusa¬ 
 tion made against her, that she nourished 
 their civil wars; and to advise them to con¬ 
 tinue in their allegiance to the King of 
 Spain: but the real object of his mission 
 was to observe the state of affairs, with the 
 view of enabling Elizabeth to proceed with 
 the greater policy relative to the applica¬ 
 tions made to her by the Prince of Orange 
 and the people of Holland. £ He executed 
 the commission with which he was entrusted 
 so much to the Queen’s satisfaction that he 
 
 * Lord Burleigh’s Notes, 
 t Biographia Britannica. 
 
 f Lansdown MSS. 155. 
 
8 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 was sent over, on the 2d of July 1577,* to 
 reside as her Majesty’s agent at Antwerp; 
 and by instructions dated the 2d of August 
 following, he was ordered, on Namur being 
 seized by Don John, to proceed to that 
 city, f His conduct was as highly ap¬ 
 proved by Elizabeth as it was agreeable to 
 the States : he taught them to hope for the 
 Queen’s aid and support; and on their 
 pointing out that they absolutely required a 
 sum of money for their defence, he imme¬ 
 diately engaged to procure it, on their giving 
 adequate security. The valuable jewels and 
 plate which had been pledged by Matthias 
 of Austria to the States of Holland were, in 
 consequence, sent to this country. Lord 
 Burleigh, speaking of them in his notes, 
 says, “May 1579. Mr. Davison brought 
 over jewels from the States for a pawn for 
 ^28,000; which jewels were delivered to 
 the Lord Cobham and Mr. Secretary Wal- 
 singham, with consent of the Arch-duke 
 Matthias, governor there after Don John’s 
 death but the total sum advanced appeal’s 
 
 * Burleigh's Notes. 
 
 j- Lansdown MSS. 155. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 9 
 
 to have been ,s£50,000 * The different in¬ 
 structions given to Davison by the Queen 
 during his residence in Holland, together 
 with his letters to the Earl of Leicester, &c. 
 are still preserved : they throw considerable 
 light on the affairs of the States at that pe¬ 
 riod, and upon Elizabeth’s conduct towards 
 them; their contents, however, are more 
 connected with the history of that country 
 than with the life of Davison. They com¬ 
 pletely prove that throughout his negocia- 
 tions with the States of Holland he evinced 
 the greatest diplomatic ability, and that he 
 had the singular good fortune not only to 
 obtain the approbation of his own Sove¬ 
 reign, but also to acquire the esteem of the 
 States General, f 
 
 * Cottonian MSS. Galba, c. vi. part II. f. 110. 
 f The MSS. in the British Museum relating to Davison’s 
 negotiations in Holland are, 
 
 Copies of six instructions from the Queen to Mr. Davison, 
 of different dates between March 29, 1576, and September 19, 
 
 1578. (Lansdown MSS. 155. Harl. MSS. 285.36. Cotto¬ 
 nian MSS. Galba, c. vi. part II.) 
 
 Seven letters, containing instructions, &c. from Sir Francis 
 Walsingham to Mr. Davison, of various dates; the first from 
 Odiham, Oct. 22, 1578, and the last from Richmond, Jan. 20, 
 
 1579. (Cottonian MSS. Galba, c. vi. part II.) 
 
 Two letters from Mr. Davison to Lord Burleigh, relating to 
 
10 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 Mr. Davison returned from Holland in 
 April or May 1579 ; and the manner in 
 
 the affairs of Holland; the one dated Brussels, April 16, and 
 the other April 21, 1576. (Cottonian MSS. Galba, c. v.) 
 
 Eight letters, on the same subject, from Mr. Davison to the 
 Earl of Leicester, of various dates, between Oct. 3, 1577> and 
 March 26, 1579. (Cottonian MSS. Galba, c. vi. parts I. 
 and II.) 
 
 The Prince of Orange’s answer to several points proposed 
 by Mr. Davison, April 1578. 
 
 Minutes of proposals made by Mr. Davison, May 20, 1578. 
 
 Articles proposed by Mr. Davison to the States General, 
 with their answers, May 29, 1578. 
 
 Bond from the States of the Low Countries for money bor¬ 
 rowed of Queen Elizabeth, Antwerp, Nov. 3, 1578. 
 
 Remonstrance made by Mr. Davison to Prince Casimir, 
 concerning his conduct at Ghent, Nov. 10, 1578. 
 
 Prince Casimir to Queen Elizabeth, complaining of Davi¬ 
 son’s remonstrance, Nov. 14, 1578. 
 
 A paper relating to the Sum of ^50,000 lent by Queen 
 Elizabeth to Brabant and Flanders in 1578. 
 
 Memorial of Mr. Davison to confer with the Prince of 
 Orange, with the Prince’s answers, 157S. 
 
 Articles proposed by Mr. Davison to the States General, 
 with the answers of the States, May 20, 1578. 
 
 Another memorial for Mr. Davison to confer with the 
 Prince of Orange, with the Prince’s answer. 
 
 A Letter from Sir Francis Walsingham to Don Casimir, de¬ 
 nying that he was the cause of Mr. Davison’s negociation, 
 which had offended the Duke, 1578. (Cottonian MSS. 
 Galba, c. vi. part II.) 
 
 A letter from the States General to the Queen, regretting 
 Davison’s departure, and requesting that he or another might 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 11 
 
 which he had conducted the delicate affairs 
 committed to his guidance gained him so 
 high a reputation at court that he was em¬ 
 ployed on every object which required nice 
 and difficult management. * * Probably as a 
 reward for the services he had performed, 
 Elizabeth granted him, by letters patent, 
 dated 19th January, in the twenty-first year 
 of her reign [15/8], the reversion of the 
 situations of clerk of the Treasury and War- 
 rants, and Custos Brevium of the King’s 
 Bench; f but he did not succeed to them 
 until many years afterwards. 
 
 In 1582 the affairs of Scotland wore a 
 serious aspect : the influence of France 
 began to be considerably felt, and it be¬ 
 came desirable that an effort should be 
 made not only to counteract it, but to induce 
 the King and the people to slight the offers 
 made them by that country, and to depend 
 
 speedily be sent them; also on the subject of the deposit of 
 Jewels, &c.; Antwerp, May 22, 1579. 
 
 “A Remembrance for ‘my Cosen Cheeke’ of such Particulars 
 as he is to declare unto Her Majesty concerning the present 
 State of the Low Countries, 1578.” (Cottonian MSS. Galba, 
 c. vi. part II.) 
 
 * Biographia Britannica. 
 
 t Harl. MSS. 830. 
 
12 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 upon England only for assistance. So im¬ 
 portant a mission required talents and ad¬ 
 dress of the highest order, and Davison, 
 from possessing both in a superior degree, 
 was selected as her Majesty’s ambassador 
 to the court of Scotland. Lord Burleigh’s 
 notes inform us that he and Mr. Bowes 
 went into Scotland in February 1582-3. It 
 is certain that Davison succeeded in gain¬ 
 ing considerable influence both with James 
 and the Earl of Arran ; and this is admitted, 
 even by a writer who speaks of him with 
 direspect: * the Lord Treasurer’s notes 
 also state that “ Davison was revoked from 
 Scotland in September 1583 but it is 
 positive that he was there in September 
 1584. f 
 
 * Fontenay’s letter to Mary Queen of Scots, in Murdin’s 
 Burleigh papers, p. 552. 
 
 f The following part of Davison’s correspondence whilst 
 ambassador to the court of Scotland is in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 Thirty-five letters from Mr. Davison to Secretary Walsing- 
 ham, on the affairs of Scotland, between January 1582-3 and 
 September 17, 1584. (Cottonian MSS. Caligula, c. vii. and 
 c. viii. Harl. MSS. 291.) 
 
 Two letters from Mr. Davison to Lord Burleigh ; the one 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 13 
 
 From Davison’s correspondence it appears 
 that in January 1582-3 he had an audience of 
 the King; that he was soon after at New¬ 
 castle ; and, in the March following, at Edin¬ 
 burgh. In the dispatch from Mr. Bowes to 
 Sir Francis Walsingham, dated at Edin¬ 
 burgh, March 28, 1583-4, he says, that 
 Mr. Davison and Manningville were then 
 about to return: he was, however, at Ber- 
 
 dated Jan.3, 1582-3, and the other, from Berwick, MayS, 1584. 
 (Cottonian MSS. Caligula, c. vii. and Harl. MSS. 291.) 
 
 A letter from Mr. Davison to Sir Christopher Hatton, 
 Edinburgh, 6th September 15S4. (Harl. MSS. 291.) 
 
 Several letters to and from Davison, and other papers, re¬ 
 lating to his Embassy. (Ibid.) 
 
 A letter from Secretary Walsingham to Mr. Davison and 
 Mr. Bowes, Feb. 27, 1582-3. (Ibid.) 
 
 Articles presented by Mr. Davison and Mr. Bowes, for the 
 better satisfaction of Her Majesty, March 1, 1582-3. (Cot¬ 
 tonian MSS. Caligula, c. vii.) 
 
 Also, Queen Elizabeth’s instructions to Mr. Davison. (Harl. 
 MSS. 291.) 
 
 A letter from the Queen to Mr. Davison, dated August 
 1584. (Ibid.) 
 
 Directions to Mr. Davison for employing the sum of^2000, 
 signed by Lord Burleigh, dated 25 April 1584. (Harl. MSS. 
 286. Caligula, c. viii.) 
 
 The King of Scotland’s passport for Mr. Davison, dated at 
 Holyrood, 26 May 1584. (Harl. MSS. 291.) 
 
14 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 wick in May 1584, in which month his pass¬ 
 port is dated; and on the 17th of Septem¬ 
 ber he states, in his letter to Secretary 
 Walsingham, that he was on his return from 
 Scotland. Robertson thus speaks of the 
 object and success of Davison’s mission: 
 “ Henry III. sent De Motte Fenelon, his 
 ambassador at Elizabeth’s court, to Edin¬ 
 burgh, to endeavour to place James in a 
 situation more suitable to his dignity than 
 to be in the hands of a party devoted to the 
 English. As Elizabeth could not refuse him 
 liberty to execute this commission, she sent 
 Davison (‘ a man of abilities and address’ *) 
 to attend him into Scotland as her envoy, 
 under colour of concurring with him in the 
 negociation, but in reality to obstruct his 
 success. James received Fenelon with great 
 respect; but finding himself watched by 
 Davison, and distrusted by the Nobles, he 
 returned to England without having suc¬ 
 ceeded in his object.” f About this period 
 Mr. Davison was clerk of the Privy Coun- 
 
 * History of Scotland, vol. II. p. 2S2. 
 
 f Ibid. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 15 
 
 cil; * blit the date of his appointment to 
 that office has not been discovered. Early 
 in 1585 the States of the Low Countries 
 became obliged to throw themselves on the 
 Queen’s protection, and after Antwerp was 
 seized by the Spaniards, she was necessitated 
 to adopt decided measures. Elizabeth de¬ 
 termined to assist them in their resolution 
 of defending their freedom by force of arms; 
 and Mr. Davison was selected as her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s ambassador to form the treaty with 
 them, which was to be the basis of their 
 alliance with England: he went into Hol¬ 
 land, according to Lord Burleigh’s account, 
 in August 1585 ; who thus notices his depar¬ 
 ture : “August 1585, Mr. William Davison 
 sent of special message into the Low Coun¬ 
 tries, with 40 shillings diet.”f His instruc¬ 
 tions, which are still extant, J are without 
 date, and consist of nine articles: the prin¬ 
 cipal point in them is, to assure the States 
 that the Queen had taken them under her 
 
 * Strype’s Annals, vol. III. p. 290. 
 f Lord Burleigh’s notes, 
 t Cottonian MSS. Titus, b. ii. 
 
16 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 protection ; with some directions as to his 
 conduct in particular contingencies. The 
 most explicit information relative to his 
 negociation in Holland is given in the fol¬ 
 lowing note to the life of Davison in Kip- 
 pis’s “ BiographiaBritannica.” It is chiefly 
 taken from Strype’s “ Annals” * and the 
 “ Cabalabut these works have been re¬ 
 ferred to without finding all the letters and 
 intelligence which it is said are contained in 
 them. “ The treaty with the States was 
 negociated between their ministers and a 
 committee of the Privy Council here; but 
 the carrying it into execution was entirely 
 remitted to the care of Mr. Davison. 
 
 “ The Queen’s instructions to him, coun¬ 
 tersigned by Secretary Walsingham, are still 
 preserved, and consist of nine articles ; but 
 they are without datef. It appears, how¬ 
 ever, that in September 1585, his negocia¬ 
 tion was far advanced; for upon the fifth of 
 that month the Queen sent him a commis¬ 
 sion to take possession of Flushing in her 
 
 * Vol. III. p. 290. 
 f Cottonian MSS. Titus, b. ii. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 1 7 
 
 behalf, and to put the Brill into the hands 
 of the person whom General Norris should ap¬ 
 point. There are also letters extant from him 
 to the Earl of Leicester and Secretary Wal- 
 singham, relating to these affairs, as also a 
 very remarkable dispatch from the Commis¬ 
 sioners who had concluded this treaty to 
 Mr. Davison, dated October the 3d, in which 
 they acquaint him of her Majesty’s entire ap¬ 
 probation of his conduct, and signify that 
 the discontent which it seems had been al¬ 
 ready shewn about this treaty, did not in 
 the least regard him ; but referred to those 
 who had the administration of affairs in Hol¬ 
 land, who are said to have shewn a spirit of 
 over-reaching ; and as they were composed 
 of traders and advocates, the former respect¬ 
 ing nothing but their profit, and the latter 
 flying naturally to quirks and tricks, there 
 was no better to be expected from them. 
 Upon the whole, it appears that no Minister 
 could have greater trust reposed in him; or 
 desire a more ample approbation of his ser¬ 
 vices than he met with. In one thing only 
 he seems to have been a little uneasy, and that 
 was the narrowness of his allowance, which 
 made him very desirous to return to England, 
 
18 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 that the rise of his reputation might not be 
 purchased by the ruin of his estate. He was 
 not, however, recalled till after the Earl of 
 Leicester went over thither; and we find 
 the Lord Treasurer Burleigh entreating him 
 to give his advice to Mr. Thomas Cecil, his 
 eldest son, appointed Governor of the Brill, 
 at the same time that Sir Philip Sydney 
 succeeded Mr. Davison in the command of 
 Flushing.” * 
 
 The Earl of Leicester arrived in Holland 
 
 * The following documents and letters relative to Mr. Da¬ 
 vison’s mission to the Low Countries, are among the manu¬ 
 scripts in the British Museum. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth’s instructions to Mr. Davison on his going 
 over (without date). (Cottonian MSS. Titus, B. ii.) 
 
 Ibid. 24 December 1584. (Harl. MSS. 285.) 
 
 Ibid. 3 September 1585. (Harl. MSS. 36.) 
 
 Ibid. 27 April 1586. (Cottonian MSS. Galba, C. ix.) 
 
 Queen Elizabeth’s Warrant for Mr. Davison’s return, April 
 24, 15S6. (Harl. MSS. 285.) 
 
 A letter from Mr. Davison to Sir Francis Walsingham, 
 Flushing, October 31, 1585. (Lansdown MSS. !50.) 
 
 A letter from Mr. Davison to Mr. Herle, London, Feb. 17, 
 1585-6. (Cotton. MSS. Galba, C. viii.) 
 
 Ibid. Feb. 26, 1586. (Ibid.) 
 
 Nine letters from Mr. Davison to the Earl of Leicester, of 
 various dates, between Oct. 5, 15S5, and Feb. 2S, 1585-6. 
 (Ibid.) 
 
 A letter from Mr. Davison to a Dutch Minister, Hague, 
 March 10, 1586. (Ibid.) 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 19 
 
 about the 12th of December, 1585, as ap¬ 
 pears from his letter to Sir Francis Walsing- 
 ham, dated the Hague, 22d January, 1585* 
 [1586] : in this dispatch, he speaks very 
 highly of Mr. Davison, and of the services 
 he had rendered in Holland, and recpiests 
 that he might be sent back to him with in¬ 
 creased powers. Davison’s repeated solici¬ 
 tations to be allowed to return to England, 
 were at length complied with: the Queen’s 
 warrant for his return is dated 24th April 
 1585 f [1586] ; it states that the reason of 
 
 A letter from Maurice de Nassau, Prince of Orange, to 
 Mr. Davison, Hague, 15S5. (Cotton. MSS. Galba, C. viii.) 
 
 Remembrance from the Earl of Leicester for Mr. Davison. 
 (Cotton. MSS. Galba, C. ix.) 
 
 A letter from Mr. Davison to the Earl of Leicester, Lon¬ 
 don, Feb. 17, 1585-6. (Ibid.) 
 
 Ibid, last day of Feb. 1585-6. (Ibid.) 
 
 Ibid. London, July 2, 1586. (Ibid.) 
 
 Two letters, Ibid. Nov. 4 and 5, 1586. (Cotton. MSS. 
 Galba, C. x.) 
 
 A letter from the Earl of Leicester to Mr. Davison, March 
 10, 1585-6. (Harl. MSS. 285.) 
 
 Ibid. April 24, 1585. (Ibid.) From the contents of this 
 letter, the date assigned to it must be erroneous. It was pro¬ 
 bably written in November 1585. 
 
 A letter from Sir Philip Sydney to Mr. Davison, dated Am¬ 
 sterdam, 19 March, 1586. (Ibid.) 
 
 Ibid. Flushing, 14 April, 1586. (Ibid.) 
 
 * Harl. MSS. f Harl. MSS. 285. 
 
20 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 liis being recalled was her “ Understanding 
 his earnest suit, and desire to be revoked.” 
 
 The cause of this request, it has been said, 
 was the smallness of his allowance; and if 
 his embassy afforded him no other sources 
 of emolument than the allowance of forty 
 shillings a day, which Lord Burleigh tells 
 us was his pay, we can easily imagine that 
 his private fortune must have suffered con¬ 
 siderably. Mr. Davison was, however, in 
 London two months before the date of his 
 
 ■ t 
 
 recall: the following extracts from his letter 
 to Mr. Herle, dated London, February 17th 
 1585 * [1586], are curious. He informs him 
 that he arrived in town on the preceding 
 Sunday, “and on the same day repaired to the 
 court, but found a very cold welcome, and 
 things strangely interpreted.” That Lord 
 Leicester’s conduct “ was utterly disapprov¬ 
 ed, and that Sir Thomas Heneage was dis- 
 
 * Cottonian MSS. Galba, C. viii. It is to be remarked 
 that in many of the copies of original letters, given in this 
 Memoir, although the original expressions are strictly pre¬ 
 served, the orthography is modernized. This has been done 
 because many of the MSS. particularly those of Mr. Davison, 
 are so very illegible, that it was almost impossible to decipher 
 every letter ; hence, as it could not be done with exactness, it 
 was thought best not to attempt it. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 21 
 
 patched to undo and overthrow all that was 
 done:” after his arrival he says, “ my first 
 object was to discover from Mr. Secretary, 
 and then from the Vice Chamberlain, whe¬ 
 ther her Majesty, having knowledge of my 
 arrival, had sent for me.” “ The first part 
 of my audience with the Queen was exceed¬ 
 ing sharp, not only against his Lordship, for 
 presuming so far without her privity and 
 consent, and against her express commands ; 
 but also against me for not dissuading him, 
 and opposing myself to it.” “ Of the suc¬ 
 cess of my arguments with her Majesty,” he 
 continues, “ you may learn from my letters 
 to my Lord, and to others ; and I may be 
 bold to assure you, that had 1 not arrived, 
 my Lord would have been utterly disho¬ 
 noured, and the cause overthrown.” Al¬ 
 though he had successfully exerted himself 
 to convince the Lord Treasurer that the mea¬ 
 sures adopted were necessary, and his Lord- 
 ship had in consequence urged Elizabeth on 
 the subject, he adds, “ the Queen is in¬ 
 disposed to revoke Sir Thomas, but I have 
 induced her to qualify her message; but 
 even now, it would be little acceptable to 
 the Earl, or profitable to the cause :” that 
 Sir Thomas was then in Kent, detained 
 
22 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 by wind and weather, intending to go by 
 Flushing “ if the journey held;” but which 
 he had some idea would not be the case, 
 as he found “ her Majesty decline daily in 
 the heat of her offence against his Lord- 
 ship,” who, he observes, “ owes more to 
 the constant friendship of Mr. Secretary than 
 to all the others at Court :” after express¬ 
 ing his hopes that Mr. Herle’s wife and his 
 friends were well, he tells him that “ my 
 poor self being now in some part unbur¬ 
 dened of my business, am preparing to go 
 towards the Bath, about the middle of next 
 month, where I shall be more able to pray 
 for you, than able to do you service ;” and 
 concludes by assuring him of his friendship. 
 In a postscript, he adds, that Sir William 
 Pelham was then at his house in the country, 
 from whom he had heard once or twice, and 
 who, he remarks, “ had been hardly dealt 
 with.” * 
 
 * Sir William Pelham was field-marshal of the forces under 
 Leicester in Holland, in 1585. and died at Flushing, November 
 24, 1587- Vide Camden’s Elizabeth, p. 511.—Stow's Annals, 
 p. 733 to 741.—Collins’s Peerage, ed. 1779, v. 8. p. 118, 119. 
 The injustice alluded to by Davison perhaps referred to some 
 imputations thrown on him by Leicester, in extenuation of his 
 own conduct. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 23 
 
 On the same day [February 17, 1585-6], 
 Davison wrote to Lord Leicester, in which 
 he gave an able and elaborate account of 
 what passed in his audiences with the Queen, 
 and of the arguments he used to persuade 
 her of the propriety of the Earl’s conduct. 
 In this letter, * which is very long, and ad¬ 
 mirably written, he states that the morning 
 after his first interview with her Majesty, 
 on finding that Sir Thomas Heneage “ was 
 dispatched with great heat, I repaired again 
 unto her, and so much was I perplexed, 
 with teai^s besought her to be better ad¬ 
 vised.” 
 
 On the last day of February 1585 [1586], 
 Mr. Davison again wrote to the Earl of Lei¬ 
 cester from London, f and the subjoined 
 extracts from his letter cannot fail of being 
 deemed highly interesting, as they exhibit 
 Elizabeth’s transient, and wavering anger 
 towards her favourite, and the effect which 
 her displeasure produced on Lady Leicester. 
 Davison commences by informing his Lord- 
 ship, that since his arrival and the audiences 
 he had had with the Queen, “ the storm 
 
 * Printed at length in Hardwicke’s State Papers, vol. I. 
 p. SOI. f Cottonian MSS. Galba, C. viii. fol. 46. 
 
24 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 against his Lordship had overblown, and 
 abated daily, but that notwithstanding, Sir 
 Thomas Heneage continued his journey.” 
 He then says, “ I have not seen my Lady 
 for five or six days, but I hope to do my 
 duty towards her tomorrow. I found her 
 greatly troubled with the tempestuous news 
 she received from Court, but somewhat 
 comforted, when she understood how I had 
 succeeded with her Majesty. It had been 
 told me, by some great ones, that it had 
 been put into her Majesty’s head, that your 
 Lordship had sent for her, and that she 
 made preparations for the journey, which, 
 added to a number of other things, asserted 
 by such as affected neither your Lordship, 
 nor the cause, did not a little increase the 
 heat of her Majesty’s offence against you. 
 But this passion overblown, I hope her Ma¬ 
 jesty will have a gracious regard both to¬ 
 wards yourself, and the cause (as she hath 
 not let sometimes to protest since my re¬ 
 turn), knowing how much it importeth her 
 in honour and surety; which, recommend¬ 
 ing to the blessing of God, and your Lord- 
 ship to his gracious protection, I do here 
 most humbly take my leave, from my poor 
 house in London, this last of February 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 25 
 
 1585-6. Your Lordship’s ever bounden, and 
 most devoted to do you service. 
 
 W. Davison.” 
 
 Mr. Thomas Dudley, in a letter to Lord 
 Leicester, dated February 11th, 1586, also 
 alludes to the report of Lady Leicester’s 
 going over to the Earl, and says that her 
 Majesty had been informed that the Coun¬ 
 tess was going over to him, £t with a train 
 of ladies, gentlemen, and such coaches, lit¬ 
 ters, and side-saddles, as her Majesty had 
 none such, and which would surpass her 
 Court here, which did not a little stir her 
 Majesty to extreme clioler, and dislike of 
 all your doings; saying with great oaths, 
 she would have no more Courts under her 
 obeisance but her own.” In this letter, Mr. 
 Dudley tells his Lordship that he has long 
 forborne to acquaint him with her Majesty’s 
 displeasure, “ hoping he would have sent 
 Mr. Davison to have satisfied her Majesty, 
 but as he was not yet come,” he is induced 
 to do so ; and in another place, “ that the 
 long stay of Mr. Davison’s company, and 
 his forbearing to write, maketh all his friends 
 at their wits ends what to answer, or say in 
 
26 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 his behalfand adds, “ all your friends at 
 Court look for Mr. Davison’s arrival to sa¬ 
 tisfy all furies.” * Notwithstanding Davi¬ 
 son’s exertions to soften Elizabeth’s resent¬ 
 ment towards Leicester, and the success 
 which attended them might have convinced 
 his Lordship of the sincerity of his con¬ 
 duct, it is evident that the Earl thought 
 he had not pleaded his cause as he might 
 have done : and it appears from Leicester’s 
 dispatch to Secretary Walsingham, dated 
 31st January [1585-6], -f in which he says, 
 “ Mr. Davison doth now return home, which 
 I could hardly have yielded unto, but only 
 to satisfy you of our proceedingsthat 
 the Earl relied on him to explain, and justify 
 what he had done in Holland. In a letter 
 from Lord Leicester to Davison, addressed, 
 as all his Lordship’s letters were, to his 
 “ Cousyn Davison,” dated March 10, 1585 
 [1586], J among other charges he accuses 
 
 * Hardwicke's State Papers, vol. II. No. XVIII. p. 298. 
 f Harl. MSS. 285. 
 
 t Harl. MSS. 285 f. 230. It is printed in Hardwicke’s State 
 Papers, vol. I. p. 320 ; and Kippis, in his BiographiaBritannica, 
 article, “ Earl of Leicester,” makes the following pertinent 
 comments on it. “ One of Lord Leicester’s Letters to Davison 
 
( f 
 
 jz^fLZZ “' 
 
 T.183. 
 
 Y rZfS. 
 
 2 / / ' 
 
 /y^ /<^y 
 
 
 X. .Hurfzn. Zitfuy 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 27 
 
 him “ of not sufficiently setting forth his 
 reasons to her Majesty.” That these accu¬ 
 sations arose more from temper than justice 
 may be proved beyond the shadow of a 
 doubt; the letter which contains them is 
 still extant, and in the margin Davison has 
 written his answers to each of Leicester’s 
 charges. His replies are pithy, and con¬ 
 vincing ; the greatest part of them he posi¬ 
 tively denies, and the others he most satis¬ 
 factorily explains. Besides these answers to 
 Leicester’s accusations, Davison, in a letter 
 to the Earl, dated London, July 2, 1586, * * 
 refutes them in a manner which confirms 
 their injustice : a copy of the letter from Lord 
 Leicester, which from Davison’s marginal 
 notes is a curious article, would have been 
 inserted had it not been already published; 
 and the other proofs which exist, that Lei¬ 
 cester’s displeasure towards Davison was 
 unmerited, render its being recopied unne- 
 
 is extremely petulant, and strongly displays the haughty tem¬ 
 per of the man. Nor did Davison deserve this treatment, for 
 he evidently appears to have acted with great zeal in explain¬ 
 ing, and vindicating to the Queen, Leicester’s motives for ac¬ 
 cepting the dignity of Governor-general of the Low Countries.” 
 
 * Cottonian MSS. Galba, C. ix. 
 
28 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 cessary. If the conjecture is correct, that 
 he was indebted to the Earl for his situation 
 of Secretary of State, it is almost certain 
 that his Lordship became convinced that his 
 anger was undeserved, and that he was 
 again assured of his fidelity and attachment. 
 In thus attributing his appointment to that 
 office, to a wish to serve him, Camden’s 
 opinion of the motives with which Davison 
 was selected for it, is of course rejected, and 
 the grounds for disputing it will be stated in 
 a subsequent page. 
 
 The following letters * from the virtuous, 
 and celebrated Sir Philip Sidney are inserted, 
 because every memorial of so eminent an 
 individual is of great interest; and the friend¬ 
 ship and good opinion which it is evident 
 from them he entertained for his relative, f 
 are important testimonies of the estimation 
 in which Davison was held by the most il¬ 
 lustrious of his contemporaries. The second 
 letter is peculiarly valuable from its expres¬ 
 sing his regard for him in warmer terms than 
 the preceding ; and which, when contrasted 
 with it, may be considered to have arisen 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 285. 
 
 f Vide Genealogical Table. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 29 
 
 from Sydney’s having, between the 19tli of 
 March, and the 24th of April, received 
 proofs from Davison that the Earl of Lei¬ 
 cester’s suspicions were unfounded. The 
 noble manner in which Sir Philip avows his 
 having advised his uncle to the measures he 
 adopted, and the simple, yet dignified style 
 in which he declares his opinions, are 
 strongly characteristic of the author of the 
 “ Arcadia.” 
 
 “ Cousin, 
 
 “ My Lord thinks great unkindness in you, 
 being advertised from thence that you greatly 
 disclaim from his defence, which now your 
 absence from Court seems much to confirm;* 
 but of your faith I will make no doubt while 
 I live, only I think you answered not the 
 point of her Majesty’s mislike, for you an¬ 
 swered only upon the necessity, but should 
 have argued withal upon the nature, which 
 is not absolute as her Majesty took it. 
 Well, a great blow is stricken, things went 
 
 * In Davison’s Letter to Mr. Herle, dated 17th of the pre¬ 
 ceding month, he states that he was preparing to go to the 
 Bath about the middle of the next month. Vide p. £'2. 
 
30 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 on beyond expectation, I doubt me, hardly 
 to be redrest. And so I commit you to 
 God, my good Cousin, with hearty com¬ 
 mendations to my Cousin your wife. At Am¬ 
 sterdam, this 19th March, 1586. 
 
 “ Your loving Cousin, 
 
 “ PH. SlDNEY.” 
 
 “ To my especial good Cousin Mr. Davison. 
 
 “ Cousin, 
 
 “ I am heartily sorry with the unkindness 
 you conceive of my Lord, and more at the 
 cause thereof. I know by letters thence, 
 and some speeches here, that he was much 
 incensed because he had heard that you had 
 utterly, and with tears, disclaimed him 
 with mislike of the acceptance, but I did 
 never think he had written touching, you 
 into England. For my part I will for no 
 cause deny (and, therefore, you shall have 
 my hand-writing to prove I am no accuser 
 of you) that I was ever of opinion he should 
 accept it without delay, because of the ne¬ 
 cessity, without sending to her Majesty be¬ 
 cause of not forcing her in a manner to be 
 further engaged than she would, which had 
 
OC'J 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 31 
 
 been a piece of an undutiful dutifulness. The 
 odds was, that some others were of opinion 
 the authority was not increasing; you liked 
 of this, as it is, and I only lent to your 
 opinion therein. Well Cousin, these mis- 
 takings sometimes breed hard effects, but I 
 know he in his judgment loves you very 
 well, howsoever in his passion he have writ¬ 
 ten, and so I end, assuring you that I am 
 still one towards you, as one that know you, 
 and therefore love you. Commend me to 
 my Cousin, and God preserve you both. 
 At Flushing, this 14th April [1586]. 
 
 “ Your most loving Cousin, 
 
 <£ Ph. Sidney.” 
 
 “ To my especial good Friend and Cousin 
 Mr. Davison. 
 
 “ Good Cousin, 
 
 *' £ The long practice of Graveling which 
 was brought unto us, is proved a flat trea¬ 
 son, I think even in them that dealt with 
 us. The circumstances I leave to Burnet, 
 who yet thinks better of the practisers than 
 I do; for yourself Cousin, assure yourself 
 any way that I can testify my assured friend¬ 
 ship towards you I will: ground upon it for 
 
32 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 I will not fail you; and so I leave you to 
 God’s blessed protection. At Flushing, this 
 20th July, 1586. 
 
 “ Your loving friend and Cousin, 
 
 “ Ph. Sidney.” 
 
 Mr. Davison’s conduct as her Majesty’s 
 Ambassador to the States of Holland, added 
 very considerably to the reputation he had 
 already acquired. The negociation with 
 which he was entrusted has been considered 
 one of the most intricate, and difficult 
 transactions of Elizabeth’s reign: but he 
 had, as it has been already observed, the 
 extraordinary good fortune to render an 
 important service to his own country, by 
 obtaining ample security for the expellees 
 it had occurred in aiding the Low Countries 
 against Spain; whilst, by his urbanity and 
 address, he conciliated the esteem of the 
 States, and received their strongest acknow¬ 
 ledgments. * Soon after his return to Eng¬ 
 land, he was declared a member of her Ma ¬ 
 jesty’s most honourable Privy Council, and 
 in the autumn of the same year appointed 
 one of her principal Secretaries of State. 
 
 * Biographia Britannica. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 33 
 
 It is certain that Davison held this office 
 in the beginning of October 1586, as he is 
 described as one of her Majesty’s principal 
 Secretaries in the Commission for the trial 
 of the Queen of Scots, which was issued 
 early in that month ; but the warrant for his 
 appointment, a copy of which is pre¬ 
 served, * was not issued until the Decem¬ 
 ber following. It is dated at Westminster, 
 December 12, anno regni 29 [1586], The 
 preamble recites that, “ De fidelitate, in¬ 
 dustrial, prudentia, experientia, et pro aliis 
 virtutibus egregiis dilecti et fidelis consiliarii 
 nostri Guilliami Davison, Armigeris ,” her 
 Majesty had been pleased to create him one 
 of her principal Secretaries, and an annual 
 salary of <§£.100, to be paid twice a year, 
 is assigned him. 
 
 Davison had now attained the meridian 
 of his fortunes, and although his approach 
 to power had been slow and progressive, 
 his fall was precipitate and fatal. The mo¬ 
 tives with which he was selected for so con¬ 
 fidential a situation having been commented 
 on, it is necessary to devote a few pages to 
 examine them. 
 
 * Cotton. MSS. Vespasian, C. xiv. f. 539. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 It is the opinion of Camden, * and which 
 has met with general acceptation, that Da¬ 
 vison was appointed Secretary of State 
 solely to be made the instrument of the 
 death of the Queen of Scots, and then to 
 be sacrificed to Elizabeth’s selfish policy of 
 persuading the world, that that event was 
 without her knowledge, and against her in¬ 
 clination. This opinion, however, is not 
 only unsupported by one single argument, 
 but every probability is strongly against it. 
 Davison was not a man who was suddenly 
 fixed on to take a part in the affairs of 
 state, destitute of patronage and connec¬ 
 tion, and without reputation or experience 
 twenty years had elapsed since his first ap¬ 
 pearance in public life, during which period 
 he had filled several important diplomatic 
 situations, and had always been employed on 
 those which required peculiar management 
 and ability : his conduct had secured to 
 him a high reputation for fidelity, zeal, and 
 integrity ; and the complete success which 
 
 * Annals of Elizabeth. 
 
 f In the Preamble to the Warrant for creating Davison Se¬ 
 cretary of State, his experience is stated as one of the causes of 
 his appointment. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 35 
 
 attended each of his missions, is sufficient 
 evidence of his talents, and address. He 
 was, as has been shewn, the relative, as w r ell 
 as the friend of the potent Earl of Leicester, 
 who, if the virtuous Sir Philip Sydney may 
 be believed, notwithstanding his transient 
 displeasure, entertained a sincere regard for 
 him; he was also connected with the Lord 
 Treasurer Burleigh, and when the cloud first 
 burst on the unfortunate Secretary, he bore 
 testimony to his superior merits. The 
 Earl of Essex was also a warm friend to Mr. 
 Davison, and his friendship was perhaps, 
 more sincere than that professed by the 
 others, because it was manifested in his mis¬ 
 fortunes ; and so far as we can judge by the 
 absence of all proof to the contrary, was 
 unweakened by any interruption. With 
 these facts to guide our judgment, can the 
 appointment of Davison appear so extraor¬ 
 dinary, as to oblige us to impute it to a pre¬ 
 meditated scheme, which was to end in his 
 disgrace and ruin ? Is it probable, if the 
 plan had really been laid, that the death of 
 Queen Mary should be imputed to one of 
 Elizabeth’s ministers, whose fortune and fame 
 
36 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 were in consequence to be immolated, that a 
 man allied by marriage to some of the most 
 powerful personages in the Queen’s Council, 
 would have been selected ? Notwithstand¬ 
 ing the vices imputed to Leicester, and the 
 deep policy ascribed to Burleigh, is it likely 
 that they would have chosen their victim 
 from their friends and kindred ? But with¬ 
 out dwelling on the family connection be¬ 
 tween these individuals, as grounds for dis¬ 
 senting from Camden’s conjecture, there are 
 other reasons of some weight for thinking 
 that Davison’s appointment was totally un¬ 
 influenced by any sinister motive. About 
 the period at which he came into office, it 
 was determined to bring the Queen of Scots 
 to trial, and the additional business which 
 must have been expected from that affair, 
 was a sufficient reason for creating another 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 Davison had then just returned from an 
 embassy which he had concluded perfectly 
 to Elizabeth’s satisfaction ; his zeal rendered 
 him peculiarly eligible for the proposed situ¬ 
 ation ; and the nature of his talents, which 
 combined considerable prudence, with great 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 37 
 
 political sagacity, particularly fitted him to 
 advise on the delicate and important busi¬ 
 ness then in agitation. If Burleigh, and the 
 rest of the Ministers, had intended to render 
 the person who was to be appointed to that 
 office the tool of a State intrigue, would 
 they not have chosen a man whose integrity 
 was flexible, and whose easy nature was in¬ 
 capable of resisting the wishes of others ? 
 They must have known that the persuasions 
 of Elizabeth, the example of Leicester, and 
 of the majority of the most distinguished 
 personages in the kingdom, could not in¬ 
 duce him to subscribe to the bond of asso¬ 
 ciation. * The reasons which caused him to 
 refuse, he probably assigned in writing, as 
 they still exist in his own manuscript, f 
 Upon what possible basis then could the Mi¬ 
 nisters of the Queen have built their expecta¬ 
 tions, that he would become the instrument 
 of their projects ? His talents and prudence 
 had often been exhibited, and were gene¬ 
 rally admitted ; they could not consequently 
 have founded any such hopes upon his 
 
 * Cottonian MSS. Calig. C. ix. f. 470, 471. Printed in 
 the Appendix to Robertson’s History of Scotland, 
 f Harl. MSS. 290, f. 154. 
 
38 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 weakness or ductility. They must have seen 
 that even the solicitations of Majesty itself 
 could not induce him to do what his con¬ 
 science disapproved ; hence he was not likely 
 to be worked upon by any thing which they 
 could offer. His general character, too, must 
 have taught them that he would prefer po¬ 
 verty and obscurity to rank or power, if the 
 latter were to be purchased by the commis¬ 
 sion of any act which could possibly cast a 
 stain upon a reputation that had always been 
 pure and unspotted. But besides all these 
 considerations, Elizabeth told the Earl of 
 Essex that she had herself selected him for 
 that situation, and she appeared to take cre¬ 
 dit for her discernment, in appreciating his 
 capability for the duties of it. Hence there 
 are sufficient reasons for the decided belief 
 that Davison’s appointment as Secretary of 
 State was the natural consequence of his 
 services, talents, and connections, without 
 there being the slightest intention of making 
 him the agent of Mary’s execution, or of his 
 own misfortunes. 
 
 The commission for the trial of the Queen 
 of Scots was dated on the 6th of October, 
 1586, and Avas addressed to the following 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 39 
 
 distinguished characters the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury ; the Lord Chancellor ; the 
 Lord Treasurer; the Marquis of Winchester; 
 the Earl of Oxford, Great Chamberlain of 
 England; the Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl 
 Marshal; the Earl of Kent; the Earl of 
 Derby; the Earl of Worcester; the Earl of 
 Rutland; the Earl of Warwick, Master of 
 the Ordnance; the Earl of Pembroke ; the 
 Earl of Leicester, Master of the Horse ; the 
 Earl of Lincoln; the Viscount Montague; 
 the Lord Howard, Great Admiral of Eng¬ 
 land ; the Lord Hunsdon, our Lord Cham¬ 
 berlain ; the Lord Abergavenny; the Lord 
 Zoucli; the Lord Morley; the Lord Cob- 
 ham, Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports ; the 
 Lord Stafford; the Lord Grey of Wilton ; 
 the Lord Lumley; the Lord Stourton; the 
 Lord Sandes; the Lord Wentworth; the 
 Lord Mordaunt; the Lord St. John of Blet- 
 slioe; the Lord Buckhurst; the Lord Comp¬ 
 ton ; the Lord Cheney; Sir Francis Knolles, 
 Treasurer of the Household; Sir James 
 Crofts, Comptroller of the Household; Sir 
 Christopher Hatton, Vice-Chamberlain ; Sir 
 Francis Walsingham, one of our Principal 
 Secretaries, and another of our Privy Coun- 
 
40 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 cil; 4 and also to our trusty and beloved 
 William Davison, Esquire, another of our 
 Principal Secretaries, and of our Privy Coun¬ 
 cil Sir Ralph Sadler, Chancellor of the 
 Duchy of Lancaster; Sir Walter Mildmay, 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer; Sir Amias 
 Paulet, Captain of the Isle of Jersey; John 
 Wolley, Esq. our Secretary for the Latin 
 Tongue, and a Privy Councillor; Sir Chris¬ 
 topher Wray, Chief Justice of the Pleas; 
 Sir Edmund Anderson, Chief Justice of the 
 Queen’s Bench ; Sir Roger Manwood, Chief 
 Baron of the Exchequer ; Sir Thomas Gaw- 
 dy, one of the Justices of the Pleas ; and 
 William Periam, one of our Justices of the 
 Bench.” 
 
 There are three letters extant from Davi¬ 
 son on the subject of the trial of the Queen 
 of Scots, and as every document connected 
 with that event is of the highest interest, 
 the following extracts have been made from 
 them. 
 
 In the first, to Sir Francis Walsingham, 
 dated at the Court, October 4th, 1586, he 
 tells him, * that he has submitted his letter, 
 with one from the Lord Treasurer, to her 
 
 * Harleian MSS. 290, fo. 174. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 41 
 
 Majesty, who, <f for the point of renewing 
 the commission, alloweth of his Lordship’s 
 discretion, though she thinks it a ceremony 
 needless in respect of adding the names of 
 Mr. Wolley and myself; which, she saitli, 
 is more than the words of the Statute * doth 
 exact; but because the Judges do think it 
 fit, she is content it passeth so. Of the 
 style of the Scotch Queen her Majesty is 
 likewise pleased, that the words mentioned in 
 my Lord Treasurer’s letter com’uniter vocata, 
 or, appellata Regina Scottorum, be inserted in 
 the said Commission, if by his Lordship, 
 your honour, and her learned Council, it 
 be found expedient.” He adds, that her 
 Majesty wished the Parliament to be pro¬ 
 rogued for some days longer, if the Treasurer, 
 and himself (Walsingham), to whose judg¬ 
 ment she referred it, thought it convenient; 
 and she desired that, for the ceremony 
 of adjourning it, a commission should be 
 sent her, smiliar to a precedent in the first 
 year of her reign ; and concluded by inform¬ 
 ing him that Tirrell’s letter was “ very pleas¬ 
 ing to her Highness, both for its style and 
 
 * Passed “23d Nov, 27 Elizabeth, anno 1584. 
 
42 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 affection, of which she conceiveth well, 
 and hath commanded him to signify to the 
 Lord Treasurer, and your honour, that 
 whatever course they take with him she will 
 allow.” 
 
 From this letter it is manifest that it was 
 not originally intended that Davison should 
 have been one of the Commissioners for the 
 trial of Mary, and that it was only the re¬ 
 presentation of the Judges, of the necessity 
 of complying strictly with the Act of Parlia¬ 
 ment, which required that all the Privy 
 Council should be included in the Commis¬ 
 sion, that his name was inserted. This 
 gives additional strength to the opinion that 
 he was not brought into the ministry with 
 the views which Camden has ascribed. 
 
 The second letter, which is from Mr. Da¬ 
 vison to Lord Burleigh, dated at the Court 
 at Windsor, 5th October, 1586, * affords an 
 example of Elizabeth’s tenacity of opinion. 
 
 It acquaints his Lordship that he had com¬ 
 municated his letter to the Queen, but 
 
 v 
 
 that notwithstanding all he could allege, 
 she had deferred signing either Commission 
 
 * Harleian MSS. 290 . f. 176. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 43 
 
 till she heard again from him; that her 
 Majesty thought it best to adjourn Parlia¬ 
 ment, both for the certainty of the Lords 
 return, and for the better considering of the 
 course to be taken on their reports; that 
 she had postponed it until Monday, the last 
 of the month, “ which is the nearest I can 
 yet bring her to, unless your Lordship’s 
 particular advice to her do help it.” He 
 then states that the Queen had taken some 
 exceptions to the wording of the description 
 of Mary in the Commission ; the words 
 were, “ Tam per Maria’ fdiam et hseredem 
 Jacobi quinti nuper Scotoru’ Regis ac com- 
 muniter vocatam Reginam Scotoru’ et do- 
 tare Francieeand Elizabeth wished them 
 changed to, “ Tam per Maria’ filiam, &c. 
 nuper Scotoru’ Regis et dotare Francise 
 communiter vocata Regina’ Scotoru’and 
 Davison adds, “ that all he could urge of 
 his Lordship’s having it sent in such form as 
 was advisable in law, the opinion of the 
 Judges, and the special words of Mr. At¬ 
 torney, was to little purpose, till she heard 
 further from his Lordship, to whom he had 
 dispatched an especial messenger; and he 
 concludes by praying his speedy answer. 
 
44 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 The Commissioners appointed to try 
 Mary left London before the 8th of Octo¬ 
 ber ; for on that day Davison wrote to Bur¬ 
 leigh a long letter* acquainting him, that as 
 her Majesty thought the Queen of Scots 
 might wish to have a private conference with 
 his Lordship, and some others of the Coun¬ 
 cil, and as he had no express directions how 
 to act in case of such request, he w r as di¬ 
 rected to enclose a letter f directed to him, 
 and Mr. Secretary Walsingham only, for 
 their guidance ; and submits three points 
 for their judgment: “1st, Whether it be ex¬ 
 pedient to send at the first, some tw r o or 
 three of her said Council, to signify to the 
 Scottish Queen her Highness’ pleasure for 
 the proceeding with her, and deliver her 
 letters, or to commit it only to Sir Annas 
 Paulet, in whose custody she remaineth. 
 2dly, Whether, in case she desire her ser¬ 
 vants Naw, Curie, and Parker, personally to 
 testify those things they have here confessed 
 against her, your Lordship shall think it ne- 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 290, fo. ISO. 
 
 f Ibid. fo. 179- This Letter authorized Burleigh in case 
 of such a request to accede to it. It also refers to the same 
 point relative to Naw, Curie, &c. as is stated in the above. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 45 
 
 cessary to have them present, though in 
 her own opinion it seems a matter needless. 
 3dly, That as her Majesty had heard that 
 many private men are gone towards Fother- 
 inghay to observe the course of proceedings 
 there, among whom were some bad and dan¬ 
 gerous instruments, whose ill offices, at such 
 a time and place, might yield some harm to 
 her service, she submits it to their opinion 
 (the Treasurer and Walsingham) whether they 
 shall think it best, under such circumstan¬ 
 ces, to have it so public as every man may 
 hear, or that such only be admitted as be 
 Commissioners, with such other of her ser¬ 
 vants, &c. as were appointed to attend upon 
 them.” He encloses the Privy Seal for the 
 ,^.1000,* which he had orders to employ 
 as his “Lordship knew,” and requests him, 
 upon receipt thereof, to return some order 
 by the bearer to Mr. Peters, to see it paid 
 to such one as he should appoint to receive 
 it : he then informs the Treasurer that 
 Digby had been examined by the Lords Ad- 
 
 * Thus noticed in Lord Burleigh’s Notes, “ October, 1586. 
 The sum of ^.lOOO delivered to Mr. Davison, one of the Prin¬ 
 cipal Secretaries.” 
 
