Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/560

 544 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 67. some new law should be devised for Parry's execution, such as might be thought fittest for his extraordinary and horrible treason.' 1 The suggestion harmonized with the general feeling and was well received ; but the ordinary punishment for treason, if carried out to the letter, was cruel enough to satisfy the most hungry appetite for horrors. Justice was swift : Parry was tried before a special February. . . commission on the 25th 01 Jbebruary. He pleaded guilty : his confession was read to him and he reaffirmed it to be true. Again he contradicted himself, and said that he was innocent ; and when required to explain, only answered with confused and 'dark speeches.' The Chief Justice, Sir Christopher "Wray, passed sen- tence. As he listened to the frightful words, he cried out in despair, ' I summon Queen Elizabeth to answer for my blood before God.' The Lieutenant of the Tower removed him from the bar amidst the howling of the crowd. Five days after he was drawn on a hurdle from Tower Hill to Palace Yard, where, clamouring that he was being executed for a crime which he had never meant to commit, he was hanged and quartered. 2 By this time the committee had produced the new bill for the Queen's safety. It fell short of what Burghley had desired, for Elizabeth still chose to keep the competitors for the succession depend- ent upon her own pleasure, and no principles were laid 1 D' Ewes' Journals. 2 State Trials, 26 Elizabeth. Compare Holinshed.