Page:Life and history of Mary, Queen of Scots.pdf/23

Rh Seated in the fatal chair, she heard the death warrant read with an unmoved countenance. The Dean of Peterborough exhorted her to renounce the errors of the Church of Rome. She listened to him with impatience, repeatedly assuring him that his exhortations were in vain, since she was resolved to die in the Catholic faith. She implored the mercy of Heaven, after the form prescribed by that church, and then prepared herself for execution, by taking off such parts of her dress as might interfere with the deadly blow. The executioners offered their assistance, but she modestly refused it, saying, she had neither been accustomed to undress before so many spectators, nor to be assisted by such servants.

The grief of her attendants now broke forth in loud lamentations; but she put her finger to her lips, as a sign for for them to be silent, gave them her blessing, and desired their prayers. One of her maids covered her eyes with a handkerchief. She then laid her head upon the block, and while one of the executioners held her hands, the other, at the second stroke, severed her head from her body. The headsman held it up in his hand, streaming with blood, and the Dean of Peterborough cried out, "So perish all Queen Elizabeth's enemies!" No voice save that of the Earl of Kent answered Amen; the rest of the spectators stood in silent horror, their voices choked with sighs and tear