*A.*（）; ！-， -， -， . . . . . . .„（…）. . . . . . . . . . . .！ ~& & · ·~--~º • • ►：º srº= & • • • • • • ſ |- . …] :=Y& t Wºłł (, ; –: ++ ~TriB ºf =: ... " I sº- ...j| | | E. B. =#| ||& ^. º º +: E * >>. = # -- X E. H. → R N E HT =3|E|. 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , E 3: -- ºr-. **.s, -i, [... - º Jº PN. ××a -- ºf E ... . , - . ~~ :- Nº º 5-dºº. --- E =3|Elliſilliſtilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllº [[IIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTE #: -º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-r – ºn IIITilliºl Illillºtilllllliºl||||IT, I.T. iſ ſlº Tºº Tºjº º ji Iliſº s __N- fºW IIITTTTTTTVºžºv III.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I. º Kºuſſulus sciejº ... º. º . ŽZ J T . . . . . . LIBRARY Sºy of THE ignºn of MkIIIGAN § sº tº) . . . ! N N \% -- É ; : ; ... • * * * * • * * * * * ‘. # : ; • * * * • tº ! ; iſ ! :: | e. | : : & • * 3.99. D. (b. RECORDS OF THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. ROEHAMIRTON : PRINTED BY JAMES STANLEY. FATHER EDMUND ARROWSMITH, S.J., MARTYR For THE FAITH. Suffered at Lancaster, August 28, 1628; aet. 43. (Vera effigies. From the Stony/ºst coºy of the origina//icture aſ St. Mary's, Hºgart.) 3.99. ZD. (5. R. E. C. O R D S OF THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. Historic Facás illustražive of the labours and sufferings of its Me/effers 272 the Szałeeſe// a72d Sevezzácertſ/. Cezzzzzzzzes. $2Conti, Qijirū, and jFourth $frieg, II. THE COLLEGE OF ST. A.I.OYSIUS, OR THE LAN CASHIRE DISTRICT. III. THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHAD, OR THE STAFFORDSHIRE DISTRICT. THE COLLEGE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, OR THE DERBYSHIRE DISTRICT. - IV. THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, OR THE SUFFOLK DISTRICT. THE COLLEGE OF ST. DOMINIC, OR THE LINCOLNSHIRE DISTRICT. BY A MEMBER OF THE SAME SOCIETY. “/apidadi stant, scoff swºlf, ſentatº swz/, 7/2 occisione gladić mortaſ: sity?, circuſſ crity; in incloſis, #7, Žel/ibl/s capriyºs, cºenſes, angusſiałł, ažicſ?."—Epist. ad Heb. xi. 37. T H E M A. N. R. E S A P R E S S. I875. BX Cº 7 | (2 F62, V. 3, CONTENTS. & – sº- INTRODUCTORY NOTE, ADDENDA, AND CORRIGENDA . IV. g * & . Liſe of Father Thomas Worthington (olim Dr. Worthington). VI. VII. VIII. IX. SERIES II. THE COLLEGE OF ST. ALOYSIUs, OR THE LAN CASHIRE DISTRICT. . The College of St. Aloysius. Extracts from Annual Letters . II. III. Life of Father Edmund Arrowsmith, Martyr Life of Father John Worthington . Worthington Pedigree * Father Laurence Worthington e ge & Father William Worthington * & Addenda to the Worthington Family & * Second Pedigree of the Worthington Family, and Pedigree of the Allens of Rosshall tº The Life of Father Thomas Cottam, Martyr . Father Richard Bradley º e gº * Father Humphrey Leech, alias Henry Eccles Additional Note to the Worthington Family Page ix 24 75 76 96 IO4. III II6 33 I45 178 I8I I89 SERIES III. PART I. THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHAD, OR THE STAFFORDSHIRE DISTRICT. The College of St. Chad. Pather John Spencer Brother William Ellis * Life of Father Thomas Fitzherbert . Pedigree of the Fitzherberts of Swinnerton. Brother Robert Fitzherbert gº ge Documents concerning the Relics of St. Chad . Father Francis Foster . * & e tº * Life of Father Richard Walpole . º * Pedigree of the Walpole Family S.J. I93 I94. I97 I98 198 23O 23.I 233 235 235 vi Contents. - - Page Life of Father Edward Walpole . - g w & & . 258 Father Michael Walpole . * º - º © - º . 265 Father Christopher Walpole . - - . . . - º . 269 Father Henry Walpole, Martyr e - º e - º . 269 Father Christopher Warner (vere Walpole º e © g . 27O SERIES III. PART II. THE COLLEGE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, OR THE DERBYSHIRE DISTRICT. The College of the Immaculate Conception . e - e . 27 I Life of Father William Wright * * º º . 275 Father Arthur Laurence Faunt º - º e º º . 286 Father Robert Parsons . e e -> g e - e . 289 Father Gervase Pole º º e - * -> - º . 289 Father Thomas Hunt . . - - te e ſe ſº . 294. Father Michael Alford, alias Griffiths . º º -> º . 299 Father Henry Wilkinson tº º - & º - tº - 309 Extracts from the Annual Letters . - * º - o . 3 IO Spink Hill . o - e e - e - - e . 316 Stanley Grange 316 The Life of Father Francis Walsingham . & - -> g . 318 SERIES IV. PART I. THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY APOSTLEs, OR THE SUFFOLK DISTRICT. - The College of the Holy Apostles. Foundation of it by Lord Petre. 393 Cipher Alphabet . - e. º - º º - e • 394 Father Thomas Everard . e º - º e - tº . 399 Father Thomas Flint . e e - º te - o • 409 Father Francis Sankey . . º º - º & º gº . 4II Father Anthony Greenway, alias Tilney . º ſe - & . 4 II Father Robert Alford (were Griffiths) º º . . º . 416 Father Henry More º e . . e e - e . 4I6 Brother William Browne º º - º te - º . 428 Pedigree (extract) of the Montague family . - tº . 428 Brother Gerard Rogers . & e º © e - . 44. I Brother Henry Forster . : e -> º e - © • 445 Pedigree of the Forster Family . g - º º • 445 Father James Mumſord . e e - º º e e . 457 Father John Clare (were Sir John Warner) º te o e • 459 The Life and Martyrdom of Father Thomas Garnet. * . . . 475 The Liſe and Martyrdom of Father Peter Wright . e s . 506 xtracts from the Annual Letters . . º & º º º - 565 Contents. vii Aage Braddox or Broadoaks, Essex, and the Wiseman Family . sº • 574. Coldham Hall, Suffolk . e tº ë ſº g e * . 581 Hengrave Hall gº & wº tº e ſº tº tº & . 581 Ingatestone Hall and Thorndon Hall and the Petre Family . . 582 Father Gilbert Grey (zere Talbot) . e gº e º * . 582 Pedigree of three branches of the Petre Family gº º * > . 585 Lozell, Suffolk, and Mr. Henry Drury . ſº dº º º . 587 Norwich & tº tº • . . * > * > tº & & . 592 Wisbeach Castle . * * º e * sº e tº . 592 Brother Thomas Pounde. Addenda to his life º ge dº . 594. Father Thomas Mettam . e e e e * , g º . 608 SERIES IV. PART II. TIIE COLLEGE OF ST. Hugh, OR THE LINCOLNSIIIRE DISTRICT. The College of St. Hugh e e & º * * & . 617 Father James Sharpe . * * * tº º * tº . 617 Father John Blackſan . * * º tº g & ge . 625 Father Francis Berry . & gº e $º tº & sº . 635 Father Thomas Leukmer g & tº g * * & & . 636 Father Adrian Talbot . & gº e e tº gº & . 637 Father John Grose (alias Fenton) . & º gº gº g . 637 Father John Hudd $º & e tº s gº º e . 640 Father Thomas Forster . tº e tº g & tº : , . 642 Father Richard Ashby (vere Thimelby) . * º tº g . 643 Extracts from the Annual Letters . gº gº º * º . 645 Brigg . tº tº & tº * e g º e e . 648 Clasby . tº tº & e * g & * & g . 650 Kingerby Hall e º e g g º & te * . 65 I Lincoln. Opening of the coffin of the “Little St. Hugh’’ * . 652 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. ADDENIDA ET CORRIGENDA. -º- WITH the exception of Father Henry More's history which extends to 1635, and Father Bartoli's Znghilferra which does not go beyond 1610, there is no published account whatever, of the labours and sufferings of the English Province S.J. Short lives of some of its martyrs and con- fessors are given in Father Mathias Tanner's works—Vita et mors Jesuitarum pro ſide interſectorum, and Societatis Jesu Apost”. Imitatrix; also in a little book called Brevis relatio felicis agonis, &c., which is attributed to Father Tanner, and is compiled from the Annual Letters of the English Province S.J. of the period, namely, the time of the terrible persecution arising from the feigned plot of Titus Oates and his associates; to these we may add Florus Anglo-Bavaricus, in which Father John Keynes is said to have had a great hand. But these works, compiled in Latin and Italian, are extremely rare, and, as regards the public in general, may be considered as sealed books; and, since those authors wrote, a large store of most deeply interesting matter to which they had no access, has become available by the opening to the public of the trea- sures of the State Papers in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, &c., and also many of the State Paper Offices upon the Continent. The object of the present series is to bring to light from the obscurity in which they have been too long suffered to remain, men and facts, truly worthy of memory, and to present X Introductory AVoće. in a plain and readable shape, without any attempt at a polished style (which in many instances would simply spoil the materials) a consecutive history of the English Province S.J., in the most eventful and exciting times of its career, thus exhibiting a mass of matter of the most edifying and historically interesting character, derived from the above sources, and the records of the Province. The volume containing the lives of Thomas Pounde, S.J., George Gilbert, S.J., and Father Darbyshire, S.J., lately pub- lished,” may be considered as the first of the series. It is intended in the present and future volumes, to give the history of the English Province under the heads of the various colleges and residences, or districts, into which it was allotted early in the seventeenth century, as far as the year I 677, and from that date (including the eventful times of Oates' Plot and the Revolution of 1688) to carry it on to about the year 1714, after which, period, or a few years earlier, the terrible pressure of the penal laws having greatly relaxed, there was also a consequent cessation of the more exciting events, which the violence of open persecution usually engendered. The present volume contains five of these series, namely, the Colleges of St. Aloysius, or the Lancashire District; St. Chad's or the Staffordshire District ; the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M., or the Derbyshire District; the Holy Apostles, or the Suffolk District ; and St. Dominic (afterwards St. Hugh), or the Lincolnshire District. The lives of four martyrs, with upwards of twenty-four lives, and the same number of shorter notices of distinguished members of the Province, and a large amount of interesting historical matter with pedigrees, &c. are given; and, whilst the series relates primarily to the English Province S.J., the facts recorded may be considered as equally illustrative of Catholic history in general. * Conflicts or Æſistoric Aac/s. Introductory AVoće. xi It remains to make the few following corrections and additions. I. In regard to the account of the Earl of Derby's con- version to the Catholic Church, mentioned in p. 9, seq. The following pages were already in print when it came to the knowledge of the Editor, that Canon F. R. Raines, the well known and learned antiquarian, had been furnished by the late Right Rev. Dr. Goss, Bishop of Liverpool, with a copy of the narrative of Father Cuthbert Clifton (alias Norris), relating to the conversion of James, Earl of Derby, on his way to the scaffold, and which must have been given to the Bishop by the late Dr. Oliver. The Canon publishes this narrative in his appendix to the life of that noble- man 1 as a “literary curiosity,” without admitting that it affects in any way the fidelity of the Earl to the faith he had heretoſore held. He lays great stress on its want of publication, at, or near the period in question, and on the inherent improbability of such an event happening at such a time and place, in opposition to all the Earl's antecedent convictions. Father Clifton was a zealous and laborious missioner, who, both from his distinguished birth, and the high character he sustained throughout life, is a witness in every way entitled to credit. He was son of Sir Cuthbert Clifton of Westby, Knight, and through his mother, Ann (Tildesley), was first cousin to the famous cavalier, Sir Thomas Tildesley, the Companion in arms and trusty right hand of the Earl, with whom he was on the most familiar terms, as Canon Raines abundantly shows; and we find in Baines' History of Zancashire” that, when at Leigh, on his way to Bolton, he wished to visit the grave of his gallant companion in arms, interred there, but was denied that gratification by his military guard. It may * Stanley Papers, Pt. iii. Chetham Society, vol. ii. * Vol. ii. p. 195. xii Introductory AVote. therefore be taken for granted that this relative of his, although a priest, had some previous acquaintance with the Earl, and would have it in his power to gain access to him, even under the circumstances recorded, and the conduct of the Earl implies as much, and even some former conversations upon religion, for he observed to Father Clifton, who was no doubt deeply disguised, upon his coming up to him in the Cavalcade, and making himself and his business known, that he had sus- pected something of the kind the previous evening. This argument is further strengthened by the well known devoted loyalty of the Clifton family (and hence a probable intimate acquaintance between its members and the loyal Earl), no less than four of whom lost their lives in the King's service, viz. –Sir Cuthbert Clifton, a colonel, at Manchester; Laurence Clifton, a major, and John Clifton, a captain, at Shelford, Notts ; and Francis Clifton, a captain, at Newbury. As to the publication of such a matter at, or even near the time of its occurrence, it must be apparent to all, that to do so would have been in the highest degree imprudent, and even unjustifiable in the interest of those who would have been the sufferers from the increased violence and persecution it would have excited. The devotional frame of mind which the Earl undoubtedly possessed, when considered in connection with his freedom from that morbid hatred of Catholicism so characteristic of his time, is a circumstance rather in favour of, than opposed to the idea of his conversion. The last words commonly attributed to him, and in which he professes his attachment to the Protestant faith, were doubtless arranged beforehand, and it does not appear certain that he spoke them on the scaffold. In conclusion it must be confessed that this account comes to us, as Canon Raines says, “secondhand,” but it was undoubtedly furnished in the first instance by Father Clifton himself, and forms part of the authentic Annual Letters of the Society, and must stand upon his sole testimony, while Introductory AVote. xiii the conditions which Canon Raines requires to render this testimony valuable were, under the circumstances, clearly im- possible of attainment. II. As to the Worthington family.” Some confusion occurs arising from the uncertainty and want of information. Since the sheets were printed further particulars have been received, and an amended pedigree prepared. III. In the short account given of Father Francis Young, the fellow-prisoner of Father Laurence Worthington in the Gatehouse,” the following documents were overlooked, which show that in 1612 he was for a short time an inmate of Newgate prison also, and effected his escape from thence with Several others. In the Stonyhurst Manuscripts * is a letter of general news from a Father in London to Father Parsons in Florence (under the name of Mark Mercante), dated 9* 1612, stating “ that several Catholic priests had lately escaped out of Newgate ; their names are Cornforth, Young, Mayler, Yates (alias Boulton), Green, Parr, and Cooper. Much Search hath been made for them, but none taken. The occa- sion of their escaping was their hard usage, without compassion or mercy ; whereupon they refused to give their words to be true prisoners, but told their keeper that as long as they were used so hardly they would give no such word, but would escape if they could, and within a few days after they got away ; and, as those seven went away, so they might all have gone, to the number of twenty, but they refused it, choosing rather to stay. Those that remained in prison have since been Cast into the dungeon, with fetters and geeves.” In the same volume of manuscripts 9 is a letter from Father William Bartlet to the same Father, addressed as Luke Mercante, dated the 5th of December, 1612. He says “that upon the escape of two Jesuits, Young and Bilton [Cornforth] out of Newgate, * Pp. 75, I.33, seq. * P. IOO, seq. * Stonyhurst MSS. vol. iii. Anglia, n. I I4. 6 N. II 8. xiv. Introductory AVože. the rest who stayed behind are cast into the dungeon and laden with fetters, and have been very sorely afflicted.” Father Young in a letter to the Very Reverend Father General Aqua- viva, 18th of April, 1613," thus briefly alludes to his imprison- ment and escape. “As to what regards myself personally ; your Paternity is, I think, already acquainted with my six months’ probation in prison, which, although it was my first, and of no long duration, yet it was on “this account particularly vexatious, because in the afflicted state of our country (through the malice and Cruelty of the heretics, not only against our bodies, but the souls of others likewise), every way to the propagation of the Catholic religion, and of my approaching the faithful, was thus barred. But now having, by the favour of God, broken prison, it remains for me, like a pent-up river that has burst its banks, to rush forward with all the more zeal to combat the efforts of the enemy, promote the salvation of souls and the good of the Society.” IV. The author of the quaint Fitzherbert Pedigree (p. 198) we have since ascertained to be the notorious priest-hunter, Topcliff. V. In the brief notice of Wolverhampton (p. 234), we have omitted to mention that, in the year 1635—how much earlier does not appear—the Fathers taught a small school at the house of a Mr. Levison (or Leuson) near that town. They had also at the same time a similar school at the Grange, near Derby (see p. 316). Information was given to the Privy Council of these schools, and warrants were forwarded for the seizure of the Fathers and their pupils. A copy of a draft of this warrant is given under the head of Stanley Grange. By a marginal addition of Secretary Cooke, it seems that the same draft warrant was made to serve for the school at Mr. Levison's, “Within two miles of Wolverhampton.” As we 7 Anglia, vol. iii. n. I26. Jºzároductory AVote. • XV find by the Zitteræ Annua for the College of the Immacu- late Conception for 1635 (p. 3 II), the Derbyshire Fathers and their pupils escaped ; but from the following extracts from State Papers P.R.O., it appears that they were not so lucky in Staffordshire, some of the boys having been carried off : “9 December, 1635. No. 88, vol, 3O3, AJoſ/l. Chas. A. The Council to Sir John Persall [Peshall], of Horseley, county Stafford. John Stanford, son of William Stanford, of Paryshall, Stafford, was lately found among the children in the house of Mr. Leuson, in the County aforesaid, where he was trained up a scholar under a Priest or Jesuit. In regard of his nearness of blood, he being Sir John's grandchild, the Council have thought fit to put him in his custody until further orders.” Written on the same draft letter, same date, are— I. The Council to Sir William Wilmar, of Sywell, North- ampton. A similar letter in respect of his nephew, William Andrew, son of William Andrew, Esq., of Denton, in that county, being about twelve years old. 2. The Council to Edward Newman, of Gray's Inn. Simi- lar letter in regard to John Atwood, of Acton, Worcestershire, being about eleven years old. Newman, who is not stated to have been a relation, is required to keep the boy in his Custody till further orders be taken for his education. “A)0m. Chas. Z., vol. 305, n. 5. 23 December, 1635. Whitehall. The Council to Sir Ralph Dove, of Dutton, Cheshire. John Bloomfield a youth of fourteen years of age, was lately ſound in the house of Mr. Leuson, county of Stafford, where he was trained up under a Priest or Jesuit. Upon Sir Ralph's promise to see the said Bloomfield brought up to the liking of the Lords, or else to remain with him as a Servant, the Council put him into Sir Ralph's hands.” In reference to this seizure, the Annual Report says that One of the Fathers had gathered together some children of xvi Introductory Mote. good family for the purpose of educating them, and their progress in piety and learning rewarded his zealous labours. Information of his proceedings was carried to the Council. A pursuivant was despatched to the spot, who, with the authority of a neighbouring Protestant nobleman, assembled an armed force and surrounded the house. The Father and his pupils were apprehended, hardly used, and conducted to London. The house was searched, and two chests of books, and a third containing the Sacred vessels of the altar, vestments, &c., were seized. It was urged by the more bigoted Protestants that these children should be committed to the charge of Protestant tutors, and compelled to conform. After much difficulty and delay they were again restored to their parents. The Father remained in confinement. Two years after this event the Fathers again found means to Collect a number of boys for the purpose of education, and a favourable report is given of their progress in piety, and in Greek and Latin literature. VI. In p. 394, the principal Founder of the College or District of the Holy Apostles is ergoneously stated to be |Robert, the third Lord Petre. It was William, the second Lord. VII. The Mr. Darcy, writer of the interesting letter to Father Henry More, in p. 425, was most probably Mr. Henry Forster, of Copedock, afterwards S.J., whose life is given in these pages. Two of his brothers, who were Priests, S.J., adopted the same alias (see Forster Pedigree, p. 445). The Editor begs to acknowledge the kind assistance in his labours, of Dr. Jessopp, of Norwich (in the Walpole pedigree and family), of the Rev. Thomas E. Gibson, of Lydiate, of FF. Morris and Anderdon, of Father Purbrick for the use of Stonyhurst MSS., and of Father Hunter in passing the volume through the press. Zondon, July, 1875. 52CUnly 52tízg. –2– THE COLLEGE OF ST. ALOYSIUS; OR, THE LAN CASHIRE DISTRICT. I. THE COLLEGE OF ST. ALOYSIUS, Usually called the Zancashire District. THE English mission of the Society of Jesus, which had hitherto been governed by Vice-Prefects resident in England, and a head Prefect living at the English College, in Rome, was raised by the Very Reverend Father General Mutius Vitelleschi to the state of a Vice-Province in the year 1619; and Father Richard Blount, who had been Vice-Prefect since the martyr- dom of Father Henry Garnett in 1606, was appointed Vice- Provincial.” At this period, the English members of the Society, partly in England, and partly in the various English Colleges on the Continent, amounted to nearly two hundred, including forty professed Fathers; and in consequence of the rapid increase in its members, the same Father General in the year 1623 raised the Vice-Province into a separate Province of the Society, and appointed Father Blount its first Provincial. Father Blount held this office until 1635, and modelled the Province as much as possible on the plan of the Institute. As it was impracticable to form regular Colleges, he divided it into twelve districts, or ideal Colleges, to each of which he allotted some revenue, which might form the nucleus of a future College, in the much desired event of the restoration of the ancient Faith in England. To each district a certain number of Missioners was allotted, the Superiors of which were Rectors appointed by the Father General. Among these twelve districts, or ideal Colleges, was that of St. Aloysius, commonly called the “Lancashire District.” It was one of the three first formed in the year 1622; those of St. Ignatius, or the London District, and of St. Francis Xavier, or the South Wales District, being the other two. Until the year 1679, when the county of Stafford was made into a * A sketch of the life of this eminent Father may be seen in Father Morris’ Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, &c. Burns and Oates, 1871. B 2 - The College of St. A Zoysius. distinct College, under the title of St. Chad, St. Aloysius, embraced the whole of Lancashire, with Cheshire, Westmore- land, and Stafford. In the penal times, when concealment was absolutely necessary, this College passed by various feigned names, such as “Our Factory;” the Superiors being called “Head Factors,” or “The Master,” whilst the Missioners were called “Factors,” with their “Factories.” The College. was also sometimes called “Mrs. Lancashire,” or “Mrs. Lan- caster,” or “Eloisa Lancaster.” The College of St. Aloysius formerly served the following places, and probably many others, of which the traces are now lost. Aston Hall (Stafford) Bedford Leigh and Leigh Biddles or Biddulph (Stafford) Billington Brin or Ashdon T}rindle Blachroad Bailey-hall Croxteth Chipping Cowley-hill Crosby Croxton Culcheth Chester Crossèn Dunkenhalgh - Dutton Lodge (Cheshire) Eccleston Hall Fazakerley Fernhead Formby Furness Garswood Hooton (Cheshire) Highfield (near Wigan) Ince, or Ince Blundell Leigh - -- Lowe-house (St. Helens) Liverpool Lytham Lostock Lydiati Maynes in the Fylde Moor-hall (Ormskirk) The Meales The Manor Orford Ormskirk Poole (Cheshire) Pooton Portico and Prescot Preston Puddington Rixton Stonyhurst South-hill Southworth Scoles Scarisbruck Hall Sizergh (Kendall) Stafford Stid (Ribchester) Warrington Westby Wigan Wolverhampton (Stafford) The average number of Missioners in the College for many years was about twenty. St. Aloysius' College had its share of sufferings in the times of open persecution ; and counted amongst others Father Edmund Arrowsmith, its proto-martyr, who suffered at Lancaster in 1628, and whose Life we give in this volume ; Father John Worthington, its first * The College of St. Aloysius. 3. Rector, a notice of whom is also given ; Father Ferdinand Palmer; Father William Atkins (once Rector), and Father Nicholas Tempest, both of whom died in prison, martyrs for the Faith. To this College also belonged Father Cuthbert Norris, were Clifton, and Father Richard Bradley who died in Manchester gaol for the Faith, and of whom a notice is given. The following Modus wivendi hominum S./., or the mode of living of the Missionary Fathers of the English Province in the days of open persecution, will be read with interest; the Latin original, in the handwriting of Father Henry More, the historian, may be seen in vol. iv., n. 45, MSS. Angliae, Stonyhurst. “Modus wivendi hominum Societatis, 1616. “The members of the Society who hitherto have laboured in England for the consolation of Catholics, and the con- version of heretics, pending better times, had three modes of living. Some led an entirely private life at home; others were constantly moving about through various localities; while many were free either to confer at home with those who wished, or to visit others out of doors. t “For, as by the law, capital punishment hung equally over the Priests and over those who harboured them in their houses, So when any secular master of a family was raised above the fear of the laws, either by nature, or grace, or the circum- stances of the times or of the persons among whom he lived, he would adopt a Priest, who, in one of the three modes indicated, served the family and administered the Sacraments. And, as among all classes of men the distribution of the gifts of nature and of grace differs, so among all ranks were to be found those who were more free, and those who were more sparing in adopting Priests. The most opulent and powerful acted more cautiously than the middle or lower class, as having more to lose, and being more exposed to envy ; neither did they rely upon their own power, so long as they were conscious not only of being subject to those who were still more powerful, but also of being exposed to danger from the informer. But what God had given to the middle and lower classes even, for their moderate sustenance, was as dear to them, as was to the more powerful that which He had given to them for their abundance; and so, feeling that they had less means of Con- tending against the malice of the enemy, they often became, like the more wealthy, cautious and timid in admitting the Service of Priests. B 2 4. 7%e College of St. Aloysius. “However, from the commencement of the schism there were never wanting either Priests to expose themselves to the danger of capital punishment for the sake of defending the Faith, or seculars who refused not to run the risk of their lives and fortunes, lest they should be entirely deprived of the helps to piety which the Sacraments offered them; such was, and is to this day, the singular goodness of God towards this once most religious nation. - “I. And to come to those of the Society who led a private life. They for the most part lived in the upper stories or attics of the house; as remote as possible from the observation of domestics and visitors. The same room contained altar, table, and bed. Great caution had to be observed as to the windows, whether to admit or exclude light; by day they were careful in opening them, lest the passers-by might observe that some one lived in the room; at night they were more careful still in shutting them, lest the light might betray the inhabitant. Walking in the room must be very light, or else cautiously made along some beam. At certain hours all movement in the room was prohibited, that no noise might be heard either in the room adjoining or in the one beneath. They were not permitted to go about the house, except to a neigh- bouring room, and that with caution. But if they left the house either for the sake of charity, or for health’s sake, or on their own business, or that of others, they must go out at the second or third hour of the night, and return either when the domestics were at supper, or else had retired to rest. For there were heretics amongst these ; and although the master of the house did not wholly distrust them, since they were his servants, and under many obligations to him, yet he did not so far trust them as to feel sure that they might not attest they had seen, or at least knew a Priest to be in the house. Nor did he consider that even Catholic servants should be too much trusted. Whence it happened that in a very numerous family of sixty or eighty persons, a Priest spent almost entire days, weeks, and months, alone; for, except the hour of Mass at which some at least were always present by turns, and a short space of time before and after Mass, the rest of the day each one spent in his own or other's business, or in different country recreations. A female servant brought ..in his dinner and supper, and then immediately left. He eat and took recreation alone, unless the servant hap- pened to return after the meal, bringing perhaps one of the The College of St. Aloysius. 5 |boys or girls of the family; or the lady of the house might look in to apologize for not having been able to pay him a visit sooner. “How oppressive this constant solitude was to many, accustomed to habits of conversation and reading, no one can imagine who has not tried it, especially since they were deprived of the consolation which frequent confession or the very sight and conversation of their Brethren, or variety in occupation usually affords. For, except when the Superior visited them, they scarcely ever saw one of the Society, or any other Priest in the house ; as they were but seldom allowed to go out of doors, and this only after an interval of months. “2. Those who in different localities, travelling either on foot or horseback, assisted the Catholics, or brought wanderers back to the Faith, had for the most part at least one house in which they could remain for some days to recruit themselves; so that the surrounding Catholics were able to learn where a Priest might be procured, if the needs of the dying, or the administration of Baptism required it. As for the rest, they were perpetually moving about, visiting and administering consolation. In the evening, after dinner, they entered the house either openly or privately, as circum- stances would permit, and departed the next day. Very often by a change of dress and name, or of the direction in which they were going, or by other Schemes, they managed to deceive, as long as possible, those whose notice they had to escape. The chief part of the harvest fell naturally to these active men, who thus met with and seized upon every opportunity of disseminating truth and virtue, whether by themselves or others. They were exposed to especial dangers; but by the more frequent opportunity of meeting their Superior, and others of the Society, and by reaping at Once the fruit of their labours, their very distractions tended to increase piety; and after their communications with others, they returned to their recollection all the more eager to draw interior fruit for themselves. “3. The third mode of living left others free to converse either at home or abroad. For the head of the house in which they lived, was made, either by his own virtue, or by the good esteem of his neighbours, superior, as it were, to the action of the laws. Though such men did not despise these by living without any caution, yet they did not deem it 6 The College of St. Aloysius. necessary to live in such servile fear, as though the liberty either of the Priest, or of themselves, was likely to suffer. They engaged for the most part Catholic servants, who did every- thing within the house in a Catholic spirit. If any storm burst out, they were warned of it by certain parties, and the absence of the Priest for a few days, or his concealment for some hours, restored liberty to them for the rest of the time. Among such our Superiors commonly lived, that they might be at liberty to visit the members of the Society when requisite, or to summon them to the house where they were. And by these, as possessing the greater means of converse with others, the chief part of the harvest was gathered in. “But the face of affairs is now entirely changed. Scarcely one in the whole kingdom is found who can furnish the means of living after this third mode, though they were formerly numerous enough. Those who go forth to assist others in different places are forced to spend their nights travelling, and their days in helping the Catholics at home. Nſany are reduced to the first mode of living, they ‘sit like sparrows upon the house top,’ ‘expecting the happy day, and the advent of the glory of the great God,” for, humanly speak- ing, very little is hoped for, whichever side of the conflicting parties prevails.” The old Zitteræ Annua, or reports for the College, abound with cases of miracles through the intercession of our holy Father and Founder, St. Ignatius, especially in the case of possessed persons and witches, by means of what is called the blessed water of St. Ignatius.” “In the year 1636,” says the report, “under the guidance of Providence, the Fathers in this district of Lancashire found a very convenient place, in which they were enabled, without being observed or sus- pected, to assemble according to the usages of the Society, for the purpose of renewing their Religious engagements and * In the year 1639, a little boy of three years old, an only child, fell into a cauldron of hot water. He was taken out senseless and remained half an hour apparently dead, though all remedies were applied that could be devised and procured on the spot. The afflicted father, falling upon his knees, begged of God the life of his child, through the intercession of St. Ignatius, and vowed that he would in some way assist the Society of Jesus in its labours. The child revived and perſectly recovered. Another person having received a grievous wound, was in danger of death from loss of blood, when, on the application of a small volume of the Life of St. Ignatius to the wounded part, the hemorrhage suddenly ceased. Other similar miraculous instances are recorded. The College of St. Aloysius. 7 gaining fresh fervour by making the Spiritual Exercises, and communicating with their Superior; and they zealously availed themselves of the opportunity. The Catholics in these parts were subjected to great vexations and extortions in the eccle- siastical Courts, on account of their baptisms, marriages, &c., performed according to the rites of their religion. During this year there were twenty-three Fathers and one Lay-brother; and forty persons were received into the Church. In the following year, 1637, the missions were assailed by a more vehement persecution than ordinary. Money was manifestly the object, and some who were unable to pay the fines, betook themselves to hiding-places to escape imprison- ment. Active inquiries were instituted by the courts with respect to the marriages and baptisms, &c., of Catholics, those even which had been performed long before. Heavy fines were imposed on Catholics for not sending their children to be catechised by Protestant ministers, a species of vexation to which they had not before been subjected in those parts. The oath of allegiance was tendered to such as were suspected of Catholicity. Those Catholics, who had the means wherewith to purchase the forbearance of their persecutors, were enabled thereby to relieve themselves from other suffer- ings; those who had not were obliged to fly, or conceal themselves in order to avoid imprisonment. In the year 1638, public feeling did not interfere with education, and many sermons were preached before assemblies of Catholics. The annual reports at this period in England generally, and especially in the district of Lancashire, give very few details. For the years 1640 to 1644, there is no report at all, a fact which is thus explained by the Zittera Annua of 1645–1649. “During this period the number of Priests who suffered for their religion was, indeed, less than in some of the preceding years. It was, perhaps, found that this extreme severity animated the zeal of the Missionaries, instead of shaking their constancy, and that many Protestants were thus brought back to the Catholic Church; yet the hatred that the popular party, which since 1642 had been advancing to sovereign power, bore to the Catholic religion had not diminished, but rather increased in intensity; and they daily avowed their determination not to be satisfied with lopping off its branches, but wholly to root it up out of the land. Accordingly the Catholic laity were treated with great severity, and every effort was used to find out and apprehend the 8 The College of St. Aloysius. Missionaries. It will be easy to conceive that the accounts received from them during this period were very scanty and imperfect. In sending letters by the ordinary means of con- veyance, there was danger lest they might afford some clue to the discovery of the writer and of his host, and letters thus sent were liable to be intercepted. Hence those that were despatched were generally so brief, and written purposely in such obscure terms, that little detailed information could be gathered from them. This is the more to be regretted, as during this time the condition of the Missioners afforded frequent instances of dangers incurred and escaped, and opportunities of practising great Evangelical virtues, the recital of which would be interesting and edifying.” The report then continues—“In the Lancashire district, called the College of St. Aloysius, where eighteen Fathers of the Society were labouring, the persecution still raged against the Catholics. Some of the Fathers were of an advanced age, and having sur- vived former troubles had grown old in the mission, yet even these could not escape the more active pursuit of the Puritans. One of them, seventy years old, contrived for a time to baffle his pursuers by frequent changes of residence, and timely resort to well contrived hiding-places. But he was at length betrayed by a man whom he had before found trustworthy. This person persuaded him to return to one of the missionary stations, where, on his arrival, a party of soldiers, who had been lying in wait for him, seized him, along with the sacred vessels and furniture. As the party conducted him to a neighbouring town, one of them put on the priestly vestments, and went before him in profane mockery. He was then conveyed to prison. Another Father, more than seventy years old, was taken with two Secular Priests in a place where they thought themselves quite Saſe, and carried to a prison thirty-two miles off, in which they all three caught the fever, and died a year after. A third Father, though eighty years old, and bed- ridden from age and infirmity, was seized, and put into a cart to be conveyed to prison. Before they had got far, his captors, fearing he would die on the way, carried him back again, but succeeded afterwards in conveying him alive to prison, where he died after nine months of suffering. “During this period, most of the Catholic families who had the means left this part of the country and retired to other Countries, where there was less persecution; and thus most of the Fathers of this College, accompanying the families The College of St. Aloysius. 9 who had harboured them, withdrew also for a time from the district. One Father went with the family, of which he had the spiritual charge, to an island not far from the coast, in which there were no Catholics before, and he succeeded in making some converts there.”? The annual reports for 1651–1653 are equally scanty. That for 1652, however, gives the following deeply interesting narrative of the conversion, through Father Cuthbert Norris, whose real name, was Clifton, of James, the seventh Earl of Derby, on the 15th October, 1651,4 while he was being led for execution to Bolton by the Parliamentarians, whose great enemy the noble and loyal Earl had been. This conversion is expressly stated to be minime moſa in vulgus. “The most interesting information,” says the report in question, “is a detailed account of an endeavour made by Father Cuthbert Clifton, and it would seem with success, to reconcile to the Church the Earl of Derby, when he was already condemned to suffer death for his attachment to the Royal cause, and on his way to the town of Bolton, which had been assigned for the place of execution. At this critical time, Father Clifton conceived or was inspired with the desire of bringing this loyal and gallant nobleman, before he died, to a salutary acknowledgment of the higher allegiance which he owed to God and His Church. Yielding to this impulse, he hastened to the station at which the Earl, accompanied by his son and his suite, and guarded by a strong military escort, was to pass the night, and it being intimated that the party should reach Bolton the next day, by means of a friend who had much influence with the commanding officer, he obtained access to the Earl's chamber. Having introduced * Probably this was the Isle of Man. * According to Dr. Oliver (Collectanea S.J.), Father Norris, were Clifton, was second son of Sir Cuthbert Cliſton, of Clifton, Notts, Knight, by Anne Tildesley, but he had assumed the name of his grandfather. He was born in Lancashire in the year 16II, entered the Society of Jesus in 1630, and was professed of the four vows IIth May, 1651. In 1642 he was at Ghent acting as “Camp Missioner” to the English troops in Belgium, and at the same time probably making his Tertianship, or third year's probation. Lancashire was the chief seat of his missionary labours in the English vine- yard. The Catalogue of the English Province for 1655 names him as Serving in the College of St. Aloysius, of which he was then the Minister, Procurator, and Consultor; and as having been then a Missioner for thirteen years, including his camp liſe. He died in Lancashire, 15th October, 1675, aged sixty-five. “A holy man,” says the Zittera Annua, “who had for many years laboured in the vineyard of our Lord, with much fruit.” IO The College of St. Aloysius. himself by the name of Norris, he expressed a wish to be allowed to speak with the Earl in private, for a short time, upon a subject of great value, which it most concerned him to dispose of before his death. He was desired to call again the next morning. He did so, and was again put off by the guards with design apparently, as though they suspected something wrong. At length the order to start was given, and the Father was told he might find an opportunity of speaking to the Earl on the road. He joined the cavalcade, and riding as near to the noble prisoner as he could, tried to attract his notice. The Earl, observing him, kindly asked him to come and ride by his side. The Father, making himself known, hastened to say that the object which he wished him to dispose of properly before his death, was his immortal soul. The Earl said he had suspected something of the kind the evening before, and expressed great gratitude to the Father for thus exposing himself for his sake. The Father briefly and forcibly urged the great principle of faith. The Earl said that he agreed with the Catholics with respect to the Blessed Trinity, the veneration due to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints, and the doctrine of Purgatory; that he was so well disposed towards the Catholic religion, that he had resolved, if he had lived, to examine thoroughly into it; that he thought the differences between Catholics and Protestants were not of great import- ance, but that he could not thus suddenly, and on the point of death, abandon the Church to which he had been attached all his life. The Father tried to overcome this repugnance, though often interrupted by the approach of the guards. Seeing the Earl's Protestant chaplain advance, who had left the halting-place of the preceding night later than the rest of the party, he besought the Earl, by the sufferings and death of his Redeemer, not to resist the grace afforded to him. The guards and attendants now closed round, and the Father was obliged to retire. Yet he kept as near as he could, fervently praying for the success of his attempt. They had arrived within a mile of Bolton, when the Earl turned round and called for Mr. Norris. The attendants made way, and the Father was again at the Earl's side, who now at once declared that he received every part of the doctrine of the Catholic Church, and professed himself a member of it, and as such, was ready to confess all his sins and perform whatever penance should be enjoined, asking earnestly for absolution. The Father, having done what circumstances permitted, was about to pro- The College of St. Aloysius. II nounce absolution, when the Earl reverently uncovered his head to receive it. The Father instantly desired him to be covered, and completed the sacramental rite. “When all was concluded, the Earl turned round with a Smiling Countenance, and rejoined the company of his son and attendants. - “On entering the town, he saw the scaffold, and observed with a smile that it was his cross, and that he willingly embraced it. When the party halted, the Earl desired his son and attendants to retire for awhile, and declining the proffered ministry of the chaplain, remained nearly an hour in private and fervent prayer. As he went out, he repeatedly said to those about him that he was most grateful to the Divine Goodness for having enabled him to set his conscience at ease before his death. “The guards remarked that during a great part of that day's journey he had appeared much more cheerful than on the day before. As he ascended the scaffold he kissed the steps, and expressed his entire submission to the divine will. “On addressing himself to the people, he desired that they would all pray for him ; then checking himself, he said that he begged the prayers of all good persons present, and then went on with his address to the people. “After he had finished, one of the officers asked him to declare that he died a Protestant. He took no notice of the suggestion, as if he had not heard it. It was repeated more pointedly, when he answered that he had reconciled himself with God by His great goodness, and hoped to be saved through the merits of Christ. He then said he heartily forgave all who had injured him, and asked forgiveness of any one whom he might have offended. “He briefly and ſervently recommended to God himself, his wife and children, and his beloved sovereign, and declared that he died willingly for God, his King, and Country, calling on all the creatures of the Lord to bless Him; and invoking His holy name, he laid his head on the block, and by one stroke it was severed from his body.” The Earl, when escaping, after the disastrous battle of Worcester, was taken, or rather surrendered himself prisoner, at or near to Nantwich, in Cheshire, to one Captain Edge, a Lancashire man, and an officer in the service of the Parliament. He had just assisted in placing his sovereign, Charles II., in concealment at Boscobel, in the very place where the noble $ I 2 The College of St. Aloysius. Earl had himself lain concealed on his route from Wigan, after his defeat there, to join Charles at Worcester. He surrendered on honourable terms, by which his life was to be spared. Yet his enemies, who dreaded him, basely tried him by a court- martial, overruled the plea of his honourable Surrender, and, in defiance of all military law and honour, condemned him to the scaffold. In the second volume of the Chetham Society's valuable series of Æemains Historica/ and Ziterary, connected with the counties of Zancaster and Chester, 1844, under the heading “Civil War tracts of Lancashire,” pp. 320–323, amongst other most interesting papers touching the noble and loyal Earl, is one numbered Ivi. “The Earl of Derby's speech on the scaffold, immediately before his execution at Bolton in Lancashire, October 15, 1651, exactly taken in shorthand as it was spoken, and now published for the satisfaction of those that desire to be truly informed. London: Printed for Nathaniel Brookes, and are to be sold at his shop at the sign of the Angel in Cornhill. 1651.” " “The Earl of Derby was brought to Bolton on Wednes- day last, about noon, his guard being sixty foot and eighty horse ; about two of the clock, brought forth to the scaffold, which was built at the Cross, part of that scaffold built with the timber of his own house of Latham ;9 there were not above one hundred lookers on, besides soldiers ; presently * The Editor of this volume says that there were three versions at least given of the last address of the Earl, besides the one we copy here. One, which was instantly condemned as spurious, is believed to be that reprinted in Sir Walter Scott’s edition of Somer's tracts. A second is given in the Black Tribunal. A third may be found in Pech's Desiderata, and in Seacome, &c. Of its genuineness there can be no doubt, except that it seems to have been retouched and amplified. The copy given here appears as a tract in the King's collection, and is stated to have been taken down in shorthand by two clerks, one of whom (Roscow) is named, and in some degree identified. All the versions, more or less, have the matter of the original notes running through them ; but it appears to the Editor that this one has more of the hurried abrupt character which the delivered address is said to have had—of the simple pathos which characterized the Barl's other compositions—and of the keen feeling which, from the tone of his petition to the Parliament, would be likely to pervade him, when, amidst the unexpected sympathy of his hearers, he was so suddenly compelled to exclaim—“God be thanked there is no man that revileth me!” (Cheſhame Society, vol. ii., pp. 317, 318.) * This explains Father Norris' account in the Zittera: Annual. “He observed ‘with a smile, that the scaffold was his cross ; having been in part built with the timber of his own house of Latham.” The College of St. Aloysius. I 3 after his coming to the Scaffold, there happened a great tumult (the occasion thereof not being certainly known), in appeasing of which there were some cut, many hurt, and one child killed. The Earl was no good Orator; he was much afraid of being reviled by the people of the town, but they rather pitied his condition." His son came with him to Bolton, and carried his corpse back that night to Wigan.” “The last words of the Earl of Derby uport the scaffold at Bolton, the 13th day of October, 1651. “Coming to the foot of the ladder to the scaffold, he said, ‘I am thus requited for my love,’ and he kissed the ladder and said, ‘I do submit myself to the mercy of God ; ' and when he was upon the scaffold he said, ‘Now that it pleaseth God to take away my life, I am glad to see that in this town, where some were made believe I was a man of blood, I was slandered to be the death of many. It was my desire, the last time I came into this country, to come hither, as to a people that Ought to serve the King, as I conceive upon good grounds.” It was said that I was accoustomed to be a man of blood, but it doth not lie upon my conscience, for I was wrongfully belied. I thank God I desire peace. I was born in honour, and I hope to die in honour. I had a fair estate, and did not need to mend it. I had good friends, and was respected, and did respect; they were ready to do for me, and I was ready to do for them ; I have done nothing but, as my ancestors, to do you good ; it was the King that called me in, and I thought it was my duty to wait upon his Highness to do him service.’ 7 “The populous district round Bolton was termed the Geneva of Zancashire, and had been long considered the very School and centre of Puritanism” (Preſace to the same volume of Cheſham Papers). The same Preface states that to the inveteracy of local ſeelings and bitterness of religious animosity, may be added, as another cause of the duration and severity of the struggle between the King and the Parliament in Lancashire, the mice balance of opposite parties. The petition of the “recusants” [Catholics] in an early part of the series of tracts, brings forward a few of those ancient and highly descended ſamilies which still constitute so marked a feature in the Lancashire aristocracy ; and in a later part will be found a presentation of fifteen thousand recusants at one sessions. The greater part of the principal Lancashire Royalists belonged to this class, or were closely connected with it. * “The allusion obviously regarded the feelings of the Presbyterian party, of which Bolton was a local centre, and which were directly opposed to those of the Puritans, the predominant sect at this period” (p. 321, note). I4. The College of St. Aloysius. “There then arose a great tumult among the people ; after which he said (looking all about him), ‘I thought to have said more, but I have said. I cannot say much more to you of any goodwill to this town of Bolton, and I can say no more, but the Lord bless you. I forgive you all, and desire to be forgiven of you all, for I put my trust in Jesus Christ.” And looking about him he said, ‘I did never deserve this hard measure from above. Honest friends (you that are soldiers), my life is taken away after quarter given, by a council of war, which was never done before.’ And walking up and down the scaffold, he said, ‘The Lord bless you all ; the Son of God bless you all of this town of Bolton, Man- chester, and especially Lancashire; and God Send that you may have a King again, and laws. I die like a Christian, a soldier, and Christ's soldier.’ “And sitting down in his chair, he said to a soldier that had been his keeper—“They are not ready’ (meaning the block was not ready), and bade him commend him to all his friends in Chester, and tell them I die like a soldier ; and causing the Coffin to be opened, he said: ‘I hope when I am imprisoned in this, the watchmen will not lie by me with their swords.’ And walking up and down the scaffold, he looked about him and said, ‘There is no man that revileth me—God be thanked l’ “And looking upon them that were upon the scaffold, he said, ‘What do you stay for P It is hard that I cannot get a block to have my head cut off.” He looked upon the execu- tioner and said, ‘Thy coat is too burly that thou canst not hit right, the Lord help thee and forgive thee.’ Then bowing to Mr. Henry Bridgeman,” he said, ‘They have brought me * “At the time of this interruption, according to most of the accounts, the Earl gave into the hands of a servant papers relating to the sentence of the court-martial and his plea of quarter, which he intended to have spoken, and which, in Some copies of his speech, are worked into it, as portions of his speech” (Ibid). * We extract the following note from the same volume of the Chetham Series, p. 316. “The Sacrament was administered to the Earl at Leigh, by Mr. Greenhalgh, who also appears to have been present at the Earl's execution, as Seacome mentions his note of it. This person may possibly be the ‘Doctor Green’ of the spurious account. The Weekly Zntelligencer states positively that “there was no divine’—probably meaning thereby in attendance on the scaffold itselſ. There was, however, one chaplain who continued to the last such dutiful and affectionate attendance as circumstances allowed him, and, according to all or most of the accounts, was recognized by the Earl, as being seated on horseback among the The College of St. Aloysius. I5 hither too soon, the block is not ready for me, Mr. Bridgeman. Tell your brother I take it as a great mercy of God that I am brought hither, for I might have died in the midst of a battle, and have not died so well, for now I have time to make my peace with God.’ And turning then to James Roscow (one of the two clerks that wrote his speech in short- hand), he said, “Do you write what I say ? It may be I say not well, but my meaning is good.’ And looking upon the block he said to one of his men—“Lay down your neck upon the block, and see how it will fit,” but he refused ; and a trumpeter that was upon the scaffold laid down his neck to try how it would fit; after that he laid down his own neck upon the block, and rose up again, and caused the block to be turned, and laying his neck again, said, “Do not strike yet.' And when he rose he went about the scaffold, and said, ‘I desire your prayers, pray for me, the Lord bless you all ! The Lord bless this poor nation.’ “Then he gave his handkerchiefs out of his two pockets to his servants. Then he kneeled down and prayed privately, and then laid down his neck upon the block, and said to the executioner, “When I lift up my hand, then give the blow ;’ and just when he gave the sign, One of the servants said— * Good, my lord, let me speak one word before ;’ and looking up, he said, ‘I have given you a sign, but you have ill missed it.” And being upon he knees, he said, “Honest friends, I thank God I fear not death ; I rejoice to serve God, my King, and country; I am Sorry to leave some of my Christian friends, but I hope the Lord will keep them, and bless them ; the Lord of Heaven bless my wife and poor children ; the Lord bless His people, and my good King.’ “And laying his head upon the block, he said, ‘Let the whole earth be filled with His glory!’ and giving the last sign, by holding up his hand, his head was severed from his body with One blow.” The account taken from the Ziffera Annua of the English Province, was most probably written for the Annual Letters by Father Cuthbert Norris (or Clifton) himself, as having been an eye-witness of, and so important an actor in the deeply interesting and affecting scene. The original report is pre- troopers, and receiving from him last remembrances to his (the chaplain's) brother. The following account explains this to have been Henry Bridgeman, Rector of Wigan, after Dean of Chester, and Bishop of Man.” I6 The College of St. Aloysius. served in the archives of the Society of Jesus in Rome. It was a private document never seen, we may safely avouch, by any stranger eye, these reports being strictly intended for, and confined to the members of the body. We may also, with equal certainty, assert that it has never hitherto been published. It bears every appearance of originality, and as we have already seen, the difficulty and danger of writing anything in those times of bitter persecution against the Catholic faith, its pastors and its members, sufficiently rebut any idea that Father Clifton could have prepared it, for the sake of publishing so interesting an event as the Conversion of the great Earl to the Catholic faith in his last moments. In fact the words minime nota in vulgus, in reference to this conversion, sufficiently proves this. It may, therefore, be regarded as a fifth, and by no means unimportant narrative of those last hours of that loyal and gallant Royalist. We are particularly struck by its remarkable accordance, in several most important points, with the authentic account we have borrowed from the Chetham Society’s volume; both being almost word for word the same. We sum them up as follows— LAST SPEECH. Chel/haml Society’s Account. I. “Coming to the foot of the lad- der . . . he kissed the ladder and said, ‘I do submit myself to the mercy of God.”" II. ‘‘I forgive you all and desire to be ſorgiven,” &c. III. His recommendation of his wife and children to God, &c. Annual Zeilers' Account. I. “As he ascended the scaffold he Åissed the steps, and expressed his entire submission to the divine will.” ll II. He heartily forgave them all who had injured him, and asked forgive- ness, &c. III. “He briefly and ſervently re- commended to God himself, his wife, his children, &c. * To a Catholic this fact affords the strongest prooſ of the Earl's conversion to the one true faith. We have constantly read of Catholic Martyrs following the example of the blessed Apostle St. Andrew, and embracing their crosses, stakes, &c.; and in the present volume of our series, the very same thing is recorded as having been done by Father Thomas Cottam. In proof of this, we have only to refer to Bishop Challoners' Memoirs of Missionary Pries/s, the Martyrs of China and Japan, Rev. Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, &c. But we do not remember to have ever read of a similar act by any Protestant, whether lay or clerical, under equally terrible circumstances. The College of St. Aloysius. 