The Irish standard., 1889-03-16
ITS VALUE. PRICELESS.
Such Has Been Truly Said Regarding
the Last Letter of the Queen
of Scots.
HER DYING DECLARATION.
Proofs Of a Fixed Idea in the Mind of
Mary Stuart that She was Dying for
the Church and Faith.

IOOAG " d 4!Acu AuHs III VAo AnAAu "
Mary Stuart that She was Dying for
the Church and Faith.
Father Roderick Grant writes to tbs
London Tablet:
AS I have been requested By many
who are deeply interested in this cause
to give wide circulation among Catho'
lies to the last letter of Mary Stuart tC
Pope Sixtus ", written shortly before
her execution, feel that l cannot do
better than embodv it in a letter OF
article which can reach our brethren by
means of your able and interesting
paper. This last farewell Of Mary to
the Vicar of Christ, in addition to its
intense pathos, is valuable as theo-
logical profession of faith, and count
it privilege to have been allowed to
see the original in the library of the
Vatican. Benedict XIV. has truly de-
clared it's value TO be priceless. and it
wills, indeed, prove to be such if it be
the means Of dispelling the false ideas
which SO many Catholics have imbibed
from Protestant historians, who. basing
their arguments upon the wellworn
forgeries Of that day, have proclaimed
to the world that Mary Stuart was a
scheming murderess, caught in her own
tolls, and justly executed. The last
words Of any one standing on the
threshold Of the dark valley are supposed
to be true words, but when those are
written in the most solemn way to the
highest authority on this earth, the
Vicar of Christ, they have stronger
CLAIM upon our belief; moreover, they
so very clearly indicate the fixed idea in
the mind of the Scottish Queen that she
was dying for the faith and because the
hopes Of the Church at that time were
conferred in her. The great Archbishop
of Milan, St. Charles .Borromeo, most
truly expressed the feelings of the
Church throughout Europe when he
wrote to the Queen of Scotts to comfort
and console her in her long captivity,
and to tell her chat the eyes of all
Gbristendou were upon her to see how
she upheld the honor and the cause of
the Church. In giving the letter, I
have omitted the parts in which she
speaks OF her hopes for che marriage of
her son James VI, and regarding the
,,o,o of hoy, ooruo~fo
Holy Father--lnasmuch as it has
pleased God in His divine providence
to order in his Church that, under His
crucified son, Jesus Christ, all those
who believe in Him and are baptized in
the name of the Holy Trinity, should
recognize, as mother, one universal
Church, Catholic, Apostolic, and
Roman, whose commands with the ten
of the ancient law, are to be kept under
pain of damnation, it is requisite that
all who aspire to eternal life should
keep their gaze steadfastly fixed there
on, therefore, l, born Of royal parents.
was like them baptized in it. Nay
more. I, unworthy as am. was from
the breast called to the throne and
anointed and crowned by the authority
and ministers of that Church, and
nourished and reared under her wing
and OF her bosom and bv her instructed
in the obedience owed by all Christians
to him whom she, guided by the Holy
Ghost, has elected according to the
ancient DEGREES and order of the pri-
NATIVE Church, to the Apostolical Holy
See, as our head on earth, to whom
Jesus Christ, in his last testament,
speaking to st. Peter Of the foundation
of this Church. gave the power to bind
and loose poor sinners from the bonds
OF Satan, absolviDg us, by him or by his
ministers appointed, from all crimes
and sins that we commit and perpetrate,
we being penitent, and as far as in us
lies making satisfaction for them, hav-
ing confessed according to the ordinance
of the Church. call to witness nv
Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the
glorious Virgin Mary, all the angels and
archaDgels, St. Peter the shepherd, my
peculiar. intercessor and spec al advo-
cate, st. Andrew and the saints that
have always lived in the faith of the
Universal Church, Catholic. Apostolic
and Roman, in which. being regener-
ated, have ALWAYS intended to do my
duty to the Apostolic See, but, to my
great regret. 1 have not been able to do
this, owing to my detention in this cap.
tivity and my long sickness. But now
that it has pleased God, Most Holy
Father, to permit for my sins and those.
OF this unfortunate island, that T.. the
sole remnant Of the blood of England
and Scotland possessing that faith.
should after twenty wears captivity
confiEed ia = strait prison and at length
.cond demned tc die by he states and i