46 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 miral and Chamberlain, * and confronted 
 with his accuser, “ whose report he confess- 
 eth true, in the point of his reconcilement 
 and conversation with Morgan, Charles Pa- 
 gett, &c.; but in the chief point f confesseth 
 nothingand that he is now, by order from 
 their Lordships, committed to the Tower for 
 further trial. He also acquaints his Lordship 
 that he had just seen “ a Dutchman, newly 
 come from Paris, who was familiar with the 
 Queen mother, her jeweller, who adviseth 
 her Majesty to beware of one that will pre¬ 
 sent her a petition on her way to chapel, or 
 walking abroad, without specifying other 
 particulars,” and suggests to the Treasurer to 
 write to the Queen, “ to pray her to be more 
 circumspect of her person, and spare to 
 shew herself publicly, than she is, till the 
 brunt of the business now in hand be well 
 overblown.” He goes on to state the “ pre- 
 
 * It is consequently evident that these Officers did not at¬ 
 tend the Trial of the Queen of Scots, which agrees with Cam¬ 
 den's account. 
 
 f Which, from an interlineation in Davison’s hand, appears 
 to have been the attempt against Elizabeth's life; the passage 
 is somewhat obscure from its having been corrected to make it 
 more grammatical. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 4 7 
 
 sumption” of the French Ambassador, who 
 had interfered relative to the Queen of Scots’ 
 trial, and repeats the answer which the 
 Lord Chamberlain, by Elizabeth’s orders, 
 gave verbally to the Ambassador’s Secretary: 
 which is very strong, and full of resentment at 
 his “ presumption in attempting to school 
 her in her actions,” and expresses her doubts 
 whether he was so instructed by his master; 
 and Davison thus concludes his letter; “ and 
 so being specially commanded by her Ma¬ 
 jesty to signify to you both, how greatly 
 she doth long to hear how her Spirite 
 and Moon * do find themselves after so foul 
 and wearisome a journey, f I do here, with 
 remembrance of my duty, most humbly and 
 in haste take my leave; at the Court at 
 Windsor, this 8th of October, 1586and 
 in a postscript he adds “ her Majesty is- 
 very desirous your Lordship should let my 
 Lord of Shrewesburie and my Lord of War- 
 
 * Were these Elizabeth’s familiar appellations for Burleigh 
 and Walsingham ? 
 
 f The importance which it is evident was then attached to 
 a journey of about 80 miles, forms a singular contrast to the 
 estimation in which that distance is now held. 
 
48 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 wick understand, that she is in great desire 
 to hear how they have passed their long and 
 weaiy journey.” 
 
 The Commissioners for the trial of the 
 unhappy Mary assembled at Fotheringay on 
 the 11th of October, but their proceedings 
 have been so frequently published, and have 
 given rise to so many comments, that it 
 would be a work of supererogation to repeat 
 them here. Mr. Davison, however, certainly 
 did not attend, * and it has been attributed 
 to his influence and advice, f that the sen¬ 
 tence on the Queen of Scots was not imme¬ 
 diately pronounced. Elizabeth’s commands 
 on that point were expressed in the follow¬ 
 ing letter. J 
 
 “ Elizabeth, R. 
 
 “ Right trusty and right well-beloved 
 Counsellors, we greet you well; whereas, 
 by your letters received this evening, we 
 
 * Vide the List of the Commissioners who attended, as given 
 by Camden in his Annals of Elizabeth, p. 353 ; and Saunder- 
 son’s Life of Mary Queen of Scots, p. 114. See also Appen¬ 
 dix D, from Cottonian MSS. Caligula, C. ix. f. 4/1. 
 
 f Vide Appendix D. 
 
 ♦ Harl. MSS. 2!)0. f. 180. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 49 
 
 find that the Scottish Queen doth absolutely 
 refuse to submit herself to trial, or make 
 any answer to such things as by you, and 
 the rest of our Commissioners there, she is 
 to be charged with; and that notwithstand¬ 
 ing you are determined to proceed to sen¬ 
 tence against her, according to our commis¬ 
 sion given you in that behalf, we have 
 thought good hereby to let you understand, 
 that albeit upon the examination and trial 
 of the cause, you shall by verdict find the 
 Scottish Queen guilty of the crimes where¬ 
 with she standeth charged, and that you 
 might accordingly proceed to the sentence 
 against her; yet we do find it meet, and 
 such is our pleasure, that you nevertheless 
 forbear the pronouncing thereof, until such 
 time as you shall have made your personal 
 return to our presence, and report to us of 
 your proceedings and opinions in that be¬ 
 half ; or, otherwise, if you find it may pre¬ 
 judge your principal commission, or hinder 
 our service, to advertise us thereof accord¬ 
 ingly, and abide there our further answer. 
 And these our letters shall herein be to you, 
 and the rest of our said Commissioners there, 
 
50 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 our sufficient warrant and discharge, 7th of 
 October, 1586.” 
 
 On the 25th of October the Commission¬ 
 ers met at the Star Chamber at Westmin¬ 
 ster, and pronounced sentence on the mi¬ 
 serable Mary, which they confirmed by their 
 seals and subscriptions. Camden states,* 
 that all the Commissioners attended on that 
 occasion, excepting the Earls of Shrews¬ 
 bury and Warwick, who were ill, and Sir 
 Amias Paulet; but this is not quite correct, 
 for neither the Earl of Leicester, f nor Mr. 
 Davison were present; but as they were both 
 absent at the trial, it is perhaps meant that 
 all the Commissioners who were at Fother- 
 ingay also attended, when the sentence was 
 announced : that Davison was absent on 
 this occasion is apparent from his own state¬ 
 ment, in which he says, that “ he was no 
 party in signing the sentence passed against 
 her.” + 
 
 On the 29th of the same month Parlia¬ 
 ment met, and on the 12th of November 
 
 * Annals of Elizabeth, p. 353. 
 
 f Kippis, Biog. Britan, article “ Dudley Earl of Leicester.' 
 + Appendix D. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 51 
 
 both Houses addressed the Queen, solicit¬ 
 ing the execution of the sentence passed 
 against the Queen of Scots. Mr. Ser¬ 
 jeant Puckering, the Speaker, in the name 
 of the Commons, after relating the con¬ 
 duct of Mary towards her, pointed out the 
 dangerous consequences of sparing her life, 
 and urged their request by the example of 
 God’s displeasure on Saul for saving king 
 Agag, and on Acliab for preserving Bena- 
 dab; he then stated their reliance upon 
 her princely resolution, and concluded with 
 the following passage in favour of their 
 petition, “ which we assure ourselves will 
 be to God most acceptable, and to us no 
 other than the state of your regal authority, 
 and the approved arguments of your tender 
 care for our safety under your charge, doth 
 promise to our expectation.”* 
 
 In her Majesty’s reply, she expressed her 
 gratitude for the special care which provi¬ 
 dence had taken of her, and then told them 
 “that although she finds her life had been en¬ 
 dangered from the Queen of Scots’ machina- 
 
 * Holinshed’s Chronicle, v. II. p. 1580. 
 
52 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 tions, yet that she is so devoid of malice, 
 that she laments one of the same sex, state, 
 and her nearest relation, should commit so 
 grievous a crime; that she had so little in¬ 
 tention of evincing revenge towards her, as 
 secretly to write her, assuring her that if 
 she would privately confess her treasons she 
 should never be publicly questioned con¬ 
 cerning them; that even now, although she 
 had been convicted of treason, if she thought 
 she would repent or that her emissaries 
 would not pursue their designs; or, if they 
 were two milk-maids with pails upon their 
 arms, and that it was merely a question 
 which involved her own life, and did not 
 endanger their religion and welfare, she pro¬ 
 tested she would most willingly pardon her 
 offences ; that if by her own death any ad¬ 
 vantage would accrue to the kingdom, she 
 declared she would willingly die, having no¬ 
 thing worth living for.” After some observa¬ 
 tions relative to her willingness to quit the 
 world, she reproaches the House for their 
 “ frequently standing more upon syllables 
 than sense of the law, and upon form than 
 matter.” She then informed them “ that the 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 53 
 
 Act of Parliament had brought her into a 
 great strait, by obliging her to give direc¬ 
 tions for her kinswoman’s death, which 
 was to her a most grievous and irksome 
 burthen; that she had absented herself 
 from that Parliament not from any personal 
 fear, but from her great dislike to hear this 
 cause spoken of, especially because one 
 of such state and kindred should need 
 so open a declaration ; that she will tell 
 them a secret, that she lately saw it written 
 that an oath was taken, within a few days, 
 either to kill her, or be hanged themselves; 
 that she is not unmindful of their oath of 
 association, which she considered a proof of 
 their affections; but that for this matter, 
 as it was rare, weighty, and of great conse¬ 
 quence, they must not look for any present 
 resolution; that it is not her manner, even 
 in things of less moment to give a hasty 
 answer, and that in this she thinks it requisite 
 with earnest prayer to beseech the divine 
 Majesty so to illuminate her understanding, 
 and to inspire her with his grace to do and 
 determine that which shall serve to the esta¬ 
 blishment of his church, preservation of their 
 
54 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 estates, and prosperity of this common¬ 
 wealth under her charge, wherein, as she 
 knows delays are dangerous, they shall 
 with all convenience have her resolution;” 
 and finished her reply with a gracious pro¬ 
 mise to requite their many deserts, by go¬ 
 verning them with strict justice and impar¬ 
 tiality. 
 
 A few days afterwards Elizabeth sent 
 a message to the Lords and Commons, 
 and in the mean time she pretended to have 
 been deliberating with herself, and to have 
 had a great conflict with her merciful nature 
 what to determine : in this communication 
 she earnestly charged them to enter into 
 further consideration, whether some other 
 means might not be suggested than those 
 which they had required. 
 
 The two houses had consequently several 
 consultations, both in their respective houses, 
 and by conferences between committees spe¬ 
 cially deputed from each. It was however 
 unanimously agreed in both houses, that 
 no other “ sound and assured means ” could 
 be devised for the tranquillity of the realm, 
 the security of their religion, and the safety 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 55 
 
 of her Majesty’s person, than what was 
 pointed out in their former petition, and 
 which they again prayed her to adopt. 
 
 An address to this effect was presented on 
 the24th, and they received an answer contain¬ 
 ing more disgusting egotisms, and hypocriti¬ 
 cal assurances of being unwilling to comply 
 with their request, than the former. She com¬ 
 menced her reply by informing them “ that 
 she had strove more that day than any in her 
 life, whether she should speak or be silent; 
 if she spoke and did not complain, she 
 should dissemble; if she held her peace, 
 their labour was vain; she protested 
 such had been her greedy desire and hun¬ 
 gry will, that their consultations might 
 have devised some other means to ensure 
 her safety, that she told them she must 
 complain, though not of them, but unto 
 them, and of the cause; for that she per¬ 
 ceived by their advice, prayers, and desires, 
 that only her injurer’s bane must be her 
 life’s surety; that if there be any so wicked 
 who supposed that she prolonged this time 
 only to make a shew of clemency, they did 
 her so great a wrong as they could hardly 
 
56 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 recompence; that if her ministers had not 
 signified to them that it was her earnest de¬ 
 sire that every one should act in that mat¬ 
 ter strictly according to his conscience, 
 they had not done their duty; and that her 
 conduct arose solely from her anxiety that 
 some other means might be found wherein 
 she might have taken more comfort ; ” 
 that “ since now it was resolved that her 
 surety could not be established without a 
 princess’ end, she has just cause to com¬ 
 plain, that she, who had pardoned so many 
 rebels, winked at so many treasons, should 
 now be obliged to this proceeding against 
 such a person; that many opprobrious 
 books and pamphlets had been published 
 against her accusing her of being a tyrant. 
 She thanked them for the news, for such 
 indeed it was to her—what would they now 
 say, that for the safety of her life, a maiden 
 queen could be content to spill the blood 
 even of her own kinswoman; that she may 
 well complain that any man should think 
 her given to cruelty, of which she is so 
 guiltless and innocent, that she should slan¬ 
 der God if she should say he gave her so 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 5 7 
 
 vile a mind; she protested she was so far 
 from it, that for her own life she would not 
 touch her, neither had she so much cared 
 how to prolong her own, as how to preserve 
 both, which she is right sorry is made so 
 hard, yea, so impossible; that she is not 
 so destitute of judgment as not to see her 
 own peril, nor so ignorant as not to know 
 that it were a foolish course to cherish a 
 sword to cut her own throat, nor so care¬ 
 less as not to weigh that her life is in daily 
 hazard ; but this she considers, that many a 
 man would put his life in danger for the 
 safeguard of a king; she does not say that 
 so she will, but prays them to believe, that 
 she hath thought upon it; but since so many 
 had written and spoken against her, she 
 must say something for herself, that before 
 they return to their counties they may know 
 for what a one they have passed so care¬ 
 ful thoughts, wherein she is infinitely be¬ 
 holden to them who seek to preserve her 
 life by all means in their power;” and ex¬ 
 pressed her gratitude for it. She then 
 told them that when first she took the 
 sceptre she did not forget the giver of it, 
 
 i 
 
58 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 and therefore began her reign with the reli¬ 
 gion she was born and hoped to die in; 
 that she was not so simple but to know what 
 danger and peril so great an alteration might 
 procure her, and how many great princes of 
 a contrary opinion would attempt all they 
 could against her, and generally, what en¬ 
 mity she should breed unto herself; but all 
 this she minded not, knowing that he for 
 whose sake she did it, would defend her, 
 for which she had been so dangerously pro¬ 
 secuted, that she marvelled that she existed. 
 Her Majesty then alluded to the necessity 
 of a sovereign’s possessing justice, temper¬ 
 ance, magnanimity, and judgment. Of the 
 two last, she observed, <c her sex did not per¬ 
 mit her to boast; but for the two first, she 
 dared to say that she never knew a difference 
 of person where right was one, nor ever 
 preferred for favor whom she thought not 
 fit for worth ; that she had always acted 
 with impartiality, nor ever adopted a sudden 
 resolution in matters which nearly affected 
 her, and this she thinks they will say 
 with her; and, as touching their counsels, 
 she thinks them wise, honest, and conscien- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 59 
 
 tious, and so provident and careful of her 
 life (which she wished no longer than might 
 be for their benefit), that though she could 
 never sufficiently recompence them, yet she 
 would endeavour to give them cause to 
 think their good intentions not ill bestowed, 
 and would strive to make herself worthy of 
 such subjects ; that for their petition, she 
 prayed them, for this present, to content 
 themselves with an answer without an an¬ 
 swer; their judgment she condemned not, 
 neither did she mistake their motives, but 
 begged them to accept her thankfulness, 
 excuse her doubtfulness, and take in good 
 part her answer answerless; wherein she 
 attributes not so much to her own judgment, 
 but that she thinks many persons may go 
 before her, though by her degree she goes 
 before them and concluded in the folloAv- 
 ing ambiguous manner, “ therefore, if I 
 should say I would not do what you re¬ 
 quest, it might peradventure be more than I 
 thought; and to say I would do it, might 
 perhaps breed peril of that you labour to 
 preserve, being more than in your own wis¬ 
 doms and discretions would seem conve- 
 
60 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 nient, circumstances of place and time being 
 duly considered.” * 
 
 These communications of Elizabeth to her 
 parliament, which are no less curious than 
 important, are strongly characterized by 
 cunning and dissimulation; if they do not 
 confirm, they afford no contradiction to the 
 opinion that the reluctance which she ex¬ 
 pressed to carry the sentence against Mary 
 into execution was entirely feigned, for the 
 purpose of removing from herself the oblo¬ 
 quy which she knew would attend the death 
 of that princess, and of persuading the world 
 that she sacrificed her own personal feelings 
 to the safety and welfare of her subjects. 
 At the same time in which she assured the 
 House of Commons of her merciful disposi¬ 
 tion towards her kinswoman, it is to be ob¬ 
 served, that she gravely recapitulated the 
 crimes imputed to her, and rather aggra¬ 
 vated than softened their nature and object: 
 after several eulogiums on her own magna¬ 
 nimity, she took care plainly to insinuate 
 that Mary’s existence was incompatible with 
 
 * Holinshed’s Chronicle, v. II. p. 1580, et seq. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 61 
 
 the safety of their religion; and inflamed 
 their animosity towards her rival by inform¬ 
 ing them of a new and determined plot against 
 her own life. The motive of her writing to 
 the Queen of Scots, advising her privately 
 to confess her treasonable intentions, was in 
 all probability an artifice to obtain her own 
 admission of her guilt, and of which, per¬ 
 haps, immediate advantage would have been 
 taken ; and she impiously appealed to Provi¬ 
 dence to guide her conduct, when there can 
 barely be a doubt that her resolution had 
 long been irrevocably fixed. In her reply 
 to the second address from the Parliament, 
 she anticipated the opinion which poste¬ 
 rity has formed, that her clemency was 
 fictitious, and that it was not only un¬ 
 felt, but the result of a cold and selfish 
 policy; and so far did she carry her hy¬ 
 pocrisy, that she did not even then think 
 it proper positively to grant their petition, 
 but left them in uncertainty what might be 
 her final determination. Her assurance that 
 she had ordered her ministers to instruct 
 them to act according to the dictates of 
 their consciences, renders it likely that she 
 thought a 'permission to that effect was ne- 
 
62 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 cessary; but the disposition which the par¬ 
 liaments of Elizabeth generally shewed to 
 make her will the guide of then- proceed¬ 
 ings, might in some degree induce us to 
 consider their repeated requests that she 
 would complete the sentence passed on the 
 ill-fated Mary, as presumptive evidence of 
 their being well aware that their petitions 
 were consonant to her inclination ; and this 
 fact is also apparent from the peculiarly 
 gracious manner in which she received them, 
 and the praises which she lavished on their 
 conduct. 
 
 In her second answer there is a singular 
 expression, which is worthy of remark; 
 after informing them that she is aware 
 of the danger in which her life is placed, 
 she says, “ but this she considers, that 
 many a man would put his life in danger for 
 the safeguard of a king ; she does not say so 
 she will, but prays them to believe that she 
 hath thought upon it.” There is great diffi¬ 
 culty in determining the exact import of 
 this assertion ; but when it is compared with 
 the preceding passages, it may without vio¬ 
 lence be thought a distant allusion to the 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 63 
 
 wish, which she afterwards more fully ex¬ 
 pressed, that Mary might be privately put 
 to death, in order to conceal her agency in 
 that event. If Elizabeth had been sincere 
 in the disposition which she expressed to 
 save her rival’s life, would she not have re¬ 
 presented her conduct in the most favour¬ 
 able view, have concealed the plot she had 
 discovered, and used every argument to 
 convince her parliament that no necessity 
 existed for so fatal a measure ? We have 
 seen how perfectly opposite was the con¬ 
 duct she pursued; and hence it is hardly 
 possible to attribute any other motive to 
 her, than that she was desirous of hiding the 
 real disposition of her heart, under the 
 mask of sacrificing her own humane feel¬ 
 ings to those of the purest patriotism. 
 
 The sentence against the Queen of Scots 
 was not, however, published until the 21st 
 of December, when it was proclaimed with 
 great state and solemnity. The lord mayor, 
 attended by several noblemen, together with 
 the aldermen and principal officers of the 
 city, the majority of the gentry in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood, and about eighty citizens dressed 
 in velvet, and wearing gold chains, all on 
 
64 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 horseback, assembled at about 10 o’clock 
 in the forenoon, when the sentence was 
 publicly read by Mr. Sebright, the town 
 clerk, at the cross in Cheapside, at the end 
 of Chancery-lane opposite the Temple, at 
 Leadenhall-corner, and at St. Magnus’- 
 corner near London-bridge. Similar pro¬ 
 cessions were formed in Middlesex, and, 
 says one of our old chroniclers, “ to the 
 great and wonderful rejoicing of the people 
 of all sorts, as manifestly appeared by their 
 eager running after the portly train, their 
 thronging to hear the sentence published, 
 their ringing of bells, making bonfires, and 
 singing of psalms in every street and lane of 
 the city, &c.” * 
 
 Immediately after the commissioners had 
 pronounced sentence, Lord Buckhurst and 
 Mr. Robert Beale, the clerk of the council, 
 were sent to Mary, with instructions f to 
 announce the publication of her sentence, 
 and to inform her, “ that as her Majesty 
 
 * Holinshed’s Chronicle, v. II. p. 15S7; and in the follow¬ 
 ing page the proclamation is given at length ; a copy is also in 
 Cottonian MSS. Calig. C.ix.; but it does not contain any thing 
 sufficiently important to require its insertion in this work, 
 f Harl. MSS. 29h £. 187- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 G5 
 
 did not as yet know how it might please 
 God to dispose her heart, she deemed it 
 right to advise her to think of her former 
 conduct, and to point out to her what espe¬ 
 cial favor had been shewn to her in her trial, 
 by appointing many distinguished noblemen, 
 and the whole of the privy council, to be 
 her judges, instead of obliging her to appear 
 before the ordinary courts, to the jurisdiction 
 of which she was eligibleand they were 
 ordered, lastly, “ in case they find her de¬ 
 sirous to communicate with either of them 
 in private, under a pretence of revealing any 
 matter of secret and weight to be communi¬ 
 cated to her Majesty, concerning either her 
 or her service, she thinks it not amiss that 
 they conform themselves to her desire in 
 that behalf, and of which, if they find cause, 
 to advise her before they return; which she 
 referred to their own discretion.” From the 
 general style of these instructions it appears, 
 that the real motive of their being dispatch¬ 
 ed, was to induce Mary to make that con¬ 
 fession of her guilt, which Elizabeth had 
 before attempted to procure, and which it 
 was her most anxious wish to obtain. The 
 life of the wretched Mary now rapidly ap- 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 proached its close, and the short delay 
 which preceded its termination must be 
 imputed to Elizabeth’s desire of preserving 
 still longer the appearance of reluctance ; 
 and perhaps to her expectation, that some 
 of her courtiers would imitate those of 
 Henry II. and employ the same means for 
 removing the Queen of Scots as had been 
 used on the celebrated Becket. In the in¬ 
 terval between the publication of the sen¬ 
 tence and its execution, the kings of France 
 and Scotland sent ambassadors to solicit 
 Elizabeth to spare Mary’s life; the sin¬ 
 cerity of Henry the Fourth’s intercession 
 has been questioned; * but it would be use¬ 
 less to inquire into the motives of conduct, 
 which, whether feigned or real, was not 
 productive of any result. James took as 
 active a part in endeavouring to preserve 
 his mother, as, from his habitual supineness 
 and indolence, could have been expected : 
 so soon as he was informed of her trial and 
 condemnation, he sent Sir William Keith, 
 a gentleman of his bedchamber to London ; 
 and afterwards dispatched the Master of 
 
 * Hume’s England, v. V. p. 304. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 67 
 
 Gray, and Sir Robert Melvill, to repeat the 
 remonstrances of Keith : he also wrote 
 with his own hand to Douglas, commanding 
 him to use his utmost influence in her favor; 
 and on learning that the sentence was pub¬ 
 lished, he addressed Elizabeth herself, in a 
 long and urgent strain of entreaty. 
 
 The subjoined literal copies of these let¬ 
 ters were made from the originals, and they 
 are so interesting, that their insertion can 
 scarcely require an apology. 
 
 To Maister Archibald Douglas. 
 
 October 1586. 
 
 Reserve up youreself na langer in the ear- 
 nist dealing for my mother, for ye have done 
 it to long, and tliinke not that any youre 
 travells can do goode, if hir lyfe be taikin, 
 for then adeu with my dealing with thaime 
 that are the speciall instrumentis thairof, 
 and thairfore gif ye look for the contineu- 
 ance of my favoure touarcis you, spaire 11 a 
 painis nor plainnes in this cace, hot reid my 
 lettir wrettin to william Keith, and conforme 
 youreself quliollie to the contends thairof, & 
 in this requeist lett me reape the fruictis of 
 
 f 2 
 
68 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 youre great credit thaire, ather now or never, 
 fairwell. 
 
 James R. * 
 
 “ A Madame ma tres chere soeur et cousine 
 la royne d’angleterre. 
 
 “ Madame, and dearest sister, if ye coulde 
 have knouin quhat divers thochtis have agitat 
 my mynde since my directing of William 
 Keith unto you, for the sollisting of this 
 matter quhairto nature and honor so greatly 
 and unfeynedly bindis and obleissis me; If, 
 I say, ye kneu quhat dyvers thochtis I have 
 bene in, and quhat iust greif I hadd ueying 
 deeply the thing itself, if so it should pro- 
 ceid, as godd forbidd, quhat eventis micht 
 follou tliairupon, quhat number of straitis I 
 uold be drevin unto, &, amongst the rest, 
 hou it micht perrell my reputation amongst 
 my subiects if tliaise thingis, Iyett say againe, 
 uayre knouin unto you, then doubt I not 
 but ye wold so farr pittie my cace, as it 
 wold easely mak you at the first to resolve 
 your ouin [mind] best unto it. I doubt 
 
 * Cottonian MSS. Caligula, C ix. p. 432 . 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 69 
 
 greatlie in quhat facon to vvritt in this pur- 
 pois, for ye have allreaddie taken sa evill 
 with my playnness, as I feare if I shall per¬ 
 sist in that course ye shall rather be exaspe- 
 rattit to passionis in reading the wordis then 
 by the plainness thairof be persuadit to 
 consider richtlie the simple treutli, yett iust- 
 lie prefferring the deutie of ane honest freind 
 to the suddaine passionis of one, quho hou 
 soone they be past can uyslier uey, the 
 reasonis then I can sett tliaime doune. I 
 have resolvid in feu uordis & plaine, to 
 gif you freindly and best advyce, appealing 
 to youre rypest judgement to discerne thair- 
 upon: quhat thing, Madame, can greatlier 
 touche me in honoure that both is a kinge 
 & a sonne, then that my nearest neihboure, 
 being in straittest freindshipp with me, shall 
 rigouruslie putt to death a free souveraigne 
 prince, & my naturall mother, alyke in 
 estaite and sexe to hir that so uses hir, al¬ 
 beit subiect, I grant, to a harder fortoune, 
 and touching hir nearlie in proximitie of 
 bloode; quhat law of godd can permitt that 
 iustice shall strikke upon tliaime quhom he 
 lies appointid supreame dispensatouis of the 
 same under him, quhom he hath callid god- 
 
70 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 dis, &, thairfore, subiectid to the censoure 
 of none in earth quhose anointing by godd 
 cannot be defylid be man unrevenged by 
 the authoure thairof, quho being supreme 
 & immediatt lieutenantis of godd in hea¬ 
 ven, cannot thairefoire be iudgit by thaire 
 eequallis in earth ; quat monstruouse thinge 
 is it, that souveraigne princes thaimeselfis 
 shoulde be the exemple giveris of thaire 
 ouen sacred diademes prophaining, then 
 quhat shoulde move you to this forme of 
 proceiding (supposin the worst, quhiche in 
 goode faith I looke not for at your handis), 
 honoure or profeitt; honoure waire it to 
 you to spaire qulien it is least lookid for; 
 honoure waire it to you (quhich is not onlie 
 my freindlie advyce but my earnist suite) 
 to tak me & all other princes in europe 
 eternally beholdin unto you, in granting 
 this my so reasonable request, & not (ap- 
 pardon I pray you my free speaking) to 
 putt princes to straittis of honoure, quliair 
 throucli youre generall reputation & the 
 universall (allmost) mislyking of you, may 
 daingerouslie perrell both in honoure & util- 
 litie your personne & estate : ye knou, Ma¬ 
 dame, uell aneuch hou small dilference ci- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 71 
 
 cero concludis to be betwixt utile & liones- 
 tuin in his discourse thairof, Sc quliiche of 
 thaime ouclit to be framed to the other; & 
 nou, madarne, to concluide, I pray you so 
 to uey thir feu argumentis, that as I ever 
 presumed of youre nature, so the quhole 
 worlde may praise your subiectis for thair 
 deutifull caire for your preservation, & 
 youreself for youre princelie pittie, the doing 
 quhairof onlie belangis unto you, the par- 
 forming quhairof onlie apparteynis unto you, 
 Sc the praise thairof onlie will ever be youris : 
 respect then goode sister, this my first so 
 long contineuid Sc so earnist request, dis¬ 
 patching my ambassadouis with suche a 
 comfortable ansoure as may become youre 
 persone to give, Sc as my loving Sc honest 
 hairt unto you meritis to ressave ; but in 
 kaice any do vaunt thaimeselfis to know 
 further of my mynde in this matter, then 
 my ambassadouis do, quho indeid are fullie 
 aquentid thairwith. I pray you not to takk 
 me to be a cameleon, but by the contrairie, 
 thaime to be maliciouse imposteuris as suir- 
 lie thay are ; & thus praying you liairtlie to 
 excuse my to ruide Sc longsum lettir, I 
 connnitt you, madarne, Sc dearest sister, to 
 
72 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 the blessid protection of the most hie, quho 
 mott give you grace so to resolve in this 
 maitter, as may be honorabill for you, & 
 most acceptable to him : from my palleis 
 of holirudhouse, the 26 day of Januarie, 
 1586. * 
 
 “ Youre most loving & affectionate 
 brother & cousin, 
 
 “ James R.” f 
 
 By Sir William Keith, James wrote to 
 Elizabeth, conjuring her to spare the life of 
 his parent; and informing her, that if his 
 request was not complied with, he should 
 think it his duty, both towards God and 
 man, to revenge her death ; and beseeching 
 her at least to delay the execution until he 
 could send an ambassador with further pro¬ 
 positions. J She was seized with a trans¬ 
 port of indignation at James presuming to 
 threaten her, but on her passion subsiding, 
 she conceded the respite he requested. On 
 the Master of Gray, and Sir Robert Mel- 
 vill’s arrival, they proposed that their mas- 
 
 * 1586-7. t Cottonian MSS. Caligula, C ix. p. 145, 
 
 146, 147- 
 
 J. Smollett’s England, v. VI. p. 371, 372. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 73 
 
 ter should give the chief of his nobility as 
 hostages to secure Elizabeth from any future 
 attempts of his mother, who should resign 
 her right of succession in favour of her son, 
 and that this resignation should be guaran¬ 
 teed by foreign princes. These propositions 
 were rejected with disdain : * and it is from 
 her answers to them, that the strongest 
 proof of her determined intention to carry 
 the sentence passed on Mary into execution, 
 and consequently of the odious hypocrisy of 
 her assertions of clemency and sympathy, 
 is derived; for, as it has been well observed, 
 Elizabeth’s dissimulation always failed her 
 when she was petitioned in favour of the 
 Queen of Scots, either by James or by fo¬ 
 reign courts :f she then seemed firmly re¬ 
 solved to execute the sentence against her ; 
 but when her ministers or parliament prayed 
 her not to delay it, her affectation of re¬ 
 spect for the dignity, and of compassion 
 for the misfortunes, of her prisoner, invaria¬ 
 bly returned. J To James’s ambassadors she 
 remarked, how sorry she was that no means 
 
 * Smollett’s England, v. VI. p. 371, 3/2. f Ibid, p.372. 
 t Hume’s England, v. V. p. 307. 
 
74 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 could be found to save their King’s mother, 
 and secure her own life. * 
 
 In obedience to the imperative commands 
 of their Sovereign, conveyed in his letter to 
 Douglas, Melvill used plain and strong lan¬ 
 guage in his remonstrances, and he thereby 
 gave such offence to the Queen, that she 
 threatened his life, and would have retained 
 him a prisoner, had not the promises and in¬ 
 fluence of his colleague prevented it. f But 
 Elizabeth’s true disposition was still more 
 strongly evinced by her reply to the Master of 
 Gray, who in his letter to James, dated 12 
 January, 1586 [1586-7], giving a relation of 
 the particulars of his audience, says, “ and I 
 spake craving of her that her life may be spar¬ 
 ed for fifteen days; she refused; Sir Robert 
 craved for only eight days ; she said, ‘ not 
 for an hour,’ and so geid her away.” J 
 James, finding that the lofty tone which 
 he had assumed only exasperated Elizabeth, 
 as a last effort, wrote the preceding letter 
 
 * Saunderson’s Life of Mary Queen of Scots, p. 119. 
 t Memoirs of Sir James Melvill, ed. 16S3, p. 173. Sir Ro¬ 
 bert Melvill, James’s Ambassador, was a brother of the author, 
 t Robertson’s Scotland, v. II. Appendix, p. 543. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 75 
 
 to her, and substituted persuasion and en¬ 
 treaty, for remonstrance and menace ; from 
 the date of it, which was only six days before 
 the warrant was signed, it could not have 
 reached the Queen many hours before she 
 resolved on Mary’s immediate execution; 
 and from the displeasure which she always 
 exhibited when the King of Scots interfered 
 on the subject, it is possible that his letter ra¬ 
 ther hastened, than retarded the fatal event. 
 
 The dispatch of the warrant for executing 
 the Queen of Scots, formed that era in the 
 life of William Davison, to which he owes his 
 celebrity; but it was the cause of his loss of 
 rank and fortune, and reduced him from a 
 state of affluence to poverty and obscurity. 
 
 It was necessary to digress from what im¬ 
 mediately related to Davison, for the pur¬ 
 pose of forming an opinion of Elizabeth’s 
 real sentiments towards her rival, from her 
 conduct to the Scotch ambassadors; be¬ 
 cause, that which she is supposed to have 
 pursued about the document which deprived 
 Mary of existence, rests on the evidence of 
 Davison himself. The true feelings of her 
 heart unquestionably shelved themselves in 
 her answer to Melvill, and we need not 
 
76 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 wish for more satisfactory proof of her in¬ 
 tention to carry the sentence into execution. 
 Before her Majesty had resolved on allow¬ 
 ing the Queen of Scots to fall by the axe of 
 the executioner, it is almost certain that it 
 was deliberated in her cabinet, whether it 
 was not preferable that she should perish by 
 the hand of an assassin. Elizabeth’s wishes 
 were decidedly for the latter course, because 
 it would remove the odium of Mary’s death 
 from herself, and have enabled her to sacri¬ 
 fice those who employed him, as a confir¬ 
 mation of her total ignorance of the trans¬ 
 action : her disposition was supported by the 
 Earl of Leicester, who proposed to poison 
 her, and it is said that he privately sent a di¬ 
 vine to Sir Francis Walsingham to persuade 
 him of the legality of the act.* Davison, to 
 his eternal honour, opposed himself with uni¬ 
 form firmness to these propositions ; and it is 
 more than probable that his arguments 
 caused the forms of law and justice to be 
 followed, in concluding this tragical affair. 
 
 Leicester’s conduct was extremely artful, 
 but strongly inimical to Mary. He was not, 
 
 * M‘Kenzie's Lives of Scotch Writers, v. III. p.334. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 77 
 
 as it has been already observed, present, 
 either at her trial, or when the sentence 
 was pronounced, but so desirable was it con¬ 
 sidered that the world should be aware that 
 he approved the proceedings against the 
 Queen of Scots, that the applications from 
 both Houses of Parliament to Elizabeth 
 were printed in a letter addressed to him, 
 and in this form they still exist. * 
 
 Walsingham at this time, perhaps from his 
 knowledge of Elizabeth’s duplicity, and his 
 anticipation that the person who was officially 
 employed in the conclusion of this proceed¬ 
 ing would become a victim to her intrigue, 
 withdrew from court, under the pretence of 
 illness, and consequently the responsibility 
 fell entirely on Davison. 
 
 Soon after Elizabeth had been petitioned 
 by Parliament to carry the sentence passed 
 on the Queen of Scots into execution, she 
 ordered the Lord Treasurer to draw the 
 warrant for that purpose ; and on the morn¬ 
 ing after he obeyed her commands, he sent 
 for Mr. Davison to his chambers at court, 
 which was then at Richmond. On his ar- 
 
 * Holinshed’s Chronicle, v. II. p. 1580. 
 
78 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 rival lie found Knollys, the Treasurer of the 
 Household, with his Lordship. Burleigh 
 then informed him that he had, in obedience 
 to her Majesty’s commands, drawn the war¬ 
 rant, and that, as he was shortly going to 
 London, it was her pleasure that it should 
 be left with him to get it engrossed; and 
 that when this was done, he was to bring it 
 to her for her signature; and it was accord¬ 
 ingly delivered into Davison’s hands. In 
 consequence of these directions he presented 
 it to Elizabeth, for that purpose, a few days 
 afterwards, and requested to know her plea¬ 
 sure on the subject: she then refused to 
 sign it, because the Scotch and French am¬ 
 bassadors were, at that time, interceding for 
 Mary’s life, and commanded him to reserve 
 it till a more convenient season : he accord¬ 
 ingly kept it by him five or six weeks with¬ 
 out again offering it for her Majesty’s signa¬ 
 ture; and for which Leicester, on one occa¬ 
 sion, severely reprimanded him, in the pre¬ 
 sence of Burleigh, to whom Davison appeals 
 for the truth of his assertion; and the Trea¬ 
 surer himself, a few days before it was 
 signed, reproved him in Elizabeth’s hearing 
 for not having brought it up. Nothing far- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 79 
 
 ther was done on the subject until Wednes¬ 
 day the first of February, * which was a few 
 days after the departure of the Scotch am¬ 
 bassadors. f On that day Howard, the Lord 
 High Admiral, had a private audience of the 
 Queen, and on representing to her the great 
 danger in which she lived, and being influ¬ 
 enced by the rumours which were then 
 afloat, that Mary had escaped, that the 
 country was invaded, that London had 
 been sacked and burnt, and that her Ma¬ 
 jesty herself was dead, and other reports 
 of a similar seditious tendency, she resolved 
 not to delay the execution; and therefore 
 ordered Howard to send privately for Davi¬ 
 son, to bring the warrant to her to sign. J 
 Howard immediately dispatched a messen¬ 
 ger, who found him in the Park ; and he in¬ 
 stantly repaired to the privy chamber, where 
 his Lordship awaited his arrival. The Lord 
 High Admiral then repeated the conversa¬ 
 tion which had passed between the Queen 
 
 * Appendix B. copied from Harl. MSS. 290, f. 213. 
 f Appendix A. copied from Cottonian MSS. Titus, C vii. 
 f. 4S, and collated with Harl. MSS. 6‘3G9—290, f. 209, and 
 Cottonian MSS. Caligula, Cix. f. 149. 
 
 J Appendix B. copied from Harl. MSS. 290, f. 213. 
 
80 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 and himself, relative to the Queen of Scots’ 
 execution; and concluded by informing him 
 that, in obedience to her commands, he was 
 expressly sent for to bring the warrant for 
 her signature, in order that it might be dis¬ 
 patched without farther delay. Davison im¬ 
 mediately went to his apartment to fetch the 
 warrant and some other papers, and on his 
 return he sent to announce to the Queen 
 that he was in attendance, and she shortly 
 afterwards gave him an audience. She re¬ 
 ceived him most graciously, enquired whe¬ 
 ther he had been out that fine morning, ad¬ 
 vised him to use more exercise, and evinced 
 considerable interest in his health: she then 
 asked him what he had in his hand, and 
 when he informed her that it was different 
 warrants and other things for her signature, 
 her Majesty demanded if the Lord Admiral 
 had not ordered him to bring up the warrant 
 for the Queen of Scots’ execution : * and on 
 Davison’s replying that he had spoken with 
 his Lordship in the privy chamber, and un¬ 
 derstood from him that it was her pleasure 
 that he should bring the warrant to her to 
 
 * Appendix A. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 81 
 
 sign, Elizabeth asked for it; * and imme¬ 
 diately after reading it f called for pen 
 and ink, signed it, and laid it down by her 
 upon the mats, and explained to him that 
 the motive which had induced her to delay 
 it so long was her regard for her own 
 reputation, J that the world might perceive 
 that however justly she felt provoked at 
 Mary’s offences, yet that if any other means 
 could have been devised for the security of 
 her own person and of the state, she would 
 have felt extremely sorry to have taken such 
 a course; and that it might appear she had 
 not been induced “violently” to adopt this 
 measure from any sentiment of malice or 
 revenge towards the Queen of Scots. § Eli¬ 
 zabeth then ironically demanded of Davison 
 whether he was not extremely sorry to see 
 the warrant signed ? he replied, that he 
 was far from feeling pleasure in the misfor¬ 
 tunes of any one; and that, instead of wish¬ 
 ing the death of the Scottish Queen, he 
 could not be otherwise than sincerely grieved 
 that a person of her rank and station, and 
 
 * Appendix B. 
 
 $ Appendixes B. and C. 
 
 f Appendix A. 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
82 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 one so nearly related to her Majesty, should 
 render so fatal a resolution necessary; but 
 that, as his Sovereign’s life was in danger so 
 long as Mary lived, he thought every man 
 must be of opinion that she could not defer 
 the execution without manifest injustice to 
 herself and to the whole realm ; and conse¬ 
 quently he could not feel sorry to see her 
 adopt an honourable and just course for se¬ 
 curing both; and that he preferred the death 
 of the guilty rather than of the innocent. 
 This answer the Queen appeared to approve, 
 and, smiling, turned the subject by asking 
 what else he had for her to sign ; and on 
 his presenting some other papers to her, she 
 signed them, as he expresses it, “ with the 
 best disposition and willingness that might 
 be.” Elizabeth then directed him to take 
 up the warrant, and carry it immediately to 
 the great seal; and, from some suspicions 
 she entertained of persons about the Lord 
 Chancellor, as well as from her fears that if 
 it was divulged before it was executed it 
 might, “ as she pretended,” increase her 
 danger, she cautioned him to seal it as 
 privately as he could ; and expressly com¬ 
 manded him to use dispatch, and to send 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 83 
 
 down the warrant to the Commissioners with 
 all possible expedition ; and, in conclusion, 
 absolutely forbade him to trouble her again 
 on the subject, or to let her hear any thing 
 more about it until it w r as executed, as she 
 had now done all that either in law or jus¬ 
 tice could be expected of her. Her Majesty 
 also specially appointed the Hall at Fother- 
 ingay for the place of execution, and as¬ 
 signed many causes for disliking the Court¬ 
 yard or Green of the Castle. In obedience 
 to her orders to use dispatch, Davison 
 offered to go to the Chancellor the same 
 forenoon; but, as he had some other busi¬ 
 ness to transact, she desired him not to go 
 to him until the afternoon. On his ivay to 
 his Lordship, Elizabeth directed him to call 
 on Sir Francis Walsingham, who was then 
 ill at his house in London, and to commu¬ 
 nicate to him what she had done, because, 
 as she jestingly said, “ the grief he would 
 feel on learning it would nearly kill him 
 outright.” He then gathered up his papers, 
 and was about to leave her, when she com¬ 
 menced a complaint against Sir Amias 
 Paulet and others, who might, she re¬ 
 marked, have rendered her signing the war- 
 
84 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 rant unnecessary; and expressed a wish that 
 Davison and Walsingham would yet write, 
 both to Paulet and to Sir Drue Drury, to 
 sound their disposition as to privately dis¬ 
 patching the Queen of Scots. Davison, on 
 her Majesty’s former suggestions to that 
 elfect, had always refused to have any thing 
 to do with such a measure; and he now 
 assured her that it was a subject he utterly 
 disliked, and that it would be merely labour 
 lost to propose it to them, as he knew, from 
 the wisdom and integrity of those gentle¬ 
 men, that they would not, for any consi¬ 
 deration, lend themselves to so unlawful an 
 act. Finding her extremely desirous to 
 have it attempted, he says, “ that to 
 satisfy her,” he promised to signify her 
 pleasure to Walsingham, and left her. 
 From her Majesty Davison went immedi¬ 
 ately to the Lord Treasurer, and found the 
 Earl of Leicester with him; he shewed 
 Burleigh the warrant, faithfully repeated the 
 conversation he had had with the Queen, 
 and acquainted him with the directions she 
 had given for carrying it to the great seal, 
 and for sending it down to the Commis¬ 
 sioners. And when Davison observed that it 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 85 
 
 was necessary lie should be at Court that 
 afternoon, to receive the Deputies from the 
 Low Countries, who were appointed to be 
 there directly after dinner, Burleigh en¬ 
 treated him to leave the care of that busi¬ 
 ness to him, and to attend to the other, 
 which was of far greater importance; in 
 this request Leicester joined, and Davison 
 consented to it. * So soon as he had 
 dined he called on Walsingham, and ac¬ 
 quainted him with her Majesty’s having 
 signed the warrant, and arranged with him 
 as to the letter which, in obedience to her 
 orders, they should write to Sir Amias Pau- 
 let and Sir Drue Drury; and thence went 
 to the Lord Chancellor, and about four or 
 five o’clock in the evening the great seal 
 was affixed to the warrant. On his re¬ 
 turn he again called on Walsingham, and 
 found the letter ready to be forwarded, f 
 The following copy of it is given in Robert 
 of Gloucester’s Chronicle, J and, with some 
 others, which will be given in the proper 
 place, is said to have been taken from a ma¬ 
 nuscript containing the letters which were 
 
 * Appendix B. f Appendix A. 
 
 t 1 \ 673 & s w . 
 
86 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 written to and by Sir Amias Paulet whilst 
 the Queen of Scots was in his custody. 
 
 “ To Sir' Amice Poulet. 
 
 “After our hearty commendations, we 
 find, by speech lately uttered by her Ma¬ 
 jesty, that she doth note in you both a lack 
 of that care and zeal of her service that she 
 looketh for at your hands, in that you have 
 not, in all this time, of yourselves, without 
 other provocation, found out some way to 
 shorten the life of that Queen, considering 
 the great peril she is subject unto hourly so 
 long as the said Queen shall live. Wherein, 
 besides a kind of lack of love towards her, 
 she noteth greatly that you have not that 
 care of your own particular safeties, or 
 rather of the preservation of religion and the 
 public good, and prosperity of your country, 
 that reason and policy commandeth, espe¬ 
 cially having so good a warrant and ground 
 for the satisfaction of your conscience to¬ 
 wards God, and the discharge of your credit 
 and reputation towards the world, as the 
 oath of association which you both have so 
 solemnly taken and vowed, and especially 
 the matter wherewith she standeth charged 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 8 7 
 
 being so clearly and manifestly proved against 
 her. And therefore she taketh it most un¬ 
 kindly towards her, that men professing that 
 love toward her that you do, should, in any 
 kind of sort, for lack of the discharge of 
 your duties, cast the burthen upon her; 
 knowing, as you do, her indisposition to 
 shed blood, especially of one of that sex and 
 quality, and so near to her in blood as the 
 said Queen is. These respects, we find, do 
 greatly trouble her Majesty, who, we assure 
 you, has sundry times protested, that if the 
 regard of this danger of her good subjects 
 and faithful servants did not more move her 
 than her own peril, she would never be 
 drawn to assent to the shedding of her 
 blood. We thought it very meet to ac¬ 
 quaint you with these speeches lately 
 passed from her Majesty, referring the 
 same to your good judgements; and so 
 we commend you to the protection of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 “ Your most assured friends, 
 
 “ Francis Walsingiiam. 
 
 “ William Davison. 
 
 “At London, 
 
 Feb. 1, 1586.” 
 
88 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 After Davison left Walsingham he re¬ 
 turned to his house in London, where he 
 slept; * and the next morning, about ten 
 o’clock, Mr. William Killegrew came to 
 him with the message from the Queen, di¬ 
 recting him, that if he had not been to the 
 Lord Chancellor he was not to go to him 
 until he had again spoken to her Majesty. 
 In answer to this communication he merely 
 requested Killegrew to inform the Queen 
 that he would be at Court as soon as him¬ 
 self, and would give her an account of what 
 he had done : on his admission to her pre¬ 
 sence she enquired whether the warrant had 
 passed the seal ? and when he informed her 
 that it had, she asked why he had used 
 such haste ? Davison justly answered that 
 he had employed no more haste than she 
 had commanded, and his duty to her re¬ 
 quired ; and added, that he thought it was 
 an affair not to be trifled with. In one of 
 his narratives f he pertinently observes, that 
 as twenty-four hours had elapsed since she 
 had given him orders to get the warrant 
 
 sealed with as little delay as possible, she 
 
 ♦ 
 
 * Appendix B. 
 
 t Ibid, 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 89 
 
 could not suppose that he had not obeyed 
 her commands, and, consequently, she must 
 have concluded that it had passed through 
 the Chancellor’s hands. Davison then asked 
 her whether it was still her intention to pro¬ 
 ceed with the affair according to her former 
 directions ? To which she replied that she 
 did, although she thought it might have been 
 done in a different manner, and 4 ‘particu¬ 
 larized a form,” * because this threw the 
 whole weight on herself; and named several 
 persons who were of that opinion, and whose 
 judgments she commended: he observed, 
 that he knew not who else could bear it but 
 herself, because the laws rendered it murder 
 in any man who should take the life of the 
 meanest subject in her realm without her au¬ 
 thority, and that he thought the honourable 
 and just way was the safest and the best, 
 if she meant the sentence should be executed 
 at all. f In one of Davison’s accounts he 
 says that Elizabeth then abruptly entered 
 into a high panegyrick on Archibald Dou¬ 
 glas, and wished that she had but two such 
 counsellors; but perceiving that he took 
 
 * Appendix C. 
 
 t Appendix A. 
 