17 IV. “And laying his head on the block, he said, ‘Let the whole earth be filled with His glory,’. . . his head was severed from his body with one blow.” V. His allusion to the scaffold as his cross——having been partly built with his own timber of Latham House. VI. “I take it as a great mercy that I am brought hither, ſor I might have died in the midst of a battle, and have not died so well, for now I have time to make my peace with God.” IV. 3. “Calling on all creatures of the Lord to bless Him; and invoking His holy name, he laid his head on the block, and by one stroke it was severed from his body.” V. On seeing the “scaffold, he observed with a smile, that it was his cross,” &c. VI. “As he went out he repeatedly said to those about him, that he was most grateſul to the divine goodness for having enabled him to set his conscience at ease before his death,” &c. There are other expressions put into the Earl's mouth, in fact we might quote the whole of his reported utterances, which any Catholic could use. The last striking fact we shall notice, is the absence from the report of any praying or acts of devotion in company with the chaplain, Mr. Bridgeman, as is usual at such executions. Roscow, the reporter, being actually upon the scaffold would never have been guilty of omitting it, had it taken place ; especially seeing that he carefully reports the substance of the noble Earl's conversation with the Vicar of Wigan. This we regard as a confirmation of the Ziffera Annua account that, on entering the town, &c., “he retired for awhile, and declining the proffered ministry of the chaplain, remained nearly an hour in private and fervent prayer.” The Zifferae Aztynidae also confirm the Chetham Society’s account, as to the actual presence of the Chaplain, which the Weekly Zntelligencer denies. º In the annual report for 1651, it is stated that the Fathers, especially in Lancashire, experienced the efficacy of the invo- cation of St. Ignatius, and of water blessed in his name in resisting the external influence of evil spirits. A poor woman, for a long time possessed, was, after many fruitless exorcisms, told by her cruel tormenter that he would not give her up before the Feast of St. Ignatius, when he knew he would be obliged to go. On that day, the poor sufferer, having received Holy Communion, was immediately and permanently freed C I 8 The College of Sá. Aloysius. from the evil spirit, and from the bodily suffering which he had Caused. One of these evil spirits inveighed bitterly against the Sodalities of the Blessed Virgin, and their rules and practices. These Sodalities, or Associations in devotion to the Blessed Virgin, were zealously promoted in Lancashire by Father Ferdinand Palmer, with great benefit to those who were engaged in them. This Father was a native of Northampton- shire. He entered the Society of Jesus in the year 1625, and was solemnly professed of the four vows, on 19th of September, 1641. In the Catalogue of the English Province for the year 1655, he is entered as a Missioner in the Lancashire district. During the plague of 1666, which made such terrible ravages in London, he was actively engaged as a Missioner there, and in the midst of his heroic labours in relieving and Comfort- ing the plague-stricken, he was seized with the infection and died a martyr of charity, 6th of May, 1666, aged sixty-one; having been in Religion for forty-one years; and a Professed Father, twenty-five. When in Lancashire, Father Palmer says he found the use of vows of chastity, for a limited period, in many cases an effectual remedy against the opposite vice. He also reports an instance of the awful judgment of God on those who oppose the truth. He had instructed a married woman, and received her into the Church. The matter came to her husband’s ears, who positively forbad her to practise any duty of religion. He was chopping some wood at the time, and accidentally wounded himself very severely. His wife took Occasion from the occurrence to warn her husband not to draw down the anger of God upon himself by opposing her vocation to His religion. But the man only became angry and more obstinate. The next day he was bitten by a mad dog, and shortly afterwards died miserably. In 1654, Father Palmer was sent for to a Protestant who was alarmed by a severe illness. Feeling himself better before the arrival of the Father, he sent word to say that he would See him another time. The Father, as if anticipating what was to happen, urgently insisted on at least seeing the sick man, and so with great difficulty obtained access to him. He gravely warned him that his death was nearer than he thought, and invited him to follow the call of God, and seek His mercy while he had the opportunity. The salutary fear of God had its effect, the sick man was sincerely converted, and after a second visit from the Father, died in a few days. Amongst The College of St. Aloysius. I9 other sick calls, he was requested to visit a lady of high rank who was dangerously ill. On his arrival at the house, the lady expressed surprise and displeasure at his coming, and told him that she had not sent for him, nor for any other Priest. He was about to retire, when the lady requested leave to ask him whether he belonged to any Religious Order? He told her at once what he was. She replied that she had heard from some learned men long ago that the Priests of the Society considered themselves at liberty to publish at pleasure their penitents’ confessions. Father Palmer rejected with horror the foul calumny, and explained to. her what the Catholic doctrine was upon that point, and the peculiar care with which it was inculcated and observed in the Society of Jesus. She expressed herself perfectly satisfied, and requested to be allowed two days to prepare for a confession, which she said must extend over a period of twenty years; she begged him to come to her again after that interval, which he did, and the lady having performed her duty in the most satisfactory manner, the Father took his leave. He never knew, nor could he even guess who she was; but he felt certain that she was a person of high rank and superior intelligence. Another lady is mentioned as being of noble birth and dis- tinguished by her piety, constancy in faith, and charity to the poor, and who had been given to understand by certain persons, reputed to be pious and learned, that the Jesuits wished very much to stay in England, and for that reason would rather im- pede its conversion, because, were the country converted, they would have to go back to their Colleges. Her son, an excel- lent and prudent person, on hearing her repeat these remarks gravely represented to her, and succeeded in convincing her of the absurdity and criminal atrocity of Such imputations. Being no longer influenced by these impressions, she became well acquainted with, and warmly attached to the Society. A wealthy gentlemen had been in the habit of wasting much precious time, and imbibing vicious principles, from reading loose comedies and similar works, of which he had formed a large collection, and had encouraged their perusal in his house- hold, and amongst his guests. Father Palmer, wishing to remove this occasion of sin, thought it prudent to begin by asking the gentleman to give up to him one of those offensive books, and after long solicitation, he consented. This first victory over himself seemed to bring him more abundant grace, for he presently afterwards cleared his house of all C 2 * 2O The College of St. Aloysius. the other books, though by doing so he incurred the ridicule of his less scrupulous acquaintance. The report for 1655, regarding the miracles wrought through St. Ignatius, says—“The power of our holy Father St. Ignatius over the demons shows itself most clearly by authentic proofs. There is a custom of blessing water, under the invocation and patronage of St. Ignatius, which, after it is thus consecrated, is called the Blessed water of St. Ignatius. Of the great avail of this blessed water for the sick and afflicted, and of its great power over evil spirits and their accomplices, the dealers of witchcraft, not only individuals, but towns and villages are witness; for the devils cry out from the bodies of those possessed that they are tormented by the water, and that the charms are broken, and that it alone, without any other exorcism, suffices to expel them. One person, without hurt or pain, having drunk of the water threw up fifteen brass pins, bent and twisted. Again on St. Matthew’s Day she threw up ten more, and on St. Michaël's Feast the last one; all were strangely twisted, and we trust that on the Festival of the Archangel, the most troublesome molester of her body was finally dislodged, after having usurped possession of it for six entire years.” Another, who had been possessed for sixteen years, was delivered by the same means, on St. Andrew’s Feast. The following interesting case is also given. A girl below twelve years, not a Catholic, was afflicted for some years by a most incurable and troublesome sickness, caused, as it was afterwards proved, by the devil's agency ; so that twice, or oftener, in the day she seemed at the point of death. One of the Fathers, at the entreaty of a friend, visited her, and having spoken kindly to her, taught her this prayer—“O my Sweet Jesus, for the sake of Thy dear Mother, have mercy on me and make me Thy servant.” At the same time he gave her Some of the water blessed by the relic of St. Ignatius, and told her to take it with her food and drink; returning after fifteen days, he ſound the sickness much abated, and having taught the child the doctrines of the Faith, he exorcised the demon, using the formula of the Church, which the devil durst not disobey, for being ordered in Latin to come the next day “to the chapel door, and to Creep on hands and feet to the foot of the altar, and there Confess that he was unable to resist the exorcism of the Church of God,” the child, who had long been rendered blind by the evil spirit, and was entirely ignorant of Latin, The College of St. Aloysius. 2 I strictly obeyed the command. The devil was then told, also in Latin, that if on any day of the month of July he was forced to leave that body, he must indicate it with the child's own finger; and upon this, taking in her hand the sacred Missal, from which previously all the markers had been removed, the child pointed out the day of St. Ignatius, and placed her finger upon the Introit of the Mass, though she had never seen a book of the kind before. And from that day (the Feast of St. Ignatius) she has remained strong, and restored to full health, and has the grace of singular piety. Not long after her cure, a labouring man's son, whose father had apostatized from the Faith, began to show signs of strange fury and agitation ; and no marvel, for he had seen three devils appear to him in the form of three black dogs, who aſterwards confessed that they were the same three who had been ejected from the above child. By their threats they induced the lad to kneel and ask their blessing, or rather it should be termed, their malediction. Upon this he was seized with such a hatred of God, that by grand promises, for the author of lies had led the boy to entertain some great expectations, he tried to induce his companions at school to renounce God ; when this was discovered, the devil was exorcised, and the lad, having been instructed, was restored to sound health, both mental and Corporal. The fact which follows is very singular, and yet of no little consolation to those whom Divine Providence permits, without any fault of theirs, to be possessed by the devil. A young girl, who, from the examples above mentioned, had gained a true and great idea of the Catholic faith, was ardently desirous of being instructed by a Priest, and received into the Church. But the bigotry of her father, who was an obstinate heretic, prevented it. The child, therefore, prayed earnestly to God that power might be given to the devil over her body, on condition that it should be the means of an interview with a Priest, and of becoming a Catholic. Upon this she was possessed by the devil, and with the father's consent delivered by a Priest from it. But scarcely was she freed, when her father insisted again on her abjuring her Faith, and returning to heresy. She, having found the tyranny of the devil more endurable than that of her father, renewed her prayer, and again obtained her request, for even at the time when the fact was narrated, she had the devil as a temporary lodger in her body, that she might have God for her habitation for 22 The College of St. Aloysius. ever in her soul. And by this her singular love for God and religion even her father's hard and obdurate heart was being softened, for he had given his solemn promise that though it should cost him the loss of all his estate and fortune, he would not be an obstacle in the way of her embracing the Catholic faith, along with her mother and sisters, whom, by her example, she had drawn to Christ, and to the love of His religion in their hearts. But not only did St. Ignatius banish the demons by the water blessed in his name—his sacred pictures had the same power. The following fact occurred in the house of a respectable family. The servant kept the milk in the dairy carefully shut and locked, but found in the morning more than twenty drops of blood upon it. One of the Fathers, who chanced to be in the house, guessing who was the cause of it, advised them to put the place under the protection of St. Ignatius, and to hang up a picture of the Saint there ; after which no other harm occurred either to the milk or to the house. But the Father who gave this advice, and who had worked so many exorcisms, became the object of the fury of the enemy, from whose rage the protection of St. Ignatius shielded him. When sleeping, he was suddenly awakened at midnight by a noise as though flint stones were flying and cracking in the fire beside the bed in which he lay. He invoked St. Ignatius, his Angel Guardian, and his Patron Saint, upon which the noise grew ſainter, and died away as he continued his prayers. The next day an energumen, whom he was exorcising, came as usual to him, when the devil was reluctantly compelled, by the power of God, as he himself confessed, to declare that this disturbance in the night had been raised by five wretched spirits in order to deter the Father by threats from assisting and relieving the poor sufferers. “But why,” said the Father, “did they do me no harm P” “It was not because they had no wish to do so, but they were deterred by St. Ignatius and your Guardian Angel, both quicker to help you than you were to pray,” was the reply to the Father's question. Other instances are given, and in the following year, 1656, mention is made of a case, showing the power of the exorcism of the Church, and of the Priest, in the expulsion of evil spirits from the possessed, which happened in a village called Halfcote, on the borders of Worcestershire. The house of a respectable man, named Hill, had for three years past been infested with nocturnal spectres, horrid noises, and luminous appearances. The College of Sé. Aloysius. 2 J 3 He had invited the ministers of his own sect to perform different services in order to free him from the annoyance. Seven others also spent the night in prayer together, but in vain, as peace was not restored to the house. Upon this the master of the house, listening to wiser counsels, invited Father William Atkins, then Rector of the College of St. Aloysius, to come and assist in the work, and he spent the night watching and praying in the very room which was especially haunted. Nothing, however, was seen or heard that night. At daybreak he purified the entire house, according to the solemn rite of the Church, with wax tapers, holy water, and blessed palms, or olive branches. From that time all was restored to perfect peace and quiet, causing, great astonishment in the people, and from this no little fruit of souls was hoped. Such miraculous powers of exorcism, &c., still continue to be alluded to in the reports ; the last case which we shall notice took place in 1672, at which period there were fourteen Fathers in the district, and one hundred conversions were made. A man, whose house was haunted by an evil spirit under the appear- .ance of two horrible spectres or ghosts, consulted by way of remedy two witches, but the evil only increasing, he came at length to one of the Fathers, and professed himself ready to embrace the Catholic faith, iſ, by his aid, his house should be freed from the unwelcome guests. The Father, after accom- panying the man home, recited the Litany of our Lady of Loreto, and went though the whole house, carrying the Blessed Sacrament; after which the evil spirit never again appeared. The man abjured heresy, embraced the Catholic faith, and continued a zealous Catholic. Having dwelt so long upon the College of St. Aloysius, we must now proceed to give an account of its famous proto-martyr, Father Edmund Arrowsmith, intending to add a biographical sketch Qf its first Rector, Father John Worthington; of his brother, Father Laurence; and of his uncle, Father Thomas (o/im Dr.) Worthington; concluding all with a short notice of Father Richard Bradley, who died (in .72nculis), in Manchester gaol, a martyr for his faith. 24. II. THE LIFE AND MARTYRIDOM OF FATHER EDMUND ARROWSMITH, S.J. Aſe suffered at Zancaster, 284/. August, I028, aged forty-three years, having passed fifteen years on the mission, and having been five years in the Society. THE following Life is principally gathered from a very rare tract called “A true and exact relation of the deat/, of ſºvo Catholics, who suffered for their religion at the Summer Assizes /ie/d at Zancaster, 1628. London, 1737.” This octavo volume contains two excellent portraits of the Martyrs, of whom the second was Richard Herst, a farmer, who suffered the day after Father Arrowsmith. Dr. Oliver, in his Collecſanea S./., thinks that Father Cornelius Morphy, S.J., was its compiler; and we may add with great probability, seeing that Father Morphy laboured for some years in that district, and as early as I 740, if not before, was the Rector or Superior of St. Aloysius. College. This Life is more copious than Dr. Challoner's memoir.” Father Morphy uses the relation of the Martyr's death, printed in 1630; also Father Henry More's Hisſ. Prov. Angſ. S./.; Alegambe ; Nadasi's Annus ZXierum Memorabi/ium, &c.; see also Tanner's Vita et Mors, &c. He also prints an account of a great miracle, wrought through the Martyr's intercession, by means of the application of the ſampus relic, the Father's hand, in 1735, and which we shall add at the end of this Life.” * Challoner's Memoirs of Missionary Ariests, vol. ii., p. 123. * The Rev. Cornelius Morphy, or Murphy, was a native of Ireland, and born 24th October, 1696. He entered the Society of Jesus, 7th September, 17II, and was solemnly professed of the four Religious vows, 2nd February, I730. This eminently gifted Father served the Lancashire mission for several years, and was Superior or Rector of the College of St. Aloysius. from about 1740 to 1748. He was then appointed Rector of the College of St. Ignatius, or the London District. At Christmas, 1759, he was at Scotney Castle. He was a learned man, and author of A Keview of the important controversy concerning miracles, and the Protestant systems. Faż%er Eaſmaz/72d Arrozysmith. 25 As the Lancashire District, or College of St. Aloysius, was the birthplace as well as the principal seat of Father Arrowsmith's missionary labours, and the scene of his glorious martyrdom, it seems very fitting to place this notice of his life the first among the few selected for the history of the College. Father Morphy remarks at starting—“We have little left concerning Father Arrowsmith, after what inquiry could be made, besides what relates to his happy suffering for the Faith; though perhaps fuller memoirs are to be found than those here presented. It has often happened that of many celebrated Martyrs, whose acts of martyrdom have escaped the injury of time, very little came recommended to posterity by more than the particulars of their behaviour in the last remarkable scene of their lives. But if to live well be the art to die well, the happy death of this servant of God assures us of a virtuous life, which God of His mercy terminated with glory, and pleased with his labours, crowned His own gifts, to which he had faithfully corresponded, with eternal rewards.” Father Edmund Arrowsmith, who was sometimes known by the by-names of Bradshaw and Rigby—in fact, he was indicted at his trial in the latter name—was born at a place called Haddock, in the parish of Winwick, five miles from War- rington, and seven from Wigan, in the year 1585.3 His father "elative to it, to which is added a ſeſſer with some remarks on a late £er- ſormance called “The Criterion of Miracles examined.” 8vo. London, no date, p. 456. It was in the Appendix of this work, that Dr. Milner found ready arranged the refutation of Detector Douglas, of which he has made so important a use in his invaluable work, The End of Religious Controversy. He also translated and published Père Daubenton's Ziſe of St. John Francis Aegis, -S./. 8vo. London, 1731, pp. 368. Father Morphy died 31st October, 1766, aet. 70. See Dr. Oliver's Collectanca, p. 259. It is recorded that Father Morphy when Missioner at Brindle, or Slatedelſ, Lancashire, about 1740, was attacked by some priest-hunters. A paper in the Archives Provinciae Angliae, says that—“One night a gang of these worthies came to take him, and several neighbours, who had heard something of the matter, went and hid themselves behind a hedge leading to the chapel, being determined if the gang succeeded in bringing him off to rescue him, or lose their lives. The gang did not bring him off, though he was at home, for his mild language softened their hearts. So his valiant friends, that were hidden behind the hedge, lay quiet, listening to the fellows as they returned, laying the blame on each other for not bringing him off with them. These ſriends of the Priest therefore did not stir till the gang was gone off.” * In the archives of the English Province at Rome is a MS., Processus, condemnatio, et mors ex variis eorum qui praisentes fºrerunt Zitteris excerpta. 26 Aather Æa'izzzzzza! A77°ozws/722.É/. was Robert Arrowsmith, a yeoman or farmer in that country, and his mother, Margery, was a lady of the ancient family of Gerards. Both his parents were Catholics, and great sufferers for their religion, as were also their fathers before them. For Thurston Arrowsmith, father of Edmund's grandfather, after the loss of goods and frequent vexations from the pursuivants, suffered a long imprisonment and died in bonds, a confessor of Christ. And Mr. Nicholas Gerard, his maternal grandfather, being a constant professor of the Catholic faith, was by order of Sir Thomas Gerard, his own brother, forcibly carried to the Protestant church, at a time when he was labouring under a violent fit of the gout, so that he could not stir, and there placed over against the minister ; but, instead of joining with the minister or congregation in their service, he sang Psalms in Latin with so loud a voice that the parson could not be heard, and they were obliged to carry him away out of the church. As to the Martyr's father and mother, after divers other troubles and losses sustained for their conscience, they had their house searched by the pursuivants, who with their swords tried every bed and hole in which they suspected any Priest, or priestly utensils might be hid; and then they and all their ſamily were tied two and two together, and driven off to Lancaster gaol, leaving at home four little children, of whom Edmund was one, whom the pursuivants had taken out of their beds in their night-dress, and left standing in the cold, not suffering any of the family to dress them, till some neighbours, compassionating their case, came in and did that charitable office for the helpless infants. After this and some other imprisonments, from which he redeemed himself with money, the father of the Martyr went abroad with his brother Peter, to be out of the way of these vexations, and they both served for This M.S., which is compiled from the various sources used in this Life, contains a playful allusion to the Martyr's name—“In the Latin, Sagitti- faber, a name not undeservedly ſalling to Father Arrowsmith's lot, whether we regard his gifts of nature, or of grace, in which he ever showed himself close and sharp in his combats with the heretics—like a chosen arrow. It also observes in conclusion, that the death of Father Edmund Arrowsmith, S.J., the last put to death for the Catholic faith ſor some years, calls to mind the martyrdom of Father Edmund Campian of the same Society, and its proto-martyr in England, seeing that their names are the same, as were also their faith, their courage, disputations with the heretics, and their deaths.” Aather Æa/m2/72d Arrozws/27th. 27 a time in the wars in Holland. * Peter died at Brussels, of a wound received in the wars, and was there honourably interred. Robert, the father of Edmund, went to Rheims or Douay, there to visit his other brother, Dr. Edmund Arrowsmith, a man of great learning and piety, Priest and Professor in the College; after some time he returned again to England, and there made a pious end, having foretold his death some time before.” The following is a copy of an ancient MS. we have been kindly allowed to make from the original, No. 48, MSS. in Arch. Dioc. Westm. It is written by a fellow-labourer. “AWołes concerning Mr. Arrows/mith's Z)eath. “The things that I can call to mind concerning Mr. Edmund Arrowsmith, late Martyr and Priest, were these— “First, he was christened by the name of Bryan. His father being but a farmer in the country and deceased, his mother but poor and not able to bring him up in learning, and being Catholics, a good, venerable, and virtuous Priest, Con- doling the poor widow's estate, took the boy, her son Bryan, into his service, not so much for any service he could then, do to him, as to help the widow of her burthen, and to bring up her son in learning, who at the first, because of his public education," seem to be dull and blunt-witted, but after he had * In the original MS., Vita et martyrium. Å. O. D. Zdmzuyudi Arrowsmith, in the valuable collection of MSS. at Oscott College, in page 523 of the volume of the Rev. Alban Butler's collection of materials for aiding Bishop Challoner in his Memoirs of Missionary Ariests, and which we have been kindly permitted to transcribe, it is stated that they had no sooner landed when they were ordered, in violation of their faith and conscience, to take up arms against the Spanish, wherefore they were accustomed in the engagements to discharge their muskets in the air, for fear that they should hurt any Catholics. At length, by means oſ Sir William Stanley, who was in the service of the King of Spain, they went over to the Spaniards, and it was in their service that Peter got his mortal wound. * Vide Bishop Challoner's Missionary Priests, vol. ii., p. 123, from the above Oscott M.S. * Probably alluding to a village school the boy had attended. Dr. Challoner, in reſerence to Edmund's village schooling, says (quoting from the above Oscott Douay Latin MS.)—“That whilst he frequented the Schools, his practice was, as he went to school in the morning to a place about a mile distant from home, to recite in the way with his brethren, the Little Hours of our Lady’s Office ; and when he was coming home at night, the Vespers and Complin ; and that his first care after he came home was to withdraw into his oratory, and there to perform his eustomary devotions of the Jesus Psalter, the Seven Penitential Psalms, &c. And such was the Sweetness of his temper and comportment, that even his Protestant schoolmasters were very fond of him.” 28 Fażher Æamzzzza! Arrozwsmazłż. been some two years or thereabouts brought up in our College [Douay Secular College], his wits began to sharpen, and very apt he was and very desirous to attain to learning; but being weak, he returned from our College into his own native style to recover his health, and having in some reasonable manner obtained it, his own loving master sent him back to Douay the second time, where he excelled exceeding well, although some- what infirm, until the President, by reason of his bad health (before he had ended his course) caused him to be promoted to the Priesthood, and forthwith sent him into his country, after which return of his he was called by that name of Edmund, which he received at confirmation.” We will leave the MS. for a short time. Dr. Challoner says that Edmund was received into the English College of Douay in December, 1605, having tried in vain to pass over to one of the English Seminaries in Spain. Soon after his arrival at Douay he received the Sacrament of Confirmation, taking the name of Edmund after his uncle, Dr. Arrowsmith." That before his first return home on account of his health, he had performed the greater part of his humanity studies—that on his second return he took the usual College oath and was admitted amongst the Pope's alumni, and applying himself close to his studies, though still somewhat weak in health, he made great progress in learning. But, as his too great application threatened a relapse, his Superiors thought it most advisable (he having now gone through a good part of his divinity course), to ordain him, and send him to England. Upon this, he received all the minor Orders in St. Nicholas Church, Douay, 14th June, 1612, and before the end of the same year was advanced to the greater Orders at Arras, where he was ordained Priest on the 9th December; 7 Father Morphy says (p. 3), “He was christened Brian, but confirmed Edmund, after many great Saints who had honoured that name, and chose to be known by the name of Edmund. Under this name he revived the memory of the first Christian hero of the Society of Jesus in England, whom persecutors sent from the place of persecution to Heaven, the famous Edmund Campian, who adorned a pious life, and many excellent qualities, with the palm of martyrdom.” Speaking of Douay College he calls it: ‘‘ a Seminary of many illustrious Martyrs, and zealous labourers in the Vineyard, learned and pious persons who have adorned the Church with their lives and their learned works, stocked Religious Orders with able subjects, and particularly enriched the least Society of Jesus with many eminent personages from that seat of piety and learning.” Aaſher Æa/zzazza! Azºrozyszyzzz/. 29 * and on the 17th June, 1613, he was sent upon the English mission by Dr. Kellison, lately made President of the College. In England he quickly recovered his health, and entered upon his missionary labours in his own County of Lancashire, with great zeal and success. The printed account of his death published in 1630, gives his character in these words—“He was a man of mean presence but of great innocency in his life, of great sincerity in his nature, of great Sweetness in his con- versation, and of great industry in his function, and was ever of a cheerful countenance, a most probable sign of an upright and unspotted conscience.” To return to the MS. No. 48. “Edmund, although he retained but a very mean, homely carriage and presence, yet he was both zealous, witty, and fervent, especially against an heretic, and so forward that often I wished him merrily to carry salt in his pocket to season his actions, lest too much zeal without discretion might bring him too soon into danger, considering the vehement, sudden storms of persecution that often assailed us. Sometimes I have been in his company when meeting with ministers sumptuously mounted, and have had much ado to stay him from disputing with those proud dogs (so was he wont to call them), which if he had done it would have endangered, without doubt, both him and his company. In his travels, on a time, he met with a schismatical, or other heretical gentleman, who seeing him of so mean a presence, and understanding by some of the company who and what he was, thought he had got a companion that he might freely jest at and play upon, but he received such witty answers, and his jests were so retorted back upon him, that the gentleman swearing a great Oath said, ‘I thought that I had met with a foolish fellow, but now I see he is either a foolish scholar, or a learned fool.” “Much pains he took with possessed persons, yet seldom or ever did he undergo that heavy and troublesome work without the help and assistance of some of his brethren, and So freed many from their troublesome yoke, and did much good.” So far this interesting manuscript. He laboured about ten or eleven years upon the mission as a Secular Priest, and then in 1824 entered the Society of Jesus, to which he had always an inclination after making the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius under the direction of a Jesuit Father. He did not go abroad to make his noviceship, but retired only for two or three 3O A’záže, Edſ/22/72d Azºrozys/27/h. * months into Essex, which time he employed in a spiritual retreat.8 Father Cornelius Morphy says—“He had been brought up to trials; before his final combat he had suffered imprisonment, and given a former testimony to God and his Church. He entered into a dispute with the Bishop of Chester, wherein the learned champion baffled his opponent, and eruditely proved the truth of the Catholic religion and the authority of the Holy See, with such strength and solidity that he silenced his adversary, and behaved with so much courage and constancy, that martyrdom was rather wanting to him, than he to martyrdom. But God delayed his combat for the benefit of many souls, and preserved him to another trial, in which he proved himself a true son of the Church and a companion of Jesus in his sufferings. His admission into the Society of Jesus may not improperly be fixed about the time of his first imprisonment, since the accounts of his life inform us that it happened a few years before his death ; for he lived only five years in the Society, but years full of days consecrated to the glory of God, the service of his neigh- bour, and his Own Sanctification. He had adorned his station in the secular clergy with many virtues, and was a bright ornament of that venerable body; when, resolved to make a full sacrifice of himself, he determined to reserve nothing to himself, not even his own will, offering himself up to God by Religious vows, making self-denial, which the perfection of a Religious state requires, a preparation to his future martyrdom. His intention was to conceal his eminent virtues under the veil of humility in Religion, while that of Providence was to give the Society an able subject and a great example in his person.” The following is a copy of a manuscript in the handwriting of the late Reverend Alban Butler, in the same volume of Oscott MSS., p. 142, entitled, “Memoirs of Missionary Priests. MSS.” Dr. Challoner extracts only what was sufficient for his purpose, but it is thought better here to give the whole. * Challoner's Missionary Priests, vol. ii., p. 127. Ldit. I 742, quoting the same Oscott Douay MS. In a list or catalogue of the English members of the Society, which was seized with many other papers in the London house of the Province at Clerkenwell, during the attack of the pursuivants upon that establishment in 1627-8 (the history of which event is intended to form part of a volume of the present series), the name of Pater Ed- mundus Bradshaw appears as a Novice. The date of this catalogue would be about 1624-5. See ZX”uestic, Charles Z., State Papers, vol. xcix., 1627-8. * Pp. 4, 5. Aather Edmund Arrowsmith. 3 I “One Mr. Ædmund Arrowsmith, Żn an old hand scarce legið/e, in a seffarate leaf in 4to, dated 16th August, I63I. “Mr. Edmund Arrowsmith was born anno 1585, in Haddock, a township in the parish of Winwick, county Lancaster. His parents were Catholics, and his father suffered imprisonment at Lancaster for his faith, for which God blessed his son. His mother was a gentlewoman of good kindred, and near allied to divers great families. She had married but meanly, namely, a yeoman, but a good Catholic. When Edmund was first sent to school he was observed by his fellows to bestow small time about learning his lesson, and yet when he came to say it, was more ready than others that had bestowed more time about it. He was also observed to be full of mettle and courage, which still accompanied his riper years, for he never seemed daunted at any difficulties. At the end of his philosophy at Douay, he made the Spiritual Exercises by help of one of the Society, he being then ghostly father of the College, in which [retreat] he was resolved to be one of the Society; for a year after making the Spiritual Exercises at the end of philosophy, by the help of the same Father, and he in the end proposing to me an exercise of states of life, and finding me to like the Society, as best agreeing with my weakness of body if I took to a Religious state, that Father made Mr. Edmund, my Countryman, an instrument to move me afterwards to go with him to Louvain to the Noviceship, but I had a difficulty which neither that Father nor any other could satisfy me in. I said that if I entered a Religious state of life, I would have the Order to be as firmly tied to keep me, at all events, as I would tie myself to remain with them. He and others answered me that the perfection of their Order consisted very much in this, that they could free it at any time of bad members by turning them out of the Order. I told him and them that their Order no doubt chose it for good, but that if I became a Religious, I would have a mutual tie on both sides during this life, and that my aim was rather to seek my own perfection, than the Content and perfection of the Order, which they said was much helped by turning out of it whatever they pleased.” * The good Priest who writes this evidently had no “vocation ” to the Society of Jesus, and did not understand its true spirit. The government of the Society is one of voluntary love and liberty. Its Institute, like the laws of the Medes and Persians, changeth not—hence its stability. Let a 32 Father Edmund Arrowsmith. “Mr. Edmund and I went both from Douay College into England in the same year, but before me, where he laboured divers years as one intending on fit occasion to become a Jesuit; and divers times before he was a Jesuit would he ask me about our clergy affairs, protesting he never would discover anything thereof to the Jesuits, for any good and advantage whatsoever; for till such time as he should enter amongst the Jesuits he would always behave himself as a true member of the secular clergy, which I verily think he did. * “Some few years before his execution he entered amongst the Jesuits in England, without doing any noviceship, but still in labour amongst us, except for some ten or twelve days once a year for a spiritual recollection, at a place where the Jesuits used to meet in Lancashire for that end. “He was arrested once before his last apprehension, and imprisoned in Lancaster, but released upon pardon with divers others.” At that apprehension he was brought before Dr. Bridgeman, the pseudo-Bishop of Chester, where divers ministers were at Supper with the Bishop, who did all eat flesh, it being in Lent. Dr. Bridgeman made his own apology to Mr. Edmund for eating flesh, saying he was old and weak and was dispensed withal. ‘But who dispenses with your lusty ministers there?” said Mr. Edmund, ‘for they have no such need.’ The ministers, both before and after supper, were busy in disputing with Mr. Edmund, and one time, divers of them urging against him at once, he merrily said to the Bishop, ‘Turn all your dogs loose at once against me, and let us have a loose bait.” For other matters the other papers or the printed book may serve, only take care member keep its holy rules, to which he has solemnly bound himself, and he remains ever its beloved child ; but if he turns rebellious, and “will not have this man to rule over him,” it is rather he who casts himself out of his mother's arms, rather than she who rejects him. The principle laid down by the writer is simply absurd and selfish, and were it adopted, would speedily effect the ruin of every Religious Order. It need scarcely be added that the writer is in error when he speaks of the Society “turning out whatever it pleases.” * “Probably in 1622, when I find by Mr. Rushworth’s historical collections, vol. i., p. 62, the King (James I.), in favour of the treaty of marriage then going forward with Spain, released a good many Priests and other Catholics out of prison in and about London, and gave orders to the judges to do the like in their respective circuits” (Challoner, vol. ii., p. 128. Edit. I742). . Father Æamzzazza' Arrows?????/. J 33 of a mistake in the printed book, for it was not Mr. Rostern who then was sheriff; though it says so, it names him purposely to defame him.” Father Arrowsmith was very sensible that the late advan- tage against the Bishop of Chester, and the glorious victory of the Catholic cause, had raised the envy and malice of many. Worldly prudence would have suggested a retreat for a time until the storm had abated, and the very preser- vation of the flock might have made it appear a necessary step. But his heroic soul never knew fear, and was a stranger to all the evasions that spring from mere human motives. He scorned to desert the post of danger, which, though attended with ignominy and confusion, he esteemed as the station of honour under the standard of his crucified Lord. No dangers deterred him, he never spared himself, never yielded before the toil and fatigue of the mission, but with a holy confi- dence and intrepidity ran all hazards in Christian prudence, till being betrayed again, he was again imprisoned. The imme- diate cause of his second arrest is recounted in a letter of the Rev. William Harte, of Douay College, addressed to Mr. Thomas Blackloe, the Clergy Agent in Rome, and dated 27th December, 1628. This letter is in the collection of the MSS. in the Archives of the diocese of Westminster. We have been kindly allowed to make a copy of it, and give the following extract. “Reverend and ever respected Sir, I have received yours together with one from Signor Angelo Solutio, for which I heartily thank you, &c. You wished me to inform you con- cerning the Priest last executed, which I will do according to the best relations I have from persons of credit. His name was Barnaby Arrowsmith, in Confirmation changed into Edmund, by which he was commonly known. He was allied unto Dr. Arrowsmith, and brother unto Brother Edmund, a Benedictine, of whom I suppose in times past you have heard. Mr. Arrowsmith had his education in our. College of Douay; there he got all the learning and sufficiency he carried with him into England; there he received Holy Orders; from thence he was sent into England by Mr. Doctor Kellison, anno 1613, where he continued a Secular Priest until of late years. This much, with all the particularities of time and other circumstances, I find upon the College books. The occasion of his apprehension was this. Two in Lanca- D 34 Fażher Ædm2272d A rrowsmitſ. shire” had married together; the woman was not Catholic, the man was. There was somewhat in the marriage for which they stood in need of a dispensation. Mr. Arrowsmith was employed in obtaining it. In the meantime the woman became Catholic. When the dispensation came, Mr. Arrowsmith would not make use of it before the parties had separated for the space of fourteen days, which thing incensed them much against him, so that knowing the time when he was to return to their father's house where they lived, they secretly sent word to one Rostern, a Justice of Peace, to come and apprehend a Priest. The Justice, not willing to bring his neighbour in danger, sent him word that he was to Search his house; that by this means, having intelligence, he might convey away the Priest. Which being done, the searchers, according to the custom, busied themselves in looking, but could find nobody, so returned home.” In their return, about a mile from the gentleman's house, upon the way they met with Mr. Arrowsmith, who being apprehended after some dis- * Another letter gives the name of the young man's father, “one Mr. Holden, a Catholic.” The relationship between the parties was that of first cousin. They had been married by the Protestant minister. - * Recusants abounded in Lancashire, and the searchers were in fear of them. With reference to this charitable act of the magistrate, Colonel lèawsthorn, I will mention a paper in the Public Record Office, Domestic, Zlizabeth, State Papers, vol. ccl:xxiii., nn. 86, 86 i., 86 ii. It is a letter of Richard, Bishop of London, to Secretary Cecil, and encloses various pieces of information against Catholics. Inter alia, he says upon some anonymous information, “They hold Wales to be almost all recusants, and, as it were their own, and say no Queen's officers dare apprehend any man there.” “In Lancashire, the most part being recusants, they stand in no fear, and have beaten many pursuivants, and made them swear never to meddle with recusants again, and one they made to cat his warraná / . . . It is said also that in Lancashire, if a pursuivant came to the Justices and showed them his warrant, they hindered him till they had sent to warn the recusant that a search would be made, and that if he have anything in his house he must convey it away,” &c. Amongst the same collection of MSS. of the diocese of Westminster, is a letter ſrom a Reverend Francis Barber formerly a Douay scholar. It is dated 8th November, 1628, and sends, to the same Mr. Blackloe in Rome, a shorter account of the martyrdom, &c., than the Rev. W. Harte's. He says that the magistrate, when directed by Mrs. Holden and her son to send and arrest Father Arrowsmith then staying in their house, replied that he would not do his neighbour Mr. Holden that discourtesy. They then sent to him again, charging him on his office to come, whereupon the Justice presently sent word to Mr. Holden thereof, and willed him to convey the Priest out of his house, which Mr. Holden did, but the said Justice of the Peace laid way for him with his assistant and his son. * Aather Edmund Arrozwsmith. 35 course, he said unto a young youth (the son of the Justice of the Peace), ‘Sir, it is a pity you are not a Catholic;’ and being demanded the reason why, he answered, ‘Because all are damned who die in your religion.” Upon this he received his miſſimus, and so was carried unto the gaol at Lancaster. This much I understood from an honest and very intelligent gentleman, who was at the same when all this happened in Jancaster, and informed himself very well of all particulars concerning this business.” The manuscript letter then proceeds in a few lines to state “ the manner of his examination, indictment, and execution.” It narrates an act of great brutality on the part of the judge, Sir Henry Yelverton, not given in Challoner's or Father Morphy's accounts, namely, that after he had asked him whether he was a Priest or not, being dissatisfied with the information he could get out of the Martyr, the Judge “said there publicly, that if he could know for certainty he was a Priest, he should die for it, because some before his coming down from London had told him to his face that he durst not hang a Priest.” The fact of this savage monster having been thus “chaffed" in London, helps to account in some measure for his great anxiety in getting the Martyr to admit against himself the fact of his being a Catholic clergy- man. The letter also refers to a relation of the martyrdom in French, which is probably the same as the one named by Dr. Oliver in the Collectanea 14—/Cecil verifable de Ja cruaute et tyrannie faicte en Ang/eferre a Z'endroit du P. Edm. Arosmith, de Za com. de Jesus. “The English Jesuits (as I Suppose) have set forth a relation of the business in French, printed at Liège, and approved by one, as seemeth, of authority, who in his approbation, as near as I can call to mind, Saith he hath made the relation and judgeth it worthy of the press—Ad majorem Zei gloriam, et suae religionis augmentum.” Mr. Harte, in the same letter, gives a brief narrative under Seventeen different heads, the details of which, however, are all contained in this history of Father Arrowsmith. He then shortly describes the martyrdom of Richard Herst, who was condemned nominally for murder, but really in the cause of the Catholic faith, and adds that “a gentleman of our country solicited the Judge for his (Herst's) life, which was granted upon condition that he would take the oath 14 P. 32. ID 2 36 Father Edmund Arrowsmith. of Supremacy. Hereupon the gentleman, going to the prison with these tidings, signified to the prisoner what he had done in his behalf, who gave many thanks, saying that he had stood his friend in many things, but in this especially, for that whereas before he was to die upon suspicion of a foul murder, but now by his means he was to die for his conscience and Catholic religion. Many wished him to take the oath and to save his life; but his wife, a courageous woman, told them she loved her husband as well as other women did theirs, yet she had rather see him die many deaths than once wrong his conscience.” Mr. Harte's letter goes on to say: “This might be some occasion of the report you mentioned in yours, that Mr. Arrowsmith did not die for the Catholic cause. Yet I will tell you a more probable ground of that report. There was one Mr. John Lee, perhaps you knew him, who in his younger days, before he was a Catholic, had committed some such fact as taking silver which was none of his (whether it was coined or plot I am not certain). The matter was secret ; he came over seas and was received by Dr. Worthington, and remained in the College until Mr. President's coming. He afterwards carried himself very well, and so was made Priest; then he entered the noviceship of the Benedictines, but continued there no longer than one month or six weeks. From thence he returned into the College, and obtaining faculties went in mission to England, where he laboured divers years, not without profit; afterwards came back again and stayed in these parts for one year and some months. Then returning into England he was apprehended for his former fact (as I take it, but I am not certain). In the meantime, before the assizes came on, the business was so handled by friends that at the assizes he was indicted for Priesthood, nor mention made of anything belonging to the other business, and so was condemned for being a Priest, but not executed, and so remains in prison, very well esteemed of by Catholics. This much concerning that which you desired to know. This condemnation of Mr. Lee happened two years ago.” But to return to our history. The oath of Supremacy having been tendered by the Justice of the Peace to Father Arrowsmith and refused, he was committed to the common gaol on account of his refusal and the strong suspicion felt that he was a Priest and a Jesuit, and consequently, by dint of reformed logic, a notorious seducer of his Majesty's sub- Aather Ædnezz72d Arrowsmith. 37 jects from their allegiance, and from the established religion of the kingdom. He was apprehended in Summer, a short time before the assizes at which he was tried. In the first letter he wrote from his confinement, the blessed Martyr draws attention to the singular designs of God’s providence regarding him. “All particulars,” says he, “ did so cooperate to my apprehension and bringing hither, . that I can discern more than an ordinary Providence therein.” And, indeed, this appears in every circumstance. Charles I. had professed his abhorrence of shedding blood on account of religion, and by his clemency, he faithfully carried out that maxim from the time of his accession to the throne. It was felt to be very certain at the time, and history has since confirmed it, that his Majesty did in no way countenance or encourage the proceedings of his Judge. Besides, when Father Arrowsmith was apprehended, though he was well mounted, yet all his endeavours to put his horse to its full speed proved ineffectual. He was also attended by a kinsman, who followed him as his servant, and, being an able- bodied man, could, by even a slight resistance, have protected him and favoured his escape. As a further proof that God reserved him for this glorious combat, he was twice during his studies at Douay brought to death's door, and twice received the last Sacraments in that extremity, yet each time he providentially recovered. - Though the Martyr's body was held in confinement, his zeal could not be bound. He, who had been indefatigable in his duty when at liberty, gave himself no rest in gaol. In his zeal for souls he exhorted the prisoners to do their duty, and his words had such power that he won over even the felons, and made them his friends. He preached the Gospel with success, and converted one who followed him in his death, had a share in his glory, and was a jewel in his triumphal crown ; or rather, to use the words of the Apostle, was “his joy and his crown.” Of this case we shall give fuller details further on. Some time before the assizes, an order had been issued requiring a more strict enforcement of the penal laws, some of which bore date from the time that Henry VIII. made sacri- fice of his conscience, and gave himself up to plunder, lust, and sacrilege. According to the temper of the Government of the time being, these laws had been either winked at, or * Philip. iv. 1. 38 Father Edmund Arrowsmith. rigorously observed. Charles I. had very little peace during his reign ; for even before the great troubles, the party which at length overthrew that unhappy monarch, and had been restless in his father's time, began to grumble. Whether it was jealousy of his marriage to a Catholic Princess, or something else that really occasioned this resolution, it is certain that her Majesty's unpopularity got the credit of this new severity. This order gave a favourable pretext for the exercise of cruelty, in the name of the law, to Sir Henry Yelverton, one of the judges appointed for the northern circuit, a Puritan, and known in those times to be, on that very account, all the more averse to Catholics. Gladly embracing the opportunity, on the day after his arrival, which was the 26th of August, he commanded Father Arrowsmith to be brought to the bar. The Father was at the time conversing with some friends who came to visit him ; and on the under-gaoler and sheriff’s men Coming to his chamber and Calling him, in a sudden and unex- pected manner, to appear before the Judge, he cheerfully obeyed, saying: “God’s holy will be done ;” and was con- ducted to the bar, amongst felons and other malefactors. As soon as Judge Yelverton, who was appointed to the Criminal Court, saw him, he sent to his colleague, Sir James Whitlock, requesting his assistance in this case. He soon came, and upon his arrival they conversed together for a short time in private. The jury having been then called for his trial, the Judge opened the proceedings with this rude and ungentlemanly question—“Sirrah, are you a Priest?” the soldier of Christ, arming himself with the sign of his Master, the sign of the Cross, returned this gentle answer—“I would to God I were worthy.” The Judge repeating the same rude and Crafty question, he replied again—“I would I were.” “Yes,” replied the Judge, “though he is not, yet he desires to be a traitor ; this fact makes him guilty.” After this point had been controverted awhile, the Judge, changing from the affirmative to the negative, asked if he were “No Priest.” To this the prisoner was silent; when the Judge, forgetting his duty to take the part of natural counsel for the prisoner, and becoming instead an inhuman accuser, exclaimed to the jury, “You may easily see he is a Priest. I warrant you, he would not for all England deny his Order.” Prudence, says Father Morphy, has recommended those accused not to affirm that they are Priests, in order not to betray Catholics who have harboured them. They are not to be their own A’zážer Balmezzzza! Arrowsmit/. 39 accusers in matters that do not concern faith, nor are they bound to depart from the just right, which every one has, of refusing to answer an ensnaring question, where it may be done without any prejudice to the interests of religion; especi- ally since, according to the course of law, the charge has not to be proved from the prisoner's own confession, but from the evidence of witnesses, till which time he continues, in the eye of justice, not guilty of the indictment laid against him. Here Mr. Leigh (or Lee), who acted in the double capacity of both Parson and Justice of the Peace, and had some know- ledge of the Father (perhaps through his famous encounter with the Bishop of Chester, where Edmund had so gloriously silenced error), whispered in the ear of the Judge, and shortly after began to revile the prisoner, calling him “a seducer, who, unless some order were taken with him, would make half Lancashire Popish.” By way of answer to the minister, and also to the Judge who accused him of being able to say nothing for his religion, the Martyr humbly moved that he might be suffered to defend his faith in disputation, which he doubted not by God’s grace to perform against any one who should oppose him. The Judge, without delay, stified that proposition, and told him “that his doctrine could not be maintained, but that probably he desired that those of his own religion should hear him talk.” The prisoner returned this answer, “That he would not only defend it by words, but would be glad to seal it with his blood.” The Judge took him up after an insulting and Savage manner, replying, “You shall seal it with your blood.” And irritated by the generous liberty of the champion of Christ, without any regard to the fair terms he offered, swore by all that was sacred that he would not leave Lancashire before the prisoner was executed, “and saw his bowels burn before his face.” In furious anger, he often repeated this threat, “You shall die;” till the Martyr replied, “And you, my lord, must die;” words which were fatally verified in little more than a year, The Judge exasperated, though still bent upon putting ensnaring questions that might lead to the condemnation of his prisoner, ordered him to answer in direct words how “he could justify his going beyond seas and taking the Order of Priesthood, in disobedience to the laws of the realm.” To which Father Arrowsmith replied, “If any man can lawfully accuse me, I stand here ready to answer him.” The Judge imade use of these captious questions, being very sensible that 4O Aaſ/her Æd/22/72d A77°ozyszzzzz/. there was not sufficient proof of the allegations. Different indictments had been drawn up, but failed through want either of matter or evidence. At last, by the Judge's direction, two indictments were prepared, one accusing him of being. a Priest and a Jesuit, upon the strength of the letter written: by the young man Holden, and by his mother, to the Justice of the Peace, when Father Arrowsmith was first ex- amined; the other accusing him of being a perverter in religion. The Martyr's oblation of the spotless Sacrifice ; his exercising the ministry given him by God; his consecration to God in a particular manner by Religious vows, and his imi- tating the Apostles in the conversion of Souls, these were his crimes, than which nothing could be more honourable. But mark the evidence, which, so far from proving what was alleged, only exposed the Judge's inhuman barbarity. The servant of the Justice, who apprehended and committed the Father, was called as a witness, and Swore that the prisoner tried to persuade him to be a Catholic, and told him that “the religion now professed in England was heretical, and only began in Luther's time.” Then the Justice's son, a lad of about twelve years of age, affirmed, though not upon oath, that the prisoner would fain have withdrawn him from Protestantism The servant of God upon this humbly begged leave to be heard, which being granted, he spoke to this effect—“My lord, as I was upon the road, that very man, as I take it, rushed out upon me with a drawn sword. He was meanly dressed, and on horseback. I made what haste I could from him, but being weak and sickly was forced by him at last to the moss, where I alighted and fled with all the speed I was. able ; which yet could not be very great, seeing I was loaded with heavy clothes, books, and other things. At length he came up to me at a moss-ditch, and struck at me though I had nothing to defend myself with but a little walking stick, and a sword, which I did not draw ; with the blow he cut the stick close to my hand, and did me some little hurt. I then asked him whether his design was to take my purse and my life. He answered that perhaps it was ; and then I fled again from him, but was soon overtaken. Then came up this youth, who has offered to give evidence against me, with others to assist him. They used me with much indignity, and took me to an ale-house, and searched me to the skin, offering insults which modesty forbids me to relate, and which Aaſher Eaſmzzazza! Az-zºozyszzzzz/. 4. I I resisted as far as I was able. That done, they fell to drinking, and spent nine shillings of my money in an hour; they told me that the Justice of the Peace, by whose warrant I was apprehended, was there in person, but that I would not believe. Upon this occasion my lords, I began to find fault with the man’s wicked and rude behaviour, who seemed to to be the ringleader; and I besought him for Jesus' sake to give over his disordered life, drinking, dissolute talk, and whatever might offend Almighty God. Upon my word and my life, this, or to this effect, is all I said to him. Let him look on me and gainsay it if he can. As for that youth, I deny not to have told him, that I hoped when he came to riper years, he would look better into himself, and become a true Catholic, for that, and that alone, would be the means to Säve his soul ; to which he made no answer at all. And I hope, my lords, that neither they nor any other can prove ill against me.” Whether the Justice who committed him feared lest his own or his servant's barbarous usage, and the violence done to the prisoner might be visited upon himself, or whatever his reason was, he now began a fresh invective, treating him as a dangerous seducer, and earnestly desiring that no favour should be shown him ; for that if ever he got his liberty, he would certainly do him some mischief. The Justice's real or pre- tended fear made the prisoner smile, and indeed it was not easy to forbear doing so, for Father Arrowsmith's countenance, as his friends agree, was always cheerful and pleasant. But nothing was to be excused ; the Judges, whose commission includes a kind regard to the prisoner, whom they are to protect as far as justice allows, reproved him with the unbe- coming accusation of being a saucy fellow, who knew no better manners, than to laugh and flout at those, who sat there to judge in the name of the King. How fitly they represented a gracious Sovereign, the reader may decide. The humble servant of God, far from having any angry thoughts, begged them not to harbour that opinion of him, and, immediately kneeling down, prayed to God for the King, the honourable Bench, and all the company ; that God, of His infinite mercy, would be pleased to confound and extirpate heresy, and to make us all of one religion. Upon this Judge Yelverton inter- posed, with his charitable comment, to change a devout wish into an imprecation. “Look you,” said he, “gentlemen of the jury, how he wishes God to confound us all, and root 42 /*aff/her Ædſ/27/776. A 77°ozº's/22//. out heresy, by which he means our religion.” But true charity, as Father Morphy remarks, would have taught the Judge, had he not been a stranger to that virtue, that Catholic prayers are not directed against persons, but their errors. This candid behaviour of the Father might appear to some an instance of weakness and simplicity, did they not bear in mind the especial direction which Heaven grants to her Martyrs when arraigned for their faith. He who encourages them with His grace in these trials, has promised them an extraordinary direc- tion, for, speaking to the Apostles,” He says—“When they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for at that same hour shall be given you what ye shall speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.” In this point of view Christians should consider that the Martyrs of Christ are in their conflicts exalted above themselves, and are guided by a superior Provi- dence in a work that exceeds the strength of nature. The Judge, upon the slender evidence we have seen, pro- nounced against the prisoner, and endeavoured by malicious suggestions to banish all sense of equity from the jury, and to harden them like himself against reason, justice, and humanity; for he could not, by the laws of England, convict his prisoner in the absence of witnesses. But God permitted this crying injustice to increase the Martyr's merit, and to demonstrate that his religion (happy cause () was his guilt. The jury withdrew after the barbarous and inhuman charge, and the prisoner was remanded to gaol in expectation of the verdict. This was in fact an adjournment of the Court for dinner. The Martyr was at the time suffering under severe toothache, and was glad of the adjournment, to get an hour or two of rest. The jury, excited and inflamed by the Judge, soon agreed upon their answer, and the prisoner having been brought back, they gave their verdict, Guilty of hig/, treason. Upon which the Judge stood up (Sir Henry Yelverton was then alone) and, according to custom, asked the prisoner what he had to say for himself, why he should not die according to law. The Martyr instantly lifted up his heart, his eyes, and hands to heaven, without answering the question; and in profound silence and recollec- tion waited for the result. Then the Judge pronounced the following sentence—“You shall go from hence to the place from whence you came; from thence you shall be drawn to the place of execution upon a hurdle. You shall there be hanged by the * St. Matt. x. 19. Aafter Æa'mund Azrowsmith. 