Series 3 > Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington plot

§ II. CONFESSIONS OF BABINGTON
61
I tolde [him] that I would he should assure vs from be-
yonde the Seaes by authoriti^,1 that this action was
directly lawfull in every parte ; that there might be assur¬
ance geven of the readines of all suche provision as was
required 2; that some authoritie were granted 3 for the
int4 [? advancing] of men to dignities and some offices, and
to haue rewards granted for suche as should vndertake
any daungerous attempt. Vntill all which were don, I
aduised him to with holde suche as were imployed against
the Queene person, which then was Savadge, Gifforde, and
one as I remember said to be nere Sr Walter Rawley.5
If he did not, I protested and swore I would discover it
vnto the Queene, which he much disalowed, as Savadge
tolde me. He went ouer 8 dislykinge muche my courses,
he said he was to passe by meanes of the frenche Ambasador
as a frenchman.
Haveinge meanes to send to the Queene of Scotts by
the boye that came for her packet, I writt vnto her
touchinge everye particuler of this plott, vnto which she
answered xx or xxx dayes after accordinge as in my former
confessions is declared, which if theire honors Comande, I
shall repeate.7
1 ‘ Authority ’ for the lawfulness of the action was probably to be asked
from Dr. Allen, or some ecclesiastic in high position, as the Nuncio in
Paris, but we know no details. We do not know that Gilbert ever
attempted to execute this commission, except perhaps sardonically,
when he provoked Mendoza to write. As to which see Introduction,
p. clxxiv.
2 ‘ Assurance of readiness.’ Mary was very insistent that this should
be asked from Mendoza (Letter m.). But Babington cannot have known
this when giving Gilbert Gifiord this commission before 21 July, as
Mary’s letter only arrived on the 29th of July (see Letter iv.). But the
precaution was an obvious one.
3 See Interrogation 9, and Babington’s answer to it, below, p. 70.
1 Blank in MS. See p. 21, nn. 1, 2.
5 The same words have occurred before, above p. 54.
6 He went over 21/31 July (Chateauneuf's Memoire, Labanoff, vi. p. 292).
7 Babington’s letter was about the 6th of July. He returns to his
correspondence with Mary in § 11.
The ‘ former confessions ’ here mentioned are no longer forthcoming.
This present confession probably covers the same ground.