90 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 little notice of her remark, she rose up, and 
 after walking twice or thrice across the 
 room, one of her ladies made some observa¬ 
 tion which attracted her attention, when he 
 quitted her. * In his other relations he 
 omits this allusion to Douglas, and merely 
 tells us that she made no reply to his objec¬ 
 tions to her suggestion, but that she left 
 him and went to dinner, “ to his conceit 
 very well satisfied.” f From this conversa¬ 
 tion Davison, however, began to feel suspi¬ 
 cious of Elizabeth’s conduct; and he went 
 immediately to Sir Christopher Hatton, the 
 Vice-chamberlain, to whom he communi¬ 
 cated the circumstances attending the signa¬ 
 ture of the warrant, and what had just be¬ 
 fore passed between the Queen and himself 
 on the subject: he reminded Hatton of her 
 conduct relative to the execution of the 
 Duke of Norfolk, the blame of whose death 
 she for several years imputed to the Lord 
 Treasurer; and pointed out to him how 
 much more, from the weakness of her sex 
 
 * Appendix B. 
 
 t Appendix E. Minutes of Davison’s Examination by the 
 Privy Counsellors. Harl. MSS. 419. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 91 
 
 and nature, the rank of the person whom it 
 concerned, and from other circumstances, it 
 was to be feared that she might disavow her 
 orders for the death of the Queen of Scots, 
 and throw the responsibility of it from her¬ 
 self : and he frankly told the Vice-cham¬ 
 berlain, that, notwithstanding the directions 
 she had given him to send the warrant to 
 the Commissioners, he was fully determined 
 not to do any thing farther in the affair 
 alone; but that having done as much as 
 belonged to the duties of his office, he would 
 leave to Hatton, and others who were 
 equally interested with himself in the pre¬ 
 servation of her Majesty’s life, and the tran¬ 
 quillity of the kingdom, to determine what 
 course should be followed in its conclusion. 
 After some farther conversation, Hatton and 
 Davison resolved to go immediately to the 
 Lord Treasurer, and to confer with him on 
 the subject. Burleigh approved of Davi¬ 
 son’s intention not to proceed singly; and 
 the result of their deliberation was, that the 
 whole of the Privy Council should be in¬ 
 formed, the next day, of what her Majesty 
 had done, the directions which she had 
 given, and of the whole state of the case; 
 
92 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 and in the mean time the Treasurer under¬ 
 took to write copies of the letters which 
 should be sent to the Earls of Shrewsbury, 
 Kent, and Cumberland, and others, to whom 
 the warrant was addressed. Perhaps for this 
 purpose Burleigh required the warrant, for 
 he requested Davison to leave it with him ; 
 and in the presence of the Vice-chamberlain 
 he delivered the fatal instrument into his 
 Lordship’s own hands, who kept it until it 
 was dispatched. * The next morning, Fri¬ 
 day February 3, the Lord Treasurer sent for 
 Mr. Davison and Sir Christopher Hatton, to 
 shew them the letters which he proposed 
 sending to the Commissioners; but the lat¬ 
 ter finding them very particular, and such 
 as, “ in truth, the warrant could not bear,” 
 shewed his disapprobation of them, and ap¬ 
 peared to dislike their contents even more 
 than he expressed. Burleigh, consequently, 
 offered to write others, in more general 
 terms, by the afternoon, and they deter¬ 
 mined to assemble the Privy Council imme¬ 
 diately : within an hour all its members had 
 arrived at the Treasurer’s chamber, when 
 
 * 
 
 Appendix B. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 93 
 
 his Lordship addressed them on the offences 
 committed by the Queen of Scots, and on 
 the necessity, both as it regarded the safety 
 of the realm and the preservation of the 
 Queen’s person, that the sentence passed on 
 Mary should be carried into execution: he 
 also told them, that they were assembled to 
 consider of what means would be the most 
 expedient and honourable for the dispatch 
 of the warrant for that purpose, which he 
 shewed and read to them ; that her Majesty 
 had, by signing it, done all that either rea¬ 
 son or the law required of her; and in¬ 
 formed them of what had passed between 
 her and Davison, of the orders she had 
 given him, and of his refusal to act alone 
 on the subject, together with the reasons 
 wliicli induced him to form that resolution ; 
 that as they were all equally interested in 
 the result, he thought they should make it a 
 general and common cause ; that it was his 
 advice therefore, as they had such proof of 
 her Majesty’s will, by the evidence of her 
 own warrant under her hand and great seal, 
 that they should unite in bearing the re¬ 
 sponsibility of forwarding it to the Commis- 
 
94 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 sioners, without troubling her any farther 
 on the subject; and hinted Elizabeth’s 
 wish to remove the imputation of Mary’s 
 death from herself. Each of the members of 
 the council immediately offered to bear his 
 part in whatever censure might arise from 
 an act so important to the public safety, 
 both in church and state; and it was finally 
 agreed that the warrant should be dis¬ 
 patched without again applying to the 
 Queen, because it was thought that she had 
 already done every thing which was neces¬ 
 sary, or could be expected, by signing the 
 warrant, and by commanding Davison not 
 to let her hear any more of the affair until it 
 was concluded. They also expressed their 
 unwillingness to trouble her Majesty on the 
 subject, from the fear of the dangerous con¬ 
 sequences which might ensue, if, upon what 
 they deemed so unnecessary an appeal, she 
 should capriciously delay the execution. It 
 was then determined to entrust Mr. Beale, 
 the Clerk of the Council, whom they thought 
 the fittest person, with the charge of carry¬ 
 ing the warrant to the Commissioners; and 
 the letters proposed by the Lord Treasurer 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 95 
 
 to accompany it being approved, they were 
 ordered to be fairly copied before the even¬ 
 ing. The Council then separated and went 
 to dinner, but assembled again between one 
 and two, for the purpose of signing the let¬ 
 ters : after this was done, they were deli¬ 
 vered, in the presence of the Council, to Mr. 
 Beale, with express and urgent orders to use 
 the utmost expedition in the fulfilment of 
 his commission; and the Council broke up. 
 This account of the dispatch of the warrant 
 differs in point of time from that given in 
 another of Davison’s narratives ; * in which 
 he says that after the Council had deter¬ 
 mined on forwarding the warrant, the Trea¬ 
 surer undertook to write the letters which 
 were to go with it, and sent for Mr. Beale ; 
 and that the next day (Saturday February 
 4) the Privy Council met and signed them, 
 and that the letters, as well as the warrant, 
 were then delivered into Beale’s hands by 
 Burleigh himself; but from the date of the 
 following letter, which accompanied the war¬ 
 rant, to the Earl of Kent, it appears that the 
 first of these statements is correct. 
 
 * Appendix B. 
 
96 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 “ To the Earl of Kent. 
 
 “ After our very hartye connnendat’ons to 
 yo r Lp: Whereas her Ma t,e hath p’v’telye 
 directed her Commissyon under her hande 
 and greate seale of England to our good L: 
 of Shrewesburie, yo r Lp: and others, for her 
 specyall service tendinge to the safetye of 
 her Royal! p’son and univ’sall quiettness of 
 her wholle Realine, as by the sayd com- 
 myssyon shall appeare unto yo r Lp: Wee 
 have thought good to send the same by this 
 bearer Mr. Robert Beale, a p’son of greate 
 trust and experyence, first to be shewed to 
 yo' Lp: and afterwardes to be by him ear- 
 ryed to th’ Earle of Shrewesburie, from 
 whome wee doubt nott butt yo r Lp: shall 
 allso verye speedelye heare at what tyme his 
 Lp: and you maye most convenyentlye 
 meete together for th’ executyon of the sayd 
 commyssyon. And in the meane tyme yo r 
 Lp: shall understande by this bearer how 
 neadefull yt ys to have the p’ceedings herein 
 to be kept verye secrett, and uppon what oc- 
 casyon noe mo’e of the LL: in commyssyon 
 are at this time used herein. Referringe vo r 
 Lp: therefore to his sufficyencye for tlie 
 rest, Wee hartelye byd yo r Lp: farewell. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 97 
 
 At the Courte at Greenew ch this thirde of 
 Ffebruary 1586. 
 
 “ Yo: Lps: lovinge frendes : 
 
 W. Cobham. 
 
 Fr. Knollys. 
 
 Chr. Hatton. 
 
 Fra. Walsingham. 
 W. Davison.” * 
 
 W. Burghley. 
 
 H. Derbye. 
 
 R. Leicester. 
 
 Ch. Howard. 
 
 H. Hunsdon. 
 
 Indorsed, 
 
 “ 3 February 1586. 
 
 “ Copie of a L’re from the H: etc y of Her 
 Ma ties Counsaile to the Earle of Kent, 
 touching the execution of the Scottish 
 queene.” f 
 
 The next morning (Saturday February 4) 
 Mr. Davison went to Court, and on entering 
 her Majesty’s private chamber he found her 
 in conversation with Mr. afterwards the ce¬ 
 lebrated Sir Walter Raleigh; but when she 
 perceived him she called him to her, and, 
 “as if she had understood nothing of these 
 proceedings,” smiling, told him that she had 
 been troubled that night by dreaming that 
 
 * Cotton. MSS. Calig. C ix. f. 155. 
 f Apparently in another hand. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 the Queen of Scots was executed, and that 
 she was so greatly incensed against him on 
 learning it, that in her passion she could 
 have done any thing to him. Elizabeth re¬ 
 lated this in “ so pleasant and smiling” a 
 way, that he only answered “it was fortunate 
 he was not near her so long as that temper 
 continued but on reflection he earnestly 
 asked her what it meant, and whether, 
 having proceeded so far, she had not a full 
 and resolute intention to execute the sen¬ 
 tence agreeably to her warrant ? her an¬ 
 swer was “ Yes,” confirmed with a solemn 
 oath in some vehemency; “but that she 
 thought it might have been done in another 
 w r ay, because this threw the whole burthen 
 on herself.” Davison replied that the form 
 prescribed by the warrant was such as the 
 law required, and that it could not be al¬ 
 tered with any regard to “ honesty or jus¬ 
 tice,” or with safety to those who were ap¬ 
 pointed to execute it; and then repeated his 
 former argument, that as she was the Sove¬ 
 reign Magistrate, who was invested by God 
 with the sword of Justice, without her au¬ 
 thority the life of the poorest wretch in her 
 kingdom could not be touched. She then 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 99 
 
 told him that there were wiser men than 
 himself who were of a different opinion, and 
 he properly remarked that he could not be 
 responsible for the sentiments of others, but 
 that he was sure that he had never yet heard 
 any man give a sound reason to prove it 
 either honourable or safe for her Majesty to 
 follow any other course than that which was 
 consonant to law and justice. To this Eliza¬ 
 beth made no answer, and, without anything 
 farther being said, she left him. * In the 
 other statements he tells us that this con¬ 
 versation occurred two or three days after, f 
 which must have been either on Sunday the 
 5th of February, or Monday the 6th, and in 
 the gallery of her palace at Greenwich ; J 
 and that she informed him that the course 
 she proposed was suggested to her pri¬ 
 vately by “ one in great placeby which 
 Leicester was probably meant: but as it 
 was very unsuitable to the rest of the public 
 proceedings, he expressed his dislike of it, 
 and assigned his reasons, with which she 
 seemed satisfied, and did not shew any in¬ 
 tention of following the plan she alluded to, 
 
 * Appendix A. 
 
 f Appendix A. and C. 
 
 J Appendix B. 
 
100 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 or of deviating from her former resolution 
 on the subject. * In the afternoon of the 
 day on which this took place, she asked Da¬ 
 vison if he had heard from Sir Amias Paulet 
 in answer to his letter, of which a copy has 
 been given; he replied in the negative, but 
 on his going to London a few hours after¬ 
 wards, he received the following noble re¬ 
 fusal from Paulet and Drury, to become the 
 instruments of so infamous a deed. 
 
 “ To Sir Francis PFalsingham , Knt. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ Your letters of yesterday coming to my 
 hands this present day at five in the after¬ 
 noon, I would not fail, according to your 
 directions, to return my answer with all pos¬ 
 sible speed, which shall deliver unto you, 
 great grief and bitterness of mind, in that I 
 am so unhappy to have liven to see this un¬ 
 happy day, in the which I am required, by 
 direction from my most gracious Sovereign, 
 to do an act which God and the law forbid- 
 deth. My good livings and life are at her 
 
 * Appendix B. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 101 
 
 Majesty’s disposition, and am ready to lose 
 them this next morrow yf it shall so please 
 her; acknowleging that I hold them as of 
 her mere and most gracious favour. I do 
 not desire them, to enjoy them, but with 
 her Highnesses’ good liking ; but God for¬ 
 bid that I should make so fowle a ship- 
 wracke of my conscience, or leave so great 
 a blott to my posteritie, or shed blood with¬ 
 out law and warrant; trusting that her Ma¬ 
 jesty, of her accustomed clemency, will take 
 this my dutiful answer in good part (and 
 the rather, by your good mediation), as 
 proceeding from one who will never be in¬ 
 ferior to any Christian subject living in duty, 
 honour, love, and obedience towards his 
 Sovereign. And thus I commit you to the 
 mercy of the Almightie. From Fothering- 
 hay the 2d of February, 1586. 
 
 “ Your most assured poore friends, 
 
 “ A. Paulet, 
 
 “ D. Drury.” 
 
 “ Your letter coming in the plural number, 
 seems to be meant as to Sir Drew Dreurye, 
 as to myself; and yet because he is not 
 named in them, neither the letter directed 
 
102 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 unto him, he forbeareth to make any 
 answer, but subscribeth in heart to my 
 opinion.” * 
 
 The next morning, which must have been 
 Sunday the 5th of February, f Davison had 
 an audience of the Queen, and informed her 
 that he had received the preceding letter, 
 which he read: on finding that Paulet re¬ 
 fused to comply with her wishes relative to 
 the Queen of Scots, she severely complained 
 of the “ daintiness,” and, as she called it, 
 “ perjury of him and others,” who, con¬ 
 trary to their oath of association, threw the 
 weight of the affair on herself. She then 
 rose, and after a turn or two across the 
 room went into the gallery, whither Davi- 
 
 * Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle, p. G73 et seq. 
 f Walsingham’s letter to Paulet was dated the 1st of Feb. 
 and could not have been forwarded until late in the evening ; 
 it reached Fotheringay at five in the afternoon of the 2d. His 
 reply could not have reached London until the evening of the 
 3d, or the morning of the 4th. Davison’s attendance at Court 
 probably prevented his receiving it until the afternoon of that 
 day, and as he of course informed the Queen of its con¬ 
 tents, without many hours delay, it is certain that it was on 
 Sunday, the 5th of February, that the above occurred; this 
 also proves that the relation given in Appendix A, of the war¬ 
 rant being dispatched on Friday the 3d of February, is correct. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 103 
 
 son followed her. Here she renewed her 
 observations on the conduct of Paulet, and 
 blamed the “ niceness of those precise fel¬ 
 lows,” as she termed them, who profes¬ 
 sed great zeal for her safety, but would per¬ 
 form nothing, adding that she could have 
 done very well without them, and named 
 one Wingfield, who with some others would 
 have undertaken it. Davison again repre¬ 
 sented how dishonourable, in his opinion, 
 such an act would be ; and what a contrary 
 effect it would have to that of preventing the 
 malice and danger which she was so anxious 
 to avoid: he then explained the situation 
 into which she would have brought Sir Amias 
 Paulet and Sir Drue Drury, if from their so¬ 
 licitude for her safety they had executed what 
 she desired; and represented that in such 
 a case she must either have disavowed or 
 justified their conduct: if she justified it, she 
 took the whole affair on herself to her in¬ 
 finite peril and dishonour : if she disavowed 
 it, she would totally have destroyed two 
 gentlemen who had served her with zeal and 
 fidelity ; have blasted their reputations, ruin¬ 
 ed their estates, and entailed infamy on their 
 posterities ; and he concluded his reinon- 
 
104 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 strance by strenuously impressing on Eliza¬ 
 beth the injustice and dishonour of such a 
 course towards them. She then alluded to 
 some subjects connected with Walsingham 
 and her other Ministers, and on learning 
 that it was time to go to her closet, rose 
 and left him. * On the following day, f or 
 as it appears from the other accounts * at 
 Davison’s next access to her presence, which 
 was he thinks on Tuesday [February 7th], 
 he waited on her to obtain her signature to 
 some letters relative to a dispute between the 
 Lord Deputy of Ireland and her Secretary 
 Mr. Fenton, when she commenced an earnest 
 conversation on the danger in which she 
 lived, and remarked that it was “ more than 
 time” that the affair was concluded, and 
 “ swearing a great oath,” said that it was 
 shameful in him, and the rest of her Coun¬ 
 cil, who were careless of her safety and 
 negligent of their own duty, that it was not 
 already finished, f when she had done all 
 which the law required of her; and com¬ 
 manded him to write a sharp letter to Sir 
 
 * Appendixes A. and C. 
 
 f Appendix B. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 105 
 
 Amias Paulet to hasten that event, because 
 the longer it was deferred the more her dan¬ 
 ger increased.* Davison “ being somewhat 
 jealous of her drift,”f and knowing that 
 the Council had forwarded the warrant, of 
 which he justly presumed she could not be 
 ignorant, considering how many had united 
 in causing it to be dispatched, J cautiously 
 replied, that he imagined such letters were 
 unnecessary, as from the contents of the 
 warrant it was quite sufficient; § and that it 
 must be her Majesty’s own Commission 
 under the Great Seal, and not a private let¬ 
 ter from him, which would be Paulet’s au¬ 
 thority for that purpose. J To this Eliza¬ 
 beth said nothing more than that she thought 
 Sir Amias “ would look for it,” * and one 
 of her ladies then entering to enquire her 
 pleasure about her dinner, she ended the 
 conversation. 
 
 This interview was the last which Davison 
 ever had with Elizabeth. On Thursday morn¬ 
 ing, February 9, the Lord Treasurer sent 
 for Mr. Davison, and informed him that 
 
 * Appendixes A. B. and C. f Appendix B, J Ibid A. 
 $ Appendixes A. B. anc C. 
 
106 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 Mr. Henry Talbot, son of the Earl of Shrews¬ 
 bury, had arrived from Fotheringay with the 
 intelligence of the execution of the Queen 
 of Scots. The Earls of Kent and Shrews¬ 
 bury reached Fotheringay on the Jth, and 
 being introduced to Mary, informed her of 
 their commission, and desired her to pre¬ 
 pare for death by eight o’clock the next 
 morning, when this ill-fated princess closed 
 a life unusually marked by vicissitude and 
 misery, and w r ould it could not be said also, 
 by error and by crime. The question of her 
 guilt or innocence does not belong to this 
 work, and the particulars attending her 
 death have been so frequently related, that 
 it would be useless to repeat them. It is 
 impossible, however, to withhold that tri¬ 
 bute of sympathy which the misfortunes of 
 the illustrious never fail to excite, or to re¬ 
 frain from expressing that admiration, which 
 the heroism and magnanimity she displayed 
 in the last hour of her existence must com¬ 
 mand, even from those who are disposed to 
 view her character with severity : and the 
 age of chivalry must indeed be passed, when 
 our warmest compassion is not called into 
 action by the sufferings of a beauteous, and 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 107 
 
 accomplished female. Without enquiring 
 into the justice of a sentence, passed by 
 hoary counsellors and practised politicians, 
 the best feelings of whose natures might 
 have been chilled by age, or blunted by in¬ 
 terest, we must recollect that that sentence 
 could not have been executed but with the 
 consent of one of the same sex, rank, and 
 lineage with her on whom it was denounced. 
 
 On Elizabeth then, who could lay aside 
 those sentiments which are the peculiar or¬ 
 naments of the female bosom, and consign 
 her cousin to a bloody and cruel death, 
 succeeding generations have naturally looked 
 with suspicion, and subjected her conduct 
 to a jealous and scrutinizing investigation. 
 How her character has borne this enquiry, 
 historians have determined ; and it must be 
 confessed that their judgment has generally 
 been strongly against her. No other con¬ 
 sideration could possibly justify the execu¬ 
 tion of Mary but imperious necessity; but 
 whether such necessity existed is very doubt¬ 
 ful. The lapse of above two centuries 
 ought to have dissipated the mists of prejli¬ 
 chee, as well as those of party and affection, 
 and have enabled us to form an accurate 
 
108 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 and impartial opinion on this interesting 
 subject. 
 
 Certain it is that the popular feeling was 
 inimical to the Queen of Scots, and that all 
 Elizabeth’s Ministers either felt, or pretended 
 to feel, great fear for her personal safety : on 
 the other hand it may be said that the danger 
 was chimerical; and that the reports which 
 created the alarm they professed to enter¬ 
 tain were raised solely by the Queen’s agents, 
 to afford a pretence for an act which, with¬ 
 out such an excuse, must, even then, have 
 been condemned as tyrannical and barba¬ 
 rous. If any means were used to inflame the 
 public mind we must attribute their source 
 to Elizabeth, and this would at once esta¬ 
 blish her bitter animosity to the Queen of 
 Scots : and one circumstance affords some 
 ground for such a belief. About the period 
 when the warrant was dispatched, a hue and 
 cry was published, of which a copy is ex¬ 
 tant,* stating that Mary had escaped. It is 
 nearly positive that this must have emanated 
 from authority, and it is equally certain that 
 those who issued it must have been aware 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 291. f. 17- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 109 
 
 of the report being totally without founda¬ 
 tion. To this, and similar rumours, Davi¬ 
 son imputes Elizabeth’s determination to 
 carry the sentence into execution ; but, as 
 she must have been conscious of their ab¬ 
 surdity, they cannot be allowed to have had 
 any weight. It is singular that the fatal 
 warrant was signed on the day when she 
 commanded Davison and Walsingham to 
 write to Sir Amias Paulet, expressing her 
 wish that he would privately put the Queen 
 of Scots to death ; and the fair inference is 
 that Elizabeth resolved on making another 
 effort to accomplish her favourite scheme, 
 and that if it failed the legal course should 
 then, as the only alternative, be followed. 
 Had Paulet fulfilled her desire, he would in 
 all probability have experienced even a worse 
 fate than that which attended Davison, and 
 the Queen would perhaps, with the same 
 unblushing effrontery, have disowned any 
 agency in the transaction. 
 
 Another strong proof of Elizabeth’s inten¬ 
 tion to execute the sentence passed on Mary 
 remains to be stated. A short time previous 
 to the dispatch of the warrant, she com¬ 
 manded Burleigh to write to the Earl of 
 
110 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 Shrewsbury, to order him to remain in 
 the neighbourhood of Fotlieringay, for the 
 performance of a special service on which 
 she meant to employ him.* The feelings 
 which she betrayed on the signing the in¬ 
 strument which was to deprive her relation 
 of life, must not escape severe reprehension. 
 When giving vitality to the warrant of death, 
 she exhibited a levity unsuitable to a So¬ 
 vereign, and disgraceful to a woman: she 
 could not only so far forget the important 
 act she had authorized, as to speak without 
 emotion on common-place topics, but could 
 condescend to jest, and be satirical; for as 
 we have seen, in directing Davison to in¬ 
 form Walsingliam of what had been done, 
 she spoke with a smiling countenance, and 
 on asking his sentiments, she was ironical. 
 
 On an attentive consideration of the facts 
 which have been detailed, added to Eliza¬ 
 beth’s general conduct towards Mary, it 
 may be safely concluded, that in consenting 
 to her execution she was actuated much 
 more by personal hatred than by political 
 necessity ; that her assurances of sympathy 
 
 * Appendix A. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 Ill 
 
 and reluctance were false and hypocritical; 
 that to take Mary’s life had long been the 
 favourite wish of her heart; and that in 
 every circumstance preceding that cruel 
 exercise of her authority her conduct was 
 mean and contemptible. Although forced to 
 such a conclusion, it is but justice to her to 
 observe, that her Parliament had twice peti¬ 
 tioned, and that her principal advisers, Bur¬ 
 leigh, Leicester, Howard, and even Davi¬ 
 son himself, were solicitous that the sen¬ 
 tence should be executed. On the motives 
 of the Parliament some remarks havs already 
 been made; and whether her Ministers were 
 all actuated by a conscientious sense of duty 
 is extremely problematical. Burleigh has al¬ 
 ways been deemed her bitter enemy : Lei¬ 
 cester’s sentiments were generally the sha¬ 
 dow of those of his mistress, and as he uni¬ 
 formly exhibited his animosity to the Queen 
 of Scots, he may be supposed to have been 
 influenced by his inclination on this affair 
 also, to express such an opinion as would 
 coincide with that of Elizabeth. Howard 
 might have been actuated both by principle 
 and by the hope of rising in his Sovereign’s 
 favour. Davison however, from his unble- 
 
112 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 mished integrity, and from the courage with 
 which he opposed Elizabeth’s inclinations 
 when he thought they were unjust, or un¬ 
 lawful, was in all likelihood solely ani¬ 
 mated by his belief that the life of Eli¬ 
 zabeth was hourly in danger from Mary’s 
 machinations and agents. In his letter to 
 Burleigh (see p. 46), which could not have 
 been written with any sinister motive, he 
 alludes to a new plot against her person, 
 and exhorts the Treasurer in a manner which 
 carries with it a proof of his firm belief in 
 such designs, to use his influence in induc¬ 
 ing her to be more careful of herself: it is 
 true that Davison might have been sufficiently 
 credulous to be imposed upon by those re¬ 
 ports, but his abilities render it improbable; 
 and the sincerity of his opinion of the 
 Queen’s danger, and of the necessity of 
 Mary’s execution, is the best argument 
 which can be adduced in favour of Eliza¬ 
 beth’s conduct. 
 
 After Davison in obedience to the Trea¬ 
 surer’s summons had arrived at his Lord¬ 
 ship’s chambers, they consulted with the 
 Vice Chamberlain and some other Privy 
 Councillors, and resolved not to acquaint 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 113 
 
 the Queen suddenly with the execution of 
 the Queen of Scots ; and they refrained from 
 informing her of it during the whole of that 
 day: in the evening, however, she heard 
 of it by some other means, although she 
 did not then take the least notice of the 
 event. * Davison had returned to town be¬ 
 fore Elizabeth was told of the death of 
 Mary, and, on his return to Court the next 
 morning, f he first learned that she had 
 evinced displeasure on the subject. It is 
 generally supposed that Elizabeth appeared 
 surprized and indignant when she was first 
 informed of the execution; that her speech 
 failed her, and that for some time her sor¬ 
 row was so overwhelming, that she could not 
 express it, but stood mute with grief, and 
 that it at last vented itself in loud lamenta¬ 
 tions. J Davison, on the contrary, tells 
 us that when she first heard of it, she 
 took no notice of it, nor “ shelved any altera¬ 
 tion at all;” and that it was not until the 
 following morning that she exhibited any 
 anger on the occasion. § If she really felt 
 
 * Appendixes A. and B. f Friday, February 10. 
 
 t Hume’s England, v. V. p 320. 
 
 § Appendixes A. and B. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 I.IFE OF 
 
 what she then demonstrated, it probably 
 arose from the reflections of her pillow, and 
 it is not unlikely, nor irreconcilable with 
 the sentiments which have been imputed to 
 her, that her grief was sincere. It often 
 happens that when the being whom through 
 life we have pm-sued with unrelenting en¬ 
 mity, is by our efforts at last laid power¬ 
 less and innocuous at our feet, that our 
 former feelings become suddenly changed; 
 that the conduct which we condemned with 
 severity then wears a very different aspect; 
 that every merit rises with irresistible truth 
 to our imaginations; and if ever that object 
 inspired us with regard or esteem, those 
 dormant feelings are forcibly awakened, 
 and we contemplate our victim with una¬ 
 vailing sorrow and remorse. If, however, 
 Elizabeth’s grief was a continuation of 
 her former hypocrisy, it accounts for her 
 not assuming it until officially informed of 
 Mary’s death; when she immediately sent 
 for Sir Christopher Hatton, * to whom she 
 disavowed her execution as an act which 
 she never commanded or intended, and im¬ 
 puted it to the whole of the Privy Council, 
 
 * Appendix A. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 115 
 
 but chiefly to Davison, because she pre¬ 
 tended that in allowing the warrant to go 
 out of his hands, he had abused the trust 
 she had reposed in him: * and on his 
 arrival at Court, he found several Privy 
 Councillors assembled in the Lord Trea¬ 
 surer’s apartment, who acquainted him with 
 her Majesty’s anger, and with her accusa¬ 
 tion both against them and himself. He 
 says, that having his own conscience and 
 the Privy Council as witnesses of his inte¬ 
 grity and innocence in that affair, he did not 
 at first feel apprehensive on the subject, 
 considering what he had before observed of 
 her desire to throw the responsibility of it 
 from herself. The Council, however, ad¬ 
 vised him to absent himself from Court for a 
 few days, and being also compelled to go to 
 town from a severe illness, which arose from 
 an attack of palsy a few days before, he com¬ 
 plied with the suggestion, and returned to 
 his house in London. Some doubt may be 
 entertained whether this advice was not 
 prompted by treachery; and produced by 
 their wish to remove him from Court, that 
 
 * Appendix A. 
 i 2 
 
116 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 they might be the better able to make their 
 own peace with the Queen. 
 
 It has been said that none of Elizabeth's 
 Ministers dared to approach her; and that 
 if any ventured into her presence, she chased 
 them away with the most violent expressions 
 of rage and resentment; they had, she told 
 them, committed an unpardonable offence 
 in putting to death her dear sister and kins¬ 
 woman, contrary to her positive intention, 
 of which they were sufficiently aware. * 
 
 The next information which reached Da¬ 
 vison was Elizabeth’s intention to commit 
 him to the Tower; but thinking it so un¬ 
 likely, and feeling conscious that he had 
 not merited such treatment, he did not be¬ 
 lieve it. Lord Buckhurst, however, shortly 
 afterwards arrived to execute her com¬ 
 mands, by taking him to that prison; 
 but his Lordship finding him ill in bed, after 
 some conversation returned to the Court, 
 and acquainted the Queen with the state in 
 which he had found him. She deferred it 
 for two or three days on that account, but 
 
 * Hume, vol. V. p. 321, who follow* Camden. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 117 
 
 on Tuesday the 14th of February, Buck- 
 hurst conveyed him to the Tower. * 
 
 The tempest which wrecked Davison raged 
 at first with such fury, that even Burleigh 
 himself was struck with alarm; nor could the 
 considerations of his age and faithful ser¬ 
 vices, at the moment, save him from its 
 effects. He withdrew himself from Court, 
 and wrote the most humiliating letters to 
 Elizabeth, begging to be permitted to resign 
 all his appointments : in one of them he 
 thus intended to speak of Davison’s talents, 
 and of her purpose of committing him to 
 the Tower. 
 
 “ And having ended that concerneth my¬ 
 self, I cannot in duty forbear to put your 
 Majesty in mind, that if Mr. Davison be 
 committed to the Tower, who best knoweth 
 his own cause, the example will be sorrow¬ 
 ful to all your faithful servants, and joyful 
 enemies. And as I can remember many ex¬ 
 amples in your father’s, your brother’s, your 
 sister’s, yea even your own time, of commit¬ 
 ting of Councillors either to other men’s 
 houses or to their own, so can I not remember 
 
 * Appendixes A. and B. 
 
118 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 any one example of a Councillor committed 
 to the Tower, but where they are attainted 
 afterwards of high treason ; and so were 
 served afterwards. And what your Majesty 
 intendeth towards this your servant I know 
 not; but sure I am, and I presume to have 
 some judgment therein, I know not a man 
 in the land so furnished universally for the 
 place he had, neither know I any that can 
 come near him.” The sentiments of justice 
 which produced this generous eulogy on his 
 companion in disgrace, unfortunately for 
 Burleigh’s character, soon gave place to 
 considerations of self-interest; and before a 
 fair copy of the letter which was to be for¬ 
 warded had been made, the praises of Da¬ 
 vison were modified into the following ex¬ 
 pressions. 
 
 “ I beseech your Majesty pardon me to 
 remember to let you understand my opinion 
 of Mr. Davison. I never perceived by him 
 that he thought your Majesty would have 
 mis-liked to have had an end of the late 
 capital enemy, and what your Majesty 
 minded to him in your displeasure, I hear 
 to my grief. But for a servant in that place, 
 I think it hard to find a more qualified per- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 119 
 
 son, whom to ruin in your heavy displea¬ 
 sure shall be more your Majesty’s loss than 
 his.” * 
 
 When Elizabeth’s real or affected anger 
 had subsided, she restored the Treasurer 
 and other councillors to favour; but as some 
 sacrifice was necessary to appease the King 
 of Scots’ resentment, her unfortunate Secre¬ 
 tary was selected for the purpose. She not 
 only committed him to the Tower, but also 
 deprived him of his situation of Secretary of 
 State. The just remark of a distinguished 
 political writer, on the dismissal of an able 
 Minister, applies with great force and truth 
 to Davison’s removal. “It is not in this 
 country that such men can be dishonoured 
 by the frowns of the Sovereign. He was 
 dismissed, but could not be disgraced.” f 
 
 Previous to his being brought before the 
 Star-chamber he underwent three examina¬ 
 tions in the Tower, the reports of which still 
 exist, and will be found in the Appendix. J 
 On the 12th of March the Vice-chamber- 
 lain Sir Christopher Hatton, and Mr. Wolley, 
 were sent to him, and proposed five ques- 
 
 * Strype’s Annals, vol. III. p. 375- t Junius. 
 
 t Appendix E. 
 
120 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 tions : in them it was demanded, if when 
 Elizabeth signed the warrant she had not 
 ordered him to keep it secret, and not to 
 mention it to any one ? if when it had 
 passed the great seal she had not com¬ 
 manded him on his life not to let it go 
 out of his hands until he knew her further 
 pleasure ? if she had ever directed him to 
 deliver the warrant, or to cause it to be ex¬ 
 ecuted ? and whether, six or seven days after 
 it was sealed, her Majesty did not tell him 
 in the gallery, that she had a better way of 
 proceeding in the affair, than that which 
 had been before advised ? Davison answered 
 that when the Lord Admiral sent for him, 
 he told him to bring the warrant for her 
 Majesty’s signature, as it was her intention 
 to carry the sentence into execution ; that 
 Avhen he brought it to her she signed it; 
 and in the presence of his Creator he af¬ 
 firmed that she gave him no such commands 
 of secresy ; that she ordered him to carry it 
 to the great seal, and directed that it should 
 be forthwith dispatched; that the Lord Chan¬ 
 cellor necessarily knew it, that the Lord 
 Admiral w r as informed of it from her own 
 lips, and that she desired him to acquaint 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 121 
 
 Mr. Secretary Walsingham with it, and 
 hence that there were no orders given him 
 to conceal it. He protested before God that 
 she gave him no command that he should 
 not suffer the warrant to go out of his own 
 hands; and that if she had done so he 
 would not have concealed such an order 
 from the Privy Council, who resolved on 
 sending it down ; that, as her Majesty did 
 not expressly direct him to deliver the war¬ 
 rant to any one in particular, he concluded 
 that she meant that it should be executed; 
 that on some letters arriving from Sir Amias 
 Paulet, her Majesty, after “ complaining of 
 him for such a cause as she best knoweth,” 
 hinted that “ she would have matters other¬ 
 wise done,” the particulars of which he left 
 to her own recollection. 
 
 On the 14th of March, Davison was 
 further questioned, whether, after the war¬ 
 rant was sealed, the Queen did not remark 
 how important a charge she had commit¬ 
 ted to his custody, and how heedful he 
 ought to be in keeping the same safely and 
 secretly, and that it was to remain until 
 some farther occasion required ? and whe¬ 
 ther he did not answer that upon his life 
 
122 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 and faith nothing should be done therewith 
 without first learning her pleasure on the 
 subject, and that he would rigidly follow 
 her instructions thereon? To the first of 
 these queries he most solemnly asserted that 
 he never received any such commands; and 
 to the second, that after the warrant was 
 signed, and he had received her directions to 
 cany it to the great seal, with instructions 
 to use it secretly, he promised to do so with 
 that care and secresy which it required; and 
 added that this was all he could remember 
 on that subject, as he protested before God. 
 
 On the 16th, eight new questions were put 
 to him : First, whether her Majesty did not 
 on signing the warrant remark, that she had 
 committed a high trust to him, and such as 
 was seldom reposed in a man who had been 
 so short a time in her councils; and whe¬ 
 ther she did not charge him to keep it care¬ 
 fully and secretly, for that it was her inten¬ 
 tion to use it according to her pleasure; 
 and what answer did he make thereto? Da¬ 
 vison’s reply was, that he remembered no 
 such circumstance or injunction, and that 
 all he recollected was, that the Queen di¬ 
 rected him to carry the warrant to the great 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 123 
 
 seal, and ordered, in general terms, that it 
 should be secretly used; on which he pro¬ 
 mised her to take that care which it re¬ 
 quired. Secondly, whether he did not en¬ 
 treat her Majesty, for certain reasons which 
 he alleged, that she would allow him to 
 inform Sir Francis Walsingham of the sub¬ 
 ject, and did she not allow him to do so ? 
 To this question he protested, “ before the 
 living God,” that he did not remember any 
 suggestion of his to that effect; but that her 
 Majesty commanded him that on his way 
 to the great seal he should acquaint Mr. 
 Secretary with it, because as she “ merrily 
 said,” she thought the grief thereof would 
 kill him; with “ another command , the purport 
 of which he left to her best recollection .” 
 Thirdly, whether her Majesty did not the 
 day after the warrant was signed, send to 
 delay its passing the great seal, and when 
 he told her that it was already done, if she 
 did not give him a more positive charge 
 than before to use greater care and circum¬ 
 spection in keeping it ? His answer to this 
 interrogatory merely contained the account 
 already given of Mr. Killegrew’s having been 
 sent to him, with the same relation of what 
 
124 
 
 .LIFE OF 
 
 passed between Elizabeth and himself; after 
 which he says, he left her “ to his conceit 
 very well satisfied.” Fourthly, whether the 
 Lord Treasurer did not in the Queen’s pre¬ 
 sence, before the warrant was signed, find 
 fault with him because he did not present it 
 for that purpose, and whether his Lordship 
 did not observe that it was right it should 
 be signed in order that it might be in readi¬ 
 ness in the event of any thing happening, 
 and that her Majesty might entrust either 
 the Lord Chancellor, himself, or Davison, 
 with the safe and secret keeping of it ? His 
 reply acknowledged his being reproved by 
 the Treasurer in the manner and under the 
 circumstances stated; but that he did not 
 recollect any such observation. The fifth 
 interrogation demanded whether he did not, 
 after the warrant was sealed, ask the Queen 
 what he should do with it, and what was 
 her answer? but he totally denied having 
 asked any such question, because he had 
 no doubt of her intention to have it car¬ 
 ried into execution. The sixth inquired 
 how many days the warrant remained in 
 his hands after it was sealed, and whether 
 her Majesty commanded him to deliver it, 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 125 
 
 or whether he made her acquainted with it 
 before he did so, and what caused him to 
 keep it so long before he delivered it ? He 
 stated, in answer to this question, that the 
 warrant was signed on Wednesday morning, 
 February first, and sealed at five o’clock in 
 the afternoon; the next day he brought it 
 back to the Court, and on Friday the Coun¬ 
 cil determined to send it down to the Earls, 
 from their apprehensions of a tumult in con¬ 
 sequence of the report of the Queen of 
 Scots’ escape, &c.; he likewise said that 
 he received no special command from her 
 Majesty to deliver the warrant to any parti¬ 
 cular person; nor did he inform her of its 
 having been forwarded. The seventh query 
 only demanded whether the Queen, five or 
 six days after the warrant was signed, did 
 not tell him that she intended to take ano¬ 
 ther course ? and he replied, as he had done 
 before, that some days after the warrant 
 was sent down, upon the receipt of a letter 
 from Paulet, her Majesty said something to 
 the effect “ that she would have it otherwise 
 done, the occasion and circumstances whereof 
 he humbly left to her gracious remembrance .” 
 The eighth and last question alluded to his 
 
126 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 having taken legal advice as to his offence. 
 It inquired whether he had not sent, or caused 
 some one, to ask advice and counsel as to 
 the extent and nature of his offence, and 
 how far he was liable to be punished by law 
 for it ? And he answered, that what any 
 friend of his might have done for his own 
 satisfaction he knew not, but denied having 
 ever given directions to any one to make 
 such an inquiry; and concluded by stating 
 that he had the testimony of his own con¬ 
 science to witness that he had never wil¬ 
 lingly done any thing to offend her Majesty, 
 whose favour had ever been as dear to him 
 as his own life; and that he hoped from 
 her experience of him in the whole course 
 of his life and services, which had al¬ 
 ways been performed with uprightness and 
 integrity, she was fully persuaded to that 
 effect. 
 
 These examinations form an important 
 evidence of the truth of Davison’s other 
 statements, on which the preceding account 
 of what passed between Elizabeth and him¬ 
 self, relative to the warrant for the Queen of 
 Scots’ execution, has been grounded. There 
 are three narratives of this transaction ex- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 127 
 
 tant, * besides a sort of abstract of the 
 whole; f and although they are not all in 
 his manuscript, yet there can scarcely be a 
 doubt but that they were originally written 
 by him, or drawn up under his immediate 
 inspection. They are dated from the Tower, 
 February 20th, 1586, J which was about a 
 fortnight before he was questioned by the 
 Vice-chamberlain and Mr. Wolley. It is 
 most probable that one of them was ac¬ 
 tually sent to Sir Francis Walsingham, to 
 whom they are all addressed; and that the 
 others, particularly the longest, § were pre¬ 
 pared some years afterwards, and intended 
 for the purpose to which they are now for 
 the first time appropriated — the vindication 
 of his fame to posterity. It must be re¬ 
 marked, that although all Davison’s apolo¬ 
 gies, as they are termed, were addressed to 
 Walsingham, yet on those occasions when 
 he might have appealed to his personal 
 knowledge of many circumstances, the Se¬ 
 cretary is never spoken of but in the third 
 person : and hence it appears that the con- 
 
 * Appendixes A. B. and C. f Appendix D. 
 
 X 1587. 
 
 § Appendix A. 
 
128 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 jecture of an author,* who has shewn consi¬ 
 derable critical acumen on those statements 
 of Davison which were then known, is cor¬ 
 rect—that they were never intended to be 
 what Camden calls them, private communi¬ 
 cations to Walsingham, but designed for a 
 public justification of his character. The 
 slight differences which exist between the 
 three apologies may be imputed to a defect 
 in his memory, without at all impeach¬ 
 ing their general authenticity ; for the 
 only parts in which they disagree are as to 
 the precise days on which certain things 
 occurred. Even in his longest and most 
 circumstantial apology he speaks with un¬ 
 certainty on that head : but no rational ob¬ 
 jections can be made to the whole because 
 in such minutiae they do not exactly cor¬ 
 respond, when on all material points they 
 are strictly consistent. His answers to the 
 interrogatories of Hatton and Wolley per¬ 
 fectly corroborate his statements in those 
 narratives : and he attests his replies by the 
 most solemn asseverations, which, when 
 made by a man of Davison’s integrity, are 
 
 * Whitaker’s Vindication of Mary Queen of Scots. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 129 
 
 entitled to some credit. The best evidence, 
 however, of their truth arises from his 
 knowing that they would be deliberated on 
 by those who were witnesses of many facts 
 which he relates, and especially by the 
 Queen, to whom he appeals for their cor¬ 
 rectness. The cautious way in which he 
 alludes to her suggestions for assassinating 
 Mary, clearly shews his being aware that it 
 would meet Elizabeth’s eye: had he expli¬ 
 citly stated what actually passed on those 
 occasions, which he so prudently “ left to 
 her own best remembrance,” he would pro¬ 
 bably have experienced a more cruel fete 
 than that which befel him. The questions 
 themselves may be attributed to her, be¬ 
 cause they convey that impression of Davi¬ 
 son’s conduct which she wished it to wear 
 to the world ; and they must have been 
 drawn up from her representation of the 
 orders which she pretended to have given 
 him. 
 
 Soon after the execution of the Queen of 
 Scots, Elizabeth dispatched Sir Robert Cary, 
 son of her relative, Lord Hunsdon, with a 
 letter to James. In it she expressed her 
 wish that he knew but did not feel the un¬ 
 
 it 
 
130 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 utterable grief which she experienced on ac¬ 
 count of that unhappy accident, which, 
 without her knowledge, much less concur¬ 
 rence, had happened in England; that, as 
 her pen was unable to write it, she w r as 
 obliged to commit the relation of that event 
 to her messenger, who was her kinsman, and 
 who would likewise inform him of every cir¬ 
 cumstance attending that melancholy and 
 unexpected misfortune; that she appealed 
 to the Supreme Judge of Heaven and Earth 
 for her innocence; and that she had the 
 consolation in her affliction to find that 
 many persons in her court could bear wit¬ 
 ness to her veracity in this protestation; 
 that she abhorred dissimulation, and deemed 
 nothing more worthy of a prince than a 
 sincere and open conduct ; and that if she 
 had really given orders for the execution, 
 he could not surely think her so base or so 
 mean-spirited as to be induced, from any 
 consideration, to deny it; that though sen¬ 
 sible of the justice of the sentence passed 
 on the unfortunate prisoner, yet she had 
 determined from clemency never to carry 
 it into execution; and that she resented the 
 temerity of those who had frustrated her in- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 131 
 
 tention; and that, as no one loved him 
 more dearly than herself, or bore a more 
 anxious concern for his welfare, she trusted 
 that he would consider every one as his 
 enemy who endeavoured, on account of the 
 present incident, to excite any animosity 
 between them. When this letter is com¬ 
 pared with the evidence which has been 
 adduced, it is perhaps difficult to find a 
 more palpable piece of dissimulation. To 
 give James as much proof of the veracity of 
 her assertions as she possibly could, further 
 proceedings were necessary against Davi¬ 
 son ; and, as it has been justly observed, 
 i( she made no sort of scruple of sacrificing 
 the reputation and happiness of one of the 
 most virtuous and able men in her king¬ 
 dom/’ * For this purpose, on the 28 th of 
 March he was brought before the Star 
 Chamber, attended by Sir Owen Hopton, 
 in whose custody he was placed; at this 
 time he was still suffering from the attack 
 of palsy, and wore his left arm in a sling. 
 The Commissioners appointed to try him, if 
 the proceedings can merit the appellation 
 
 * Robertson’s Scotland, \ol. II. p. 346. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 of a trial, were, the Lord Chief Justice, 
 who acted as Lord Privy Seal for the day, 
 the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, 
 the Earls of Lincoln, Cumberland, and 
 Worcester, the Lords Lumley and Gray, the 
 Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the Chief 
 Justice of the Common Pleas, the Master 
 of the Rolls, Sir William Mildmay, the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Sir James 
 Crofts the Comptroller of the Household. 
 The Counsel for the Crown consisted of 
 Serjeant Gawdy, Serjeant Puckering, John 
 Popliam, Attorney-general, and Thomas 
 Egerton, Solicitor-general. Three state¬ 
 ments of the proceedings of the Star Cham¬ 
 ber against Davison are preserved; and the 
 two best will be found at the end of the 
 volume; these are taken from Manuscripts 
 in the Bodleian Library,* and in that of 
 Caius College, f and are published in the 
 State Trials; the third is in the British 
 Museum; J but it does not contain such 
 additional information as to require inser- 
 
 * “ Juridici” 7843. 862. 
 t Class A. 1090 S. p. 267- 
 
 J Harl. MSS. 290, f. 237, and 6S07, f. 213 ; which are nearly 
 verbatim copies of each other. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 133 
 
 tion. The relation which Camden gives of 
 the trial differs little from each of them; 
 and the following (which as copies of those in 
 the State Trials are given in the Appendix, 
 will be very concise,) is that which appears 
 to be the most correct account, on collating 
 all the authorities alluded to. The charges 
 brought against him were “Misprision and 
 Contemptand the Counsel for the Crown 
 opened the proceedings by a long harangue, 
 contending that although the Queen of 
 Scots had been condemned, yet that it was 
 never Elizabeth’s intention to execute the 
 sentence; and that, in contempt of her 
 Majesty, and contrary to her express com¬ 
 mand, Davison had acquainted the Coun¬ 
 cil with it, and had put the warrant into 
 execution without her knowledge. In his 
 defence he asserted that he had never 
 any private enmity against the Queen of 
 Scots, but that he had been actuated solely 
 in his conduct towards her by the duty he 
 owed to his Country; that the warrant was 
 in his possession six iveeks before he pre¬ 
 sented it, as the Lord Admiral could tes¬ 
 tify ; that the situation he held was given 
 to him by her Majesty from her good opi- 
 
134 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 nion of him, without his having made any 
 application for it; and he felt assured that 
 he had not committed any wilful error in 
 fulfilling its duties, or acted otherwise than 
 as an honest man ought, for that nothing in 
 the world was so dear to him as his reputa¬ 
 tion : he admitted that Mr. Killegrew was 
 sent to him with the message already 
 stated; but he argued that it did not prove 
 any thing contrary to her purposing to exe¬ 
 cute it when it was sealed : he solemnly 
 protested that, to the best of his under¬ 
 standing, he had done nothing but what he 
 thought would be agreeable to her; that he 
 was convinced of her intention to carry the 
 sentence into execution from the necessity 
 which existed for it; her Majesty’s immi¬ 
 nent danger; the wishes of her people, 
 whose safety was always an object of her 
 care ; and still more, by the expression she 
 used in giving him the warrant after signing 
 it, “Now you have it let me be troubled no 
 more with it;” that it had received her 
 signature and passed the great seal, which 
 he thought rendered it irrevocable, unless 
 she specially countermanded it. With re¬ 
 spect to the charge of “secrecy ” he under- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 135 
 
 stood it to mean that he should conceal it 
 from the knowledge of the public, because, 
 if it was generally known, it might prompt 
 the agents of Mary to make some desperate 
 attempt on the Queen; that she had her¬ 
 self imparted it to the Lord Admiral; that 
 she commanded him to do so to Sir Francis 
 Walsingham; that it could not be sealed 
 without the Lord Chancellor’s being aware 
 of it; and that he had acquainted the Lord 
 Treasurer with it from the consideration of 
 the great credit and confidence which she 
 reposed in his Lordship ; that it was not 
 usual at Court for the Queen to be troubled 
 with the particulars attending the execution 
 of any such warrants, but that, after she 
 had given effect to them by her assent, the 
 time, place, and manner of executing them 
 were always left to the Privy Council; and 
 that the accustomed method ought particu¬ 
 larly to be followed in this case, because 
 she had expressly said “ she would not be 
 troubled any more with it.” During this 
 part of his defence he was occasionally in¬ 
 terrupted by Egerton and his colleagues, 
 who endeavoured to aggravate his offence 
 by every means in their power. On Gawdy 
 
136 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 and Puckering charging him sharply with 
 Burleigh’s confession, that he had told him 
 the Queen meant to execute the sentence, 
 he prayed them, with tears running down 
 his cheeks,* that they would not urge the 
 matter any farther, for that he would not 
 contest against her Majesty, between whom 
 and himself the cause stood; that she was 
 his gracious Sovereign, and he her servant, 
 and what she asserted he would not contra¬ 
 dict ; neither would he disclaim the Trea¬ 
 surer’s evidence or report against him, or 
 avow any thing which was not strictly con¬ 
 sistent with a dutiful regard to her honour; 
 that the reason why he concealed from 
 Elizabeth that the warrant was dispatched, 
 when she again alluded to the subject, arose 
 from the promise he made to the Council, 
 and the agreement into which they mutually 
 entered, not to acquaint her with it until it 
 was executed. When Egerton pressed Da¬ 
 vison with his own confession, and read ex¬ 
 tracts from it, he begged him to read the 
 whole, and not parts only, but that he 
 would rather suppress it entirely, because it 
 contained some secrets not Jit to be divulged; 
 
 * Camden. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 137 
 
 and that, although he would not contend 
 with the Queen, still he could not allow that 
 his modesty should prejudice the truth and 
 his own integrity.* After stating that no 
 personal considerations, not even death it¬ 
 self, should induce him to disclose any pri¬ 
 vate conversation or command he had re¬ 
 ceived from the Queen, he confessed that he 
 had told the Council that he thought it was 
 her pleasure the warrant should be executed, 
 and appealed to Elizabeth’s own conscience 
 if he had not cause to think so. He re¬ 
 peated that he would not contest against 
 her, but submit himself to whatever punish¬ 
 ment the Commissioners should think pro¬ 
 per, but that, “ in his own estimation, he 
 had acted as sincerely, soundly, and ho¬ 
 nestly, as any servant could dothat he 
 should content himself with the testimony 
 of a good conscience; and requested not to 
 be urged to repeat what passed between the 
 Queen and him, or to declare what private 
 authority he possessed for the execution of 
 the warrant, for that he would not divulge 
 it, whatever might become of him; that 
 
 * Camden, p. 390. 
 