43 neck, till you be half dead; your members shall be cut off before your eyes, and thrown into the fire; where likewise your bowels shall be burnt. Your head shall be cut off and set upon a pole, and your quarters shall be set upon the four corners of the castle. And may God have mercy On you.” The Judge was not satisfied with passing this unjust sentence upon the Martyr's body, but in his rage passed sentence also upon his soul, adding—“Know shortly thou shalt die aloft between heaven and earth, as unworthy of either ; and may thy Soul go to h with thy followers.” Nor did this satisfy him, but he most insultingly added, “I would that all the Priests in England might undergo the same sentence.” The blessed Martyr, far from being moved at the flagrant injustice of the sentence, fell upon his knees, and lowly bowing down his head, adored the loving decree of Providence that had bestowed upon him this extraordinary blessing. He was so filled with unspeakable joy at the prospect of the sacrifice he was about to make to God, that, unable to control his tran- sports, he exclaimed aloud Deo grafias, repeating in English, “God be thanked.” The sentence was attended with further acts of cruelty, for the gaoler who led the Martyr to his cell was ordered by the Judge, through the sheriff, to load him with the heaviest irons.” He had been commanded before to place the servant of God in a dungeon without light, and under solitary Confinement; but on the gaoler saying that he had no such place, he was ordered to Confine him in the worst he could. When he was loaded with those heavy irons, he was rendered so helpless by their weight, that he was rather carried, than able to walk. At this time he recited very audibly and fervently the Penitential Psalm, the Miserere, offering himself to God and imploring Him, in the earnest prayer of the inspired King, to “deal favourably with Sion, that the walls of Jerusalem be built up; ” that He would complete the number of the elect, and place him amongst those mystical Stones that form the building of the Heavenly City. He was thrust into a dark and narrow hole, where he could not lie down, but was forced to sit supported by a small bolster, which the humanity of the gaoler allowed him to have. The news of his condemnation struck even the felons and malefactors with horror at the Judge's cruelty, and with Compassion for the prisoner whose virtues and innocence * The letter of the Rev. Francis Barber, before referred to, says—“He was sent close prisoner with the “Widow’s Mite,’ as they call it, a great pair of bolts on his legs.” 44 Aather Edm2/72d Arrozws/27th. could charm the inmates of a gaol, but had no effect upon a merciless Judge. The confused sound of their groans and outcries was so loud as to be heard a very great distance." The weight of these heavy bolts could oppress his weak body, but could be no incumbrance to a soul longing for eternity. Pious aspirations, ardent ejaculations, the joyful love and contemplation of his Creator, occupied the short remainder of his life. He was watched, day and night, by three or four of the sheriff's men; all access to him having been forbidden by strict order of the Judge, under a severe penalty of A, Ioo. He continued in this state, from one or two o'clock on Tuesday until about twelve on Thursday, with little or no nourishment, as it appeared when disembowelled at his execution. The motive of the order given by the Judge that no one should be admitted to the prisoner, was to prevent his receiving any Consolation from friends. Justice-parson Lee was allowed to visit him in his shackles, and came once or twice to challenge him to a disputation, without witnesses. The remembrance of the victory which the prisoner had obtained in conference with the Bishop of Chester before so many, made him desire a Conference without any company, hoping by so mean an artifice to obliterate the ſame of Father Arrowsmith's success, and pretend that he had non-plussed his adversary. The wisdom which descended with Joseph into his confinement aban- doned not our Martyr. He prudently rejected the insincere proposal of a person, who not long before had falsely reported advantages which he never gained, in a dispute with a learned Catholic gentleman. The poor evasion was seen through even by the Protestants, and by some of the minister's friends, who reminded him that if he desired to dispute, the Father had made him a fair offer in the public Court, which had not been accepted, and they were scandalized and indig- nant at this shabby proceeding. But Mr. Lee and his adherents sought to wipe off the aspersion, by asserting that their adversary was a weak, silly fellow, and not conversant with Greek. A vain attempt, as the Father was known to be a man of extensive learning, great penetration, and solid judgment; which some of them had found out, not many years before, to their own Con- * More than one of the MSS. quaintly say—“Coming back from the bar to the prison, the other prisoners understanding that he was con- demned gave a shriek, which was heard two miles.” As to this, the Rev. William Harte, in the letter we have mentioned before, remarks— “Stretch your belief as far as you will.” Father Edmund Arrowsmith. 45 fusion. Another visit, which the same gentleman made towards night, must not be omitted. Whether Mr. Lee really was, or Only pretended to be afraid, he called aloud for a candle on his way to the cell, not daring to approach him, “for the Safety,” he said, “ of his person, least that traitor should desperately mischief him in the dark.” Great reason had he to fear dangerous usage from a person weighed down with heavy irons, and scarcely able to stir The prisoner, a stranger to such thoughts, spoke with his usual calmness and candour, saying—“Alas! good sir, Can you think so ill of me? I would not hurt any of you, and would be glad to do your souls good.” But on the other side, it was not so easy for Catholics to speak to the prisoner. A Catholic gentleman was seen by some spy near the door, and was at once detained. But being soon after called before the Court and examined as to what business he had there, he was dis- missed, after giving some explanation. Let us for awhile, says Father Morphy, leave the holy prisoner in close communication with his God, preparing manfully for his passage ; for though attentive only to his approaching end, he became the subject of public conversa- tion amongst others. It was thought by some that he would assuredly suffer, whilst others imagined he would be brought to the place of execution, and there reprieved. These grounded their hope upon the royal clemency of Charles I., a gracious Sovereign, who abhorred shedding blood under pretext of religion, and in whose reign no one had yet suffered for his faith. But they forgot the influence of a blood- thirsty Judge, who had malice enough in his heart and full power in his hand, to carry out his barbarous intent. The behaviour of the town of Lancaster on this occasion was very remarkable. In proof of their detestation of this judicial murder, no man could be prevailed upon to undertake the execution, except a butcher, who, though ashamed to become the hangman himself, engaged for five pounds that his servant should despatch the Martyr. This the servant, out of a feeling of humanity and respect for that good man, refused, and when informed of his master's shameful contract, he fled from his service, and was never seen after by him again. Within the gaol itself the same spirit was displayed. Felons and malefactors, though offered their own lives, would lend no hand to in- justice; till a deserter, under sentence of death for leaving his regiment, offered for the sum of forty shillings, the prisoner's 46 - Father Edmund Arrowsmith. clothes, and his own liberty, to be the vile instrument of the murder. But this made him so detested by the good people of Lancaster, that none would lend him an axe wherewith to slay the servant of God. This man, after committing his base act, was remanded to prison, although liberty had been promised him ; but his fellow-prisoners held him in such abhorrence, that he was kept out of their sight for fear of violence. Some time after he was set at liberty, receiving the Martyr's clothes as an infamous reward for his detestable service. This very man had been frequently relieved in prison, and in fact saved from starvation by the charity of the Martyr. Some difficulty was found in preparing the sheriff’s warrant for the execution, seeing that the illegal proceedings had made it hard to draw one up in proper form. The elder Judge, Sir James Whitlock, who, as we have seen, was called in to assist Judge Yelverton with his advice, refused to sign the warrant ; nay, the convicting Judge himself, would not put his hand to any order. The sheriff, of course, would not take the burthen of this guilt without a proper document, though he too desired his death. At last a warrant was drawn up in illegal form, for the usual words “the Judge sitting,” substituting “the Court sitting,” and “ordered by the Court.” Though these irregularities occurred in the order for his execution, yet suitable directions were given to a proper officer to disguise what was amiss. So true it is that the con- science of the wicked apprehends even the testimony of men, in those very facts on which they are eagerly bent. Besides, what is not usual at Assizes, by the Judge's order the day of execution was anticipated, that he might gratify his eyes with the sight of the convict's death.” - On Thursday, the 28th of August, the eve of the Feast of the Decollation of St. John the Baptist, to whom this blessed Martyr was made so like through the brutal conduct * The letter of the Rev. Francis Barber, before reſerred to, says regarding the death-warrant—“Judge Yelverton having wrote his com- mission, sent it to his brother Whitlock to sign, who seeing it said that his brother Yelverton should sign it first. Whereupon it was carried back to Yelverton, who signed it ; then it was brought to Whitlock who would not put his hand to it, and said, moreover, that perchance it would cost Yelverton £560. [sic in orig..] At this Yelverton was much offended, and said, seeing it was an act of the Court, both the Priest and the layman [Herst] should die.” The strange sum, named above, may have regard to some fact well known at the time, but to which we have now no clue. Father Edmund Arrowsmith. 47 of the Judge, word was brought by the sheriff that he must die within four hours. He received the news with perfect resignation, and with great fervour and devotion replied, raising his heart to God, “I beseech my Redeemer to make me worthy of it.” The Judge, to disappoint the people of so edifying a spectacle as the heroic combat of a valiant champion, had proposed to have him executed early in the morning ; but the delay in the arrangements, necessary for the execution, thwarting his design, he ordered that it should take place about noon, when men were most likely to be within their homes, at dinner. But either the idle curiosity of many persons, or the hope of Protestants to see him waver, or the confidence felt by Catholics in his known virtue and Constancy, emptied Lancaster, for all crowded from it, and other parts, to the place of execution, persons belonging to all ages, sexes, and sects, awaiting the last scene of this tragedy. So that when the gaoler handed over his prisoner to the sheriff, there was scarcely a man or woman left at home, either to take their dinners, or to keep their shops. As he was being led through the castle yard, a worthy and venerable Priest, his fellow-prisoner, who had been Condemned for his faith a year before, but stood then reprieved, showed himself to Father Arrowsmith from a large window. The Martyr, as soon as he perceived him, asked for the last absolution by lifting up his hands (the sign they had mutually agreed upon), in order that, being sent forth by the servant of Jesus Christ, with comfort from on high, he might endure in the day of battle, and triumph in the conflict. This Priest was the Rey. Mr. Southworth, who absolved him before all the multitude, and bid him with the sign of Redemption, pass on to conquest and a crown of glory.” * The Rev. John Southworth was apprehended and brought to trial in 1627, at Lancaster. He was then reprieved and kept close prisoner in Lancaster Castle. Bishop Challoner believes that he was afterwards removed to London to the Clink Prison, fron which he was in 1630 set free at the instance of the Queen, along with fiſteem other Priests, and delivered to the Marquis de Chasteauneux, the French Ambassador, to be transported beyond the seas. If he ever actually went abroad he must have returned soon ; as he was the ſellow-labourer of the Martyr Father IIenry Morse, S.J., during the plague in London, 1635-6. He was seized in that year, but his trial was postponed at the instance of the Queen, and he was liberated. He was again apprehended in 1654, and suffered at Tyburn, 28th of June in that year. t * 48 Aather Æaſmazend Arrows/27th. A Catholic gentleman on this occasion revived, if he did not surpass, the example of the great Constantine, who, when he had given peace to the Church, embraced the maimed Confessors, and kissed the marks of the wounds they had received in the late persecution. This gentleman, being charmed with the courage and intrepidity of the generous Martyr, marching out to victory with these marks of ignominy and confusion, discovered by a clear-sighted faith, under these humbling circumstances, the true signs of a disciple of the Cross, and of a soldier and apostle of Jesus Christ. He clasped the Martyr in his arms and kissed him tenderly, till the high sheriff ordered him to be separated by force. When this gentleman had thus taken leave of Father Arrowsmith at the Castle gate, he was laid and bound upon the hurdle with his head towards the horses' tail, for his greater ignominy. Thence he was dragged through the streets to the gallows, which was erected about a quarter of a mile from the Castle, his friends being prevented from approaching him by the halberds of the sheriff's javelin-men. To his greater torment, some Protestant ministers were allowed to molest him. The executioner immediately pre- ceded the horse drawing the hurdle, with a club in his hand, marching as though in barbarous triumph ; whilst the Martyr, bound upon the hurdle, held in his hand two papers on which were written, under the title of “Two keys to Heaven,” an act of the love of God, and an act of contri- tion, that by repeating them he might excite himself to fervour and devotion. The Martyr's thoughts were, no doubt, fixed upon his Redeemer's passage to Mount Calvary, bearing His heavy Cross, to consummate our redemption. The contem- plation of his Master sinking under its oppressive weight, and that infinitely heavier burden of our sins for which He was sacrificed, filled him, no doubt, with transports of content and joy that he was thus found worthy to bear ignominy for His Name, and was admitted to follow in the blood-stained footsteps of his Saviour. Drawing near the gallows, the horse and hurdle was stopped, and “the old-limping.” Justice-parson, Mr. Lee (Father Moore says, “tanquam Caco-daemonis minister”), not hoping to confirm but wishing to shake the Martyr's constancy, pointed out to him the Caldron boiling high over a vast fire so that none could stand near it, and, at the same time, the gallows, the rope, the Aather Æamazeſza. Arrozwsmazáh. 49 butcher's knife, and other terrible instruments of torture ; saying, “Look you, Master Rigbie, what is prepared for your torment and death, unless you are ready to conform to the laws, and accept the King's mercy.” The Martyr with a smiling countenance, looked at the tempter and replied, “Good sir, tempt me no more : the mercy which I look for is in Heaven, through the death and Passion of my Saviour Jesus Christ, and I most humbly beseech Him to make me worthy of this death.” He was then dragged to the foot of the ladder, where being unfastened from the hurdle, he prayed on his knees for a quarter of an hour, full of the charity which fired the heart of the Apostle to defy “tribulation, distress, hunger, nakedness, danger, persecu- tion, or the sword to be able to separate him from the love of Christ,” and which made him by these things, “over- come because of Him that loved us.” Thrice kneeling, down he, in his prayer, thrice repeated the following ardent obla- tion of himself—“I freely and willingly offer to Thee, sweetest Jesus, this my death in Satisfaction for my sins; and I wish that this little blood of mine may be a sacrifice for them.” Thus did he devote himself as an holocaust to his Saviour. He was hereupon interrupted by the same old minister, and charged with blasphemy, saying, “You attribute nothing to Christ's merits and Passion 1 ° But Father Arrowsmith instantly replied, “O sir, say not so | Christ's merits and Passion are always presupposed.” Having refuted this impu- tation in these few words, he continued, “O Jesus, my life and my glory, I cheerfully restore the life which I have received from Thee, and had it not been Thy gift, it would not be mine to return. I have ever desired, O God of my soul, to resign my life to Thee, and for Thee. The loss of life for Thy sake, I own as my advantage, and the preservation of it without Thee, my ruin. I die for the love of Thee ; for our holy Faith ; for the support of the authority of Thy Vicar on earth, the successor of St. Peter, true Head of the Catholic Church, which Thou hast founded and established. My sins, O Lord, were the cause of Thy death. In my death I only desire Thee, Who art true Life. Permit not, most merciful Jesus, that I escape torments to live without Thee. Life can be of no advantage where Thou art not. Give me, good Jesus, Constancy to the last moment, let me not live one instant without Thee. For since Thou art true Life, I * Rom. viii. 35. § E 50 Jºz//her Edwazz72d A77 ozysz722#/. cannot live unless Thou livest in me. When I reflect that I have offended Thee, I am seized with greater grief than can be caused by the loss of my life. O Life of my whole life but how of my whole life if I have offended Thee? However, with true sorrow I wholly devote myself to Thee, and with all my heart forgive those who take my life away, and by that means, give me this opportunity to resign it into Thy sacred hands.” Such were the fervent aspirations, or rather flight of a soul carried straight to the centre of her being—God, and preserved by the witnesses of his martyrdom as precious remains of a Christian hero. Often did they endeavour to interrupt him, but his prayer, like himself, was fixed and immovable. When ordered by the sheriff to make haste, he obeyed as to the voice of Provi- dence, rising up with the words of resignation, “God’s holy will be done.” He then kissed the ladder, and mounted it with courage and resolution. As he ascended the ladder, he desired all Catholics to pray with and for him, that he might obtain the graces necessary to support him in this last and decisive conflict. Mr. Leigh, the Justice-parson, replied most falsely that none were present, but he would pray for him; whereas many Catholics had come for the sake of edification. The Martyr replied—“I neither desire your prayers, nor will I pray with you. I will have nothing to do with you, and if what you say be true that there are no Catholics here, I wish to die as many deaths as here are people, on condition that they were all Catholics.” He then prayed for his Majesty, and recommended to Almighty God the state of this kingdom, praying more especially for his persecutors, whom he freely forgave, and desiring forgiveness of whomsoever he had offended. Ascending a little higher, he spoke as follows to all the spectators—“Bear you witness, who are come to see my end, that I die a steadfast Roman Catholic ; and for Jesus Christ's sake, let not my death be a hindrance to your well-doing, and going forward in the Catholic religion, but rather may it encourage you thereto. For Jesus Christ's sake have a care of your souls, than which nothing is more precious ; and become members of the true Church, as you tender your salvation, for hereafter that alone will do you good. I beseech you request my brethren, for His sake Who redeemed us all, to be careful to supply my want and suffi- ciency, as I hope they will. Nothing grieves me so much Aazher Adž722/72d. A rrowsmith. 5 I as this England, which I pray God soon to convert.” He then prayed for a little while out of a paper, and drawing the cap over his eyes, waited the moment of being turned off the ladder. * But the tempter, Mr. Leigh, had not yet finished. A further and last effort was made to shake the Martyr's constancy. “Pray, sir,” said he, “accept the King's mercy. Take the oath of allegiance, and your life shall be granted. Good sir, accept your life. I desire you to live. Here is now one come from the Judge to offer you mercy. You may live, if you will conform to the Protestant religion.” The Martyr drew his cap from Over his eyes, and with a severe Countenance, feeling some resentment at the injury being offered to his reso- lution of dying a thousand deaths rather than accept such terms, answered—“O sir! how far am I from that ; tempt me no more. I am a dying man. In no case, on no condition will I do it.” Then with great firmness of mind he addressed the high sheriff, exhorting him and the rest to take care of their souls. “The day will come,” said he, “when far from repenting your return to the Catholic Church, you will find it your greatest comfort and advantage.” He continued in this strain till some Protestant ministers answered, in a muttering tone, as in the name of the rest, that they would look well enough to themselves. While others who were further off, fearing that the words of a dying hero might have too great an influence on many, interrupted him, crying out— “No more of that ; no more of that. Away with him ; away with him.” Father Arrowsmith now composed himself for his last act; he again covered his eyes, and, fixed in ardent prayer, contemplated Him with a lively faith, Whom he was to possess for all eternity. His lips were seen to move, and Bone Jesu-‘‘Good Jesus,” were the last words that imme- diately preceded his being thrown off the ladder, when his happy Soul, freed from its mortal body, was admitted to receive that crown of justice which is laid up for faithful servants, and which, in the language of St. Austin, is by God’s mercy their due. The rest of the cruel sentence was immediately executed. His body was cut down, dismembered, embowelled, and quar- tered. His head was also cut off and with the quarters boiled in the cauldron ; the blood, mixed with sand and earth, was scraped up and cast into the fire. Lastly his head, as the sentence directed, was set upon a pole amongst the pinnacles E 2 52 Fażher Æaſmaz!nd Arrowsmith. of the castle, and the quarters were hung on four several corners of it.” Widely different were the effects produced amongst the persons assisting at this tragedy. Many Protestants, being moved with his fortitude and patience, wished their souls were with his. Others either out of remorse, or detestation of this bloody act, repented of having come to see it. Some praised it as highly laudable to be constant to their religion, but yet thought it too great a stretch of obligation to die for it. Some again in their compassion, called it an act of barbarity to use one thus for his religion. Mr. Leigh, and others like him, seemed the only persons who rejoiced in this inhuman act. The Catholics, who in great numbers had attended the last scene of his Apostolic life, were all the more comforted and confirmed in the truth of their religion, which he had so nobly recommended to them by his example. They praised God for having raised up Father Arrowsmith, and placed him before their eyes as a pattern of the patience, humility, constancy, charity, and indefatigable zeal of Souls, which had shone forth with such lustre in the triumphant Martyr, who had gone before them to assist them with his prayers at the throne of God, as he had already on earth by his pious labours, with the daily hazard, and at last with the sacrifice of this mortal life, worked for the greater glory of God, and for their eternal good. * The Rev. Francis Barber, in his letter already mentioned, says, “The Priest's quarters and his head were set upon the castle walls. None could get any of his blood, for they kept all away from it until they had thrown earth upon it the depth of a spade, and buried it. Only some Protestants who were by, dipped their staves into the blood in putting some of the straw into the fire, which they gave afterwards to Catholics. Mr. Leigh hath his apparel in which the Priest was hung, and it is thought hath one of the quarters by this time.” This Mr. Leigh was probably the Priest whom we have before already named in the Rev. William Harte's letter, p. 10, and who was then a prisoner. - Amongst the State papers in the Public Record Office, Domestic, Charles J., vol. cli., n. 13, is a report dated 3rd November, 1620, and written by Sir John Bridgeman, the high sherifſ, I take it, of Cheshire, to the Privy Council, of persons attending a great pilgrimage to St. Wine- fride's Well, Holywell, on her Feast that year; as the Earl of Shewsbury, Tord William Howard, Sir Cuthbert Cliſton, &c.—“The total number of knights, ladies, and gentlemen is said to have been one thousand four hundred, and one hundred and fiſty Priests.” At the end of the report is the following—“It is stated that Mr. Arrowsmith's clothes, and the knife that cut him up, are at Sir Cuthbert Cliſton's house.” Aather Ædmund Arrowsmith. 53. The behaviour of the sanguinary Judge, Sir H. Yelverton, increased the Martyr's glory, and in that respect, must be allowed a place in the acts of the Martyr. Pleased with the success of his illegal and barbarous proceedings, he had (as we have mentioned) anticipated the day of the execution, that he might rejoice at the sight of the death of this blessed Martyr, whom he had condemned in violation of the received laws of civilized nations. He was either ashamed to appear at the place of execution, or perhaps wished to indulge his savage taste by looking at the butchery from a distance through a glass, without the restraint of being observed by the spectators, who would justly be amazed at so unwonted a proceeding in one of his Majesty's Judges. The Rev. William Harte's letter says—“The Judge stood in a chamber window within the town, with a pair of spectacles of long sight upon his nose to behold the execution.” Thus he glutted his eyes with blood, having first taken an oath not to sit down to table till Arrowsmith was dead ; and dinner was ordered up in a kind of triumph, when his oath was discharged. After dinner some venison came as a present to the Judge. Whilst he was admiring the venison, the quarters of the blessed Martyr's body were brought to him, that he might look upon the bloody act of which he was the author. To glut himself with horror, he barbarously took into his hands the quarters of the dead Father, laying them beside the venison, and not ashamed thus inhumanly to compare them together | * Not content with this, when leaving the town the next day, he turned round his horse, and made him prance, whilst he looked towards the Martyr's head, with vainglorious boast in his act of injustice, and not think- ing it placed high enough, ordered it to be raised six yards above the pinnacles of the castle. Vain and senseless efforts these of impotent hatred Fruitless attempt to enhance the spiteful malice of his deed . The glory of martyrdom had placed his victim out of his reach. If his head was to be raised to a more eminent place, this would only serve to make * It is remarkable that all the historians of this martyrdom, Norris, Tanner, Dr. Challoner, and the authorities he quotes, agree in narrating this worse than cannibal sport In his letter written to Rome soon after the event, the Rev. William Harte says— “After dinner there were presented to him two ſat stags, which as he did behold, admiring their fatness, the Martyr's head and quarters were brought into his sight, whereupon he did make uncivil and barbarous comparison between the quarters of the one, and of the other.” 54 Aafter Æd/zzand A77 ozws/22//. the trophies of his victory more conspicuous. Divine justice is not to be appeased without penance and satisfaction. Within a little more than a year it overtook the cruel Judge, for on the 23rd of January, 1629-30, sitting at Supper, he felt a blow on his head as if some one had struck him heavily with his fist; falling into a passion with the waiter that stood behind him, who protested that he had neither struck him, nor had seen any one else do so, he received a second blow like the first. He was carried off in great terror to his bed, where the next morning he was found struggling with death, and crying out—“That dog Arrowsmith has killed me,” and so died, leaving behind him an example and warning to judges. It was felt by all that this visitation had come from the hands of Divine Justice. And these two blows may have been intended to recall to his mind the deaths of those two innocent persons, Father Arrowsmith and Richard Herst, against whom he had passed unjust sentences. This we leave to the dread decrees of God. One account of his death says that the event took place when Sir H. Yelverton was either on his way to, or returning from, the circuit, and while he was dining in an inn. Foss, in his Zives of the /udges, says that Sir H. Yelverton died on the 24th of January, in that year, at his house in Aldersgate Street ; so that we may suppose he was attacked with a fit of apolexy, or some other disease on the previous evening, at an inn not far from London, and was removed thence to his own house. . The same Oscott College MS. relates a wonderful event that occurred during the time of Father Arrowsmith's execution and astonished the minds of many persons. The day was dark and cloudy, especially at the time when the Martyr was being hung, when a certain gentleman (father of the Reverend John Southworth) declared positively to those who afterwards asked him, that he saw, at the moment of the Martyr's death, a very brilliant light extending in a stream from the prison to the gallows, like resplendent glass, and that he had never before, in the course of his life, witnessed anything of the kind. How different, says Father Morphy in his narrative, was the death of Father Arrowsmith, who, on the very day of his memorable combat, appeared to the Reverend Father Ambrose Barlow,” an English Benedictine monk, then at a * Bishop Challoner, in his Memoirs of Missionary Priests, vol. ii., says that his Christian name was Edward ; and his name in Religion, Ambrose. He was an alumnus of Dr. Thomas Worthington, who aſterwards joined the Society. - - . . Aaſ/her Æamzzzzza! Azzozows/27//. 55 great distance, and ignorant of what had taken place at Iancaster ; and related to him his happy conflict and triumph, foretelling at the same time that Father Ambrose would share in a like glorious end. But let us hear the Martyr himself speak of our blessed Father Arrowsmith. Father Barlow was the next who was executed at Lancaster on September Io, 1641, at the age of forty-four ; and from his prison cell he tells of his future death, and narrates the prediction of Father Arrowsmith, when writing to his brother, the Rev. Father Rudisind Barlow, then at Douay, in May 17, 1641. This letter is quoted in his brother’s MS. narrative of his martyrdom, addressed to the Abbot and monks of Cellanova, dated January I, I642, and Contains these words, “I believe I shall suffer; for Mr. Bradshaw " (this was one of the names used by Father Arrowsmith for concealment), “the last that suffered martyrdom, the night after he suffered, whereas I knew nothing of his death, spoke thus to me, standing by my bedside, ‘I have suffered, and now you will be to suffer; say little, for they will endeavour to take hold of your words.” His happy death verified the prophecy. Father Ambrose Barlow was of the ancient family of Barlow, of Barlow, in the county of Lancaster. He was a Martyr, and had an especial title to suffer for the Faith, for he belonged by religious profession to the English Benedictine Congregation, famous from its first institution for its apostles in many nations, its illustrious Martyrs, and shining lights of the Church, who by their eminent piety and learning, have down to our times in different ways spread and adorned, and defended with their blood the Catholic faith ; and he could also by inheritance lay claim to the title of confessor of Jesus Christ, for his grandfather, though he did not suffer a violent death, yet died in confinement for his religion. This confessor was Alexander Barlow, who in the same great cause was kept in Confinement first at Manchester, and afterwards at a gentleman's seat in the county. He left a blessing behind him in this last prison, where he died, as the family embraced the religion for which ine suffered. Justice to his name and the edification of others have led me to give a place in my narrative to this worthy gentleman and illustrious confessor, lest by the injury of times a noble example of Christian fortitude and patience should be buried in oblivion.* * Father Cornelius Mórphy's Relation of the Deaths of Two Catholics, p. 28, seq. - 56 Aather Edmºnd Arrozws7.22%. We must not, says Father Morphy, wrong the zeal of Father Arrowsmith, or divine grace of its influence, by passing over in silence its effects in the person of a horse-stealer, happily converted in gaol by the blessed Martyr. We must join to the spiritual father the happy son, of whom in his prison he travailed in birth till Christ was found in him. The Redeemer of the world, Who suffered in His persecuted Church, showed the power of His grace in those who co- operated with Him to the Salvation of souls, and triumphed in His Martyrs. They followed His footsteps, and in their behaviour we may trace the lineaments of the original. He is their example, and we know those chosen vessels by the resemblance they bear to the pattern. He snatched on His Cross the good thief from perdition. It is but a consequence of St. Paul's theology, if we compare the valiant soldier of Christ, Edmund Arrowsmith, with his Leader and Sovereign, the King of Martyrs. “For whom He foreknew He also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-begotten among many brethren.” The servant of God, suffering in prison and piously emulating the work of his Saviour, through God’s grace, brought the horse-stealer not only to be a Companion of his faith, but a partaker in his reward of victory. Judge Yelverton, as we have seen, anticipated the day of Father Arrowsmith's execution, to gratify his sanguinary disposition; but did not Providence also: design that the Father should receive the purchase he had made on earth, by his intercession in that glory and from that blessed place, where St. Cyprian affirms the Martyrs are as solicitous for our safety as they are assured of their own felicity P. In effect faith had taken so deep a root in the heart of this. convert, that no promises of life could shake him. His life was often offered him, but to no purpose. He was confirmed by the blood of his spiritual father in Christ, and fixed by the efficacy of his example and his prayers. Like the prudent merchant who, having found One pearl of great price, sold all he had to buy it; so this fortunate horse-stealer preferred the gift of faith, undervalued his life, and, in the sense of the Gospel, sold all he had to secure this jewel. Wonderful but adorable dispensation of Providence, by which the Redeemer, having, in the midst of His sufferings, converted a thief to be a saint; did now, by the person of this apostolical man, His: disciple and imitator, from a horse-stealer raise up a martyr. * Rom. viii. 29. Aather Edmund Arrozwsmith. 57 Such was the blessed close of Father Arrowsmith's life in the forty-third year of his age, and the fifth of his admission, into the Society of Jesus. Thus ended the labours of a Christian hero, a valiant champion, a zealous missionary, a bright orna- ment of the Secular and Regular Clergy. He adorned both with his eminent virtues, illustrated both with the glory of his martyr- dom. He was a man, under a mean person, remarkable for his innocence of life, his affability, cheerfulness, great candour, and easy conversation, which engaged all in his favour, and recom- mended his virtue. He particularly excelled in the work of an Apostolical Missionary; he bent all his endeavours to fill that character, he was fitted to this calling by great natural parts, a sound judgment, a piercing wit. These he improved by industry, and assiduous labour to acquire all possible, qualifications to discharge this eminent duty. His erudition, his sharpness in refuting the adversaries of religion, his fervent exhortations, his zeal of soul, and constant application to the office of an Apostle, were particularly commended by his exemplary piety. This gave a wonderful efficacy to his words and his works, by both which he approved himself, before God and men, a faithful and diligent labourer in the vineyard. Thus qualified, he was true to his trust, he preserved his faith, he fought a good fight, and finished his course. God, in Whose treasures he had deposited a precious life, sent out His champion to battle, forwarded him by His grace to victory, and, as a just Judge, rewarded the conqueror with a triumphal CIOWI). - The Reverend Charles Dodd, in his Church History of Ængland,” gives a short account of Father Arrowsmith from a manuscript account of his death, in his possession, and which was evidently one of those consulted by Dr. Challoner and Father Morphy. After stating that he finds no intimation in his memoirs of Mr. Arrowsmith's having become a member of the Society of Jesus, which some of their writers pretend that he did a few days before he suffered (this shows that Mr. Dodd had not seen the manuscript we have already mentioned), he goes on to say, “But as he is not the only one of the Clergy that made that step, I will not dispute the fact. 'Tis a serviceable expedient to increase the catalogue of men of merit in that Order, and perhaps no detriment to the Clergy in the main ; unless the person so admitted happens to be Possessed of a considerable substance, and bequeaths it away * Vol. iii., pp. 80, 81. 58 Father Ædmund Arrowsmith. by will; which is not mere speculation, if I am not misinformed in some facts of that kind. But even then, 'tis to be hoped the Clergy will not repine at a temporal loss, for the spiritual (at least imaginary) advantage of their dear brother, though they make no vowed profession of poverty.” - This uncharitable remark and insinuation was very evidently uncalled for in the case of Father Arrowsmith, who happened to be, as we have seen, exceedingly poor in this world's goods. As it is a notorious fact, which shows itself throughout Mr. Dodd's useful volumes, that, for some cause or other, he was not friendly disposed towards the Religious Orders in general, and was particularly hostile to the Society of Jesus, we take the present opportunity of recording the circumstance not generally known, that Mr. Dodd on his death-bed made the following solemn protestation, which is in the handwriting of the Rev. James Brown, then chaplain at Mawley Hall, the seat of the Blount family, and who attended Mr. Dodd during his last illness. . “March I, I 742–3. “We, hereunto ascribing, do attest that Mr. Charles Dodd, late of Harvington, deceased, being on his death-bed, desired to declare his charitable dispositions to all mankind, and to the Society of Jesus in particular, as suspected to be prejudiced in their regard, to demonstrate the contrary, he voluntarily and freely gave full assent and consent to the following charitable profession, viz., “As you desire to die in charity with all man- kind, and particularly with the Society of Jesus ; if you have done them any wrong, in writing or otherwise, do you desire pardon and forgiveness, as you forgive them for any either supposed or received injury P’ Whereunto he cordially replied, ‘I do with all my heart, and that as worded and proposed. “By me, JAMES BROWN. “In the presence of Thomas Berkeley [of Spetchley Park].” The Rev. Charles Dodd's real name was Tootill, says Dr. Oliver. He was born in Lancashire, and probably was related to the Grand Vicar of that name, mentioned in Bishop Witham's will, dated November 20, 1723. For the greater part of his missionary career he was stationed at Harvington Hall, Worcestershire, and devoted his leisure and industry to the collecting of materials for the elucidation of Catholic doctrines, and of English Church History. The learned Aadher Æa/m22//za! A77 ozosmazá/. 59 writer died February 27, 1743, aged seventy, and was buried at Chaddesley Corbett.” Dr. Oliver continues (uſ supra): “We are far, very far, from approving that severe criticism and vague Censure pro- nounced by the Quarterly Ā’eview :28 ‘Neal's history of the Puritans is the most dishonest book in our language, Dodd's Roman Catholic Church History not excepted.' Yet his greatest admirers must confess that if the history has many merits, it has also very prominent defects; that its useful- ness is marred by unbecoming spleen and feverish excite- ment against Religious Orders approved of by the Holy See ; that several of his statements stand refuted and con- demned in the very authorities, which he enumerates in the Preface to the first volume of his History. . . . With regret we remark that [the work] is calculated to perpetuate prejudices, little jealousies, and party feelings. Every writer, who makes profession of truth and piety, will be delicately cautious in point of charity and forbearance ; and all Priests especially should act towards each other, as the Apostles did to Paul and Barnabas, by giving the right hand of fellowship.” Dis- union is irreconcileable with the spirit of that Gospel which they preach.” APPENDIX. (From MSS. Dioc. Westmonast, No. 170). A letter /rom Henry Ho/me, endorsed by Thomas Zhornöuzg/, and John A'igmaden, addressed ſo Mr. Zhomas Metcalfe, November 5, 1629, attesting re/ics of Father Arrowsmith. Æiginaden was the Keeffer of Lancaster Castle. “Worthy Sir, My duty remembered; for the certainty of these things which I did deliver you at your being at Lancaster I will affirm to be true, for the hair and the pieces of the ribs I did take myself at the going up of the plumbers to see the leads, when they were to mend them, and the handkerchief was dipped in his blood, at the time of his quarters coming back from the execution to the Castle, by me likewise with my own hands. You know the handkerchief was your own which you gave me at your departure, and for the piece of the quarter, both I and some others had taken part of it for our friends, which Mr. Southworth can witness, and that which I gave you, John Rigmaden, our keeper, gave me leave to take, * Catholicon., vol. iv., p. 121. * Vol. lvii., p. 166. * Gal. ii. 9. 60 Fażher Edmund Arrowsmith. and to bring the rest that I gave unto you again, which I did. promise, and you desiring all, I did excuse myself to him, and I sewed it up with my own hands, and so did deliver it to my dºughter, who brought it you, which you did acknowledge at your coming up to the Castle. All these were the relics of Mr. Arrowsmith, who was executed here at Lancaster the 25[8] of August, 1628, upon the statute of persuasions. I did deliver this to you in July, 1629. I did all those I gave you myself, and more at several times, and had none from any man's hands but my own. Thus, with my love and due respect, I rest at your service to my power. e “ HENRY HOLME.” “Nos infrascripti Omnibus et singulis fidem facimus et attestamur quod, quae Suprascripta Sunt, a viro fide digno scripta sunt; quare dubitare non liceat, quin veræ et propriae suis felicis memoriae Edmundi Arrowsmith, quae D. Thomas Medcalfe tradebantur reliquiæ et quod ad pleniorem hujus rei fidem pertineat idipsum Castelli hujus Lancastrensis, clavifer testatur, in cujus Custodia erant praedicta reliquiae, COllServata. “Data 5 Nov., A.D. 1629. - “THOMAS THORNBURGH. “JoHN RIGMADEN.” Address of letter—“To his very loving and much respected friend, Mr. Thomas Medcalfe,” give this.” | * Mr. Metcalfe was, I believe, a Secular Priest. There are several papers regarding him in the P. R. O. State Papers. I627, October 23. Zomestic, Charles Z., vol. lxxxii., mn. 74, 75. The first number is the case of Thomas Metcalfe, taken on suspicion of being a Priest, and brought by Habeas Corpus to London, having lain in Lancaster Castle for more than two years; demands to be either tried or released on bail. The second number is a certificate of the Gaoler and Under Sheriff, stating the cause of his imprisonment, and his behaviour in prison. v. Aloméstic, Charles V., vol. cv., n. 65. May 29, 1629. Is a minute of the case of Mr. Metcalfe, for two years in Lancaster Gaol, but now removed, to the Marshalsea, London. Underneath is the written opinion of Heath, the Attorney-General, that if he be convicted of a premunire, or if there. be evidence of his being a Priest, he is not bailable ; but if it be a suspicion only, and he be not in danger of a premumire for refusing the oath of allegiance, then he may be bailed. Domestic, Charles J., vol. xcii., n. 95. Secretary Lord Conway writes to the Judges Yelverton and Whitlock, who were then upon circuit at Lancaster, to enlarge upon bail Thomas Metcalfe, a prisoner at Lancaster; A’zážer Aidſ/22/72d Azzozºsmzł/. 6 I Miraculous cure of Thomas Hawarden, son of Caryl Hawarden, of Ažňleton-within-Widmes, in Zancashirc. In the beginning of June, 1735, Thomas Hawarden, a child above twelve years old, who till that time had enjoyed good health, was taken with a slow hectic fever, attended with an aguish and intermittant disorder, and pains in the legs and joints, which increased till the middle of the next following August, when he became so weak that he was unable to walk without crutches, which he used about a week or ten days, when, the distemper still increasing, they were of no further service to him ; and from that time it was necessary to carry him to and from bed, he having lost all strength of his feet and legs, and in all the lower parts of his body. He could not even move his legs, and Suffered great pain in his back, &c., which continued off and on, until his wonderful recovery. About the month of October following, he was seized with a sort of fainting fits, or convulsions, which continued with very quick returns until his cure, especially about the full or the change of the moon. These fits so affected his senses and memory, that he was almost deprived of both, more especially his eyesight, so that he was scarcely able to read above two or three lines, or to remember anything. In the month of November after, he was seized with small- pox, which he had very violently, together with his old disorder; and it was thought with danger of his life. But he got well through the small-pox. The other disorder still continued, by which he was so wasted away, and become so very low and weak, that his parents and those who visited him or to procure his removal thence, where he suffers extreme misery, to some prison about London, where the care of his friends can be more communi- cable to him. He requests them either to do what is necessary, or to direct him how to do it; or if Metcalfe's offence be such as is not capable of either of these favours, to let him, Lord Conway, know, that he may give an answer accordingly. y Domestic Charles Z., vol. cxiv., n. 44. May 21, 1628. Serjeant's Inn. Judge Yelverton states in a letter to Conway, that according to command- ment he has caused Thomas Metcalfe, a prisoner in Lancaster Castle, to be brought before him, and now sends him to Lord Conway, to do with him what he pleases. Upon examination he will neither confess nor deny himself to be a Priest. He has perverted many from the religion here professed. In Domestic Charles Z., vol. iii., n. 48. Is a petition ſtom Mr. Metcalſe, July, 1628, then in the Marshalsea Prison, London, where he had been for two months, and for two years in Lancaster, on an unjust and causeless accusation that he is a Priest ; but no indictment had been preferred against him. He prays to be released on bail. 62 Fażher Edmºzend Arrowsmith, thought him in a consumption past recovery ; because all the time of his illness he expectorated much, and particu- larly after the small-pox. In the meantime several medical men were consulted, and the Opinion of an eminent physician taken upon the boy’s case, who apprehended the pain in the back and other symptoms to proceed from an interior ulcer, and the convulsions and fainting fits, with the loss of his memory and senses, to be occasioned by a stroke of the palsy, for which proper medicine was prescribed ; but it had no effect. The sufferer continued in this low and languishing state until the 25th of October, 1736, when his parents having often heard that many and great cures had been effected by means of a hand of Father Arrowsmith, which had been care- fully preserved ever since, Mrs. Hawarden, believing that her child might receive benefit from the said hand, as others had done before, procured leave to have it brought. And on Monday morning, the 25th of October, 1736, the boy sitting by the fireside, she took the holy hand, which was wrapt up in linen cloth and laid in a box. She brought it to the boy and told him that it was the holy hand of a Saint or Martyr, who was praying in Heaven for him, and that she hoped it would do him good. The boy's grandmother helped him to prepare his clothes. There were present an elderly woman named Sarah Cross, the boy’s three sisters, and a youth who had brought the hand, aged about eighteen. The mother then applied the back part of the hand to her child's back, and drawing it down on each side of the back bone, and then across, she said—“Sweet Jesus Christ give a blessing to it, and may it do him good ; in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Which being done, the boy the same instant said he believed it had done him good. The mother said—“I doubt thou dost but think so; ” still drawing the Martyr's hand up and down the boy's back, with the sign of the Cross, repeating the same or the like words; which she had scarcely time to do twice before the boy declared that he was sure it had done him good, and that he could stand. Hereupon he immediately rose from his seat, began to adjust his clothes, and standing upright, refused the help of his grandmother, who offered to hold him lest he should fall. Mrs. Hawarden, astonished at the miracle, and returning God thanks for this great favour, carried the holy hand to a room adjoining, where two Protestant tailors were working, and desired them to come and see what had happened. They Aaſher Edm2/72d A77°ozvsmazáž. 63 both came, and were astonished to see the boy walking about the house, whom they had both seen lame not a quarter of an hour before. All the neighbourhood were equally surprised, and flocked into the house in great numbers, upon the report of this wonderful cure. From that time the boy has daily grown and increased in strength and health, being quite free from all his pains and disorders, his eyesight and memory restored, to the great glory and honour of Almighty God, adorning the crown of martyrdom in His servant by this wonderful sign, to the inexpressible joy of the child's parents, the edification of the Faithful, and admiration of all the country thereabouts. - After the child rose up, and walked about as above, his mother asked him what he thought of the hand before she touched him with it. He answered that he believed it would do him good, and that immediately upon the first touch of the hand, he felt something give a shoot or sudden motion from his back to the end of his toes. - Several attestations by witnesses are attached to this relation. “We whose names are subscribed do hereby certify and attest the truth of the above-written account, being present at the cure. Witness our hands— “JANE CROSBIE, SARAH CROSS, “THOMAS HAWARDEN, CATHERINE HAWARDEN. “The 27th day of November, 1736. “We whose names are subscribed do hereby certify and attest the truth of his lameness and cure, having seen him almost every day during his illness and lameness, and imme- diately after his cure. “WILLIAM NAYLOR, “WILLIAM Scott + his mark. “ MARGARET THOMASON + her mark. “JoHN CHADWICK, Protestant. “JOHN ORME + his mark, Protestant. “BRIDGET SCOTT + her mark, Protestant. “ MARTHA ECCLESTON. “MARY DENNETT + her mark. “THOMAS DENNETT + his mark. “WILLIAM DENNETT. “JANE SCOTT + her mark. 64 Fażher Ædmund Arrowsmith. “We whose names are subscribed do Certify and attest the truth of his lameness and cure, being in the next room and having seen him not a quarter of an hour before his cure, and the moment after it. “WILLIAM APPLETON + his mark, Protestant. “THOMAS ROSCOE + his mark, Protestant. “The under-written attest seeing him lame the day before his cure, and immediately after. “CATHERINE DENNETT + her mark, Protestant. “RICHARD THOMASON.” Attestation of Mary Fletcher’s wonderſial cure on the 20th of AVoz/eſ/affer, 1768. “In the name of God, Amen. “I the under-written Mary Fletcher, daughter of Richard and Ellen Fletcher, at present about fifty years of age, being born at Denton's Green, in the township of Windle, within the parish of Prescot, in the County palatine of Lancaster, in the year of Our Lord, 1719, and now living at Denton's Green aforesaid, spinster, being at present Sound of mind and memory, and in perfect senses, thanks be to God for the same, do hereby certify and attest that before I had attained to the complete age of fifteen years, being then an orphan under the care of my uncle and aunt, Mr. John and Mrs. Perpetua Fletcher, with whom I then lived at Denton's Green aforesaid, it pleased Almighty God, on the 4th day of May, 1734, to visit me with a lameness, which so affected my right side, particularly my arm and from thence to my right knee, as to render me unable to bend, or dress my own feet. In June, 1735, my aunt, Mrs. Perpetua Fletcher, took me with her to Holywell, where by bathing I received some benefit, and recovered so much strength, as to render some service in the family after my return ; but a lameness still remained, attended with pains in all the parts first affected, except my arm. About four or five years after, being in an ill state of health and bad habit of body, I broke out in boils and blotches, particularly on the small of my back and about my knees; hard kernels growing at the same time on my sides, so that I could scarce lift up my arms. Disorders thus increasing, I had recourse to Mr. Thomas Tetlaw, apothecary in Preston, aforesaid, but to no effect. Still desirous of relief, Father Edmund Arrowsmith. 65 I consulted Mr. Thomas Gill, another apothecary of the same town, who delivered it as his opinion that nothing could effect my cure but a salivation. Mr. William Shephard was also of the same opinion, and accordingly, in May, I 748, I was salivated by Mr. William Shephard, Commonly known by the name of Dr. Shephard of Stanley Gate, which salivation had no effect, besides that of rendering me still weaker and more helpless. From that time I grew worse and worse, and in April, 1749, a slow fever came on, attended with Convul- sions and hysteric fits, and also with violent and almost continual pains in my head and breast, which in a short time reduced me to a wretched, low, weak, and miserable condition; in which situation I remained without much alter- ation, except growing weaker and weaker, till the year 1756, when a profuse spitting came on me, attended with retching in such a manner that I could scarce retain any nourishment, my stomach frequently rejecting it, almost as Soon as it had received it. - * “In the year 1758, growing still weaker, I fell almost as often as I made any attempt to move by the help of sticks or crutches, which at length becoming quite useless, I was unable to stand or move from One place to another, without the support or assistance of some charitable hand. In the year I 764, most of the above-mentioned disorders still continuing, and the weakness in my back and loins greatly increasing, I became almost entirely helpless, except the little assistance I received from my hands and arms, which for the most part, since my return from Holywell, I retained pretty good use of, thanks be to God for the same. .* “For these three or four last years my convulsions often returned, the pains in the head and breast were almost con- tinual, and I was frequently seized with such cold shivering fits and interior tremblings, that my sister Ellen and others have often supposed me at those times in the agonies of death. Doctor Ralph Thicknesse, physician, when consulted on my case in December, 1767, declared me past all relief from any human assistance. And three others (pretenders to physic), who were known to have performed great cures on others, were also consulted upon my case, but all and each of them declared it was not in the power of medicine to afford me relief. “Between four and five years ago, reading the account of the death of Father Edmund Arrowsmith (a holy man and Priest of the Society of Jesus, who was executed at Lancaster, F - 66 Fażher Edmºnd A77°ozwsmezz/. on the 28th day of August, in the year 1628, on account of his religion and as a Priest), together with the account of the wonderful cure wrought by his intercession and the touch of his holy hand in the person of Mr. Thomas Hawarden (which account is prefixed to the relation of Father Arrowsmith's death, printed in the year 1737, and which holy hand is still carefully preserved), I conceived great hopes of relief from the same, in case I could procure the benefit of being touched by it. Accordingly I frequently petitioned that blessing, but not being able to obtain it, I endeavoured to submit, in the best manner I was able, to the will of God and of those I had made choice of as my directors under Him, still wishing and praying that some day or other that favour might be granted me. At length it pleased Heaven to favour my petition, and my desires were accomplished on Sunday the 20th day of November last, viz., 1768, when about three o'clock in the afternoon, my brother, John Fletcher, brought the holy hand aforesaid to the house where I then was. On that day and for about a week before, I found myself as bad almost in every respect, as I had ever been during the whole course of my illness. At the sight of the holy hand I returned thanks to Almighty God, rejoiced much, and conceived great hopes of relief in my wretched situation. My brother John retired, leaving the holy hand with my sister Ellen ; and whilst she was preparing to stroke my back with it, I prayed to Almighty God that His holy will might be perfectly accomplished in me, and that if it was His blessed will and pleasure, and for the good of my soul, He would please in His mercy to restore to me the use of my limbs through the intercession of Father Arrowsmith, and by the touch of his holy hand. Then I said —“Holy Father Arrowsmith, pray for me, that I may recover the use of my limbs, or words to that effect. Then my sister Ellen made the sign of the cross upon my back with the holy hand, and stroked the same down to my loins, saying—“In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen’—three times in honour of the Most Blessed Trinity, beseeching holy Father Arrowsmith to intercede for me: I repeating several times the same prayer, viz. –“Holy Father Arrowsmith, pray for me to Almighty God, that I may receive the use of my limbs, if it be God’s holy will and pleasure. Then my sister stroked the holy hand in the form of a Cross upon my breast, we both repeating the same prayers as above, or words to the same effect. Father Edmund Arrowsmith. 67 “My brother John who had brought the holy hand was then called in, and finding myself better and some little strength restored to me, they raised me upon my feet and supported me on each side, I trembling very much all the time through excessive weakness. Supported in that manner I walked or rather shuffled across the room with great pain and difficulty, then leaning on a chair which runs on Castors I found my strength increase very fast, still praying and repeating—‘Sweet Jesus, help me.’ In less than six minutes after the holy hand had touched my breast my tremblings both interior and exterior left me, and have never since returned. I then knelt me down, but not in an erect posture, to return thanks to Almighty God for the benefit I had received. Finding my strength still increase, I soon imagined myself able to kneel upright. Accordingly I raised myself without assistance, and leaning on the chair with Castors I went across the room and back again with ease, and without any other help. Soon after I walked about the room by the help only of two sticks, and finding my strength continue to increase, and the use of my limbs restored, with tears of joy I returned thanks to Almighty God, who had wrought this miracle in my favour by the intercession of holy Father Arrowsmith, and the ministry of the Martyr's holy hand. After saying my usual prayers (which for the first time for above three years I recited upon my knees in an erect posture) I retired to rest. Unable to sleep for joy, I spent a great part of the night in thanksgiving, Sometimes on my knees in bed, and sometimes walking about the room without a stick or any assistance. The next day being Monday, the 21st of November, I got up about six, and it being washing day, I assisted my sister Ellen at the washing tub, after which I baked some cakes for the family, and per- formed several other domestic employs that day, to the great astonishment of those who had seen me a miserable Cripple the day before, and had known me a wretched helpless object for many years. “As to my other infirmities, thank God for it, they daily mend and grow better, without the assistance of any medicine or human application whatever. I have never yet had the least return of any convulsion, hysteric shivering, or trembling fits. But continue daily to improve in health and strength. “A slight pain, indeed, sometimes attacks me in my right thigh and knee, though I have the perfect use of both. In so much that I have several times walked miles, and have F 2 68 Faż%er Ædmund Arrowsmith. knelt half an hour at a time without support, and without much fatigue; so that I suffer those slight pains with joy, as they serve frequently to put me in mind of the immense blessing I have received from the merciful and all-powerful hand of God, whose wonderful goodness has wrought the above miracle in my favour, through the intercession, and by the holy hand, of Father Edmund Arrowsmith, to His own great honour and glory; to the adorning the Crown of mar- tyrdom in His servant; to my own unspeakable joy; to the edification of the Faithful; and to the admiration of all who know me. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand-seal, this 15th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1769. ~ # (L.S.) “MARY FLETCHER + her mark. “Signed, sealed, and delivered by Mary Fletcher in the presence of - “PHIL. BUTLER.32 “ FRANCES BLOUNT.88 “WIN. ECCLESTON.34 “THOMAS CONYERS. “ELIz. RIGBY. “We, whose names are subscribed, do hereby certify and attest the truth of Mary Fletcher's attestation, as above, con- cerning her lameness and wonderful cure, having been with her almost the whole time of her illness, and constantly, almost every day, for these last twelve years, and also present at the time of her cure. Witness our hand, “PERPETUA FLETCHER, “ELLEN FLETCHER + her mark. “We whose names are subscribed do hereby certify and attest the truth of Mary Fletcher's lameness and cure, having frequently seen her during the time of her lameness, and soon after her wonderful cure. Witness our hand, “JOSEPH BEAUMONT.3% * Mr. Butler was the Vicar General of Bishop Francis Petre. * This was Lady Blount. * Dame Winifred Eccleston of Cowley Hill. * Father Joseph Beaumont, for many years Procurator of the College of St. Aloysius, and for some time its Rector. Father Edmund Arrowsmith. 69 “I underwritten do declare that the cure effected on the body of the above-mentioned Mary Fletcher may safely be regarded as miraculous. - - “FRANCIS PETRE.36 “Sholey, May ye 8th, 1769. “Mary Fletcher's attestation, so far as it concerns me, contains the truth in Substance, though perhaps not in express terms. I thought her lameness so bad, that it was not probable that any remedy could be found for it. But I have seen and conversed with her since her wonderful cure. “RALPH THICKNESS.E.” The Rev. Father Francis Blundell, S.J., in sending a copy of the above account to Father Richard Knight, S.J., of Lincoln, in a letter dated March 17, 1770, recounts another striking miracle wrought by means of the same holy relic upon Father Joseph Beaumont himself, one of the witnesses of the above attestation. Father Blundell says: “The above is Con’s [Conyer's] composition. Several other attestations might be procured of Cures no less miracu- lous by the same holy hand, but are neglected. Lately, |Mr. Beaumont's throat and mouth were mortified, and nothing but instant death expected; he had not been able to swallow his own spittle for several days, when upon the touch of the holy hand he was cured of the complaint in an instant, to the great surprise of the doctor and everybody else.” For some generations past this very precious relic has been in the possession of the Gerard family of Garswood, Ashton, and is kept at the Presbytery, Ashton, in the care of the Reverend Chaplain and Missioner there. How it first got into the hands of that worthy family, we are unable to record. The cures wrought by its means, through the blessed Martyr's intercession, are of constant occurrence, and a volume could not contain the full narration of them. It is to be regretted that no proper register of such events has been kept. We close this life with the following interesting account of a very striking miracle wrought in favour of a little child, a few years ago. For this we are indebted to Brother John Mullen, S.J., who himself suggested to the child's parents that they should apply to the holy relic, and in whose house the cure actually occurred. We cannot do better than give it very nearly in Brother Mullen's own words. * The Right Rev. Bishop Petre, V.A. 7o Father Edmund Arrowsmith. *& A relation of a miracle wrough: one ſhe £erson of Bridgef Conzway, daughter of Mr. Peter Conway, of Newton-le-Willows, labourer, in Messrs. Žames Mus/rais and Sons' Chemical Works, Newton-le-Willows, Zancashire, through the intercession of Aſather Arrowsmith, Martyr of the Society of jesus, and on Žhe application of the holy hand of the said Martyr. Bridget Conway was the child of Peter Conway, the parents were Irish Catholics. About the year 1848 or 1849, the child was about two years old, a fine, strong, lively child, beginning to speak, and without the least sign of disease. At the time I have mentioned above, I lived with my mother and brother and a sister at Newton-le-Willows. My brother and I were also in the employ of Messrs. Musprat, and we lived next door to Mr. Conway. The child Bridget frequently came into our house and I used to play with it, consequently the child and I increased in affection for each other ; we were also on friendly terms with the parents of the child. Suddenly I missed the child for several days. I asked my mother about it, wondering what could be the cause of the child absenting itself for so long a time. My mother told me that the child had been seized with some mysterious disease, and was unable either to stand or walk, and what was most wonderful, the child had no marks or signs of having received any injury from falling, or any other cause, and in all other respects was as healthy and lively as it had been, previous to the loss of the use of its limbs. After many examinations, the afflicted parents became thoroughly con- vinced that the disease was of such a nature that human aid could not be of the least service in the case. They told my mother their affliction, and entreated her that she would not spread the report among the neighbours, because they looked on themselves as stricken by God. When I heard the above account from my mother, I felt exceedingly grieved, both for the affliction of the parents and the infirmity of the child, and I observed to my mother that if the parents of the child thought that human aid could not be of service to it, the best thing they could do was to try Supernatural means—that at Ashton-le-Willows there was the holy hand of Father Arrow- Smith, renowned for its miracles ; that the distance was only three miles, and that it was their own parish chapel, and the inconvenience of trying was not great ; that no harm could Aaſher Ed'mazºna. Arrozwsmazáh. 71 come from their trying Supernatural means; that the Saints worked their greatest miracles when practising charity to their neighbour in affliction, and no doubt but God, through the intercession of Father Arrowsmith, would console the afflicted parents if they would have the holy hand applied in the ordinary way, by taking it to the Parish Priest of the Ashton mission. My mother told the parents of the child what I had said ; they felt greatly consoled and resolved to take it to the holy hand. Shortly afterwards as I was returning from Mass on a Sunday, I met the father and mother on their way to Ashton carrying their child to be touched by the holy hand, which was applied shortly after the service of the last Mass. The parents returned home full of hope, but there was no change in the child, they waited some days and there was not the least sign of amendment. The parents relapsed into their former affliction, and told my mother of the failure of supernatural means. I then said to my mother that there could not be any impediment in the child, because, she was too young ; that the fault must be with the parents; that they were not likely to move God to work a miracle in their behalf, while they were actually offending Him by not hearing Mass on the very same Sunday that they had the holy hand applied ; that if they would go to Confession and Communion, and if the mother of the child would, at the time of the Elevation of the Sacred Host, beg through the intercession of Father Arrowsmith the cure of the child, that no doubt God would grant the favour they desired, and that they need not have the holy hand applied a second time. My mother also exhorted them to this course, and shortly afterwards the parents did exactly as they had been advised. They left the child in my mother's care during the Sunday morning that they went to Mass in order to obtain the desired favour ; the mother of the child begged, through the intercession of Father Arrowsmith, during the time of the Elevation of the Sacred Host in the Holy Sacrifice, that if it was pleasing to the Divine Majesty her child might be restored to health. Just exactly as the mother was praying for her child, as appeared afterwards by comparing the time, she was in my mother's arms, and showed an inclination to walk. My mother tried if she could stand, and to her joy and surprise the child ran about the house as if nothing had been the matter with it. The parents were overjoyed on returning to find their child restored to health. The next morning the little 72 Aather Edmund. A 2-rowsmith. girl was running about her own house and ours as usual ; she ran to me with her usual joyful laugh, saying—“Ha, ha, Johnny l’ that being the familiar name by which I was then called at home. The parents of the child and Our family were thoroughly convinced that the cure was a true miracle. The child continued to enjoy the best use of her limbs up to the time of my leaving Newton, which was about twelve months after the cure. Relation of Mr. Rigby’s (Arrowsmith's) Martyrdom.” I. “Whereas, in the beginning of the examination of the blessed Martyr, being demanded whether he were priest or no, made this answer, that he was no ways bound to accuse himself, but did refer himself unto his accusers, which when the judge had once more urged, and that he could get no better answer, he turning himself to the jury said, he doth not deny himself to be, as by his ſanswer is] manifest. Unto which the prisoner made answer that he was there appointed by the King's majesty to execute the law and not to expound it; at which the judge being incensed gave some reproachful words, and which you have related. 2. “The justices arising, being at the time of dinner, the prisoner came up to his own chamber without any attendants, either sheriffs' men or keeper, to take care of him there, reposing an hour or very near, being much afflicted with the toothache; and [at] the time of dinner was some meat set upon the table. The keeper came up to him weeping, and told him that he must go into the chamber where at his first coming into gaol he lay among debtors, where he was very well beloved. When he was departed his meat was sent after him, which he very nearly did eat. And when the judges had dined, they came to sit again, which having sat again, they called for this blessed Martyr, and after the jury was despatched, and had their bill of indictment, they presently returned and had found him guilty; the judge demanded what he should say for himself, for it was manifest he was a priest and seducer, and a setter of sedition between men, as there was under oath delivered. Upon which occa- * From the collection of MSS. belonging to the Bishop of Southwark, p. 73. Endorsed as above. Pather Edmund Arrowsmith. 73 sion he began to speak for himself, but was suppressed with command to keep [silence] whilst the judge gave sentence of death, which he, interrupting the judge in the same sentence said, ‘Sirrah, hold thy peace, or I will stay thy tongue.” 3. “In his pursuit by the justice of the peace and his. company, the eldest son of the said justice, being well horsed, continually crossed him in his way, and the two contending together, his intent was to have unhorsed him, which if he could have done he had escaped, but he could not ; the man which struck at him with his sword was another man; his staff which he cut was [an] ordinary cudgel, so much that it was admired that a man at one blow could cut in sunder, which if it had lit. upon his head, it was supposed would have cloven him to the shoulders, but God for his greater glory did prevent. 4. “The furious judge in his sentence of death could not content himself to give sentence of death, but likewise gave sentence of damnation, which was in these words—‘Thou shalt Soon know that thou shalt die betwixt heaven and earth, as unworthy of both, and thy soul to descend into hell with all thy adherents.’ And likewise when he had thus said, he like- wise said—“I would to God that all the priests in England were in the like case.’ - 5. “In the time of his death there was a gentleman who, was father unto Mr. Southworth, which was his fellow prisoner, who [was] demanded at his return from [the] execution what ceremonies they used at the time of his death, who did sincerely protest that in the window of his chamber he saw a most resplendent brightness, such an one as in all his life he never saw before, which did show itself from the prison unto. the gallows, as if it had a glistering glow, and the Sun at that time was obscured with clouds, and the most part of that day likewise, which being related seemed wonderful unto us. 6. “Likewise, going to his execution, there was in his way a maid, whose father and mother lived in the prison, who were Catholics, and did live in the same part of the castle with him, and upon same occasion she stood still with the drag whereon he was sent, to whom he spake in these words—the maid's. name was Margery—asking her by name if she wished any- thing with him, who replied nothing she desired but his Company, who upon this persuaded her to continue in her. religion, and not question but she would be a blessed soul in heaven; so the sheriff arriving to the place of execution she was parted. The maid returning home, when night drew '74 Aaſher Æaſm2272d Arrozws/22#/. on she went to bed, and was to lie in the chamber where one of the keepers' wives did lie at that time, which when this maid being first asleep, she fell to dream as followeth—Fetching a great sigh she said, ‘Lord, Mr. Rigby, in what a stately place is this where you now live, which is so bright, composed of silver and gold ; would God I might remain with you, for methinks the place is most Sweet, like flowers or perfumes. IBut when in the morning she awaked, her chamber-fellow demanded what she dreamed of, who made answer that to her remembrance she had not dreamed of anything; and thus the woman who, being a Protestant, was greatly astonished, and hath had many scruples Concerning her faith and religion. And this is all I can say upon his part.” 75 III. FATHER JOHN WORTHINGTON. FATHER JOHN WORTHINGTON was the first Superior or Rector of the College of St. Aloysius—Primus fuit qui in Provincia Jancastrens? ſixà Sedem. He may be considered as the father or founder of that extensive district. He was nephew to Dr. Thomas Worthington, the third President of Douai College (a notice of whom will be found in this volume). He was also a relative of Cardinal Allen, the founder of Douai College. Father Henry More" says, there were at this time (1598) enrolled in the Society of Jesus two brothers of the name of Worthington, John and Laurence, most useful Missioners, natives of Blainsco, in the County of Lancaster.” John, then a boy of twelve years of age, was preparing to cross over to the Continent with his Uncle Thomas and his three brothers, when he was seized and put to great trouble by the pseudo- * Hist. Prov. Angl. S./. l. vi. n. xxx. p. 273. * Bains’ History of Zancashire, vol. ii. p. 165, says, “Blainscough Hall gave name and residence to an ancient family, which terminated in Adam Blainsco of Blainsco, gentleman, whose daughter and sole heiress was married to Henry Worthington, Esquire, a younger brother of Worthing- ton of Worthington, and grandſather of Richard Worthington, who died I528, and whose son, Richard, married Dorothy, daughter of Robert Charnock of Charnock, Esquire. Thomas, their eldest son, married Mary, daughter of John Allen, Esquire, of Rosshall, and died 1619. His descendant, William, was living, an infant, 1664, and had six sisters. The hall passed into other hands, and is now a ſarmhouse.” There is a dis- crepancy between Mr. Bains and Mr. Dodd, Church. Hist. of England, vol. ii. p. 31O. Edit. 1739. Mr. Dodd says that Dr. Thomas Worthing- ton (afterwards S.J.) was the son of Richard and Dorothy Worthington, whereas Mr. Bains makes Thomas to marry Mary Allen. Mr. Dodd, who wrote from letters and authentic MSS. (named by him), I shall treat as the more correct authority, and shall therefore suppose Thomas to be the eldest Son, unmarried, and a second son to have married Mary Allen. The pedi- gree might stand thus:— Bºr (daughter. = HENRY WORTHINGTON of and sole heiress) Worthington, Esqre. wommºn I C, D. sº WORTHINGTON = E. F. died 1528 sº == DOROTHY (daughter of THOMAS CHARNOCK of worrisºn = G, H. Charnock, Esqre. Fº D.D. (afterwards S.J.) died 1626 at womew = MARY (daughter of JOHN ALLEN of Biddles Staffordshire Rosshall, Esqre.) Card. Allen's sister. º S.J. JoHN S.J. ADAM BLAINSCOE = A.B. of Blainsco | died 1637. died 1648. Father /o/n Worthington. 77 Bishop of Chester and the governor of that district, who, one while by blandishments, another by threats and terrors, endea- voured to seduce the tender mind of the boy from the true faith, to the newly invented and false rites. The wonderful constancy displayed by a child of such tender years, and the precocious answers he made, excited the rage of the heretics and encouraged the Catholics.” At length, escaping from their clutches by a clever device, he went with his brothers and uncle first to Rheims, and thence to Eu, in Normandy, to Father Parsons; from this place accompanying the Father to Seville, in Spain, he there commenced his higher studies, and in the year 1597 went with Father Parsons to Rome, to complete his course of divinity at the English College.* Having been ordained Priest, he was admitted to the Society in Rome, October 27, 1598. After making his novitiate at St. Andrews, and spending a year or two at the Roman College, he was sent to Valladolid, and made father minister in that College; during which office, although he was unable (says Father More) to calm the disturbed minds of the alumni, yet he so mingled sweetness with severity, that whatever he did «y * In an appendix, at the end of the account of the Worthington family, will be ſound a deeply interesting narrative of the “conflict” of Father John Worthington and his brothers, when children, taken ſrom Bridge- water’s Concertatio. * Father More says, 1. v. p. 159, speaking of the foundation of the English College at Seville, that the Provincial of Boetica had sent to Father Parsons for some subjects to begin it. Father Parsons, ever intent upon an opportunity for doing a good work, and being a man of large soul, quickly sent two, and followed after himself with four other chosen subjects. George Chamberlain and John Worthington were the two sent. Having prepared a short Latin address, which was heightened by the eloquence of its delivery, in which they made known the causes of their exile, and their plan of studies, they gathered, on their whole journey, much compassion and applause from the Bishops and Abbots. Being kindly received by the Fathers of Seville, and by the Senate, they merited by their piety, the prosecution of their studies; they also explained their mode of life, and lastly, ended by assuming the modest dress of the Colleges, so that neither house, nor furniture, nor any other point necessary for leading a community life was wanting. On the feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury, after solemn High Mass, sung by the Bishop of Seville, John Worthington, having asked the Bishop's blessing, ascended the pulpit and delivered a Latin oration of an hour's length. The ſunction being over, both of them on their knees before the altar pronounced with a loud voice the form of oath prescribed by Father Parsons at the English College, Rome, the nature and utility of which Chamberlain afterwards explained in Spanish to the assembled people. 78 Father /o/n Worthington. they took in the best part." At length, his health breaking down from the unwholesomeness of the climate and the burthens of his office, he was sent to the English Mission in the year 1604. On arriving in London he was immediately sent to visit an unfortunate man who, from fear of persecution and the desire of gain, had been drawn to attend the conven- ticles of the heretics. Being in imminent danger of death, he was recalled to a sense of his state, and made his confession, and after he was restored to health by the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, he returned to the practice of his duties as a Catholic. Father John Worthington was the first of the Society who fixed his abode in Lancashire. By his labour and industry, and special gift of preaching, he rendered himself dear to many, not only there, but in the neighbouring parts also, thus opening a large field for the members of the Society. He did not readily admit his catechumens to the Sacraments, but tried them well, and made them often return to him for instruction. Indeed, he allowed such as he found fit to make the Spiritual Exercises according to the method of St. Ignatius; but others, who were not so easily brought to that disposition, or whose minds were unprepared for so strict a retirement, or were too much occupied with business to allow them to meet together for so many days, he would invite to private conferences, explaining to them one day the foundation of a Christian life, or the end for which man is created, to serve and honour his Creator, and thus to save his soul. Another day he took consideration of sins, of the gravest that can befall man; and thus he disposed them to confession, with great feelings of Sorrow for past faults, and resolutions to lead in future lives worthy of Catholics, labouring, as they were, beneath the heat of persecution. On the district of Lancashire being formed into the College of St. Aloysius, in 1622, he was appointed its first Rector, and held that office for twenty years, to the great benefit of Catholics and increase of his own merits. * The annual letters of the English College of Valladolid, for the year I6O4, do not bear out Father More's allusion to a disturbed state of the alumni. There were then fifty-three scholars, and thirteen members of the Society, besides servants. The College proceeded happily, and with dis- tinction ; for in the size of the house, and the number of its alumni, it rivalled the English College, Rome. The youths were an example of piety and modesty to all, and at the same time so industrious in the pursuit of all virtue and learning, that great things were expected from them, for the glory of God and the salvation of their country. Father /o/n Worthington. - 79 He was sent as Procurator, or agent, for the English Province to Rome in the year 1632–3, and returned thence with the merited and confirmed opinion of all that city for his prudence and sweetness of manners. He lived to see those times in which, under King Charles, everything was turned upside down, being then seventy years of age. Nevertheless, at that age, and in those storms, he was so active, so observant of his rules, as to excel novices in fervour of Soul, and veteran religious in prudence, as appears by his letter or narrative, written by obedience to his Father Provincial during his captivity, and which will be presently given. He fell into the hands of the Parliamentary troops in 1643, and his captivity lasted, according to Father More and Mr. Dodd, until 1648, when it pleased Almighty God to deliver this holy soul from all these troubles, by a death, ordinary indeed, yet of which, though not rendered glorious by the laurels of martyrdom, we may say; as reward for his great labours, Fulgebit sicut stella in Žerºetuas a fermitates guid ad justifiam erudivit mulfos—“ He shall shine as the stars for perpetual eternities, because he hath instructed many unto justice.” He died January 25, 1648, aged seventy, having passed fifty years in religion. He was solemnly professed of the four vows November 4, 1613. As appears by his letter, he was allowed, towards the end of his Captivity, to go about on a sort of parole of honour, which enabled him to render good service to his fellow Catholics. An ancient M.S. says of him, that on his arrival at the English College, Rome, he was treated as a pilgrim for eight days, and then admitted ; that when in Rome he had to deliver three orations, the first in April before the Pope, upon occasion of Father Parson's return from Spain; the second before the Very Reverend Father General, S.J.; and the last upon St. Stephen's Day, before the Pope, and that he was above forty-six years a missioner. Father Matthias Tanner, S.J., in his Vita et mors /esuitarum, fro ſide interſectorum," says: This veteran soldier of the army of Christ in his zeal to subdue souls in England to His yoke, for forty years watered that island with the sweat of his aposto- lical labours. Hence it may be conceived with what troubles, dangers, and great calamities this holy man must necessarily have been tried, in the extreme difficulties of those times. Whilst prodigal indeed of life and blood for the salvation of Souls, he was nevertheless so wisely cautious and circumspect * Dan. xii. 3. * Page 149. .8O Father /o/n Worthington. as to elude for many years the scent of the hounds that tracked him with the most sagacious pursuit in every corner of the kingdom. Very often, like Athanasius, lying concealed, ..and, as it were, buried in the deserted dykes and ditches of the earth, like Felix, amongst ruined walls of houses, struggling against hunger and thirst, cold and want; then, after a lapse of time, again issuing forth in public with renewed Courage, he not only strengthened Catholics in their constancy to the Faith, restored the lapsed into heresy to the Church, but also severely belaboured their over-confident leaders and masters in controversial engagements. And because in all these things he was distinguished by a singular prudence, and rendered himself by the Sweetness of his manners most agreeable even to the Protestants, he was at length proposed as Superior of his brethren. After fulfilling for some time the duties of this office to the entire satisfaction of all, and the no small fruit of Catholics, he fell at length into the enemy's nets, receiving the recompense of his long labours in a glorious death for Christ. Confined in a wretched prison, he endured severe sufferings for several years; being perpetually assailed with many harassing and dangerous ques- tions concerning the equity of the oath of allegiance, of his own proceedings during his long residence in England, and other matters, from which they might, under the specious pretext of justice, compass his death. Yet to all these he gave the most able and satisfactory replies, Cleverly eluding their cap- tious questions, by which they hoped to ensnare him, cautiously and circumspectly behaving himself throughout. He could never, however, be made to Swerve from his condemnation of the oath of allegiance, offering his body to be slain by a thou- sand deaths, and to be torn in pieces by the rack, rather than he would allow himself in the slightest point to admit or approve a thing so wicked and execrable. Whilst looking out for the usual reward of his courageous Confession, by the death he so much desired at the hangman's hands, his reward came to him through the long Sufferings of a prison, to his greater merit, as the punishment was a more lingering one. He died happily in vinculis, January 25, 1648. But how meritorious was the cause of his envious death, may be con- jectured from the form of this most wicked oath, which in those times was proposed by the Parliamentarians to all Catholics throughout Britain, and was so constantly con- demned by the father. In proportion as this oath surpassed Aather John Worthington. 8 I in iniquity that of Queen Elizabeth and James, so much the greater was the glory of the death he suffered for its rejec- tion.” Father Tanner gives the following forms of the two oaths:— “I, A. B., do truly testify and declare, in my conscience, the Queen to be supreme governess both of this realm of England and of all her Majesty's other dominions, no less in all spiritual and ecclesiastical matters and Causes, as in temporals. And that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate, either de facto or de ſure, hath any juris- diction, power, Superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, eccle- siastical or spiritual, in this realm. And, therefore, I do fully renounce and repudiate all external jurisdictions, powers, superiorities, and authorities.” But the more execrable form proposed by Parliament runs thus – “I, A. B., do abjure and renounce the Supremacy and authority of the Pope over the Catholic Church in general, and over myself in particular. And I hold it as of faith that there is no transubstantiation in the Supper of our Lord, or in the elements of bread and wine, after their consecration by any person whomsoever. And of the same faith I hold that there is no Purgatory; that the Consecrated Host, crucifixes, or images Ought not to be honoured with cultus, and that no cultus is due to them. I also believe that no salvation can be obtained by works ; and I abjure all doctrine in confirmation of the aforesaid points, and I renounce them without any equivocation, mental reservation, or secret evasion what- ever, taking my words now uttered according to the common and usual acceptation of the same. So help me God I’ Zetter of Father John Worſhington, Rector of Żhe College of St. Aloysius, Zo Father Provincial, Edward Knoff. The earnest desire and entreaty of your Reverence, that I should write an account of my long captivity and painful imprisonment, have the force of a command which I willingly obey, though two special difficulties occur to prevent me. The first is, that the roads are so beset, and the times so dangerous, that nothing can be committed to writing so fully as to satisfy. G 82 Aather /o/* Worthington. friends, and not run the risk of sending me back to my prison hole, if it be intercepted; since it is well known that I am not liberated from imprisonment, but only allowed a respite within certain bounds. The other is that, in the troubles of the whole kingdom and the Common Calamity of all Catholics, my own has little that is extraordinary to be looked upon as worthy of notice. But as I must speak, the following is a part of my history— I was not yet taken prisoner, but next to being imprisoned for many months before I actually fell into the enemy's hands, for as soon as the war broke out, the house in which I was had been marked out for plunder by the heretics, from hatred to our religion. At night stones were flung against the doors, the windows Smashed, and guns continually fired to alarm the inmates, until the insolence of the mob rose to such a pitch that our friends gave up hope for us, and said that our enemies were resolved to pull down the house. I had a secret hiding- place, in which for many years I had near me a safe retreat from the search of the pursuivants, but the increase of fury and rage against religion now made it less secure. At last there came a regiment of horse, with threats and violence demanding admission. I made my escape through a shrubbery and betook myself to a coal shed, in which I could neither well stand nor sit, and here I remained until two or three o'clock in the morning, when a servant came and told me that the house was ransacked but the enemy gone, and that I might safely return. It was an unlucky haste, but I did so, and being heartily tired I was about to take some rest, not having slept a wink, when some Judas of the neighbourhood suggests that the part of the house in which I usually resided had not been searched, and that there I was to be ſound. Soon there is a loud knocking at the doors, and the windows battered, and cries of death to all unless there is immediate admittance. So I quietly slipped on part of my clothes, carrying some with me, and, escaping from the house, took refuge in an Outhouse, where, half clothed, I spent the night. The soldiers, rushing into the room, found the bed warm, and shouted—“The Priest, the Priest, that old fox We will have him unless he hide in the earth; we will burn him alive.” However, they had me not as yet. At early dawn of day I betook myself to the woods, where I wandered that day in “deserts and caves of the earth.” And it was the mercy of God that I fell not. into the hands of the soldiers, for they were not far off; and Pather /o/* Worthington. 83 they even brought up a cannon to demolish the house, which, it was said, was going to stand on its defence. The gun burst at the first attempt to fire it, and the enemy beat a retreat. But whither was I to go—a man of declining age and health? Besides, I knew how little success had attended many others who had attempted to escape, and had only fallen into the enemy's hands. And where could I be secure? So I returned to the house, and concealing myself there, first I burned the writings and the bundles of letters which had escaped the search, and I had the best part of the stuff of the house conveyed away; though, having none to trust with it or myself, I hid the greatest part of the valuables in such places of con- cealment as could not be discovered, even though the house, as it was afterwards, should be pulled down. Your Reverence knows that there was house stuff for the use of ours good and in plenty, which I would not leave for the enemy to seize upon. A few days of tranquillity followed, but this was not for long. It was a Sunday, and after our religious duties we were taking some refection, and had hardly sat down to table, when a soldier at the window bawls out a decree of Parliament, bidding us quit the house, which was to be seized for the use of the Parliament. We rose from table and looked out to see what was the matter, and saw a troop of some seventy dragoons. What could a few weak people, unused to arms, do against a troop of soldiers P But some, thinking it was a shame to let in the enemy without striking a blow, seized Some guns and fired a few shots, killing one soldier. Upon this the enemy, in a fury, endeavoured to break in with Crowbars, uttering threats of death mingled with oaths and blasphemies. One of milder disposition than the rest advises us to Surrender, which accordingly we did, on condition of Our paying down to the soldiers three hundred florins, and delivering up all our arms and ammunition. We were to be allowed our liberty and a part of the house to live in, in which we were to be safe from harm, but prevented from doing violence and resisting. As it was evident we must either Capitulate or lose our lives, the enemy was admitted, the money paid, and the arms given up. The soldiers took possession of the house, and all the entrances were guarded, that none might escape. I concealed myself that night, and the following day they searched the house from top to bottom. I still lay hid, which was to little purpose, in the chamber G 2 84 Father John Worthington. occupied by your Reverence on your visitation, only the door of it was hid by a cupboard placed against it. The soldiers were close by, keeping up an uproar, and as the walls were covered with handsome wainscot, they broke in almost every panel, that nothing might escape them. Having finished their search and made a meal, the colonel and the captain departed, leaving a strong body to guard the house. When these were gone I thought it best to come out and commit myself to the care of Divine Providence, and take my chance with the rest. So I left my hiding place and joined the community unobserved, and for two days was not suspected, but the traitor was upon me before I could, as I had intended, effect my escape. The colonel returned after the two days, being informed by the Judas in what part of the house I was. He set his men to guard the passages, and burst in up the stairs, and had nearly reached my chamber, when, hearing the noise of their Coming, I went to meet him and see if in any way I could appease his fury. The lieutenant first met me, and seizing hold of me, led me to the colonel. He, knitting his brows and turning his face away, would not so much as Speak to me, but sent me for examination to a young man of Some parts and understanding, but a great talker, who began to give me a compendium of his life. He had studied at Oxford, and gone abroad (it seems he had made a course of Humanities so far as grammar at Dieppe), he had conversed with Jesuits, and on his return had betaken himself to the ministry of the Word, and had held forth some three times in public, and so on ; that seeing the country in civil war, to give it his aid he had buckled on the sword, and so joined the camp and cloth together, had fought in every battle, and become a smart soldier. Then he broke out into praise of the colonel, that he was a man of extraordinary piety, and had held high posts in England and Ireland, where he had been a judge. And now that I was sent for examination before himself, to be declared a Priest and a Jesuit, and accordingly guilty of death. I replied that I had deserved nothing of the sort. Upon which he says, “Stuff, that is taken for granted, that is supposed.” “Well,” said I, “if that is taken for granted, what, if you please, is to be done P” Then says he, “If you have a care for your life, and look for favour, show us where your hidden treasures are, and renounce your Order.” To the first I replied, that there were no treasures; and as to the second, I was not the kind of man he took me for, but Father John Worthington. 85 were I so, that no man could, without disgrace, renounce his duties and apostatize. A soldier was then set guard over me, and so I was made a public show. And the next day a huge crowd of people of all kinds came to see the place which had been taken, and what sort of monster I was. To those who seemed of the honester sort and questioned me, I replied that I was a Roman Catholic, without saying more, not to put myself by my own avowal in danger of death. Some of the baser sort came to me and treated me with much indignity and insult. One would put down his head and ask me to absolve him from his sins, another would put some question in joke to get an answer, a third would bring out a cartload of lies against religion from Protestant books. One says, “I’ll take thee to London to the Parliament to be hanged;” another, “We'll put thee on a horse, and jolt thee well, and tie thy legs under his belly to keep thee on, and drive him with whip and spur to teach thee to ride.” And abundance of such like besides. Meanwhile others are venting their rage on some holy pictures which they had found hid. Several of the Blessed Virgin, and St. Ignatius, and St. Francis Xavier they burned, and of other Saints. There was one, a representation of the Holy Name, of considerable size, which had served for the canopy of an altar, and was well executed. This they tore into fragments, and then betook themselves to burning the books, of which there was a good number also. But to com- plete their impiety they brought out a crucifix which I had procured some forty years since, well and beautifully carved, and because I had used it so long, and it was so full of moving devotion, I valued it much. This they exposed in the midst of the court, not for holy reverence, but for the mockery of the blinded people, and as an object for daily and hourly insult. This scene of mockery continued ten whole days, so that I was never alone even at night, for my guard was always laid beside me, and I was thrust into the vilest closet in the house. Meantime they continue their search ; the floorings are pierced, the walls battered, the staircases broken up, the pavement dug up with Spade and pick, and everything turned upside down. When anything new is found there is a fresh Shout of triumph, and a bonfire lit in the hall. Missals, and the Code of Canon Law, and many other valuable books, are thrown into it, amid the jubilee of the malignant. Mean- While my friends and acquaintances all forsook me, and none 86 Father John Worthington. durst hold out a hand to help me for fear of being involved in the same calamity. When the riot had lasted long enough, an order comes that I should be taken to the next town, four Roman miles distant. At this town there was a garrison of soldiery, of no great number, but as it was market day, and the report of my coming had drawn many thither, but especially three squadrons of horse, which came, it is said, for no other reason, the cavalcade thither was not without its Solemnity. The whole of the way they carried before me the image of our Lord Jesus crucified. I rode upon a sorry beast, without boots or spurs, but still I kept giving it my heels with Such continual motion, that it must have been evident to all that I was not only content, but full of joy in following so nearly my Lord and Master on the crucifix. Ten armed soldiers guarded me round, and so as I entered the full market-place about mid-day, the first who carried the crucifix cried several times aloud, “Here is the god of the Papists l’’ The poor wretch thought that the people would shout and applaud, but quite the con- trary. Only one woman was heard to Say anything insulting, and she was quickly stopped by many who cried “Shame.” And, indeed, along the whole way, and in the town, men stood astonished, and gazed in silence on the Spectacle. Among others, a minister said, “I am astonished to see such mockery in my people. Do we not all believe that Christ suffered on the Cross for the redemption of mankind P” Dismounting, I am taken to a room where ten or twelve soldiers were sitting eating and making merry. I was invited to join, but I did not accept the invitation. Then the colonel, who sat at the head of the table, said, “I know this man, and I saw him at Ghent among the Jesuits.” “When was that, good sir?” said I. “Three years ago,” said he. “Some One like me, perhaps,” said I, “but out of England could no One see me for the last ten years, for I have abundant proof of the neighbourhood around that I have not been.” Still he stuck to what he said, and there was nothing that stood in my way more in the procuring of my liberty, than this one man's ill- founded but obstinate assertion. One who sat next the colonel Surpassed all bounds, crying out at almost every word, “It is a lie!” and adding other injuries. Another cried in jest, “He has paid four hundred florins for his life, squeeze him well, and you will get as much for his liberty, and then send him back to prison again, and so he will give you good plunder.” When the colonel rose from table, he began to praise the Father John Worthington. 87 Jesuits, saying that they were polished, pious, and learned in their way, temperate in their life, and, in fact, such as to shame men of the reformed religion, who were so unlike them in life. Then, as he was going out of the door, he turned and said, “But all this they spoil by their doctrine of merit.” After he had gone out there came in a number of the common sort as for a play, and with mocks and laughter made game of me as a charlatan, asking in Sport for absolution from their sins. So I stood like a baited bear with dogs about me, until, after some hours, the people dispersing at the close of day, a kind entertainer took me to a chamber such as, time and place considered, was well enough. And so that night I slept pretty well, a guard sleeping by and the doors bolted. The following days are spent in skirmishing with heretical ministers, who were a set of poor antagonists, whom by the help of God I always overcame. Meanwhile, report got abroad that I was a Bishop, a Cardinal, or Some great man of note. Hence the commander-in-chief of those parts was desirous to have me, and make some money by me. From hard travelling, bad lodging, and change of living, I had got paralyzed of the right side, and was hardly a little recovered when I was put on a sorry, raw-boned, and half-denuded horse to be conveyed to Stafford, where the commander was. It was a journey of two or three days, but by showing kindness and pleasant manners to my attendants and entertainers, I so won their goodwill that, after the first day, I had nothing to complain of as to my horse or other supplies, so readily and carefully was all provided. The commander-in-chief was very polite, until my ragged coat, and my refusal of all great titles, and the rest of my conversation, changed the common opinion, and I was sent to a place befitting my poverty. The number of prisoners growing greater, we were all transferred to a hired house in the town. Here a chamber was allotted me, poor and ill-furnished, but not incommodious, with a decent bed and fireplace, but also with watchmen and ward, so that access was given to none without the written permission of the governor, or a captain, or commissary. There must be also witnesses of all that passes, and neither money nor any necessary can be brought in without their knowledge. No books, much less any sacred ones, and endless suspicions. My Courage did not abate; nay, in this state of solitude and Weary imprisonment, I never was more full of peace, or found the words more true, “I am with him in tribulation.” So 88 Father John Worthington. that, not even in my novitiate at St. Andrea, under Father Fabio de' Fabii, nor in the Roman College, under Father Benedict Justinian, did I enjoy greater happiness, or feel more sensible consolation from Heaven. Blessed be my God for ever ! My friends, meanwhile, were looking for every oppor- tunity to assist me, and through means of one of Our Fathers, |Prince Rupert had been induced to agree to give in exchange out of the eight or ten prisoners whom he had at Shrewsbury (all of whom were captains or officers of note), whomsoever the commissioners of the Parliament chose in return for me. The commissioners were delighted. The commander-in-chief himself would bring me the good news, and tell me that the bearer of the proposal had come. The townspeople wish me joy, and are glad that I have such friends in authority. I got ready for my journey, the commander promised me a good horse, and I reckoned upon departing the next day, but it was a delusion. The colonel, who said he had seen me at Ghent, again full of Spleen against me, goes to the Commissioners and says that I am incapable of the grace given me, as guilty of high treason, and that I must appear before the Parliament. I had scarce fallen asleep, for I had retired to bed full of hopes, when I am roused by the Commander summoning me to a Council of war and the commissioners of Parliament, and that I must hasten without delay. And so I made ready for another scene of the drama, which the Colonel would fain make a tragic One. On the road I earnestly besought God to remember His promise and to aid me, so that without my being solicitous what I should answer, He would give me a mouth and wisdom which my adversaries should not be able to resist. Entering the Council I found a large table, round which were seated Colonels, captains, and commissioners. I do not well remember how the trial began, but I know. that a seat was placed for me between the president of the council, and my chief adversary was the said colonel. He had in his bosom some papers, each of which he produced from time to time. Having mentioned the house in which I was taken he thus began his accusation, First, that when it was Surrendered, contrary to the conditions made, I had hid myself, and had been forcibly dragged from my hiding-place; that I had lain concealed many years in that house, and travelled in various countries under false names, was an unmarried man, had a magnificent chapel, and held by all to be a Priest ; and finally, to prove this capital charge, he showed a document Father /o/n Worthington. 89 written five years ago at Rome, in which were letters patent, giving faculties to a certain Ralph Noel, and this name and these letters he ascribed to me, and hence would prove that I was a Priest, having suborned a boy who falsely swore that I had told him that I was one. Having said this, he rose and uncovered his head, and added, “Now my word is in question, and whether you will believe this man or me as to the truth of these things.” Then being ordered to speak by the president I rose, and uncovered my head and spoke in the following manner—“Noble and honoured sirs, you see me an old man of feeble health disturbed from my rest, and without prepara- tion, to answer all my opponent has so carefully and variously alleged against me; therefore, if in my reply there be anything omitted which I ought to answer, be pleased to remind me of it. And to begin where he ended, I say it is so far from true that I confessed to this man here that I was a Priest, that I call Heaven and God to witness that I never spoke to this man One word nor one syllable, nor he to me.” And when I affirmed this again and again, and was ready to Swear it upon the holy Gospels, the man was ashamed of his effrontery, but tried to cover it by saying that at least the servant, whom he had sent to me, thought that I acknowledged something of the kind. The hearers were in astonishment and were silent. But I thinking that this falsehood was not to be lightly passed over, “Away with such excuse,” said I, “you presume, and you give this for certain proof. And what crime is it if I have travelled abroad, am I therefore a Priest P. How many thou- sands are there of you that have been abroad, and yet there are not many Priests among you. I am unmarried; are all unmarried persons Priests P But why did I hide myself? Is it so unusual to hide from a victorious enemy if one can escape easily P Who trusts easily an enemy in the flush of victory P” The judges themselves here said, “No one does.” “But I had paid the sum agreed, and I was free to stay in the house or to leave it the next day if I pleased. As to hiding myself, I met in open day, and in the most patent place in the house, the lieutenant who seized me. Let him be called and give his witness to it. As to the chapel, we are not Godless unbelievers or Turks, we do not give to God, as some do, barns Or stables, or woods or groves as the heathen ; we consecrate to holy usages the place in the whole house which is the most honourable, nor are the ornaments of our altars poor, but if we have the means, the vessels used are of silver and gold.” 90 Father /o/n Worthington. “But,” said he, “some one must serve the altar.” “That is not necessary,” I replied, “for there are never wanting among us those who eagerly take on themselves this honour.” “And these are they,” says another, “whom we want to know of ; speak, where are they P” I smiled and answered, “Whom do you take me for ; for an informer?” Then another broke in with warmth, saying, “There are twenty persons in thy vicinity who called thee the Priest of that house.” “You are mistaken, my good sir,” said I, “if you say only twenty, for there are more than forty or a hundred who partly in jest and partly in earnest call me so ; it is so easy that from One bad root many stalks should grow, but what is more common than to give a bad name of this kind where there is no truth at all in it? Many times it is so.” But why, it was then asked, hide so many years P “I hide there was no honest man in the parish who did not know me and what table I kept, neither brewer, nor baker, nor butcher, who was not anxious for my custom ; none was better known than I to the Excise officer and other public functionaries. If any contribution was to be made for the poor, or dowry towards a wedding, my money was always ready and given at church in my name. Was this to be living in secret? 'Tis true I was no huntsman, hawker, cockfighter, or tennis player, nor was I a frequenter of taverns; but I had honest recreations with my friends in my garden and woods, and I was so well known in all the town that there was not a dog that barked at me.” Enough, said they, on this point. But my old adversary had now furbished up the same weapon, and attacked me, saying, “What do you reply to the lad who says you confessed you were a Priest?” “Nothing,” said I, “ and I appeal to the judgment of all who are present whether it is likely, or credible, or possible, that any one in his senses would confess against himself a thing of this kind if he could conceal it P Which one of yourselves would thus betray him- self to such open peril P” “Not one,” said they, “for the proverb is—Confess and be hanged.” But then some witling among the colonels says, “Nay, but God first dements those whom He will destroy.” To which I replied, “Sirs, it is old age which is my complaint, but not dotage.” Then the paper is produced which they took for a testi- mony of my ordination. It was entitled “to the Rev. Ralph Noel,” and then followed the faculties granted. This title I read to them, and said that they were not testimonials of Orders, but conferring of powers or jurisdiction to Some young man of Aather /o/n Worthington. 91 that name, and that these were given five years ago, by which it was proved that they did not belong to me, and that the name of Ralph Noel had never been used by me in all my life. “As iſ,” said my opponent, “it was not a daily practice with you to assume new names.” Then the president averred: “That this was essential to the Jesuits.” He knew more about Sword fence than logic. I professed myself ready to yield my cause, if this could prove that I had ever been called by any other name than John. Then a chief man among the Com- missioners put an end to the dispute by rising from the lower. end of the table, and saying, “Sir, I bear witness to the truth of what you say, that nothing was done or said by you from the first time you were prisoner, by which you professed your- self a Priest.” Hence my adversary was confounded, and the Council breaking up, the president addressed me thus—“If we had known that you were wearied from your journey and had gone to bed, we would not have broken your rest.” “And I, honoured sirs, if I have in defence of my cause spoken with too much freedom or vehemence, I beg you will pardon it.” He replied, “You have said nothing deserving blame.” And So, this tempest over, I seemed to have reached harbour. But my adversary goes on to make a new objection. He contends that letters had been written by him to the Parliament on this business, and that its orders must be awaited unless they would give Offence ; that I was a man incapable of receiving pardon ; and, as a friend informed me, said other malicious things of me. By this my hope of liberty was again dashed. Closer guard was kept upon me, nor was any one allowed to confer with me except before witnesses. It was strongly urged that I should be immediately sent to London, and that this would much please the Parliament, nor was anything else looked for by me each night than at each cock-crow I should have to depart. But the commander-in-chief, who looked for money in the matter, went to the commissioners and told them the com- mand of General Denby, officer in those parts, by which it was enjoined that no prisoner should be removed from thence without his, the commander's, consent, and that he would not Consent to my sudden removal. And so the storm was appeased. In the judgment of many this was the prelude of perpetual imprisonment. The same kindness was no longer shown me, Watchmen of a lower grade more often intruded on me. I was never left alone—watchful eyes were on me through every Cranny, and the commander himself was dubious as to allowing 92 Fażer /o/n Worſhington. any of my fellow-prisoners to come to my chamber or converse with me. 2 - It happened that at midnight about the first cock-crow I was suddenly wakened by a loud knocking at the door. I asked who was there P They knocked more loud, and said, “Open the door.” “What is the matter, and what is this about?” I said. “It is the captain of the watch; open,” they cried. I rose, and in my night-dress only. It was the depth of winter; I made haste to open the door. At least twelve armed men rushed in with lanterns. A cunning fellow, who led them, was before me at my bed, and turned it upside down before I could reach it. Some examined the chest, some the fireplace. I am shivering and half perished with cold, and why this uncivil intrusion ? To find letters which I had not, and to obtain proofs which they desired for my destruction. Then there followed some months of greater quiet. Nor do I remember anything of note except the closeness of my rigorous imprisonment. Meanwhile the county assizes are to be held, for deciding causes, for condemning the guilty and acquitting the innocent. And who was the judge? None other than he who had always been my bitterest enemy, the colonel. Some few, however, gave me hope of being set at liberty, because as yet nothing had been proved against me, and there was no pro- bability of further proof. But many circumstances looked to me very black. He who had lately suborned a boy could easily find a witness to swear against me. And so a feeling came upon me of a kind of presage that my death was quickly to ensue, a thought which certainly gave me no alarm, but I wel- comed it with such joy and exultation of heart that I never felt God more near to me. I imagined that the hour was come, and thought in what words I would address the people and what reasons I would give for my death, how I would express my excessive joy, and I felt such a strength of faith, hope, and charity, that I had already prepared some words of a dying man addressed to the point of saving souls, declaring that no one could be saved out of the Catholic Church ; and I had resolved after sentence passed how I would sing the 7e Deum and ask of God with prayers and entreaties the execution of it. Not long after the Protestant minister comes to me, and positively declares that he had just lately spoken with a Catholic (naming the man) who had confessed that I was a Priest and a Jesuit. Frightened by this falsehood, all those who had hitherto shown me some goodwill forsook me, for it was Aather /o/n Worthington. 93 thought to be all over with me, and that I should be con- demned to death at the ensuing assizes. However, God aided me, and would not have me perish in this storm. For this said Catholic, whose testimony the minister adduced, when he heard of it, being indignant above measure that his word should be made use of for the destruction of the innocent, declared himself ready to swear that he was not guilty of having said Such a thing, nor had ever So Spoken ; nay, that I was not even known to him. So shameless is the falsehood, and so barefaced, of heretics. So the anger of my enemies was for a time appeased, or rather baffled, but I had not yet to repose. After this I had to contend with a fit of sickness so obstinate that I was utterly exhausted, and could not move a foot, nor even stand to have my bed made. There was no doctor there, but only the apothecary of the regiment, who almost killed me with his treatment. The Commander again went to the com- missioners to ask for a servant to attend me, and obtained his request, and through the mercy of God he found me a good man, and one who was very Suited to me. So I got well ; and this, moreover, was added to Complete my Satisfaction, that, by the care of this faithful servant, a book was procured me with the necessary stuff for use, and as the want of it for two whole years and some months had increased the bitterness of my captivity, so the joy at obtaining it was the greater. About this time a pestilence began in the town, and the commander's wife, who was with child, was excessively afraid of being taken with it, and urged his departure, upon which he had been some time resolved. Many of the prisoners, either having procured ransom, or having given bail, had betaken themselves away. I, helpless and forsaken, what was I to do? The commander, about to part, had inquired of his people what he should do with me? They contemptuously replied, “Put him in the public prison.” This occurred over night, and in the morning my servant Comes to me Crying and sob- bing bitterly. “What is it?” said I. “Alas, sir,” says he, “you are to be sent to the public gaol.” “Is that all,” said I; “I care little whether, in the cause I Suffer for, it is gaol or gallows.” And I thought that I Ought to show no sign of Sorrow on my countenance in presence of those who had shown such charity in assisting me, nor indeed could I do otherwise than look cheerful, when I felt my heart within full of joy in the goodness of God; but I know that at that moment I would sooner have heard the sentence of 94. Father /o/ºn Worthington. death passed on me, than the message to send me to that prison. By the providence of God the purpose was not exe- cuted, for the kindness of the commander was so great to me that he would have me with him in the country, with leave of the commissioners. The journey was for me a trying one, but the pleasant situation and the flow of the noble river which ran hard by the house soon restored me. Besides I had freedom to go where I would, and this was of much good for Souls, for in the neighbourhood there were many Catholic inhabitants, who had no opportunity of the Sacraments for three years, and so I comforted their desires after so long a period of privation. The commander was always well pleased to see me recreate myself, and by his care and great kindness towards me, it was at last brought about that under bail of appearance if summoned, I should be allowed in a great measure my liberty, for I now live in the house of a gentleman, who has not only given sureties for me, but has me for his guest, and I am in no Small comfort. And I very frequently make excursions for the good of souls, protected by the letters and signature of the Commander from the interference of ill-wishers. Your Reverence's most entirely obedient. “If I have become a fool,” to quote the Apostle's words, “ye have compelled me.” 95 IV. FATHER LAURENCE WORTHINGTON, S.J., Confessor of the Faith and AExile. FATHER LAURENCE WORTHINGTON, brother to Father John, entered the Society in Spain soon after his brother had joined it in Rome, viz., in the year 1599. After his noviceship, which he made in the province of Boetica (Guadalquiver), he passed through his course of studies with so great success that he was made Professor of Philosophy at Cordova and Seville for eight years. Burning with zeal for the salvation of the souls of his countrymen, he was sent into England in the year 1612, where, as well when at liberty as when confined in prison, he gained no small fruit. After three years in England he was appre- hended (1615), and thrown into the prison called the Gate- house, Westminster. After being confined there for three years he was released at the intercession of Count Gondomar, the Spanish Ambassador, and with eleven other Priests, all known to belong to the Society, with the exception of one John Bedingford, who was probably a Jesuit, bearing this assumed name. Their names were Ralph Bickley, Alexander Fair- clough, William York, Henry Hawkins, Richard Bartleet, John Sweetnam, John Bedingfield, Francis Wallis, Francis Young, and John Falkner. Father Laurence was changed from the Gatehouse to the Marshalsea, and from thence was sent into banishment. In the Public Record Office" is the following document:- “We whose names are here underwritten, prisoners in the Marshalsea for the Roman Catholic Faith, do willingly adopt of the gracious favour his Majesty is pleased to grant us at the instance of the Earl of Gondomar, Lord Ambassador for the Catholic King of Spain. “June 20, 1618. “LAURENCE WORTHINGTON. “JoHN BARTLETT.” * Zomestic, James, State Papers, 1618, n. II.4, vol. xcvii. 