Not Guilty

Little more than 338 years after the execution of Mary Queen of Scots** at Fotheringhay Castle, Ainsworth Mitchell, Home Office criminologist, came to the conclusion that the letters written to Babington expressing approval of a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth were not written by Mary but by her secretary and betrayer, William Maitland of Lethington.

The discovery of the letters by Walsingham caused Mary's trial for treason; but she refused to answer before the court, saying that, as a crowned Queen, she was not a subject of Elizabeth and could not therefore be guilty of treason against her. Her silence was probably immaterial because her enemies were so powerful and numerous and state reasons for her death so strong that she would probably have been executed even had the truth been known.

Mr. Mitchell's discovery, after years of patient investigation, is of great historical interest; for, although many theories of her innocence have been expounded, this is the first time that definite proof of it has been discovered.

Said the Daily News, Manhattan gum-chewers' sheetlet: "There is justice in the world. . . . How comforting that must be to Mary--only 350 years after being killed !"

** She was executed Feb. 8, 1587.