138 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 he should stand upon the equity of his 
 cause, and especially upon this point, that 
 he had not in any way violated the duty of 
 an honest man, for that he valued his cha¬ 
 racter more than his life.* After Davison 
 had concluded his defence, of which the 
 above is the substance, the Commissioners 
 separately delivered their opinions. Sir Wal¬ 
 ter Mildmay commenced, and, in a speech 
 characterised by the most sycophantic 
 flattery to the Queen, severely censured 
 Mr. Davison, and expressed, as his judg¬ 
 ment, that he should be fined ten thousand 
 marks, which, although too much for him 
 to bear, was little enough, considering the 
 nature and quality of his offence; and that 
 he should be imprisoned in the Tower during 
 the Queen’s pleasure, to whose consideration 
 he referred the punishment. All the other 
 Commissioners concurred in this sentence; 
 and in assigning the reasons which guided 
 their decisions they appeared to emulate 
 each other in adulatory observations on Eli¬ 
 zabeth, and in distinguishing themselves by 
 a servile adherence to what they knew were 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 290 and 6S0/. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 139 
 
 her wishes.* The speech of Lord Grey, 
 and the admissions which they all made of 
 Davison’s abilities, alone merit our notice. 
 This Nobleman, to his high honour, de¬ 
 fended him with considerable zeal and elo¬ 
 quence ; but in his invective on Mary be¬ 
 trayed much religious fanaticism. He ar¬ 
 gued that he had done no more than his 
 duty; that as to the breach of secresy, 
 he thought his answer quite satisfactory; 
 and that had not the warrant been for¬ 
 warded, and any ill had in consequence be¬ 
 fallen the Queen, he would have been de¬ 
 nounced as a traitor: notwithstanding this 
 opinion, Grey concurred in the sentence 
 proposed by Mildinay, perhaps because he 
 thought it was necessary to impose on the 
 King of Scots; but he thus concluded, 
 “that he was content that the punishment 
 mentioned by Sir Walter Mildmay should 
 be laid upon him, desiring therewithal that 
 it might please the mighty God to put it 
 into her Majesty’s heart to remit him his 
 punishment, that all good subjects, by his 
 example, may neglect their own private 
 
 * Vide Report of the Trial in the Appendix. 
 
140 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 hinderance and disgrace in respect of the 
 furtherance of the weal public, and thereby 
 to encourage her faithful servants and sub¬ 
 jects to perform their duty.”* The Chan¬ 
 cellor of the Exchequer expressed his opi¬ 
 nion of Davison’s merit in the following 
 terms : ‘ ‘ that it behoved the Queen to trust 
 somebody, and so she did this gentleman, 
 called into her service upon trust, and who, 
 for the acquaintance I have had with him, 
 was worthy of his place; and am sorry he 
 was not in this so good a servant as in all 
 other things.” f In another place he says, 
 “ that the Queen chose Mr. Davison above 
 the rest of the Council, whom she took to 
 be a very honest gentleman ;” J and again, 
 “that Mr. Davison being a very wise man.” § 
 The Master of the Rolls imputed his error 
 “ to his great zeal, which made him forget 
 his duty.” || Sir James Croft said, that, “ in 
 his opinion, Mr. Davison was a very honest 
 man, and loved him for his own particular 
 affection very well.” The Lord Lumley 
 swore, “ by his troth he loved Mr. Davison 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 6807- 
 t Harl. MSS. 6807, 
 || Appendix F. 
 
 -J- Appendix F. 
 
 § Ibid. 
 
 f Harl. MSS. 6807- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 141 
 
 very well, and that he had ever heard well 
 of him.” * The Earl of Lincoln thought 
 that it was “ negligently done, but not con¬ 
 temptuously ; that he was of Lord Grey’s 
 opinion; that, in his estimation, the punish¬ 
 ment was too severe, but he agreed to it 
 because he knew the Queen was merciful.” f 
 The Earl of Sunderland coincided with the 
 sentiments expressed by Lord Grey. The 
 Archbishop of York “ was sorry for Mr. 
 Davison, who did it neither wittingly nor 
 willingly, as he thought, but of a good con¬ 
 science, to cut off the common enemy.” 
 The Archbishop of Canterbury thought that 
 he did it out of superabundant zeal of reli¬ 
 gion unto her Majesty, and love to the 
 Commonwealth. The Lord Chief Justice, 
 who presided on the occasion, admitted that 
 Davison certainly meant well, and that it 
 was bonum but not bene; and delivered the 
 sentence of the Court — “That he should 
 pay a fine of ten thousand marks, and be 
 imprisoned in the Tower during the Queen’s 
 pleasure.” His Lordship then remarked, 
 that these proceedings had proved the inte- 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 6S07. 
 
 f Ibid. 
 
142 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 grity of her Majesty’s conduct towards the 
 Queen of Scots; and informed them, that, 
 as she thought the Council had been de¬ 
 ceived by Mr. Davison, she imputed no 
 blame to any of the others. — Davison 
 begged to ask one question, but the Lord 
 Privy Seal and Sir Walter Mildmay told 
 him, “ that it was not permitted in that 
 Court to ask any question after judgment 
 was passed, but only to petition but 
 upon his assuring them that he would say 
 nothing which could offend them, he was 
 allowed to speak, and was about to ask, 
 “ Whether, if the Queen had been injured, 
 and the warrant was found in his hands 
 
 ready signed and sealed, what-” when 
 
 he was interrupted by Wray and Mildmay, 
 who observed that the point had already 
 been discussed by Lord Grey. He then ad¬ 
 dressed the Court, expressing liis resignation 
 to the will of God; and he protested that 
 he cared not for the loss of his situation, 
 his disgrace, the fine, or the imprisonment, 
 although, from his illness, lie could very 
 badly bear it; but that all which gave him 
 concern was her Majesty’s displeasure. He 
 entreated them to become suitors to her for 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 143 
 
 him, and assured them, if he could but again 
 obtain her gracious favour he was indiffer¬ 
 ent as to the situation in life in which he 
 might be placed. Many of the commis¬ 
 sioners observed that it was a very dutiful 
 petition, and promised him that they would 
 inform the Queen of it. The Court then 
 broke up, and Davison returned to the 
 Tower; to which he was attended by the 
 sympathy and commiseration of many of 
 his contemporaries. 
 
 In the preceding relation of Davison’s 
 conduct in the transaction which proved so 
 fatal to his fortunes, every circumstance 
 connected with it has been minutely detailed, 
 and his integrity is thereby so clearly esta¬ 
 blished, that no comment could increase 
 the conviction which it must produce, that 
 the sentence passed on him by the Star- 
 Chamber was iniquitous. When he ap¬ 
 peared before that tribunal, he wisely re¬ 
 solved to submit to his fate, knowing that 
 resistance would prejudice his cause, and 
 that his innocence would have been the most 
 dangerous defence he could have offered: 
 he trusted to the generosity of his sovereign, 
 and perhaps calculated, that when the storm 
 
144 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 which had overwhelmed him was subsided, 
 he should soon recover from its violence. 
 It is impossible not to admire the generous 
 forbearance which he displayed on his trial, 
 by cautiously avoiding any allusion to Eli¬ 
 zabeth’s suggestion for assassinating the 
 Queen of Scots, and by preferring the honour 
 and interests of an ungrateful mistress to 
 every personal consideration. From the 
 charges brought against him, his statements 
 in all his narratives * fully exonerate him; 
 nor does the sentence passed on him in any 
 degree impeach his innocence: the charac¬ 
 teristics of the Star Chamber proceedings, 
 it is well known, were injustice and tyranny; 
 and as it was a court which generally made 
 the will of the Sovereign the guide of its 
 judgments, the conviction of the persecuted 
 Secretary before it rather adds to than les¬ 
 sens the weight of all the other evidence in 
 his favour. 
 
 Although the vindication of Davison’s 
 character is left, without remark, to the plain 
 narrative contained in the preceding pages, 
 there are a few points on which some obser¬ 
 vations are necessary. Besides the charges 
 
 * Appendixes A. and B. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 145 
 
 brought against him by Elizabeth, he has 
 been censured for writing to Sir Amias Pau- 
 let, in obedience to her commands, to in¬ 
 form him of her wish that he would privately 
 dispatch the Queen of Scots ; * for giving 
 up the warrant to Burleigh; for concurring 
 in the proceedings of the Council, when he 
 was aware that they were ignorant of the ap¬ 
 plication to Paulet; and for not acquainting 
 the Queen that the warrant for the execution 
 was forwarded, on those occasions when she 
 alluded to the subject of Mary’s death, f Be¬ 
 sides the letter on which the first charge is 
 grounded, two extracts of letters said to have 
 been written by Davison to Paulet and 
 Drury, are adduced in support of it. The 
 letter itself is inserted at length in its proper 
 place, and when its contents are compared 
 with Davison’s resolute and undeviating con- 
 
 * For writing it Whitaker says, “ That although Davison 
 was not an honest man, yet he was so nearly one as to be a very 
 prodigy for the Ministry of Elizabeth.” Vindication of Mary 
 Queen of Scots, vol. I. p. xiv. 176, 1S9, and vol. III. p.544, 
 576. 
 
 f Aikin’s Memoirs of Elizabeth, vol. II. p. 191, 193 ; in 
 which Davison’s delivering up the warrant to the Lord Treasurer 
 without further commands, or waiting for Paulet’s answer, is 
 termed “ incredible rashness.” 
 
146 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 duct, relative to all propositions for putting 
 Mary to death, excepting by the forms of 
 law, it may confidently be asked, if any 
 stigma can in consequence of it be attached 
 to his name ? That Davison approved of 
 Elizabeth’s signing the warrant, and that 
 he thought the Queen of Scots ought to be 
 executed, is not only unquestionable, but it 
 is a fact which he never attempted to con¬ 
 ceal. In the early stages of the proceedings 
 against her, he however declined any active 
 participation; and to avoid being one of the 
 Commissioners for the examination of Ba- 
 bington, he left the metropolis for Bath; 
 and he was so scrupulously particular in not 
 having any connection with conduct which 
 he considered unconstitutional, that no 
 persuasion could, as we have seen, induce 
 him to join the association. Whenever the 
 Queen suggested the assassination of Mary, 
 he refused to be himself an instrument in 
 such an act, and always endeavoured to 
 convince her that it was no less illegal than 
 dangerous; and to her ironical question, on 
 signing the warrant, of whether he was not 
 sorry that it was done, he replied, that as 
 he deemed it necessary, he could not re- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 147 
 
 gret to see her “ adopt an honourable and 
 just course” for securing her own life and 
 the tranquillity of the realm ; thus, although 
 it is evident that Davison was of opinion 
 that both were in constant and imminent 
 danger, yet he thought their security ought 
 not to be produced by any other means 
 than those pointed out bylaw. It must also 
 be recollected that when she wished him to 
 communicate her sentiments to Paulet and 
 Drury, he frankly told her that it was a 
 subject he entirely disliked; and that from 
 his knowledge of the integrity and wisdom 
 of those gentlemen, he was convinced that 
 no inducement could prompt them to lend 
 themselves to so unlawful a deed. Tliese 
 assurances did not content Elizabeth, and 
 she still urged her wishes so strongly, that 
 to <e satisfy her,” Davison promised to sig¬ 
 nify her pleasure to his colleague. In com¬ 
 pliance with what he had undertaken, he 
 called on Walsingham, and consulted with 
 him as to the letter which should be written 
 on the occasion ; and on his return to the 
 Secretary in the evening, after affixing the 
 great seal to the warrant, he found it ready, 
 and it was dispatched the same night. This 
 
 l 2 
 
148 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 letter merely contained the expressions which 
 her Majesty had used to Davison, and it 
 concluded by informing Paulet and Drury 
 that although they thought it right to ac¬ 
 quaint them with the Queen’s sentiments, 
 they nevertheless referred it to their own 
 judgments how to act on the subject. Not¬ 
 withstanding Davison signed this letter, it 
 was written by Walsingham; and those to 
 whom it was addressed considered it as 
 coming solely from him. But it may be de¬ 
 manded, in what Avay is this letter so im¬ 
 proper that its contents should be imputed 
 as a crime to those who wrote it? As the 
 servants of Elizabeth, it was the duty both 
 of Walsingham and Davison to make any 
 communication she might think proper. In 
 this instance no opinion of their own is ex¬ 
 pressed: and they may be considered merely 
 as the official instruments for conveying the 
 wishes of their Sovereign; and it is quite 
 impossible that either Paulet or Drury could, 
 from the contents of that letter, have ima¬ 
 gined that the sentiments which it contained 
 were also those of the Secretaries who 
 signed it. 
 
 It is certain that Davison was personally 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 149 
 
 known to Paulet and Drury, and his know¬ 
 ledge of their characters induced him the 
 more readily to comply with Elizabeth’s re¬ 
 quest of informing them of her wishes, from 
 his being perfectly satisfied that they would 
 not, in any degree, be influenced by them : 
 and it is probable that Davison felt that 
 both these officers were sufficiently aware 
 of his opinions, relative to any unlawful 
 measures being used towards Mary, to pre¬ 
 vent the possibility of their deeming the 
 letter to be his suggestion for complying 
 with the desire of the Queen, or that he at 
 all coincided with her inclinations on the 
 subject. It has already been stated that 
 when she wished him to write to Paulet and 
 Drury, relative to assassinating the Queen 
 of Scots, he assured her that no inducement 
 could persuade them to commit so illegal 
 an act; and after he had received their re¬ 
 fusal he defended their conduct, and endea¬ 
 voured to convince her that they had de¬ 
 cided according to the dictates of honour 
 and justice. When we reflect, that by 
 writing the letter in question, Davison and 
 Walsingham merely fulfilled the duties of 
 their office ; that it does not contain one 
 
150 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 sentiment of their own in contradiction to 
 the disapprobation which Davison uniformly 
 exhibited to every project for secretly putting 
 Mary to death; that his opinions on them 
 had always been expressed with a firmness 
 which, when it is remembered that they 
 were in direct opposition to the wishes of 
 Elizabeth, and her powerful favourite Lei¬ 
 cester, approached to temerity; that it was 
 not until he was wearied by the Queen’s 
 importunity that he consented even to per¬ 
 form the duty of her Secretary, by convey¬ 
 ing her washes to Paulet; that in yielding to 
 it he was actuated by the conviction that it 
 would produce no effect; and that he only 
 did it “ to satisfy her,” and to save himself 
 from farther application, it is contended that 
 no just censure can attach to his conduct 
 for uniting with Sir Francis Walsingham in 
 communicating the expressions to Paulet 
 and Drury, wdiich Elizabeth has used re¬ 
 specting them. 
 
 If Davison be acquitted of blame for sign¬ 
 ing the letter alluded to, the following ex¬ 
 tracts from letters, said to have been written 
 by him, cannot, when fairly considered, be 
 thought to alfect his reputation. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 151 
 
 Extract of a letter from Mr. Secretary 
 Davison to Sir Amias Paulet, dated 1st Fe¬ 
 bruary, 1586-7 : 
 
 “ I pray let this and the inclosed be com¬ 
 mitted to the fire ; which measure shall be 
 likewise meet to your answer, after it hath 
 been communicated to her Majesty for her 
 satisfaction.” 
 
 A postscript in a letter from Mr. Secre¬ 
 tary Davison of the 3d of February, 
 1586-7: 
 
 “ I intreated you in my last to bum my 
 letters sent unto you for the argument sake; 
 which by your answer to Mr. Secretary 
 (which I have seen) appeareth not to have 
 been done. I pray you let me intreat you 
 to make heretiques of one and the other, as 
 I mean to use yours after her Majesty hath 
 seen it.” 
 
 In the end of the postscript: 
 
 “ I pray you let me hear what you have 
 done with my letters, because they are not 
 fit to be kept, that I may satisfie her Ma¬ 
 jesty therein, who might otherwise take of¬ 
 fence thereat: and if you entreat this post¬ 
 script in the same manner, you shall not 
 erre a whit.” 
 
152 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 The authority for these extracts is the 
 same as that for the letter from Walsingham 
 and Davison; hence, if that be admitted as 
 genuine, there is no cause for doubting their 
 authenticity.* It appears, from the first 
 postscript, that the letter was accompanied 
 by an inclosure, which was perhaps a pri¬ 
 vate communication from Davison; and it is 
 very much to be regretted that the letters 
 from which these extracts were taken have 
 not been preserved. When we have a pa¬ 
 ragraph for our consideration, the precise 
 meaning of which must be conjectured, the 
 most equitable mode of forming a conclusion 
 on it is to compare it with the general con¬ 
 duct of the individual to whom it relates, 
 and to make the opinions which it is posi¬ 
 tively known he expressed on the same 
 subject the guide for discovering what is 
 suppressed in that in question. Adopting 
 this criterion, the probability if not the 
 moral certainty is, that Davison’s wish to 
 have the letter from Walsingham and him- 
 
 * Robert of Gloucester’s Chronicle, p. 673, et seq.; into 
 which they were copied from a MS. folio containing letters to 
 and from Sir A. Paulet, when keeper of the Queen of Scots at 
 Fotheringay. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 153 
 
 self destroyed arose from the same motive 
 as that which induced him, on his trial, so 
 studiously to conceal all Elizabeth’s sugges¬ 
 tions for assassinating Mary; and the only 
 source of which must have been the great 
 regard he ever manifested for her honour 
 and service. He was perhaps anxious that 
 no memorial should exist of her wish to 
 commit an act which he felt would tarnish 
 all the glory she might acquire ; and this 
 generous devotion to his Sovereign has 
 heretofore been adduced as a proof against 
 his own conduct. With respect to Davison’s 
 anxiety that his private letters to Paulet 
 should also be burnt, it is exceedingly 
 likely that they contained his secret senti¬ 
 ments on the Queen’s suggestions ; and this 
 conjecture is supported by all the evidence 
 we possess. On the very day on which it is 
 said to have been written he plainly ex¬ 
 pressed his disapprobation of them to the 
 Queen in person; can it therefore be ima¬ 
 gined that, without any inducement, he 
 would, within a few hours, privately ap¬ 
 plaud the very plan which he had openly 
 condemned ? With what object could he 
 neglect his own interest, by continually 
 
154 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 combating the will of his mistress, and then 
 advocate her inclinations to the very man, 
 of whom he had a few hours before boasted, 
 as possessing too much integrity to attend 
 to them ? If Davison could have so far de¬ 
 viated from his previous conduct as to have 
 argued in favour of assassination, would lie 
 not have made his court to the Queen, by 
 agreeing in the opinions which she had so 
 frequently expressed, but which, as it has 
 been often remarked, he resisted by every 
 entreaty and argument he could use? And 
 unless the construction which has hitherto 
 been put on this imperfect evidence be re¬ 
 jected, Davison’s conduct must have exhi¬ 
 bited this unaccountable inconsistency. But 
 if, on the contrary, we take his general sen¬ 
 timents on that subject, and his uniform up¬ 
 rightness of character, into consideration, 
 and suppose, as it is strenuously insisted, 
 that his private letter to Paulet exhorted 
 him to persevere in an honourable course 
 towards his prisoner, his anxiety to have it 
 destroyed may fairly be attributed to his 
 desire to conceal such a communication 
 from Elizabeth, whose vengeance he must 
 have dreaded, if she knew that he had ad- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 155 
 
 vised Paulet to refuse compliance with her 
 wishes. These observations only apply to 
 the extract from the letter dated on the 1st 
 of February, because it was in that only 
 that any advice for privately disposing of 
 Mary could have been contained; for on 
 the 3rd of February, the date of the other 
 postscripts, the warrant for her execution 
 was dispatched by the Privy Council; and 
 it is likely that the messenger who conveyed 
 it to Fotheringay was the bearer also of Da¬ 
 vison’s second letter: and his request that 
 it, as well as his former one, might be 
 burnt, was in all probability prompted by 
 his fears that his private correspondence 
 with Paulet might have become known to 
 the Queen, and not by his apprehensions 
 that it would injure his reputation. All 
 which these extracts can be allowed to prove 
 is, that Davison and Paulet were sufficiently 
 acquainted to produce a private corre¬ 
 spondence ; and this fact substantiates the 
 conjecture that the latter was well aware of 
 his sentiments relative to Mary. Every 
 probability respecting the contents of these 
 letters, which it is extraordinary have not 
 been fully preserved, is strongly on the side 
 
156 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 of Davison’s having in them condemned in¬ 
 stead of advocated Elizabeth’s wishes. That 
 Davison should not allude to these letters 
 in his narratives is very singular; and the 
 only motive to which we can justly impute 
 his silence respecting them in some degree 
 confirms the opinion that they censured 
 Elizabeth’s disposition towards Paulet’s pri¬ 
 soner. There is little cause to doubt that 
 the apologies were all written during her 
 life, and one of them (which was drawn up 
 whilst Davison was in the Tower) was, it 
 is supposed, intended for her perusal. If in 
 them he had acknowledged having advised 
 Paulet and Drury to refuse to comply with 
 her wishes, such an admission would most 
 certainly have increased her anger towards 
 him; and, from our knowledge of Eliza¬ 
 beth’s character, we can have no difficulty 
 in supposing that the servant who was suf¬ 
 fering under her displeasure would not have 
 accelerated its removal by avowing that he 
 had endeavoured to frustrate the object of 
 her earnest desire. From the reasons as¬ 
 signed it is so highly improbable that these 
 letters were of an opposite tendency, that it 
 would be almost absurd to argue on such an 
 hypothesis. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 157 
 
 The other charges which have been made 
 against Davison* may be satisfactorily an¬ 
 swered. No blame can be attached to him 
 for delivering the warrant to the Lord Trea¬ 
 surer, unless he had received the Queen s ex¬ 
 press commands to the contrary. Although 
 Elizabeth pretended to have ordered him 
 not to allow it to go out of his hands, Da¬ 
 vison positively asserts that she never gave 
 him any such directions; and as it has been 
 already stated, in his reply to the questions 
 proposed by Hatton and Wolley, he so¬ 
 lemnly protested that he never received any 
 such command; and adds, that if he had he 
 would not have concealed it from the Privy 
 Council. Another error imputed to him is, 
 for concurring in the proceedings of the 
 Council when he knew that the members 
 were ignorant of the Queen’s application to 
 Paulet. Davison informs us, that he related 
 every thing which had passed between her 
 Majesty and himself to the Vice-chamber¬ 
 lain; that in consequence they conferred with 
 Burleigh; and that, when the Council met to 
 deliberate on the^Queen of Scots’ execution, 
 
 * See p. 145. 
 
158 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 theTreasurer acquainted them with all which 
 had taken place between Elizabeth and Da¬ 
 vison;* and Walsingham, whom, as it will 
 be afterwards proved, was one of the Council 
 who attended on that occasion, had himself 
 written the letter which conveyed her wishes 
 to Paulet. From these facts it is almost 
 certain that all the Council were well aware 
 of the circumstance: indeed one of the 
 causes which they assigned for dispatching 
 the warrant without again referring to the 
 Queen on the subject, “ in case she might 
 fall into any new conceit of interrupting and 
 staying the course of justice,” f may almost 
 be considered as evidence of their being 
 acquainted with the conversation which had 
 taken place between the Queen and Da¬ 
 vison. But whether the Council were igno¬ 
 rant of the communication to Paulet or not, 
 it was the duty of Walsingham, rather than 
 of Davison, to have told them of it, because 
 the former was his senior in office, he had 
 been much longer accustomed to the duties 
 of his station, and was possessed of a far 
 greater share of Elizabeth’s confidence; and 
 
 * Appendix B. 
 
 f Appendix A. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 159 
 
 if he did not deem it necessary, Davison 
 perhaps thought that it would ill become 
 him to do what such a colleague had omit¬ 
 ted. The other error imputed to him, which 
 has been alluded to,* merits attention. It 
 must be conceded that, on a first view, it 
 appears unaccountable why, when the Queen 
 spoke to him of assassinating Mary, after 
 the Privy Council had resolved on her exe¬ 
 cution, he did not inform her that the fatal 
 warrant was dispatched. His conduct will, 
 however, upon examination, be proved to 
 have been, in this also, strictly correct and 
 justifiable. When the Privy Council for¬ 
 warded the warrant they mutually agreed to 
 obey her command, by “ not troubling her 
 to hear any thing more on the subject until 
 it was concludedand the promise which 
 Davison made them on that occasion he as¬ 
 signed, in his defence, as the cause of his 
 not informing her, when she spoke of the 
 Queen of Scots, that her execution had 
 been ordered by the Council. The instru¬ 
 ment for that purpose was sent from the 
 Court on the 3rd of February; and the next 
 
 * See p. 145. 
 
160 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 morning Elizabeth related her dream, which, 
 it is most likely, was merely a pretence for 
 attending to the subject. Davison, however, 
 as we have seen by his earnest question, ob¬ 
 tained from her a vehement assurance that 
 it was her intention to have the warrant 
 executed. This information was all he 
 thought necessary ; and he properly paid 
 little attention to her wish that “ it might be 
 otherwise done.” The next time Elizabeth 
 spoke of the Queen of Scots to Davison was 
 on Sunday February 5th, when he told her of 
 Paulet and Drury’s refusal to comply with 
 her wishes. She then recurred to her fa¬ 
 vourite scheme of assassination ; and Davi¬ 
 son again remonstrated with her on its impo¬ 
 licy and injustice; and as she did not express 
 the slightest intention of deviating from the 
 course which she had authorized, but on 
 the contrary still appeared resolved on her 
 death, he thought it unnecessary to break his 
 engagement with the Council, by informing 
 her of their proceedings. It was not until 
 Tuesday February 7th that he again saw the 
 Queen. After having dispatched the busi¬ 
 ness which produced the audience, she ac¬ 
 cused him and the Council of neglect of 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 161 
 
 duty, in not having already executed the 
 warrant, and commanded Davison to write 
 a strong letter to Paulet to hasten it, as the 
 delay increased her danger. This express 
 approbation of Mary’s execution would per¬ 
 haps have induced him to acquaint her with 
 what had been done, had he not enter¬ 
 tained some suspicion of the object of her 
 remarks ; because, when he considered who 
 the Privy Councillors were that had resolved 
 on sending down the warrant, he presumed, 
 notwithstanding their agreement to conceal 
 it from her, that she was not ignorant how 
 the affair actually stood. He consequently, 
 as it has been said, merely replied that the 
 warrant was sufficient, and that no private 
 letter from him could justify such an act. 
 But on that day it would have been, as 
 he perhaps felt, almost useless for him to 
 have informed Elizabeth of the measures 
 which had been adopted; for if she had 
 countermanded them, a messenger could 
 not have reached Fotheringay in time to 
 prevent the execution. Thus there were 
 but three occasions on which Davison could 
 have made her acquainted with the pro¬ 
 ceedings of the Council. On the Jirst, he 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 received & positive assurance, that she intended 
 the orders which she had before given should 
 be executed ; on the second, she was so far 
 from contradicting them,that she unequivocally 
 shelved her determination to have Mary put to 
 death; and on the third, she not only ap¬ 
 proved of her former commands, but directed 
 him to hasten the fulfilment of them. After 
 Davison surrendered the warrant into Bur¬ 
 leigh’s hands, and the Council had resolved 
 to carry it into execution, he could not, 
 without a violation of his duty, act in oppo¬ 
 sition to its decision: his special commission 
 from Elizabeth had then ended, and the duty 
 was as imperative in every member of the 
 Council, to have communicated what they 
 had done to the Queen, as it was on him. 
 For certain reasons they determined not to 
 allow her to be informed of it until it w r as 
 concluded; Davison joined in that resolu¬ 
 tion ; and can it be deemed a fault, that he 
 strictly adhered to an arrangement to which 
 he had consented, and which was the deli¬ 
 berate decision of himself and his colleagues? 
 One of the letters which accompanied the 
 warrant, and which has been inserted in its 
 proper place, has fortunately acquainted us 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 163 
 
 with the names of those who formed the 
 Council on that occasion. They were, Eliza¬ 
 beth’s prime minister, Burleigh; her favourite, 
 Leicester ; her relative, Hunsdon; the Lord 
 High Admiral; the Earl of Derby; Lord 
 Cobham; the Treasurer of her Household, 
 Knollys; her Vice-chamberlain, Hatton; 
 Walsingham; and Davison. Thus the Coun¬ 
 cil who ordered Mary’s execution was com¬ 
 posed, almost entirely, of her ministers and 
 the officers of her household, some of whom, 
 we must believe, were as intimately ac¬ 
 quainted with her sentiments and wishes 
 as Davison himself. During the three days 
 which elapsed between the signature and 
 the dispatch of the warrant, and especially 
 in the week before its execution, some, if 
 not all of them, must have approached her 
 presence; and it is impossible for us to 
 doubt that, in the interval, she must have 
 spoken to them of the Queen of Scots. If 
 this was the case, and they informed her of 
 the proceedings of the Council, the false¬ 
 hood of Elizabeth’s pretended ignorance is at 
 once fully established. Davison was assured 
 of her knowing it; and even supposing that 
 all the others refrained from acquainting her 
 
 m 2 
 
164 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 with what had been done, it is very unlikely 
 that Leicester should have concealed it. If, 
 however, they did not tell her that the war¬ 
 rant was forwarded, they are equal partici¬ 
 pators in whatever blame may be attributed 
 to Davison; and whilst this supposition is 
 an additional extenuation of his silence, it 
 also corroborates his assertion relative to 
 the agreement entered into by the Council. 
 But, as it has been justly observed, it is 
 very difficult for us to believe that those of 
 her ministers in whom she most confided, 
 together with her chief favourites, would 
 assemble within her palace, and determine 
 upon an act of such high importance, with¬ 
 out her being aware of their proceedings.* 
 
 The conduct of Davison relative to the 
 warrant for the Queen of Scots’ execution 
 has now been fully detailed, and, it is 
 hoped, impartially canvassed. It is pre¬ 
 sumed that sufficient evidence has been ad¬ 
 duced not only to justify it, but also to 
 prove his perfect innocence of the charges 
 
 * Rapin’s History of England, vol. II. p. 133, and Robert 
 son’s Scotland, vol. II. p. 346. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 165 
 
 brought against him by Elizabeth. Although 
 the defence of Davison, and not the vitupe¬ 
 ration of his Sovereign, is the object of this 
 work, it is impossible to avoid some severe 
 remarks on her treatment of him. In the 
 same proportion as her Secretary’s inno¬ 
 cence is established, her injustice, hypo¬ 
 crisy, and ingratitude, become apparent. 
 Admitting for an instant, that “ the tyrant’s 
 plea” of “ state necessity” * solely actuated 
 Elizabeth in consenting to her kinswoman’s 
 death, what possible excuse can be found 
 for her dissimulation in producing that 
 event, or for her sacrificing a faithful ser¬ 
 vant in the effort to preserve her own repu¬ 
 tation ? The means which she employed to 
 make the ruins of another’s fame the sup¬ 
 port of her own, has, by an act of retributive 
 justice, become the instrument for exposing 
 the depravity of her heart. Davison’s de- 
 
 * The definition given of “ state necessity” by a celebrated 
 orator is so just, and forms so great a contrast to what should 
 have been Elizabeth’s conduct, when she availed herself of 
 such a pretence, that it is inserted without an apology : “ State 
 necessity,” said the late Mr. Sheridan, in his brilliant speech on 
 the Begum Charge, “ is a tyrant which, when it stalks abroad, 
 assumes a manly front, manifesting its powers, and acting at 
 least with an open, if with a severe violence .” 
 
166 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 fence of his character has not only deve¬ 
 loped the meanness and treachery of Eliza¬ 
 beth’s, but it has established his own inte¬ 
 grity, and obtained for him a permanent tri¬ 
 umph over his ungenerous mistress. In con¬ 
 cluding this subject, the description given 
 of it by the least partial of his Biographers 
 is so laconic and expressive that it is gladly 
 adopted: “Davison’s grand case is briefly 
 this : — Many Protestants thought them¬ 
 selves in danger while the Queen of Scots 
 were alive; many Papists thought them¬ 
 selves undone while she was imprisoned. 
 These last press her to some dangerous un¬ 
 dertakings. Of the first, some were for se¬ 
 curing, others for transporting, and a third 
 party for poisoning her; to which purpose 
 many overtures were made, though yet none 
 durst undertake it that had either estate or 
 honour to lose : being so wise as not to un¬ 
 derstand what was meant by the strange 
 letters that were sent, else they might have 
 fallen into this gentleman’s fortune, who, 
 unadvisedly, venturing between the honour 
 and safety of his Sovereign, was ground to 
 nothing betwixt the fear of one party and the 
 shame of the other. But this mild, but stout, 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 167 
 
 because honest man was not so weak in the 
 perpetration of his fault as he was wise in 
 his apology for it, saying he would not con¬ 
 fess a guilt and betray his integrity, nor yet 
 stand upon a justification and forget his 
 duty. He would neither contest with his 
 Sovereign nor disparage himself, but clear 
 himself as an honest man, and submit as a 
 thankful servant and a good subject.” * 
 
 It is indubitable, from the signatures to 
 the letter from the Privy Council to the 
 Earl of Kent, that Sir Francis Walsingham 
 assisted at the Council which determined on 
 Mary’s execution; but it has been hitherto 
 supposed that the illness which he assumed 
 kept him from Court, and that he had no 
 active share in the last proceedings against 
 her. Such was the conduct he pretended to 
 have followed; for, in his letter to Lord 
 Thirlstone, the Secretary to the King of 
 Scots, dated Greenwich, March 4, 1586-7, 
 in which he endeavoured to prevent that 
 Monarch from avenging his mother’s death, 
 Walsingham commences with saying,‘‘Being 
 absent from Court when the late execution 
 of the Queen your Sovereign’s mother hap- 
 
 * Lloyd’s State Worthies, ed. 1670, p. 624, 625. 
 
168 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 pened,” &c. * This disingennousness could 
 only be exceeded by that of Elizabeth’s; 
 and it justifies our believing that when she 
 endeavoured to remove the odium of Mary’s 
 death from herself, each of her ministers 
 imitated her example, and ultimately laid 
 it upon the unfortunate subject of these 
 memoirs. 
 
 It is uncertain how long Davison remained 
 in the Tower; but in all probability he was 
 not released until two or three years after 
 his committal. Elizabeth’s cruel injustice 
 closed his public life : and the heavy fine 
 which was imposed on him, together with 
 the loss of his salary, reduced him to po¬ 
 verty. But his character was even then 
 considered as unimpeached; and a contem¬ 
 porary Poet f had the hardihood to address 
 him in the following verses : 
 
 AD ORNATISSIMUM VIRUM GULIELMUM DAVISONUM, 
 REG": SECRETARIUM. 
 
 Tempora lseta diu vidisti, tempora dura 
 Sensisti, et variis fata inimica modis. 
 
 Flante, reflante tamen Fortuna, semper eundem 
 Te praestas, fortem scilicet, atque pium. 
 
 Macte animo, Davisone, tuo: Sic itur ad Astra. 
 Praemiolum virtus assolet esse sui. J 
 
 * Saunderson’s Mary Queen of Scots, ed. 1656, p. 128. 
 t Thomas Newton. J Strype’s Annals, vol. III. p. 447. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 169 
 
 Many of his friends, and even one of the 
 commissioners who condemned him, used 
 their best exertions to restore him to the 
 Queen’s favour, but without success : he 
 was never again admitted to her presence. 
 His relative the Earl of Leicester died about 
 eighteen months after his disgrace; and 
 whether in that period he exerted himself in 
 Davison’s behalf, or kept alive Elizabeth’s 
 anger, is extremely doubtful. The Earl of 
 Essex displayed a generous zeal in his 
 cause; and his letters on the subject are so 
 highly honourable to both, that their inser¬ 
 tion cannot be considered improper. The 
 originals from which several of them are 
 taken are in the British Museum : * that 
 which is considered the earliest is dated 
 October 2nd, but the year is not mentioned. 
 It was probably written soon after Davison’s 
 disgrace. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ I have as I could taken my opportunity, 
 since I saw you, to perform as much as I 
 promised you; and though in all I have 
 been able to effect nothing, yet even now I 
 
 * Harl. MSS. “290. 
 
170 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 have had better leisure to solicit the Queen 
 than at this stormy time I did hope for. My 
 beginning was, as being among others en¬ 
 treated to move her in your behalf, my 
 course was to lay open your sufferings and 
 your patience. In them you had felt po¬ 
 verty, restraint, and disgrace; and yet you 
 shewed nothing but faith and humbleness— 
 faith as never being wearied nor discouraged 
 to do her service — humbleness as content 
 to forget all the burthen that had been laid 
 upon you, and to serve her Majesty with as 
 frank and loving a heart as they that have 
 received greatest grace from her. To this I 
 received no answer but in general terms, 
 that her honour was much touched, your 
 presumption had been intolerable, and that 
 she could not let it slip out of her mind. 
 When I urged your access she denied it, 
 but so as I had no cause to be afraid to 
 speak again. When I offered in your behalf 
 to reply, she fell into other discourse, and 
 so we parted. So all that I have done you 
 know ; what I shall, you shall prescribe. If 
 you hear any thing by any man else, I pray 
 you let me know it, for so I shall perceive 
 whether she will open her heart more to me 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 171 
 
 or to them ; which being known, I may deal 
 accordingly. And so I commit you to God. 
 
 “ Your most assured friend, 
 
 “ R. Essex.* 
 
 “ TVindsor, this 2nd of October ” 
 
 The Earl of Essex’s next letter to Mr. 
 Davison contained a more favourable report 
 of his applications to Elizabeth on the sub¬ 
 ject which he had so warmly espoused: as 
 it has no other date than the day of the 
 week, it is uncertain in what year it was 
 written. 
 
 “ To my honourable Friend Mr. Secretary 
 Davison. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ I had speech with her Majesty yester¬ 
 night, after my departure from you; and I 
 find that the success of my speech (altho’ 
 I hoped for good) yet did much overcome 
 my expectation. To repeat many speeches, 
 and by matters as of my acquaintance with 
 you and such like, that will be fitter for 
 such a time when I shall have conference 
 
 * Ayscough’s MSS. 4108, p. ‘23. 
 
172 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 with you ; but in effect our end was thus : I 
 made her Majesty see what in your health, 
 in your fortune, and in your reputation with 
 the world, you had suffered since the time 
 that it was her pleasure to commit you. I 
 told her many friends and well-wishers the 
 world did afford you; and how, for the most 
 part, throughout her realm, her best sub¬ 
 jects did wish that she would do herself the 
 honor to repair for you, and restore to you 
 that state which she had overthrown : your 
 humble suffering of these harms, and re¬ 
 verend regard towards her Majesty, must 
 needs move a Prince so noble and so just to 
 do you right; and more I had said if my 
 gift of speech had been any way comparable 
 to my love. Her Majesty, seeing her judg¬ 
 ment opened by the story of her own ac¬ 
 tions, shewed a very feeling compassion of 
 you. She gave you many praises; and 
 amongst the rest, that which she seemed to 
 please herself in most was, that you were a 
 man of her own choice : in truth she was so 
 well pleased with those things she spake 
 and heard of you as I dare (if of things fu¬ 
 ture there be any assurance)— I dare, I say, 
 promise to myself that your peace will be 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 173 
 
 made to your own content and the desire of 
 your friends. I mean in her favour and your 
 own fortune to a better state than, or at 
 least the same, you had; which as I wish in 
 my heart, so will I employ myself to effect. 
 And so in haste I commit you to God, this 
 Tuesday. 
 
 “ Your friend most assured, 
 
 “ R. Essex.” * 
 
 This letter is important, as it contains 
 Elizabeth’s admission of Davison’s merits : 
 but whether the inclination which she evin¬ 
 ced to restore him was feigned or real can¬ 
 not be determined. 
 
 Lord Grey about this time also exerted 
 himself in Davison’s favour, as is evident 
 from the annexed letter. 
 
 “ To my very assured good Friend Mr. 
 
 Davison give this. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ According to your request, this evening 
 I remembered you to my Lord Treasurer, 
 who told me that not long since he had had 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 290, f. 231, original. 
 
174 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 some speech with her Majesty of you ; and 
 that he found not but that you rested in 
 reasonable good terms of favor with her; 
 yet in respect of her begun course she might 
 not with honor saved make show of: where- 
 unto, when his Lordship replied that yet she 
 might underhand and in some other name 
 relieve your low brought estate by her ser¬ 
 vice only, and besides did put her in mind 
 that by the last act of yours (what offence 
 soever it had bred in her) she had reaped no 
 small safety and quietness, as the occasions 
 since have fallen out; she replied not to that 
 matter, but only said that her Court was 
 now fraught with such lynx’s eyes as the 
 motive of her doing for you in any such sort 
 would be discovered; and therefore, by what 
 I can perceive, your hitherto patience in 
 God must yet still be your best medicine 
 and comfort, and take these speeches as a 
 
 .indeed (though now too open, 
 
 thro’ too common a use) to put off the 
 reward of every good desert. Yet would I 
 have you to remember, that the hearts of 
 princes are ever in the hands of the highest 
 Prince, and that he, unlooked for, will turn 
 them to the avail of.and therefore 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 175 
 
 do not despair : for mine own part, whilst I 
 am a courtier you shall not want a remem¬ 
 brancer ; and so with a most true friendly 
 affection I commend me unto you, and 
 yourself to all the favors and blessings of 
 our good God. At the Court this Thursday 
 at night. 
 
 “ Yours most assured, 
 
 “ F. A. Grey.” * 
 
 It must not be forgotten that Lord Grey, 
 who thus advocated Davison’s cause, was 
 one of the Commissioners on his trial, and 
 that he then defended him. The communi¬ 
 cation with Elizabeth, to which Grey al¬ 
 ludes, was, it seems, made through Bur¬ 
 leigh ; hence it is necessary to examine the 
 Treasurer’s conduct towards Davison. From 
 a paper which may be safely attributed to 
 the Secretary, f the sincerity of Burleigh’s 
 assertion is very doubtful. From this evi¬ 
 dence it appears that all noble feeling gave 
 place to the cold calculations of interest, as 
 he is charged with having neglected every 
 
 * IIarl. MSS. 290, f. 233, orig. 
 f Harl. MSS. 290, f. 237- Vide Appendix G. 
 
176 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 means of serving Davison, and with ingrati¬ 
 tude for the private services which he had 
 rendered to his Lordship. Burleigh is also 
 accused of having opposed every proposi¬ 
 tion, either for restoring him to his office, 
 or for relieving his pecuniary difficulties, and 
 with throwing obstacles in the way of his 
 access to the Queen’s presence. The mo¬ 
 tives imputed to him for this conduct are, 
 his endeavours to place his son in Davison’s 
 situation of Secretary of State; his dislike to 
 him, from his standing in the road to the 
 Treasurer’s wishes, and his knowledge of 
 Davison’s inflexibility in yielding to his hu¬ 
 mours when they were prejudicial to her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s service; his jealousy of him, from the 
 fear that if he was taken again into favour 
 she would have the less occasion for his ser¬ 
 vices, or those of his son; and to his wish to 
 keep the management of all affairs in his 
 ow T n hands, with the view of rendering Eli¬ 
 zabeth in constant want of his assistance, 
 and thereby so to increase his credit as to 
 prevent her enquiring into his estate and 
 actions after his death. The evidence on 
 which the above charges are founded are, 
 Burleigh’s observations to his particular 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 177 
 
 friends ; the testimony of some of the Privy 
 Council to Davison himself; and the con¬ 
 versation of the Treasurer’s children, fol¬ 
 lowers, and servants. To all suggestions 
 for repairing Davison’s fortune it is said 
 that he objected either to the nature of 
 the request, to the value, or by proposing 
 something else, which, he remarked, might 
 be more agreeable to her Majesty’s incli¬ 
 nation ; but that the motive of all these ob¬ 
 stacles was to impoverish and keep him 
 under : and it is even asserted that Burleigh 
 told Davison that he had opposed the pro¬ 
 positions for doing so from fearing that if 
 the Queen assisted him she would again 
 employ him. 
 
 The only consideration that can lessen 
 the weight which should be attached to 
 these observations is, that they were written 
 after Burleigh’s death; and as that event took 
 place in 1598, this paper may be considered 
 as the last of Davison’s writing, which is 
 contained in the British Museum. Whether 
 we coincide in the motives attributed to that 
 minister for such a line of conduct or not, it 
 is positive that there is no circumstance which 
 can be adduced in contradiction of them; and 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 when we reflect on the influence which he 
 possessed over Elizabeth, we can hardly doubt 
 his success, if he had really urged her to re¬ 
 store Davison to her favour. It is well known 
 that Burleigh was long anxious to have his 
 son, afterwards the celebrated Earl of Salis¬ 
 bury, appointed her Secretary; and it is 
 consequently very probable that these charges 
 are well founded : hence arose his policy of 
 preventing Davison from obtaining an au¬ 
 dience of the Queen, lest he should excite a 
 propitious disposition towards him. Camden 
 states that she privately relieved his neces¬ 
 sities by sending him small sums of money: 
 although Lord Grey’s letter does not posi¬ 
 tively contradict it, still the grounds she 
 assigned for her refusal to the Treasurer, or 
 perhaps the motive which he alleged in her 
 name, render it unlikely. 
 
 No person was appointed to Davison’s 
 situation; and it appears from an expression 
 in the Earl of Essex’s letter to the King of 
 Scotland, that he was considered rather as 
 suspended than dismissed; and from this it 
 has been asserted that during the last illness 
 of Walsingham he performed the duties of 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 1 79 
 
 his office. * Before Essex took the extra¬ 
 ordinary step of joining the expedition to 
 Portugal, he wrote a very kind letter to Mr. 
 Davison, telling him that as he had ever 
 loved him, so now, in taking leave of his 
 friends, he could not forget him, of whose 
 love he desired ever to be assured, and 
 whom he would wish to satisfy of all 
 tilings which he did; and that if he was 
 troubled with the suddenness of his un¬ 
 looked-for journey, he begs that liis resolute 
 purpose to perform it, which could not be 
 without secrecy, might excuse him. If he 
 called it rashness, he (Essex) would rather 
 allow it to be heresy than error, for that it 
 was resolved many months before. If he 
 doubted of the success of the event, he re¬ 
 minded him that the same good God which 
 gave him a mind to undertake it would 
 cause it to prosper, and enable him to return 
 happy : and he concluded by desiring Da¬ 
 vison to remember him to such other friends 
 as in his absence he may find he is bounden 
 to, especially to Sir Drue Drury and to Sir 
 Edward Waterhouse. There is no date to 
 
 * Aikin’s Memoirs, vol. II. p. '264. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 this letter, but it was probably written early 
 in 1589, a few days before the Earl’s depar¬ 
 ture. Sir Drue Drury, thus spoken of, was 
 one of the governors of the Queen of Scots 
 at Fotheringay; and it proves that Davison 
 was personally acquainted with him, which 
 substantiates the conjecture that his commu¬ 
 nications to Paulet and him, before alluded 
 to, were of a confidential nature. Essex re¬ 
 turned to England in June the same year; 
 soon after which he wrote to Davison. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ As at my departure, so upon my return, 
 I must needs salute you as one whom then, 
 and now, and ever I must love very much. I 
 would gladly see you, but I am tied here 
 awhile. When I may have occasion to shew 
 my love to you I will do more than I will 
 now promise. In the mean time, wishing 
 you that happiness which men in this world 
 ought to seek, I take my leave. At the 
 Court this 11th of July, 1589. 
 