96 Aather Zaurence Worthington, S/. Upon his banishment he became Master of Novices at Louvain, then Professor of Theology and Holy Scripture at the English College for higher studies at Liège; then for a time Prefect of Studies at the English College, Rome. He was then sent, although advanced in years, in 1635, to Austria, where he was Professor of Moral Theology and Lecturer on Sacred Scripture at the College of Graecium. Then, returning with the Duke of Lorraine and Prince Cassimir into Belgium, he undertook the spiritual charge of the soldiers in the camp. From his known sanctity of life and manner, and the excellence of his learning, as well as his consummate prudence in treating of affairs, he was chosen Confessor to Edward, brother to the Duke of Braganza, afterwards King of Portugal, whom he attended in the field, in the German wars. But being soon worn out by the labours and inconveniences of a camp life at his age, after receiving the rites of the Church, he died at Lorraine, October 19, 1637, aged sixty-four. He had been solemnly professed of the four vows, and was a man of great simplicity combined with religious prudence, truly humble, and a despiser of earthly things, and most tenderly devout to the Blessed Virgin, whose rosary he would recite for whole days together. The following interesting letter he wrote from his prison in the Gatehouse to Father Thomas Owen, Rector of the English College, Rome, who succeeded Father Robert Parsons as Prefect of the English Mission of the Society, on the death of the former in 16Io. “October 3, 1616. “Hon. Sir, “ P. Xti. “I know well how agreeable it will be to your Reverence to be made acquainted with our affairs. I write therefore briefly to relate what has befallen myself and Father Francis Young, my companion, during the present year. Having been arrested last year and confined in this gaol, I applied myself in the first instance to the relieſ of five Catholic laymen, who on account of their refusal to take the oath of allegiance and supremacy (as it is called) being cast into the lower dungeons of this prison, were overwhelmed with exces- sive mental and bodily sufferings. For by the rough clamours of abandoned men, together with the noise of the keepers, they were hindered from the practice of prayer (that greatest Father Zaurence Worthington. 97 solace of the miserable), and from the help of the Sacraments (the divine and salutary assistance of which we all experience in these most calamitous times). They suffered in their food and clothing, and from the severe want of the necessaries of life, and were especially molested by the filth and stench of the place, so that they could scarcely get any sleep. “To enable me, for charity sake, to come to the aid of these poor sufferers, I treated with the gaoler for their removal to the apartment which had fallen to my lot, and which was sufficiently large to admit them. The gaoler, however, and his wife, a woman most greedy after money, would not agree to this unless I promised them the enormous sum of four hundred scudi (about 24,90). This sum I got together partly by bor- rowing, and partly by begging, so that I thus, according to my wish, got them more conveniently lodged before winter set in. The quarters of the prison so allotted to me, being divided into two compartments, I adapted to sacred and profane uses. In the one compartment was an altar of the Blessed Virgin immaculately conceived, in the other were beds for Our nightly rest. I was, indeed, truly delighted with the Society of these my comrades, on account of their remarkable probity, piety, and sanctity. We had daily two or three Masses, fre- quently six or seven, according to the number of priests Con- fined here; these they attended with marked devotion, and piously and frequently confessed and communicated. All, with the exception of one who was a sexagenarian and infirm, rose at four o'clock, and we occupied ourselves conjointly with spiritual reading, prayer, both mental and vocal, and other pious exercises, at stated hours, so that, to my no Small delight, religious life and discipline seemed to be in some measure pourtrayed. To assist these companions and many others, by the help of God and of Catholics, alms were not wanting. “But that I should say something of the spiritual guest of Souls, be it known that indeed the first half-year succeeded sufficiently happily to myself and my companion, Father Francis Young A For the Catholics in great number flocked to us, so much so that from fifty to sixty auditors would attend Our monthly sermons. But the enemy of all good and sanctity * As he is so intimately connected with Father Laurence, we shall give, at the end of this notice of his life, a short account of Father Young, and an extract from a letter written by him, in the same prison, to Very Rev. Father Vitelleschi. º H 98 Aather Zaurence Worthington. stepped in, to prevent our enjoying for long so profitable a work. For the pseudo-Bishop of London, upon the information, as it is believed, of a false brother, whilst a pious Benedictine was making a panegyric of his holy founder, upon the Saint's feast, at Mass, sent his satellites to the assembly, especially a noto- rious one of the name of Cross (a name most apropos,) with a large body of his comrades, and, seizing about thirty men and women, distributed them in various places of confinement, because they refused to take the oath of allegiance, as they call it. Of these captives some were assigned to be with us; these, Seeing the great opportunities we enjoyed of frequenting the sacred mysteries, and of spending our time in holy things and pious exercises, not only bore their Captivity without repug- nance, but greatly rejoiced. But I return immense thanks to our great and good God that it happened on this occasion that few, and scarcely any Catholics, especially of the richer class (who are chiefly sought after by the pursuivants), who are in the habit of coming to me and Father Francis, fell into these Snares. Two days before, they had heard me preach a panegyric upon St. Joseph, the spouse of the most holy Mother of God, and this accounted for their not being on the feast of St. Benet. So many likewise, and these so frequently came to me to con- fession during the first six months, that in each week I heard more in the prison than I had heard in six or seven weeks when free. I have brought back, by the help of God, six wandering sheep to the fold of Christ; three others are in preparation for a return. The pursuivants so seldom visited us and ours, that almost all fear being laid aside, on feast days the chapel was decorated with silk tapestry hangings and the altar with flowers, pictures, and wax candles. Indeed, on the greater festivals I exposed the most Holy Sacrament to view in a crystal box or case, Shining with rays, although this was very seldom done “for fear of the Jews.” May God bless my good friends of Spain who sent me twenty-eight scudi, to procure this crystal On festival-days I have frequent Catholic festive parties, who bring with them so abundant a store of food that it suffices to supply the poor Catholics for many days. It is incredible to how great distress some Catholics are reduced. Men of rank, who formerly sup- ported six or seven priests, are now almost struggling with extreme poverty. These are nearly all the events that hap- pened to me in the first six months. But from that time the number of those who flocked to us is considerably diminished. Father Zaurence Worthington. 99 i Some, indeed, we persuade to deal more cautiously with us ; others, careful of themselves, have no need of our caution in that point, being deterred by the late arrests I have mentioned. Wherefore I now began to visit both themselves and their houses. Perhaps your Reverence will wonder that such great liberty is allowed us ; but such is the opinion our gaoler enter- tains of our faith, or rather so blind is the avarice both of himself and of his wife, that there is nothing, however diffi- cult, but may be obtained. For a more convenient locality in the prison you give so much : for taking fresh air within its bounds, for a little while, so much : to go out into the suburbs for an hour or two (only on condition that you do not hold controversy about religion), so much : I, therefore, purchase each week, at a great price, suburban circuits of this kind, under the pretext, indeed, of preserving health, but, in fact, that I may visit the houses of Catholics, and of Protestants also, if there is any hope of spiritual gain, whether by administering the sacraments, disabusing them of schism, and inciting Catholics to patience and fortitude. Truly this avarice of our strange governor furnishes an abundant harvest; but the fear of losing a liberty so useful (for both the gaoler and myself would be severely punished if the thing came to the knowledge of the magistrates or pseudo-bishop), and the enormity of the price demanded, sometimes deters me ; not, however, that I am wanting to any one who desires my Services. f As to what regards my dear brother and fellow-soldier in Christ, Father Francis Young, he zealously labours in defending and propagating Catholicity ; for he confirms the Catholics by frequent sermons and private conferences; confutes the heretics by assiduous disputations, and spends the time he can spare from the service of his neighbour in prayer, spiritual exercises, and in translating pious books into English for good example and public benefit. He chiefly devotes himself to the study of controversy and languages. He has brought nine or ten from the errors of Calvinism to the Church, and provides for the necessities of poor Catholics, to the great glory of God and the Society. May our Lord Jesus Christ second and favour our beginning, that according to the degree of our high vocation, we may be found worthy and faithful labourers in the vineyard of His Church. And that we may more surely and prosperously persevere, we entreat the aid of your Reverence's prayers. Offering to our Very Reverend Father General, and H 2 Ioo Father Zazerence Worážingdom. his most worthy Assistants, and the rest of our brethren and friends, our duty and regard, and every good wish, we earnestly and humbly beg the prayers of all. From our excellent hospice (commonly called the ‘Gate of the house,” Gate-house, or, as I shall interpret it, “ of heaven'), the 3rd of October, I616. “Your Reverence's most devotedly in Christ, “LAURENCE WORTHINGTON.” Father Laurence Worthington translated into English the Meditations of Francis Coster on the Life and Passion of Christ. Douay, 1616. Father Francis Young, the companion and fellow-captive of Father Laurence, was a native of Worcestershire, studied for some time at Oxford, which he quitted for conscience Sake, and entered an alumnus at the English College, Rome. We extract the following from the diary of the English College : “Rome, 1598. Francis Young, Worcestershire, aet. 28. Admitted among the alumni of the English College on the 3oth November, 1598. Took the usual college oath 28th February, I 599, in which year he received all the minor orders. He was made subdeacon on the 16th, and deacon the 23rd of May, and ordained priest on the IIth July, 1599. He entered the Society about the feast of SS. Simon and Jude, in the year of Jubilee, 16oo. [Dr. Oliver says 27th July, 1608, at Louvain.] Kelicia bona adjicatione in dom. 770sfra.” The following is from an account he gives of himself, when examined according to custom on entering the English College. [A valuable collection from these interesting ex- aminations has been lately obtained for the Royal Historical Manuscript Commission by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson.] “Born at Hartlebury, Worcestershire; made his early studies partly in public schools in that county, and partly at Eton. Spent nearly nine entire years at Oxford; two in St. Mary's Hall, the rest at Trinity College. He was then for three years private tutor to Lord Robert Dormer's eldest son. His father, Mr. James Young, was a respectable person in easy circum- stances, residing at Claines, near Worcester. His parents were Protestants. He was a convert of Father Edward Oldcorne, the martyr of Worcester. He then retired to Flanders, and from thence went to Spain. Seized by robbers Father Laurence Worthington. IOI in France, he was plundered of everything, clothing and money, and carried prisoner to Bonn, where, with his com- panions, he was kept in prison, held for a long time between hope and fear, in expectation of being ransomed. Regaining their liberty, they came to Calais, where, embarking for England, they were compelled to put back from stress of weather, after being nearly lost. Attempting to reach England a second time, they were captured by two men-of-war cruising about, and after being stripped and robbed, were carried to Holland, and at Rotterdam taken before the Council, and at first harshly treated, being suspected to be Jesuits, but were subsequently used more mildly ; and after one or two months’ suffering in prison, were remitted to England, where, landing at Dover, after being examined by the searchers, they were sent on to London, and there examined by Sir William Wood, Secretary to the Privy Council, and being found to be neither Jesuits nor priests, they were remanded back to custody, in the hope of being soon discharged, which, by the goodness of God, and the interference of friends, happened after some delay, and various incidents, and sendings to and fro between . Wood and the pseudo-Archbishop of Canterbury. His release was effected partly by a money-payment, and partly by a bond not to leave England.” After some years' service on the English Mission, he was apprehended and confined, with Father Laurence Worthington, as we have seen, in the Gate-house prison. He consoled himself in his captivity by rendering spiritual Succour to his fellow-captives. He was released and banished with his companion, Father Worthington, 1618. He returned again to England, and continued his apostolical labours until his death, which happened 3oth March, 1633, aet 58, in Religion 25. His name also appears in a list of English members of the Society of Jesus, which was with other papers carried off by the Government pursuivants on their seizing the residence of the London Jesuits in Clerkenwell in 1628. He was then a missioner in Suffolk. He was the translator of Cardinal Bellarmine's treatise, ZXe ascensione menţis ºn ZJeum, 8vo. London, 1614. The following is an extract from his letter to the Very Reverend Father General Mutius Vitelleschi (Stonyhurst MS. Anglia, vol. iv. n. 40). IO2 Father Zaurence Worthington. “Pax Christi. “Very Rev. Father in Christ, The happy and fortunate news of the election of your Paternity to the Generalship of our Society, confirms the expectations of your children, and brings no little joy to the whole Company. To me especially, among the rest formerly your Paternity's disciple in Rome, now, indeed, become your son in England; and I eagerly embrace this the first opportunity that presents itself of testifying my duty towards your Paternity, and my joy at so great a good for the whole Society. What has befallen me, now for upwards of eight years living in England, and gathering such gain of souls as the difficulties of the times permit, should not, I think, be unknown to your Paternity. For so, by the providence of God, it has come to pass that, whilst employed in the labours of charity and obedience, I have fallen into the hands of heretics. Being apprehended, I appeared before the chief secretary of the King, who having formerly been an alumnus of the University of Oxford, because he retained Some recollection of me, being at the same time a student. there, he received me truly kindly and courteously. To cut it short, the Archbishop, as he is called, of Canterbury, to whom also, when a youth, I was familiarly known at Oxford, interposing his authority, undertook the matter himself, and without more ado, sent me to this same prison, who, before this, had captured many Fathers of our Society, whose piety, constancy, fortitude, and the rest of their virtues, if I should happen to imitate (which, by the grace of God, I will sedu- lously strive to do), there is no reason why I should grieve over the thing which, by the providence of God, has happened to me; rather there is great cause of rejoicing, for, with the profit to be gained by my own soul, no mean opportunity likewise is offered of assisting the neighbour. For many Catholics from the remotest parts of London, not without great trouble and danger in these difficult times, daily run to us, whom we assist by administering the Sacraments, by advice and sermons. By the providence of God, and the kindness of the pious, alms are often brought to us (sufficient for poor fare and clothing), Out of which, sometimes, some surplus also remains, for helping the needs of the poor Catholics both at home and out of doors, which, in the so great affliction and, exhausted fortunes of the Catholics, may be held as truly miraculous. We are in this prison, besides laics, eight priests, Aather Zaurence Worthington. IO3 two of them of the family of St. Benet, the same number of the Society, the rest of the number of those called Seculars. Whatsoever there may be of misfortune in this, we greedily devour with great alacrity and joy, and (which form our chief cause for rejoicing) we are united together with wonderful concord and unanimity of soul. And to me, indeed, the association of our Laurence [Father Laurence Worthington] is added as a cumulus to this my joyful felicity, who, by his piety and his desire of suffering, and his mercy towards the poor, is a “Laurence’ indeed. One thing happens incon- veniently, because by this event I am separated from certain leading Catholics (who used me as their confessor), and at a most inopportune time, all access to me to assist them is shut out.” [The letter then continues at some length, regarding Superiors, &c. &c.] § “Your Very R. P. son and confrère in Christ, “FRANCIS YOUNG. “From the Prison of Westminster, 8th January, 1616.” There is also a letter from the same holy confessor to Father Fabio de Fabiis, Rome, of the same date, and on the same matters of business; the burthen of which was a strong appeal against an unexpected Order that had been received from Superiors, for the departure of the Superior of the English Mission from England, of whom he speaks in the highest terms, and whose loss would be severely felt. IO4. V. FATHER THOMAS WORTHINGTON, S.J. (OJim Dr. WORTHINGTON). FATHER THOMAS was a native (as we have seen in the pedigree in page 76 ante) of Blainsco, Lancashire, son of Richard Worthington, Esq. The date of his birth does not appear, but as he went to Oxford in 1566, and would have been then at least sixteen years of age, we may suppose the date to have been about 1550. He was the paternal uncle of Fathers John and Laurence Worthington. Though far behind his nephews in entering the Society, yet, as their adviser and helper in their journey abroad, and in their bringing up and education, he was truly connected with them, and those that are called at the eleventh hour are equal to the rest. His father, Mr. Worthing- ton, though remaining a Catholic at heart, had out of fear of those terrible times conformed, and gone to the Protestant church. Having received a good education in his lower studies at home, his father sent him to the University of Oxford to complete his higher course in the year 1566.1 Here he remained about four years and took degrees in arts. Becoming disgusted with the heresy of the place, he left the University for conscience sake, and passing over to Douay was admitted to the English College there in February, 1573, and went through his studies with great applause. In the year 1575, November 21, he was called over into England upon some domestic concerns; and returning again on the 3rd of February, 1576, he took over with him one Mr. Bell, formerly a minister of the Church of England, who had suffered great hardships for three years in Lancashire upon account of his conversion. In 1577, Mr. Worthington was made Bachelor of Divinity, and the year following removed with the rest of the College to Rheims. Being ordained priest, he was sent back to his native country, where he laboured for several years with * See extract from Wood's Athen. Oxon, given at the end of this notice. Father Thomas Worthington. IO5 great success. In England he found no greater foes and traitors than those of his own household, even than his own father. The clandestine return of his son to the kingdom had offended him; and fearing lest on this account any trouble should befall his house, in consequence of the Savage edicts of the Queen against his son, he searched for and laid Snares to catch him on every side, with the intention of seizing him and delivering him up to the magistrates, either to be punished according to law, or else perverted. In the meanwhile he was wonderfully preserved both by his own precautions, and the watchful care of Providence over him, so that he was enabled most usefully to labour in reconciling the souls of his fellow-countrymen to God; for having become acquainted with Father Edmund Campian, and introducing him to the houses of divers of his Catholic friends, he was himself by his long continued and nightly labours the means of bringing many to the true faith and salvation. Father Campian having been martyred in December, 1581, Mr. Worthington still lingered on in the same localities. Amongst the State Papers, Z)0m. Æſiz. vol. clxix. n. 27, is one endorsed, (“22nd March, 1583 : the names of the Jesuits and other Papists that are lately fled out of the county of Lancaster, and the places were they are now supposed to be.”) “The names of the Jesuits and seminary priests, and other gentlemen who are fled out of the county of Lancaster since the last search.” (Amongst others,) Supposed to be at Sir “Thomas Worthington a Jesuit. ( Thomas Fitzherbert, at his Benton a priest. house in Staffordshire or Derbyshire. Mr. Latham, of Mosborow. ) Supposed to be at the Lady Egerton’s at her house Mr. Worthington, of Blainscombe, ( at Rydley in county Ches- and others. ter.” He had matured his plans for taking his four young nephews to France (two of them being John and Laurence), when numerous hindrances were interposed by means of evil persons. In the first place the boys were intercepted, but after many troubles succeeded in effecting their escape; he himself on two occasions being hotly pursued by the searchers, narrowly escaped falling into their ambushes. At length, in the year I584, being betrayed in his lodgings at Islington, near London, IO6 Father Thomas Worthington. by the treachery of a youth to whom he had rendered great services—one Richard Wood, a relative of Mr. Anthony Wood, the author of the Athen. Oxon., &c.—he was apprehended and thrust into the Tower of London; put into chains as though a great malefactor, and kept in close and solitary confinement, amidst the severest incommodities and stench, in the “Lake,” as they call it, for upwards of two months. After six months he was (1585) transported into Normandy with Father Jasper Heywood, and about twenty other confessors of Christ.” He courageously bore his exile for the cause of religion, and con- verted it into a manifold aid to his afflicted country. Being made chaplain to Sir William Stanley's regiment, he served the soldiers with great zeal and charity; he nevertheless found time to pursue his studies, and in the year 1588 took the degree of D.D. in the University of Treves. In 1590 he returned again to Rheims, and was made professor of moral theology.” Upon the death of Dr. Barret, President of the English College, Rheims, he was appointed to be his successor by Cardinal Cajetan, the Protector, 1st July, 1599, chiefly by the interest of Father Robert Parsons; and on the Ioth of * Dr. Challoner's Miss. Priests, vol. i. p. 173, Edit. 1741, says: “But one of the most remarkable occurrences in the history of this year is, the banishment of about seventy priests within the compass of one twelve- month. ‘ On the 21st of January, 1584-5, says Mr. Stow in his annals, Jesuits, Seminaries, and other Massing priests to the number of twenty-one, late prisoners in the Tower of London, the Marshalsea, and King's Bench, were shipped off at the Tower wharf, to be carried towards France, and banished this realm for ever, by virtue of a commission from her Majesty, bearing date the 15th of the same month, ann. 1585.’ The names of the twenty-one who were sent into banishment in January were’” (amongst others)— “Jasper Heywood, S.J. James Bosgrave, S.J. John Hart, B.D. Edward Rushton. William Hartley. | These three were condemned at the same time with Father Campian and his companions. These three were afterwards executed - Robert Nutter. for their priesthood. William Dean. William Bishop, afterwards Bishop of Chalcedon. Thomas Worthington, who after Cardinal Allen and Doctor Barret, was the third President of Douay College.” * Amongst the State Papers, Dom. Æliz. vol. ccli. n. II (endorsed “September, I 594. The catalogue of the names of rebels and fugitives in the Low Countries”). “The names of Jesuits and priests. Dr. Worthington remaineth for the most part at Bruxelles, near to Sir William Stanley, and both a pensioner and confessor to the regiment of Sir William Stanley.” Aather 7%omas Worſhington. Io.7 July he was installed, the College being now entirely removed from Rheims to Douay.” He retired from Douay the 15th of May, 1613, and went to Rome, where he was invited by the Cardinal Protector. At his arrival he had an allowance of two hundred Roman crowns a year from His Holiness with an apartment, and diet for himself and servant. He was also * Dr. Worthington is also named in a long report of a spy, addressed to Cecil, Lord Burghley. State Papers, Dom. Æliz. vol. xxxiv. Inn. 42, 42 i. 42 ii. Addenda, October, 1601. The report seems chiefly aimed against the Society and Father Parsons. The writer “knows not how to compare this cursed crew to anything better than the bawling three-headed dog of hell, whereof I will make the first head at Douay and in Flanders, the second, middle, and chief head at Rome, the third and worst in Spain, the heart of the hell-hound Cerberus I reckon to lie in England, and the other parts and members dispersed all over, and in this form I will anatomize this odious and ugly beast. To begin with Flanders ; they reckon thereabouts six or seven hundred, the one half priests, scholars, and religious, the other laymen, pensioners, and soldiers, . . . of all of which the most dangerous and pernicious are these few following: Doctor Worthington, President of the College of Douay, Baldwyn, a Jesuit at Bruxelles, &c. These five are the sources of this head. Worthington does nothing but libel and write against her Majesty, the Council, and State of England, and now of late against the Catholic priests of England. which have appealed from the archpriest's authority.” This report closes with an amusing incident in which Dr. Worthington is named. The writer says, “One John More coming over the seas by my Lord Treasurer's warrant ; the effect of his warrant was that he should go into the parts beyond the seas, amongst the Queen's friends, and contrary to his warrant or order, goeth through Flanders and continued at Douay four or five days by the least, where he was worthily entertained, and extraordi- narily befriended. Dr. Worthington brought him out of the town, and Dr. Harrison a mile on towards his road, which is more than common courtesy, and so to St. Omer. . . . He did commend the Jesuits for very good men, virtuous, religious, and godly, and full of charity; . . . besides letters passed between him and Dr. Worthington. . . . Besides he would not miss a day to hear a Jesuit’s Mass, and in our travel towards Padua he did not omit any town were the Jesuits were, to inquire for them, and make himself known unto them. And upon the way met two Jesuits, and he entreated to Sup, and very courteously entertained them with extraordinary fare provided for them, and was exceeding inquisitive of English Jesuits in those parts, saying he would go twenty miles to see an English Jesuit. And arriving at Fusbrook, in Germany, about eleven o'clock, we remained all night, without any business at all there, only to have further conference with the Jesuits. . . . I know not his reason. . . . It should seem his liberalities upon them were extraordinary. . . . Thus much have I thought fit to certify you in that point, to give notice unto. others how to grant warrants to pass over and become knaves to their country.” Mr. John More would seem from this to have completely tricked the Lord Treasurer. IO8 Father Thomas Worthington. made AVotarius Apostolicus, and obtained a place connected with the Index ſibrorum prohibitorum. After he had lived two or three years in Rome, he was desirous to see England once more, and accordingly obtained leave to return upon the mission.” At length, being now far advanced in years, he earnestly begged admission to the Society of Jesus, and his request was granted by Father Blount, then Provincial, but he died at the house of Mr. Biddles or Biddulph, of Biddles or Biddulph, in Staffordshire, about 1626, in the sixth month of his novice- ship, which he was allowed to make upon his mission. Mr. Dodd, whilst quoting the authority of Father Southwell’s Bibl. Scriff. S./. as to Dr. Worthington's admission to the Society, and dying a novice, and acknowledging that the circumstances of some parts of his life make Father Southwell’s account not improbable, goes on to say that another account of equal, if not of greater authority (which he does not name), assures us that he was admitted amongst the Oratorians while he lived in Rome, which is confirmed by his last will and testament, which Mr. Dodd had read. In this will he calls himself a member of the Oratorians, though he desires his body may be buried in some church belonging to the Jesuits, with an account of his legacies to the English College, Douay. The fact of his having joined the Oratorians, if true, would not have been any obstacle to his being received into the Society—the Oratorians not being a religious Order, but a congregation of secular clergymen. Mr. Dodd may not have been aware of this. We close this sketch of Father Thomas Worthington with the following interesting account of him from Wood's Athen. Oxon., vol. i., p. 508, Edit. I 72 I. Thomas Worthington, son of Peter [Richard] Worthington, as it seems, was born in Blainscough, near to Wigan, in Lancashire, and being fitted for the University in those parts, * In the State Papers, Dom. James I. vol. lxxxi. n. 40, 1615, is an infor- mation of a spy “regarding English recusants abroad, and the election, in June, 1615, of Dr. Thomas Worthington to be Popis/. Archbishop of Canterbury.” It contains a list of English present at the Spa on that occasion. “Worthington is going to Rome, thence to England.” Mr. Dodd says that the Doctor had been proposed at Rome for a bishop for England, but the step was not then approved of. The spy may have alluded to this. Father Thomas Worthington. IO9. he was sent to Oxford in 1566, but to what house of learn- ing, unless to Brasen-nose College, I cannot tell. After he had been drudging in the studies of logic and philosophy for about four years, he took a degree in arts, which being completed by determination, he left the University, his country and friends, and crossed the seas to Douay, where he was received with great humanity into the English College, February 15th, 1572. Soon after he took upon him the priesthood, and in 1577 he was promoted to the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. And in years after, being translated to the English College at Rheims, was thence sent into England to gain proselytes; but being taken at Islington, near to London, in the house of my progenitor, Richard A. Wood, his friend and countryman, 1584, was committed prisoner to the Tower of London, where remaining some months was at length released, set on shipboard with Dr. Jasper Heywood, S.J., Edward Rishton, John Coleton, and others, and wafted over the seas to the coast of Normandy, where they were left to shift for them- selves. In 1587, he being to return to England, was sent by Cardinal Allen to Sir William Stanley, a colonel, to whose regiment in the Low Countries he was by him made chaplain. In 1588 he was promoted Doctor of Divinity in the University of Treves, Germany, and in 1589 he was sent for to Douay by the Jesuits (whom he was always afraid to offend) to assist Dr. Richard Barrett, President of the English College, in the government of that place. In 1591 he was sent to Brussels, and remitted to the camp, to exercise the office of chaplain again; where, with other exiles, they acted many things which tended much to the destruction of the Queen of England; and not long after returning to Douay again by the Command of Cardinal Cajetan, Protector of the English nation, he was made President of the English College there in 1599. At length being grown old and unfit to govern, returned into England, lived sometimes in London, sometimes in Stafford- shire. But which is to be further noted of him is, that having for the most part of his life lived in the habit of a secular priest, did about six months before his death take upon him the order and habit belonging to the Society of Jesus. His works were : Annotations in the Old Zestament. Douay, 1609. tom. ii. ; AEpistola ZXacſa, ef affectu ?/ena ad suum fračrem. Offusculum de Mysteris Kosari: ; Catalogus Martyrum in Anglia aſ anno 1570, usque ad ann. I612, cum narratione de origine Sem. Anglorum, Motiva ZXactoris Zeich. Bristo: 1606. I IO Father 7%mas Worthington. Anglice zero. Anchoram Poctrinae Christianæ, tom. ii.; Contra JDocſ. White Calvin : ZYactatum quo corruptiones, S. S. Patrum Żm ejusdem libro delegumtur, 1615, in 4to. Wood says that his AWarratio de origine Seminariorium, &c., and Catalogus Martyrum Ang!. ab I570 ad 1612, could not be sold for more than sixpence when published (containing only four sheets in 8vo); yet in 1682, when the choice library of Mr. Richard Smith was sold by auction, Dr. Marshall, Dean of Gloucester and Rector of Lincoln College, gave IIS. 6d., being then great bidding for, before he could get it. The Anchor of Christian Doctrine, Douay, 1622, in two thick quartos, were printed at London, and sold by the author in Turnbull Street for 14s., which might have been afforded for five. This person, Thomas Worthington, who was esteemed very learned among those of his persuasion, and had hazarded his life and done great service for the cause, did quietly lay down his head and submit himself to the stroke of death in the house of one — Biddulph, Esq., of Biddulph, commonly called Biddles in Staffordshire (near to Congleton in Cheshire), about I626, and was buried in the parochial church there (as I have been informed by one of the Society who was well acquainted with him), having some years before his death been made titular Archdeacon of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. VI. FATHER WILLIAM WORTHINGTON. LASTLY. The last of this excellent family (so constant in its faith, and to which the English Province of the Society of Jesus is so deeply indebted for so many eminent members) to be noticed is William Worthington. The late Dr. Oliver in his Collectanea S./., shortly remarks: “He is said to have died in Spain in 1604. But this cannot be correct, as he wrote to Father Robert Parsons, dated Douay, 27th August, I 608, begging admission to the Society.” Accompanying this letter, of which we shall give a copy, was a statement of his miraculous cure through the powerful intercession of Our Blessed Lady of Sichem. William Worthington had been seized with epilepsy in the English College, Rome, where he was an alumnus under Father Bobert Parsons, of whom he had no doubt begged in person admission to the Society, but his sickness would have been a fatal objection. We may well conceive his joy upon his miraculous recovery, and the revival of his fond hope of enter- ing religion. It does not appear what the result of his application was, but backed by such powerful friends as Fathers Thomas Talbot and Roger Lee, we may well believe that it was successful, after due trial of his recovery. The following is an extract from the Diary of the English College, Rome. “No. 262, Gulielmus Worthingtonus, de Preston in Comitatu Lancastriensis : aet 20, circiter. Admissus est in hoc Collegium inter alumnos a Reverendo Patre Roberto Personio ejusdem Collegii Rectore, 20 Octobris, 1604. Accepit juramentum Collegii in forma consueta, Io Augusti, I605. “Ita est Gulielmus Worthingtonus. “Accepit primam tonsuram I5 Dec., 1604 ; factus est Ostiarius I6 ejusdem mensis; lector 21 Dec. qui erat festus dies Sancti Thomae Apostoli, 1604; exorcistae officium 14 Janu- arii, 1606; acolythus 12 Martii factus est. Discessit in Belgium valetudinis ergo mense Maii anno 1607. In Anglia in carcere.” II 2 Aather William Worthington. His own narrative shows him to have been of the Blainsco branch of the family. By the last words in the above extract he appears also to have been a sufferer for his faith in England. We now proceed to give a copy of the letter to Father Parsons and his own narrative, and so close our notice of the Worthington family." “Rev. and most respected sir, My humble duties remembered, &c. I have written twice to your Reverence, but as yet I could never by any means be certified whether my letters came to your hands. Mistrusting therefore the safe delivering, and fearing the miscarriage, I make bold once again to write, humbly beseeching you (whereas it wholly consisteth in you) that you would most willingly, kindly accept, and grant me this my humble petition, though not the first, yet the chiefest I ever made unto you : the subject whereof I insinuated, being to depart from Rome, which was of my admittance into the company of your most blessed Society of Jesus; yet now I inculcate it again, and I have already solicited the Rev. Thomas Talbot, who was first acquainted with my vocation, and also Father Roger Lee, who, as I persuade myself, both hath and will write again to you as concerning this my admission, so that I only rely upon your fatherly determination, and as it should please you to determine of me it shall be performed: and albeit my desire be great, if So it may please you to return to Rome, yet I refer this matter wholly to your Reverence's wisdom to dispose of me either with you or otherwhere. I and all mine are at your disposition, not doubting but you will do all which shall be most to God’s honour and glory, and Consequently that which shall be most conducible to my own Soul's health. I have sent you here in your letter a brief recapitulation of my miraculous cure and supernatural recovery, which I hope will more content you and the rest of my fellow-students, than any token that I can send them. Thus I, humbly taking my leave, desire you to remember my duty to the rest of the Fathers, and kindest Salutations to my fellows, to my cousin, James Worthington, and the rest, . . . and would to God you found so good an effect of my prayers, as I have, I doubt not, by yours. I commit you and all your proceedings to God Almighty, who ° Stonyhurst MSS., Anglia, vol. vi. Father William Worthington. II 3 ever keep you. Hoping that I shall quickly hear of your determined resolution, “Your obedient child, “WILLIAM WoRTHINGTON. “Douay, this 27th day of August, 1608.” “Reverend Father and best beloved brethren, I, William Worthington, first and principally to the honour of Almighty God and the most Immaculate Virgin Mary, and secondly, that hereby others may hereafter be more incited to her praise and daily service, thought it not amiss to set down the miraculous cure, with the particulars thereof, wrought upon myself by a vow made to the same most Blessed Virgin to visit her holy pilgrimage of Sichem. “It happened, as you know, that in the third year of philosophy in Rome, being the year of Our Lord, 1607, presently after New Year's tide, it pleased Almighty God with some infirmities to visit me, which in the begining not being , known, no, not so much as Suspected to be that which in time it grew to, with the epilepsy or falling sickness which there increasing daily, insomuch that no hope was left of my recovery, as the physician judged, unless preadventure by change of air; whose counsels you following, sent me hither into these parts, during all which time of my travel I only once was visited with it, insomuch that I had some hope of amendment: but afterwards coming to Douay, all the humours settling themselves, it began as before : whereupon I found a great desire in myself to take in hand this holy pilgrimage to Our Lady of Sichem, which often I had proposed to Mr. Doctor Worthington," my kinsman, under whose charge I then lived. He, upon mature consideration, consulting also with others, judged it better to defer both vow and pilgrimage till other natural means were tried. Whereupon he sent me presently into England, and in Lancashire by my other friends, I was Committed to the care of Mr. Doctor Janion, Catholic physician, who had cured divers of the same disease. He therefore asked me of the particulars thereof, and I certified him of all; but he (as it appeared afterwards) at that time had little hope, for departing from me he insinuated as much to my cousin, Agnes Worthington, of Blansco ; yet notwith- standing, what art could afford (God blessing his labours) he promised to do and agreed with my friends, not as he is 7 Father Thomas Worthington. I I4. Aather William Worthington. accustomed with others, but conditionally, to wit: that if he should cure me, he would stand to the judgment of such friends as my father should choose for his satisfaction; if not, he would lose his labour and demand nothing. He began with me in September, and did administer divers medicines; but perceiving that I rather grew worse than better, and the disease to wax more sharp, more sudden, and of longer continuance, being with Father John Worthington and other reverend priests discoursing of my disease, he signified to them that he thought all natural means to fail. Whereupon others, telling certain means by which an ancient priest, who in this schism went by the name of the “Old Beggar,’ had cured divers; the doctor hearing it demanded a copy thereof of him that told it, which was Mr. Hudlston, priest, who gave it him written in paper, and the doctor brought it to me the day following to the place where I continued, which was this : that I should take the names of the Blessed Virgin and the twelve Apostles, and writing them in several papers, should chose one as a valentine, and which- soever I chose, his or her eve I should fast on bread and water as long as I lived, or else some for me, if I were not able. Secondly : I should cause thirteen Masses in continuation to be said for me, to wit, of every Apostle one, and of our Blessed Lady ; then the priest saying the Gospel which is said upon Saturday in Ember week, the people should arise, I only kneeling with a holy candle in my hand. Lastly : that in all my brothes and meat I should put holy water, saying before meals certain of David's Psalms, as ZXomine?7 offasſà, and others. By all which I perceived that natural means were not like to prevail. Whereupon I resolved to perform and renew the former desire I had to the aforesaid pilgrimage, refusing this prescribed means; and so that very same evening, being the 3th of November, according to the computation in England, and the 23rd in these parts, going to say the Nocturn of our Lady’s Office, according to my custom, at the end thereof, first resigning myself to the will of Almighty God, not desiring anything which might either tend to His dishonour, or my own soul's harm, I commended myself wholly to our Blessed Lady, desiring her intercession to her dearly beloved Son for me, and most Blessed Trinity, either to restore me my health, if it might so be to His glory and my soul's good, or else to grant me patience to endure the same as part of my purgatory; in the end saying this prayer, “O Domina mea sancta Maria Father William Worthington. II 5 *. y me in tuam benedictam fidem,” &c. Arising off my knees and going towards the dining-chamber, I was suddenly taken with my ordinary fit, which was ſor the time so vehement that they that were present thought I should have died in their hands; but at last I, feeling it burst in my head, and corruption running down into my throat and stomach, I cried out, I am well ! I am well | Desiring some of them to pray for me, I myself said 78 Zeum, &c. Which my father hearing thought that I was overcome by the vehemency of pain and said I was diseased. But I answered, I was certain that I was well, and Suddenly thereupon my sinews and veins, before contracted, instantly received their former vigour, and executed their function, of the which I was accustomed to be benumbed for the space of half an hour at the least after my fit, as you know; but then immediately I did arise, was able to walk, stand, sit, or do any other accustomed exercise. Notwithstanding all this my father urged me still to the former medicine, but I answered him I would not without more trial of my health, lest thereby I might seem to do injury to our Blessed Lady, because it would have been doubtful by which means I had been cured. The next day following the doctor came to see whether I had provided a priest to administer the aforesaid means prescribed, to whom my father answered that I would not meddle therewith, and withal signified unto him the manner of my preceding fit; who hearing of it, gave me certain pills to purge my stomach, which the next day I received, and by the effectual operation thereof, voided in great abundance blackish kind of matter mixed with yellowish phlegm ; and the doctor wished me to stay and meddle with nothing till his return to me again; who afterwards asking Counsel of divers priests what he should do, they answered that they were not willing I should try any other manner of cure, who returning told us what they said, and my father demanding of him what he would have, he answered, nothing, for that his bargain was, if he did cure me; but he confessed it not to be his cure but supernatural, for which reason he would take nothing, saying, that which should have been due to him was due to our Blessed Lady. Since which time returning out of England, I have performed my vowed pilgrimage, and, thanks be to God and His Blessed Mother, I find myself daily stronger and stronger. And thus offering myself wholly to her service, wishing as much her help and continual assistance in all my actions that I may never be found ungrateful for this so infinite a benefit bestowed upon me.” I 2 I 16 Adalenda to the Worſhington Family. ADDEN DA TO THE ** WORTHINGTON FAMILY.” The following is too deeply interesting, and at the same time historically illustrative of those days of persecution which even children could not escape, to be omitted. It is taken from Father Bridgewater's (AquaZontanus) edition of Father John Gibbons' Concertatio Æcclesiae Cath. in Anglia adversus Caſvin. et Purif., suff Eliz. Zég. Treves, I 594. Pars 2, Addenda. Father John Worthington appears from this narrative to have been the youngest of the four sons. It is difficult to point out which of the others was Father Laurence; probably either Robert or Richard, both of whom, as we find in the sequel, with their brother John fled over to Rheims. Laurence may have been the name he took, as is usual with Catholics, at his confirmation. The conflict of four boys of rank, Thomas, Robert, Richard, and John Worthington, of whom the youngest was under twelve years of age, and the eldest did not exceed sixteen ; also [amongst others] of Thomas Worthington, priest, their uncle. How fiercely and cruelly the persecution in England raged in these times, even to the frequent shedding of blood, is abun- dantly attested in other books and letters, and daily confirmed by new examples. We now offer one example only to show that boys even, and those of a tender age, were not exempted from its bitterness, though without shedding of blood. This calamity is indeed increased, because the authority of the magistrates, who formerly were appointed in each county of the realm for the suppression of crime and the preservation of the public peace, is now converted, by a new edict of the sovereign and the wicked laws, to the overthrow of the Catholics as a kind of State pests. And certain abandoned men, who whilst they consider that some proof of their faith and honesty should be given, lend in some places their aid to acts of holy religion, will at the same time betray priests and denounce the names of Catholics to the magistrates. A certain infamous pursuivant in the employ of the Sheriff of Lancashire," having reported that Thomas Worthington, priest, and with him four of his nephews, Thomas, Robert, Richard, and John Worthington, were staying at the house of Mr. Sankey, of Great Sankey, near Warrington, no mean town of that county, thinking that by well matured plans, with * Then Sir Edmund Trafford, Knight. Addenda to the Worthington Family. I 17 these more might be captured also, he immediately despatched the under-sheriff with twenty of his javelin-men, who, about three o’clock a.m., most unseasonably aroused Sankey House, and effecting an entrance seized the four above-named youths. This happened on the 12th of February, 1584. They strove as soon as possible to extract from them by threats and terror whether they were intending to go to any pontifical seminary, where their father or uncle had arranged for them P Also the place and time they last left them ; had they attended Mass, &c. P and pressed them with other questions of the sort. With them they also apprehended George Hathersall, a relation of theirs, suspected as being about to start for a similar semi- nary; also William Cromwell, whom they took to be a priest, affirming constantly that he was either Bell or Worthington, but falsely ; for they have a great hatred against the holy and bene- ficial institute of the seminaries, as against priests, and the pious education of youths of rank. Having made this preliminary examination, and Searched every corner of the house in vain for Father Worthington, whom they eagerly sought for, they hastened off to the house of Mr. Havard, of Hurleston, two miles distant, and diligently searched there, and also every lodging and other house in Warrington where there was the slightest suspicion of a priest being harboured. They also set watch and ward both upon Warrington Bridge and the banks of the Mersey, and other points to prevent any escape. This storm raged for two or three days, but they could not find Thomas Worthington, the desired prey, although he lay all the time at the house of a certain sick gentleman in Warrington itself, to whom he had come the previous day for the purpose of consoling him in his sickness, and totally unconscious of any impending danger. Some nieces also of Cardinal Allen, who were in the same town under the care of an uncle, also escaped, who on account of the hatred entertained for his very name, would otherwise have fared badly. Being unable by threats or any art to shake the constancy of the boys, they left the two youngest Worthingtons in charge of Mr. Sankey, in whose house they were seized, and took the two elder ones, with the two gentlemen they had captured, to Wigan, a town not far from Warrington, where, on the same 12th of February, there was a meeting of the Earl of Derby with Chatterton, who had assumed to himself the title of Bishop of Chester, and other commissioners, to inquire into the affairs I 18 Adalenda to the Worthington Family. of Catholics. After undergoing some examination before these gentlemen, they were conducted, on the fourteenth, to Preston, a “village” not far from Wigan, in order that they might finally appear before a new gathering of the commissioners, with their two younger brothers from Mr. Sankey's, if, by chance, they could, on account of their weaker age and judgment, prevail more with them than with the two elder ones. The better to accomplish their amiable project, they kept the youngest, John, not yet twelve years old, for a long time fasting, but a short time before he was ushered into the presence of the commissioners they offered him wine to drink, and urged to do so to excess upon his empty stomach, so that with his brain stupefied they could the more readily get answers from him to every question. But their scheme did not succeed according to their wishes, for, by the aid of God, the child retained his perfect senses, and complained to the Earl of Derby of this wicked conduct of his guards, keeping him the whole day without food, for it was then after six o'clock p.m., and then offering him drink to excess: “And, indeed,” said the ingenuous child, “I think they had intended to deprive me of my mind by drunkenness, which, however, by the goodness of God, I still retain, for I am quite compos mentis, although from the pain of body I am in, I am not in a fitting state to appear before your honours as I should do.” But those who presided, either that they disbelieved the child, or for want of Compassion towards him, began to examine about his father and his uncle the priest. To all which questions he gave no other answer than that he was overcome by the pains in his body, nor could he stand in the place ; which was immediately made manifest, for nature giving way, he was seized with vomiting, produced by the pains in his empty stomach excited by the wine; thus exposing the infamous schemes of the parties, which recoiled with shame upon their own heads. They in vain tried to excuse themselves, and to throw the blame upon the attendants. After this they called up the eldest brother, who was about sixteen years of age, and the Earl of Derby endeavoured to move him partly by threats, but much more by flattering promises of bettering his prospects, and not only of his own, but those of his brothers also, and to persuade him to go to the Protestant churches and hear a sermon; “to which,” added the Earl, “it is not necessary that you should attach any faith, but only to be present, and to influence your brothers by your Addenda to the Worthington Family. I 19 example.” If he would only do this, he would make him his page of honour, a situation usually filled by youths of rank, and this would lead also to his own and his brothers' promotion. It may be easily conceived how tempting this promise was, not only on account of the state of religion at that time, but also from the high position both in rank, wealth, and popularity then enjoyed by the Earl of Derby. But all these spectres, whether of threats or blandishments, the pious youth rejected with scorn, notwithstanding the urgent solicitations of the nobles present at that assembly not to refuse so ample and cumulative a favour. Amongst those most espe- cially forward was the said pseudo-Bishop Chatterton, who having in the beginning assumed a certain appearance of mild- ness, yet a little after bethinking himself to act with greater severity, ordered the youth in the name of his allegiance and observance due to the Queen's Majesty to answer on oath to all questions put to him. This the youth modestly declined to do, as he did not yet fully understand what he had to swear to, nor was he skilled in all matters appertaining to that responsible duty. “But if,” said Chatterton, “you wish to speak the truth, I think you may safely swear to it.” To whom Thomas Worth- ington replied, “Whatever I shall declare will be the truth, but it is a matter of religious duty to me to suppress those things which may be injurious to myself and my dearest friends. And I state this lest I may be evilly thought of, for to me it is a thing certain and positively laid down, that in such matters no oath is binding.” To whom Chatterton answered foolishly, “What, if you state that on Oath which can injure no one ; for instance, that the handkerchief I hold in my hand is a hand- kerchief?” “I could not accept this,” said the youth, “not being a sufficient cause.” Hereupon they derided the gentle tone of voice, and modest expression of the youth, so usual to boys of that age, exhibiting, as it does, sincerity in the answer, and reflecting credit on themselves; and Said that it was a badge of the Papist religion, and that the greater portion of Papists were Anabaptists, thinking it unlawful to Swear in any case ; a calumny that destroyed itself by its own falsity, as they themselves were well aware of Finding all efforts to shake the constancy of the youth in vain, they dismissed him from their presence. * They then examined the other two brothers separately in like manner. By the help of God, they could elicit nothing from them that could infringe in the least upon the sacred 120 Addenda to the Worthington Family. rights of religion, or the charity due to their parents and Catholic friends. And, in fine, the proof of constancy, sin- cerity, and prudence in these little boys—infants rather—that day so redounded to the glory of God, that not only many Catholics of a maturer age who at that time, on account of their defence of the rights of the Catholic Faith, were summoned as criminals before the same judges, were incited to imitate the like fortitude and integrity of heart, but likewise the Protestants themselves, and others who were present, caught in their own nets, remained so astonished and amazed, that they sorely repented that these proceedings had taken place before them in the presence of so great an assembly of spectators. They were therefore more cautious in future not to bring up the boys before them to exhibit such a specimen of their constancy before so crowded a Court, but did so privately, or before a few acting with them, and this indeed very frequently. So also twice on that very same day they were questioned by a certain clever and wordy man named FOX, who had been appointed to pervert them—once prior to their appearance before the Commissioners, and once after- wards; who in many words extolled the liberal and magnificent promises of the Earl of Derby to provide for them, would they but conform to the wishes of his lordship and the rest; and then blamed their imprudence for rejecting such brilliant prospects, and such as they could never hope to realize either by their parents, or their own efforts. The youths, on the contrary, declared that they would rather live by begging within the pale of the Catholic Church, than, stained with the crime of schism, Superabound in all the delights and honours of the court of the Earl of Derby, or the palace of the pseudo-bishop. All the four were taken to Manchester, but were not com- mitted to the prisons in which other Catholics were confined, for fear lest their Society and pious conversation should strengthen them the more in their profession of the Catholic Faith; for the commissioners had given this order upon the children, urging that they might be sent to the House of Correction; but they were placed together in one house, where for the first month they were treated more humanely, except that some importunate persons would whisper wicked per- suasions into their ears, whereby they strove to overturn their constancy and induce them to attend the conventicles and prayers of the heretics, and accept the gracious promises of Adalenda to the Worthington Family. I2 I the Earl of Derby and the other illustrious man, which would bring them both great advantages and no Small promotion. Amongst other Protestants who in great numbers treated with them, was one Mr. Ashton, of Chatterton, a rabid zealot. He was a magistrate and Commissioner. He was greatly Surprised at witnessing the constancy of such children in the Catholic Faith. “What is this l’ he exclaimed; “such little boys refusing to join in our religious services and prayers ? If this little germ increases, and their elders are allowed to join it, it will come to pass that we shall never succeed in extinguishing the Papistical religion in our England.” Wherefore, with one accord they tried every means to draw the souls of these boys into their nets. But seeing all their efforts foiled, they began daily to stint them in food and general Comfort. A little after this, four rectors of churches, Cruel and sour men, commanded them, in the name of the Queen, to go to the schismatical church ; to whom the youths replied that they were ready to obey the Queen in civil matters, but in matters of faith and religion she had no right to command them. Then these magistrates pronounced the boys to be guilty of high treason, because they would not obey the royal Command, and said they should be indicted at the ensuing assizes upon that charge accordingly ; nor would they be permitted to escape the danger unless they would attend the public service of the Calvinist Church. Although these threats were merely intended to frighten, yet the boys, especially the two elder ones, who answered for the rest, really thought from their asseverations that they would have to stand at the bar; wherefore they commended themselves to the goodness of God by many prayers, and earnestly begged strength and Constancy in their danger; for they had now resolutely determined not to betray in the slightest degree the Catholic Faith. The pseudo-bishop had also, in nearly similar terms, signified the same to the boys, though obscurely, and with reserve, lest he might afterwards convict himself of a lie; and he added that if they regarded their lives they would be obliged to comply. Upon the pseudo-bishop becoming excessively angry at the Constancy of the boys, a certain rough fellow, named Bull, introduced himself, and offered his services to the bishop, and boldly asserted that, if empowered to do so, he would, by rods and stripes, within a few days reduce them to obedience to the Queen's Commands. The pseudo-bishop, nodding 122 Adalenda to the Worthington Family. assent, said, “Certainly ; undertake the task, my Bull, and try all you can, and don’t spare them unless they conform and show themselves complying.” Therefore the next morning the brutal man entered the boys' apartment, armed with four or five rods, very long and thin, and addressing the eldest of them, said, “What say you now, Thomas; will you go to our churches and places of prayer?” To whom the youth replied, “You had a sufficiently decided answer from me yesterday.” “But I expect another reply from you now,” said Bull, “which will be more compliant to our affair in hand;” and at the same time the savage fellow, dragging him out of bed upon the floor, inflicted upwards of twenty severe strokes upon his back, exclaiming at the same time, “I’ll make you set a good example to your brothers;” the impious fellow calling that a good example which would be most wicked and pernicious to the rest. The suffering youth, on the contrary, declaring that it would be unlawful for him to attend their conventicles, Or be present at their prayers. Having inflicted this injury upon Thomas (who, however, being now sixteen years of age, was liable to the fine of sixty gold Crowns per month for not attending their places of worship, but was exempt from the punishment of Scourging), Bull served the second brother in the same way, finding him resolute in his determination, and he joyfully underwent the infliction. But this torturer, turning to the two youngest children, demanded if they would consent to join in the Protestant worship, which, notwithstanding the terror of the rods, they refused to do ; but the man dealt more leniently with them, for, standing out of bed with their clothes ready adjusted for the scourging, he said there would be another opportunity of doing it, and ordered the keeper to shut up the two eldest in separate rooms; but the two youngest he took away with him, that the pseudo-bishop might decide what should be done with them. After dragging them about on the same day from one place to another, and from One magistrate to another, the bishop at length took charge of the youngest of the two himself, and forthwith sent him to his house. But a certain rigid Dutch Puritan asked for, and obtained possession of the other. At nightfall, Bull, returning