Her Highness, the Traitor - By Susan Higginbotham Page 0,115
believed false prophets and preachers, who have persuaded us of their false doctrines, and have brought me as the chief offender in this and other things to the extremity which you behold, as they have done to many others, as you know. For which I ask God’s pardon, and declare to you that I die a true Catholic Christian, and confess and believe all that the Catholic Church believes.”
Harry started to snort, and then recalled himself.
“And I warn you, friends and brothers, that none should believe that this great novelty and new conscience arises from being urged upon me by any or that any have persuaded me in this, but I tell you what I feel at the bottom of my heart, and as you see I am in no case to say aught but truth. And thus I charge and enjoin you straightly that you give no credit to the preachers of such false doctrine. And consider, brethren, what I say, and do not forget that I charge you to have no let or shame in returning to God, as you see that I have not, and to consider what is written in the Apostles’ Creed, ‘I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints.’ And I, though ignorant, could say more upon this, but you may reflect and consider it with an impartial mind. And if this does not satisfy you, think upon the miseries in which so great a multitude has lived and died in Germany, one against another, and that they have been trampled down for having forsaken the Catholic faith, wherefore God has forgotten them as he has forgotten us. And if this does not move you to feel as I have declared to you, let each one make his private reckoning and consider how it has fared with him in his own condition. And if he is not utterly blind, I am sure that he will come into this my true knowledge. And therefore I again charge you to embrace what the Catholic Church believes, which is what the Holy Spirit has revealed from generation to generation from the time of the apostles until our days, and will continue until the end. And live peaceably, and be obedient to the Queen’s majesty and her laws, and do that which I have not done.
“I could go on with this talk, my dear people, as I have a thorough experience of the evil which has befallen this kingdom, but you know that I have something else to do, to which I must prepare as time is running short. And now I ask the queen’s majesty to forgive the offenses committed against her. And I have a firm hope of obtaining it, as she has already extended her mercy and clemency towards me so far that whereas she could have made me die, without any judicial proceeding or examination, in the most infamous and cruel way by dragging, hanging, and quartering, as I have been up in arms against Her Majesty, nevertheless by her mercy and goodness she has been contented to have me brought to my judgment and to have my case settled according to the law, by which I am rightfully and fairly sentenced. Her Majesty has also extended her clemency and mercy towards me in the way of my death. Therefore I hope that by her graciousness and bounty she will remit her anger and indignation against me, for which I heartily ask you all heartily to pray our Lord to preserve the life of our majesty so that she may reign on you for many years to come, in honor and happiness.”
Northumberland moved away from the rail and knelt in the fresh straw in the middle of the scaffold. Flawlessly, as if he had been practicing in his cell, he recited a series of psalms and prayers in Latin. Then, having stripped to his shirt and tied the blindfold the lame executioner handed him, he crossed himself and lay down on the beam, then abruptly rose up. The crowd gasped. Was he going to declare all he had just said and done to be a sham?
The duke’s blindfold had slipped down over one eye. Without pausing to take a last look at the summer sun beginning to break through the morning clouds, Northumberland adjusted it, lay down quickly, and struck his hands together. As I cringed against Harry, the executioner—stronger of arm than of leg—swung his axe, dispatching