 “ Your assured friend, 
 
 “ R. Essex.” * 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 1323. Ayscough’s MSS. 410S. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 181 
 
 In April, 1590, the celebrated Sir Francis 
 Walsingham died, when a contest arose be¬ 
 tween Burleigh and Essex for the appoint¬ 
 ment of his successor. The Treasurer ex¬ 
 erted his influence, and ultimately procured 
 it for his son, Sir Robert Cecil. The Earl of 
 Essex used his utmost interest to obtain it 
 for Davison; and, as it has been properly 
 observed, although no suspicion can be 
 entertained that the zeal which he uniformly 
 shewed for the disgraced Secretary arose 
 from any other motive than sincere friend¬ 
 ship, still it must be remembered that the 
 filling-up of this office was the decisive test 
 of strength between the two parties. Essex 
 left no means untried which the dictates 
 either of ambition or friendship could sug¬ 
 gest : he immediately applied to the Queen, 
 and the arguments he used, as well as the 
 success which attended them, are best 
 shewn by his own account to Davison, 
 which has been copied from the original. 
 
 “ To my honorable Friend Mr. Secretary 
 Davison. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ Upon this unhappy accident 1 have tried 
 
182 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 to the bottom what the Queen will do for 
 you, and what the credit of your solicitor is 
 worth. I urged not the comparison between 
 you and any other; but in my duty to her, 
 and zeal to her service, I did assure her that 
 she had not any other in England that would 
 for these three or four years know how to 
 settle himself to support so great a burthen. 
 She gave me leave to speak, heard me with 
 patience, confessed, with me, that none was 
 so sufficient, and could not deny but that 
 which she lays to your charge was done 
 without hope, fear, malice, envy, or any re¬ 
 spect of your own, but merely for her safety, 
 both of state and person. In the end she 
 absolutely denied to let you enjoy that 
 place, and willed me to hold myself satis¬ 
 fied, for she was resolved. Thus much I 
 write to let you know I am more honest 
 to my friends than happy in then causes; 
 what you will have me do for your suit I 
 will, as far as my credit is any thing worth. 
 I have told most of the Council of my man¬ 
 ner of dealing with the Queen. My Lord 
 Chancellor tells me he hath dealt for you 
 also; and they all say they wish as I do; 
 but in this world that is not enough. I will 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 183 
 
 commit you for this time to God, and rest 
 “ Your constant and true friend, 
 
 “ It. Essex.” * 
 
 Essex, supposing that one cause of Eliza¬ 
 beth’s refusal to serve Davison was her an¬ 
 ticipation of the inference which the King of 
 Scotland would draw from his appointment, 
 wrote the following admirable letter to that 
 Monarch. 
 
 “ Most excellent King, 
 
 “ For him that is already bound for many 
 favors a style of thankfulness is much fitter 
 than the humour of suing. But so it falls 
 out, that he, which to his own advantage 
 would have sought nothing in your favor 
 but your favour itself, doth now for his 
 friend become an humble petitioner to your 
 Majesty. Your Majesty cannot be such a 
 stranger to the affairs of this country but as 
 you know what occasions are done in this 
 place, so you understand the minds of the 
 men by whom they are done. Therefore I 
 doubt not but the man for whom 1 speak 
 
 * Hail. MSS. 290, f. 235, orig. 
 
184 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 is somewhat known to your Majesty, and 
 being known, I presume of great favor. 
 Mr. Secretary Davison being fallen into her 
 Majesty’s displeasure and disgrace, beloved 
 of the best and most religious of this land, 
 doth stand as barred from any preferment, 
 or restoring in his place, except out of the 
 honor and nobleness of yom* own Royal 
 heart your Majesty will undertake his cause. 
 To leave the nature of his fault imputed , to 
 your Majesty’s hest judgment , and report of 
 your own servant , and to speak of the man, 
 I must say truly that his sufficiency in coun¬ 
 cil and matters of state is such as the Queen 
 herself confesseth in her kingdom she has 
 not such another; his virtue, religion, and 
 worth, in all degrees, is of the world taken 
 to be so great, as no man in his good for¬ 
 tune hath had a more commendable love 
 than this gentleman in his disgrace; and if, 
 to a man so worthy in himself, and so es¬ 
 teemed of all men, my words might avail 
 any thing, I would assure your Majesty you 
 should get great honor, and great love, not 
 only here amongst us, but in all places of 
 Christendom where this gentleman is any 
 thing known, if you should be the author of 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 185 
 
 his restoring to his place, which now in ef¬ 
 fect he is, but that as a man not acceptable 
 to her Majesty, he doth forbear to attend. I 
 do in all humbleness commend this cause to 
 your Majesty, having the warrant of a good 
 conscience, that I know to be both honora¬ 
 ble and honest; and your Majesty to the 
 blessed protection of the mighty God, to 
 whom will pray for your Majesty’s happy 
 and prosperous estate, he that will do your 
 Majesty all humble service. 
 
 “ R. Essex.* 
 
 “ Greenwich, this 18 of April (1589-90).” 
 
 It must be noticed, that in this application 
 to the King of Scots, Essex never once ap¬ 
 peals to his mercy or his forgiveness, but 
 solely addresses himself to his sense of jus¬ 
 tice. Instead of explaining or extenuating 
 the charges against Davison, he boldly refers 
 the consideration of them to his own judg¬ 
 ment ; and even invites him to form his opi¬ 
 nion of the Secretary’s conduct from the re¬ 
 port of his Ambassador at Elizabeth’s Court 
 when Mary was executed. At the same time 
 
 * Ayscough’s MSS. 4108, f. 23. 
 
186 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 that lie avoids mentioning, in express terms, 
 the fault imputed to Davison, he hints his 
 belief that James is well informed of the real 
 state of the case; and lays the stress of his 
 petition on the Secretary’s merits and mis¬ 
 fortunes : and he plainly insinuates that the 
 latter were undeservedly produced by politi¬ 
 cal considerations towards his Majesty, and 
 that nothing but his interference would re¬ 
 move them. This solicitation may be deemed 
 a full proof that Essex considered Davison’s 
 loss of favour as a sacrifice to James’s re¬ 
 sentment : would he have had the effrontery 
 to ask the good offices of that Monarch, in 
 favour of a man who had been convicted of 
 having unwarrantably caused his mother’s 
 death, unless he was convinced that he saw 
 through the veil which Elizabeth had thrown 
 over her conduct ? If Davison’s innocence 
 had not been manifest, Essex must have 
 known that it was dangerous, under such 
 circumstances, to trust to any human judg¬ 
 ment ; he must have supposed that James’s 
 mind was so prejudiced by resentment 
 against the authors of his parent’s execu¬ 
 tion, that unless he had imputed it to the 
 right source, any petition in favour of the 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 187 
 
 instmment of that event would have been 
 rejected with anger and disdain. The result 
 of Essex’s intercession with the King of 
 Scots is unknown; but it will be subse¬ 
 quently shewn that he patronized Mr. Davi¬ 
 son. James might, however, have declined 
 complying with the Earl of Essex’s request 
 without its being attributed to his deeming 
 him guilty of the charges imputed to him. 
 Three years had only then elapsed since 
 Mary’s death; and he could not well have 
 interested himself in his behalf without 
 proving to Elizabeth that he did not credit 
 her statement of that cruel transaction. If 
 he thus tacitly ascribed it to her own com¬ 
 mands, and not to her Secretary’s rashness, 
 he would consequently have had no pretence 
 for remaining in amity with her, or for his 
 own pusillanimity in not resenting her con¬ 
 duct : thus policy might have prevented him 
 from manifesting any sentiment of kindness 
 towards Davison during her life. 
 
 It has been ingeniously imagined* that 
 her displeasure at what Davison had done 
 was not the only, although it doubtlessly was 
 
 * Aikin’s Memoirs of Elizabeth, vol. II. p. *27 6 . 
 
188 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 the chief cause of the failure of Essex’s ge¬ 
 nerous exertions with the Queen. Eliza¬ 
 beth, it is said, feared that by granting the 
 Earl’s petitions she might render him confi¬ 
 dent and assuming; and she counterbalanced 
 every personal favour to himself by a morti¬ 
 fying refusal of his suits for his friends. 
 When he found all hope of obtaining Wal- 
 singliam’s situation for Davison was at an 
 end, he endeavoured to procure it for Sir 
 Thomas Bodley, but he was also disap¬ 
 pointed ; and there is but a solitary instance 
 of one of his dependants being selected for 
 her Majesty’s service. Another motive for 
 Elizabeth’s refusal to confer the secretary¬ 
 ship on Davison has been ascribed to her 
 distrust of his abilities for so difficult a situ- 
 tion. * Upon what this supposition rests 
 it is difficult to determine; especially as 
 the author who has hazarded it quotes the 
 Queen’s own admission that she was grati¬ 
 fied by the reflection of having herself chosen 
 him for her Secretary — and that in her 
 kingdom she had not a man so well quali¬ 
 fied for that office, f If Burleigh at that 
 
 * Aikin’s Memoirs of Elizabeth, vol. II. p. 2"6. 
 f Essex’s letters. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 189 
 
 time, from a regard to his own interests, 
 represented Davison as incapable of filling 
 it, the inducement prevented his giving an 
 impartial and sincere opinion; for a few 
 years before he expressly told Elizabeth it 
 would be difficult for her to find a person so 
 capable in every respect for his situation , and 
 that if she dismissed him, the loss would he 
 less Davison’s than her own: and even this 
 was a qualified admission of his talents, as it 
 has been already said he at one time in¬ 
 tended to have spoken in much stronger 
 terms of them.* 
 
 During the first three years after Davi¬ 
 son’s dismissal he refrained from any per¬ 
 sonal application to Elizabeth: he trusted 
 his cause to the zeal of his friends; and we 
 have seen that some of them justified the 
 confidence he placed in them. The ill suc¬ 
 cess of then- exertions became so apparent 
 after Walsingham’s death, that, as a last ef¬ 
 fort, he wrote to the Queen; and the fol¬ 
 lowing copy of his letter is made from the 
 transcript of the original in his own hand¬ 
 writing. 
 
 * Vide a preceding page, 
 f Cottonian MSS. Galba, D vii. f. 389. 
 
190 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 “ To the Queen's most excellent Majesty. 
 
 “ Most gracious Sovereign, 
 
 “ The care and respect I have had to do 
 nothing, willingly, that might give your Ma¬ 
 jesty the least matter of olfence and indis¬ 
 posing you, hath made me more slow to 
 trouble your Majesty with a letter, the rather 
 in hope that either the time, the mediation 
 of my honorable friends, your Majesty’s own 
 experience of my duty, or which (I most 
 presumed of) the goodness of your own 
 most frank and gracious nature, would long 
 ere this have removed the cause, and in¬ 
 clined your heart to a more favorable com¬ 
 passion of myself and my troubles than hi¬ 
 therto my unhappy condition hath tasted of. 
 But seeing it hath pleased God, which hath 
 the hearts of princes in his own hands, for 
 my great trial and troubles, to give so con¬ 
 trary success to all my hopes as that I ra¬ 
 ther find my grief and troubles from day to 
 day increased, my friends wearied and dis¬ 
 tasted, my cause neglected, my self on all 
 sides abandoned, my poor estate utterly 
 ruined, and that which I esteem my greatest 
 discomfort, your Majesty’s favor and pre¬ 
 sence, absolutely still denied me: notwith- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 191 
 
 standing all the humble and earnest suit 
 that I have since my enlargement conti¬ 
 nually made by myself and my friends in 
 that behalf still denied me, as one unworthy 
 to partake in those ordinary favors which 
 your Highness is not wont to deny even to 
 the meanest and many times worst affected 
 subjects. I trust I shall appear the more 
 reasonable, if, after so long hopes and pa¬ 
 tience with so little fruit, I do now adventure 
 in these few lines, all other means failing, 
 to lay mine own unhappy estate before the 
 eyes of your gracious and princely consider¬ 
 ation. How careful I have been, through¬ 
 out the whole course of my poor life, both 
 private and public, abroad and at home, to 
 discharge an upright and faithful duty to¬ 
 wards your Majesty, and how far from a 
 disposition to do any thing willingly that 
 might deserve your offence, there is a God 
 can witness with my soul. And yet such 
 has been my hard and miserable hap, above 
 all others, as even that service when I had 
 care to deserve best, as intended with all up¬ 
 rightness of heart, performed (as near as I 
 might) with all loyalty and faithfulness, and 
 grounded upon no other respect in the world 
 
192 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 than the duty of my place, love to my coun¬ 
 try, and care of your Highness’ surety and 
 service, is become, I know not how, the 
 cause of that your Majesty’s grievous dis¬ 
 pleasure, which now these four years * have 
 been heavily upon me, linked with so many 
 other crosses and afflictions as would have 
 overthrown both body and mind of one 
 much stronger than myself, if the inward 
 testimony of mine own heart and experi¬ 
 enced goodness of your princely clemency, 
 even towards those that have deserved 
 worse, had not fed me with the hope of 
 some better issue than any suit of mine 
 own, or labour of my friends, hath hitherto 
 been able to purchase for me. What cause 
 of mine moved your Majesty to conceive 
 and continue this long and heavy displea¬ 
 sure against me I would be loth to enter 
 into further than becomes him that hath a 
 most reverend opinion of all your actions; 
 yet premising the reason commonly yielded 
 is the greatness of my offence, I trust your 
 Majesty will give me leave to presume thus 
 
 * The words “almost six years” are written over “four 
 yearsbut as the latter is correct it ii preserved in the text. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 193 
 
 much of your princely dignity, that, howso¬ 
 ever my poor duty and service in that behalf 
 may stand accused, and my fault censured 
 and aggrieved by others (which haply for 
 particular respects best known to your Ma¬ 
 jesty may increase my disgrace, and add 
 afflictions to the afflicted), yet when your 
 Highness shall, in your own equal and in¬ 
 different judgment, be pleased to weigh 
 the nature of the cause itself, the part and 
 interest I had therein, and respect where¬ 
 with I was carried thereunto amongst the 
 rest (which I doubt not but your Majesty’s 
 own conscience will clear from ambition, 
 malice, hope of reward, or other sinister or 
 particular end whatsoever), with the happy 
 success it hath had in the surety of your 
 Royal person and preservation of the State, 
 both of religion and commonwealth, both 
 abroad and at home, you will, in the good¬ 
 ness of your most gracious and honorable 
 nature, whereof your very enemies have so 
 plentifully tasted, esteem the punishment I 
 have already sustained (with a most equal 
 and willing mind in respect of your good) a 
 full and sufficient satisfaction for so happy 
 an error being construed to the worst, as 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 this hath produced, both generally and par¬ 
 ticularly to yourself and to others. What 
 maketh me the bolder most humbly to be¬ 
 seech your Majesty, howsoever it may be 
 used as a common argument to withhold 
 and keep me from your gracious presence, 
 disable me for your service, and deprive me 
 of that place which it hath pleased your 
 Majesty to call me unto (of all men most 
 unworthy) with some testimony of your 
 good favor, though [attended] with little 
 other use or profit hitherto than utter dis¬ 
 grace and undoing, you would, notwith¬ 
 standing, have that princely care and consi¬ 
 deration of my former life spent (if not lost, 
 as the case standeth with me) in your ser¬ 
 vice, and [my] present contemptible estate 
 utterly ruined by my troubles, as that so 
 happy a fault as this imputed to me having 
 brought forth no worse effects than the 
 common safety of your life and state, with 
 the infinite comfort of all your honest and 
 faithful subjects, be not turned to the only 
 disgrace, danger, and utter undoing of me 
 and mine. Howsoever it be, I will comfort 
 myself with this hope, that as it hath 
 pleased God to use me amongst others in 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 195 
 
 this never so happy safety of your Majesty 
 and good for my country, so will he in his 
 good time dispose your royal heart to con¬ 
 ceive of me, as of a poor wretch that desir- 
 eth nothing so much, or holdeth any thing 
 so dear in this life as your gracious favour 
 and good opinion. In the meantime repos¬ 
 ing myself upon his providence that hath the 
 ruling of the hearts of princes, I do most 
 humbly beseech him to confirm and increase 
 his manifold favours and mercies towards 
 your Majesty, with a long, happy, and pros¬ 
 perous life and reign over us, to his own 
 glory and your endless comfort. 
 
 et From my poor desolate house in Lon¬ 
 don, this vii of December, 1590. 
 
 “ Your Majesty’s most humble and faith¬ 
 ful subject and servant, who hath no hope 
 but in the goodness of your royal nature, 
 nor desireth life without your favour. 
 
 “ W. Davison.” 
 
 From a note with which Davison has in¬ 
 dorsed the copy of this letter, it appears 
 that it was first presented to Elizabeth by 
 Mr. Thomas Knevit; and afterwards by the 
 Earl of Essex, but that she refused to re- 
 
LIFE OF 
 
 196 
 
 ceive it. To what other cause but that per¬ 
 verse feeling of the human heart, which pre¬ 
 vents our pardoning those whom we have 
 injured, can her implacable anger towards 
 Davison be attributed ? Not contented with 
 rejecting the earnest petitions of her favourite, 
 she treated the humble and pathetic remon¬ 
 strance of the man who had suffered so se¬ 
 verely from her injustice with cold and mor¬ 
 tifying contempt. Thus the only reward of 
 a long life, spent with unremitting zeal and 
 fidelity in her service, was poverty and re¬ 
 proach : and his vigilant care for her per¬ 
 sonal safety, as well as the deep interest 
 which he always evinced in her honour, was 
 repaid by her utmost endeavours to ruin his 
 fortune and reputation. In the destruction 
 of his prospects and estate she but too well 
 succeeded; but the character of an individual 
 can neither be established by the smiles, nor 
 destroyed by the frowns, of Majesty. An 
 honourable fame can only be acquired by 
 public integrity and private virtue ; but when 
 attained it belongs to posterity. The splen¬ 
 dour which surrounds the actions of royalty 
 becomes dimmed by the revolution of two 
 hundred years: then at least, the conduct of 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 197 
 
 the monarch and the subject may be exa¬ 
 mined with impartiality. That of Elizabeth 
 and Davison in the transaction which proved 
 so fatal to the latter, has now undergone a 
 rigid scrutiny, and it is for the world to de¬ 
 cide between them. To the admirers of inte¬ 
 grity and virtue, to those who will not suffer 
 even the regal robe to be a palliative for 
 meanness, injustice, and hypocrisy, the cha¬ 
 racter of William Davison is confidently en¬ 
 trusted ; and if new matter should be disco¬ 
 vered, by which it could undergo a more 
 rigorous investigation, it would in all proba¬ 
 bility only the more fully confirm his claims 
 to our respect. 
 
 After the failure of what Davison con¬ 
 sidered his last hope, of moving either Eli¬ 
 zabeth’s justice or pity, he retired to his 
 house at Stepney. Excepting that on the 
 21st of November, 1597, he wrote to Sir Ro¬ 
 bert Cecil, stating the circumstances of a 
 debt due from the Queen to Sir Horatio Pa- 
 lavicino, * and some letters to him from his 
 eldest son which will be noticed hereafter, 
 
 * Cottonian MSS. Caligula, C ix. f. 455-6. A copy of tin's 
 letter would have been inserted, but the MS. containing it has 
 been unfortunately either mislaid, or destroyed in the fire to 
 which many of the Cottonian manuscripts were exposed. 
 
198 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 nothing more is known of him until a few 
 years subsequent to the accession of James. 
 
 Early in 1601 Davison lost his firm and 
 zealous friend, the Earl of Essex : his usual 
 prudence and loyalty must have made him 
 condemn the desperate projects of that im¬ 
 petuous nobleman, but it is impossible he 
 could have been otherwise than deeply af¬ 
 fected at his fate. Elizabeth died on the 
 24th of March, 1603: sixteen years had con¬ 
 sequently elapsed since Davison’s dismissal; 
 and as the fine levied on him by the Star 
 Chamber had exhausted his private fortune, 
 it is difficult to imagine on what funds he 
 subsisted in that period, excepting it was on 
 those sums which in his wall, he states him¬ 
 self to be indebted to his friends. 
 
 In the year 1578, the Queen granted him 
 the reversion of the situations of Custos Bre- 
 vium of the King’s Bench, and Clerk of the 
 Treasury and Warrants. When he came into 
 possession of these places is uncertain, but 
 as he had no other means of providing for 
 his family, he solicited his Majesty to grant 
 those offices after his demise to George Byng, 
 of Wrotham, in Kent, and Henry Byng, of 
 Gray’s-inn, Esquires, on trust, the profits 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 199 
 
 arising therefrom to be applied to the pay¬ 
 ment of his debts, and for the provision of 
 his children. This generous monarch was 
 perhaps, as Essex supposed, well aware of 
 the facts attending his mother’s execution, 
 and hence he was possibly impressed with 
 compassion at the cruel injustice which Da¬ 
 vison had experienced: it is not unlikely 
 that he considered him as a faithful servant 
 plunged into poverty and distress, for hav¬ 
 ing strictly fulfilled his duty ; and although 
 from political reasons, he was prevented 
 from manifesting his opinion before he suc¬ 
 ceeded to the Crown, he now readily seized 
 an opportunity of serving the man who had 
 been persecuted and defamed, with the view 
 of directing his resentment from the proper 
 object. On the 25th of July, 1607, bis Ma¬ 
 jesty granted his letters patent for comply¬ 
 ing with Davison’s request. * It reflects 
 much honour on James, that he should have 
 surmounted the prejudice which he must 
 have naturally felt against one accused, and 
 even convicted of causing his mother’s death, 
 by allowing himself to be persuaded of his 
 innocence ; and by thus serving him, he 
 
 * Harl. MSS. S30, f. 115. 
 
200 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 testified to the world that such was his view 
 of Davison’s case. James was probably 
 the more inclined 7 to oblige him from 
 his being personally known to him, whilst 
 the Queen’s ambassador at his court, on 
 which occasion he had the honour of dining 
 with him: but Davison’s advanced age when 
 he ascended the throne was a sufficient ob¬ 
 stacle to his conferring on him an appoint¬ 
 ment of importance. 
 
 This satisfactory proof of the King’s senti¬ 
 ments and disposition, must have been highly 
 gratifying to Mr. Davison, and was the best 
 solace which his wounded mind could have 
 received. But he did not long survive the 
 success of his application, as he died on the 
 21st or 22d of December, 1608, and was bu¬ 
 ried at Stepney on the 24th of that month. 
 The registry of that church contains the fol¬ 
 lowing entry, among the burials, 
 
 “ December 1608, William Davison, of 
 Stepnie, Esquire, sometyme Secretary 
 to Queen Elizabeth, xxiiij day.” 
 
 His exact age cannot be ascertained, but 
 it is most likely that he was very old; for 
 allowing that he was only twenty-five when 
 sent into Scotland in 1566, he must at the time 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 201 
 
 of his death have been nearly seventy, and 
 the probability is, that he was much older. 
 
 The public character of this unfortunate 
 Statesman has been so fully delineated in the 
 preceding pages, that it is unnecessary to add 
 to what has been already said. The inte¬ 
 grity by which it was uniformly marked, 
 emanated from those principles of piety of 
 which he has left strong evidence.* In pri¬ 
 vate life he appears to have exercised every 
 endearing duty, and to his children he was a 
 kind and indulgent parent, f Of his person 
 there is no other information than the remark 
 made on it by an individual who was present 
 at his trial, from which it appears that he 
 was a handsome man, with a grave expres¬ 
 sion of countenance, and possessed of a fine 
 voice : his temper was peculiarly mild and 
 benign, his manners urbane and persuasive; 
 and he has been described “ as the sweetest 
 man living.” J His abilities are sufficiently 
 shewn by the success which attended his 
 
 * Vide two papers in Had. MSS. 290, f. 27L 27*2. the one 
 proving “ that afflictions are profitable to the children of God;” 
 and the other a religious “ description of our lives by the ad¬ 
 juncts, short and miserable.” 
 
 j- Vide a letter in a subsequent page from his eldest son. 
 
 % Lloyd’s State Worthies. 
 
202 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 diplomatic exertions; and besides the cor¬ 
 respondence connected with those missions, 
 there are several other articles written by 
 him, and preserved in the British Museum,* 
 some of which display considerable talent: 
 of these his letter to Elizabeth, dissuading 
 her from a peace with Spain, written in 
 1587, which is of great length, and exhibits 
 much political knowledge, and his instruc¬ 
 tions for a traveller, intended for his son, 
 merit attention. There are also one or two 
 
 * The articles among the Harleian MSS. in the British Mu¬ 
 seum, which are attributed to Davison, not already noticed, are, 
 
 290, f. 254. Reasons against the liberty of the Queen of Scots, 
 f. 254 b. “ That the association would be dangerous.” 
 
 f, 255. Remarks concerning many of the Scots nobility, 
 f. 259. Names of the free boroughs in Scotland, written 
 25th March, 1583. 
 
 f. 260. Names of persons of rank put to death during the 
 reigns of Henry VII. Henry VIII. Edward VI. 
 and Mary. 
 
 f. 261. “ Observables to be noted by a traveller.” 
 f. 262. Three months observations of the Low Countries, 
 especially Holland ; an imperfect satire, 
 f. 263. A censure on Machiavel’s Florentine History. 
 
 291, f. 61 and 65. Names of the nobility of Scotland, &c. in|1582. 
 f. 66. Short general notes touching some of the Scots no¬ 
 bility. 
 
 f. 71. Information relating to the Duke of Lennox, 
 f. 77- List of the nobility of Scotland. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 203 
 
 poetical effusions, but. they are scarcely wor¬ 
 thy of notice. A copy of one of them is, 
 however, inserted. It was probably written 
 after his dismissal from office ; and his mis¬ 
 fortunes appear to have been the only sub¬ 
 ject on which his Muse employed herself. 
 
 Virtue and learning were, in former time, 
 
 Sure ladders by the which a man might clime 
 To honour’s seat; but now they will not hold, 
 
 Unless the mounting steps be made of gold. 
 
 Another is on “ Semper eris pauper.” * 
 
 291, f. 80. List of such of the nobility of Scotland as are dis¬ 
 tressed. 
 
 f. 81 to 112. Letters to and from Davison on Scottish af¬ 
 fairs, and other papers relating to his mission. 
 
 286, f. 84. Key to the cypher used by Mr. Davison. 
 
 2S5, f. 250. Distribution of the provinces and towns in the Low 
 Countries. 
 
 304, f. 79 Heads for a relation of the present; State of England. 
 
 288, f. 149. “Whether her Majesty had better proceed with 
 
 the French match or no.” 
 
 289, f. 2. Names of the Lords of Sessions. 
 
 295, f. 209. An abstract of argument, &c. against the peace 
 with Spain, written for the Earl of Essex. 
 
 5S8, f. 3. “ Tabula analytica politica,” containing also several 
 pedigrees. 
 
 168, f. 197- A letter to Elizabeth, dissuading her from a peace 
 with Spain, written in the year 1587- 
 
 6893, f. “ Most brief but excellent instructions for a travel¬ 
 ler, written for his son." 
 
 Lansdowne MSS. 9S2, f. 97- Notes by Mr. Secretary Davison. 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 290, f. 256. 
 
v 204 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 As a genealogist he was much more for¬ 
 tunate than as a poet; and his compilation 
 of pedigrees, chiefly relating to the nobility 
 of Scotland, attest his information on that 
 subject to have been far from contemptible. 
 
 The attempt to discover the spot where 
 Davison was interred was unsuccessful: not 
 the slightest memorial of him exists besides 
 his virtues and his misfortunes. But these 
 are imperishable monuments ; and whilst the 
 fate which befel this celebrated Statesman, 
 must ever tarnish the splendid actions which 
 distinguish the reign of Elizabeth, it will 
 afford this useful and important lesson, that 
 although ingratitude and neglect may await 
 the most faithful services, yet that succeed¬ 
 ing ages will amply atone for temporary in¬ 
 justice, by bestowing on those who have 
 unmeritedly suffered from the selfishness of 
 a vindictive Sovereign, their sympathy, their 
 respect, and their admiration. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 205 
 
 To the Life of William Davison some par¬ 
 ticulars respecting his family, one of whom 
 is well known for his poetical talents, will 
 not, it is presumed, be deemed an uninterest¬ 
 ing addition. His will, which was written 
 with his own hand a few days before his 
 death, affords considerable information about 
 his domestic affairs ; and a copy of it has 
 therefore been obtained. 
 
 Extracted from the Registry of the Preroga¬ 
 tive Court of Canterbury. 
 
 “ In the name of God, amen : The 
 eighteenth day of December, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand six hundred and 
 eight, I William Davison, of Stepney, in 
 the County of Middlesex, Esquire ; being 
 weak in body but of good and perfect me¬ 
 mory, through God’s goodness, make this 
 my last will and testament, in manner and 
 form following: First, I bequeath my soul 
 into the hands of my most gracious and 
 merciful Godin Jesus Christ, through whose 
 merits only I expect and wait for, with all 
 his Saints, a happy and blessed resurrection 
 at his glorious and bright appearance; my 
 
206 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 body I bequeath to be buried in Christian 
 and comely sort; and touching the disposi¬ 
 tion of my outward estate, whereas it pleased 
 the King’s Majesty to grant unto me the 
 office of Clerk of the Treasury and Warrants, 
 and Custos Brevium of the King’s Bench, 
 for the term of my natural life, and after 
 my death to George Binge, of Wrotham, in 
 the county of Kent, Esquire; and Henry 
 Binge, of Gray’s-Inn, in the county of Mid¬ 
 dlesex, Esquire; for term of their natural 
 lives, successively one after another, whose 
 names were used only of trust by me, the 
 benefit of the said office to be wholly to 
 me and my assigns during the lives of them, 
 and the longer liver of them. And whereas, 
 I have always found the said George Binge 
 and Henry Binge my kind and loving, and 
 most faithful friends, and that' they the said 
 George Binge and Henry Binge stand en¬ 
 gaged for me, and monies by me owing to 
 divers and sundry pesons in great sums of 
 money. And whereas, I have also mort¬ 
 gaged to the said George Binge and his heirs 
 the house at Stepney, wherein I dwell, with 
 the gardens, orchards, and other commodi¬ 
 ties thereto belonging, for the payment of 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 20 7 
 
 seven hundred pounds, at a day yet to 
 come, which money being satisfied and paid, 
 together with such damages as shall grow 
 for the forbearance, I nothing doubt but the 
 said George Binge will hold himself satis¬ 
 fied, though the money be not paid at the 
 very time appointed for the redemption of 
 it. And having a great desire that the said 
 George Binge and Henry Binge should 
 first and before all pay themselves, and to 
 the end no other of my creditors may be 
 unpaid; and yet, my sons and daughters 
 have some reasonable and competent main¬ 
 tenance, I do therefore appoint my said 
 house and land in Stepney to be sold by 
 the said George Binge and Henry Binge, or 
 the survivor of them, at their good pleasure; 
 and the money thereof coming to go towards 
 the payment of such debts as I owe to them, 
 or as they stand bound for with me or for 
 my debt. Also, I will that the said George 
 Binge and Henry Binge, or one of them, 
 shall exercise my said office, and the 
 profits thereof coming, receive and take 
 until such time as they shall or may have 
 levied thereby, and by the sale of my said 
 house and lands, anti of my goods, sufficient 
 
208 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 to pay to themselves, whom my desire is to 
 have first of all satisfied, all such sums of 
 money as I owe unto them, or as they stand 
 bound for as aforesaid ; and afterwards to 
 my son Duncombe all such sums of money 
 as I owe unto him, or he standeth bound for 
 me; and then to all other my creditors the 
 profits of the said office to be by them em¬ 
 ployed and bestowed in manner hereafter 
 following, that is to say : that they do yearly 
 at the four usual quarters of the year, by 
 even portions pay out of the profits of the said 
 office, to Francis Davison, mine eldest son,the 
 sum of one hundred pounds of lawful money 
 of England ; and to Christopher Davison, 
 my second son, the sum of fifty pounds of 
 like lawful money ; and to William Davison, 
 my third son, the sum of thirty pounds of like 
 lawful money; and to my sister Anne Car¬ 
 penter, widow, ten pounds yearly ; and also, 
 that they do pay yearly for and towards the 
 satisfying of the portions of my two daugh¬ 
 ters that are married these sums following, 
 that is to say : to my son Towneley, his 
 executors or assigns, the sum of one hun¬ 
 dred pounds of lawful money of England 
 yearly, the two first years after my death, 
 
WILI.IAM DAVISON. 
 
 209 
 
 and fifty pounds the year next following, 
 which sum of two hundred and fifty pounds, 
 the residue of the portion for mine eldest 
 daughter’s marriage money ; and to my son 
 Duncombe, his executors or assigns, the 
 sum of one hundred pounds of like lawful 
 money, till the sum of five hundred pounds 
 be fully paid, being the portion for my se¬ 
 cond daughter’s marriage money, which five 
 hundred pounds being paid, then the bond 
 which I stand bound in to my son Dun¬ 
 combe, or some other for him, to be taken 
 in and cancelled ; and the residue of the 
 profits of the said office, that they the said 
 George Binge and Henry Binge do receive 
 and take for and towards the satisfying of 
 my said debts ; and after sufficient be levied 
 for the payment of all and singular my said 
 debts, and my two daughters said portions, 
 then my will is, and I do earnestly desire 
 the said George Binge and Henry Binge to 
 assign and set over the said office, and all 
 the profits thereof, together with the execu¬ 
 tion of the said office, to the said Christo¬ 
 pher Davison my second son, upon sufficient 
 security by him first put in, to the said 
 
 p 
 
210 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 George Binge and Henry Binge, as Avell to 
 pay to my said son William Davison during 
 his life, and after his death to such children 
 as he shall leave of his body, the sum of one 
 hundred pounds of lawful money of England 
 quarterly as aforesaid ; and also to allow to 
 my said son Francis Davison, during his life, 
 and after his death to such children as he 
 shall leave of his body, one half of the clear 
 yearly profits of the said office. The said 
 hundred pounds by the year, and the said 
 one half of the yearly profits to be so paid 
 and allowed during the natural lives of the 
 said George Binge and Henry Binge, or of 
 the longer liver of them ; and if my said son 
 Christopher Davison shall not be able, or 
 do not put in sufficient security (as afore¬ 
 said), then that the said George Binge and 
 Henry Binge will be pleased to distribute 
 the yearly profits of the office that shall 
 arise and grow (de claro), among my said 
 three sons as aforesaid, (that is to say) to 
 William my son one hundred pounds yearly, 
 and the residue of the yearly profits equally 
 to divide between my said sons Francis and 
 Christopher, for and until such time as my 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 211 
 
 said son Christopher shall be able, and do 
 put in sufficient security as aforesaid; and 
 whereas I have also passed over to the said 
 Henry Binge the profits of divers parcels 
 of the said office for a certain term, for his 
 security for five hundred [pounds] or there¬ 
 abouts, now I earnestly desire him, that he 
 would be pleased (as my hope is he will), 
 
 that the said sum.being satisfied by 
 
 such means as aforesaid, with reasonable 
 damages for the forbearance, the said par¬ 
 cels may go in and be accompted with the 
 rest of the said office, to be employed ac¬ 
 cording to the true meaning and intent of 
 these presents; and I desire the said George 
 Binge and Henry Binge to be content to 
 take upon them the burden of being execu¬ 
 tors of this my last will and testament, and do 
 appoint all and singular my goods and chat¬ 
 tels to go towards the payment of my debts. 
 Item, my will and meaning is, that if my 
 said son Christopher Davison, shall at any 
 time put hi sufficient security to the said 
 George Binge and Henry Binge, or the sur¬ 
 vivor of them, to pay as well the portions 
 before appointed to my sons, and for the 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 marriage money of my daughters, as also 
 my debts in form before - mentioned, that 
 then the said George Binge and Henry 
 Binge do forthwith thereupon assign and 
 set over the said office, and all the profits 
 thereof, together with the execution of the 
 said office to my said son Christopher. In 
 witness of this to be my last will, I have set 
 my hand to every sheet hereof, being three 
 sheets in all, the day and year abovesaid. 
 
 “ W. Davison.” 
 
 This Will was proved in the Prerogative 
 Court of Canterbury on the 9th of January, 
 1608-9, by the executors, and letters of ad¬ 
 ministration were granted to the testator’s 
 daughter, Catherine Duncombe. 
 
 Mr. Davison married Catherine the daugh¬ 
 ter of Francis Spelman, younger son of 
 William Spelman, of the county of Norfolk, 
 and a near relative of the celebrated Sir 
 Henry Spelman : her mother was Mary, the 
 daughter and coheiress of Richard Hill, Esq. 
 serjeant of the wine-cellar to Henry VIII. by 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Isley, of 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
A GENEALOGICAL TABLE, 
 
 Shewing the Connection between WILLIAM DAVISdN, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth, and LORD BURLEIGH, the EARL OF LEICESTER, SIR JOHN (HERE, 
 SIR PHILIP SYDNEY, BACON VISCOUNT ST. ALBAN’S, and other distinguished Personages. 
 
 [Toface pagr 213 . 
 
 Sir Richard Guildford,=j=Anuc, daughter of . 
 Knight of the Garter. I Pympe, 1st wife. 
 
 Sir Thomas Isley, of Sun-= 
 dridge, co. Kent. 
 
 Sir Edward ==Elinor, sister and coheir of Tlio- 
 Guildford.Kt. 1 mas West, Lord de la Warr. 
 
 r Anthony Cooke. Knt- Precep¬ 
 tor to King Edward VI. 
 
 Ciliic- Sir Henry 
 Killcerew, 
 Knight. 
 
 Ann, daughter of Sir Willinn 
 J of Game's Park, co. Ess* 
 
 Fits-William, Peter Chckc, of thc=pAgnc*, daughter of.... Duf- Richard Hill, Serjeant of the \Vim=Eli*abeth=Sir John Mason, Chancellor of the 
 
 ,, Knt. Ialeof Wight, Genu I ford, co. Cambridge. Cellar to Henry VIII. 1st hu*b. Isley. Duchy of Lancaster ; 2d hush. 
 
 Ann'Cooke_Sir Nicholas Elisabeth CookcTdnm Mili/rvd Cooke, ^=Sir William^ Mury Chcke, Sir John Chekc,:^ Margaret Hill, l-ran'ces Hill. Mary Hill, daughter Dorothy Hill, Ann Hill, dau. 
 
 ' ,_r Bacon, Lord and cohc»;ob. 1584; 1st dau. and co- Cecil, Baron mar. in 1541; KnU Preceptor j dau. and co- daughter and and coheir; marr. dau and eo- and coheir; 
 
 Keeper ; ob. ruarr. 1. Sir William 
 
 
 ford,==Jol 
 
 k£I 
 
 2d * 
 
 1579- 
 
 Hobby, ofUisham, 
 Berks, K«.; 2. John 
 Lord KDsscI; ok. 
 1584. -f 
 
 :L20, and 
 married in 1546; 
 second wife. 
 
 Ehmbcth Kil-=r=Sir Jonathan Trc- 1. Anthony Ba- 
 Ifcrew.daugli- lawny, of Trc- con,Chancellor of 
 wand ulu- I lawny, co. Com- 
 naiely sole ^ wall. 
 
 * Bacon, Lord Robert Cecil, Earl of Sa- Thomas Cecil, 
 
 the Duchy of 
 Lancaster; ob. 
 r. p. unmarried. 
 
 T?™ 
 
 Verulaai, Viscount St. 
 Alhan't. Chancellor of 
 Englaal , ob. 1626, 
 
 oQu. 
 
 
 o KingEdwurd 
 VI. and Score- | 
 tary of Slate 
 anno 1553; ob. 
 1557, ml. 43. | 
 
 heir; married coheir; marr. 
 1547- Robert Byng, 
 of Wrotham, 
 co. KcnU == 
 
 Francis Spelman, 
 younger son of Wil¬ 
 liam Spelman, of 
 the County of Nor¬ 
 folk, Esquire. = 
 
 heir; married 
 
 1st 
 
 Wdsh; 2d. 
 
 ltichardSpil- 
 
 lishury, K.G. Secretary 
 of State to Queen Eliza¬ 
 beth ; Treasurer of Eng¬ 
 land 6 Jnc-1.; ob.16l2.-f. 
 
 son and licir ; 
 Earlof Exeter; 
 K. G.; ob. 
 1621. -f 
 
 Sir Henry Chcke, 
 Knt. Secretary to 
 the Councd in the 
 North; ob. 1586. 
 
 4* 
 
 Catherine Dudley ; 
 ob. s. p. 1620; 
 married Henry, 
 third Earl of 
 Huntingdon ; ob. 
 *. p. 1595. 
 
 Robert Dudley, the 
 celebrated Enrl of 
 Leicester, K. G.; 
 ob. 1588, s. p. ; 
 
 Ambrose 
 Dudley, 
 Earl of 
 
 George Byng, of Wrotham, co. Kent, Esq. Francis Spelman, of Bole- Kothorine==wFi L i.iAM Davisov nG ,- 
 
 bo. 1656 ; M.P. for Rochester27 Eli*, and brook, co. Sissex, living Spelman, Esci.SecroturvofStute son widow ^Jj" ll l > s y Jn ey, ob. Sept. 
 
 tor Dover 1 Juc. I. the intimate friend uid in 1683; mar Maty, dam lilrinjin IMII. ..... 
 
 executor of Secretary Duvison ; ob. 1616 ; and coheir »f Thos. Is- 1596. - J . 
 
 ancestor of the present Vise. Torrington, ley, of Susdridgi 
 Ac. -f- Kc 
 
 Guildford 
 
 Dudley, 
 
 married 
 
 Lady Jane 
 
 Grey, 
 
 beheaded 
 
 1553. 
 
 Mary Dudley .=Sir Henry Sid¬ 
 ney, K. G. 
 
 it; living in 1583. 
 
 Freds Davison, son and heir, horn c 
 supposed to have died circa 1C 
 
 3. William Davison, 
 
 living 1609. 
 
 Queen Elizubcth ; 
 buried at Stepney 
 24th Dec. 1608. 
 
 . eldest daughter, living in 160!); 
 
 mar.... Townlcy. 
 
 34, ulso styles &- 
 cretary Davison "hiscou- 
 sin mar. Frances, dau. of 
 Sir Francis Wokingham, Se¬ 
 cretary of State to Q.EIi/,.— 
 
 Eli/.ubctb Sydoi-y .lnnjhic.amlhdr; married 
 Roger, 5th F.arl of Rutland ; ob. s. p !r,|o. 
 
 SS.r nokcitSyd. MnrySydnev.lowhom her bro. 
 S&rirff-' U.cr Sir Pj.ili,. .U-dictcd the 
 stKl Earl (it Let- ••Arcadia;" oh. Sept. 1621 
 ecster ,01618.* 3 d wife of Henry'll of 
 3. Sir ritomus Pembroke. K. G.; ob. Jan 
 
 Sidney. 1600-1. 
 
 William, 
 
 ....—i, 3d Earl of Pembroke, K. G.; to 
 whom Francis Davison dedicated •• The 
 Poetical Rhapsody ob. s. p. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 213 
 
 Sundridge, in Kent, knt. This alliance con¬ 
 nected Davison, as is shewn by the genealo¬ 
 gical table, with the Earl of Leicester, Lord 
 Burleigh, Sir John Cheke, the Byngs of 
 Wrotham in Kent, and with other persons 
 of considerable eminence. At what period 
 this union took place is uncertain, but pro¬ 
 bably about the year 1570. Of Mrs. Davi¬ 
 son nothing is known excepting that she is 
 spoken of in Sir Philip Sydney’s letters, and 
 that she was living in 1596 : as she is not 
 mentioned in Davison’s will, it is most 
 likely that she died before her husband. 
 By her he left issue Francis, Christopher, 
 William, Walter, Catherine, and another 
 daughter. 
 
 Francis Davison, the eldest son, was born 
 about 15J5. In 1593 he was admitted a 
 member of Gray’s Inn ; and on the 27 th of 
 May, 1595, * he obtained the Queen’s li¬ 
 cence to travel for three years with his 
 tutor, Edward Smyth, M.A. In this licence 
 he is described as “ Francis Davison, of 
 
 * Had. MSS. 38. f. 188. 
 
214 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 Gray’s Inn, Gent.” They are allowed to 
 take with them one servant, two horses, 
 and fifty pounds in money. There are two 
 letters extant from Mr. Smyth to Mr. Davi¬ 
 son, relative to his son’s expences. The one 
 dated Venice, 22d January, 1595-6;* in 
 which he states that the sum of ^£.100 a 
 year, which he allowed his son, was not suffi¬ 
 cient, and that Ire ought to have two hun¬ 
 dred ; it is addressed, “ To the Right Ho¬ 
 norable Mr. Secretary Davison, at his house 
 in Stepney, give these.” The other letter is 
 also from Venice, and is dated on the 16th 
 of February following : f the subject is the 
 same as the preceding, and contains the fol¬ 
 lowing passage : “So good Mr. Francis is 
 now a man, and your son, and not so easily 
 ruled touching expences, about which we 
 have had more brabblements than I will now 
 speak of.” It concludes by requesting an 
 immediate supply of money, “ the young 
 gentleman being humoursome and extrava¬ 
 gant.” In the British Museum are two let- 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 29o. f. 114. 
 
 •f- Ibid. f. 111. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 215 
 
 ters from Francis Davison to his father ; 
 the first is from Lucca, Nov. 6, 1596, * and 
 another from the same place on the 20th 
 of that month. In the latter, which is 
 directed “To the Right Honorable and my 
 very good father, Mr. Secretary Davison, at 
 his house at Stepney, near London,” he gives 
 him information relative to affairs on the 
 Continent ; he alludes to his father’s misfor¬ 
 tunes, and enquires if his friends are faith¬ 
 ful ; and assures him that he must soon be 
 restored to favour. This letter is adorned 
 with Latin and Italian quotations, and is 
 evidently the production of a scholar and a 
 gentleman : he promises to send his re¬ 
 marks, if his good Lord f approved of the 
 last, and desires to have introductions to dif¬ 
 ferent Courts ; and after apologizing for the 
 expence which he occasions, he begs to be 
 remembered to his mother, and expresses 
 his gratitude to so good and kind a father; 
 he then signifies his intention of going to 
 
 * Ayscough’s MSS. 4122. f. 35. and 103. As both these 
 letters are printed in Birch’s Memoirs ofElizabeth, pp. lS5and 
 204, they are not inserted, 
 f The Earl of Essex. 
 
216 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 Vienna in the ensuing April, and thus con¬ 
 cludes : 
 
 “And so, desiring the continuance of your 
 favor, the excuse of my follies, and to be 
 recommended to Mr. Anthony and Mr. 
 Francis Bacon, * Mr. Wade, and the rest of 
 my dear and honorable friends, and, lastly, 
 to my beloved sisters and brothers, I humbly 
 take my leave, with my prayers for your 
 help and preservation. 
 
 “ Your most obedient and loving son, 
 
 “ Fra. Davison. 
 
 “Lucca, 20 of November, 1596, 
 
 Stilo Novo.” 
 
 Whilst on his travels he sent the Earl of 
 Essex an account of Saxony, f to which his 
 Lordship alludes in the following letter to 
 him : 
 
 “ To Mr. Francis Davison in Italy. 
 
 “Ifthis letter do not deliver to you my 
 
 * Afterwards the celebrated Viscount St. Alban s, to whom 
 Davison, through his mother's family, was remotely allied, 
 f Birch’s Memoirs, vol. II. p. 91. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 217 
 
 very affectionate wishes, and assure you 
 that I am both careful to deserve well and 
 covetous to hear well of you, it doth not 
 discharge the trust I have committed unto 
 it. My love to your worthy father, my 
 expectations that you will truly inherit his 
 virtues, and the proof I have seen of your 
 well spending abroad, are three strong 
 bands to tie my affections unto you. To 
 which when 1 see added your kindness to 
 myself, my reason tells me it cannot value 
 you or affect you too much. You have laid 
 so good a foundation of framing yourself a 
 worthy man, as, if you now do not perfect 
 the work, the expectation you have raised 
 will be your greatest adversary. Slack not 
 your industry in thinking you have taken 
 great pains already. Nunquam enim nec 
 opera sine emolumento nec emolumentum sine 
 impensd est. Labor voluptasque dissimiles 
 naturd societate quadain naturali inter se con- 
 juncti sunt. Nor think yourself any thing so 
 rich in knowledge or reputation as you may 
 spend on the stock, for as the way to virtue 
 is steep and craggy, so the descent from it 
 
218 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 is headlong. It is said of our bodies, that 
 they do lente angerere et cito extinguuntur; 
 it may be as properly said of the virtues of 
 our minds. Let your virtuous father, who 
 in the midst of his troubles and discomforts 
 hath brought you, by his care and charge, 
 to that which you are, now in you receive 
 perfect comfort and contentment. Learn 
 virtutem ab illo, fortunam ab aliis. I write 
 not this suspecting that you need to be 
 admonished, or as finding myself able to 
 directj but as he that when he was writing 
 took the plainest and naturalest style of a 
 friend truly alfecteth to you: receive it, 
 therefore, I pray you, as a pledge of more 
 love than I can now shew you; and so, de¬ 
 siring nothing more than to hear often from 
 you, I wish you all happiness, and rest 
 “ Your very affectionate 
 
 “ R. Essex.* 
 
 “ Whitehall , 8 January , 1596.” 
 