to the two elder brothers, signified to them the pseudo-bishop's orders, which were, that unless they would attend the Protestant churches, they were Adalenda to the Worthington Family. I23 to be taken, chained by the legs, the following day to a schoolmaster. The next day, therefore, the keeper prepared the fetters, and making, by way of pretence, as though about to fasten them on, “How much better,” said he, “would it be for you to attend our Church services than to bring this disgrace upon yourself and your friends.” “We are ready,” said, they, “to wear your fetters, and in doing so in this cause, we incur no stain of disgrace or dishonour, either to ourselves or our friends.” “Come on then,” said the keeper, “although the commands of the lord bishop are otherwise, this time you shall not be chained, but to school you must go, and I will carry the fetters with me under my cloak.” Arrived at the schoolmaster's, having in vain urged them to attend the Calvinist meetings, he at length announced that the bishop had determined that they should learn a new catechism; but they refused to be instructed there from any book treating upon religion. Nevertheless, they were very often conducted to this school, and teased by divers mockeries of the scholars who there drank in heretical poison. But this ill-treatment was not fruitless, for certain amongst them, moved by their example and pious Conversation, began to think correctly of the Catholic Faith ; for when they were pressed, they gave such reasons for their faith and religion, that neither were the other scholars, nor yet even a Protestant preacher, Oliver Cartwright, who attended at the same school to endeavour to instil his poisonous errors into the hearts of the youths, ably to satisſy. This man boasted immoderately of his learn- ing, because he had confuted a work of Dr. Richard Bristow, entitled, AEostulata aſ hareſſicis, and showed them his own work, which was really unworthy the name of a confutation; for even one of the boys frequently retorted upon him his own reasons, and with such proofs, that the wretched man found himself driven into a corner. Their host, or rather keeper, was also troublesome to them in the same line, and on being often forced by the children into giving some silly answers, would fall into a passion. Returning once from a Protestant sermon, “I wish,” said he, “you had been present at this sermon, for it was there proved to demonstration, that a woman was once consecrated Pope.” TJpon which the second brother, moved by zeal, freely replied, “Whoever it was,” said he, “dared to assert this, clearly and impudently lied.” “But,” said the keeper, “the preacher was our bishop.” “What of that,” replied the boy, “I don't except I 24 Adalenda to the Worthington Family. him rather than another, and he has committed a sin in publicly preaching this, and you another in hearing it.” This simple and bold answer so enraged the keeper that he drove him with great violence from the table and house, and gave severe orders to all present to hold themselves in readiness to give evidence of the fact when called upon. A few days after, the keeper accused the boy before the pseudo-bishop, who ordered all the brothers to be summoned before him, some of the Royal Commissioners being also present: he ordered the man to be sworn on oath to his accusation, which indeed was not necessary, unless intended to alarm the youth, since he freely admitted the fact as before stated, about the lie of the female Pope; nor could his lordship himself fully state what he had preached about this tale; where- fore, shutting up the whole affair in silence, he ordered the boy to be handed over to the care of another, and a little less irrit- able, keeper. «» Then the third brother who remained with the said Dutch Buritan was accused at the same time, for not having touched his hat to the said pseudo-bishop on meeting him in the streets, for which cause, and for greater security, he was given into charge of a constable, a surly and Crabbed fellow. In fine, soon afterwards the said Dutchman took the boy back again, for what reason or by whose advice was best known to himself; perhaps it was because being a Puritan he did not disapprove of the boy's action; for a Puritan is not over-pleased with the pre-eminent authority and dignity assumed to themselves in imitation of the ancient bishops, by these new and artificial Parliamentary ones, for such we term them since they are without any lawful Consecration, or Catholic inauguration, but derive their sham authority from the Queen and Parliament. The Puritan saw that leniency and blandishments had the greater force in overcoming the tender and young heart of the boy. He therefore the more effectually to accomplish this end, promised the child that if he would hear a sermon, or enter the service and office of some merchant, he should succeed to his paternal estate; stating that all his father’s property had already been confiscated to the Queen's treasury, and his elder brothers, on account of their obstinacy, had lost all right of inheritance; and would he but follow his advice, and do this, the whole ſus hareditatis would devolve upon him. But all was useless; for the heart of the youth was not to be seduced by such flattering promises from the profession of his holy Adalenda to the Worthington Family. I25 religion, but he strove the more earnestly to be delivered from these nets and ambushes of his enemies. But John Worthington, the youngest, now in the palace of the pseudo-bishop, the more leniently he was treated, so much the greater danger was he exposed to on account of his tender age. He sat at the table of the bishop, and was oſten invited to sing and play upon musical instruments; and scarcely any thing he asked for was refused him. And when other youths, sons of men of rank, would beg for a time for play, it was John Worthington alone, who by a special favour, as it was made to appear to serve their ends, could prevail upon his lordship to grant him what had been refused to the others. They tried by greater blandishments to induce him to eat flesh meat in Lent ; on which point Chatterton once thus addressed him : “Why is it, John, that you refuse good and wholesome food? Why, from a scruple of conscience do you observe this abstinence, when as yet you know nothing? Do you not see me eat flesh?” “It is so,” said John, “for you eat whatever comes first.” Which answer of the boy the silly man, greedy of glory, interpreted harshly, as if in the judgment of the child he had no regard for his own conscience, and from thenceforth he sent him to the second table to dine with the servants, where neither flesh or fish overabounded. It happened that the pseudo-bishop was sick, and when lying in bed, the medical man being present, they read to him some extracts from John Fox's foul works. Upon which occasion Catharine, the wife, or rather sham wife, of this im- pious priest, began to treat with John about Fox's Protestant martyrs, and the great cruelty towards them in Queen Mary's reign. To whom he replied, “If any other Catholic prince whatever should obtain the reins of government, he would treat my lord bishop in the same manner, and burn him for his heresy.” “That would by no means happen,” said the bishop, “for he would obey those in power. I should not be so refractory and Contumacious against the Popish prince, should any such by chance rule over us, as Papists now are, for then, as good subjects, we should observe his laws.” “But yet,” added the boy, “this obsequiousness would not free you from the punishment of laws, for whether you seemed to be con- Verted or not, thou wilt be consumed in the avenging flames.” At this sentence Chatterton was greatly irritated and excited, So much so as to increase his disease, and in the opinion of the physician it brought on so unfavourable a phase, as clearly I 26 Adderzda, to the W.orthington Aamily. to resist the force of medicine. After thus keeping the boy for four days to no purpose, and perceiving no further prospect of a hope left, he sent him to Manchester, where he was confined with his eldest brother. Whilst these things were acting, and the boys could by no threats or enticements be induced to accede to a schismatical communion of prayer with the Protestants, orders were given by the commissioners to three or four constables to drag them there by force, if they would not go voluntarily. The youths, learning this, prudently anticipated the officers whom they could not resist, and went themselves to the appointed church. The Protestants having thus succeeded so far, for they could extract from the boys nothing beyond it, that could imply a Consent, Cunningly and malignantly interpreted the fact as a sort of mark of union and Communion, and imme- diately published reports that the youths had in part con- formed. These good Catholic children began to be greatly pained when they discovered that their act had been interpreted in a sense gladdening to the Protestants, and detrimental to the Catholic Cause, and occasioning grief to the pious and faithful, and to themselves in particular ; wherefore they con- sidered that this stain should be washed out at an opportune time, and every cause of Crimination and calumny cut off. And the pseudo-bishop being now about to go to Chester, the elder brother wrote and handed to him, in the name of himself and . his brothers a letter protesting against this disgraceful report of their having gone voluntarily to the Calvinist's meetings and sermons, when they only went there by Cocroion and under threats of violence, and against their wills. To heal which wound for the future he had resolved, and fully determined that they would never again enter the churches of Protestants unless dragged there vi et armis; and that they were ready to be thrust into the gaols, or to live in the House of Correction, or any other place to which they might wish to send them ; and that, by the assistance of God’s grace, in word or deed, they would never give any assent to the Protestant religion or services. The Bishop of Chester was very angry at this act of freedom and firmness of the boys. He had received the protest at first from the youth with a calm countenance and bland words, thinking that it was merely a petition for their liberty, so much so that he actually made him a small present of pocket-money, but now having read the paper he was quite Adalenda to the Worſhington Family. 127 changed, and demanded back the money (which the youth returned him much more readily than he had received it), adding that they should not go to the House of Correction, because Matthew Travers and other Papists were there, by whose Company and Conversation they would only be made worse. “But yet,” said he, “I myself will take care that you shall be corrected and chastised, and if we only live, I will bring it to pass that you follow our ecclesiastical rites.” The boys again refusing, his lordship departed, after giving orders to the keepers to confine them more strictly within bounds. In the meantime, whilst the boys were enduring these torments, many of their friends interceded for their liberty, and to this they were especially urged on by the promise of the sheriff that they should be restored to their parents, pro- vided two sureties for each were found to give bail that they should not go abroad to foreign parts. For this purpose eight persons were bound to become bail, but as they were men engaged in business, and attendants at the Protestant churches, they were actually urged by the high-Sheriff and other commis- sioners to instil into the youths their heretical poison. They proposed this seriously to the boys, who persevered in their constancy, although these tempters falsely asserted that such was the wish of their parents. At length the sheriff ended in these words: “If you will hear only one sermon, behold I will deliver you to your friends and sureties, who will take you home; but if not, you remain where you are ” “We will go to none of your sermons,” said the boys, “for had we had done this, we should long ago have been released, and have returned home without troubling any sureties P. Thus they remained still in custody, and their friends spent their labour and money in vain ; but, indeed, the infamous treachery of the high-Sheriff in tricking so many persons of respectability, his own neighbours, redounded to his own disgrace. Since, therefore, the boys could not by any means escape from these snares of the heretics, and were living exposed to great danger of faith and morals, and also suffered a great loss in their studies—for although they were forced to attend Protestant classes yet the masters would teach them nothing but what was poisoned by heresy—at length, by the advice and efforts of certain Catholic friends, Thomas, the eldest son, and John, the youngest, contrived to effect their escape. Chatterton, the pseudo-bishop, was very angry, and Com- plained to the Earl of Derby of this escape, when they met I 28 Adalenda to the Worthington Family. together at Manchester. They forthwith sent for Robert Worthington, the other brother, and examined him about the escape, and threatened that should they be retaken, a greater accession of sufferings and afflictions awaited them ; that their father would incur the highest danger of his goods and fortune ; and as to the rest, they made promises of all prosperity and everything desirable, if he would but lend his ear to only one sermon. But he refused as he had been accustomed to do before, and with great courage of heart, and more assurance than ever professed the orthodox faith ; that as regarding his brothers he had no care, nor was he detained in the same place with them ; but as regarding himself, he was prepared to suffer anything they choose to inflict in defence of the Catholic faith. At length the Earl of Derby assented to the pseudo-bishop's sending the boy to Chester Castle; for being thus confined in a safe place, he would be unable either to escape, or to hold conversation with Catholics, or receive advice from them. They had intended to send him to Chester gaol sooner, but it was deferred until Corpus Christi, and this not by chance, as We shall now show. Two intimate friends of the boy having ascertained the day on which he was to be sent to Chester Castle, after making Common counsel and concerting their plans, determined to meet him on the way and liberate him from the merciless grasp of his enemies, if it could by any possibility be effected. Mounting their horses, and each of them attended by a servant On foot, they were all animated with good courage, and the resolution to undergo far greater dangers than the affair involved, as the sequel will show. Two went to an inn in Manchester, in readiness to follow the boy on his leaving ; the Other two stopped at a village called Budworth, in order to reconnoitre early in the morning, and learn the strength of the boy's escort ; they found that only one constable was with him, and he on foot, with whom they at once proceeded to make acquintance, and to throw him off his guard, asked him various questions—Whose child it was P. Where was he taking him P For what purpose? and so on. They then separated and ran back to meet the others, who were following at a distance. The thing was clear enough that by some scheme they could easily, when ſairly in the country, carry him off from his solitary keeper. They, therefore, dismissed the two footmen as unnecessary. Addenda to the Worthington Family. I29 One of the horsemen setting spurs to his steed, overtook the youth and his keeper. After some usual salutations, he at length asked the boy if he was not fatigued with his journey, and, by permission of the constable, he took him up behind on his horse. They then travelled on for a mile or two, and called at a roadside inn to refresh themselves. Continuing their journey, the keeper was again so kind as to allow the boy to remount, thus giving him up into the hands of this humane and benevolent stranger. At first, indeed, they pro- Ceeded slowly, but gradually becoming separated by a Con- siderable interval, he suddenly applied his heels to the horse and gallopped off, calling out to the luckless constable, “Good- bye, good sir; I will ease you of this charge : tell your master that I am going direct to London.” The man, astonished at this sudden flight, cried out, Zn ſmalam crucem , in malam crucem—“Bad luck to me;” nor was he able to utter more, but began running after them,- useless race. The other confederate, who was following behind at a short distance, watching the course of events, now came up at a quick pace, pretending to pursue the fugitives. The con- stable thought that he was only some passer-by totally ignorant of the whole affair. After continuing his sham pursuit for some distance, and until they were now quite out of danger, he pulled up, and returning to meet the keeper, who was puffing for breath, he stopped him, and telling him to be of good heart, advised him to give over his pursuit, which, whilst it was of no earthly use, might seriously injure his own health ; and to this advice the good man acceded as deeming it the best, and for this he was held by most persons to be acting the more prudent part : for scarcely any one disapproved of the planned escape of these children, or interpreted it as a bad action, except the pseudo-bishop and a few of his ministers, who, nevertheless, to save expense, took no great pains to recapture them. These three youths, as they were staying not long after at the house of a certain nobleman in Staffordshire, were betrayed to Some night constables, for such were frequently employed in England to pass at night through the towns and villages, keeping watch. Having spent the whole night in the open air, in the morning they fell into great danger of being taken; for the watchers, with other constables, entered the mansion, and having arrested the three boys, with their father, Mr. Richard Worthington, anxiously inquired after Thomas Wor- J 130 Addenda to the Worthington Family. thington, the priest. He, indeed, had been there, and had remained in the house for upwards of an hour after the pursuivants had entered; but watching his opportunity, had escaped before they had penetrated into the interior parts and rooms, Mr. Worthington purposely detaining them by a long parley. Therefore, not finding the one they chiefly sought after, they readily dismissed the rest, to which they were also specially moved by the authority and word of the noble lady of the house where they were taken. After this scattering they again met at nightfall in a certain place in the adjoining county, where, after a delay of one or two days, the father of the boys returned home, and Thomas Worthington, the priest, with his three nephews, went on towards London. In this journey they fell in with the false brother who had already on another occasion betrayed them, and who the more easily engratiated himself, being known, and considered to be a Catholic, so that no suspicion of fraud was entertained regarding him. Being desirous of learning, he pretended that he wished to pass over to the Continent for the purpose of becoming a priest, and on this very journey he dared sacrilegiously to approach the most Holy Eucharist, which it is a Crime for any one to do except with due preparation; and being in want of money, his expenses for the greater part of the journey, and this on horseback too, were defrayed. This benevolence was requited by the ungrateful man, first in abstracting the money of the boys and a certain other person from their purses, secondly in betraying these very persons who deserved so well of him to Topcliff, the priest-hunter, and to the Recorder of Iondon, who were armed by the Privy Council with licence for cxercising the most cruel tyranny upon the Catholic priests. These men, therefore, choosing Sunday morning for the execution of this crime, seized Thomas Worthington, priest and B.D., whilst yet in bed at an inn in Islington, a suburban village of London, and together with him his nephew Thomas Worthington, and Thomas Brown a priest, and Humphry Maxfield a student of theology; they also violently took away the horses of the young men, which Topcliff retained to their injury. . . . The two other boys, together with two Catholic youths, escaped their hands, although search was made after each of them. It is incredible how empty a triumph of joy this seizure of Catholics caused to the Protestants. In the evening, after they had undergone an examination, and a report had been sent to the Privy Council, and their Adalenda to the Worthington Family. I 31 lordships' instructions had been received, Brown and Maxfield were sent to the Clink prison, and Thomas Worthington the youth to the Gatehouse in Westminster, where he piously spent his time with much constancy. Thomas Worthington the priest, after spending the entire day in disputing with various Pro- testants, was taken to the Tower of London, where, after being plundered of his money and other things to the value of fifty gold Crowns, he was thrust into the underground dungeon called Walesboure.” After being tried with many examinations and calumnies, and confined for the space of six months in the closest custody, he was condemned to banishment on January 21, 1585, with twenty other priests, without any judicial trial or sentence against him, as a violator of the laws of the State. Wherefore he did not hesitate, with his fellow-exiles, openly to denounce as most iniquitous this sentence of banishment, especially as no charge had been alleged against them, except that they had preached the Orthodox faith to their own people, and had made them partakers of the holy Sacraments of Christ, which He had so benignly poured forth from His side upon the Church. And being led to the Tower stairs, the place of embarkation, they took a convenient opportunity of protesting against it, declaring that they submitted to it unwillingly, and that it was their desire to prove the justness of their cause before the tribunals of their country, and, if need be, to shed their blood for it. Father Jasper Heywood, S.J., a man of great repute, one of the exiles, loudly protested the same in his own and the names of others. To all these just protests * Connected with the arrest at Islington, there is a document in the P. R. O. Zoys. ZZiz. vol. cxc, n. 25, June 12, 1586: “Prisoners in the Gatehouse. Thomas Worthington, a boy sent in by the Lord Treasurer, the 20th day of July, from his honour's house, being apprehended by Mr. Topcliffe, and taken in the company of a priest, his uncle.” Strype, Annals iii., p. 42O, says that Topcliffe reported to the Council in 1586: “About twenty days past, one Thomas Worthington, a motorious seminary priest, did resort hither, a stirrer of sedition as ever haunted Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire. One Revel, a seminary priest, his companion ; one Humphrey Maxfield, a seminary scholar at Rome and Rheims, a great companion, conveyor and intelligencer to and fro, from Worthington ; and three boys, to be con- veyed beyond seas to be made priests, stolen ſrom their uncle Worthington, and from the Bishop of Chester. The three men and one of the boys he |Topcliffe] apprehended at Islington. Worthington was committed to the Tower, by the Lord Treasurer’s discretion, Revel and Maxfield to the Clink, and the boy to the Gatehouse. Worthington, Maxfield, and Revel were twice examined by Sir Owen Hopton, Dr. Hammond, Mr. Rokeby, and myself. We all agreed that there never did come beſore us so arrogant, Wilful, and obstinate persons,” &c. [Strype is wrong in his date.] J 2 132 Adalenda to the Worſhington Family. the Prefect of the Tower could only reply, that having been delivered into his charge to see the sentence carried out, he could not do otherwise than obey. The officers also declared that they had received orders themselves from the Privy Council to deport them to the shores of Normandy, and that they neither could, nor dare deviate an inch from carrying them into execution.” - At the beginning of this month of July, in which the others fell into the hands of the Protestants, Richard Worthington, the third son, learning that his brother had escaped from Custody at . Manchester, and being himself in hopes of gaining his liberty, wrote to his mother to tell her that any trusty friend might find an opportunity of carrying him off also, on his way to School. But this letter fell into the hands of the said Dutchman, in whose house he was still detained ; nor was the event unfavour- able. For he, thinking that all his labour in perverting the boy had been thrown away, sent word to a certain person, a friend of his, who was beholden to Mr. Worthington the boy's father for his annual income, that the boy might depart, which was effected a few days after on some condition that he should not be sent abroad. Nevertheless he hastened off to London, and with Robert and John, who had escaped the danger as men- tioned before, left England for Rheims, after having avoided many perils of again falling into the hands of the heretics, entered the English College there as Alumni. * The names of the twenty priests were— Jasper Heywood, S.J. James Bosgrave, S.J. These three were condemned to John Hart, B.D., afterwards S.J. death with Father Campion and Edward Rushton. his companions, and reprieved. John Colleton, or Collington. Acquitted at that time, but kept in prison for four years. Arthur Pitts. Samuel Conyers. William Cedder. William Warmington. Richard Slack. William Harley. Robert Nutter. | Afterwards martyrs for the faith. William Dean. William Bishop, afterwards Bishop of Chalcedon. Thomas Worthington, afterwards S.J. Richard Norris. Thomas Stevenson, S.J. Christopher Thompson. John Barnes. William Smith, and Mr. Henry Orton, a lay-gentleman, condemned also with Father Campion, and reprieved. THE WORTHINGTON OF BLAINSCOUGH (OR BLAINSCO) PEDIGREE ADAM BLAINSCO = A. B. | - — BLAINSCO (daughter = HENRY WORTHINGTON, a younger brother of WoRTHINGTON of Worthington. and Sole heiress). | HENRY = — HEITON (daughter of — HEITON), Co. Lancaster. PETER, of Blainsco = — LOWDE (daughter and co-heir of RICHARD LOWDE, of Preston, Co. Lancaster, Gent.). | - | - . g RICHARD = AGNES (daughter of HENRY EDWARD, JOHN. MARGARET. JANE = HALSALL, of Whittle, died 1528. RUSHTON, of Dunken- - Lancaster, Gent. hall, Lancaster, Gent.). | - . WILLIAM, | MARGARET = HENRY BANNISTER, of the Bank Co, Lancaster, Gent. PETER = ISABEL (daughter of JAMES ANDERTON, of Croxton, Co. Lancaster, Gent.). ROBERT WARDEN, | ISABEL = of Clayton, Gent. ROBERT WHALLEY, of Camold, Lan- caster, Gent. = JAMES. WILLIAM. THOMAS. ANN RICHARD = DoROTHY (daughter of THOMAS CHARNOCK of Charnock, Co. Lancaster, Esq.). | g 8 * g tº e THOMAS, D.D., President of Douay (afterwards S.J.). RICHARD, died in prison = C. D. JAMES, a Priest. Died at Biddles, Staffordshire, 1626 (circifer). September 25, 1590. | g e g | - e | * THOMAS, died 1619, = MARY (sister and heir of JoELN ROBERT, died Feb. RICHARD, died June JOHN S.J. (accord- LAWRENCE S.J. (ac- at Louvain. ALLEN, of Rosshall, Esq.). 18, 1585, at. I'7. 8, 1589, acá. I6. ing to Fr. More). cording to More). | | & | | ... | | WILLIAM = ANNE BIDDULPH. RICHARD, Priest. THOMAS. Bapt. ANNE, Nun. Professed MARY, Nun at St. Monica’s JOHANNA. Bapt. WILHELM. Bapt. AGNES. Bapt. Bapt. at St. at St. John’s, 1615 at St. Monica's Convent. Professed 21st at St. Peter’s at St. Peter’s, at St. Gert- Quentin, Lou- Louvain, I614. Convent, Louvain. November, 1628. Died Louvain, I 599. Louvain, I60I. rude's, Lou- vain, I606. Died 27th July, I654. I Ith June, 1636. vain, I605. | | | MARY = JoHN HoughTon. THOMAS = JANE PLUMPTON. RICHARD. WILLIAM. ANNE. & | - - | WILLIAM. MARY. Professed at FRANCES. DOROTHY. Professed at ANNE PERPETUA. Professed THOMAS. St. Monica’s Con- St. Monica's Convent, at St. Monica’s Convent, t vent, 29th Decem- 17th July 1678. 16th September, 1680. ber, 1673. THE ALLEN OF ROSSHALL PEDIGREE. JOHN ALLEN of = E, F, Rosshall - tº GEORGE = G. H. ELIZABETH (wife of RALPH ALLEN, of Brooke House). g p- JOHN, of Rosshall, = JANE LISTER (sister of THOMAS LISTER, Co. Lancaster. of Westby, Co. York). - !. e -- RICHARD. GEORGE. Died = ELIZABETH (daughter of WILLIAM WILLIAM. GABRIEL, ELIZABETH (wife of (wife of August 21, WESTBY of Westby, Yorkshire), The Cardinal. WM. HESKETH). CHRISTOPHER I579. died at Louvain, I609. . CONIERs). | | t JOHN, born 1564, HELEN, a Num, professed CATHERINE, a Nun, professed MARY = THOMAS WoRTHINGTON, of Blains- Died at Mussipont, at St. Ursula’s, Louvain, at St. Ursula’s, 8th May, cough, Co. Lancaster, Esq. Died I 594. Died 1603. I595. Died 1612. - at Louvain, 1619. Wide Worthington Pedigree. [To face page 173. June 24, 1585. - Addenda to the Worthington Family. I 33 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. The Editor takes this opportunity to correct some errors in the pedigree of this excellent family, in page 76 ante, and at the same time to add some further particulars regarding it, and likewise a pedigree of the Allen family, connected by marriage with the Worthingtons, and rendered so famous in Catholic history by its glorious member, Cardinal Allen, to whose strenuous exertions in behalf of suffering Catholicity in his native land the Catholic Church in England is so deeply indebted for the preservation of the ancient faith amidst the terrible storms and persecutions of those times. Much information is still wanting to perfect the family pedigree and satisfactorily account for many members of the collateral branches—for instance, Fathers John, Laurence, William, and Peter, all S.J. The pedigree in page 76 was partly made out from Baines’ History of Zancashire (who is clearly wrong), without referring to the Harleian MSS., Visita- tions, &c., in the British Museum. In that collection, mn. I468, f. 23, 1549, f. II 7, 2066, f. 67, and 615.9, f. 81, may be seen short pedigrees and statistics of the two families of Worthington of Blainscough and Worthington of Worthing- ton. From these, and the further information supplied, we give the following amended Worthington Pedigree to 1666, adding also one of the Allen family of Rosshall. Father John Worthington is mentioned by Father Chris- topher Grene, in his Collectanea P, to have made three orations which Father More does not record in his history, viz.: one before the Pope on his arrival at Rome from Spain with Father Parsons, 13th April, 1597; one in the English College, Rome, when Cardinal Cajetan, the Protector, returned from Poland, 3oth of June ; and an earlier one than either to the Father General, in March, 1597. We have briefly alluded to this in page 79 ante. It seems likely that John Worthington was not a priest when he entered the Society, as Father More says he was, for no letter P is prefixed to his name in the list of those that entered, as is usual with a priest. The following extract from the Diary of the English College, Rome, confirms this opinion. “I 597. Joannes Worthing- tonus, Cestrensis Dioc: Ex Collegio Hispalensi [Seville] Roman veniens cum Rev. Patre Roberto Parsonio admissus est inter Alumnos ad absolvenda. Theologii Studia 14 Ap. I597. Ingressus est Societatem 27 Oct. I 598.” According 134 Addenda to the Worthington Family. to the usual custom of the Society he would not have been ordained till the third year of his theology. It is probable that Father Thomas Worthington [D.D.], S.J., the eldest son and heir of Richard and Dorothy Worthington, had other married brothers besides Richard, and perhaps Fathers John and Laurence are the sons of one of them.” Upon the same supposition, Father William Worthington, of Preston (who calls himself a cousin of James Worthington [the priest],” and of “Agnes Worthington of Blainsco”*), and Father Peter Worthington, S.J. (who was born 1581, and entered the English College, Rome, as an Alumnus, 18th of October, 1598, and joined the Society on the vigil of SS. Simon and Jude, 1602), may be sons of another brother. The Douay Diary mentions several of the Worthingtons. William arrived there from England, 14th April, 1590; William and John ordained at Douay, 1609; William sent to the English Mission, 1611; John sent to the same mission, 1615;" James, nephew of Father Thomas Worthington, D.D., the President, arrived at Douay from Rome, a priest, in 16Io. Sent upon the English Mission, 161 I. The same Diary also gives the following entries concerning Father Thomas Worthington, the President. He was admitted at Douay in 1573, went to England while a student in theology, “ut patrem suum ex periculis illis et haereticorum procellis liberatum (si possit) ad istas regiones transvehat, quo ita pie- tatem et fidem Catholicam tranquillus et securus libere pro- fiteatur;” November 21, 1575, returned to college ; February 3, I 575–6, ordained priest at Cambray with Martin Aray, William Sutton and others on Holy Saturday; April 6, 1577, said his first Mass on St. George's Day [arrested by Topcliffe on Sunday (Concert”), July 19, 1584 (Rishton), sent to Tower and put in “Whalesbury” (Concert”)]; exiled January 21, 1585, when he had the Scripture lecture after supper at Rheims; went to Duventer to be chaplain to Sir William Stanley, April 27, 1587; made Vice-President of Rheims, January 27, 1589; Professor of “Cases,” i.e., Moral Theology, May, 9, 1590 ; left College * The Editor, for want of information, admits a somewhat random Sug- gestion in page I 16, that Zaurence may have been either Robert or Richard in the “conflict” of the four boys, and that Zaurence might be his con- firmation name. But we now find from the pedigree this was not so. As we have seen in page 75 ayate, Father More makes John the youngest of the four brothers in the “conflict,” as he also calls Laurence a brother of John. This would give a fifth brother. * See p. I I2 ante. * P. I 13 ante * This of course could not have been the John, S.J., of our history. Addenda to the Worthington Family. 135 and went to Brussels, July 3, 1591. Dr. Barret died on Whit Sunday, May, 30, 1599. Dr. Worthington made President by Cardinal Cajetan, Protector of England, June 28; reached Douay, July 30; publicly declared President (August 12) by the two Visitors of the College, Dr. Richard Hall and Dr. John Wright, Dean of Cambray, and himself made co-Visitor. “Ita quarta hac vice idem ad hoc Collegium advenit. 1° Juvenis studiosus anno, 1573. 28. In secundum pro fide exilium ejectus, anno 1585. 3° A praedecessore suo D. Bar- retto Praeside ex castris vocatus, ut Vice-Praesidis munere fungeretur, anno 1589. 4° Demum, ut eidem succederet (uti dictum est), anno 1599.” The two following extracts from the State Papers are given, (1) to illustrate the history of Father Edmund Arrowsmith, his grandfather, Thurstan Arrowsmith, being one of the victims named therein ; and (2) in further illustration of our friend William, the pseudo-prelate of Chester; and of the intensity of the persecution of the Catholics, which was mainly excited by the hatred and unceasing activity of the bishops and ministers of the State Church. Domestic Æ/ºz, vol. I67, n. 40. Endorsed—“January 22, 23. Ann. I583. A note of the proceedings against the recusants at the Quarter Sessions holden at Manchester.” “A calender of the names of all such persons as were indicted, arraigned, Condemned, and adjudged at Manchester for disobedience to her Majesty, &c., as well recusants as others, with the number of months, &c., at the Sessions of Peace, then holden before the Right Reverend Father in God, William, Lord Bishop of Chester, John Byron, &c. &c., Justices of the Peace within the County of Lancaster, 22 and 23 January, Ann. Reg. Eliz. xxvi", &c. ſ n These priests were lately taken in a search made for such persons, &C., in the county “Indicted for Thomas Williamson, aforesaid, the 17th day & priest. & *:::::: Richiºiation, lº the #. Janºi Bell, by the Right Hºn. authority, &c. | ** priest 5 the Earl of Derby, and the other two by Sir Edmund Trafford, Kt., the High Sheriff of the t J said County. - 136 Adalenda to the Worthington Family. Condemned ac-l according to the Stat. for saying Mass in Golborne upon St. John's Day in Xtmas. last. 2 ~ 93 # Ere 3 Tºp = 3 a cº - $4 45 C All these persons are condemned according to 3 the Stat. for xii. months’ absence. Priests. < These women, altho' they be very obsti- nate, and have done great harm, yet being indicted it was not thought good to }-James Bell, priest. ſ John Southworth, Kt. John Townely, ar. John Locknell, ar. William Loughe, ar. . John Loughe, ar. . Mattw. Travers, gent. Robert Holland, gent. Ralph Worsley, gent. | James Bell, priest Richard Hutton, priest Thomas Williamson, priest . . . . Ralph Scott, priest Thomas Langton (? Houghton), priest William Wilson, priest Christ. Hankes, priest Tho. Woodes, priest. John Murren, priest . John Cubbage (? Cul- | page), priest. e ſ Humphrey Cartwright, schoolmaster John Burge, school- master . . . Richard Aspenhall, Schoolmaster Henry Jacson, tailor . John Finch, yeoman. Thurstan Arrowsmith, husbandman Oliver Platt, Smith Thomas Hatton, labourer . Elizabeth Dewhurst. H Catharine Marshe, Ellen Challoner. Lucy Sedgwicke. arraign them. J ccxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. cCxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. coxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. cxxl/. coxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. cCxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. CCX]/. coxl/. coxl/. ccxl/. ccxl/. CCxl/. vjccxll. ccxl/. J Adalenda to the Worthington Family. I 37 ſ Dorothy Brerton, wid. gent. 3 months. Anne Massie, 25 22 25 Ann Sankie, wife of Thomas Sankie of Sankie, gent. These parties are Anne Aston, wife of Robert abroad, and not yet { Aston of Oxon, gent. * * 55 taken. Jane Tarleton, wife of Robert Tarleton . . . . . 9 months. Ellen Rigbie, wife of Roger Rigbie . . . . . . . 25 Ann Modie, Spinster . . . , “N.B.--That these Quarter Sessions aforesaid were holden in divers other places of the county, viz.: At Lancaster, Preston, and Wigan, but not any one recusant presented Saving only at Manchester, although there was several charge given thereof, and many notorious known recusants in every of the said divisions. “There were also many recusants of divers counties within the diocese of Chester presented at the Lord Bishop of Chester his visitation this last Summer, but they could not be indicted by reason of the churchwardens and swornmen did not set down any certain time of their absence. “W. CESTREN.” State Papers, ZXam. Æſiz., Same vol. In. 41. Endorsed— “I583. The names of the recusants that are remaining in the gaol of Salford.” “The names of the recusants that are now remaining in the gaol in Salford. o “Sir John Southworth . º . Knight. o John Towneley Alexander Barloe o William Loughe and John Locknell Robert Hulme John Leigh Mattw. Travers * ſº tº º Robert Holland and Gentlemen. Ralph Worsley Esquires. J John Culpage ge e e . . John Morren . ſº e . . Ralph Scott . . . tº e . }. Priests. William Wilson . * • , e. Christ. Hankes | 138 Addenda to the W.orthington Family. Thomas Woods . º º . . Thomas Houghton. |Richard Hutton & º g James Bell . º º - ... }. Priests. Thomas Williamson John Alblaster (?) . John Lowe & John Burghe . o - gº Hump. Cartwright . . . e }* Richard Aspenall . John Finch Henry Jackson Oliver Plate . * º cº Thurstan Arrowsmith . e ... } Husbandmen. Thomas Hutton - John Rushocke Henry Grimshawe . Lucy Sedgwicke ~ Catharine Marsh . Wives. Mary Leigh º º º Elizabeth Dewhurst º • . Widow. Alice Hadcocke Eleanor Challoner . Spinsters. The whole number 38.” We also take the opportunity of adding a full copy of the State Paper referred to in page 34 ante, note 13–Life of Father Arrowsmith. State Papers, Z)0m. Æſiz. vol. cclxxxiii. A, n. 86. April 27th, 1602, London. “Bishop of London to the Right Hon. Robert Cecil, Knight, Principal Secretary.” “Right Honourable.—I have sent you here inclosed two informations, the shorter from a priest, the other from a young man that is come lately from Douay. Both came to my hands this day. The priest hath promised to do all his uttermost to get the book, and I have assured him that if it be of that argument and can be gotten, his friend whom he useth shall have 24, 20. He desired me to keep the notes of it secret till the book be had, and no creature but your honour for my part shall see them. The larger discourse is but hearsay, and yet worth your reading except you know them before. And so I commit your honour into the tuition of Almighty God. At my house in London, April 27th, 1602. - “Your honour’s most assured, “RIC. LONDON.” Addenda Żo the Worthington Family. I 39 “NO. 86. I. “An especial book, said to be sent from the Archduke's Court, to be dispersed here and there amongst the con- federates of the Spanish faction, containing these points as near as I can remember by report made unto me. “Amprºmis-The number, breadth, length and depth of all the havens, and other landing-places in England. y “At the number, strength and conveniency to offence or defence of all and every fort, castle, town, or other hold within this land. - “If the number, alliance, and strength of every noble house or family of any reckoning within the realm. JZ, the number of men of note in every shire that are secretly sworn and confederated to aid with the Spaniard and Jesuits, for the invasion of their native country. At the number and names of those of the Spanish faction appointed to be in authority in time of the said invasion, and afterwards in what authority every one shall be for his intended treason against his Country. - “If the number of houses, dignities, and honours of special marks, and who shall have this, and who that noble or gentleman's place or inheritance. , “These points I heard spoken of in general to be in the book or chartal, what else, God knows. But if it can be gotten it will discover much good stuff.” “ No. 86. II. “As concerning the state of this land after the decease of her Majesty (whom God long preserve), I have heard Father Parsons say (being at Supper in the English College, Rome, and at other times by him and others that were Englishmen), that the Infant of Spain is the true heir of the throne of England, and they can prove it. And they say in the College of Douay that all priests made in the English Seminaries beyond the seas are sworn by a Jesuit, before their coming into England, to be true to the Archduke, and the Infant, his wife. And as for the King of Scots, they said, indeed, it is his right, but he is a man not capable of government, and of no religion, and altogether unfit and unworthy of so great a place. As for the Lady Arabella, they say she is a notable Puritan, and the Turk more worthy the place than she. I have heard it spoken in secret that presently after the death * The above in R. London's handwriting. I4O Adalenda to the W.orthington Family. of her Majesty, they will either massacre or be massacred. And to the same effect, they say that the Pope and the King of 'Spain have promised to help them what they can. In March last past there came to the College of Douay, directly from England, two recusants seeming to be gentlemen, and after supper sitting by the fire with the President of the College, and the Doctor, his assistant. The President asked them what news, and if there were any hope of liberty of conscience, and they said yea, there was great hope. The President made answer, it were best for them to grant it, least they drink of the same cup that Paris did, for so they are like if they remain in the same state they do. They say there are in England 3oo, Ooo recusants and schismatics ; they confess there be many Protestants, but they make no reckoning of them, for they say they will turn as the wind, and to the stronger side. And so the Puritans and all other sects, they say they shall walk to the fire so long as they find one. They hold Wales almost all recusants, and as it were their own ; and they say a pursuivant nor any of the Queen's officers dare not apprehend any man there. And it is a great presumption to say it is so, because in the college beyond the seas there be many Welshmen. Also they in Lancashire and those parts, recusants stand not in fear by reason of the great multitude there is of them. Likewise I have heard it reported publicly amongst them that they of that country have beaten divers pursuivants extremely, and made them vow and swear they would never meddle with any recusants more. And One pursuivant in particular to eat his warrant, and vow never to trouble them nor any recusants more. There be maintained beyond the seas, by the Pope and the King of Spain, five English Seminaries, viz.: One in Rome, two in Spain, and two in Flanders, which Colleges all be governed by Jesuits, except the College in Douay, which is governed by Doctor Worthington, a priest,” some time prisoner in the Tower of London Condemned, and by her Majesty's mercy banished with a great many more of his consorts, whom, as I heard say, some of them come into England with the next wind. This President does nothing without the consent of Father Thomas Connyers," a Jesuit of great account dwelling in the College of Jesuits in Douay. In all these five Colleges the scholars observe the Jesuits’ orders as strictly as they themselves in all points, and those that be of a good capacity * See life of the Worthington family. 7 Father Coniers. Addenda to the Worthington Family. 141 and an excellent spirit, they persuade them by all means possible to be of their Order. In the College of St. Omer, a city in the Archduke's country, there be one hundred and forty scholars, most of them gentlemen's sons of great worship. And I have heard say for a truth amongst those there be not six that ever were at any of our churches in England, and many of them be about twenty years of age. In the College of Douay there be sixty persons, whereof the next year, and the next following that, these are to be made priests, viz.: Mr. Perceval, Mr. Hassold, Mr. Jarvis, Mr. Sweet, Mr. Brigg, Mr. Thursby, Mr. Ammyus, Mr. Gwynes, Mr. Ainsworth, alias Skevington, Mr. Trevor, Mr. Brever. The number in Rome are seventy; the number in Valdelight [Walladolid], in Spain, be eighty; the number in Seville, in Spain, be seventy. The number of priests which I do know and call to mind that now be in England, and presently to come into this realm, be these following, viz. : Dr. Weston, Dr. Britton, Dr. Parkinson, Dr. Haddock, Dr. Legge, Dr. Tempest, Dr. Jackson, Mr. Peake, Mr. Beesley, Mr. Cattrell, Mr. Morris, Mr. Bateman, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Hickman, Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Courtoise, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Potts, Mr. Robert Potts, his brother, Mr. Buck, Mr. Purchwell, Mr. Evans, Mr. Butler, Mr. Fitzjames, Mr. Harriss, Mr. Thursby, Mr. Kinge, Mr. Mallett, Mr. Sadler, Mr. Kyerton, Mr. Morton, Mr. Hassell, Mr. Smartford, Mr. Dawson, Mr. Wright, Mr. Ascew, Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Griffyn the elder, Mr. Griffyn the younger, some time chaplain to Cardinal Allen in Rome; Mr. Tempest, Mr. Umpton, lately confessor to the English Company serving under the Archduke against her Majesty at Ostend ; Mr. Willis, some time a minister in London, and , lately prefect of the scholars in the College of Douay. “These following were made Priests in Lent last past, 1602 — “Mr. Tyrrell Mr. Wilson, lately executed “Mr. Browne Mr. Faller, some time Scholar of Oxford “Mr. Younge Mr. Gamadge, some time Master of - Arts in Oxford “Mr. Dowgell Mr. Evans “Mr. Hughes Mr. Wyndems “The Jesuits I know be these, viz.: Father Parsons, Rector of the College of Rome, and Chief-Governor of all English Seminaries under the Protector and Cardinal in Rome; ..? 142 Addenda to the Worthington Family. Father Cowley, some time confessor to the Scholars of Douay, Father Roberts, confessor to the English Noonnes [Nuns] at Brussels, a city where the Archduke keeps his court. These nuns be gentlewomen of great worship. Father Flack, Father Baldwyn. Father Baldwyn, a famous Jesuit. “Other priests there be which I know, but I cannot call their names to memory. “The recusants say they have three enemies in England that doth vex them, and which they fear, viz.: The Lord Chief Justice of England, Sir Robert Cecill, and the Lord High Admiral of England. It was credibly reported in the College of Douay, that the last Parliament, great complaints being made of the recusants how they increased, that her Majesty answered in these words, viz.: “If you will have them decrease, do it by your good lives and work, for I will persecute no more than I have already.’ “I have heard likewise said that some great recusants get a licence for three years to travel, and in that time they are made priests, and by that means come and go safe. As one Mr. Beesley, a priest, told me he himself did the last summer past 1601. When I was at the College in Douay, he told me he was so well known in every place, he feared to stay any longer. This man is now beyond the seas; he is a very strong man, about forty years of age, of a very black Com- plexion, wearing his beard and hair very long. There is One Freeman, an English merchant, dwelling in Calais, that hath and doth convey many priests into the realm for money. “They say the Pope hath dispensed with all priests and Jesuits, and all recusants that are in danger of the law, to kill the Queen's officers, or any other person that offers to take them, if they think they may escape. “I have heard it reported the world is well amended in Lancashire, for they say if a pursuivant come thither to the Justice and show them his warrant, the Justice will take some occasion to stay him until he hath sent to the recusant’s house to warn him, and give notice that such a time they will Come to search, and if he have anything in his house to convey it away.” Sithence my coming to London I have spoken to Some recusants, and telling one of them there were thirteem priests to come from Douay, he made answer, ‘It is well if there were thirteen score, they could set them on work.’” * This is true ; see an instance in the life of Father Arrowsmith, P. 34. Addenda to the Worthington Family. 143 Two martyrs are found in the foregoing lists, viz.: the Rev. James Bell, a native of Warrington, Lancashire. Edu- cated at Oxford; ordained priest in Queen Mary's reign. Upon the change of religion by Elizabeth he was carried away with the stream against his conscience, and for many years officiated as a minister of the State Church. In 1581 a severe sickness joined to the remonstrances of a pious Catholic brought him to his senses, and he was duly recon- ciled to God and His Church. With his soul his body was also restored to health, and after some time spent in penitential exercises, he resumed his priestly functions for the space of two years. In January 1583–4 he was apprehended and com- mitted to Manchester gaol. He was sent to Lancaster, with his arms tied behind him, and his legs under the horse's belly. He was arraigned with the Reverends Thomas Williamson and Richard Hutton (both of whom are named in the same lists,) and Mr. John Finch, all for asserting the Pope's supremacy. Mr. Bell in his trial showed much courage and resolution, boldly professing that he had been reconciled to the Church, and that he did not acknowledge the Queen's supremacy, but that of the Pope. He was condemned as for high treason, and showed great Content upon the occasion, and looking at the judge said: “I beg your lordship would add to the sentence that my lips and the tips of my fingers may be cut off for having sworn and subscribed to the articles of heretics, contrary both to my conscience and to God’s truth.” He suffered with great constancy and joy at Lancaster, 20th April, 1583-4, at the age of sixty.” The other two priests were also found guilty by the jury, but as the judge had instructions to put to death no more than two, they were not sentenced to die, but only condemned to a perpetual imprisonment and loss of all their goods, as in cases of promunire.19 - John Finch was a native of Eccleston, Lancashire. After he was married and settled in the world, being heartily dis- gusted with the new State religion, after a long examination of the merits of the cause, he was reconciled to the Catholic Church, and was so fervent a convert, that with his own Sanctification, he laboured in procuring the conversion and Salvation of others, as well by word and example as by assisting the priests, in whose service he was wholly employed for many years as a clerk and catechist, and in accompanying * Wide Challomer's Miss. Priests. 1583-4. 10 Jøſſø. 144. Addenda to the Worthington Family. them to the houses of the Catholics. He was at length betrayed by a false brother, and apprehended with the Rev. George Ostcliffe, a priest of Douay College, by the Earl of Derby. They used both threats and promises to induce Mr. Finch to go to church, but failing in this they dragged him there by violence through the streets, his head beating all the way upon the stones, and he was seriously bruised and wounded. They then thrust him into a dark loathsome dungeon where his only bed was the bare and wet floor; no other food but liver, and that very sparingly. He was confined in this dungeon sometimes for whole weeks, sometimes for entire months together; not to speak of innumerable other sufferings he endured for some years whilst in the enemies hands. He was at length tried at the Lent Assizes, 1583–4, for denying the Queen’s Supremacy and asserting that of the Sovereign Pontiff, found guilty and sentenced to die as for high treason, receiving the Sentence with great joy, having long desired to suffer death for this cause. He was executed with the Reverend James Bell, and his quarters exhibited on poles in the four chief towns of that county.” * Wide Challoner's Missionary Priests, I583-4. I45 VII. THE LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF FATHER THOMAS COTTAM, S.J. Who suffered at Zyburn the 3of/ of May, 1582, af. 33. CHAPTER I. HIS EARLY LIFE ; ENTRANCE INTO THE SOCIETY OF JESUS ; MISSION TO ENGLAND ; CAPTURE, ESCAPE, AND HEROIC volunTARY SURRENDER TO SAVE HIS FRIEND, AND COM- MITTAL TO PRISON. THIS great hero of the Church Catholic, and of the English Province of the Society of Jesus was a native of Lancashire," born in the year 1549, of respectable parents; his father was Mr. Laurence Cottam, and his mother's maiden name was Ann Brerewere ; they were Protestants, and being well to do, could afford to give their son a liberal education. Being fitted for the University, he was sent to Brazenose College, Oxford, where he took his degree of B.A. 23rd of March, 1568. Having completed his studies, he left his parents and home, and, to better his fortunes, went to London, and there undertook the direction of a noted free grammar school.” Here he had the good fortune by the providence of God, to be introduced to, and become on the most intimate terms of friendship with, Thomas Pounde, Esquire, of Belmont (that noble confessor of the faith of his forefathers, who suffered an imprisonment of about thirty years duration, and was admitted to the Society of Jesus in prison), who was then at liberty. Father Cottam was not only a Protestant at that time, but his habits were not of the most praiseworthy kind. Thomas, however, by the cogency of his reasoning, and the example of his own holy life, not only * The author of an eulogium of the martyr, a copy of which, taken from the Public Record Office, Brussels, may be seen in the Collectio Cardwelli Vita el Martyr., S.V., &c. (Stonyhurst), says he was a native of London, a mistake he was probably led into by the fact of Father Cottam having for a short time in early life lived there. * Dodd's Church. History, vol. ii. p. 116. R K I46 Father 7% omas Cottam. converted him to the Catholic faith, but wrought a total refor- mation in him, changing him into another man; so much so that he resolved to give himself up entirely to God and the service of His Church. He left England for the Seminary of Douay, Carrying with him, and retaining as he always did to the last, a present and lively recollection of Pounde, the father of his soul, and of the everlasting debt of gratitude he owed to that holy man, through whom he had gained the precious treasure of the faith. + In a letter to his benefactor, dated Ascension Day, May 12, 1575, worthy of record, he says, “Your charity, like, its Author, is eternal, and as there is no comparison between things eternal and perishable goods, between time and eternity, so am I neither able by word or writing to sufficiently express the testimony of gratitude I owe you. I remember when you were to me a consoler in my solitude, the guide of my path, my helper in my afflictions, and my refuge in need. Through you the divine mercy recalled me from my wander- ings, raised me up when fallen, Sustained me in my wavering, preserved me in my trials, restored me when lost. So great. a thing is it to possess a faithful friend, and such you have well shown yourself to me; and at the same time the vast difference there is between an honest and conscientious Christian, and an ordinary one, and one of pleasures. I had already begun to know vice (which I deeply lament). Now I follow virtue, and wonderfully it refreshes my soul, now freed from earthly cares, and safe from my enemies, and in no great fear of hell. These are great things indeed, and for all of which I am indebted to you; but that by far the greatest of all, which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of the Apostle saith, Testimonium reddit spiritui nostro, quod sumus ſilii ZXi.* I beseech you by the same Holy Spirit, by Christ this day ascending into heaven, by the Eternal Father at Whose right hand. He sitteth, by the Omnipotent and Immortal God, Three in One, that you be always mindful of me, and sometimes solace me by your letters. I will implore. this same God, even to my latest breath, that He may long preserve you safe, with the highest increase of His honour and merits, and at last crown you with a holy end. Farewell!”.4 At Douay he applied himself with great diligence to the study of philosophy and theology for some years. After this, * Rom, viii. 16. * See /esuits in Conflict, Series I. p. 141. “Life of Thomas Pounde, S.J. of Belmont,” Aather Thomas Coffam. I47 bidding farewell to the world with its pleasures, dignities, and honours, he left Douay for Rome for the sake of embracing a religious life, and offering himself to the Society of Jesus. The author of the above-mentioned eulogium has confounded Father Thomas Cottam at Rome with another party named Paul Cottam, who early in life had been sent by His Holiness, Pope Gregory XIII. as one of his free alumni to the German College then under the care of the Jesuits, and afterwards at . the English College. Father Bartoli" clearly exposes this error, and refers to the diary of the German College, in which that, Cottam is named Paul and not Thomas. The dates fully bear out Father Bartoli's statement. & The spirit that had led Thomas Cottam from the world to the desire of a religious life, and so from Douay to Rome, was a heroic desire of spending his life in the Apostolical ministry of the missions to the idolaters of India. Hearing certain letters read that had been brought to Rome from the Fathers of the Society labouring in those missions in the conversion of souls, he was seized with such a burning thirst for aiding them in their labours, that with the desire and in the hope of ex- tinguishing these flames, and because he was told that the only way of doing so was to get admission to the Society, he most earnestly and repeatedly entreated that favour, being less anxious about labouring in his native land, as the missioners of the Society of Jesus had not as yet, in consequence of the times, and the inscrutable providence of God so disposing, penetrated into it. And perhaps Mr. Pounde, who had been so good a master to him in matters regarding his soul, had instilled into his heart those first desire which had also moved himself; since the first thing that had attracted Thomas Pounde to the Society, and afterwards drew him into it, was the reading of the Annual Letters that the Jesuit missionary Fathers had sent from the East Indies to the Very Reverend Father General in Europe; and since they were written and published in so primitive and laudable a manner, confined solely to a relation of the conversion of the Gentiles, to the fatigues and sufferings of the missionaries, their persecutions and deaths, and of those new and tender, but by the help of God most generous Christians, he would make long excerpta of their spirit, reading them to excite himself to religion, &c." But far otherwise were the designs of Divine Providence in * Bartoli, Inghilterra, lib. iv. p. 30. - * “Life of Pounde,” pp. 27, 40. I48 Aather Thomas Cottam. his regard, who willed that he should shed his blood in and for England, rather than his sweat in India; “and I am persuaded, none the less useful to the Faith, seeing that he also with so many other courageous priests and laymen there martyred for the Catholic religion, cease not continually to raise their voices to the throne of God, imploring His mercy for that their un- happy country, to the end that she might come back again to what she was for so many years, in the true Faith, in devotion to the Holy See of Rome, in Sanctity and great merits, the. glorious crown of the Church.”" His Superiors also had then equipped an expedition to England, and were using every exertion in picking out zealous men for the undertaking. Therefore, having upon the promotion of Father Faber di Fabri, a man of high and distinguished virtue, received the two lower sacred orders, for he was under the canonical age for the priesthood, he was admitted to the Society of Jesus, and entered the Novitiate of St. Andrew in Rome on the 8th of April, 1579.8 He there lived a most innocent life, but it was 7 Bartoli, /ng/tilterra, lib. iv. p. 31. * Bishop Challoner upon the authority of Raissius' Catalogue states that Father Cottam was dismissed from the Novitiate upon the ground of sick- mess. This is true: he left after a six months’ stay there, but with the express promise to be again received, if he should recover. Upon this promise, still looking upon himself as a Jesuit, on his arrival in London, having a scruple about the mode of his recovery of his liberty, he went, as stated in his Life, to consult Thomas Pounde in prison, and Fathers Campion and Parsons. Dr. Challoner was not aware that the same Raisssius in his Afterogazaphilacium (Belgium, Douai, 1628. British Museum, pp. 164, 861, c. xii.) mentions the fact of his having been readmitted in prison. This is confirmed by Alegambe, cited in Dodd's Church. History, vol. ii. p. 117. And in the P.R.O. Brussels is the responsio of Father Cottam to certain questions put to him and his six fellow-sufferers by the examiners, and this he is there stated to have signed “Thomas Cottamus, Soc. S.J.” This re- sponsio is embodied in a manuscript life of Father Cottam (see Collectio Cardwelli Vita et Martyr., Stonyhurst MSS.), and was signed the 13th day of May, 1582, about a ſortnight before he suffered. In another eulogium of the martyr extant in the P.R.O. Brussels (see Collectio Cardwelli Vita. Martyr, vol. i. p. 69) it is stated that Father Cottam was received into the Society of Jesus in prison, “Therefore that he might suffer with greater glory and ſortitude, he was received into the Society in prison.” This would have been his readmittance, at which time also he would most probably have been allowed to make his religious vows. It may be added that none of the principal historians, such as Sacchinus, Bartoli, Tanner, Morus, &c., mention this dismissal at all, but all treat him as S.J.; and Nadasi in his Annus dierum memorabilium S./, names him as in his third year of religion at the time of his martyrdom. The reason of their silence Aather ZThomas Cottam. I49 of short duration, for in the sixth month of his probation he was attacked by a consuming intermittent fever caused by the heats; and the medical men being of opinion that the only remedy was to be found in a change of air, he was immediately sent first to Avignon, and then to Lyons in France. This was thought to be more advisable on all accounts, because from thence his route to England whither he was destined, when circumstances would admit, would be shorter and more ex- peditious. But as this course was not found to be favourable to his state of health, he was soon after his arrival at Lyons sent on to Rheims whither the English Seminary of Douay had lately been translated, and there he was ordained priest, having been long before a deacon and a good preacher. While Father Cottam was at Lyons, one Sledd, an English- man, and an infamous Judas, called there. “He was a man,” says the eulogium above-mentioned, “exceedingly wicked and crafty, both a hater of, and a bitter enemy to the very name of Christian, who, in order the more effectually to accomplish his dirty work came to Rome, and passed himself off as a Catholic, with intention of diligently observing Catholics and especially his own countrymen, that on his return to England he might betray them to the magistrates by his infamous perfidy, to be dealt with according to the cruel laws in force against them.” Sledd, according to Dr. Allen, was the man who published the news at Rome about a Spanish fleet being prepared to invade |England; and he told one Jerome Vane in Paris that he had published it on the persuason of some men of great name in England. At Rome and Rheims he was a daily communicant whilst he was making his observations with the intention of betraying his companions. Even when he started for England to put his design into execution, he made his confession first. He communicated his observations in France to the JEnglish Ambassador in Paris, who sent over his informations to the Privy Council.” “This most perfidious and detestable man,” continues the eulogium, “attached himself to some in Rome, and having gained their familiarity, and completed his upon the point probably was, that as these suspensions of the noviceship on account of ill health are of frequent occurrence, and the date of his readmission was so soon after, and so well known, they may not hav deemed it worth while to allude to it at all.—[Editor.] - * Mr. Simpson's Zife of Campion, p. 312. Sledd was one of the prin- cipal witnesses against Fathers Campion and Cottam, and the rest, at their trials. t - I5ó Father Thomas Cottam. business there, he accompanied them back to England. The whole journey was conducted with the most consummate deceit. Meeting with Father Cottam at Lyons on his way, and having gained his friendship, he travelled with him to Rheims as his companion. On the way, as is usual with unsuspecting persons, they with all confidence mutually disclosed each bthers' plans. Father Cottam laying open to him his intended speedy journey to England, for the recovery of his health indeed, but, when circumstances permitted, with the further intention of propagating and defending the Catholic religion. The traitor Sledd rejoicing in the knowledge thus gained of the Father's plans, took every care with the utmost dissimulation to applaud his intentions, all the while making the most accu- rate survey of his victim, the construction of his body, the lineaments of his face, leaving in fine nothing unnoticed that would aid in proving his identity. Arriving at Rheims with the martyr, this Government spy soon hastened off to Paris; and furnished the English Ambassador there with his accurate description both of Father Cottam and several other of his victims. The Ambassador sent this to the Privy Council, by which it was speedily communicated to the governors, and through them to the searchers of the various ports, whereby it is incredible how difficult and dangerous the access was rendered to all new-comers. + In the meantime, whilst Father Cottam was at Rheims, he learnt that some priests there, the Reverends John Hart and Edward Rishton (the former afterwards admitted to the Society, the latter was the writer of the diary in the Tower of London, and both of them afterwards condemned), were about to go to England, and considering that so good an opportunity as their company offered was not to be lost, he made earnest suit to his Superiors, and having obtained their leave, and not having as yet completed his noviceship, he joined in with them for †ngland. Setting sail, they arrived safely at Dover about the '16th or 18th of June, 1580, with another priest, who passed off as a layman under the assumed name of Havard or Howard, but who was really Dr. Ely, Professor of Canon and Civil Law in the English Catholic University of Douay.” They had * As Dr. Humphrey Ely forms a conspicuous figure in this important period of our martyr's life, the following mote may be interesting. He was a native of Herefordshire, brother to the Reverend William Ely, President of St. John's College, Oxford, one of the old Marian priests, and ſor many years missioner at Hereford. Dr. Humphrey Ely was first admitted a Father Thomas Cottam. I5 I scarcely arrived when Father Cottam, being recognized by the searchers from the accurate description given of him by the spy Sledd, was apprehended, and with his companions searched to their skins, but nothing was found upon them. Mr. Hart however was stopped, being taken for Mr. Orton (afterwards tried and condemned to death with Fathers Campion, Cottam and the rest, and reprieved and banished), whom, however, he nothing at all resembled. Father Cottam was detained at an inn in Dover; and in order to avoid expenses Mr. Allen, the Mayor of Dover, and Stevens, the searcher, most civilly asked Dr. Ely (Havard), whom he took to be a military man, to take the Father under his own eye to London with him, and to hand him over to Lord Cobham, the Governor of the Cinque Ports, to whom he gave him a letter of introduction and expla- nation. Havard agreed very readily to do so; but being, as we have seen, a Catholic and a conscientious man, and of a most generous disposition, as soon as they were out of the town Dr. Ely said, “I have not accepted you as a deposit to render you to Lord Cobham, but merely to accompany you to student at Brazenose College, aſterwards removed to St. John's. Having declared himself a Catholic he was obliged to leave Oxford, and went over to Douay in 1570, where he gave himself entirely to the study of Canon and Civil Law, in which faculties he took degrees, became an eminent professor, and hiring a convenient house for the purpose, several young gentlemen, especially of the English nation, boarded with him. When the College was obliged to break up at Douay and remove to Rheims in 1578, Mr. Ely followed, and applying himself to the study of Divinity at Rheims and Rome, took his Doctor's degree. In 1580 he accompanical Dr. Allen from Rome to Rheims, where they arrived on the 2nd of April. He made a considerable stay with Dr. Allen, who employed him in revising several controversial books, which were preparing for the press. It was during this stay that he took his journey to England. Dr. Ely and the Reverend John Hart were in fact the two priests who were substituted for Bishop Goldwell and Dr. Morton (who were compelled to stay behind at Rome), in the great missionary expedition to England from Rome, of which Fathers Tarsons and Campion were the chief leaders; and, as we have seen, they both joined Father Cottam at Rheims. He afterwards received an invitation from the Duke of Lorraine, who appointed him to a professorship of Canon and Civil Law at Pont-a-Mousson, ſor which he left Rheims 22nd June, 1586. He died in that office on the ides of March, 1604. He is described as a man of great candour and hospitality; and being a man of substance, he parted with it cheerfully, especially to his countrymen, who never failed of a hearty welcome as oſten as their necessities obliged them to make use of his house. He was also of a charitable and reconciliatory disposition, and took great pains to heal differences that happened among missioners upon account of the archpriest of England's jurisdiction (See Dodd's Church Jätstory, vol. ii. p. 71). - I 52 Aather Thomas Cottamz. London, whither you are travelling. God forbid that a Catholic should deliver up a priest into the hands of the enemies of the Faith, and the persecutors of the priests; my conscience will not suffer it; I should deem it a sin to do so; but we will during the two days’ journey go together straight to London, and when we arrive there you shift for yourself and I will do the same.” . i § { He accordingly allowed the Father to go at large. Coming to London, Father Cottam felt uneasy about his escape, because he well knew that his kind friend and keeper (Havard) himself incurred danger of prison, unless he kept his faith by handing him over with the letter to my Lord Cobham according to his engagement: therefore, anxious to do the better thing, he went directly to one, we know not which, of the prisons, which were then full of valorous Catholics, and there conferred with a friend of his, a prisoner for the Faith, to whom he related the whole affair, with the order and manner of his escape. This friend told him flatly that he could not in conscience make that escape, and was bound to deliver himself up prisoner and save his friend from harm, and this without delay.” Nothing more was needed to urge Father Cottam to seek out his friend Havard in London with all diligence. Having succeeded in finding him he requested him to hand him the letter of the Mayor of Dover to my Lord Cobham. “Why, what will you . do with it?” said Havard. “I will go,” said the martyr, “and carry it to him and surrender myself prisoner, for I am fully persuaded that I cannot make this escape in conscience.” “Why,” said Havard, “this counsel that hath been given you proceedeth, I confess, from a zealous mind, but I doubt whether it carrieth with it the weight of knowledge. You shall not have the letter, nor may you in Conscience yield yourself to the persecutor and adversary, having so good means offered to escape their cruelty.” But Father Cottam still persisting in his demands: “Well,” said Mr. Havard, “seeing you will not be turned from this opinion, let us go and first Consult with so-and-so" (naming one but newly come over, whom Father Cottam greatly honoured and reverenced for his singular wit and learning, and for his rare virtues), “and if he be of your opinion, you shall have the letter and go, in God's name.” * This was probably his dear friend Mr. Pounde, who about that time was in the Tower of London. See “Life of Thomas Pounde, S.J.” The plump and honest advice exactly suits that famous confessor's character. —[Editor.] . - Aather Zhomas Coffam. I 53 When they came to this person “he utterly disliked of his intention, and dissuaded him from so fond a cogitation.” The Tmartyr being assuaged, but not altogether satisfied, went quietly about his business, but never left London on account of this affair. He could not rest, and determined to consult Fathers Parsons and Campion, who had lately arrived in London from Rome, and to put the question to them—“Was it his bounden duty, in Order to avert the danger to his custodiant and friend, to give himself up to the Privy Council?” Now although those Fathers were fully competent to decide the point themselves, and, it may be, felt no hesitation whatever upon the point, yet as a meeting of the Catholic priests was about to be held on other important affairs, they thought it safer in a matter of such weighty moment, affecting as it did life and death, to submit the case to the meeting. For greater secrecy and safety this meeting was appointed to be held in a small house on the other side of the Thames, in Southwark. Thither these Fathers went to the great pleasure of all, and not without themselves displaying the Sweetest emotions of joy at meeting so large an assembly of Catholic priests. The meeting appeared to con- sider the case a difficult one.” * See Collectio Cardwelli, vol. ii. p. 177. The origin of the Council is stated in the Ziſe of Campion, by Mr. Simpson, p. 129, seq. London becoming too hot for the Jesuit Fathers Campion and Parsons, “their friends advised them to shorten their stay there, and to despatch with speed such matters as were to be considered or determined before their departure. They therefore collected in a little house at Southwark, the gravest priests then to be found in London, amongst whom were Edward Mettam and Mr. Blackwell, afterwards the archpriest, and also divers principal laymen for their greater satisfaction ; for that sundry points of importance were to be discussed, Quod omnes tangit ab omnibus tractari et approbari debet ; and it was but natural that in matters of common concern the clergy and laity should take common counsel at such a time of danger, when the active cooperation of both classes was necessary in order to secure the interests of either. So ſar as the Faith was concerned, there were no questions to discuss amongst the English Catholics in 1580. But questions of moral, of worship, of discipline and political conduct, in which all were equally interested, urgently claimed at that moment the consideration and agreement of all.” Aſter enumerating the various heads of matter to be discussed—“The last thing to be determined in the Council was the case of Mr. Cottam. He had landed at Dover with Dr. Ely and Messrs. Rishton and Hart. But Sledd had caused a very particular description of the two last to be sent to the port, where they were stayed. Hart had conſessed, and was sent prisoner to London. But the Mayor and searcher did not feel certain of Father Cottam, and so asked Dr. Ely (who under the name of Howard had passed and repassed several times and was not suspected) whether he I 54. Father Thomas Cottam. Dr. Ely considering that the opinion of the person to whom he had taken Father Cottam had settled his mind for once and all, sent back the Mayor of Dover's letter to his worship; “and,” says an eye-witness in his account, “within two or three days after, cometh up the host of the inn at Dover, where Mr. Cottam was taken " (and who had given bail for him, as we have before mentioned). - - . . “This host, as Providence would have it, met with Havard, and taking him by the shoulder said, ‘Sir, you had like to have undone me, because the prisoner you promised to deliver is escaped. Wherefore you must come with me to one Mr. Andrews, my Lord Cobham's deputy, and give him satisfaction in the matter.” Havard was somewhat amazed at this sudden sum- moning; but after awhile coming to himself, he said, “Why, my host, if I deliver you the prisoner again you will be con- tented P’ ‘Yes,’ said the other, “deliver me the prisoner and I have nothing to say to you.” Upon this they went to Mr. Cottam's lodging, but he was removed, and the people of the house knew not whither. The host would fain have had this Havard, so- called for the time, to go with him to the said Andrews; but Havard sought all means to avoid his company, being sure if he had once come within the persecutor's paws he should not escape them so easily; and being as then loth to fall into further trouble, he said to the other, ‘My host, there is no such necessity why I should go to Mr. Andrews; for if I did, perhaps he would pick some quarrel with me by reason of the prisoner's escape, and I might come to trouble, and you would reap no gain or profit thereby. But this I will do for your discharge : would undertake to present him to Lord Cobham, the Warden of the Cinque Ports. Ely promised, and his host of Dover, who knew him as Howard, joined in giving bail. But Dr. Ely thought it would be a greater offence to offer up to the persecutors an innocent priest than to break his promise to the Mayor, and so let Father Cottam go free. But Cottam conceived some scruple about it, and so being still a member of the Society, having been sent to England only for lack of health, with express promise to be again received when he was well, he sought out Campion and Parsons and told them the case. They submitted it to the Council, which after consultation determined that as he had made no promise he was not bound to offer himself to so manifest a danger.” This decision contented him for a time; but when he heard that the Mayor and Dr. Ely were like to come into trouble for him, he consulted the Fathers again, who this time permitted him to follow the dictates of his conscience; and so with a merry countenance and all alone he went to the sign of the Star, in New Fish Street, and there offered himself prisoner to Mr. Andrews, a deputy o Tord Cobham, who carried him to the Court then at Oatlands. . . . . Father Thomas Cottama. ‘I 55 I will bring you to a merchant, who I think will give you his hand that I shall bring you the prisoner by four of the clock, or else that I shall deliver you my body again.” “I am content,’ saith he, “so that I have the one of you two.’ To the merchant therefore they went, who at the request of Havard, his brother- in-law, gave his hand and promise for the performance of the condition before specified, and which promise, though punc- tually performed, caused the merchant eight months' imprison- ment afterwards; but how justly, will be one day examined before the Just Judge. Thus Havard leaving his host in the merchant's house went forth into the city with another of his company, to see if he could meet with Mr. Cottam. “And coming into Cheapside, there by chance he met him, and after ordinary salutations he said, ‘Mr. Cottam, such a man is come to town, and hath so seized upon me for your escape that either you or I must needs go to prison; you know my state and condition, and may guess how I shall be treated if once I appear under my right name before them. You know also your own state. Now it is your choice whether of us shall go; for One must go, there is no remedy; and to force you I will not, for I had rather sustain any punishment whatsoever.’ Mr. Cottam, lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven, said these words: “Now God be blessed. I should never while I lived been without scruple if I had escaped from them. Nothing 'grieveth me but that I have not despatched some business that I have to do.’ ‘Why,” said Havard, ‘’tis but ten of the clock yet, and you may despatch your business by four of the clock, and then you may go to them.” “Whither is it,” said he, “that I must go?’ ‘To the sign of the Star,’ quoth Havard, ‘in New Fish Street, and there you must inquire for one Mr. Andrews, my Lord Cobham's deputy; to him you must surrender your- 'self.’ ‘I will,’ said he ; and so they parted and never saw one another after. “Mr. Cottam, after he had despatched all his business, went at four o'clock, all alone, to the place appointed, and there yielded himself prisoner (an invincible proof of his being inno- cent of any treason), and was carried to the Court, then laying at Nonesuch, or Oaklands. From hence, after five days’ con- ference with divers Protestant ministers that strove but in vain to induce him to abandon his religion, he was sent to the Marshalsea prison, for his profession of the Catholic religion, and not for treason ; from thence he was transferred to the Tower, there to be racked, not to reveal any secret treason, as 156 Father 7%0mas Coffame. the adversaries most falsely pretend, but tormented because he would not confess his private sins unto them, as he both con- fidently and truly affirmed to their faces at his arraignment.”. CHAPTER II. HIS SUFFERINGS IN PRISON BY TORTURE; ARRAIGNMENT, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. From the beginning, Queen Elizabeth and her Council had been very cautious that none should be put to the death for the ostensible cause of religion, but solely under the pretext of high treason; on this account, as no grounds whatever for such a charge could be proved against this most innocent Father, therefore, when in the Marshalsea prison, he was cruelly tor- tured in various ways to make him confess even his own personal interior faults, nay, even his inmost secret thoughts. He was removed to the Tower of London soon after (on the 25th December, 1580), that terrible place of more refined and scientific torture. Father Cottam, with many other most courageous heroes of Christ, strenuously on every occasion, defended the dignity of the Holy Roman Catholic Church against the reformed one of England, as by law established. Hence the terrible persecution of Catholics and their religion, the excessive nature of which had provoked the just anger of His Holiness Pope Pius V. against her Majesty, and impelled him to issue a Bull of Excommunication against that Queen, cutting her off from the communion of the faithful. She, indignant at this exercise of the power of the Sovereign Pontiff, threw off the mask, and sending back the Papal Nuncio, compelled all those of the true and ancient faith, whom she caused to be apprehended, to acknowledge her Supremacy even in Sacred things; 'so certain it is indeed that when once a person unhappily departs from the truth, he must needs descend to absurdities such as no barbarism was ever Crazy enough to admit, to remove the Supreme authority in spirituals from men and to replace it upon the will of an imbecile woman. Therefore certain questions were carefully and Craftily prepared upon this subject of controversy and other points, upon which in the shape of interrogatories, they would examine by torture, and endeavour Aaſher. Thomzas C.otlam. e I57 to entrap the champions of the Faith. The following is a copy of them and of Father Cottam's answer in writing”— “Articles ministered to the jesuits and Seminary Priests which are in the Tower, and were condemned, and their answers to £he same, I3th May, I 582. - “I. Whether the Bull of Pius Quintus against the Queen's Majesty be a lawful sentence, and ought to be observed by the subjects of England? “2. Whether the Queen's Majesty be a lawful Queen, and ought to be obeyed by the subjects of England, notwithstanding the Bull of Pius Quintus, or any other Bull or sentence that the Pope hath pronounced or may pronounce against her Majesty? “3. Whether the Pope have or had power to authorize the Earl of Northumberland and Westmoreland, and other her Majesty's subjects, to rebel, or take arms against her Majesty, or to authorize Dr. Saunders or others to invade Ireland, or any other her dominions, and to bear arms against her, and whether they did therein lawfully or no P “4. Whether the Pope have power to discharge any of her Highness’ subjects, or the subjects of any Christian prince, from their allegiance or oath of obedience to her Majesty, or to their prince for any cause P “5. Whether the said Dr. Saunders in his book of The Visible Monarchy of the Church, and Dr. Bristow in his book of motives (writing in allowance, commendation, and confirma- tion of the said Bull of Pius V.) have therein taught, testified, or maintained a truth or a falsehood P “6. If the Pope by his Bull, or sentence, pronounce her Majesty to be deprived, and to be no lawful Queen, and her subjects to be discharged of their allegiance and obedience unto her ; and after, if the Pope, or any other by his appoint- ment and authority, do invade this realm, which part would you take, or which part ought a good subject out of England to. take P” - g “ Thomas Coſtamp's Aziszver. “To the first, and in this as in all other questions, he believeth as the Catholic Church (which he taketh to be the Church of Rome) teacheth him. And other answer he maketh not to any of the rest of these articles. “By me, Thomas Cottam, Priest. “Witness—John Popham, Thomas Egerton, Richard Lewis, John Hammond.” * Howell's State 7'rials, vol. i. p. 1,078. 158 Aather 7%amas Cottamz. ... The excitement caused by the Jesuits’ preaching throughout, the counties of England did not escape the notice of the Govern- ment. It induced them to the greater severity against the Catholics in prison, and to search with greater strictness for those not apprehended. The above string of questions is a proof of this. In the Public Record Office” will be found a much fuller list of questions than the above, which perhaps were the only ones put to Father Cottam. For instance: “What was the principal cause why you were sent into this realm by the Pope, or by some chief minister of his? To whom were you specially directed to repair unto within the realm ? What relief have you received since you were committed to prison, and from whom and by whom came the relief? How many have you reconciled to the Church of Rome since your imprisonment, and what are their names? How many have you heard of lately to have been reconciled to the Church of Rome by others; what are their names, and by whom reconciled P What conference have you had with Parsons or Campion since they came over, or what letters or messages have you received from them P Where do you know or have heard that these Fathers, or either of them, are or is P. Whether have you not heard of some Catalogues of names of the principal favourers of the Romish religion within this realm have been delivered to the priests, and what principal persons do you remember to have been contained in such catalogues?” There are also divers other questions relating to Ireland and Dr. Saunders, and the Queen of Scots, &c. The Government, both in Church and State, were by this time convinced that the penal laws against Catholics, bloody as they were, were not yet sufficiently so to exterminate the Catholic religion. It was felt that severity must be increased; and, as Commonly happens, the first impulse towards a more systematic persecution came from the ecclesiastical side. On the 14th of January, 1581, the Bishop of Chester, the state of whose diocese prognosticated to him the success that Campion was to achieve there a few months later, wrote to the Council urging them to bring in a Bill making traitors and felons, without benefit of clergy, of “all such vagrant priests as walk about in disguised apparel seducing her Majesty's subjects, &c., by assembling of unlawful conventicles,” and of their receivers or harbourers felons, “with some clergy.” * Domestic, Elizabeth, State Papers, vol. xcvii. n. 97. * Aather 7%0%as Coffame. I59 Also, to enforce preachers to reside in their benefices; to make all work unlawful before eleven o’clock on the “Sabbath- day;” to forbid the holding of fairs and markets on Sundays; and to enact some general law to reduce all subjects to con- formity. He adds, “In this cathedral church of Chester neither the dean nor any prebendary hath been resident or kept hospitality of many years. Neither is any parson or vicar of any parish church within the city a preacher.” Other bishops begged to have the high commission in their dioceses. Thus, the Bishop of Coventry writes to Burghley in April, 1581, about the hard state of Shropshire, “being one of the best and conformablest parts of my diocese,” where, however, “ of one hundred almost presented for recusancy, they could get but one only to be bound, the rest refusing most obstinately to come before them.” What must it then be, he asks Burghley, in the other shires of the diocese when it is thus in the best of them Plº This short digression has been made to give the reader some slight idea of the state of things at the time, and the causes of the extreme and Savage cruelty of the Queen and Privy Council towards Catholics. We will now return to Father Cottam in the Tower. The blessed martyr underwent the torture they called by the name of the “Scavenger's Daughter,” for the space of upwards of one hour, which caused him to bleed profusely from the nostrils. This terrible engine of torture was of very common use in the Tower. It was a broad iron hoop, consisting of two parts fastened to each other by a hinge. The sufferer was made to kneel on the pavement, and to contract himself into as small a compass as he could. Then the executioner, kneeling on his shoulders, and having introduced the hoop under his legs, compressed the victim close together until he was able to fasten the extremities of the hoop over the small of the back. The time allotted to this kind of torture was one hour and a half, during which it commonly happened that, from excess of compression the blood started from the nostrils, sometimes it was believed from the extremities of the hands and feet.” Father Cottam * Zife of Campion, by Mr. Simpson, pp. 198, 199. The Bishop of Chester's letter may be found in the State Papers, P.R.O. December 1, I58I. The Bishop of Coventry's in the Zazisdowne M.S.S. 33, n. 14 (British Museum). * See Lingard’s History of £ngland, n. *e, vol. v. Also Andrew’ Keziew of Æoxe's Book of Martyrs, vol. ii. p. 369, where a wood engraving is given of the instrument, and a victim in it. I6O Aather 7%omas Cottam. suffered this torture on the Ioth December, I 580, when also. his fellow-prisoner and martyr, the Reverend Luke Kirby, or Kirkly, underwent the same torment. - This will be a fitting opportunity to introduce a transla- tion of a letter written by a priest in the Tower (probably the Reverend Edward Rishton himself) to other Catholic brethren in other prisons, detailing the sufferings they were subjected to.17 The date does not appear, but it would probably have been about the end of 1580, or early in 1581. The original is difficult to read, but we give the simplest translation we can. “A copy of a letter which a certain English priest confined in the Tower of London for the cause of the holy Catholic religion, Mately sent to his Catholic brethren, now detained for the same cause in other prisons. To which is also subjoined a brief declaration concerning the dire inhumanity and truly bar- barous cruelty which other Reverend Fathers in Żrisons far distant from Zondon are suffering on the same account. “They lately threatened Mr. Sherwin, a priest, with renewed tortures, and then to execute him and his com- panions; but he, preferring a present death to longer life, was not at all dismayed by their threats. We shall, I hope, very shortly learn what will become of us. We all indeed greatly desire to pay the debt of nature at once, rather than to languish on by a daily death. However, there is no one here who does not earnestly pray Our Lord Jesus Christ to grant His aid, whereby to render us worthy to suffer for His glory all torments and tortures, nay, even death itself, otherwise so bitter to nature, rather than to offend the Divine Majesty in the least degree contrary to each one's conscience. It is, I think, patent and a known fact to many, that some of our afflicted ones have endured the most terrible tortures, than which, on account of their excessive torments, death itself is far preferable, constantly and willingly ere they would consent to the most abominable crime [apostacy]. Of which things there are certain living witnesses, especially Luke Kirby and Thomas Cottam, two venerable priests, who were subjected to a certain iron instru- ment of torture, called in English the “Scavenger's Daughter,” enduring this most bitter torture for an entire hour or more. Others, namely, the Reverend Mr. Skinner, and Mr. Briant twice, Mr. Johnson indeed but once, were cruelly tortured on the rack, attended with the most exquisite sufferings. Mr. Alart * ZXomestic, Ælizabeth, State Papers, 1581, vol. cxlix. n. 61, P.R.O. Aather 7%0mas Coffa/2. I 6 I lay stretched upon it for three hours in torture, but beyond this, or at least more severely for that time he was not tortured. And after the same manner they dealt with a portion of the rest of his companions, not without some great attempts to bring them to a compliance being made. Some were thrust down into a certain underground dungeon, very deep, and being shut in on every side, involved in the densest darkness.” Amongst these were Johnson, Bristow, and Brian, all of them priests, some of whom spent two entire months in this chamber of horrors. As for the others, all of them, together with your Superior, were thrust into certain obscure and dark corners, deprived of hope and assistance, without beds or other neces- saries of any kind. Thus they dealt with Stanislaus Bristow and the others. The greater portion of them from this time are confined separately in squalid and dismal cells, where they are not allowed at any time to see any one, much less to speak with a friend. “Mr. Brian, of whom I spoke before, was for some days worn out, and well-nigh killed with hunger. At length for the greater increase of his pain he was most atrociously tortured by needles being violently thrust under his nails (Ah, miser I). “By these things which are written, most dear brothers in Christ, it is well known what, and what kind of tortures the sons of God, and true servants of Christ, patiently endure for their firm defence of the orthodox faith, and should it be required of them, are ready willingly to undergo still greater. “This only thing we implore of His mercy, that He will of His goodness grant us patience and perseverance even to the end. Which that we may the more speedily obtain, we earnestly implore your prayers for us, and the more so as we are not without some apprehension, seeing that the prefect of the Tower yesterday, and again to-day, was summoned to the Court, in order that, as we believe, he might be informed with certainty what is decided upon about us. Farewell.” “The Declaražzoz. “The Catholics incarcerated in the Port or Castle of Hull are detained in close custody, not allowed on any pretext to be visited, nor any help to be administered to them. For seven weeks they have received no more than seven Roman asses,” * This was no doubt a horrible dungeon known as “the Pit” and ** Walesbour.” t * The Roman as was a copper coin, value at the time of Cicero about three farthings of our money. L 162 Aather Thomas C.otlam. besides which they have received nothing for food and the Common Sustenance of life, save bread and beer and a moderate Supply of salt-fish, which was doled out to them in the time of Lent. From the feast of Easter they have not to this time tasted meat. For one quart of beer they are com- pelled to pay seven asses (or in English money, seven pence), and then, which is a refinement of cruelty, water for supplying their necessities is denied them, unless they are content to receive such as is putrid. “The Catholic prisoners in Wisbeach are treated with equal Cruelty. The Reverend Doctor Young, for many years Pro- fessor of Sacred Theology, has happily exchanged this life for death.20 “Not many days since a certain woman of bad repute was introduced into the cell of the Right Reverend Bishop of Lincoln (for his lordship still remains incarcerated there) to tempt that aged prelate, worn out by cruel tortures, to sin.” The letter then goes on to give particulars of this most in- famous attempt, and the course pursued by the holy bishop to rid himself of the intruder.” The letter also mentions another similar attempt in that prison, tried upon a Catholic priest, who ridded himself of the nuisance by raising loud cries for help. We have already alluded to Father Cottam having been tortured in various ways in the Marshalsea prison, to make him disclose even the inmost secrets of his soul. This dose was often repeated in the Tower; for, not finding sufficient matter for capital conviction, and the Council being unwilling to be held up as persecutors of martyrs, rather than judges of high treason, they often undertook to ferret out the very secrets of his heart, in order, if possible, to elicit something * “John Young was a native of Yorkshire. He was educated in Trinity College, Cambridge; was D.D., Master of Pembroke Hall, and Vice-Chancellor of the University, a zealous maintainer of the Catholic faith. On which account, being confined in the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, he died in prison, about 1579. He was author of a book entitled, Ziber de Schismate, Louvain, 8vo., 1573. Published by Dr. Richard Hall, who prefixed a dedication.” See Dodd, Church. History, vol. ii. p. 90. [Mr. Dodd did not know the prison, which the above letter informs us of.-Editor.] * This bishop was Dr. Watson of Lincoln, one of the old Marian bishops. This was an infamous and common device, worse than hellish, (it may be called), to give the adversary a handle against the afflicted prisoners. Another case is mentioned about the same time in a letter of a London priest to Father Agazzari, Rector of the English College, Rome, dated in July, 1581. Aºzáže, 7%0%as Coffame. I63 tending either to criminate him, or else to bring him into odium. They endeavoured first by threats of the most cruel tortures, and failing these, by the tortures themselves, to compel him to disclose first, the penances his confessor had enjoined him for his faults mentioned in confession, and then, not suspecting their craft, when he would tell them accord- ingly, for the sake of avoiding the torture, they would proceed further to urge him to tell them the very faults themselves he had confessed under the sacred seal of confession ; but the athlete of Christ recovering himself, and discovering their tricks, deprecating his previous weakness of heart, as he called it, he exclaimed, “I will disclose my sins to none but to God and my confessor.” And when, being provoked by the freedom of his answer, they Cruelly racked him beyond all possible conception, re- peating the same interrogations amidst the most Savage tortures, he boldly declared their conduct to be barbarous, and foreign to all sentiments of humanity, and that they would be able sooner to force his life from him by their lacerations, than that he would confess the things demanded of him. He afterwards rebuked with a courageous spirit this cruelty of his examiners before the tribunal, and in the presence of his enemies themselves, as though he could extort shame from iron brows. Among whom, Sir Owen Hopton, the Lieutenant of the Tower of London, took upon himself to deny the whole matter with the utmost effrontery. To whom the martyr thus spoke: “Dost thou deny the truth of what I relate P Lo / Dr. Hammond here, and the rest of the commissioners, stood by whilst you tortured me, to whose consciences, and to God Himself, I appeal in testimony of my speaking the truth. Sir Gregory Carey is also present who added to your insolence by his own interrogations, and is both conscious of and a sharer in the iniquity.” From the 5th of February, 1581, until Pentecost, 19th of March, the prisoners in the Tower were subjected to a more Severe infliction in its kind than even their cruel torturings; they were Ordered, and molens volens were dragged by force to hear the Protestant preachers in the Tower chapel. Here, Selected Calvinist ministers held forth against the Catholic faith with arguments, lies, and utterances of the most daring and skilful description. The prisoners did their best to stop the pestilential effusions of the preachers, by interrupting their words as they uttered them, refuting their arguments and false L 2 I64 Aather 7%0%as Coffame. authorities, and replying to the reasons they urged, and on the preacher descending from the pulpit, they would challenge him to disputation upon the blasphemies he had uttered. Hopton, the lieutentant, was desperate and furious, and in vain uttered threats against them. He determined that Father Cottam (as report says) as being the ringleader (and so the more meritorious) should pay for the whole. There was amongst these preachers in the Tower a furious fanatic (or rather demoniac) of the name of John Nicholas, who from a Calvinistic ranter, feigned to become a Catholic, and had for some years been supported at Rome, at the expense and by the charity of the Sovereign Pontiff. Returning thence to England, by a previously arranged plan, he procured himself as a Catholic, to be apprehended and imprisoned, to whom presently, and as part of the same scheme, the Protestant ministers ran, and by proposing arguments on religion, pre- tended to convince the man, and in him to convict the Roman Catholic faith of falsity—which by Nicholas' renouncing they would be the more easily able to wrest from the others. The thing was done as agreed upon, and the man having apostatized came forth a preacher of error. The champions of Christ, then in great numbers in the Tower, were often compelled to hear this man speaking, but on his coming down from the pulpit they would hiss him. About Pentecost, 1581 (Rishton in his diary says it was Easter Sunday, the 19th of March), this madman raved before a large company of nobles and persons of distinction and courtiers, who had been invited by Hopton the governor, for the sake of honouring the meeting, and by their presence giving a countenance to this wretched apostate ; the prisoners were as usual dragged in. Father Cottam, inspired with a wonderful liberty of spirit, gravely rebuked this distinguished company, and admonished them of their duty, and for having in so unseemly a manner lent the weight of their authority and presence to this ignorant babbler and notorious liar. To reason upon these abstruse articles of the faith, he added, much more to define and pronounce upon them as this preacher had done, they should seek out for another than the unbridled tongue of a fanatical ranter, devoid of learning, of knowledge, piety, and sense. He warned them to attend to the concerns of their eternal welfare, which they seemed to hold as of no account, but rather to throw away by approving and patronizing such a man. In this liberty of speech, Father Cottam felt no fear of the conse- Aaſher 7%0m2as Coča/2. I6 5 quences, supported as he was by the lofty Christian spirit within him. { Father Cottam, on Tuesday, the 14th of November, 1581, with Father Campion, and the Reverends Ralph Sherwin, Luke Kirby, James Bosgrave, Johnson, Rishton, and Mr. Orton, were taken from the Tower to Westminster Hall, and arraigned before the Grand Jury. The following is a copy of the indictment— - “The Jury present in behalf of the Queen that [with fifteen others] being traitors against the Queen, not having the fear of God in their hearts, nor weighing their due allegiance, but led astray by the devil, intending altogether to withdraw, blot out, and extinguish the hearty love and true and due obedience which true and faithful subjects should bear, and are bound to bear towards the Queen, did on the last day of March, 1580, at Rome, in Italy, in parts beyond the seas, and on the last day of April in the same year at Rheims, in Champagne, and on divers other days and occasions before and after both at Rome and Rheims, and in divers other places and parts beyond the seas, falsely, maliciously, and traitorously conspire, &c., not only to deprive, &c., the said Queen from her royal State, &c., but also to bring and put the same Queen to death and final destruction, and to excite, &c., the subjects of the said Queen throughout the realm, and to procure rebellion, &c., against her, their supreme and natural lady, and to change and alter according to their will, &c., the Government of the said realm, and the pure religion there rightly and religiously established, and totally to subvert and destroy the State of the whole commonwealth, &c., and to invite, &c., divers strangers and aliens not being subjects, &c., to invade, &c., and to raise and make war against the said Queen. And in order to bring to pass the said wicked, &c., designs, the Said Campion, &c., did on the last day of March at Rome, and the last day of April at Rheims, and on other days, falsely, &c., conspire, &c., by what means they could compass the death of the said Queen, and raise a sedition in the realm. And with intent, &c., the said Campion, &c., did afterwards on the 20th of May, *I581, at Rome, and on divers other days, before and after, both by persuasions and letters, move, &c., aliens, &c., to invade the realm, and raise war against the Queen. And further, that the same parties did on the 20th day of May, at Rome, and on the last day of the same month at Rheims, traitorously agree that the said Parsons and Campion should I66 Aather 7%0m2as Coffame. go into England, there to move, &c., such subjects of, &c., as they could to come and aid, &c., such aliens, &c., as they should traitorously bring into the realm to make war against the said Queen, and to change the religion established, &c., against their due allegiance and against the peace of the said Queen, her crown and dignity,” &c. - It was impossible, of course, to prove a tale so clumsily constructed ; but the law officers of the Crown were directed to obtain a conviction by any means that might be necessary— packing the jury, suborning false witnesses, and overruling evidence adduced for the defendants, confounding all the cases into one, and general bullying and unfairness in the conduct of the cause.” The charges against Father Cottam appear to have been reduced to three heads. (1) That he had entered into England about the same time with Fathers Campion and Parsons, ergo was cognizant of and an accom- plice in their rebellion. (2) For having carried with him a book, The Sum of Dr. Mavarre against the Queen's Supremacy, &c. And (3) that he could not be induced to answer speci- fically to his examinations regarding the Bull of Pope Pius V. After the arraignment the prisoners were remanded, and on the 20th of November were again conducted from the Tower to Westminster Hall for trial. Father Campion was the great hero and spokesman, acting the counsel for several if not all of the rest, as well as for himself. The following is the only mention made of Father Cottam upon the trial.” “Cottam in his examination would neither agree to the supremacy, nor answer directly concerning the Pope's authority. “Queen's Counsel.—You came into England at or near the same time that the rest came ; so that it must needs be intended a match made between you for the furtherance of those that were then brewing, and how answer you thereunto ? “Cottam.—It was neither my purpose nor my message to come into England, neither would I have come had not God otherwise driven me, for my journey was appointed to the Indians, and thither had I been, had my health been thereto answerable, but in the meanwhile it pleased God to visit me with sickness, and being counselled by the physician for my health’s sake to come to England, for otherwise, as they said, * Life of Campion, by Mr. Simpson, p. 281. See also Howell's State 7?rials. - * Howell’s State Zrials, taken from a MS. account Biö. Cott. British Museum. Also Howell's State Trials, vol. i. p. 1050. Father Thomas Cottam. 167 either remaining there, or going elsewhere, I should not recover it, I came upon that occasion and upon no other into this realm. “Campion.—Indeed, the physicans in Rome have held for certainty, that if an Englishman shall fall sick amongst them there is no better, nor scarce any other way for his health, than to take his natural air which best agreeth with his complexion. “Cottam.—And that only was the cause, nor any deter- mined attempt, either to persuade or dissuade, being otherwise by my Provost charged to the Indians. Neither after my arrival here did I hide myself or deal otherwise than might beseem any man that meddled no more than I did. I lay for the most part in Southwark ; I walked daily in Paul's, I refrained no place, which betokened my innocency. “Queen's Counsel.—You did neither persuade nor dissuade? Was there not a book found in your budget, the contents whereof tended to no other purpose, the which was made by one Dr. Espignata, entitled, Zractatus Conscientia, containing certain answers unto the Supremacy, how superficially to frustrate any kind of demand, with a further method how you ought to demean yourself in every kind of company, whether it were of Protestants or Puritans, and what speeches you should use to convert them both ; as unto the Protestants highly commending them, and showing that they are far nearer the right way than the Puritans, and whom you should utterly dispraise unto the Puritans, likewise in commending the Protestants and persuading them to the obedience of the Pope? To what end then should you carry this book about you if you were not purposed to do as it prescribeth P “Cottam.—I protest before God, I knew nothing of that book, neither how nor when it came to me. “Then Campion seeing him driven to so narrow an exigent as to deny that which was manifest, answered for him to this effect following— - - “Campion.— Many casualties and events may happen whereby a man may be endangered ere he be aware, by the carrying of a thing whereof he knoweth not, as either the malice of others that privily convey it amongst other his provisions, or his own negligence or oversight which marketh not attentively what he took with him, whereof both are to be judged his errors, yet not deemed an offence. And, there- fore, this cannot be maintained to be done by Mr. Cottam on 168 Aather 7%0mas Cottama. purpose, which we see flatly to be out of his knowledge. But suppose that purposely he brought the book with him, yet what can that make against him for treason P It treateth of con- science; it toucheth good demeanour; it showeth how to make the unbelieving faithful, matters wholly spiritual, points of edification, preparing to Godwards. Where is then the treason? But were these reasons impertinent, yet it is a custom with all students beyond the seas, when any man learned or well thought of draweth a treatise touching either conscience or good behaviour to copy it out, and to carry it about with them, not thereby aiming at any faction or conspiracy, but for their own proper knowledge and private instruction.” - After this the jury considered of their verdict; and then the following miraculous event occurred, as related by Father Parsons. Judge Ayloff was “sitting to keep the place when the other judges retired, while the jury consulted about the condemnation of Father Campion and his company, and pulling off his glove, found all the hand and his seal of arms bloody without any token of wrong, pricking, or hurt; and being dismayed therewith, wiping, it went not away, but still returned ; he showed it to the gentlemen that sat before him, who can be witnesses of it till this day, and have some of them upon their faiths and credits avouched it to be true.” The pleadings had taken about three hours, and the jury consulted for nearly an hour before they agreed upon their verdict. In this interval Some brought Campion a glass of beer to refresh him after his labours. The greater part of the lawyers and gentlemen present thought an acquittal was certain, at least for Campion, “but the judges and jury,” says Laing, “had all been bought; and the desire to gratify Caesar prevailed”—Mr. Popham, the Attorney General, having plainly signified to them what the Queen's will was. Edward Plowden, the famous lawyer, himself a Catholic, had come with the rest to see the trial; but one of the judges not liking that he should report it, or even witness it, sent word to him to leave the court. As he himself was in question for the Catholic religion, he thought it prudent to obey. One of the jurymen, according to Laing, afterwards excused himself by saying that, if he had not found the prisoners guilty he had been no friend of Caesar's. The consultation then was a mere blind to put a decent veil on a foregone conclusion; but it did not avail to deceive the public, who in their ballads accused the jury of undue haste— . - Aather Thomas Cottam. I69 They packed a jury that cried guilty straight, You bloody jury, Lee and all the eleven, Take heed your verdict, which was given in haste, Do not exclude you from the joys of heaven. And Lee himself in 1595, being once more “a prisoner restrained from bodily travel,” wrote to Lord Keeper Puckering, “I have been persecuted by them [the Papists] for my verdict given in haste, as Vallenger rhymed, against Campion and his traitorous companions.” : . When the jury returned they pronounced all guilty. “The most unjust verdict,” says the old writer whom Dr. Challoner follows, “that ever I think was given, was given up in this land; whereat already (1582) not only England but all the Christian world doth wonder, and which our posterity shall lament and be ashamed of.” When the verdict was given, Mr. Anderson, the leading Queen's Counsel said: “For- asmuch as these prisoners here indicted and arraigned under- took to be tried by God and their country, and by the verdict of a whole jury, directly and by sufficient and most manifest evidence, are found guilty of the said treasons and conspiracies, we pray of your lordship to accept of the verdict, and in her Majesty's behalf to give judgment against them as traitors.” The Lord Chief Justice then asked the prisoners what they had to say why sentence of death should not pass against them P Father Campion then made a short, but as usual a thrilling speech, and never, says Fitzherbert, was Campion's face more noble; his conduct during the day had been full of calmness and dignity, and his arguments of point and con- clusiveness; but in this last speech he surpassed himself. His eloquence made his fellow-prisoners forget the fate that hung over them ; and Father Cottam on his return to the Tower told Briscoe that now he was quite willing to die, after hearing Campion speak so gloriously. The Lord Chief Justice then pronounced sentence of death. “You must go to the place from whence you came, there to remain until ye shall be drawn through the open City of London upon hurdles to the place of execution, and there be hanged and cut down alive, dismembered, and your entrails taken out and burnt in your sight; then your head to be cut off, and your bodies to be divided into four parts, to be dis- posed of at her Majesty's pleasure. And may God have mercy on your souls.” The condemned expressed their contentment and joy, some 17O Aather Thomas Cottam. in one phrase of Scripture, some in another, whereby the multitudes in the hall were visibly affected and astonished. They were remanded back to their prisons, where being laid up in irons for the rest of their time, they expected God's mercy and the Queen's pleasure.” . Three of the condemned only were selected to die then, viz., Fathers Campion, Briant, and Mr. Sherwin, who suffered at Tyburn on the Ist of December, I58I. - CHAPTER III. HIS EXECUTION AND CONDUCT THEREAT. The execution of the iniquitous sentence of death upon our blessed martyr was deferred until the 13th of the following month of May, 1582. When the triumphant day dawned, at the early hour of four, Father Cottam with three of his fellow- priests, the Reverends William Filby, Luke Kirby, and Laurence Richardson, were brought forth from the Tower and bound upon hurdles or sledges (a sort of beam without wheels, dragged by horses jolting on the ground), and were carried off by a long route (Cheapside, Holborn, and the present Oxford Street), well known to our readers, to the place of execution at Tyburn,” where they arrived about seven o'clock in the morning, chanting all the way without intermission, the hymn of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, Zºe ZJeum. /audamus. Then as soon as the cart had been drawn away from under the Reverend Luke Kirby, and he was left suspended, Father * Zife of Campion, p. 307, seq. , * Most of our readers probably know that this once renowned spot is now marked by a stone, which is erected at a place where “Tyburn Gate” once closed the great western road out of London, a few yards beyond the present Marble Arch. Just outside of this, probably within the garden of the house at the corner of the Edgeware koad, stood the famous gallows, three posts in a triangle, connected at the top by three cross bars, where the weekly batch of murderers, thieves, coiners, vagrants, traitors, or priests were led out to suffer. It had been put up new for the execution of Dr. Story, whose blood had consecrated it. Father Campion in his frequent journeys from London or Westminster to Uxenden Hall, near Harrow, where his ſriend and convert Mr. Bellany lived, would always walk between the posts with his hat off, and with a profound bow, in honour both of the Cross which is figured, and of the martyrs who had already suffered there for their faith ; and, as he told Father Parsons, who often accompanied him, because it was one day to be the place of his own conflict (Zife of Campion, by Mr. Simpson, p. 20I). Father 7%.omas Cottam. 171 Cottam and Mr. Richardson were brought together and ordered to look upon their hanging Companion, if by chance the example of so terrible a death might shake their constancy; but when the brutal executioners saw that this was in vain, they cut him down, and then drew the cart in which they had been placed from the hurdle, beneath the gallows according to the usual custom, where with cheerful countenance signing themselves with the sign of redemption, saying, Zn nomine Patris, &c., Father Cottam, with an expression of hilarity, looking round and saluting the multitude of people said, “God bless you all; God bless you all.” Mr. Richardson being com- manded by the under-sheriff to look upon his companion who was being quartered, said, “Oh, God’s will be done.” Here- upon a Protestant preacher, named Martin Field, addressing some one, I know not who (says the eye-witness writer), called out “Despatch thee, instantly—despatch /* Father Cottam, thinking perhaps that he addressed him, turning to him said smiling, “What art thou, an hangman, or a preacher P fie, fie.” Some Protestant ministers present, interrupting him said, “Leave off these jests; it is no time to joke; he is a preacher and not an executioner, and he cometh to exhort you to die well.” The martyr still smiling replied, “Truly by his words he seemed to be an executioner, rather than a minister of religion, for he said, “JCespatch, despatch.’” Then, upon Mr. Field excusing himself, and explaining that he had intended by those words to convey a reprehension to the hangmen for their want of skill and despatch in the execution of his companion, Father Cottam said, “I beg pardon of my God for my idle speech, and I beg you, Doctor Martin, do not be angry with me for my imprudences, for I had rather be trodden under foot by your horse, than willingly give you offence.” Whilst the executioners were engaged with Mr. Richard- son, Father Cottam, burning with the desire of the salva- tion of a stranger, took Bull the hangman by the sleeve, and addressed him as follows: “May God forgive thee, and be good to thee, my man, and make thee His faithful servant; take heed I pray thee in time, and implore His grace, and no doubt but God will hear thee. I beg and pray for God's sake, that thou wilt take example from, and imitate the executioner who beheaded St. Paul, whoever he was, and who by a single drop of his blood falling upon his garment, white like milk, is said to have been converted, to have done penance for his past life, and to have become a good man, whose example mayest I 72 Aałżer 7%0mza's Cottamz. thou follow, and I pray God give thee His grace.” “What do you say?” said the parson of St. Andrews’; “is it true that he was saved by virtue of blood falling upon him P” “Not so,” replied the martyr; “I truly wonder that it should have entered your mind to say this, or that you should have so understood me.” a Then the six articles were read, and Mr. Richardson’s answer;% who said, as touching the doctrine of Dr. Saunders and Dr. Bristow, he allowed of it no further than they agreed with the true Catholic Church of Rome. Topcliff, who was present, and some ministers, said he built his faith upon Saunders; to whom he replied, “I build not my faith upon any one man whatsoever, but upon the whole Catholic Church.” Father Cottam also declared the same, and with much freedom rebuked the ministers present for having calumniated him in the same manner, because he had praised the doctrine of Saunders and Bristow. Then the rope being put about both their necks, and fastened to the post, the sheriff said, “Now, Richardson, if thou wilt confess thy faults and renounce the Pope, the Queen will extend her mercy towards thee, and thou shalt be carried back again.” Mr. Richardson answered, “I thank her Majesty for her mercy; but I must not confess an untruth, or renounce my faith.” | i. - Whilst these things were going on, a certain Protestant minister present exhorted Father Cottam to confess a certain sin committed in the fish or meat market some four years ago. “What do you mean?” said the martyr. Mr. Martin Field (before mentioned) replied that the minister wished him to confess some grievous sin he had committed in the market long ago. “O good Jesus,” replied the martyr, “may your name be ever blessed Do you dare to charge me with this crime?” “We do not charge you with it,” said the minister, “we only wish you to free yourself from all suspicion of it, if any such crime was ever committed.” The Father replied, “Hear me, I pray you ; how can you accuse me of com- mitting a crime four years ago, not having for these seven years past been in London? And if I should have committed such an offence, who has put it into your minds to charge me with it in such a place and at such a time as this?” Then both of the ministers affirmed that it was not Father Cottam, but a brother of his who had committed the offence in question. Father Cottam then prayed, uttering divers good sentences, * The six questions at page 157. Father 7%.omas Cottam. I 73 saying, “All that we here sustain is for saving of our souls;” and therewith lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “O Lord, Thou knowest our innocency.” Then he was bid to confess his treasons. “O Lord,” said he, “how willingly would I Confess if I did know anything that did charge me; and if we had been guilty of any such thing surely one or other of us, either by racking or death, would have confessed it, or else we had been such people as never were heard of And I protest before God that before my coming into England, I was prepared to go to the Indies; and if I were to be set at liberty, I would never rest but on the journey to those countries.” With that the sheriff said, “The Queen will be merciful to thee, if thou wilt thyself.” He answered, “I thank her Grace;” saying further, “Do with me what you think good.” Thereupon the sheriff commanded that the rope should be loosed from the post, and the Father removed down from the cart. Then Mr. Richardson was once more called upon to Confess and ask pardon of the Queen, with an offer of mercy, &c. “Never truly,” said Topcliff, “was such great mercy ever shown by the Queen to any malefactor; nay, if thou hadst been in the power of any other, thou wouldst have been torn asunder by wild horses.” Mr. Richardson hearing this, answered that he had never offended the Queen to his knowledge. Then he was willed to pray, which he did, begging all the Catholics present to pray with him, whilst he recited the Lord's Prayer, the Angelical Salutation, and the Apostles' Creed, and when the cart began to move, he said, “Lord, receive my soul; Lord Jesus, receive my soul.” When the cart was drawn away from Mr. Richardson, Father Cottam said, “O good Laurence, pray for me; Lord Jesus, receive thy soul;” which he repeated several times. He uttered these pious words in order to defend the doctrine of the invocation of Saints against the attacks of Clark and other Protestant ministers who had assailed it. It seems that the sheriff had misunderstood the meaning of Father Cottam's words, “Do with me what you think good,” and thought that they were signs of conformity. He was still with the sheriff and the ministers upon the ground beneath the gallows with the rope about his neck. The sheriff in the meantime not to appear idle tried his utmost to persuade him to apostatize, and addressing him in the most moving manner, said, “We * Hollingshead, 1582, f. 1383. I 74 Aather 7%0mas Cottama. can readily understand, Cottam, that you did not come into England with the same intent as your companions to excite the people to sedition, but for the sake of recovering your health. I consider you truly fortunate that you did not join company with evil men of this sort. You have no cause to doubt the mercy of the Queen, who is disposed to show herself a clement Prince in your regard.” When the blessed martyr heard this speech, and saw him- -self loose from the gallows, really considering that his life had been spared, he returned the Queen all thanks in his power. But when he learnt from the sheriff that this one only thing remained to be done, viz., that he should clear himself before the people of the charges brought against him, and publicly declare that he had not come to England for the same cause as the rest who had been condemned had come, and that the plans of the Roman Pontiff for this design were highly dis- pleasing to him, he spoke with such boldness in behalf of his own and his companions’ innocence, that it was easy to see that the good and great God imparted to His soldier in this conflict, both grace and light by which he detected the frauds of his adversaries, and escaped the pit prepared for him. He con- cluded by declaring that he would not swerve a jot from his faith for anything—“Yea, if I had ten thousand lives, I would rather lose them all, than forsake the Catholic faith in any point.” - The sheriff finding his mistake ordered the martyr to be again lifted up into the cart, saying, “Despatch him since he is so stubborn.” He was then turned round to look upon Mr. Richardson, who was already cut down, and being quartered, which he did, saying, “Lord Jesus, have mercy upon, them. O Lord, give me grace to endure to the end. Lord, give me con- stancy to the end.” Which words he uttered nearly all the time that Mr. Richardson was in quartering, excepting once, when he said, “Thy soul pray for me.” And at the last, “O Lord, what a spectacle hast Thou made unto me,” which he repeated twice or thrice. And then the head of Mr. Richardson was held up by the executioner who cried out, as the Custom is, “God save the Queen.” To which Father Cottam Said, “I beseech God to save and bless her; and with all my heart I wish her prosperity as my liege and sovereign Queen, and chief governess.” They called upon him to add, “And Supreme head in matters ecclesiastical.” Father Thomas Cottam. I75 To whom he answered, “If I would have put in these words, I had been discharged almost these two years since.” Then the sheriff said, “You are a traitor if you deny that.” The martyr said, “No, not so ; that is a matter of faith, and unless it be for my conscience and faith, I never offended her Majesty.” And with that he looked up to heaven and prayed secretly, then uttered these words, In te Domine speravi, mon confundar in affernum—“In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded for ever.” And, O ZXomine, fu plura pro me passus es, &c.