 A correspondence, which is extant, be¬ 
 tween Mr. Davison and Mr. Anthony Ba- 
 
 * Harl. MSS. 248, and Ay6cough's MSS. 4116. f. 102. 
 Printed in Birch's Memoirs, vol. I. p. 365. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 219 
 
 con, the brother to the immortal Bacon, 
 does not contain any thing of importance.* 
 
 In 1602 Francis Davison published the first 
 edition of his “ Poetical Rhapsody,’’ contain¬ 
 ing a collection of Sonnets, Odes, Elegies, 
 Madrigals, Epigrams, Pastorals, Eclogues, 
 with other Poems, which he dedicated to 
 the Earl of Pembroke, to whom he was dis¬ 
 tantly related.f Many of these were written 
 by his brother Walter and himself; but the 
 greatest part were the productions of mis¬ 
 cellaneous authors. This work has been 
 pronounced by an able critic to be the most 
 valuable and curious collection of its day; 
 
 * It consists of the following letters, part of which are pub¬ 
 lished in the above-mentioned Memoirs. 
 
 Ayscough's MSS. 4121. f. 127- Francis Davison to Anthony 
 Bacon, Sept. 21, 1596. 
 
 Ibid. 4120. Anthony Bacon to Mr. Francis Davison, August 
 7, 1596. 
 
 Ibid. 4121. f. 127- Francis Davison to Anthony Bacon, 
 Sept. 21, 1596, from Florence. 
 
 Ibid. 4121. f. 265. Ibid, from Lucca, Oct. 16, 1596. 
 
 Ibid. 4122. f. 130. Anthony Bacon to Francis Davison, 
 Nov. 24, 1596. 
 
 | Vide Genealogical Table. 
 
220 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 and it has procured for its editor a celebrity 
 which ranks him high amongst the poets of 
 that age : it went through four editions; 
 the second in 1608 ; the third in 1611; and 
 the fourth in 1621. As it had become ex¬ 
 ceedingly scarce, Sir Egerton Brydges has 
 obliged the world by republishing it; and he 
 has added the versification of some Psalms 
 by Francis Davison and his brother Chris¬ 
 topher. * 
 
 The fate of Francis Davison remains en¬ 
 veloped in mystery. The editor to whom 
 the public are indebted for this collection of 
 
 * These Psalms are taken from Harl. MSS. 6930, which is 
 entitled, “ A Translation of a few Psalms of David, by Mr. 
 Francis Davison, Jo. Bryan, Richard Gipps, and Christopher 
 Davison.” In the first page the following complimentary “ in¬ 
 troduction to as many of the Psalms as are of Mr. Francis Da¬ 
 vison’s composure” is written by W. Bagnall: 
 
 These Psalms, so full of holy meditation, 
 
 Which David sung by heavenly inspiration, 
 
 Our souls, by as divine an imitation, 
 
 Ravish and bless anew in this translation. 
 
 Cease not this holy work, but one by one 
 
 Chaunt o’er these heavenly hymns, which may be done 
 
 In divine measures, as they are begun, 
 
 Only by David’s self or David’s son ! 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 221 
 
 his works, conjectures that he was a de¬ 
 pendant on the Court, and died before 
 1621. It is certain that, although belonging 
 to an inn of court, he was never called to 
 the bar. The following elegant remarks on 
 him are an appropriate conclusion to these 
 particulars of this accomplished man. “ It 
 is not easy to guess how it could have hap¬ 
 pened that a man of Francis Davison’s ta¬ 
 lents and acquirements should have gone to 
 his grave without having left to posterity 
 any other traces of his existence than this 
 single literary present. The ardour of mind 
 which is an inseparable ingredient of poeti¬ 
 cal power is almost always accompanied by 
 ambition, or at least a strong love of fame. 
 It was not the world’s insensibility to this 
 production which blighted his hopes and 
 destroyed his spirits : for this was certainly 
 well received and very popular. In the 
 present day it is scarcely possible that 
 such a man could have died utterly un¬ 
 noticed.” * 
 
 * Gentleman's Magazine, November, 1817* 
 
222 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 Of Christopher Davison, the second son, 
 very little is known. It is believed that he 
 was admitted a member of Gray’s Inn in 
 the year 1597; and, excepting his being 
 mentioned in his father’s will, and that he 
 translated some Psalms, the only thing po¬ 
 sitive which has been ascertained about him 
 is, that soon after his hither’s death he pre¬ 
 sented the following petition to Parliament 
 relative to the situation of Gustos Brevium 
 of the King’s Bench : 
 
 “ In March, 1609 * [1610], Christopher 
 Davison petitioned Parliament, setting forth, 
 that Queen Elizabeth, by letters patent 19th 
 January, 21 Eliz. granted to William Davi¬ 
 son, Esquire, the office of Custos Brevium 
 of the King’s Bench, habendum after the 
 death of one Richard Payne, then Clerk of 
 the same office. The King’s Majesty, after 
 the death of the said Richard Payne, by his 
 letters patent 25 July, 5 Jac. confirmed and 
 ratified the Queen’s grant, and further (at 
 the humble petition of the said William Da¬ 
 vison) granted the reversion of the said of- 
 
 * Lansdown MSS. 91. p. 56. 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 223 
 
 fice unto George Byng, of Wrotham in 
 Kent, and Henry Byng, of Gray’s Inn, 
 whose names he used, in trust for the be¬ 
 nefit of him and his children, and payment 
 of his debts, the greatest part whereof was 
 such debts as were owing to them. William 
 Davison dieth, and (by his will in writing 
 reciteth the said trust) willeth the said 
 George Byng and Henry Byng, or one of 
 them, to exercise his said office until his 
 debts and daughters’ portions be paid; and 
 after such payment, or security put in for 
 that purpose, to assign over the said office, 
 Avith the execution thereof, to Christopher 
 Davison, second son of the said William 
 Davison. After the death of the said Wil¬ 
 liam Davison, George Byng and Henry 
 Byng, by virtue of the letters patent, were 
 sworn in and admitted. Since Christopher 
 Davison hath offered payment of all sums of 
 money and charges whatsoever to the Byngs 
 owing, or by them disbursed, and to put in 
 security for payment of the other debts, and 
 whatsoever else is required by his father’s 
 will; upon performance of which, he desireth 
 (according to his father’s will) the said office 
 
224 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 to be assigned over unto him, Henry Byng 
 confessing the trust is well contented; but 
 George Byng making many pretences un¬ 
 conscionably refuseth. 
 
 “ The humble suit of Christopher Davi¬ 
 son unto the High Court of Parliament is, 
 that after satisfaction of all debts and de¬ 
 mands to the said Byngs, and sufficient 
 security put in for the payment of all 
 other the creditors of his father (whom 
 his special desire is to have satisfied), the 
 said office may be settled upon him and 
 his assigns, according to his father’s will, 
 during the lives of the said George Byng 
 and Henry Byng, and the longer liver of 
 them. 
 
 “ The reason -why he is driven to seek an 
 Act of Parliament is, for that he must dis¬ 
 burse so great sums of money to the Byngs 
 (which they affirm to amount to <s£.2000 and 
 upwards), and besides to pay the debts of 
 his father, being very great. All which he 
 cannot furnish himself of without the help 
 of his friends, whom (unless it be by Act of 
 Parliament confirmed unto him) he cannot 
 sufficiently secure, for that it is litigious whe- 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 225 
 
 ther the office be in the King’s gift or the 
 Lord Chief Justice’s. 
 
 “ And the said office hath in like sort been 
 heretofore confirmed to one John Payne, by 
 Act of Parliament, 33 Hen. VIII. 
 
 “ 1. This is all the estate that William 
 Davison hath left his children: and 
 if they should be detained from it, 
 they are all utterly undone. 
 
 “ 2. All William Davison’s creditors (which 
 are many, and which by his will he 
 desireth should be satisfied), by the 
 course which George Byng holdeth 
 (denying the trust) be all defrauded, 
 when Christopher Davison will pay 
 them all, according as his father hath 
 appointed by his will.” 
 
 The result of this application has not 
 been discovered : and of Christopher Davi¬ 
 son nothing more is known. 
 
 William Davison the third son, is men¬ 
 tioned in his father’s will, and was, it is 
 presumed, admitted of Gray’s Inn in 1604. 
 As a provision is made by his father for such 
 children “ as he shall leave,” it may be 
 inferred that he was married, and perhaps 
 
 Q 
 
LTFE OF 
 
 226 
 
 had issue; but no other particulars of him 
 have been found. 
 
 Walter Davison the fourth son, was born 
 about 1580, and it is singular that he is not 
 named in his father’s will. He was a poet, 
 and several of his pieces are inserted in his 
 brother’s work. From the Preface to the 
 second edition of the Poetical Rhapsody, we 
 learn, that they were written before he was 
 eighteen, and that he was by profession a 
 soldier, and at that time was serving in the 
 Low Countries. He most probably died 
 young, and unmarried. 
 
 Catherine Davison married-Dun- 
 
 combe, and her elder sister married- 
 
 ' *• 
 
 Townley ; they were both living in 1609. 
 
 It is worthy of observation, that Francis 
 Davison never interested himself in his fa¬ 
 ther’s affairs, but that his brother Christo¬ 
 pher should have had the management of 
 them : the indolence and imprudence, by 
 which genius is too often accompanied, 
 perhaps disqualified him for such an office. 
 The baptismal name of Francis, was, it is 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 22 7 
 
 most likely, derived from his maternal 
 grandfather, and that of Christopher, from 
 Christopher Coo, whose daughter married 
 William Spelman, his mother’s grandfa¬ 
 ther. William was of course named after 
 his father, but it is difficult to account for 
 that of the fourth son, unless he was called 
 Walter, in compliment to the father of the 
 Earl of Essex. 
 
 Considerable trouble has been taken to 
 trace the descendants of the unfortunate Se¬ 
 cretary, but no positive evidence of any 
 being in existence has been discovered. 
 Neither of his sons, it is believed, left a will, 
 but it is very unlikely that they should all 
 have died without issue. If Christopher 
 Davison’s petition to Parliament failed, they 
 must have been reduced to the utmost po¬ 
 verty, and this would be a sufficient reason 
 for their not leaving such documents. From 
 the provision made by Davison for the chil¬ 
 dren of Francis and William, without any 
 such bequest to those of his other sons, it 
 may be presumed that both of them were 
 married. Their mother was connected with 
 the county of Kent through the Isleys and 
 
 q 2 
 
228 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 Byngs, * and there is consequently pre¬ 
 sumptive evidence that William Davison, 
 who was married at Rochester on the 3d 
 February, 1686-7, was Mayor of that 
 city in 1714, and whose descendants are 
 now living, was the grandson of one of 
 the sons of the Secretary. The Byngs 
 were connected with Rochester, and it is 
 liigly probable that in Davison’s distress, 
 his most intimate friend George Byng, of 
 Wrotliam, which is distant but a few miles 
 from that city, should have provided for 
 one of his younger sons, by putting him 
 to a profession or business in that neigh¬ 
 bourhood. 
 
 The arms granted to William Davison in 
 1586 are, Gules, a stag trippant Or. 
 
 Crest, On a wreath, a stag’s head couped 
 at the shoulders, and winged, Or.f 
 
 * It appears that the Spelmans were likewise connected 
 with Kent. John Spelraan, Jeweller to Queen Elizabeth, and 
 who was afterwards knighted by James, having built on the 
 river Darent, about half a mile from Dartford in that county, 
 the first paper-mill which was erected in England, 
 t College of Arms. “ Cook’s Grants.” 
 
WILLIAM DAVISON. 
 
 229 
 
 From the seal affixed to some of the secret 
 letters which have been referred to, it ap¬ 
 pears that he used these arms sometime be¬ 
 fore they were granted, but that the crest 
 he assumed was a stag courant, pierced 
 through the neck with an arrow. His seal 
 has an Esquire’s helmet over the shield, and 
 is inscribed “ Gvlielmi Davldsoni.” 
 
 The crest borne by Davison may almost 
 be deemed prophetical of his fate. The 
 shaft of misfortune having arrested him in his 
 career of fame and honour, and thus indeed 
 rendered him “ a stricken deer.” 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 Copied from the Cottonian MS. Titus, C. vii. f. 48, 
 and collated with Harleian MSS. 290. f. 20$ and 
 6396,-and Cotton. MS. Caligula, C. ix. f. 149. * 
 
 Jl Discourse sent by and from Mr. Secretary 
 Davison , being then Prisoner in the Tower 
 of London , unto Secretary TValsinghom , 
 containing a summary Report of that which 
 passed betwixt her Majesty and him , in the 
 Cause of the Scottish Queen , from the 
 signing of the Warrant to the time of his 
 restraint. February 20, 1586. 
 
 After that the sentence against the Scot¬ 
 tish Queen was passed, and subscribed by 
 the Lords and others the Commissioners 
 appointed to her trial, and that her Ma- 
 
 * Those in “ Titus" and “ Caligula” appear to be in Davi¬ 
 son’s hand, but Harl. MS. 290. f. 209. is said to be in the 
 writing of Mr. Ralph Starky. They arc, however, very nearly 
 verbatim copies of each other. 
 
232 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 jesty had notified the same to the world by 
 her proclamation according to the statute, 
 there remained nothing but her warrant 
 under the Great Seal of England, for the 
 performing and accomplishing of her execu¬ 
 tion, which after some instance as well of 
 the Lords and Commons of the whole Par¬ 
 liament then assembled, as of others of her 
 Council and best affected subjects, it pleased 
 her Majesty at length to yield unto, and 
 thereupon gave order to my Lord Treasurer 
 to project the same, which he accordingly 
 performed, and with her Majesty’s privity 
 left in my hands to procure her signature ; 
 but by reason of the presence of the French 
 and Scottish ambassadors, then suitors for 
 her life, she forebore the signing thereof 
 till the first of February, which was some 
 few days after their departure home. At 
 what time her Majesty upon some confer¬ 
 ence with my Lord Admiral of the great 
 danger she continually lived in, and moved 
 by his lordship to have some more regard 
 to the surety of herself and state than she 
 seemed to take, resolved to defer the said 
 execution no longer; and thereupon gave 
 his Lordship orders to send for me to bring 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 233 
 
 the warrant unto her to be signed, which he 
 forthwith did by a messenger of the cham¬ 
 ber, who found me in the Park (whither I 
 had newly gone to take the air), whereupon, 
 returning back immediately with him, I went 
 directly up into the Privy-chamber, where 
 his Lordship, attending my coming, dis¬ 
 coursed unto me what speech had passed 
 that morning betwixt her Majesty and him, 
 touching the justice against the said Scottish 
 Queen ; and finally told me how she was 
 now fully resolved to proceed to the accom¬ 
 plishing thereof, and had commanded him 
 to send expressly for me to bring the war¬ 
 rant unto her to be signed, that it might be 
 forthwith dispatched and deferred no longer. 
 According to which direction, I went imme¬ 
 diately to my chamber to fetch the said 
 warrant and other things touching her ser¬ 
 vice ; and returning up again, sent in Mrs. 
 Brooke to signify my being there unto her 
 Majesty, who presently called for me. At 
 my coming in, her Highness first demand¬ 
 ing of me whither I had been abroad that 
 fair morning, advising me to use it oftener, 
 and reprehending me for the neglect thereof, 
 witli other like gracious speeches, arguing a 
 
234 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 care of my health, finally asked of me what 
 I had in my hands ? I answered, divers war¬ 
 rants and other things to be signed that 
 concerned her service. She enquired whe¬ 
 ther my Lord Admiral had not given me 
 order to bring up the warrant for the Scot¬ 
 tish Queen’s execution? I answered yes ; 
 and, thereupon, asking me for it, I delivered 
 it into her hands, after the reading whereof, 
 she, calling for pen and ink, signed it, and 
 laying it from her, demanded of me whether 
 I were not heartily sorry to see it done? 
 My answer was, that I was so far from taking 
 pleasure in the calamity or fall of any, or 
 otherwise from thirsting in any sort after the 
 blood of this unhappy lady in particular, as 
 I could not but be heartily grieved to think 
 that one of her place and quality, and other¬ 
 wise so near unto her Majesty, should give 
 so great cause as she had done to take this 
 resolution. But seeing the life of that Queen 
 threatened her Majesty’s death, and, there¬ 
 fore, this act of hers in all men’s opinions 
 of that justice and necessity, that she could 
 not defer it without the manifest wrong and 
 danger of herself and the whole realm, I 
 could not be sorry to see her take an ho- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 235 
 
 nourable and just course of securing the one 
 and the other, as he that preferred the death 
 of the guilty before the innocent; which 
 answer her Highness approving with a smil¬ 
 ing countenance, passed from the matter to 
 ask me what else I had to sign, and, there¬ 
 upon, offering unto her some other warrants 
 and instructions touching her service, it 
 pleased her, with the best disposition and 
 willingness that might be, to dispatch them 
 all. After this she commanded me to carry 
 it to the Seal, and to give my Lord Chan¬ 
 cellor special order from her to use it as 
 secretly as might be, lest the divulging 
 thereof before the execution might, as she 
 pretended, increase her danger. And in my 
 way to my Lord Chancellor her pleasure also 
 was,thatl should visit Mr. Secretary Walsing- 
 ham, being then sick at his house in Lon¬ 
 don, and communicate the matter with him, 
 because the grief thereof would go near (as 
 she merrily said) to kill him outright, where, 
 taking occasion to repeat unto me some rea¬ 
 sons why she had deferred the matter so long, 
 as namely, for her honour’s sake, that the 
 world might see that she had not been vio¬ 
 lently or maliciously drawn thereto, she con- 
 
236 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 eluded that she never was so ill advised as 
 not to see and apprehended her own danger, 
 and the necessity she had to proceed to this 
 execution. And thereupon (after some in¬ 
 termingled speech to and fro), told me that 
 she would have it done as secretly as might 
 be, appointing the hall where she was for 
 the place of execution ; and misliking the 
 court, or green of the castle for divers re¬ 
 spects, she alleged with other speech to like 
 effect; howbeit, as I was ready to depart, 
 she fell into some complaint of Sir Amias 
 Paulet and others, that might have eased 
 her of this burthen, wishing that Mr. Se¬ 
 cretary and I would yet write unto both 
 him and Sir Drue Drury, to sound their 
 disposition in that behalf. And albeit I had 
 before excused myself from meddling there¬ 
 in, upon sundry her Majesty’s former mo¬ 
 tions, as a matter I utterly prejudged, as¬ 
 suring her that it should be so much labour 
 lost; knowing the wisdom and integrity of 
 the gentlemen whom I thought would not 
 do so unlawful an act for any respect in the 
 world; yet finding her desirous to have the 
 matter attempted, I promised for her satis¬ 
 fying to signify this her pleasure to Mr. Se- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 237 
 
 cretary, and so for that time leaving her, 
 went down directly to my Lord Treasurer, 
 to whom 1 did communicate the said war¬ 
 rant signed, together with such other par¬ 
 ticulars as had passed at that time betwixt 
 her Highness and me. The same afternoon 
 I waited on my Lord Chancellor for the 
 sealing of the said warrant, according to her 
 Majesty’s direction, which was done be¬ 
 tween the hours of four and five, from 
 whence I returned back unto Mr. Secretary 
 Walsingham, whom I had visited by the 
 way, and acquainted with her pleasure, 
 touching letters that were to be written to the 
 said Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury, 
 which at my return I found ready to be sent 
 away. The next morning about ten of the 
 clock, being in London, Mr. William Kille- 
 grew came unto me from her Majesty with 
 this message, that if I had not been with 
 my Lord Chancellor, I should forbear to 
 go unto him till I had spoken again with 
 herself; but that message coming out of 
 season, I returned him back with this gene¬ 
 ral answer, that I would be at the Court as 
 soon as himself, and give her Majesty an 
 account what I had done. At my coming 
 
238 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 to her, she demanded of me whether the 
 warrant were passed the seal ? I told her 
 yes. She asked what needeth that haste ? I 
 answered, that I had therein made no more 
 haste than herself commanded, and my 
 duty in a case of that moment required, 
 which as I take it was not to be dallied 
 with. But me thinketh, saith she, that it 
 might have been otherwise handled for the 
 form, naming unto me some that were of 
 that opinion whose judgments she com¬ 
 mended. I answered, that I took the ho¬ 
 nourable and just way to be the safest and 
 best way, if they meant to have it done at 
 all; whereto her Majesty replying nothing, 
 for that time left me and went to dinner. 
 From her I went down to Mr. Vice-cham¬ 
 berlain, with whom I did communicate the 
 said warrant, and other particulars that had 
 passed betwixt her Highness and me, touch¬ 
 ing the dispatch thereof, where, falling into 
 a rehearsal of some doubtful speeches of 
 hers, betraying a disposition to throw the 
 burthen from herself, if by any means she 
 might, and remembering unto him the ex¬ 
 ample of her dealing in the case of the Duke 
 of Norfolk’s execution, which she had laid 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 239 
 
 heavily upon my Lord Treasurer for a long 
 time after; and how much her disavowing 
 of this justice was more to be feared, con¬ 
 sidering the timouresness of her sex and 
 nature, the quality of the person who it 
 concerned, and respect of her friends, with 
 many other circumstances that might fur¬ 
 ther and incline her thereunto, I finally 
 told him that I was for mine own part fully 
 resolved, notwithstanding the directions that 
 I had received, to do nothing that might 
 give her any advantage to cast a burthen of 
 so great weight upon my single and weak 
 shoulders; and, therefore, having done as 
 much as belonged to my part, would leave 
 to him and others as deeply interested in 
 the surety of her Majesty and the state as 
 myself, to advise what course should now 
 be taken for accomplishing the rest, who, 
 as near as I remember, gave me this answer, 
 that, as he was heartily glad the matter was 
 brought thus far, so did he for his own part 
 wish him hanged that would not join with me 
 in the furtherance thereof; being a cause so 
 much importing the common safety and tran¬ 
 quillity of her Majesty and the whole realm. 
 And so, after some little speech, resolved 
 
240 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 to go together to my Lord Treasurer to 
 confer thereof with his Lordship, as we im¬ 
 mediately did, and there agreed for the bet¬ 
 ter and more honourable proceeding therein, 
 to break the matter with the Lords and 
 others of her Majesty’s Council, being as 
 deeply interested in this care and duty as 
 ourselves ; and in the mean time his Lord- 
 ship took upon him the charge to project 
 the letters that should be written to the 
 Earls and others to whom the aforesaid war¬ 
 rant was directed. The next morning, hav¬ 
 ing made a draught of them, he sent for 
 Mr. Vice-chamberlain and me to impart the 
 same unto us; upon the reading whereof, Mr. 
 Vice-chamberlain finding them very parti¬ 
 cular, and such as in truth the warrant could 
 not bear, shewed his mislike of them as he 
 that seemed to doubt more than he disco¬ 
 vered ; whereupon his Lordship offering to 
 project others more general against the af¬ 
 ternoon, it was resolved, in the mean time 
 to warn the rest of the Council, who within 
 an hour after met at his Lordship’s chamber, 
 where himself entering into the particulars 
 of the said Scottish Queen’s offence, the 
 danger of her Majesty and the state and ne- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 241 
 
 cessity of this execution, and acquainting 
 them with her Highness’s resolution in that 
 behalf, for their better satisfying, wherein he 
 read the said warrant itself unto them; he 
 finally told the cause of their meeting at 
 that present, was chiefly to advise of some 
 such means as might be most honourable 
 and expedient for the dispatch thereof; see¬ 
 ing her Majesty had for her part performed as 
 much as in any honour, law, or reason, was 
 to be required at her hands ; and after some 
 little other speech of her doubted inclina¬ 
 tion to drive this burthen, if it might be, 
 from herself, and every one willingly offer¬ 
 ing to bear his part in a matter so much 
 importing the public safety of the whole 
 state, both of religion and coninonwealth ; 
 they finally resolved to proceed to the send¬ 
 ing down thereof without troubling her 
 Highness any further withal, as well in re¬ 
 gard of her charge given to myself, to let 
 her hear no more thereof till it was done, 
 having otherwise performed as much as in 
 any reason or law would be required of her, 
 as is before remembered, as the dangerous 
 consequence might else have grown thereof 
 in case her Majesty, upon such a needless 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 motion, should have fallen into any new con¬ 
 ceit of interrupting and staying the course 
 of justice, considering the malice of her ene¬ 
 mies, and disposition of the time and state of 
 things then, both abroad and at home, which 
 they in no duty could neglect; and so re¬ 
 solving generally upon Mr. Beale as the 
 fittest person they could advise of, to whom 
 they might commit that charge, and who, 
 being sent for the same morning, was then 
 present, and approving the letters projected 
 by my Lord Treasurer, appointed them to be 
 written out fair against the afternoon, in the 
 meantime went to dinner, and between one 
 and two of the clock returned back to sign 
 the said letters, addressed, with the warrant, 
 to the Lords and others the Commissioners 
 appointed in that cause, which in their pre¬ 
 sence were delivered unto Mr. Beale, with 
 earnest request and motion to use the utter¬ 
 most diligence and care he could in the ex¬ 
 pedition thereof, and so again departed. 
 The next morning her Majesty being in some 
 speech with Mr. Rawleigh in the private 
 chamber, seeing me come in, called me to 
 her, and (as if she had understood nothing 
 of these proceedings), smiling, told me how 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 243 
 
 she had been troubled that night upon a 
 dream she had, that the Scottish Queen was 
 executed, pretending to have been so greatly 
 moved with the news against myself, as in 
 that passion she could have done I wot not 
 what; but this being in a pleasant and smil¬ 
 ing manner, I answered her Majesty, that 
 it was good for me I was not near her so 
 long as that humour lasted. But withal, 
 taking hold of her speech, asked her in 
 great earnest what it meant, and whither, 
 having proceeded thus far, she had not a 
 full and resolute meaning to go through with 
 the said execution according to her warrant. 
 Her answer was yes, confirmed with a so¬ 
 lemn oath in some velieinency; this only she 
 thought that it might have received a better 
 form, because this threw the whole burthen 
 upon herself; whereto I replied, that the 
 form prescribed by the warrant was such as 
 the law required, and could not well be al¬ 
 tered with any honesty, justice, or surety of 
 those that were commissioners therein ; nei¬ 
 ther did I know who could sustain this bur¬ 
 then if she took it not upon her, being So¬ 
 vereign Magistrate, to whom the sword was 
 committed of God for the punishment of the 
 
 it 2 
 
244 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 wicked, and defence of the good, and with¬ 
 out whose authority, the life or member of 
 the poorest wretch in her kingdom could 
 not be touched. She answered, that there 
 were wiser men than myself of other opinion. 
 J told her I could not answer for other men, 
 } et this I was sure of, that I had never yet 
 heard any man give a sound reason to prove 
 it either honourable or safe for her Majesty 
 to take any other course than that which 
 standeth with law and justice, and so, with¬ 
 out further replication or speech, we parted. 
 The same afternoon (as I take it) she asked 
 me whether I had heard from Sir Amias 
 Paulet, I told her no ; but within an hour or 
 two after going to London I met with letters 
 from him, in answer to those that were writ¬ 
 ten unto him soriie few days before, upon 
 her commandment. The next morning, hav¬ 
 ing access unto her Majesty upon some other 
 occasion, I told her of the receipt of them, 
 which her Highness, desirous to see, took 
 and read; but finding thereby that he was 
 grieved with the motion made unto him, of¬ 
 fering his life and all he had to be disposed 
 at her pleasure, but absolutely refusing to 
 be an instrument in any such action as was 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 245 
 
 not warranted in honour and justice; her 
 Majesty, falling into terms of offence, com¬ 
 plaining of the daintiness and (as she called 
 it) perjury of him and others, who, contrary 
 to their oath of association, did cast the 
 burthen upon herself, she rose up, and after 
 a turn or two went into the gallery, whither 
 I followed her, and there renewing her for¬ 
 mer speech, blaming the niceness of those 
 precise fellows (as she termed them), who 
 in words would do great things for her 
 surety, but in deed perform nothing, con¬ 
 cluded that she could have well enough done 
 without them. And here, entering into par¬ 
 ticularities, named unto me (as I remember) 
 one Wingfield, who, she assured me, would, 
 with some others, undertake it ; which gave 
 me occasion to shew unto her Majesty how 
 dishonourable (in my poor opinion) any 
 such course would be, and how far from pre¬ 
 venting the malice and danger which she so 
 much sought to avoid. And so, falling into 
 the particular case of Sir Amias Paulet and 
 Sir Drew Drury, discoursed unto her the 
 great extremity she would have exposed 
 those poor gentlemen to, for if, in a tender 
 care of her surety, they should have done 
 
246 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 that she desired, she must either allow their 
 act or disallow it; if she allowed it she took 
 the matter upon herself, with her infinite 
 peril and dishonour; if she disallowed it she 
 should not only overthrow the gentlemen 
 themselves, who had always truly and faith¬ 
 fully honoured and served her, but also 
 their estates and posterities, besides the 
 dishonour and injustice of such a course, 
 which I humbly besought her Majesty to 
 consider of: and so, after some little digres¬ 
 sion and speech of Mr. Secretary and others, 
 touching some things passed heretofore, her 
 Majesty, understanding it was time to go to 
 the closet, rose up, and left me. At my 
 next access unto her, which (as I take it) 
 was the Tuesday before my coming from 
 Court, having occasion to wait upon her 
 Highness with certain letters that were to 
 be signed, touching some difference between 
 the Lord Deputy of Ireland and Mr. Fen¬ 
 ton, her Secretary there, she entered of her¬ 
 self into some earnest discourse of the dan¬ 
 ger she lived in, and how it was more than 
 time this matter were dispatched, swearing 
 a great oath, that it was a shame for us all 
 that it was not already done, considering 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 247 
 
 that she had, for her part, done all that law 
 or reason could require of her; and there¬ 
 upon made some mention to have letters 
 written to Sir Amias Paulet for the hastening 
 thereof, because the longer it was deferred 
 the more her danger increased. Whereto, 
 knowing what orders had been taken by the 
 Lords in sending the commission to the 
 Earls, which I presumed she could not be 
 ignorant of amongst so many as were part¬ 
 ners therein, I answered that that needed 
 not (as I conceived), the warrant being so 
 general and sufficient as it was; to which 
 her Majesty replied little else but that she 
 thought Sir Amias Paulet would look for it; 
 and so brake off our speech at that time, 
 which was the last I had with her Majesty 
 of this or any other matter whatsoever, to 
 my remembrance. The next (Thursday) 
 morning early, being, as I take it, the day 
 before my coming from Court, my Lord 
 Treasurer sent for me and acquainted me 
 with the news he had received by Henry 
 Talbot of the said Scottish Queen’s execu¬ 
 tion, which (upon some conference had 
 thereof with Mr. Vice-chamberlain and 
 others) he thought it not fit to break slid- 
 
248 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 denly to her Majesty, and therefore con¬ 
 cealed it from her all that day; which being 
 nevertheless brought unto her that evening 
 by other means, she would not at the first 
 seem to take knowledge of it, but the next 
 morning, falling into some heat and passion 
 about it, sent for Mr. Vice-chamberlain, to 
 whom she disavowed the said execution as 
 a thing she never commanded or intended, 
 casting the burthen generally upon them all, 
 but chiefly upon my shoulders, because (as 
 she pretended) I had, in suffering it to go 
 out of my hands, abused the trust she re¬ 
 posed in me; whereupon my Lords being 
 that morning assembled at my Lord Trea¬ 
 surer’s chamber, I was sent for unto them, 
 and acquainted with her Majesty’s said of¬ 
 fence and charge both against them and me; 
 but having mine own conscience and them¬ 
 selves for witnesses of mine innocency and 
 integrity in that behalf, did not at the first 
 much apprehend it. Howbeit, being advised 
 by them all to absent myself for a day or 
 two, and otherwise compelled thereto by an 
 unhappy accident befallen unto me the day 
 before, together with some indisposition of 
 my health at that time, I returned home, 
 
FIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 249 
 
 where the next news I heard was that her 
 Majesty had resolved to commit me to the 
 Tower, which at the first seemed a matter 
 very strange unto me, and such as I could 
 by no means believe, till my Lord of Buck- 
 hurst came with order from her Majesty to 
 execute this her pleasure, which, by reason 
 of my sickness, was deferred for two or 
 three days, and afterwards, on the four¬ 
 teenth of this month, accomplished. And 
 this (as near as I can possibly remember) is 
 the substance of all that passed betwixt her 
 Majesty, her Council, and myself, concern¬ 
 ing this cause; in all which, as mine own 
 conscience and heart doth clear me not 
 only of committing, but also of intending, 
 any the least thing whatsoever that might 
 not stand with the duty of a most honest 
 and faithful servant to her Majesty and 
 my Country, so do I not see what I can 
 be charged with that may in any justice, 
 equity, or truth, argue the contrary. How- 
 beit, seeing it is pretended that her Majesty 
 gave me a special commandment not only 
 not to impart the said warrant with any of 
 her Council, but also to stay the same in 
 
250 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 my hands till some greater necessity should 
 enforce her to proceed therein, as a thing 
 she meant not otherwise to put in execu¬ 
 tion, upon the breach of which supposed 
 commandment all my trouble is grounded, 
 it shall not be impertinent by the way to 
 answer this objection as shortly as I can. 
 And first, touching her Majesty’s command¬ 
 ment to conceal the signing of the said 
 warrant from the rest of her Council; as it 
 is a thing can never be proved, so must I, 
 in all duty and humility, under her High¬ 
 ness’ gracious favour, absolutely deny the 
 same, wherein, for the better clearing of the 
 truth, I trust her Majesty, in her princely 
 and honourable nature, will not gainsay but 
 that she both sent for me by my Lord Ad¬ 
 miral to bring the warrant unto her to be 
 signed, gave me express order to carry it 
 forthwith to the seal, with a messenger to 
 my Lord Chancellor, and also by the way to 
 impart it with Mr. Secretary Walsingham; 
 which proveth that these three were made 
 privy to it with her own good liking. And 
 seeing my Lord Treasurer was formerly ac¬ 
 quainted therewith by my Lord Admiral and 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 251 
 
 my Lord of Leicester, immediately after the 
 signing of the warrant by her Majesty’s self, 
 as likewise Mr. Vice-chamberlain the same 
 day, in general terms, as they did all seve¬ 
 rally signify unto me, what reason could I 
 have to detain or conceal it from them, 
 being so principal counsellors as they are, 
 specially employed, as all men know, in the 
 former trial and proceedings against the said 
 Queen, and otherwise as deeply interested 
 in this cause as myself? Neither can I con¬ 
 ceive what may be excepted to this privity 
 of theirs, unless her Majesty had a meaning 
 that Mr. Secretary and I should have dealt 
 alone in sending down thereof to the said 
 Commissioners, which, for mine own part, 
 I confess I never liked nor intended, as well 
 in respect of her purpose, often uttered to 
 myself, to remove as much of the burthen 
 as she might from her own shoulders, as 
 for the dishonour and danger which might 
 otherwise have grown thereby, both pub¬ 
 licly to the whole cause, and privately to 
 ourselves, if we should have yielded thereto. 
 And therefore, seeing the end of signing and 
 sealing the warrant in all reasonable con- 
 
252 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 struction was to go forward withal, that the 
 delay thereof did infinitely increase the peril 
 of her Majesty’s life and state, that it was 
 imparted to some by her Highness’ own 
 order, and no possibility (being sealed) to 
 keep it from the rest, considering how many 
 were already made privy thereto, I trust I 
 shall appear sufficiently warranted, in all 
 duty, reason, and necessity, to do that I 
 did; and, contrariwise, mine offence (if by 
 my neglect thereof there should have hap¬ 
 pened any thing amiss to her Majesty in 
 the mean time) not only inexcusable but 
 also (in mine own censure) worthy of a 
 thousand deaths. And as for the second 
 point, of detaining thereof in my hands 
 after it was resolved that it was neither fit 
 nor convenient to trouble her Majesty any 
 further wherewithal, considering she had 
 done all that law required at her hands, and 
 that she had, both to myself and others, 
 signified at other times her indisposition to 
 be acquainted with the time, place, and 
 other circumstances, as things unfitting to 
 her honour and disposition, and that to de¬ 
 tain the warrant in expectation of any fur- 
 
I.IFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 253 
 
 ther directions from herself was both need¬ 
 less and dangerous, in regard of the hourly 
 hazard her Highness lived in; and, finally, 
 that my Lords, knowing her Majesty’s un¬ 
 willingness to bear all the burthen alone, 
 were content both resolutely and dutifully 
 to ease her as much as they might, I do not 
 see under what colour of reason or duty I 
 could either have refused to join with them 
 or otherwise taken upon me to detain it 
 from them. Lor howsoever her Majesty’s 
 commandment be pretended herein, to keep 
 it by me as a thing she meant not to put in 
 execution, I trust the world doth not hold 
 me so undutiful to her Majesty, or ill ad¬ 
 vised for my particular considering the rea - 
 sons alleged, as to take such a charge upon 
 me, to the evident peril of her Highness’ 
 life, subversion of the state, and mine own 
 utter overthrow: neither is there any reason 
 in the world (I speak it in all reverence and 
 under her Majesty’s gracious favour and 
 pardon) that may argue any resolution of 
 hers not to proceed any further in the said 
 execution (as is affirmed), considering how 
 far she had already waded in the trial of 
 
254 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 that Lady’s fact, found her guilty by a most 
 honourable Jury of her Nobility, assembled 
 her Parliament only for that purpose, gra¬ 
 ciously heard their petitions for justice, and 
 dismissed them with so great hope, pub¬ 
 lished afterwards the proclamations for her 
 disablement, rejected the suits both of the 
 French and Scottish Kings for her life, and 
 returned their Ambassadors hopeless, con¬ 
 firmed that impression by her own letters to 
 both Princes, some of which it pleased her 
 to communicate with myself, protested many 
 times her necessity and resolution to go 
 through with all (albeit for sundry good re¬ 
 spects she had so long deferred it), given 
 me her commandment, many days before, 
 to bring up the warrant unto her, and then 
 voluntarily sent for it by my Lord Admiral, 
 signing it as soon as I brought it, and di¬ 
 rected me therewith to the seal, adding 
 hereunto her particular and verbal direction 
 delivered to myself at the same time, both 
 appointing the execution to be done in the 
 Hall, misliking the Green or Court of the 
 Castle, for some respects she alleged ; toge¬ 
 ther with her stay of my Lord of Shrewsbury 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 255 
 
 in those parts by letters written from my 
 Lord Treasurer, upon her commandment, 
 for some special service she had to employ 
 him in there, which could import no other 
 thing than the said execution, wherein he 
 was a chief commissioner. All which, with 
 a number of other foregoing and following 
 circumstances, too long to rehearse, may 
 sufficiently testify her Majesty’s resolute 
 disposition to have that proceeded in ac¬ 
 cording to her direction and warrant afore¬ 
 said, whatsoever be now pretended to the 
 contrary. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 From the Harleian MS. 290. f. 213. The manu¬ 
 script is very similar to Davison’s. 
 
 A true Relation of that which passed be¬ 
 twixt her Majesty and me in the Cause 
 of the late Scottish Queen , from the Time 
 of my first receiving the Minute of the 
 Warrant concerning the Execution of, 
 fyc. to the Day of my Commitment to the 
 Tower. 
 
 After that the meeting at Fotlieringay, 
 about the cause of the late Scottish Queen, 
 was dissolved, the Commissioners returned 
 their sentence, revisited and signed, approved 
 in Parliament, and notified to the world by 
 proclamation, her Majesty being moved with 
 the earnest suit and petitions of her subjects 
 in the said Parliament assembled, to proceed 
 against the said Queen according to the sen- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 257 
 
 tence, did at length give order to the Lord 
 Treasurer to draw the warrant for her exe¬ 
 cution ; which having performed and im¬ 
 parted to her Majesty, his Lordship, the 
 next morning, sent for me to his chamber in 
 Court, then at Richmond, and in the pre¬ 
 sence of Mr. Treasurer Knollys (whom I 
 found with him) acquainted me therewith, 
 and told me that, himself being to go pre¬ 
 sently to London, her Highness’ pleasure 
 was, that he should leave the same with me 
 to cause it to be engrossed and brought 
 unto her to sign; and so delivered it into 
 my hands. Some few days after the war¬ 
 rant being ready I acquainted her Majesty 
 withal, and desired to know her pleasure 
 therein, who at that time thought good to 
 forbear the signing thereof, because the 
 French and Scotch Ambassadors were here 
 intercessors for the S. Q. life, willing me to 
 reserve it to a fitter season [ ]. By that 
 
 occasion I retained in my hands unpresented 
 for the space of some 5 or 6 weeks at the 
 least; for the which I was one day sharply 
 reproved by my Lord Leicester in her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s own presence, as the Lord Treasurer, 
 who was by, could witness. 
 
258 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 Not long after the return of the Scotch 
 Ambassadors, her Majesty, being one morn¬ 
 ing private with the Lord Admiral (which 
 as I take it was on Wednesday the first of 
 February) being moved with the rumours 
 then raised and spread abroad throughout 
 the realm, that the said Scottish Queen was 
 escaped, the realm invaded by strangers, 
 London sacked and burnt, her Majesty 
 dead, with other like seditious bruits, tend¬ 
 ing in all appearance to tumult and rebel¬ 
 lion, and falling into consideration of the 
 hourly danger wherein she lived by delaying 
 the Sc. Q. execution, as the principal ground 
 and cause thereof, she finally resolved (as 
 his Lordship immediately after told me) to 
 defer the same no longer, and therefore 
 willed him to send privately for me to bring 
 the warrant unto her to sign, which he ac¬ 
 cordingly did. 
 
 At my coming up I found his Lordship in 
 the privy chamber, where he discoursed 
 unto me what had passed that morning be¬ 
 tween her Majesty and him concerning the 
 Sc. Q. and how she was now fully resolved 
 to proceed to her execution, and to that end 
 had commanded him to send expressly for 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 259 
 
 me to bring the warrant unto her, that she 
 might forthwith sign and dispatch it; upon 
 which her Majesty’s direction, delivered to 
 me by his Lordship, I went down to my 
 chamber for that and other things I had to 
 be signed, and returning up again, entreated 
 Mrs. Brooke to give her Majesty knowledge 
 of my being there, who immediately called 
 for me. 
 
 Upon my coming in, her Majesty, descry¬ 
 ing some papers in my hand, required what 
 I had there. I answered they were things to 
 be signed that concerned her service. She 
 then demanded whether I had not met with 
 the Lord Admiral, and whether he had said 
 any thing to me touching the warrant for 
 the Sc. Q. My answer was, that I had 
 spoken with his Lordship in the privy cham¬ 
 ber, and understood by him that it was her 
 Highness’ pleasure I should bring the same 
 unto her to sign. Whereupon, she asking 
 me for it, I delivered it into her hands, who, 
 calling immediately for pen and ink, signed 
 it, and laid it down by her upon the mats; 
 and after some little speech, shewing the 
 reasons why she had so long deferred it, as, 
 namely, that the world might see she had 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 not been violently carried thereunto by any 
 humour of malice or revenge against her, 
 however provoked by her offence, and how 
 loth she was to take this course if she had 
 seen any other way to secure her own per¬ 
 son and state ; rebus instantibus , she finally 
 willed me to take up the said warrant, and 
 to carry it immediately to the great seal, 
 commanding me expressly to dispatch and 
 send it down unto the Commissioners with 
 all the expedition I might, appointing the 
 Hall of Fotheringay for the place of execu¬ 
 tion, misliking the Court-yard for divers re¬ 
 spects she alleged; and, in conclusion, ab¬ 
 solutely forbade me to trouble her any fur¬ 
 ther, or let her hear any more thereof till it 
 was done, seeing that for her part she had 
 now performed all that either in law or rea¬ 
 son could be required of her; and so, call¬ 
 ing for the rest of the things I had to be 
 signed, dispatched them all. This done, she 
 entered into some speech with me of Mr. 
 Secretary Walsingham, delivering me a mes¬ 
 sage to be imparted unto him, and walling 
 me withal to shew him her warrant in my 
 way to the seal (he being then sick at his 
 house in London), yielding merrily this rea- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 261 
 
 son, that she thought the sight thereof 
 would kill him outright. And as I was 
 ready to depart from her she gave me some 
 caution to use it secretly at the seal, in re¬ 
 spect of the jealousy she seemed brought to 
 of some about the Lord Chancellor, and 
 doubt lest the divulging thereof might be 
 the occasion to increase her own danger. 
 
 From her Majesty I went directly down 
 to the Lord Treasurer’s chamber, where 1 
 found my Lord of Leicester and him toge¬ 
 ther, to whom 1 shewed her Majesty’s war¬ 
 rant, and faithfully related what directions 
 she had given me for carrying it to the great 
 seal, and sending it down unto the Commis¬ 
 sioners, with the other circumstances before 
 remembered; and for that 1 alleged some 
 necessity of my stay at Court that afternoon 
 about the cause of the Low Countries, 
 whose Deputies were appointed to be there 
 immediately after dinner, they both in- 
 treated me, but especially the Lord Trea¬ 
 surer, to leave the care of that business unto 
 him, and to attend this, which was of far 
 more importance ; whereto I yielded. 
 
 After dinner I repaired to the Lord Chan¬ 
 cellor, according to my directions, having 
 
262 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 first visited Mr. Secretary Walsingham on 
 my way, and acquainted him with those 
 things her Majesty had given me in charge ; 
 and between three and four of the clock 
 that afternoon passed the said warrant 
 under seal; which done, I went home to my 
 own house, where I stayed all that night. 
 
 The next morning, about ten of the clock, 
 being within 24 hours after my departure 
 from her Majesty (when she could with no 
 reason imagine it to be unsealed, considering 
 what commandment she had given me to 
 make all the speed I could therein), Mr. 
 Killegrew came to me with this message 
 from her, that if I had not already been 
 with the Lord Chancellor, I should forbear 
 till I understood her further pleasure; whom 
 I returned with answer, that I would be at 
 the Court as soon as himself, and give her 
 an account what I had done. 
 
 Immediately upon my coming thither I 
 went up into the privy chamber, where I 
 found her Majesty, who presently calling 
 me to her, asked me whether the warrant 
 were sealed? I answered that it was dis¬ 
 patched the evening before, and shewed the 
 same unto her; “but (said she) what needed 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 263 
 
 that haste?” I replied, that I had made 
 no more haste than both she herself had 
 commanded me, and my duty in such a case 
 required. And thereupon, taking occasion 
 to ask her Majesty whether she continued in 
 her purpose to proceed therein according to 
 her former directions, or no, she answered 
 she did, albeit she thought it might have 
 been better handled, because this course 
 threw the whole burthen upon herself. 
 Whereunto I replying that I saw not who 
 else could bear it, seeing her laws made it 
 murder in any man to take the life of the 
 meanest subject in her kingdom but by her 
 warrant, she abruptly brake into a great 
 commendation of Archibald Douglas, wish¬ 
 ing that she had but two such counsellors; 
 and in the end, perceiving that I took little 
 notice of that discourse, rose up, and walk¬ 
 ing a turn or two in the chamber, one of 
 the ladies entertaining her with some other 
 speech, I left her for that time. 
 
 From thence I went down to Mr. Vice¬ 
 chamberlain, to whom I shewed the said 
 warrant, and communicated all that had 
 passed betwixt her Highness and me con¬ 
 cerning the same, adding what I feared of 
 
264 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 her inclination to throw this burthen from 
 herself, if she might find any just pretext, 
 remembering unto him, amongst other rea¬ 
 sons, how things had passed heretofore in 
 the cause of the Duke of Norfolk, the im¬ 
 putation of whose death she laid heavily 
 upon my Lord Treasurer for divers years 
 together; and therefore told him plainly, 
 that whatsoever direction she had given 
 me for sending it down unto the Commis¬ 
 sioners (which happily she thought I would 
 adventure for her safety and service), I was 
 absolutely resolved not to meddle in it 
 alone. 
 
 Whereupon, after some little other speech 
 betwixt him and me, we agreed to go over 
 unto the Lord Treasurer, and to advise with 
 him what course was fittest to be held 
 therein, who finding, both by Mr. Vice¬ 
 chamberlain and myself, what my resolution 
 was, approved the same; and thereupon 
 resolved to break the matter, the next day, 
 with the rest of the Council, and to take 
 their opinions; and in the mean time, his 
 Lordship having some cause of the war¬ 
 rant, prayed me to leave it with him, which 
 in the presence of Mr. Vice-chamberlain I 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 265 
 
 delivered into his Lordship’s own hands, 
 who from thenceforth kept it till it was sent 
 away. 
 
 The next morning his Lordship assembled 
 the Council in his own chamber, to whom 
 he declared the cause of their meeting, 
 shewed and read the warrant, rehearsed 
 how matters had passed betwixt her Ma¬ 
 jesty and me, and namely what directions 
 she had given me for sending it down unto 
 the Commissioners, with also my refusal to 
 meddle therein alone, and my reasons for 
 the same ; that for his part he saw not why 
 they, being all alike interested in the cause, 
 should not make it their general and com¬ 
 mon task, knowing how much it imported 
 both themselves in duty to her Majesty 
 and the whole realm, in honour and safety : 
 his advice therefore was, that seeing they 
 had so clear a testimony of her Majesty’s 
 pleasure as her own warrant, under her 
 hand and great seal of England imported, 
 they should join together in sending it down 
 unto the Commissioners according to that 
 direction, without troubling her Majesty any 
 further in that behalf, she having done all 
 that in law or reason could be required of 
 
266 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 her ; whereunto they all agreeing, his Lord- 
 ship took upon him to project the letters 
 that should be sent down therewith unto 
 the said Commissioners, and sent for Mr. 
 Beale, whom they thought the fittest mes¬ 
 senger for that purpose; and the next day, 
 the letters being ready, met again in the 
 same place for the signing of them; which 
 done, his Lordship delivered them, together 
 with the warrant and the rest of the dis¬ 
 patch, unto Mr. Beale, in presence of all the 
 other counsellors, with his own hands. 
 
 Some two or three days after, having 
 special occasion to attend her Majesty, and 
 finding her in her gallery at Greenwich all 
 alone, she entered into some speech with 
 me of a course that had been propounded 
 unto her underhand by one of great place, 
 concerning that Queen ; asked me what I 
 thought thereof, which, being in truth very 
 unsuitable to the rest of her public proceed¬ 
 ings, I utterly misliked, delivering my rea¬ 
 sons, wherewith she seemed to rest satis¬ 
 fied, without any shew of following this new 
 course, or altering her former resolution in 
 any point. The next day, as I remember, I 
 had occasion to carry up letters for her Ma- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 267 
 
 jesty to sign, in favour of Mr. Fenton, her 
 Secretary in Ireland; after the dispatch 
 whereof she fell of herself into some earnest 
 expostulation with me about the execution 
 of her said warrant, complaining greatly of 
 myself and the rest of her Council, as men 
 careless of her safety and our own duties, in 
 that it was not already done, commanding 
 me to write a sharp letter to Sir Amias 
 Paulet to that effect. But being somewhat 
 jealous of her Majesty’s drift, I answered 
 that it would be needless, seeing it was her 
 Majesty’s own commission under the great 
 seal of England, and not any private letter 
 from me, that must be his direction and 
 warrant in that behalf; whereunto she re¬ 
 plied little, but that she thought he would 
 look for it; and with this, one of the ladies 
 coming in to understand her pleasure for 
 her dinner, she brake off; this being the last 
 time of my access unto her. 
 
 The day following, to my best remem¬ 
 brance, Mr. Henry Talbot brought letters 
 from my Lord, his father, and the rest of the 
 Commissioners unto the Lord Treasurer, 
 importing the news of the Scottish Queen’s 
 death, which his Lordship, communicating 
 
268 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 with divers of the Council, did not think 
 fit to break suddenly to her Majesty, who 
 nevertheless, by other means, understood 
 thereof that night, without sheiv of any alter¬ 
 ation at all. 
 
 But myself being then at London, and 
 returning the next morning to the Court, I 
 found divers of the Council together in my 
 Lord Treasurer’s chamber, who presently 
 told me how things stood, and that her Ma¬ 
 jesty seemed greatly offended against them 
 all about this action, disavowing that she 
 had either commanded or intended any such 
 proceeding therein; whereof at the first I 
 did not much marvel at, considering what I 
 had before observed of her desire to cast it 
 from herself, though I saw not what just 
 ground she should take for the same: but 
 having, after some little stay with them, 
 special occasion to return back to London, 
 and being otherwise very ill, 1 was enforced 
 to tarry at my own house all that night. 
 
 The next news I heard was that her Ma¬ 
 jesty was resolved to commit me to the 
 Tower, which, out of the innocence of mine 
 own heart, I could not possibly believe, till 
 she sent my Lord of Buckhurst unto me 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 269 
 
 to that end, who, finding me sick in bed, 
 after some conference with me, returned 
 back to the Court, to acquaint her Majesty 
 with mine state, and she deferred it for that 
 time, and likewise did some day or two 
 after for the same reasons, which never¬ 
 theless on of February, by her 
 
 Majesty’s express commandment, he per¬ 
 formed. 
 
 And this in substance (as near as I can 
 possibly remember) is the truth of all that 
 passed betwixt her Majesty and me, con¬ 
 cerning this cause, from the first hour of my 
 receiving the minute of her said warrant 
 from the Lord Treasurer to the day of my 
 restraint. 
 
 20 Feb. 1586 . 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 
 From Ayscough’s Catalogue of MSS. 3199. The 
 copy is very imperfect, and has the same lacunce 
 as that inserted in Whitaker’s “ Vindication of 
 Mary Queen of Scots.” The following is taken 
 from a note to Kippis’s “ Biographia Britannica.” 
 
 Secretary Davison’s Apology, addressed to 
 Sir Francis IValsingham. 
 
 On Wednesday the first of this present, 
 about ten of the clock, came one of the 
 Grooms of the Chamber to me, to let me 
 understand, that her Majesty had called for 
 me by my Lord Admiral, who was in the 
 Privy Chamber. I found his Lordship there, 
 who told me the cause of my sending for. 
 Having first summarily discoursed unto me 
 some speech that had passed that morning 
 betwixt her Majesty and him, touching the 
 execution of the Scottish Queen, the con¬ 
 clusion of which was, that she would no 
 longer defer it, and therefore had com- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 271 
 
 mantled him to send expressly for me to 
 bring the warrant unto her : whereupon, re¬ 
 turning to my chamber, I took both that 
 and divers other things to be signed for her 
 service, and returning back, sent in Mrs. 
 Brooke to signify my being there to her Ma¬ 
 jesty, who immediately called for me. At 
 my coming in, her Majesty, first asking me 
 whether I had been abroad that fair morn¬ 
 ing, advising me to use it oftener, and re¬ 
 prehending me for the contrary, finally de¬ 
 manded what I had in my hands. I an¬ 
 swered, divers warrants and other things to 
 be signed for her Majesty’s service. She 
 enquired whether my Lord Admiral had not 
 sent for me, and whether I had not brought 
 up the warrant for the Scots Queen. I an¬ 
 swered yes, and thereupon calling for it, I 
 delivered it into her hands. After the read¬ 
 ing thereof, calling for pen and ink, she 
 signed it, and laying it from her, asked me 
 whether I was not heartily sorry that it was 
 done. Mine answer was, that I was sorry a 
 lady so near in blood to herself, and of her 
 place and quality, should so far forget her 
 duty to God and her Majesty as to give her 
 this cause. But sithence this act of her 
 
27 2 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 Majesty was in all men’s opinion of that 
 justice and necessity that she could not 
 defer it without the manifest danger of her 
 person and state, I could not be sorry to 
 see her Majesty take this course of removing 
 the cause of that danger, which threatened 
 the one and the other; protesting, never¬ 
 theless, that I was so far from thirsting after 
 the blood of that unhappy lady, that if there 
 had been any other way to preserve her 
 Majesty and the State from mischief than 
 by taking her life, I could have wished it. 
 But the case standing so in the opinion of 
 all men, that either her Majesty or she must 
 die, I must confess freely that I preferred 
 the death of the guilty before the innocent. 
 After this she commanded me to carry it to 
 the seal, and to give my Lord Chancellor 
 order from her to use it as secretly as might 
 be, and, by the way, to shew it to Mr. Se¬ 
 cretary Walsingham, because she thought 
 the grief thereof would kill him outright, for 
 so it pleased her Majesty to say of him. 
 This done, she called for the rest of the 
 warrants and other things I had to sign, 
 and dispatched them all with the best dis¬ 
 position and willingness that could be. In 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 273 
 
 the mean time, repeating unto me some 
 reasons why she had so long deferred the 
 matter, as, namely, for her honour’s sake, 
 that the world might see that she had not 
 been violently or maliciously drawn unto it, 
 she concluded, that she was never so ill ad¬ 
 vised as not to see and apprehend her own 
 danger, and the necessity she had to pro¬ 
 ceed to this execution; and thereupon, after 
 some intermingled speech here and there, 
 she told me she would have it done as se¬ 
 cretly as might be, and misliking that it 
 should be executed in the open Court or 
 Green of the Castle, expressly willed that it 
 should be done in the Hall; which I take to 
 be a certain argument, both of her meaning 
 it should be done, and in the form pre¬ 
 scribed in the warrant. But after I had ga¬ 
 thered up my papers, and was ready to de¬ 
 part, she fell into some complaint of Sir 
 Amias Paulet and others that might have 
 eased her of this burthen, wishing me yet to 
 deal with Mr. Secretary, and that he would 
 jointly write to Sir Amias and Sir Drury, to 
 sound their dispositions, aiming still at this, 
 that it might be so done as the blame might 
 be removed from herself. And though I had 
 
 T 
 
2/4 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 always refused before to meddle therein, 
 upon sundry of her Majesty’s former mo¬ 
 tions, as a thing I utterly condemned, yet 
 was I content, as I told her for her satisfac¬ 
 tion, to let Sir Annas understand what she 
 expected at his hands : albeit I did before¬ 
 hand assure myself it should be so much 
 labour lost, knowing the wisdom and inte¬ 
 grity of the gentleman, who I thought would 
 not do any unlawful act for any respect in 
 the world ; but finding her Majesty desirous 
 to have him sounded in this behalf, I de¬ 
 parted from her Majesty with promise to 
 signify so much to Mr. Secretary, and that 
 we would both acquaint Sir Amias of her 
 pleasure. And here repeating to me again 
 that she would have the matter closely han¬ 
 dled, because of her danger, I promised to 
 use it as secretly as I could; and so, for 
 that time, departed. That afternoon I re¬ 
 paired to my Lord Chancellor, where I pro¬ 
 cured the warrant to be sealed, having in 
 my way visited Mr. Secretary, and agreed 
 with him about the form of the letter which 
 should be written for her Majesty’s satisfying 
 to Sir Amias Paulet and Mr. Drury, which, 
 at my returning to my Lord Chancellor, was 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 275 
 
 dispatched. The next morning I received a 
 letter from Cranmer, my servant, whom I 
 left at Court, signifying unto me her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s pleasure that I should forbear going 
 to my Lord Chancellor’s till I had spoken 
 with her. And within an hour after came 
 William Killigrew, with the like message 
 from her, whom I returned with this an¬ 
 swer, that I would be at the Court as soon 
 as himself, and give her Majesty an account 
 of what I had done. At my coming to her, 
 she asked me whether I had been at my 
 Lord Chancellor’s. I answered her, yes. She 
 demanded, what needed that haste ? I an¬ 
 swered, that I had done no more than she 
 commanded, and thought it no matter to be 
 dallied withal; but, saith she, inethinks the 
 best and safest way for me is to have it 
 otherways handled, particularizing a form 
 that she, as she pretended, liked better, 
 naming unto me some that were of that opi¬ 
 nion, whose judgments she commended. I 
 answered, that I took the honourable and 
 just way to be the best and safest, if she 
 meant to have it done at all; whereto her 
 Majesty replying nothing, for that time left 
 me, and went to dinner. Within a day or 
 
 t 2 
 
276 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 two after, her Majesty being in the Privy 
 Chamber, called me unto her, and, smiling, 
 told me how she had been troubled with me 
 that night, upon a dream she had that the 
 Scots Queen was executed, pretending to 
 be so troubled with the news that if she had 
 had a sword she could have run me through; 
 but this being delivered in a pleasant and 
 smiling manner, I answered her Majesty, 
 that it was good I was not near her so long 
 as that humour lasted; but withal, taking 
 hold of her speech, I asked her Majesty, in 
 great earnestness, what it meant ? and whe¬ 
 ther, having proceeded thus far, she had not 
 a meaning to go forward with the execution? 
 Confirming this with a solemn oath, and 
 some veliemcncy, she answered, yes; but 
 she thought it might receive a better form, 
 because, saitli she, this casteth the whole 
 burthen upon myself; whereto I replied, 
 that the form prescribed by her warrant was 
 such as the law required, and the only form 
 that was to be kept in honour and justice. 
 She answered, there were wiser men than 
 myself of another opinion. I told her I 
 could not answer for other men; but this I 
 wns sure of, that I never heard any man give 
 
JLIFE OF W. DAVISON. 277 
 
 sound reason to prove it either honourable 
 or safe for her Majesty to take any other 
 course than that which standeth with law 
 and justice: so, without farther replication 
 or speech at that time, her Majesty rose up 
 and left me. 
 
 The same afternoon (as I take it) she 
 asked me if I had heard from Sir Amias 
 Paulet; I told her no : but within an hour 
 or two after, going to London, 1 met with 
 letters from him in answer to those that 
 were written to him by Mr. Secretary and 
 myself. The next morning, having access 
 to her Majesty upon some other occasion, 
 I told her I had letters from Mr. Paulet, 
 which her Majesty, desirous to see, took 
 and read, but finding thereby that he was 
 grieved with the motion made unto him, 
 olfered his life and all he had to be disposed 
 of by her Majesty, but absolutely refusing 
 to be an instrument in any such action as 
 was not warranted in honour or justice. Her 
 Majesty falling into some terms of offence, 
 complaining of the dainty (as she called it) 
 perjury of him and others, who, contrary to 
 their oath of association, did cast the bur¬ 
 then upon herself, she rose up, and, after a 
 
278 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 turn or two, went into the gallery, whither 
 I followed her ; and there renewing her for¬ 
 mer speech, blaming the niceness of those 
 precise fellows, who in words would do 
 great things for her safety, but in deed per¬ 
 form nothing: and concluded, she would 
 have it well enough done without them; and 
 here, entering into particularities, named 
 unto me, as I remember, one Wingfield, 
 who, she assured me, would, with some 
 others, undertake it: which gave me occa¬ 
 sion to shew unto her Majesty how disho¬ 
 nourable, in my poor opinion, any such 
 course would be, how far off she would be 
 from shunning the blame and stain thereof, 
 which she sought so much to avoid; and 
 here, falling particularly into the case of Sir 
 Amias Paulet and Sir Drew Drury, told her 
 that ’twas a marvellous extremity she would 
 have exposed these two gentlemen unto, for 
 if, in a tender care for her security, they 
 should have done that which she desired, 
 she must either allow their act or disallow 
 it: if she allowed it, she took the matter 
 upon herself, with her infinite dishonour ; if 
 she disallowed it, she overthrew those faith¬ 
 ful gentlemen, who, she knew, did truly and 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 2/9 
 
 faithfully love her ; and not only themselves, 
 but their whole estate and posterity; and 
 therefore thought this a most dangerous and 
 dishonourable course, both for herself and 
 them ; and so, after some particular speech 
 of Mr. Secretary and others, touching some 
 matters past heretofore, her Majesty, calling 
 to understand whether it was time to go to 
 the closet, brake off our discourse. 
 
 At my next access to her Majesty, which 
 I take was Tuesday, the day before my 
 coming from Court, 1 having certain things 
 to be signed, her Majesty entered of herself 
 into some earnest discourse of the danger 
 she daily lived in, and how it was more than 
 time this matter was dispatched, swearing a 
 great oath, that it was a shame for them all 
 that it was not done; and thereupon spake 
 unto me to have a letter written to Mr. 
 Paulet for the dispatch thereof, because the 
 longer it was deferred the more her danger 
 increased; whereunto (knowing what order 
 had been taken by my Lords in sending the 
 commission to the Earls) 1 answered, that I 
 thought there was no necessity of such a 
 letter, the warrant being so general and suf¬ 
 ficient as it was. Her Majesty replied little 
 
280 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 else but that she thought Mr. Paulet would 
 look for it. And this, as near as I can pos¬ 
 sibly remember, is a faithful and true report 
 of what hath passed betwixt her Majesty 
 and me, from the day of signing the warrant 
 and the commandment given unto me to 
 carry it unto the seal, until the hour of my 
 departure from the Court. In all which I 
 must protest unfeignedly before God, that I 
 neither remember any such commandment 
 given me by her Majesty, as is pretended, 
 neither did ever I conceive such an intent or 
 meaning in her; and, that my innocency 
 herein may the better appear, let it be con¬ 
 sidered, first, what the commandment is, 
 and, next, upon what consideration it was 
 granted: the commandment, as I under¬ 
 stand it, hath two parts; one, that I should 
 conceal it from the rest of her Majesty’s 
 Council; another, that I should retain it by 
 myself until some tumultuary time, as a 
 thing her Majesty meant not otherwise to 
 put in execution; both which I must, in all 
 duty and humbleness, under her most gra¬ 
 cious favour, absolutely deny. And, for the 
 first, I trust, her Majesty, in her princely 
 and honourable nature, will not deny but 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 281 
 
 that she first sent for me by my Lord Ad¬ 
 miral to bring the warrant unto her, which 
 provetli that his Lordship was acquainted 
 with her purpose ; and, next, that she gave 
 me express word, both to carry it forthwith 
 to the seal, with a message to my Lord 
 Chancellor, who consequently must be ac¬ 
 quainted with it, and also, by the way, to 
 impart it to Mr. Secretary; so that these 
 three being made privy to it with her own 
 good liking, and myself, as I say, not re¬ 
 strained from the contrary by any such 
 commandment as is pretended, what reason 
 had I to conceal it from my Lord Treasurer, 
 to whom my Lord Admiral had first im¬ 
 parted it, or from my Lord Leicester, to 
 whom her Majesty had signified as much; 
 as, likewise, to Mr. Vice-chamberlain; and, 
 as they are all well acquainted with the rest 
 of the whole proceeding, and as far inte¬ 
 rested in the cause as myself or any of the 
 others, unless her Majesty had a meaning 
 that Mr. Secretary and I should have dealt 
 alone in sending of it to the Earls, which, 
 for mine OAvn part, I confess I never liked, 
 knowing her Majesty’s purpose was often to 
 
282 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 myself to remove as much of the burthen as 
 she might from her own shoulders upon 
 others, which I knew my own unfit to sus¬ 
 tain. Now, seeing the end of signing and 
 sealing this warrant, in all reasonable pro¬ 
 bability and judgment, was to go forward, 
 withal that the delay thereof did infinitely 
 increase her Majesty’s peril, and thereby 
 hazard the whole estate; seeing it was im¬ 
 parted to some by her Majesty’s own order, 
 and no cause or possibility being sealed to 
 keep it from the rest, as much interested in 
 the cause as myself; and, finally, seeing I 
 could neither, as I take it, in law nor duty 
 of a good subject, conceal it from them, the 
 cause importing so greatly her Majesty’s life 
 as it did, and the disposition both of the 
 time and the state of things at home and 
 abroad being such as it was, I trust it shall 
 sufficiently appear that I was, both in rea¬ 
 son, duty, and necessity, forced thereunto, 
 unless I -would have wilfully endangered 
 myself, whose offence, if aught in the mean 
 time had happened amiss unto her Majesty, 
 must have been, in my own censure, worthy 
 of a thousand deaths; and as to my pro- 
 
LIFE OF W. I>AVISON. 
 
 283 
 
 ceeding therein with the rest of my Lords, 
 after it was resolved that it was neither fit 
 nor convenient to trouble her Majesty any 
 farther with it, considering that she had 
 done all that the law required at her hands, 
 and that she had, both to myself and others, 
 signified, at other times, her indisposition to 
 be acquainted with the particular circum¬ 
 stances of time, place, &c. and that to de¬ 
 tain the warrant, in expectation of any far¬ 
 ther directions from herself, was both need¬ 
 less and dangerous, considering the hourly 
 hazards her Majesty lived in. And, finally, 
 that my Lords, knowing her Majesty’s un¬ 
 willingness to bear all the burthen alone, 
 were content most resolutely, honourably, 
 and dutifully, to ease her as much as they 
 might; with what reason and justice should 
 I have hindered the course of justice, tend¬ 
 ing so greatly to her Majesty’s safety and 
 preservation of the whole realm; and for the 
 other part of keeping it by me to such ends 
 as is before alledged, I trust the world doth 
 not hold me so undutiful to her Majesty, or 
 ill advised for my particular, as to take such 
 a charge upon me, to the evident peril of 
 
284 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 her Majesty’s life, subversion of the whole 
 estate, and mine own utter overthrow; nei¬ 
 ther is there cause to think, I speak in all 
 reverence, and under her Majesty’s gracious 
 favour, that her Majesty, having proceeded 
 so far as she had done, to the trial of that 
 lady’s fact, found her guilty, by a most ho¬ 
 nourable Jury of her Nobility, assembled 
 her Parliament only for that purpose, gra¬ 
 ciously heard their petitions, and dismissed 
 them with so great hope, published after¬ 
 wards the Proclamation for her disablement, 
 rejected the suits both of the French and 
 Scottish Kings for her life, and returned 
 their Ambassadors hopeless ; confirmed the 
 imprisonment by her letters to both Princes 
 (some of which it pleased her to communi¬ 
 cate with myself), protested many hundred 
 times her necessity and resolution to go 
 through with all (albeit for sundry reasons 
 she had so long deferred it), having given 
 her commandment to me many days before, 
 to bring up the warrant unto her, and then 
 voluntarily sent for it by my Lord Admiral, 
 signing it as soon as I brought it, her ex¬ 
 press commandment given me to carry it to 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 285 
 
 the seal, and to have it secretly handled. 
 And, finally, her particular direction, whilst 
 she was signing other things, at the same 
 time to have the execution done in the Hall, 
 misliking that it should be done in the 
 Green or open Court, with a number of 
 other foregoing and following circumstances, 
 may sufficiently testify her Majesty’s dispo¬ 
 sition to have it proceeded in. Albeit she 
 had to myself and others declared her un¬ 
 willingness to have been made acquainted 
 with the time and other circumstances, 
 having done all that the law required of 
 her, or that in honour was fit and expedient 
 for her to do. 
 
APPENDIX D. 
 
 From Cottonian MSS. Caligula C ix. f. 470. * 
 
 The objections against Mr. Davison, in 
 the cause of the late Scottish Queen, must 
 concern things done either 
 
 1. Before her trial at Fotheringay ; 
 
 2. During the Session ; 
 
 3. After the same. 
 
 1. Before her trial he neither is nor can 
 be charged to have had any hand at all in 
 the cause of the said Queen, or done any 
 thing whatsoever concerning the same, di¬ 
 rectly or indirectly. 
 
 2. During that session he remained at 
 Court, where the only interest he had there¬ 
 in was, as her Majesty’s Secretary, to receive 
 the letters from the Commissioners, impart 
 them to her Highness, and return them her 
 answers. 
 
 * Printed in the Appendix to Robertson’s History of Scot¬ 
 land. 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 28 7 
 
 3. After the return thence of the said 
 commission, it is well known to all her 
 Counsel, 
 
 1. That he never was at any deliberation 
 or meeting whatsoever, in Parliament or 
 Council, concerning the cause of the said 
 Queen, till the sending down of her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s warrant unto the Commissioners by 
 the Lords and others of her Council. 
 
 2. That he was no party in signing the 
 sentence passed against her. 
 
 3. That he never penned either of the pro¬ 
 clamations publishing the same, the warrant 
 for her death, nor any other letter or thing 
 whatsoever concerning the same. And 
 
 That the only thing which can be spe¬ 
 cially and truly imputed to him is, 
 
 The carrying-up the said warrant unto her 
 Majesty to be signed, she sending a great 
 Counsellor unto him with her pleasure to 
 that end. And 
 
 Carrying it to the great seal of England, 
 by her own special direction and command¬ 
 ment. 
 
 For the better clearing of which truth it is 
 evident, 
 
 1. That the warrant, being penned by the 
 
288 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 Lord Treasurer, was delivered by him unto 
 Mr. Davison, with her Majesty’s own privity, 
 to be ready to sign when she should be 
 pleased to call for it — (and was sharply re¬ 
 proved for the same by a great Peer * in her 
 Majesty’s own presence). 
 
 2. That being in his hands he retained it 
 at the least five or six weeks unpresented, 
 not once offering to carry it up till she sent 
 a great Counsellor unto him for the same. 
 
 3. That having signed it, she gave him an 
 express commandment to carry it to the 
 seal, and, being sealed, to send it imme¬ 
 diately away unto the Commissioners, ac¬ 
 cording to the direction, herself appointing 
 the Hall of Fotheringay for the place of 
 execution, misliking the Court-yard in divers 
 respects ; and, in conclusion, absolutely for¬ 
 bade him to trouble her any further, or let 
 her hear any more thereof till it was done, 
 she, for her part, having (as she said) per¬ 
 formed all that in law or reason could be 
 required of her. 
 
 * This interlineation is placed exactly as it stands in the 
 original; but it appears that the word “ Counsellor” was first 
 written, and the word “ Peer" afterwards substituted for it. 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 289 
 
 4. Which direction notwithstanding he 
 kept the warrant sealed all that night, and 
 the greatest part of the next day, in his 
 hands, brought it back with him to the 
 Court, acquainted her Majesty wherewithal, 
 and finding her Majesty resolved to proceed 
 therein according to her former directions, 
 and yet desirous to carry the matter as she 
 might throw the burthen from herself, he 
 absolutely resolved to quit his hands there¬ 
 of. 
 
 5. And hereupon went over unto the Lord 
 Treasurer’s chambers, together with Mr. 
 Vice-chamberlain Hatton, and in his pre¬ 
 sence restored the same into the hands of 
 the said Lord Treasurer, of whom he had 
 before received it; who from thenceforth 
 kept it till himself and the rest of the Coun¬ 
 cil sent it away. 
 
 Which, in substance and truth, is all the 
 part and interest the said Davison had in 
 this cause, whatsoever is or may be pre¬ 
 tended to the contrary. 
 
 Touching the sending down thereof unto 
 the Commissioners, that it was the general 
 act of her Majesty’s Council (as is before 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 mentioned), and not any private act of his, 
 may appear, 
 
 1. Their confessions; 
 
 2. Their letters sent down therewith to the 
 Commissioners; 
 
 3. The testimony of the Lords and others 
 to whom they were directed, as also of 
 
 4. Mr. Beale, by whom they were sent; 
 
 5. The tenor of her Majesty’s first com¬ 
 mission for their calling to the Star Chamber 
 for the same, and private appearance and 
 submission afterwards instead thereof before 
 the Lord Chancellor Bromley; 
 
 6. The confession of Mr. Attorney Gene¬ 
 ral in open court, confirmed 
 
 7- By the sentence itself upon record; 
 
 8. Besides a common act of Council, con¬ 
 taining an answer to be verbally delivered to 
 the Scottish Ambassadors then remaining 
 here, avowing and justifying the same. 
 
 Now, where some suppose him to have 
 given some extraordinary furtherance there¬ 
 unto, the contrary may evidently appear by 
 
 1. His former absolute refusal to sign the 
 band of association, being earnestly pressed 
 thereunto by her Majesty herself; 
 
LIFE OF W, DAVISON. 
 
 291 
 
 2. His excusing of himself from being used 
 as a Commissioner in the examination of 
 Babington and his accomplices, and avoid¬ 
 ing the same by a journey to Bath ; 
 
 3. His being a means to stay the Commis¬ 
 sioners from pronouncing of the sentence at 
 Fotheringay, and deferring it till they should 
 return to her Majesty’s presence ; 
 
 4. His keeping the warrant in his hands 
 six weeks unpresented, without once offering 
 to carry it up till her Majesty sent expressly 
 for the same to sign ; 
 
 5. His deferring to send it away after it 
 was sealed unto the Commissioners, as he 
 was specially commanded, staying it all that 
 night, and the greatest part of the next day, 
 in his hands; 
 
 6. And, finally, his restoring thereof into 
 the hands of the Lord Treasurer, of whom 
 he had before received the same. 
 
 Which are clear and evident proofs that 
 the said Davison did nothing in this cause 
 whatsoever contrary to the duty of the place 
 he then held in her Majesty’s service. 
 
 Indorsed, ‘‘The Innocencye of Mr. Da¬ 
 vison in the Cause of the late Scottish 
 Queen.” 
 
 u 2 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 Copied from the Harleian MSS. 4ip. f. l6S. 
 
 Articles ministered the \2th of March to 
 
 Mr. Davison by Mr. Vice-chamberlain and 
 
 Mr. TVolley. 
 
 1. Whether upon the signing of the war¬ 
 rant her Majesty gave it not in express 
 charge and commandment unto you to keep 
 the same secret, and not to utter it to any 
 body ? 
 
 2. Whether her Majesty commanded you 
 to pass it to the great seal ? 
 
 3. Whether when it was passed the great 
 seal, her Majesty charged you not on your 
 life not to let it go out of your hands until 
 you knew her further pleasure ? 
 
 4. Whether her Majesty ever willed or 
 commanded you to deliver it to any body, 
 or to cause it to be executed ? 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 293 
 
 5. Whether six or seven days after it was 
 passed the great seal and in your custody, 
 her Majesty told you not in the gallery that 
 she had a better way to proceed therein, 
 than that which was before advised ? 
 
 1. To the first he answereth, that he 
 liopeth her Majesty doth not forget how she 
 commanded my Lord Admiral to send for 
 him to bring the warrant unto her, having, as 
 his Lordship told me, resolutely determined 
 to go through with the execution : that upon 
 my coming to her it pleased her to call for 
 the warrant and voluntarily to sign it, with¬ 
 out giving me any such commandment as is 
 objected, which he affirmeth in the presence 
 of God. 
 
 2. To the second, he trusteth that her 
 Majesty in her princely and good nature will 
 not deny to have given him express order to 
 carry it to the seal, and how she willed it 
 should be forthwith dispatched ; whereupon, 
 he offering to have gone to my Lord Chan¬ 
 cellor the same forenoon it was signed, she 
 commanded him to go in the afternoon, be¬ 
 cause of some other business he had, which 
 he did accordingly: so as it was between five 
 
294 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 and six o’clock at night ere he was with my 
 Lord Chancellor, so as my Lord Admiral 
 knowing it by the occasion above remem¬ 
 bered, and my Lord Chancellor by her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s express commandment, besides, that 
 at the same time it pleased her Majesty to 
 give him order to impart in his way to Mr. 
 Secretary Walsingham, as her Majesty may 
 best remember, he hopeth there shall appear 
 no cause of any such commandment to 
 conceal it, and not to utter it to any, as is 
 objected. 
 
 3. To the third, he protesteth before God 
 he neither remembereth nor received any 
 such commandment given him, for if he 
 had, he would not have concealed it from 
 my Lords that joined in sending down the 
 said commission. 
 
 4. Fourthly, he answereth, that as her Ma¬ 
 jesty did not expressly will him to deliver it 
 to any body, so did he never understand 
 her Majesty’s meaning to be other than to 
 have it proceeded in, considering the hourly 
 danger she lived in, and how much, there¬ 
 fore, it importeth herself and state, besides 
 other reasons too long to be here re¬ 
 hearsed. 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 295 
 
 5. To the fifth, he remembereth that upon 
 some letters received from Mr. Paulet, her 
 Majesty falling into some complaint of him 
 upon such cause as she best knowetli, she 
 uttered such a speech that she would have 
 matters otherwise done, the particulars 
 whereof I leave to her best remembrance. 
 
 On the 14th March Davison was further 
 questioned. 
 
 Interrogatories the 14 t/i March, 1586. 
 
 1. Did not her Majesty after the com¬ 
 mission passed [remark] unto you how great 
 a charge the same was then remaining in 
 your custody, and how needfully you ought 
 to look to the safe and secret keeping thereof, 
 and that the same should remain until some 
 further or other occasion did require ? 
 
 2. Did you not answer, upon your life 
 and faith, that nothing should be done 
 therewith without her princely pleasure first 
 known, and that with all care you would 
 look to the matter as appertained, accord¬ 
 ing to her gracious admonition ? 
 
 To the first he answereth, in all duty and 
 reverence under her Majesty’s favour, that 
 
296 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 he never received any such charge from her 
 Highness to his remembrance, as he shall 
 answer before the living God. 
 
 To the second he saith, that after the bill 
 was signed, and himself directed from her 
 Majesty to carry it to the seal, willing him 
 it should be secretly used, he promised her 
 Majesty to do it with that care and secrecy 
 that appertained, which is all he doth or 
 can remember touching that purpose, as he 
 protesteth before God. 
 
 Interrogatories the 1 6th of March, 1586. 
 
 1. Did not her Majesty upon signing of 
 the warrant tell you that she committed a 
 matter of high trust unto you, and such as 
 was rare to be committed to a man of no 
 
 longer.than you were of, charging 
 
 you to keep it secret, and carefully for that 
 she minded to use it according to her plea¬ 
 sure, and what answer made you thereunto? 
 
 2. Did you not then pray her Majesty, 
 that for certain respects which you then al¬ 
 leged, you might open the same to Mr. 
 Secretary Walsingham, and did not her Ma¬ 
 jesty give you leave so to do ? 
 
 3. Did not her Majesty, the next day 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 297 
 
 after the signing of the warrant, send to 
 have stayed it from the seal ? And when you 
 told her it was already passed the great seal, 
 did not her Majesty then give you a more 
 straight charge than before, to use greater 
 care and circumspection in the safe and se¬ 
 cret keeping of it ? 
 
 4. Did not my Lord Treasurer in her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s presence and hearing, before the sign¬ 
 ing of the warrant, find fault with you that 
 you brought not the warrant to be signed 
 by her Majesty; and did he not say it was 
 good to have it signed, that it might be in 
 readiness whatever should happen; and that 
 her Highness might trust either the Lord 
 Chancellor, or him the said Lord Treasurer, 
 or yourself, or some other, with the secret 
 and careful keeping of it ? 
 
 5. Did you not ask her Majesty after the 
 warrant was sealed what you should do with 
 it ? and what was her Majesty’s answer ? 
 
 6. How many days kept you the warrant 
 in your hands after the sealing of it ? Whe¬ 
 ther did her Majesty command you to de¬ 
 liver it, or did you make her Majesty privy 
 thereto before ? Or what moved you to keep 
 it so long before you delivered it ? 
 
298 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 7- Did not her Majesty, five or six days 
 after the signing of the warrant, tell you 
 that she meant to take another course ? 
 
 8. Whether have you sent, or caused any 
 to ask, advice and council touching the de¬ 
 gree and quality of your offence, and how 
 far you might be touched by law for the 
 same ? 
 
 1. To the first he answereth, as before 
 God, he remembereth no such circumstance 
 or charge as is here objected ; only this he 
 remembereth, that her Majesty directed him 
 to carry it to the seal, willed in general 
 terms that it should be secretly used, wherein 
 he promised her Majesty to take that care 
 that appertained. 
 
 2. To the second he protesteth, before the 
 living God, that he remembereth no motion 
 of his own to that effect, but this he re¬ 
 membereth well, that her Majesty -willed 
 him in carrying it to the seal, that by the 
 way he should impart it to Mr. Secretary 
 Walsingham, because, as she was pleased 
 merrily to say, she thought the grief thereof 
 would kill him, or in like words, with some 
 other commandment to him, which he hum- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 299 
 
 bly leaveth to her Majesty’s best remem¬ 
 brance. 
 
 3. To the third he confessedly that the 
 next morning after the warrant was sealed, 
 being at his house in London, Mr. William 
 Killegrew came unto him with this message 
 from her Majesty, that if he had not been 
 with my Lord Chancellor he should stay till 
 he heard further from her: to whom he gave 
 this general answer, that he would be at the 
 court as soon as himself, and give her Majes¬ 
 ty an account of what he had done, where¬ 
 upon, repairing to her Majesty immediately 
 upon his return to the Court, her Highness 
 asked him whether he had been with my 
 Lord Chancellor? He answered, he had been 
 with him the night before, and passed the 
 warrant under the seal according to her di¬ 
 rection ; whereupon she asked what needed 
 that haste ? Whereto he answered, that he 
 had done no more than fulfil her pleasure 
 and commandment, in a matter which as he 
 thought was not to be dallied with, and so 
 left her to his conceit very well satisfied. 
 
 4. To the fourth, he doth remember that 
 certain days before the signing of the war¬ 
 rant he was in her Majesty’s presence, re- 
 
300 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 proved for not bringing it up with him to be 
 signed; but whether my Lord Tresurer used 
 any such speech as is here set down, he 
 doth not in truth remember. 
 
 5. To the fifth, he doth unfeignedly pro¬ 
 test that he never moved any such question 
 to his remembrance, as he made no doubt 
 of her Majesty’s meaning to have it pro¬ 
 ceeded in, after it was once passed under 
 her hand and seal; considering how much 
 it touched her own life, and the safety of 
 her whole kingdom, both which he took to 
 be dear unto her. 
 
 6. To the sixth, he sayetli it was signed 
 as he rememberetli on Wednesday morning 
 the first of February, and sealed the same 
 afternoon, about five of the clock. The 
 next day he brought it back to the Court, 
 and on Friday my Lords resolved to send it 
 down to the Earls, the rather in regard of 
 the general tumult and trouble in every part 
 of the realm about the hues and cries, and 
 seditious bruits raised about the Scottish 
 Queen’s escape : the consequence whereof 
 they all greatly doubted. He sayetli also, 
 there was no special commandment given 
 him by her Majesty to deliver it to any par- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 301 
 
 ticular body, neither did lie make her privy 
 to the sending down thereof. 
 
 7- To the seventh, lie doth remember that 
 some days after the warrant was sent down, 
 her Majesty, upon the receipt of a letter from 
 Mr. Paulet, had some speech with him to 
 like effect, as that she could have it other¬ 
 wise done : the occasion and circumstances 
 whereof he humbly leaveth to her gracious 
 remembrance. 
 
 8. To the eighth, he answeretli, what any 
 friend of his might do for his own satisfying 
 he knoweth not, but that himself ever gave 
 direction to any man to make any such en¬ 
 quiry he denieth, as he that hath the testi¬ 
 mony of a good conscience, to have done 
 nothing willingly that might offend her Ma¬ 
 jesty, whose favour hath been ever as dear 
 unto him as his own life : and so he liopeth 
 that her Majesty, in her princely and gra¬ 
 cious nature, and experience of him in the 
 whole course of his life and service, per¬ 
 formed with all uprightness and integrity, 
 is fully persuaded of him. 
 
APPENDIX F. 
 
 The Arraignment of IVm. Davison (Secre¬ 
 tary of State to Queen Elizabeth) in the 
 Star-Chamber , for Misprision and Con¬ 
 tempt : 30 Eliz. March 28, A. D. 1587- * 
 
 Before Sir Christopher Wraye, Chief Jus¬ 
 tice of England, who for the time sat as 
 Lord Privy-seal; the Archbishops of Can¬ 
 terbury and York; the Earls of Worcester, 
 Cumberland, and Lincoln ; the Lords Grey, 
 Lumley, Sir James Croft, the Comptroller; 
 Sir Gilbert Gerrard, Master of the Rolls ; 
 the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 
 Edmund Anderson ; Sir Roger Manwood, 
 the Lord Chief Baron ; and Sir Walter Mild- 
 may, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; for 
 hearing of a matter of Misprision and Con¬ 
 tempt against Mr. Davison, late one of her 
 
 * MS. in Caius Coll. Camb. Class A. 1090, 8. p. 267. MS. in 
 the Bodleian Libr. sub. tit Juridici, 7843. 862. p. 235. 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 303 
 
 Majesty’s Secretaries, and one of her Privy- 
 Council, by virtue of a Commission to them 
 directed. 
 
 Whereupon Mr. Popliam, the Queen’s 
 Attorney-general, spake in form following : 
 My Lords, “I am to inform your Lord- 
 ships in her Majesty’s behalf, of a certain 
 great and grevous Contempt and Misprision 
 against Mr. Davison, the prisoner at the 
 bar, late one of her Majesty’s Secretaries. 
 
 The manifold and sundry practices com¬ 
 mitted by the Scottish Queen are not un¬ 
 known unto your honours, which were of¬ 
 fences in the highest degree, and required 
 to be looked unto with speed. It is well 
 known unto your lordships also that there¬ 
 upon, by earnest entreaty and intercession, 
 her Majesty at length condescended that 
 the matter should be heard and decided 
 according unto law. Whereupon were those 
 honourable proceedings had at Fotheringhay. 
 But the residence which belonged thereunto, 
 to wit the execution, her Majesty politically 
 neither consented unto, nor denied, esteem¬ 
 ing no clemency in the former, nor wisdom 
 in the latter. Which course she held from 
 the 25th Oct. all Nov. Dec. and Jan. Dur- 
 
304 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 ing which time, most horrible conspiracies 
 against her Majesty’s sacred person Avere 
 contrived, most false rumour that the Scot¬ 
 tish Queen was escaped, spread abroad, and 
 bruited that foreigners were landed for inva¬ 
 sion, all which, for preservation of the Scot¬ 
 tish Queen, and prejudice of ours. Upon 
 these considerations, her Majesty assented 
 to sign the warrant for her execution, by 
 whom such tumults were raised: notwith¬ 
 standing, being moved to mercy by her 
 great wisdom, she thought it necessary to 
 have it in readiness, if any attempts should 
 be begun, and yet not in haste in execute 
 the same : this, so signed, she left with Mr. 
 Davison to carry to the great seal to have it 
 in readiness as aforesaid. And he, after the 
 sealing, and without her Majesty’s com¬ 
 mandments, presented it unto the Lords with¬ 
 out her privity, contemptuously. Notwith¬ 
 standing, upon the delivery thereof to him, 
 her Majesty bid him use secrecy. And upon 
 question made by the Lords whether her 
 Majesty continued in that mind for execu¬ 
 tion of the Scottish Queen, he said, she 
 held that course still; and upon further 
 question made, said her Majesty would 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 305 
 
 not be further troubled with that matter. 
 Whereupon the Lords, seeing no impedi¬ 
 ment, dispatched the execution, wherein Mr. 
 Davison did break the secrecy her Majesty 
 reposed in him, in delivering it unto the 
 Lords, and dealt very contemptuously in 
 not making her privy, knowing her mind to 
 be to the contrary. For her Majesty sent 
 Mr. Killegrew unto him, commanding him, 
 if it were not sealed already, it should not 
 be sealed ; and after, when he told her Ma¬ 
 jesty it was sealed already, she asked him 
 what haste ? This act so done by him, he 
 being but a particular counsellor, her Ma¬ 
 jesty doth take it a matter of high indignity 
 and abuse of her counsellors, and a thing of 
 the greatest moment that ever happened 
 since her reign, since which time never any 
 counsellor in matters of far less importance 
 proceeded without her resolution or privity, 
 which thing she leaves to your honours’ con¬ 
 sideration for punishment thereof.” 
 
 Davison, with a comely countenance, re¬ 
 plenished with gravity, a fine deliverance of 
 speech, but a voice somewhat low (which 
 he excused by late sickness), discreetly an¬ 
 swered in sort ensuing.—“ My Lords, I am 
 
 x 
 
306 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 right sorry that an action of this nature, 
 for the honourable proceedings against the 
 Scottish Queen, than which never was any 
 thing more honourable, should, after the full 
 and laudable performance thereof, be called 
 into question. Again, my Lords, I am 
 most sorry that her gracious Highness should 
 conceive such an high displeasure against 
 me, as to trouble your honours with me at 
 this present. But as in all my actions here¬ 
 tofore, I have been most faithful and for¬ 
 ward to do her Majesty’s commandments ; 
 so in this, by your honour’s favour, let me 
 bear the testimony of my conscience, that 
 I have done nothing wittingly or willingly, 
 but as became an honest man. And there¬ 
 fore, first, that I delivered it unto the Lords 
 without her commandment, or against her 
 commandment ; let it be lawful for me with 
 your honours leave to protest the contrary.” 
 
 To that the Attorney answered, “ I said 
 not that you delivered it unto the Lords 
 against her commandment, but that you 
 knowing her mind to be contrary to it.” 
 
 Davison to that replied, “ Well, then, I 
 desire to have the proofs:” whereupon the 
 Solicitor-General read his Examination, 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 307 
 
 wherein to the sixth point he sayeth, “ That 
 after the signing and sealing he made her 
 not privy to the sending down.” 
 
 Mr. Davison to that answered, “ My 
 good Lords, the warrant for the execution 
 was signed and sealed by her Majesty’s ex¬ 
 press commandment; which being so, I take 
 it to be irrevocable in law. Whereupon, by 
 the advice of the Lords it was sent down, 
 she not being privy to sending it down, 
 wherein I thought I dealt as beseemed me : 
 for writs of execution do not use to come to 
 her Majesty. That I was so forward, I 
 thought it my duty, and for no other reason 
 I protest; for I never had any private grudge 
 or hatred against the Queen of Scots, but 
 in respect of my country and common-weal. 
 The warrant rested with me six weeks be¬ 
 fore I presented it, and when I presented it, 
 my Lord Admiral will witness I was sent for. 
 The place I held, I protested I never sought 
 for : it pleased her Majesty for some gra¬ 
 cious opinion of me to prefer me thereunto. 
 In which I am assured I have not committed 
 any wilful error, but as an honest man 
 should do; for nothing in the world is more 
 
 x 2 
 
308 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 dear to me than my reputation. I confess I 
 said to some Lords, I took it to be her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s pleasure to proceed therein, and I 
 appeal to her Majesty’s own conscience if I 
 had not cause to think so. But she is my 
 most gracious Sovereign; it is not my duty to 
 say, if she gainsay ; I will not stand in con¬ 
 testation with her, for it beseems me not, 
 and therefore I submit myself to what pu¬ 
 nishment your honours shall please to lay 
 upon me.” 
 
 To that the Solicitor (Egerton) answered, 
 “ Mr. Davison, you do well to extol the 
 honour of the proceedings, for it beseems 
 you, and so the truth was. But I must tell 
 you the more honourable the proceedings 
 were, the more is your contempt in not 
 making her privy. In reserving the execu¬ 
 tion, I note her Majesty’s magnanimity, 
 who not regarded the dangers of her own 
 self, to continue the other’s life. And yet 
 her wisdom is therein to be commended, 
 who thought good to have it in a readiness, 
 with intention to have clemency so long as 
 might be. In not contesting with her Ma¬ 
 jesty you observe duty, but by your means 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 309 
 
 was a great contempt; and further, she 
 said to you, you should use it with great 
 secrecy.” 
 
 To which Mr. Davison said, “ I confess 
 itand the Solicitor replied, “ Why then 
 that was a caution not to do it without her 
 consent : so notwithstanding your intention 
 was good, it was a foul error. Whereto 
 Davison rejoined, “ She is my most gra¬ 
 cious Sovereign, as good a mistress unto 
 me as ever any servant had, and what I 
 have I had it at her hands, I hope therefore, 
 my Lords think me not so unwise as to 
 offend her, unless by oversight; but that I 
 did it wittingly or willingly, I protest I did 
 it not. And notwithstanding she sent Mr. 
 Killegrew that it should not be sealed, if it 
 were not sealed already: yet it proves not 
 but that she had a mind to do it when it was 
 sealed. She said unto me, what haste? 
 whereto I answered, I had done it by her 
 Majesty’s commandment, and that such a 
 thing might not be dallied withal. Now, 
 my Lords, the reasons to move me to think 
 it was her Majesty’s meaning, were sundry 
 and divers : first, the honour and justice of 
 the cause : next, I knew of advertisement 
 
310 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 from beyond the seas of her Majesty’s im¬ 
 minent dangers. Also I was privy to the 
 proceedings at Fotheringhay. I was not 
 ignorant of the doings in Parliament ; last 
 of all, the rumour of invasion, the cries and 
 tumults in the realm which moved me, hav¬ 
 ing no express commandment to the con¬ 
 trary, to do as I did.” 
 
 When he had said this, Mr. Solicitor read 
 his examination, where to the second he 
 saith, “ When her Majesty bade him use 
 secrecy, he said he would be as careful and 
 secret as should need : to the third, he con¬ 
 fessed Mr. Killegrew came unto him, tell¬ 
 ing him, if it were not sealed already it 
 should not be sealed. To the seventh, after 
 the warrant was sealed, her Majesty asked 
 him, what haste ? Whereto Davison an¬ 
 swered, “ Though her Majesty commanded 
 me to keep it secret, and I told the Coun¬ 
 cil of it; how can I be thought ill of for 
 that ? For her Majesty bade me expressly 
 shew Mr. Secretary Walsingliam thereof; 
 my Lord Chancellor must needs know it, 
 for as much as he must seal it. And her 
 Majesty made my Lord Admiral privy there¬ 
 unto ; why then might I not make it known 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 311 
 
 to some others that were chief counsellors ? 
 
 To that said Mr. Attorney, though Mr. 
 Walsingham should know it, yet it was not 
 general. Mr. Davison answered, “ Neither 
 was I verbally commanded to conceal it 
 from the rest.” Then said the Solicitor, 
 “ Another matter makes against you : my 
 Lord Treasurer did ask you, whether it was 
 her Majesty’s pleasure ? and you answered, 
 yea. “ To that,” said Davison, “ I remem¬ 
 ber not that.” The Solicitor replied, it is 
 Lord-Treasurer’s testimony. And Davison 
 rejoined, “ I reverence his testimony,” and 
 proceeded, saying, “ My Lords, the cause 
 is between her Majesty and me ; she is my 
 gracious Sovereign, and I her servant, it 
 belioveth me not to say if she gainsay, nei¬ 
 ther could I, as I said, contest against her ; 
 yet let me protest that in my own conceit 
 I have dealt as sincerely, soundly, and ho¬ 
 nestly as any servant could do.” 
 
 Then spake the Lord Chief Justice of 
 England saying, “ By that if she asked you, 
 what haste? you might know it was her 
 pleasure to defer it, and therefore you to do 
 it without her commandment was a great 
 offence.” 
 
312 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 Then spake Gawdie the Queen’s Sergeant, 
 “ My Lords, four things I note that Mr. 
 Davison confesseth ; first, that her Majesty 
 made him use secrecy. Next, the warrant 
 being sealed, Mr. Killegrew was sent imto 
 him, that were it not sealed already, it 
 should not be sealed at all. Thirdly, he con¬ 
 fesseth that her Majesty was content he 
 should shew it to Mr. Walsingham, which 
 proves she minded to keep it from the rest; 
 and it had been his duty to have known her 
 pleasure: and therefore for so much as he 
 confesseth this, I take it to be a great con¬ 
 tempt, indignity, and misprision, for him to 
 say his intent was good; he thought it so is 
 no answer. Fourthly, her Majesty told him, 
 she thought of some other course to be 
 taken, and he gave her no answer; besides, 
 he confesseth he told the Lords it was her 
 Majesty’s pleasure upon such a demand 
 made.” 
 
 Davison answered, that “ general demand 
 was made.” Gawdie replied here, “ It is the 
 Lord Treasurer’s testimony.” Davison re¬ 
 joined, “ Let me have right: it was but 
 privately demanded between my Lord Trea¬ 
 surer and me. I will not speak in excuse, 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 313 
 
 but only to answer ; I demand, whether the 
 imparting of it to the Council be such a con¬ 
 tempt : farther, there is difference between 
 an express commandment, and an implied 
 speech. The loss of my place I do not 
 esteem, neither weigh I this disgrace; only 
 her Majesty's disfavour is the thing that 
 grieves me.” 
 
 Then Puckering, the Queen’s Sergeant, be¬ 
 gan to speak, aggravating Davison’s offence, 
 and forward to accuse, and yet seemed more 
 proforma tantum than of any matter he had 
 to charge him withal, more than had been 
 spoken of before. Whereupon Davison an¬ 
 swered, “ All this speech is answered, but 
 that I made her not privy ; whereto I say, 
 I made her not privy in respect my Lords 
 of the Council thought it not necessary, be¬ 
 cause it was not fit she should be privy to 
 the execution. I will not stand upon terms, 
 as I say, for it becomes me not, but sub¬ 
 mit myself to your honours’ censures.” 
 
 Then said Mr. Wraye, “ Mr. Davison, to 
 say it was irrevocable, you are deceived, for 
 she might do it at her pleasure.” Then said 
 Mr. Davison, 44 I beseech you, my Lords, 
 make means to her Majesty that I may have 
 
314 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 her favour, for the rest I wave it not.” 
 Whereupon Wraye willed Sir Walter Mild- 
 may to deliver his opinion; who began in 
 form following : 
 
 “ How honourable her Majesty, our gra¬ 
 cious Sovereign, hath dealt in all justice, is 
 known to all the world, against such trai¬ 
 tors, by whom her life should have been 
 taken away; whereupon should ensue sub¬ 
 version to the whole state, upon the pro¬ 
 ceedings whereof it appeared that the Scot- 
 isli Queen was chief author, dealing most 
 ingratefully against her who before time had 
 saved her from them that vehemently sought 
 her destruction. And notwithstanding that 
 her Majesty might have proceeded against 
 her as a private person, yet she granted her 
 commission to great persons to hear what 
 she could alledge in her defence. And al¬ 
 beit, that upon the hearing thereof she was 
 declared to be guilty, yet none could think 
 execution might be done without her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s express assent.” Then he dilated of 
 the proceedings of Parliament, the petition, 
 her answer thereunto, wherein he noted her 
 wisdom in not being hasty in so high a 
 matter; he shewed, farther, how she was 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 315 
 
 contented to hear ambassadors, if they could 
 propound any thing in her defence. After¬ 
 ward followed the proclamation, to notify 
 the proceedings passed unto the people; 
 “ for people,” said he, ‘‘ be desirous to hear 
 of state matters, and I warrant you itch to un¬ 
 derstand what we do here ; herein,” said he, 
 “was justice, mercy, and discretion. After¬ 
 wards, upon the.and cries, she 
 
 thought it necessary to look unto it; upon 
 this she sealed her warrant, yet continuing 
 her former clemency, not to put it in execu¬ 
 tion ; for as it was in her to grant that it 
 should be done, so she might stay and defer 
 it; which she so meaning, it behoved her 
 to trust somebody, and so,” said he, “she 
 did this gentleman ; called unto her service 
 upon trust, who for the acquaintance that I 
 have had with him, was worthy of that place. 
 This trust she committed unto him, and I 
 am sorry,” said he, “ he was not in this so 
 good a servant as in all other things. Surely 
 he had notable cautions, not to have pre^ 
 sinned in so great a matter to have done any 
 thing without her commandment. His of¬ 
 fence,” said he, “ I interpret in two de¬ 
 grees ; an abuse to the trust, and the con- 
 
316 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 tempt: for the first she willed him to tell it 
 Mr. Walsingham, and it is no excuse to say, 
 she forbade you not the rest: for you ought 
 not to have told it unto any but she would. 
 Also, which aggravates your offence, you 
 told the Lords she was pleased. For the 
 contempt, the writ was not delivered unto 
 you, but had it not been delivered unto 
 them to whom it was directed, then had it 
 been a commandment. Your good intention 
 was no answer, neither ought my Lords to 
 allow of it, albeit per case I could allow it, 
 because I know you. Also your fault is the 
 greater, which you know. Farther, you 
 were near her, and had time convenient to 
 shew her; hereof,” said he, “ hath followed 
 a greater mischief to the Queen’s Majesty, 
 which may turn to all our hindrance, for as 
 much as our welfare depends upon our well¬ 
 doing. Next,” said he, “ hath followed a 
 dishonour to her Majesty, that she having 
 governed this land so long time in all obe¬ 
 dience, a servant of hers in this age should 
 have so small regard. Now for my opinion of 
 the offence, it resteth to consider what pu¬ 
 nishment is behoveful in such a case. Pu¬ 
 nishments in this Court are either corporal or 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 317 
 
 pecuniary, pecuniary by fines imposed upon 
 offenders; and corporal, by punishments, 
 and such like. Now,” said he, “ if the 
 fine should be secundum qiLantitatem delicti , 
 I think he should not bear it, for know his 
 estate. Surely less than ten thousand marks 
 may not be sufficient, which, though it be too 
 great for his ability, yet is it too little for 
 his fault. The qualification whereof resteth 
 in them where I doubt not he shall find fa¬ 
 vour ; next he must suffer imprisonment 
 during her Majesty’s pleasure, which must 
 be reserved to her merciful mitigation. 
 
 And after him spake Manwood, the Chief 
 Baron, who, in the beginning of his tale 
 look so large a scope, as many did judge he 
 would be tedious, as he was indeed. First 
 he declared how in the very beginning the 
 Queen of Scots betrayed her malice against 
 the crown of this land when she was Queen 
 of France, at which time she made letters 
 patent as Queen of England; she usurped 
 her Majesty’s style, and she quartered the 
 arms of England. Then he descended unto 
 her doings when she was dowager; how 
 she excused her former offences by rea¬ 
 son of coverture; then he delated her mar- 
 
318 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 riage with the Lord Darnly; the murder of 
 her husband; the practices with the bishop 
 of Ross ; her conspiracy with the Duke of 
 Norfolk. To conclude, he couched the 
 whole history which any way concerned her 
 life or manners. At last he came to Mr. 
 Davison’s offence, which he took in law to 
 be a misprision; and yet not every com¬ 
 mandment of the Prince transgressed is a 
 misprision. “ But,” said he, “ when one is 
 put in trust in a point of justice, which is 
 the government of the commonweal, there 
 a commandment transgressed is a mispri¬ 
 sion.” For example thereof, he cited a 
 case there in that place decided; meaning 
 John Throckmorton’s case, as may be deem¬ 
 ed. “ Also,” said he, “if a sheriff exer¬ 
 cise his office without an oath, that is a 
 misprision. And,” said he, “ if one have 
 power by law to do a thing, if he prevent 
 the time wherein it ought to be done, that 
 is a misprision. And if a Judge for expedi¬ 
 tion of justice should sit in judgment before 
 the term, that is a misprision. Now,” said 
 he, “ this is a miprision, because you pre¬ 
 vented the time in doing it before you were 
 commanded, although the thing were law- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 319 
 
 ful: for you did Jiistum, but not Juste. Far¬ 
 ther, by naming Mr. Walsingham in spe¬ 
 cialty, it was a secluding the rest in gene¬ 
 rality. And also, if the warrant were sealed, 
 yet was it not lawful to kill her, because the 
 direction was special, and not general. So 
 then,” he concluded, “ the contempt was 
 great, and the punishment assessed by Sir 
 Walter Mildmay worthily deserved, where- 
 unto he agreed. 
 
 After him spoke Anderson, Chief-Justice, 
 who said the proceeding had been honour¬ 
 able, which he would not speak of, being 
 known unto all men, and having been spoken 
 to before. “ But to come to the case in 
 question; in the accusation,” said he, “ be 
 two parts, first, that Mr. Davison, without 
 her Majesty’s commandment, sent it down; 
 and the second, that against her command 
 he made the Lords privy. For the first, he 
 confessed; to the second, he saith she bade 
 him use secrecy. The causes alledged by 
 him are good, and yet the proceeding 
 therein, that which caused the offence, the 
 words 4 use secrecy,’ and not to cause it to 
 be published or known to any. Then his 
 being one of her Majesty’s Council, the 
 
320 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 fault is bad; and it is the worse, because 
 by her saying 4 what haste,’ he might gather 
 what her intent was. Mr. Davison saith he 
 excuseth it by love to the commonweal, 
 which a man may term blind love, which is 
 no excuse, but it remaineth a contempt, 
 and a contempt is a misprision; and yet is 
 not every misprision a contempt. If a man 
 do a thing without a warrant, it is a con¬ 
 tempt ; and so he concluded this to be a 
 great offence worthy the punishment in¬ 
 flicted upon him, and so ended.” 
 
 After him spake the Master of the Rolls, 
 agreeing with the censures of them that 
 spoke before, and that Mr. Davison’s great 
 zeal made him forget his duty : also saying, 
 4 4 that the point did rest, whether he did 
 know it was her Majesty’s pleasure it should 
 be stayed, which,” said he, “ appeareth by 
 his own confession ; and therefore he agreed 
 with the former censures.” 
 
 Next spake Sir James Croft, who said 
 not very much ; and yet spake somewhat; 
 that he loved the man well, and so had 
 cause, saying that he had no lack of good¬ 
 will, but yet had grievously offended. So 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 321 
 
 he subscribed in opinion to the former judg¬ 
 ment. 
 
 After him spake the Lord Lumly, who 
 divided the offence into two parts ; first, the 
 neglect of his duty; and, secondly, the 
 breaking of his duty ; saying, further, “that 
 the Judges had told the law, and we must 
 believe them, that it is within the compass 
 of a contempt. The matter,” said he, “ is 
 evident : for, first, her unwillingness in the 
 Parliament was a signification of her mind 
 which he let slip. And farther, in saying 
 that she was of that mind still, surely you 
 spake without the book, which was a very 
 bold part; for you ought to have told them 
 how doubtful it was ; yet, Sir, you took a 
 worse course, that such a high matter, by 
 your persuasion, as it should seem, should 
 be done without her privity. Why,” said 
 he, “ what an abuse of the counsellors was 
 this ? Surely a great abuse ! and if it were 
 a fault against them, much more against 
 her Majesty: this is one of the highest of¬ 
 fences, by my trowth (for so he sware) that 
 ever subject did against the Prince; and 
 though you were my brother and heir (before 
 God I speak it), I think the punishment too 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 little; yet with no offence to you, but for 
 the quality of your fault. But, I say, had 
 a greater fine been imposed upon you, I 
 would easily have agreed thereunto.” 
 
 After him spake my Lord Grey, who said, 
 “ two points were spoken of, the first touch¬ 
 ing the Queen of Scots, and the next Mr. 
 Davison’s offence. For the first,” said he, 
 “ it is largely discoursed ; for the last, my 
 good Lords let me crave your farther exa¬ 
 mination. His offence is made the more for 
 divers circumstances ; the first circumstance 
 is, for that it was for execution of a Queen, 
 but what Queen ? Surely such a Queen as 
 practiced most horrible treasons against our 
 Sovereign Queen ! such a Queen as con¬ 
 spired the overthrow of the whole state ! 
 yea such a Queen that sought the subversion 
 of Christ’s true religion, to bring our souls 
 headlong to the Devil! So then, my Lords, 
 the taking away such a Queen can no way 
 aggravate his fate. The second circum¬ 
 stance is, his breach of secrecy, which he 
 excuseth, that he told it but to the chief 
 Counsellors : whereas Mr. Walsingham, my 
 Lord Admiral, and Lord Chancellor, either 
 by necessity, or commandment from her 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 323 
 
 Majesty, did know it undoubtedly. What¬ 
 soever the Lords before me have thought, 
 his answer in the behalf doth satisfy me, and 
 so I am resolved. For the third point, she 
 asking what haste ? and he afterwards to 
 send it down without her privity, here, even 
 here, is the full proof of the contempt; here 
 is that that causes the offence, which he 
 seemeth to acknowledge ; yet with two con¬ 
 siderations, the first, the seditious tumults 
 within the realm ; the next, advertisements 
 from Ireland and beyond the seas. Now, 
 my Lords, must not these considerations 
 move him rather to put himself in her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s mercy, by dealing without her com¬ 
 mandment, than commit her Majesty to the 
 mercy of her foes by obeying her ? For had 
 that other thing happened (which God for¬ 
 bid), that her Majesty would have miscar¬ 
 ried, and then this warrant, signed and 
 sealed, had been found in Mr. Davison’s 
 hands, wanting nothing but execution, should 
 we not then have judged him a traitor ? 
 Should we not have torn and rent him asun¬ 
 der ? Surely, my Lords, I should then have 
 thought him more worthy of ten thousand 
 deaths, than now of the least punishment that 
 
 y 2 
 
324 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 may be inflicted upon him ; for each of us, 
 in preservation of our country, ought to lose 
 our lands, our livings, and sacrifice our 
 bodies; liowbeit, I excuse not his offence, 
 neither do I agree it as a contempt, and I 
 agree with the punishment : and yet I think 
 his fault proceeded from a very good zeal 
 he bore unto his country; and I pray God 
 that that peculiar ornament of pity and com¬ 
 passion wherewith her Majesty is singular, 
 maybe so extended towards him that all good 
 subjects, by his example, may neglect their 
 own private hindrance or disgrace in respect 
 of the furtherance of the weal public. 
 
 After him spake the Earl of Lincoln, who 
 for his opinion thought it was but negli¬ 
 gently done, and not contemptuously; but 
 had it been done in contempt, he would 
 then have thought fine and imprisonment no 
 sufficient punishment for an offence of that 
 quality ; “ yet the offence being as it is, for 
 company,” said he, “ I agree to the fine : 
 but in mine opinion it is too much, saving 
 that I know her Majesty is merciful; and 
 for the rest I agree with my Lord Grey.” 
 
 The Earl of Cumberland repeated the case, 
 neither aggravating nor denying the offence; 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 325 
 
 but briefly concluded, lie agreed in opinion 
 with Sir Walter Mildmay. 
 
 And the Earl of Worcester said nothing, 
 saving that he was of the same mind with 
 Mr. Chancellor, that spake first. 
 
 After him spake the Archbishop of York, 
 speaking, as he was, like a Bishop rather 
 than a Judge, to decide a matter which did 
 concern the State ; for he inveighed against 
 Mr. Davison’s offence by places of Scripture; 
 “ Obedience,” said he, “ is the only virtue, 
 and disobedience the contrary; and God re- 
 quireth nothing else but obedience. St. Paul 
 saith, ‘ Let every soul be subject unto the 
 higher powers,’ &c. And when Joshua was 
 appointed Ruler over Israel, the people said, 
 
 ‘ They would obey him in all things.’ If, 
 then, they ought to obey a Prince in all 
 things, much more in those things which be 
 good. I am sorry,” said he, “ for Mr. Davi¬ 
 son, for he did it neither wittingly nor wil¬ 
 lingly, as I think certainly, but of a good 
 mind to cut off our common enemy : that it 
 was a good deed, must needs be confessed ; 
 but that it was not well done, must needs 
 be granted. To reveal secrets was bad ; for 
 her Majesty imparts not each part of her 
 
326 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 counsel to every Counsellor; so then his 
 offence was a disobedience, and a great fault. 
 He allegethin excuse, I think, a good inten¬ 
 tion, but that excusetli not the fault: for obe- 
 dientia est melior quam sacrificium. And St. 
 Paid saith, JVonf admits malum at hide veniat 
 bonum. Therefore,” said he, “ the offence 
 was great, too dangerous; for, in such a 
 case, one would be twice advised, if he were 
 either honest or wise. Last of all, he con¬ 
 cluded he agreed with the punishment as¬ 
 sessed and so ended his sermon. 
 
 Then spake the Archbishop of Canter¬ 
 bury, “ That the matter had been opened; 
 first, concerning the doings of the Scottish 
 Queen, whom he thought, living or dead, 
 was ordained to disturb and trouble the State 
 of England. Then concerning Mr. Davison’s 
 offence, albeit,” said he, “ that which is 
 done could be wished to be otherwise done; 
 yet none, I hope, would wish it were un¬ 
 done. Whatsoever he did, in my opinion,” 
 said he, “ he did it in the superabundant 
 zeal of religion unto her Majesty and love 
 to the Commonwealth. These be great ar¬ 
 guments,” said he, “ and yet no excuse; 
 for modus non factum ejjdcit culpam: al- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 327 
 
 though the act were good, yet can I not ex¬ 
 cuse him in the circumstance. Howbeit,” 
 said he, “ the mercy in the Prince in defer¬ 
 ring it was severe; for there is a severe 
 mercy as well as a merciful severity : for it 
 is written, * He slew Og the king of Basan, 
 for his mercy endureth for ever.’ Yet, said 
 he, mercy in a Prince is not to be restrain¬ 
 ed ; and therefore, because the example may 
 be dangerous hereafter, that Counsellors may 
 presume to do without the commandment of 
 the Prince, which is a mischief more intoler¬ 
 able than an inconveniency, therefore I agree 
 to that punishment which is before agreed.” 
 
 Last of all spake Wraye, Chief Justice, 
 who shewed the cause, and said further, 
 “ that to every contempt a commandment 
 was not necessary, which, in my opinion, was 
 needful to be proved; for,” said he, “ the 
 Bishop of Winchester came to the Parlia¬ 
 ment, and afterwards departed without li¬ 
 cence, and therefore had a grievous fine set 
 upon him. Myself, said he, am a Justice 
 of the King’s Bench ; in the term we hear 
 all matters of treason, by the reason of our 
 office ; and, out of the term, by commission 
 of oyer and terminer, associate with others. 
 
328 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 If,” said he, <f a commission should be di¬ 
 rected unto me and others of oyer and ter¬ 
 miner for a matter of treason, and we should 
 arraign the person, and adjudge him to die, 
 yet would I not put him to execution ; and 
 yet the commission is to hear and determine. 
 Surely, I think you meant well, and it was 
 bonum , but not bene. Finally, he agreed 
 the punishment should be as it was first of 
 all assessed. But farther,” said he, “ I must 
 tell you, that for so much as the fault is 
 yours, it declares her Majesty’s sincerity and 
 not privity in this action, and that she is 
 offended therewithal. Farther, my Lords, I 
 must signify unto you from her Majesty, 
 that forasmuch as the Lords of the Council 
 were abused by Mr. Davison’s relation, in 
 telling them she was pleased, and that which 
 they did was for her safety, upon his wrong 
 information, the Lords be sorrowful because 
 they were abused by him; therefore her 
 Majesty imputeth no fault unto any of the 
 Councillors, but only to him ; and the rest 
 she doth disburthen of all blame. 
 
 This said, Mr. Davison craved leave to 
 demand one question, and make one peti¬ 
 tion. “ For your question,” said Wraye, 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 329 
 
 “ I think it was never the order in this Court, 
 after the matter is heard judicially, to an¬ 
 swer any question (which Sir Walter Mild- 
 may affirmed); but for your petition you 
 may speak.” “ Truly, my Lords,” said 
 Davison, “ my question shall be such as 
 in your own conscience shall seem reason¬ 
 able.” Whereat they neither gave him leave 
 nor denied him. Whereupon Davison said, 
 “ If this warrant, being signed and sealed, 
 and left with me, and wanting nothing but 
 execution, it should have fortuned her Ma¬ 
 jesty should have miscarried, whether then” 
 —“ Nay,” said Wraye and Mildmay, “ now 
 you enter into that which is discussed al¬ 
 ready:” “Yea,” said Manwood, “that ques¬ 
 tion was moved by my Lord Grey.” 
 
 “ Well then,” said Davison, “ I will not 
 seek for present enlargement of my liberty, 
 nor release of my imprisonment, although 
 my body be not well able to endure it; only 
 let your honours clear me, I beseech you, 
 of all blemish of dishonesty, and be media¬ 
 tors for me, that I remain not in her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s disfavour and disgrace ; for I protest 
 I shall be contented with any condition and 
 state of life whatsoever, if I may have her 
 
330 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 Majesty’s favour.” Whereupon the Lords 
 universally answered, he spake like a good 
 subject. And so the Court arose. 
 
 Though the above Trial of Mr. Davison is 
 very full, yet the underwritten one, copied 
 from a MS. in the Bodleian Library under 
 the title Juridici, 7843. 862. p. 235. being 
 something different, taken by an eye-wit¬ 
 ness and being short, we hope w r ill prove 
 acceptable to the Reader, especially as it 
 relates to the treasons of Mary Queen of 
 Scots. 
 
 Ex MS. penes Rob. Sherrill, 28 Martii, 1587- 
 
 The proceedings against Mr. Davison in 
 the Star Chamber, by Commission not read, 
 but directed to these thirteen following: 
 1. The Lord Chief Justice of England, as 
 Lord Privy Seal for that day; 2. The Lord 
 Archbishop of Canterbury; 3. The Lord 
 Archbishop of York; 4. The Earl of Wor¬ 
 cester ; 5. The Earl of Cumberland; 6. The 
 Earl of Lincoln ; 7- The Lord Gray ; 8. The 
 Lord Lumley; 9. Sir James A’Croft; 10. 
 Sir Walter Mildmay ; 11. The Master of the 
 
JLIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 331 
 
 Rolls ; 12. The Lord Chief Baron ; 13. The 
 Lord Anderson. 
 
 The sum of that which was proposed and 
 
 enforced against him by her Majesty’s 
 
 Counsellors at Law. 
 
 The matter laid against him is a great and 
 heinous indignity, as her Majesty taketh it, 
 committed by him in this last proceeding 
 against the late Scottish Queen, which, al¬ 
 though it were in itself most just and ho¬ 
 nourable, yet in the manner of dealing con¬ 
 cerning it, Mr. Davison is charged by her 
 Majesty with want of duty, See. For where¬ 
 as by the manifold defects of the said Queen, 
 and that in the judgment of all the realm in 
 Parliament, her life was now to satisfy the 
 law, and thus necessary for the preservation 
 of the whole realm, as was shewed ; yet her 
 Majesty of her natural most gracious and 
 merciful disposition, after the so honoura¬ 
 ble condition and proclamation of the Scot¬ 
 tish Queen’s guiltiness, notwithstanding so 
 many important allegations and vehement 
 intercessions, could not be brought to con¬ 
 descend to the execution ; rather desiring, 
 by all means possible, if there were any 
 
332 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 hope of amendment and reclaim, to spare 
 where she might honourably spill, than to 
 spill where she might honourably spare ; 
 and in this mind she continued from October 
 to the end of January. But when she saw 
 that her malicious enemies daily increased 
 their wicked attempts against her and the 
 State, that rumours were spread and infor¬ 
 mation given daily of attempts by invasion, 
 by rebellion, by violence upon her royal 
 person, to work a change and delivery of 
 the said Queen, she most wisely resolved at 
 length to have a Bill or Instrument, signed 
 according to law and justice, in a readiness; 
 whereby, upon all occasions or occurrences, 
 she might be executed: and this of special 
 choice and trust, she thought good to com¬ 
 mit it to Mr. Davison, willing him to carry 
 it to the Lord Chancellor, to have it under 
 the broad seal, but withal charged him to 
 keep it very secret, and not to make any 
 acquainted with it. The very same day he 
 carried it to the seal, and the next day after, 
 having received charge from her Majesty by 
 the Lord Admiral, that stay should be made, 
 if it was not sealed; but he declared it was 
 sealed the day before, &c.; whereto the 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON 
 
 333 
 
 Queen replied, what needs that haste ? The 
 next day after this (which was, I think, on 
 Candlemas day), my Lord Treasurer asked 
 him, if he knew what mind the Queen had 
 towards the execution ? He answered to 
 have it go forward ; and so shewed it to 
 him, and after to the rest of the Council, 
 procuring their warrant down to present 
 execution, the Queen having not notice nor 
 knowledge of this ; and after, when she con¬ 
 ferred with him about another course to be 
 taken, he concealed from her what had been 
 done therein. These chief matters were 
 proved by his own confession, in an exami¬ 
 nation before taken and urged against him, 
 both in respect of himself being bound in 
 especial obedience, not only as a subject, 
 but as a servant, a counsellor, a secretary 
 so much trusted, and yet not to keep secret, 
 where special charge was given him ; and in 
 respect of the Queen, so good and gracious 
 a Prince, so well deserving of him, the foun¬ 
 tain and head of all justice and authority 
 amongst us, and yet not to be made privy 
 
 of the doing of such an act of so great a 
 
 • 
 
 quality and importance as that was, wherein 
 she had shewn herself always (and that most 
 
334 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 apparently), whereof Mr. Davison could not 
 be ignorant, both backward and unwilling 
 to yield to that which all her realm desired 
 and sued for at her hands; yet Mr. Davison, 
 contrary to her known mind, procured with 
 such haste (of what good purpose in himself 
 this would not regard), but with apparent 
 want of duty to his Sovereign, which did 
 more appear in his concealing his proceed¬ 
 ings when she purposely talked with him 
 upon that matter as aforesaid, all which 
 they left to the Counsellors to judge of. 
 
 Mr. Davison s Answer for himself. 
 
 Notwithstanding, at the bar, whither he 
 was brought by his keeper, Sir Owen Hop- 
 ton, being faint by reason of his late sick¬ 
 ness, and carrying his left arm in a scarf, 
 benumbed, I think, by his late taken palsy, 
 he spake somewhat faintly, unaudibly; 
 though being required by his Commissioners 
 to speak higher, yet desired favour to speak 
 as he could, which was to this effect : First, 
 protesting that he was not guilty to himself 
 of any wilful disloyalty, or breach of duty, 
 but that he did always, since his first em¬ 
 ployment in her Majesty’s service, endea- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 335 
 
 vour to bear himself most serviceable and 
 unblameable ; and he took therein her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s own self and God to witness; con¬ 
 fessing also that his skill and experience was 
 not yet great in this latter kind of service, 
 whereto he was without his suit and above 
 his expectation called; and for the matter 
 protesting also that he would not for any 
 danger, "no not present death, in justifying 
 himself disclose any private speech or com¬ 
 mandment that passed betwixt her Majesty 
 and him; nor would he, by any means, 
 enter into any affirmation or avowing, which 
 could not stand with his dutiful regard to 
 her Majesty’s honour, &c. but would admit 
 all that against him; and, farther, that he 
 would not in any part disclaim my Lord 
 Treasurer’s reports or testimony against him. 
 But to the matters, he answered, first, that 
 he was sorry that a fact of that importance 
 and necessity, so honourable and profitable 
 for the Commonwealth, should be so heavily 
 taken against him; wherein he might take 
 it on his soul that he did nothing but that 
 which in his understanding might be agree¬ 
 able to her mind, neither did he otherwise 
 conceive of her meaning and purpose; and 
 
336 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 that upon these inducements: First, the 
 consideration of the thing itself, so just, so 
 necessary, so honourable, so vehemently 
 sued for by the whole realm. Secondly, in 
 consideration of her Majesty, so gracious 
 and wise a prince, so loving and careful of 
 her subjects and commonwealth : and more 
 strongly in consideration of her words which 
 she used at the first delivery of the bill, 
 “Now you have it, let me be troubled no 
 more with it.” Besides the sufficiency and 
 perfectment of the said instruments for the 
 said purpose, which was had by her direc¬ 
 tions, viz. as under the great seal; all which 
 were, in his understanding, proof enough 
 what her meaning was: neither was there 
 any apparent and direct countermand, with¬ 
 out the which he took that instrument to be 
 irrevocable. For the charge of secrecy, he 
 conceived her meaning was, that it should 
 be kept from the common and public know¬ 
 ledge only; for she, being a prince so wise, 
 did in his judgment consider what violent 
 attempts the favourites of the Scottish Queen 
 might by likelihood offer in that desperate 
 plunge, if it should be known that such a 
 warrant was signed for her execution, and 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 33 / 
 
 not from her Council. For her Majesty’s 
 self after willed, in his way to the Lord 
 Chancellor, to impart it to Sir Francis Wal- 
 singham, that then lay sick at his house in 
 London; herself made my Lord Admiral 
 privy to it, in sending him to stay the seal, 
 nt supra; and my Lord Chancellor, by seal¬ 
 ing, must needs have some knowledge of it; 
 and then why should he think the Council 
 should not know it, being Privy Counsellors 
 and Counsellors of Estate, if he imparted it 
 to none but to my Lord Treasurer, and he 
 to the rest, and that excusably in regard of 
 the great credit and trust that her Majesty 
 usually reposeth in my Lord Treasurer for 
 matter of greatest moment and weight. 
 Secondly, for sending down the warrant, he 
 did it not without the opinion of the Coun¬ 
 cil, and therefore no presumption in him ; 
 and in his own judgment he had sufficient 
 warrant so to do by the first delivery of it 
 from the Queen herself. Then considering 
 the troublesome rumours that were then 
 abroad, and that information came daily 
 from Ireland and Wales of forces of people 
 in arms, and the report scattered abroad 
 that Fotheringhay Castle was broken, the 
 
 z 
 
338 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 prisoners gone, that London was fired, and 
 her Majesty made away—amongst these 
 terrors what should I do ? Did I not that 
 which any honest man and good subject 
 would do in such a case ? Further, it is not 
 custom in Court that particularities should 
 trouble her Majesty in the execution of any 
 such bills : but when she hath given, by her 
 Royal assent, warrant, authority and life to 
 it, the rest of the manner and means of exe¬ 
 cution is left to the Council; and for all 
 other circumstances of time when, of place 
 where, of persons by whom, especially in 
 this cause, when her Majesty had said ex¬ 
 pressly that she would not be troubled any 
 more with it. Thirdly, for the not impart¬ 
 ing of it to her upon her communication 
 with him, &c. “ I had it by me five or six 
 
 weeks before she spake any thing more of 
 it, and was very unwilling to trouble her 
 any more with it, especially remembering 
 her words.” 
 
 This was the effect of his defence, not 
 uttered continuately, as I have set it down, 
 but interruptly to the particulars as they 
 were objected, in much more forcibly large 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 339 
 
 and choice terms; but I think that I have 
 not left out any thing of weight. After this, 
 the Commissioners began to speak judicially 
 unto the matter, whose speeches I will, by 
 way of abridgment, note where any thing 
 was spoken different from others, and espe¬ 
 cially notable, for most of them had the 
 same beginning of the Scottish Queen’s 
 demerits, &c. 
 
 1. The first that spoke was Sir Walter 
 Mildmay. He handled eloquently the great 
 causes the Queen had to deal severely with 
 the Scottish Queen, and the importance of 
 the Parliament thereto, and her Majesty’s 
 patience in forbearing, her wisdom in being 
 willing, her natural and accustomable cle¬ 
 mency in being slow; and compared her 
 slackness with Mr. Davison’s haste, though 
 he knew her mind herein very well. Then 
 he shewed that such things might not in 
 any wise be extorted from princes, and that 
 persuasions and entreaties are the uttermost 
 that subjects can offer; for the prince’s 
 heart is in God’s hand to dispose of. As 
 for the Council, it is known that no prince’s 
 
 counsellors are farther made privy to any 
 
 z2 
 
340 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 thing than it pleaseth the prince, and often¬ 
 times that is imparted to one that is con¬ 
 cealed from another with great cause; and 
 therefore you should not presume farther 
 than you had express leave; much less to 
 have been an encouragement to the rest to 
 proceed therein upon your own opinion, 
 howsoever your desire was for the end good 
 and honest, especially seeing there hath not 
 been the like example. So he concluded 
 that the punishment should not be in regard 
 to the man’s ability, but to the quantity of 
 the crime committed, (by liis judgment) ten 
 thousand marks, and imprisonment during 
 her Majesty’s pleasure. To which all after 
 agreed. 
 
 2. Sir Roger Manwood, Lord Chief Ba¬ 
 ron. The second, shewed at large the 
 Scottish Queen’s perpetual evil mind to our 
 Queen, to bereave her of her crown in her 
 life-time, as her usurping the arms and style 
 of England in possession, when she was first 
 (out of the shell) married into France, her 
 dissembling of it in her widowhood, by lay¬ 
 ing the fault upon her late husband, and yet 
 then seeking to be proclaimed heir apparent 
 in the life of her eldest sister (for she never 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 341 
 
 called her dear sister), which was a danger¬ 
 ous step to her purpose. After, in her se¬ 
 cond marriage, her bloodiness in consenting 
 to her husband’s murder, and upon that, 
 flight and deprivation; her protection here 
 by our Queen, not only in life but in ho¬ 
 nour ; yet her assenting to the purposes of 
 the Duke of Norfolk, and yet after that, 
 though then our Queen would not suffer her 
 for that to be touched, nor any way dis¬ 
 abled, as many would have had her. not 
 only agreeing to traitorous plots, but also 
 complotting with them, and therein going 
 beyond them all, so as we could never be in 
 quiet, but we had a Somerville, and then an 
 Alden, then a Throckmorton, then a Parry, 
 and now lately Abington and Babington; 
 her Majesty at length was forced to use 
 a little severity with her accustomed, and 
 one ounce of one with ten of the other. 
 For even in this proceeding against her she 
 might have been, by the Statute of Ed¬ 
 ward III. by a Jury of Esquires and Gentle¬ 
 men, attainted and burned, and her blood 
 corrupt; yet her Majesty did ehuse, by a 
 new order, to deal more honourably with 
 her. Then he came to this fact of Mr. Da- 
 
342 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 vison’s, which he amplified by the consi¬ 
 deration of her Majesty’s mind in all this 
 proceeding, as the other did before: the 
 thing he took to be misprision and contempt 
 in our law, punishable by fine and imprison¬ 
 ment ; and he said y that misprision and 
 contempt is to do any thing contrary to or 
 besides the Prince’s commandment in point 
 of justice, not in other things; as Justices 
 of Westminster to sit out of term, to raze 
 indictments or records; and so he gave 
 other examples, as in the Ministers of the 
 Law; viz. Sheriffs to execute their offices, 
 to return Knights to the Parliament without 
 their oa*hs. So this thing then, being so 
 high a point of justice, was not in any re¬ 
 spect to be done otherwise than her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s express commandment would bear, 
 especially not with such haste, when she 
 expressly declared her mind to the contrary; 
 wherein Mr. Davison may seem by this 
 haste, if her Majesty had any other pur¬ 
 pose, to have prevented her, and God might 
 otherwise have turned her mind; for it is 
 not strange to hear of mutation in her Ma¬ 
 jesty in respect of this, as in the execution 
 of the Duke of Norfolk, day and day was 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 343 
 
 appointed, and often her Majesty declared 
 her unwillingness and lothfulness to have 
 put him to death, if otherwise the law might 
 have been satisfied. The commandment to 
 impart it to Sir Francis Walsingham in es¬ 
 pecially was an excluding the rest in gene¬ 
 rality ; and, farther, what he told my Lord 
 Treasurer could not be gathered of her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s words, but rather the contrary; and 
 the instrument was not so peremptory and 
 irrevocable as he took it, nor a sufficient 
 warrant for any kind of proceeding against 
 the Scottish Queen, neither for his associates, 
 nor for any other: for the last statute, be¬ 
 sides the condition and proclamation, doth 
 require the Queen’s direction, and that must 
 be either general, that all men may do it, 
 which is not here granted, or particular, 
 who, or by what means; neither is there 
 here any such, especially her Majesty hav¬ 
 ing no knowledge of the thing done. Fur¬ 
 ther, she was the Queen’s prisoner, and 
 therefore no man might pretend to take her 
 away, or deliver her without special privity 
 from the Queen: and, lastly, he shewed that 
 the good intent was no warrant to trans¬ 
 gress duty, whereof he put a case or two, 
 
344 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 as where judgment of death is given against 
 one, and the Sheriff, for that he is a noto¬ 
 rious thief or traitor, will hang him pre¬ 
 sently, before the Justice depart out of 
 town. 
 
 3. Lord Anderson. He noted a differ¬ 
 ence in law between misprision and con¬ 
 tempt, that one was larger than the other, 
 and both in point of justice, and might be 
 when the warrant of a Justice, or a Com¬ 
 missioner’s letter in such matters, is not di¬ 
 rectly and straitly observed; and urged, 
 that a Secretary should be secret, and that 
 it was his duty to have an express com¬ 
 mandment. 
 
 4. Sir Gilbert Gerard, Master of the 
 Rolls. He handled the same matter that 
 before is spoken by others, but somewhat 
 otherwise. 
 
 5. Sir James A’Croft. He shewed his 
 mind indifferently, with protestations of his 
 good will and good opinion of the man; 
 that it was a rare example, and committed, 
 as he thought, for want of experience more 
 than for want of duty. 
 
 6. Lord Lumley. He was somewhat 
 sharp. Such commissions of execution are 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 345 
 
 sent to Sheriffs : you, no Sheriff, ought to 
 be very particular for such great personages; 
 you had no more commission than I, &c.; 
 and of likelihood you have hereby pre¬ 
 vented other good purposes, which God 
 might have put into her Majesty’s mind; 
 and herein you have seduced so many grave 
 Counsellors, &c. If you were my brother, 
 
 I would think ten times so much to be little 
 enough, &c. 
 
 7* Lord Gray. He proposed very vehe¬ 
 mently the great exigence the good gentle¬ 
 man was in at that time. “ My good Lords, 
 consider,” quoth he, “ and call to mind in 
 what case we were daily; there came ad¬ 
 vertisement of forces come and arrived in 
 Ireland; in Wales; advertisements from 
 abroad, from our provinces at home, even 
 within fifteen miles of this city, of rising, 
 firing, breaking up holders, yea, of the de¬ 
 struction of her Majesty’s royal person: if 
 otherwise then well had come to her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s royal person, which of us would not 
 have run to him, and torn him with our 
 hands ? My Lords, why should Davison be 
 more zealous and forward for his Prince 
 than we ?” After that he replied to that of 
 
346 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 my Lord Chief Baron, that the telling of 
 Sir Francis Walsingham did not exclude the 
 rest, as he proved, but rather implied and 
 pre-supposed that the rest should know it: 
 for without this especial information, he 
 being sick in his house, and so absent from 
 the Court, could not, in any due time, have 
 knowledge of it. After he agreed to the 
 punishments, but wished that her Majesty 
 should have compassion on him, to encou¬ 
 rage others that were zealous to deserve 
 well of her and the State, and so he ended. 
 Vulgique secutum ultima murmur erat. 
 
 8. Earl of Lincoln said little to the pur¬ 
 pose. 
 
 9. Earl of Cumberland was very short. 
 
 10. Earl of Worcester was short, and as 
 before. 
 
 11. Archbishop of York discoursed theo¬ 
 logically of the necessity and worthiness of 
 the virtue of obedience, even strictly to 
 princes in all things ; and that non facien¬ 
 dum malum ut hide veniat bonum, adding the 
 difference between bonum and bene (as be¬ 
 fore my Lord Chief Justice of justum and 
 juste , which I forgot afore to relate), and 
 good intents do not make the fact excusa- 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 347 
 
 ble, and that he ought to have a direct, ex¬ 
 press, and iterated command; whereto he 
 cited a rule out of Civil Law (wherein he 
 said he was so sound and conversant) to 
 this purpose. If the Prince commanded 
 aliquicl magnum de libera, tenta si persistat, 
 et habe secundam jussionem: he concluded, 
 he did agree to the punishment, but was 
 sorry that Mr. Davison, of whom he had 
 heard so well, should fall into this cause; he 
 could not help it; a wiser man might have 
 been led with zeal, and none of us would 
 have it undone. 
 
 12. Archbishop of Canterbury, having said 
 first somewhat of her who troubled us all, 
 both alive and dead, and theologically of 
 misericordia puniens, as out of the Psalm 
 where God plagueth the enemy of his 
 Church, “ for his mercy endureth for ever 
 for this present matter he said non factum, sed 
 modus, was in question, a thing done, as he 
 thought, unfeignedly, of zeal, and that which 
 might have been better done in considera¬ 
 tion of her Majesty’s purpose to forbear her 
 death, which could not be unknown to Mr. 
 Davison; for such things are by no means 
 to be wrested from princes. God will extra- 
 
348 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 ordinarily move their hearts, and when it 
 shall be most for his glory. This example, 
 he said, might be dangerous and inconve¬ 
 nient hereafter; and therefore he concluded 
 it rather a mischief than an inconvenience, 
 and so agreed to the punishment. 
 
 13. Lord Chief Justice Wraye, as Chief, 
 concluded the matter, and pronounced judg¬ 
 ment judicially upon the grounds alledged 
 before of others, which he enforced, &c. 
 And after, as from her Majesty, spake 
 somewhat to justify her proceedings in all 
 these matters, and to declare that she did 
 not for this impute any fault to her Council, 
 for that they were misled by this man’s un¬ 
 due suggestions. 
 
 Mr. Davison submitted himself to the 
 judgment of the Queen’s mercy, and re¬ 
 quested that he might propose a question, 
 which he took upon his credit to be such as 
 they would not dislike, and therefore he had 
 leave, and a request. His question was, If 
 this being in my hands, her Majesty had 
 miscarried, what would have become of me? 
 To this Sir Walter Mildmay and the Lord 
 Chief Baron answered, that my Lord Gray 
 had moved it already. His request was not 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 349 
 
 for mitigation of his fine, nor for enlarge¬ 
 ment of prison, although he could never, in 
 all his life, worse bear it than now; much 
 less for his former estate, than only that he 
 might, with her Majesty’s favour, enjoy any 
 condition whatsoever, requesting them to be 
 intercessors for this. Nothing to this was 
 said, but they arose and departed. 
 
 These, I am sure, are the principal mat¬ 
 ters by any of them uttered, so far as by 
 myself or by my conference I could recal to 
 mind. 
 
 Ex jlutograjilio Gulielmi Nutti , 
 qui oculatus testis adfuit. 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 From Harl. MSS. 290. f. 237. 
 
 That my Lord Treasurer Burleigh, many 
 years before his death, did endeavour, both 
 secretly and openly, by himself and his in¬ 
 struments, to suppress and keep down Mr. 
 Davison, may appear, 
 
 I. First, by his neglect to do any thing 
 for him ever since his trouble, notwithstand¬ 
 ing he had both the means, considering the 
 place he held in her Majesty’s service and 
 favour, and how much he was otherwise 
 bound thereto in honour and conscience, as 
 well in regard of the cause itself and special 
 interest his Lordship had therein, and as the 
 merit of the gentleman, both publicly at the 
 hands of her Majesty and the State, whom 
 he had so long and so faithfully served, and 
 privately of himself, as some of his own 
 friends and servants can best witness. 
 
 II. By his continual opposition to all 
 means propounded, either for restitution to 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 351 
 
 his place, access to her Majesty’s presence, 
 or relief, or his estate ; for, 
 
 1. By his own speeches discovering his 
 mislike thereof to some of his private 
 friends; 
 
 2. By the testimony of others of her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s Council, both dead and living, 
 who, out of their own observation and 
 knowledge, have confessed as much 
 both to others of their friends and to 
 Mr. Davison himself; 
 
 3. By the ordinary discourse and observa¬ 
 tion of his own children, followers, and 
 servants, confirming the same ; 
 
 4. And especially by a due examination 
 of the causes inclining him thereto; as, 
 namely, 
 
 i. His great desire and labour to make 
 his son Secretary, which Mr. Davi¬ 
 son’s restoring would in all reason 
 have been a great impediment, con¬ 
 sidering the right he had to the place 
 both by her Majesty’s letters patent 
 and his former possession, the trial 
 her Majesty had made of his suffi¬ 
 ciency and fidelity, and the little co¬ 
 lour his Lordship should have had 
 
352 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 either to labour for his son, or hope 
 of his prevailing, if the other had 
 been restored and her Majesty’s ser¬ 
 vice supplied; 
 
 ii. The hatred and malice they hare un¬ 
 to him, because, 1. he seemed spe¬ 
 cially to stand in their light, and 
 therefore bent their main battery 
 against him; 2. they had done many 
 wrongs, for men do commonly hate 
 such as they have injured; 3. they 
 feared he might be even with them 
 if ever he returned to his place, 
 knowing that he wanted neither 
 judgment nor courage. — Quem me- 
 tuunt odiuiit. 
 
 III. His unaptness to serve their turns, 
 or subject himself to any of their humours 
 or fashions, with prejudice to her Ma¬ 
 jesty’s service and his own honour and 
 conscience. 
 
 IV. The hurt might redound, by his re¬ 
 storing, to themselves, because her Majesty 
 should thereby have had the less need or 
 use of their service in that kind, and his 
 Lordship the less colour or means either to 
 work in his son or keep the managing of 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 353 
 
 those affairs during the mean time in his 
 own hands, a thing he specially aimed at, 
 both to hold her Majesty in a continual ne¬ 
 cessity of his service, and thereby to fortify 
 and maintain his credit the better with her 
 Majesty during his life, and prevent the 
 raking into his estate and actions after his 
 death, as hath since sufficiently appeared by 
 the success. 
 
 That he hath crossed all means for his 
 access to her Majesty’s presence may be 
 proved, 
 
 1. By the confession of divers of his own 
 friends and followers ; 
 
 2. By the cause inducing him thereto, 
 namely, lest his access might be a step 
 to his full reconcilement, which they 
 greatly feared and misliked. 
 
 And how he hath otherwise hindered all 
 means for repair of his estate may appear, 
 
 1. By his crossing all motions tending 
 thereunto in taking exceptions some¬ 
 times against the nature of the suit, 
 sometimes to the value, otherwhiles to 
 the time, and sometimes by the pro¬ 
 pounding some other thing that might 
 seem more agreeable to her Majesty’s 
 
 A A 
 
354 
 
 APPENDIX TO 
 
 'humour or profit; in the end he might 
 (as the proverb saitli) knock out one 
 nail with another, and so impoverish 
 and hold him under ; 
 
 2. By the cause alledged by his Lordship 
 to Mr. Davison himself, as, namely, the 
 fear he had lest her Majesty should use 
 his service, gathered out of his own 
 argument, affirming that if her Majesty 
 had repaired his estate she would use 
 his service; but all men know he had 
 no will or purpose she should use his 
 services, being a thing so contrary to 
 his own ends, so therefore no likelihood 
 that he would further the relief of his 
 estate, whatsoever countenance he 
 made thereof; 
 
 3. And, lastly, by the testimony of many 
 of her own counsellors and servants, 
 of which some are dead, and some 
 living, who out of their own know¬ 
 ledge, as eye and ear witnesses, have 
 confessed as much to Mr. Davison 
 himself. 
 
 So as by these circumstances it may evi¬ 
 dently appear that it hath been no respect . 
 of her Majesty’s honour or service, or just 
 
LIFE OF W. DAVISON. 
 
 355 
 
 offence ministered by Mr. Davison, but 
 their own particular ambition and malice 
 
 that hath made the Treasurer and his son to 
 
 * 
 
 oppress and keep him down so many years 
 together.* 
 
 * There has been many alterations made in the latter part 
 of this statement: the last line was originally “to carry so hard 
 a hand upon him so many years together, with the oppression 
 and ruin of his poor estate.” It must be observed, however, 
 that although the corrections appear to have been made some 
 time after it was first written, yet that they all seem to be in 
 the writing of Davison. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON : TR1NTED HY J. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT-STREET. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 P. 160, 1. 3, for “ attending,” read “ alluding.” 
 
 P. 196, 1. 26, for “ revolution,” read “revolutions.” 
 
 P. 229, 1. 1 , for “ secret,” read “ Secretary’s.” 
 
 P. 365, note, for “There has been many alterations,” 
 
 read “ Many alterations have been made,” &c.