—“O Lord, Thou hast suffered more for me;” thrice repeating, plura—“more.” Then the sheriff said to him, “Yet Cottam, call for mercy and no doubt the Queen will be merciful unto you.” He answered, “My conscience giveth me a clear testimony that I never offended her.” Adding that he wished her as much good as to his own soul; and for all the gold under the cope of heaven, he would not wish that any one hair of her head should perish to do her harm. And that all that he here suffered was for saving her soul; praying Almighty God, for His sweet Son’s sake, that He would vouchsafe to take him to His mercy; saying that Him only had he offended; and begging of God that if there were anything more unspoken, which were proper to be said, He would be pleased now to put it into his mind. The martyr then prayed, desiring forgiveness of all the world; and saying that he did from the bottom of his heart forgive all. Adding that the sins of this realm have deserved infinite punishment, and God's just indignation, and praying Him of His goodness to turn away His wrath from this people, and call them to repentance, to see and to acknowledge their sins. Then he begged all Catholics to pray with him, and having said the Pater, and being in the middle of his Ave, the cart was drawn away. He hung until he was dead, and on being stripped, he was found to wear within his shirt a rough canvas cloth like a sack, extending to the knees, the best substitute he could procure for a hair cloth, an instrument of penance; “with which kind of things,” says an author we are quoting from, “England is not now acquainted.” Admirable proof of his generous soul, who, not satisfied with the terrible suffering of his nearly two years' incarceration and tortures, must needs use such acts of supere- rogation. The Protestant preachers both of the mild and severe class joined equally in making a thousand jokes upon this 176 • Fażher Thomas Cottam. discovery, such as that from their fifth gospel they had gathered how injurious all kinds of penances were to the merits of our Redeemer. Nor in truth do they learn to exercise voluntary penance in their new faith, but to treat themselves well, and to gratify as much as possible the desires of their flesh. Yet, nevertheless, the spectators remained all the more astonished, and moved to compunction at such a sight. • The bodies of the martyrs, after the accustomed cutting up, were buried on the spot, at the feet of the gallows, from whence they were afterwards furtively carried off by the Catholics, and devoutly guarded by them as relics of saints. Nor were they indebted for even this kind of sepulture to the mercy of the State Ministers instead of their quarters being exposed as usual with others, to the public gaze; but it was a wise policy not to give further cause of exasperation to the people, already no little excited, and loudly murmuring, that they had now made all London but as one shambles for human flesh; so numerous were the heads exposed upon the towers of the bridges, and the limbs hung here and there in many places. Whence that which in the estimation of Englishmen was JUSTICE, in the eyes of foreigners resembled barbarism. For this same reason they sent far from London, even to the city of York for execution, and butchering, the last four of the twelve priests slaughtered this year.” “And,” writes a Protestant historian, “zwith such a number 7%moved from the zworld, ſhe brooms of justice cleansed Angland of cobwebs of this cloth, to wit, of Catholic friests, that catch the ſies of souls.” So says he, with but little grace, or to speak Correctly, giving expression by the run of his pen, to a vain and totally false joy; since, so far was the death of twelve priests from lessening the usual gain of souls to the Catholic faith in the kingdom, that in the following year, I583, there was such a copious gathering that perhaps, whether we regard the quality, or the multitude of Catholic converts, no previous year can be compared to it.” * (Query) Eleven. See Challoner, vol. i. ; seven hung at Tyburn, one at Chelmsford, three at York. * Hollingshead, 1582, f. 1383, is the author of this amiable passage. * Bartoli, Anghilterra, lib. iv. Father 7%0mas Cottam. 177 AUTHORS WHO HAVE TREATED UPON THIS MARTYR. Concertatio Ecclesiae in Anglia, part 2, fol. 85, 86, 9o, 93 ; part 3, fol. 212, 224, 296, 408. “, Bombini in vita Campiani, c. 15, 24, 53. Historia Martyril 16 Sacerdotum in Anglia. Italice. Neap. 1584, C. Io. Edw. Rishtonus in Diario addito hist. Sanderi. Didacus Yepes de persecut. Angliae, fol. 4, c. 23. Hispanice. Hieronomi Pollinus de pers. Angliae, fol. 4, c. 42. Italice. Florimundus Remundus de orig. haeres., lib. 6, c. 12, n. 4. Sanderus de Schism. Angliae, lib. 3. Ribadeneira de centuria Martyrum, S.J. Catal. eorumd. Martyrum. Edit. Cracovicë. Tabula eorumd. Romae incisa. Menolog. (S.J.) MS. Ludovic. Granatensis in Compendio Instructionis ad Sym- bolum fidei, lib. 2, c. 22. Ratib. Bewyonius de Jubileo, lib. 5, c. 9. -Thomas Bozius designis Eccles., signo 27, 43, 57. John Rho. in hist. virtutum, lib. 4, C. Io, § 3. Clarus Bonarscius in Amphitheatro honoris, c. 4. Andraeus Cadaemon in Apol. pro Hen. Garneto, p. 165. Petrus Oultreman in tabulis Virorum illust. S.J. Gallice. Jacob Damianus in Synop. S.J. lib. v. c. 15. Hilarion de Costae Hist. Cath. lib. 3, in Edmundo Cam- piano et in Thoma. (Gort.) Gallice. Hieron. Rappius in annalibus Seminarii Romani MS. Tanner, S.J. Vita et mors Jesuitarum. Bartoli, Inghilterra. More, S.J. Hist. Prov. Angliae S.J. Bp. Challoner, Miss. Priests. 178 VIII. FATHER RICHARD BRADLEY, S.J., Confessor for the Faith, and Martyr in the Gaol of Manchester, dying of gaol ſever before his trial, 30th /antary, 1646, af. 4I. FATHER RICHARD BRADLEY was a native of Lancashire, born A.D. 1605. He entered the Society 1623, aet. 18, saw much active and dangerous life as camp missioner to the English and Irish soldiers in Belgium, and returning to England, was seized by the Parliamentary soldiers in Lanca- shire, the field of his labour, and being committed for trial to Manchester gaol, died there from the pestilential effects of the horrible dungeons of those times, before he was brought out for trial, and, as we may presume, for public butchery. The only record about this confessor of the Faith, is to be found in Tanner's Vita ef mors Jesuitarum Żro ſide inderſecto- 7°1/7/2. “The county of Lancaster,” says Father Tanner, “gave birth to Father Richard Bradley, a man of great soul, and prodigal alike of blood and life, as often as occasion or neces- sity occurred. He entered the Society of Jesus at the age of eighteen, under the discipline of which he was formed by virtue and learning a most apt instrument of the divine glory. In due course he was solemnly professed of the four vows. How great labours he endured in the vineyard of the Lord, how great dangers he incurred in the search for Souls, there is no need to explain, since of him it might truly be said, ‘ his soul was always in his hands.’ Indeed, the Camp mission in Belgium had been a field for the display of those courageous virtues he possessed, before he arrived in England. There, amidst the most frequent danger of death, so self- possessed was he, that in the heat of battles he would run through the ranks of the soldiers of the entire army, from the rear to the van, undismayed by the shots whizzing around him, armed with the crucifix alone, with which he encouraged the combatants, boldly to engage the enemies of the Faith, Pather Richard Bradley. I 79 and animated those who had fallen mortally wounded to die with fortitude in so good a cause. It once happened that in an engagement more sanguinary than the rest, he ran through the dense shower of bullets flying about his head, regardless of his own Saſety, to hear the confessions of the wounded, when a certain soldier, seeing his imminent danger, and apprehensive for the Father's safety, took off his own helmet and placed it on the head of Father Bradley, so that one 'might have suspected him to have been his good angel guardian, for no sooner had the trooper performed this act of charity, when a musket-ball struck the Father on the head, and must have shattered it, had it not been turned off by the helmet; heaven by this means preserving its faithful servant. “It was easy to foresee the sufferings he would have to undergo in those difficult times, on being appointed to the English mission, from those of others, since there was no opportunity of going abroad in Open daylight to visit, Console, and encourage the faithful, but this could alone be accomp- lished under cover of the darkness of night. And although Father Richard did this with the utmost caution he was never- theless seized at length by the Parliamentary pursuivants, and thrust into the gaol of Manchester, nor did he foresee any other sequel in his regard, than the irrevocable sentence passed upon all English priests—to be hung, drawn, and quartered, unless previously killed by the most grievous sufferings of the prison. But now, should any one wish to know the nature of the imprisonment and dungeons of the English priests, let him hear the description of two sufferers in them. “Father John Gerard, of the Society of Jesus, speaking of the prison called the Counter, which Father Garnett in one of his letters calls ‘a very evil prison and without comfort,' says, “I was thrust through a little narrow door into a cell under the roof, where there was nothing but a bed, and no room to stand upright, except just where the bed was. There was one window open day and night, through which the foul air entered, and the rain fell on to my bed. The room door was so low that I had to enter, not on my feet, but on my knees, and even then I was forced to stoop ; however, I reckoned this rather an advantage, inasmuch as it helped to keep out the strong and pestilential stench that came from the common place close to my door, that was used by the prisoners in that part of the gaol. I was often kept awake by the bad Smell, to say nothing of the injury to the health.” M 2 I8O Father Richard Bradley. “Father William Weston, of the same Society, well known throughout England for his most horrible sufferings, being thrust into a prison, the terrible stench of which so exceeded all its other miseries, that, as he himself writes, he was so suffocated by its pestilential vapours, that his natural feelings inclined him rather to wish for death at once, than to linger on for so long a time in such great suffering. He could get no sleep there unless his body, worn out by weakness, sank prostrate upon the ground, and of this sort, he says, that were he to reckon the time, he did not get more than ten hours repose out of the fifty nights. He had only a wretched light, as much as a narrow little window, like the loophole of a tower, afforded him ; so that he esteemed it a blessing that he was not deprived of both sight and mind, although as it was, his strength and head were so exhausted that he was unable either to write or read four lines consecutively.” By sufferings similar to these, Father Richard Bradley was worn out before he was led forth to a public defence of Catholicity by a glorious death upon the gallows of Manchester. He died in gaol 3oth January, I 645, at. 4I.” * This would have been, no doubt, the infamous Wisbeach Castle, of which some slight description is given in the “Life of Thomas Pounde of Belmont, S.J. (Jesuits in Conflicts, Series I.). I81 IX. FATHER HUMPHREY LEECH, S.J., a/?as HENRY ECCLES. WE conclude this portion of our history of the College of St. Aloysius, or the Lancashire district, with the following memoir of this celebrated convert to the Catholic faith.* Father Leech was born at Allerton, in Shropshire, in the year 1571. He was admitted a student of Brazenose College, Oxford, in 1590. After some time he removed to Cambridge, where he took the degree of M.A., and returning to Oxford in 1602, he was incorporated there in the same degree in the month of June. Then returning into his own county he became vicar of St. Alkmund's, in Shrewsbury, where he stayed not very long before he was invited to Oxford, and made chaplain or minor canon of Christ Church. In the year 1607, happening to preach a sermon concerning precepts and Evangelical Counsels, he gave great offence to the University, and was impeached before the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. King, as a favourer of Catholic doctrine on that subject; and endeavouring to excuse himself, his explanations gave less content, and at last he was suspended. The opposition and vexatious annoyance he had thus to encounter, opened his eyes to the truth, and leaving the University he publicly declared himself to be a Catholic, and retiring to Arras in Artois, he published the motives of his conversion, with an account of the controversy between himself and Dr. King, concerning Evangelical Counsels. In the year 1609 he went to Rome, and entered the English College as an alumnus, in the assumed name of Henry Eccles, aet. 38, Father Robert Parsons being then Rector, and on the 2nd May, 16Io, he took the usual college oath. He was ordained priest on the 21st of April, 1612; left Rome for England on the 22nd of April, * See Alegambe, S.J., Biblio Script., quoted by Dodd, Church. Hist. vol. ii. p. 4oo ; Wood's Athen. Oxon. ; Zitt. Azimua Coll. Angl. A&om. 1609. I 82 Pather Humphrey Zeech. 1618, and in the same year entered the Society of Jesus.” A status of the English College for the year 1613,” thus notices him : “Henry Eccles, a graduate of Oxford, and formerly a famous preacher among the Protestants, and greatly versed in the sacred writings, by his study of which he was converted to the Catholic faith, and for preaching in the University of Oxford the doctrine of the Evangelical Counsels, he had much to suffer. Finally he abandoned his benefice, riches, and country, and printed and published an excellent work in defence of the said doctrine and of the Sacred Scrip- tures, and thus gained himself a glorious victory. He resided in England with Mr. Massey, of Hooton, Cheshire. His course was very short, for worn out with Consumption and languor, he passed to his reward on July #, I029, in the College of St. Aloysius, aet. 57—in religion eleven years, in the degree of formed spiritual coadjutor.” The following are extracts from Mr. Anth. Wood's Athen. Oxon, concerning this Father. “Humphrey Leech, or Lechins, as he is sometimes written, was born at Allerton, commonly called Ollerton, Shropshire, was entered a student in Brazenose College, before the month of November, 1590, for in that year, and of his age nineteen, he was as a member of that house matriculated. But before he took the degree of B.A. he went to Cambridge, where, taking the degree of Master of Arts, he returned to Oxon in 1602, and in June the same year was incorporated in the same degree. About that time he was made vicar of St. Alkmund’s Church in Shrewsbury, where making a short stay, he returned to Oxon, and became one of the chaplains or petty Canons of Christ Church, of whose preaching and what ſollowed you may see in History and Antiquities Univ. Oxon, lib. i. Sub. ann. I608. In which year, being suspended of his chaplainship for preaching publicly some Popish tenets (for so they were accounted by the Puritanical Doctors of the University in those days), he left the Church of England, and went to Arras in Artois, where he wrote these things following: “ Zhe Zºil/m/h of 7% uſ/; ; or a Declaration of the Doctrine concerning Evangelical Counsels. In two parts. Douay, 1609. 8vo. “Sermon in Zeſence of Evangelical Councils and the Fathers, on Apoc. xx. I2. Printed with the former book. * English College Diary. * Vol. iv. Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, n. 4. Aather Humphrey Zeech. 183 “Twelve Motives which induced him to embrace the Catholic A'eligion. “An honourable Grand Jury of Zºenty-four Fathers, testi- fying the distinction between legal precepts and Evangelical Counsels by their uniform verdict; which book, with the motives, were printed with the Triumph of Truth. “Aſumble Considerations presented to King /ames concerning his premonitory Epistle, sent to all Christian Princes. St. Omer, I609. “Afterwards our author going to Rome, was admitted into the Society of Jesus, ann. 1618, before or after which time he lived in the English College of Jesuits at Liege, and was most commonly the porter there. At length being sent into the English Mission, settled in a Roman Catholic house in Cheshire, near the river Mersey, owned by one Massie, where he departed this life in July (about the 18th day), 1629, as I have been informed by William Lacey, of Oxon, one of his Society, whom I shall remember when I come to the year 1673 as having been originally of this University.” Wood's History of the Antiquities of Oxon Oniv., vol. ii. p. 294, thus mentions Father Leach— * “Anno Domini 1608, 6 Jac. “Humphrey Leech, M.A., some time a minister in Shrews- bury, but now one of the chaplains or petty canons of Christ Church, having toward the latter end of last year made an ingress in a sermon into the doctrine of Evangelical Counsels, on the 20 Apoc. v. I2, which was murmured at by some of the University, proceeded notwithstanding again on the same subject in a sermon preached on the 27th of June this year : which sermon also giving far more offence than the former, was summoned before Dr. Leonard Hutton, the pro-Vice- chancellor, to Surrender up a copy of his sermon. At length Dr. King, the vice-chancellor, coming home, and with other doctors, taking Leech to task, was, after several conferences had of various points in his sermons, thus sentenced by him in his lodgings at Christ Church : ‘Mr. Leech, for preaching Scandalous and erroneous doctrine—doctrine, as you well know, stiffly defended by the Church of Rome, and where- upon many absurdities do follow—I do first, as vice-chancellor, silence you from preaching; secondly, as dean of this house, I Suspend you from your commons and function here for the space of three months.” 184 Father Humphrey Leech. “This it seems was his sentence, and before the doctors his associates, the vice-chancellor required him to take notice of it, and to obey it. Afterwards Leech making his appeal to the Archbishop, and finding not from him that remedy which he desired, left the Church of England and went beyond the seas to Arras in Artois, where, being for the present settled, he wrote a book in defence of himself and his doctrine that he had delivered, entitled, A Triumph of Zyuth, &c.,4 which being afterwards answered by Dan. Price, of Exeter College, in a book entitled A Defence of 7%-uth, &c.," and by Dr. Sebastian Benefield, of Corpus Christi College, in his appendix to his book entitled Zectrina Christianae sex capita, &c.0 “I shall say no more of the matter at this time, but refer the reader to those books where possibly he may find all the matter well stated.” . In page 297, same vol., Wood gives the following extract from a letter of the newly-appointed Chancellor of the Uni- versity, Dr. Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, “who had no sooner settled, but took order about reformation of the scholars, who were mostly drawn aside by the vices of these times.” - “And because all occasions of schism, heresy and false doctrine might be removed from among the students (as he further saith in his aforesaid letter), it was held very fitting that men in their ordinary table-talk, much more in their lectures and sermons, either privately within their colleges or publicly in the University, should be very wary and circumspect that they broach not, or maintain out of singularity or a spirit of . contention, any opinions contrary to the received doctrine of the Church of England, coming very near to Popery : albeit they now seemed to mince and qualify it, because thereby having once gone awry in their definions and determinations, they do in a sort bind themselves to persist in those errors which they have set on foot, and oftentimes are the means of seducing others, who are not able to judge of the truth of that which is delivered by them. Of this they had a late example amongst them, in an unadvised and indiscreet Mr. Leech, who having rashly uttered doctrine which was unsound, yet was so persuaded that it stood with his estimation to defend it, that being called to question for the same, he rather chose * Edit. 1609. 8vo. English. * Edit. Oxon, 16Io. ° Edit. I6Io. jºr Father Humphrey Leech. 185 to make shipwreck of a good conscience by flying to the common enemy, than to recall or acknowledge his error, &c.” The Annual Letters for the English College, Rome, 1609 give a fuller account of Father Humphrey Leech— - “This year was truly fruitful in the conversion of Protestant ministers, of whom we have heard of eight becoming Catholics, ut £lene salutem ex inimicis nostris sperare jam Ziceat. “Of these two, viz., Theophilus Higgons and Humphrey Leech, have published admirable reasons for their abandoning their country and its heresy, and embracing a religious life, and these works are read in England with great fruit. “Theophilus' book is entitled, Primum motivum quod Protestantium ſidem Theophilo Higgonio, M.A., suspectam reddidit; viz. Defectio falsitatis in Doctoribus quibusdam Protestantibus in controversia de Purgatorio et oratione pro mortuis. In this book he so clearly exposes the frauds, the lies, and impostures of the Protestants, that no one can doubt that all this farrago of heresy, sowed and tacked together by mere calumnies, falsehoods, and absurdities, as a piece of patchwork, is composed of nothing else than of errors which the ancient Church, the Councils, and the Fathers have altogether rejected and condemned." - 7 Theophilus Higgons unhappily fell away. He was son of Robert Higgons, born at Chilton, Bucks, and having learned his rudiments at Thame in Oxfordshire, became a student at Christ Church College, Oxon, in 1592, aet. about fourteen. He took his M.A. degree in 1600. He was esteemed in the University as a man of good parts, and no mean poet. As for his religion, he seemed much inclined to Puritanism, and expressed an uncommon aversion to the Church of Rome ; an instance whereof he . gave, when being censor in his college, he caused a may-pole to be cut down that stood too near him, upon the pretence that it was a mark of Popery and superstition. When Dr. Ravis, dean of Corpus Christi, was made Bishop of Gloucester, he took Mr. Higgons to be his chaplain, and upon the further advancement of Ravis to London, his chaplain followed him, and was made lecturer of St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street, where he was much admired and followed on account of his great talent in preaching, which, notwithstanding, disgusted some of his supporters, who were no friends to canting and long prayers. This, and his unsuitable marriage, was very displeasing both to his friends and relations; and debts coming upon him at the same time, he forsook his wife, left London, and moved into the north of England, where, not meeting with encouragement sufficient to satisfy his ambitious mind, and answer the opinion he held of his own merits, he became very thoughtful, and falling into conversation with Mr. Fludd, alias John Floyd, a Jesuit, a noted controversial divine, was brought over to the communion of the Church of Rome, and immediately published a 186 Father H.umphrey Zeech. “But Humphrey (who is now an alumnus of this College) gives his book the following glorious title, Triumphus veritatis, quia were in doctrina de Consiliis Evangelicis de toto Ministrorum Oxoniensium grege sola veritate armatus moſt simul triumphavić. The quarrel between Humphrey and the heads of the University first commenced in consequence of his having quoted the following passage of St. Gregory in a University sermon preached by him : Quidam judicanſur ef Żereuni, guidam non judicantur effereuni, guidam judicantur et regnant, guidam non judicantur et regnant, 8 and commenting upon the last clause of the sentence, ‘These,’ he said, “are they who go beyond the precepts of the law, by the observance of the Evangelical Counsels.” This was enough. Being charged with intro- ducing new doctrine, he produced the whole assembly of the Fathers of the Church with such force as to drive the heretics into a dilemma. Either the Fathers are to be heard by us, or else entirely rejected ; if the latter, why do we appeal to them against the Papists P and so confidently brag that they are on our side P ‘But,’ he added, ‘if we admit these as judges in the cause, then I cannot fall, for I can easily prove without contradiction, the universal assent in opinion regarding the Evangelical Counsels, whence it is permitted me to say with St. Augustine : /s/is cede, et mihi cede: quod dicumí dico, quod docent doceo, quod Aradicant fºradico, non aguas furtivas froſono, sed ex /lorum fontibus et ſºurissimis rivulis haustas, acceptasque.’ Humphrey's freedom of speech greatly gravelled the heretics, who by common assent, and according to the Custom of the University, appointed a lecture to be given, in which the candidate held forth with marvellous audacity, against the Evangelical Counsels, asserting that all works were Small treatise concerning mortal and venial sin, which is said to have been agreeable to the principles of neither party. Aſterwards he went abroad, visiting Douay and St. Omer's Colleges, whither his father went to reclaim him, and bring him back into England, but in vain. From St. Omer he went to Rouen, big with hopes of great preſerments by the change of his religion. But matters not succeeding according to his expectation, he returned into England, and was reconciled to the Protestant Church chiefly by the means of Dr. Thomas Morton, Dean of Winchester, aſter- wards Bishop of Durham, who had before taken some pains to answer one of his books. Being thus regained to the Church of England, he was made rector of Hunton, near Maidstone, and lived there till the rebellion broke out, when his benefice being sequestered, he lived private in Maidstone, where he died 1659 (Wood, Athen. Oxon, vol. ii. p. 240). * 26 Moral, cap. 24, 25. Father Humphrey Zech. 187 of precept, and these counsels manifestly repugnant to the Word of God. After distorting various passages into this sense, and miserably evading those objected by Humphrey, for fear of their making against him, he at length came to handle the universal assent of the Fathers, which, as a Gordian knot he was unable to unravel, he therefore set to work to cut it—for where he should have singled out some of them, he instead rejected, repudiated, and scorned the whole in one sentence. “As regarding the Fathers of the Church, he said, ‘I pronounce them all to have been fascinated, deceived, and seduced by the errors of their times.’ A brief censure indeed, but replete with impudence and blasphemy ; and thus heresy cannot subsist unless he will take God from heaven, the Fathers from the schools, Sacrifice from the temples, and even from the entire globe of the earth. “ Humphrey, moved to indignation at this response, pre- pared another sermon, in which he showed that his doctrine is the Catholic one, from so many proofs drawn from the Sacred Scriptures, the Councils, and Fathers, which before he had only incidentally touched upon, but now purposely, and so clearly demonstrated, as completely, to shut the mouths of objectors. This raised a storm against him, and they pro- ceeded to accuse him as a favourer of Papistry, and finally to declare that such doctrine was repugnant to the Gospel, and was not to be allowed with impunity, but its author must be severely punished for having rashly mixed himself up in these controversies. Especially they prohibited him from again preaching without obtaining a license from the Faculty of Theology, and then personally summoned him to purge himself of the suspicion of Papistry, which indeed he obeyed, not unwillingly, but most gladly : and being now before them, they specially urged that the doctrine he had delivered regard- ing Evangelical Counsels was scandalous, erroneous, and Papistical, nor could be any longer permitted, since he had thereby so disturbed the peace of the University. To whom Humphrey replied, “And what epithets do you apply to the doctrine of the most Holy Trinity, the consubstantiality of the Son, and the procession of the Holy Ghost, seeing that we receive these truths from no other sources than the same written foundations, viz.: the Church, and the Fathers, by which I show that this dogma of the Evangelical Counsels, which you call erroneous, scandalous, and Papistical, is mani- festly true.” 188 Father Humphrey Zeech. “The doctors seeing that they could by no means detach him from this most firm foundation, imposed silence upon him, with an injunction not to act or write further regarding this controversy. Humphrey replied, ‘I must obey God rather than men, and such an injunction is manifestly unjust, and therefore invalid; nay, altogether null and void.’ “Whilst these things were going on, the Vice-Chancellor of the University returned to Oxford from London. He was a haughty and savage man, an Epicurean also (that is, a Puritan). He sent for Humphrey, and after discharging upon him a volley of bile, at length thus addressed him. “I am ashamed to hear the things of you which are everywhere forced upon me. Indeed I have been myself accused in London for having permitted such doctrine to be promulgated by a University preacher.’ To whom Humphrey—‘If the things be false that I teach, let their falsity be proved. I know that the Scriptures, the Fathers, the Councils, and the Church support my position; how, I pray you, do you convict me of falsehood? I shall be always ready to give an account of my words, and to convince you that I am not uttering words only, lo ſ' (at the same time offering a paper), ‘the opinions of the Fathers, to which, when a reply shall be given, it will not be difficult to bring me to a recantation.’ To whom the Vice-Chancellor—“Whether I can refute these things I know not—this I do know, that I am able to convict you of precipitate rashness, because in the present state of our affairs, and the general tendency to an apostasy from the Gospel to Papistry, you have dared thus to preach.” After a few days, being again cited before the Vice- Chancellor and other doctors, he hastened to appear. The heretical doctors objected many things against him, to which Humphrey, instead of replying, asked the Vice-Chancellor that the matter might not be dealt with in so confused a manner, but rather that articles of charges might be exhibited against him, according to the custom of the University, “Otherwise,’ said he, ‘it will seem to all to be a marvellous injustice, if you pronounce sentence against me for a doctrine which you your- selves are unable to refute; or if this does not please you, I will subscribe this proposition—Damtur Evangelica Consilia, and I ask you to sign the contrary one, Mom damtur Evangelica Consiſta, and moreover that you declare that what I hold affirmatively, and still hold, ought to be deservedly punished according to the laws.’ This most just demand these iniquitous judges rejected, and the Vice-Chancellor, non verbo sed gladio, Father Humphrey Leech. 189 by power, not by reason, judicially pronounced this sentence against him—‘Mr. Humphrey, because he taught by preaching a scandalous and erroneous doctrine (a doctrine, as ye know, warmly defended by the Church of Rome, from which many absurdities follow), first, as Vice-Chancellor I prohibit him from again preaching; secondly, as Dean of this College I interdict him from commons, and all ministerial functions.’ “Humphrey went to London and appealed to the pseudo- Archbishop against this injury. He grievously complained of the injustice of the sentence. But provoked truth in vain demanded protection from these builders up of lies, from whose hearts, long ago, together with piety, all honesty was expelled. For the pseudo-Bishop said that he was bound to defend the Vice-Chancellor, and that these counsels could not be Sup- ported by the Gospel, but Humphrey proved the contrary; nor could he obtain anything else either by way of answer or remedy for the injuries received, except that he should wait for the Bishop's sentence ; and having done so for a fortnight, and finding that the pseudo-prelate would do nothing, but deferred and procrastinated from day to day, a plan he adopted with a view to weary out Humphrey and so bring him to a compliance with his wishes, changing his plans, and impelled by the force of virtue and of truth, he embarked for Flanders, and being restored to the bosom of the Church by a Father of the Society of Jesus, at St. Omer's College, he came to Rome, where he lives (says the writer of the report) in the English Seminary among the alumni, affording a great example of piety and humility, and, although advanced in life, yet submits himself with great humility and alacrity to the lowest duties of the College.” ADDITIONAL IN OTE FOR THE WORTHINGTON FAMILY. A doubt was expressed on a former page whether Father More is correct in his statement that Father John Worthington was one of the four boys who were so constant under persecu- tion. This doubt is strengthened by a passage in a letter from Father Parsons to the General of the Society, dated Paris, September 15, 1584. . Two things are certain, that of the four boys John was the youngest ; and that Father John Worthington had a younger I90 Additional AVoće. brother, Father Laurence. Now Father Parsons’ letter says that the four boys were the youngest of a family of twelve children, and this leads to the inference that John, the youngest of those four, cannot be the same person as Father John, who had a younger brother Laurence. º It may also be gathered from the same passage that Richard Worthington, the father of the four boys, was the eldest son, for Father Thomas Worthington calls him his eldest brother. l This information having been obtained since the Pedigree was in type, it remains for the reader kindly, to substitute Richard instead of Thomas as the eldest son. Father Parsons’ words are: “Praedictus autem Worthing- tonus (sacerdos) etiam scribit fratrem suum majorem natu, qui in eadem provincia Lancastrensivir est nobilis et perhonestaº conditionis, cum Catholicus esset, et hanc apertam tyrannidem in omnes passim exerceri Cerneret ut liberi omnes invitis paren- tibus abriperentur, timens ne idem sibi' contingeret, ex 12 filiis quos habebat, quatuor minimos quos magis periculo obnoxios putabat, dimisit clam Londinum, qui tamen omnes divina permissione in itinere capti,” etc. (Ibitt, acticg, PART I. HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHAD; OR THE STAFFORDSHIRE DISTRICT, S.J. (Formerly included in the College of St. Aloysius or the Zancashire District). I. HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHAD, OR THE STAFFORDSHIRE DISTRICT, Aormerly included in the Zancashire ZDistrict. THIS district was, until the year 1669–70, included in the College of St. Aloysius, or the Lancashire District. The A.iffera Annua: Prov. Angſ, for 1670, after mentioning that there were six Fathers in this College, continue—“St. Chad's College was recently erected by desire of our Very Reverend Father General; each of the Fathers contributing his share, whether arising from alms or donations, or from his own peculium, to make a proper foundation.” We shall however in this sketch go back to the earliest times for any facts we can find connected with this district. As far as the very imperfect returns enable us to speak, the usual number of Fathers in the College or district, from its foundation until 1677, to which period this sketch of its history extends, was about seven each year. Very little is mentioned regarding the conversions, which in 1672 are stated to have been twenty-eight. In the general history of the sufferings of the English Province in consequence of the infamous Oates' Plot, and in that terrible blow to Catholicity, the Revolution of 1688, we shall have to return to this district, in which one or two of the principal abettors of the miserable perjured Oates once resided. The following places were served, or visited, by the Fathers of the College— (Alveton) Alton Rudge Aston Hall Stafford Biddles or Biddulph Stone Boscobel Swinnerton Bromley Tixhall Lewison Mr. Wolverhampton. Moseley The following extract from a letter of P. H. to Secretary Sir Francis Walsingham, called secret advertisements, shows a visit of two of our Fathers to Staffordshire as early as 1582. N I94. The College of St. Chad. The letter is in vol. clv. n. 96, ZXamestic, Ælizabeth, State Papers, P.R.O. “Informations of a letter sent by Dr. Hen- shawe, a Seminary priest, to a friend, stating that he with Fathers Holt and Heywood, Jesuits, had spent three months in Staffordshire, and had converted two hundred and twenty- eight persons to the Catholic faith.” Sketches of several distinguished members of the Society, as serving in or connected with this College, will be given further on in noticing some of the places served. Although some of the events recorded in the Annual Letters for the College of St. Aloysius up to the year 1669– 1670, may perhaps have been connected with the Staffordshire district, yet the Only one specially mentioned as happening in it, is an instance of the power of the Church's exorcisms in the expulsion of evil spirits from the possessed, which happened in this year 1656, in a village called Halfcote, on the borders of Worcestershire, in the house of Mr. Hill, as already related in page 22, ante, “College of St. Aloysius,” by the agency of Father William Atkins. 1672.-The same Father Atkins is mentioned as being then upwards of seventy years of age. So long as his strength permitted he had been a zealous and admirable labourer; and still, though nearly speechless, and his whole frame paralyzed, he did not give up work, but exhibited an illustrious example of zeal for souls, patience, and other virtues. This Father, who fell a victim to Protestant rage in Oates' Plot, will be more fully noticed in the intended history of that period. He died a martyr in prison about eighty years of age. He had been condemned to death, although speech- less and bedridden from paralysis. - Members of the English Province have at various times lived as chaplains in the family of the Earls of Shrewsbury. ALVETON (ALTON).--We meet with one of these within the limits of the present history. Father /o/in Søencer.—This celebrated controversial writer was a native of Lincolnshire, born in 1601. He entered the Spciety at the age of twenty-six, in 1627. In a Catalogue for the year 1642, he is named as Professor of Moral Theology at Liége, and Said to have been Minister of the Juniors, and Camp missioner. He was a convert to the Catholic faith when a student at Cambridge University. He passed by the name of Vincent Hatcliffe, and in the short notice of him in page 52. Aather /o/,” Spencer. 195 Florus Anglo-Bavaricus, he is mentioned by that name alone. The writer of the Florus, and also Mr. Dodd," agree that he was an able controversialist, barely excelled by any. Mr. Dodd says that he recommended himself to the world by a con- troversy which he and Dr. Lenthall, also a convert from Cambridge, held in 1657 with Dr. Peter Gunning and Dr. John Pearson. The Florus says that he publicly overturned the impious dogma of the atheists—“a not unfrequent kind of cattle in England”—and that he wrote many other works with equal fruit, wherein he asserted the majesty of the sacred pages against the perverse insolence of the heretics. Father Spencer's works are—Trials of the Protestant private spirit (4to, 1630, 392 pp.); Scripture //istaken, the ground of Arofesſamá and common plea of all new reformers (8vo. Antw. 1655, 405 pp.); Thirty-six gueries proposed to the heretical ministers in AEngland (8vo. London, 1657); Auf ZXeus aut nihil (8vo. London), contra Atheiost ; Schism defected (8vo. London); Account of a Conference with Dr. Gunning, &c. (Paris 1658). The following is a short eulogy of this Father, contained in the summary of the deceased of the English Province for 1670. “Father John Spencer was a native of Lincolnshire; forti- fied by all the rites of Holy Church, nearly seventy years of age, he departed this life to receive the heavenly reward, as we hope, of his great virtues, on the 17th of January, 1670.” He was a man of remarkable piety and modesty, upon whom our most benign Lord had heaped no few pledges of His love. For in his youth, being then a student in the University of Cambridge, called by the singular grace of God, he in due season abandoned the camp of heresy and entered the fold of the Catholic Church. He presently began seriously to deli- berate with himself upon a more perfect, and a stricter plan of fife, after which he sighed. Then, having entered the Society of Jesus, he made happy progress both in virtue and in learning, especially in what belonged to the controversies of our times, amongst the writers of which he shone forth, if not the first of them, yet was he “an athlete of many palms.” He was inflamed with a great zeal of bringing souls back to their Creator. He often gave proof of this generous flame in his breast, no less by his ardour, than by his frequent preaching. And, impelled by the same zeal, he often came into close combat with the chief men amongst the Protestants, of whom he con- * Church. History, vol. iii. p. 312. * Oliver says 1671, IN 2 - I96 7%e College of St. Chad. verted many to the orthodox faith. Besides, by his published and very learned writings, he strenuously and successfully asserted the Catholic cause against the enemies of the Faith ; also in an erudite volume written shortly before his death against a by no means ignoble adversary. And it is hoped that a posthumous offspring so worthy of its parent, may in a short time be published. He was a diligent observer of religious discipline, so that when he was acting as Superior in the camp mission amongst the English troops in Belgium, and afterwards in England itself for some years, he laboured to be pre-eminent in it, not so much by his position and authority, as by his own example to all in the virtue itself. He was sought by many principal men on account of his great repute for Sanctity and learning, combined with an equal sweetness of address. He was at length taken into the family of the noble Earl of Shrewsbury, and there eventually closed his long life, leaving to all a great blank behind him. Worn out with the pains of a terrible disease, joined to a very troublesome quartan fever, he lay bedridden for nearly a fortnight, during which time he exhibited proofs of admirable religious patience and humility. Being now near his end, he exhorted all, with great feelings of piety, to the observance of virtue, the com- mandments of God, and especially to constancy in the Catholic faith. He apparently suffered no trouble of soul in his last struggles with death. He went off like one falling by degrees into a placid sleep, and may be said rather to have happily reposed in God, than to have died. STAFFORD.—Although this is the chief town of the county, yet it does not appear to have been the main station of this College or district. It is a place of great antiquity. The first notice of it is said to be in the year 705, when St. Bertelin, son of a Mercian king, settled there, living in a hermitage. He was, however, shortly afterwards expelled from the building he had erected, and a few houses, which subsequently occupied the site of it, are supposed to have been the origin of the present town. We do not trace any of our Fathers here by name, prior to the Stafford district being transferred to St. Chad's College in 1669–70. In the time of Oates' plot, several are mentioned, most of whom were inmates of Stafford gaol; and One at least, Eather William Atkins, died in his cell, a martyr for his faith. We shall have, therefore, to return to Stafford in the general A70ſ/her W7//ia772 A3//7s. I97 history of the Province in that eventful period, and of the Revolution of 1688. - We must not, however, omit to mention a lay-brother, William Ellis, who in the time of the Gunpowder Plot was here tried and condemned to death. Mention is made of him in a letter of Father John Gerard, October 17, 1614°–“Among the four which are come out of Spain, one of them is William Ellis, but we call him John Williams, for he was page to Sir Everard Digby, and taken with him, though he might have escaped, for his master offered him horse and money to shift for himself, but the youth said he would live and die with him, and so being taken was condemned at Stafford, and should have been executed. He was offered to have his life if he would go to their church, which he refused. In the end they Saved him, and some others. He never yielded in the least point. He hath good friends near Sir Everard Digby’s, whom I know, and he is heir to 24,8o a year if his father do him justice. He entered the Society in the same year, 1614, in the degree of lay-brother.” Father Gerard further mentions him in his narra- tive of the Gunpowder Plot *—“Sir Everard Digby, thinking to have escaped, offered all his servants that they might take their horses and money and shift for themselves. But his page and one other said they would never leave him, but against their will. Therefore, being well mounted, they three went together, but they found the country so up on every side, and all drawing towards the place where the report was the conspirators were beset, that it was not possible for them to pass or go unknown, especially Sir Everard Digby, being so noted a man for his stature and personage, and withal So well appointed as he was. Whereupon he did rather choose (after he had gained a little ground) to strike into a wood, and thought there in a dry pit to have stayed with his horses until the company had been passed. But they tracked his horses unto the very pit-side, and then cried out, ‘Here he is . Here he is l’ Sir Everard, being alto- gether undaunted, answered, ‘Here he is indeed; what then P’ and advanced his horse in the manner of curvetting (which he was expert in), and thought to have borne them over, and so to break from them, esteeming them to be but ten or twelve persons whom he saw about the pit, and though he easily made them give way, yet then he saw above a hundred people hard * Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, vol. iv. n. 29; and quoted in Father Morris' Condition of Catholics, pp. cci. ccii. * See Condition of Catholics, p. II.O. I98 The College of St. Chad. by and coming upon him ; so that seeing it in vain to resist, he willingly yielded himself to the likeliest man of the company.” - SwinneRTON, NEAR STONE,--This place, once a royal resi- dence in the times of the Saxons, and the seat of the ancient Catholic family of Fitzherbert, was served by the Fathers of the College. We name it here for the sake of introducing a very eminent man, who, late in life, became a member of the Society of Jesus. FATHER THOMAS FITZHERBERT. This distinguished member of the Society of Jesus, and ornament in turn of the Secular, the ecclesiastical, and the religious states, was born at Swinnerton, Staffordshire, in the year 1552. By the quaint pedigree we give (as copied from the State Papers in the Public Record Office), and which, by the remarks written at the foot regarding several of the members of the family, was no doubt furnished to the Privy Council by Some Government Spy, Thomas appears to have * Dodd's Church. History, vol. ii. p. 364, gives the following short but very interesting notice of this much lamented and pitied baronet. “Sir Everard Digby was a gentleman of great accomplishments and fortune. He was a zealous Catholic, of great interest with his party, and was unfortu- nately drawn into the plot of Catesby, in 1605. On the discovery of the plot he was seized with others at the house of Mr. Littleton, at Holbeck, near Wolverhampton. He was tried at Westminster, on an indictment of being privy to the plot and consenting to it, and taking an oath of secrecy. He pleaded guilty, and was executed with Mr. Winter and others in St. Paul’s Churchyard, 30th of January, I606. He showed much sorrow in his last speech, but appears to have had no knowledge of the particular design against the Parliament House, but only of a design in general, ‘Declaring,” says Stow (Chron. p. 881), ‘that if he had known it at first to have been so ſoul a treason, he would not have concealed it to have gained a world.” He was much pitied by everybody, being only twenty-four years of age, and in all respects one of the completest gentlemen of the time; but unfortunately drawn in to favour a cruel strategem he was both ignorant of and had a horror of. He left behind him a son, the famous Sir Kenelm Digby. Lord Bacon, in his Historia vita et mortis, relates a very extra- ordinary passage concerning a person he does not name, but some take it to be spoken of Sir Everard Digby, viz., that the executioner plucking out his heart, and according to custom holding it up and saying, ‘Here is the heart of a traitor,’ the person was heard to say distinctly, ‘Thou liest.’ Lord Bacon incidentally relates this to show how ſar the heart may be esteemed the seat of life.” Dodd leaves the reader to look upon it as a miracle or not, as he pleases. Copied from the State Papers, Record Office, No. 88, Vol. CCXXXV. Dom. Elizabeth, 1594. Endorsed—The petygree of ye Fitzherbertz from the Judges Father vntill them that nowe Lyve and be dyvers beyond Sea, trators and most of ye resedew yt bee in Eng- land daindgeroos Persons. z 2 / * T/ e2/- ſº 2Z.42. & ow/A-ºw: Cºran, Özzà?’ tº Želºr y. Seery Jſe a2,...”) Z2-test- 7%. e., sk *Z» «L42, Aoſt- º: ſº A’z-zes g //e & 24.4.2. C’ 3 era. 6.2 Yery yºz. wh: t **t's k-ear The following short Pedigree is taken from Burée's Landed Gentry, &c. :- ANTHONY FITZHERBERT = MATILDA COTTON the Judge of Norbury, Derbyshire, died 27th May, 1538. y Sir THOMAs, JOHN = CATHARINE WILLIAM = ELIZABTEH Three Daughters his heir, died : SWINNERTON sans issue. | THOMAS ANTHONY Renow FRANCIS GEORGE. Four Daughters Secretary - to Card. Allen. THOMAS = DOROTHY EAST ELIZABETH = JosFPH MAYNE, Esq. (afterwards S.J.), second lord of Swinnerton, died 17th August, 1640, at. 88. t EDWARD = BRIDGET CARYLL died before his father, 25th November, 1612 WILLIAM = ANN BROOK third lord of Swimmerton, and afterwards nineteenth lord of Norbury. | To face page 198. Aaſher 7%07/2as, Fitzheróerá. I99 been the eldest son of William Fitzherbert, called Fitzherbert of Swinnerton, who was the fifth son of Anthony Fitzherbert the celebrated judge, who came (says the same pedigree), to be heir of Norbury, Derbyshire." His mother was Isabella, daughter and one of the heirs of Humphrey Swinnerton of Swinnerton, Staffordshire, through whom that property came to the Fitzherberts. After tracing the following brief outline of the history, we propose to give it more fully from Dodd's Church History and More's Hºst. Prov. Ang/, adding to these, extracts from papers in the Public Record Office, in which Father Fitzherbert is referred to, Wood's Athen. Oxon., &c. His parents were Catholics. At a proper age he was sent to Oxford, where he improved an excellent capacity by the study of the best authors. His zeal for the Catholic faith exposed him to ridicule and persecution, and he was actually sentenced to a year's imprisonment for refusing to conform to the Church established by law, and for saying his prayers, like Daniel, in his own way, according to the ancient Faith. In him the Catholic religion found a constant friend and advocate, and a generous protector; he was never so happy as when he had opportunities of administering assistance and hospitality to priests and religious. On account of the intense heat of the persecution, he retired with his wife and family to the Con- tinent, where he was greatly esteemed in the Courts of France and Spain. In 1580 he had married Dorothy, the only child of Edward East of Bleadlow, Bucks. She died about 1588, and he then decided on embracing the ecclesiastical state. On the 24th of March, 1602, he was ordained priest in Rome. From his own narrative, which we shall give further on, we find that on the 15th of August, 1606, he made a vow of entering the Society of Jesus; but he does not appear to have entered the Order before I613. After passing through several offices, he succeeded Father Thomas Owen as Rector of the English College, Rome, in 1618, and his government of it was dis- tinguished by integrity, prudence, and charity. He died in that office, between six and seven o'clock in the morning, on the +th of August, I640, at the age of eighty-eight, and was buried in the College chapel." Father Thomas Courtney, who succeeded * It is said that this excellent judge on his death-bed required a solemn promise of his children neither to accept grants nor to make purchases of abbey lands, and then Surrendered his soul to God, May 27, 1538 (Oliver). * Dr. Oliver, Collectanea S./. p. 92. 2OO 7%e College of St. Chad. him as Rector of the English College, pronounced his eulogy, which will be found in page 213. Dodd & gives the life of this eminent man in greater detail. He observes that, though his parents were zealous Catholics, yet it was not unusual in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign to send young Catholic gentlemen to the Universities, especially to Oxford, where several tutors and some heads of Colleges were willing to connive at their religion, and even instruct them in their own way. Besides, in those days the abuse of occasional conformity, and now and then frequenting the Protestant service to avoid the penalty of the laws, was not entirely redressed; though an order from the Council of Trent, declaring that custom to be inconsistent with the sincerity of the Gospel and behaviour of the Christians in all ages, soon put a stop to the generality of the practice.” This occasioned several Catholics to leave the University, and among others Mr. Fitzherbert was called home, where his example and arguments prevailed with a great many of his neighbours, who, to secure their property, had hitherto con- formed according to law. In the meantime he married [1580], and was a great support to the Catholic cause by his learning and religious behaviour. But his avowed recusancy, and the conferences he had with several Protestants upon that and other subjects, brought him under prosecution; so that in the year 1572 he was committed to prison upon account of recu- sancy, and was no sooner released, but fresh complaints were made against him. Finding, therefore, that he could abide no longer in his own country with any comfort or safety, he retired for a time; and then going up privately to London, sent down orders for his wife and family to follow him. In Iondon he omitted no opportunity of bringing back many that had forsaken the religion of their ancestors, and confirming others who wavered under fear of persecution. It was during his residence here that he had the satisfaction of * Church History, vol. ii. p. 4Io. * Father Darbyshire, who was then held in great esteem among the Catholics in England, and subsequently entered the Society, was deputed in their name to the assembled Fathers of the Council of Trent to procure their opinion upon this point then much agitated in England, among the Catholics. He soon returned, having procured their answer to the effect that to attend the Protestant churches and worship would be a grave sin. Through his zealous representations the Council passed the decree, ZXe nome adeundis hareticorum Ecclesiis. See Historical Facts, Prov. Angl. SJ., Series I., “Life of Father Darbyshire.” - Father Z%omzas A'zá2/heróert. 2O I entertaining Father Parsons and Father Campion, whom he assisted with all conveniences upon their arrival in England in 1580.” Though London was a place where a great deal of good might be done with secrecy, yet Mr. Fitzherbert was so extensive in his zeal, and the sanguinary laws were now put in execution with so great severity, that he found himself obliged to retire into France, which he did in the year 1582, in company with his wife. While he lived in Paris he con- tinued his former practices of charitable and zealous assistance to all in distress. An instance of this kind was the pains he took to draw up and exhibit a memorial to the King of France and princes of the Guise family, in favour of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, who, as he represented, was detained in prison, and every day in danger of being taken off, upon no other account than her religion, and lest her succession to the crown of England should prove a means of restoring the ancient Catholic faith. He gave several other proofs of his zeal while he lived in France. On the death of his wife [1588] he altered his mode of living ; yet still so as to become more useful to the public. Having contracted a friendship with the Duke of Feria in Flanders, he was at his persuasion induced to take a journey into Spain, where, upon the recommenda- tion of that nobleman, he was well entertained at Court, and in a little time had great interest with his Catholic Majesty. This advantage he daily improved to the benefit of all his countrymen in distress, for whom he procured very plentiful alms, and also a pension settled upon himself. The corres- pondence which several of the English held, during their exile, with foreign courts, was easily misrepresented; and though it went no further than petitioning for a subsistence to support them in their extremity, yet at home they were continually maligned as rebels and enemies to their Queen and country. This was Mr. Fitzherbert's case, as well as of many others who resided in France and Flanders; although with repeated protestations of loyalty they endeavoured to wipe off the aspersion.” It is far from good reasoning, says Dodd * Thomas Fitzherbert was one of the active members of the Young Men's Club for the assistance of Fathers Campion and Parsons and the other missionary priests, founded by George Gilbert, Esq., aſterwards S.J. See Hist. Facts, S.V., ut supra, “Life of Thomas Pounde.” * Repeated mention is made of Mr. Thomas Fitzherbert in the letters and reports of spies and others among the State Papers, Public Record Office. Extracts from several of these will be found in P. 22O, Seq. 2O2 The College of St. Chad. upon this point, “that a person who cannot conveniently live at home, for want of friends, must of consequence be an enemy to his country, because he meets with charity abroad.” This was Mr. Copley's complaint; who, being created a baron in France, during his exile, was upon that score traduced in England as a rebel to his Queen.” “Yet Copley,” says Mr. Camden, “laboured to clear himself of all suspicion, pro- testing his obedience towards his princess, and that he had accepted that title with no other intent but that the greater honour might come to his wife, the companion of his exile, and the larger pension to himself from the Spaniard.” Indeed, had the English exiles been concerned in any particular strategem against Queen Elizabeth or the Government, this was sufficient ground for the reproach. But charitable con- tributions, pensions, ecclesiastical preferments, and even commissions in the army from a foreign prince merely by way of subsistence, cannot with justice bring them within the charge of rebellion, or any design against their Queen and country. The Duke of Feria, being a general friend, to all the English abroad, and particularly to Mr. Fitzherbert, the latter made it his business to attend that nobleman in several journeys he took into Spain and Flanders; and being with him in Brussels in the year 1595, the Duke drew him out of a snare that was laid for his destruction. Mr. Fitzherbert himself gives this account of the con- trivance. While he was at Brussels with the Duke, the year above mentioned, a certain great man, whom he does not name, suborned two profligate wretches to accuse him before the State of Flanders of holding a correspondence with Cecil, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth ; as also of having laid a design to set fire to the magazine at Mechlin. The villains charged Mr. Fitzherbert with these when they were upon the rack upon some other account. The Duke of Feria, being in great concern for his friend, whose innocence he durst answer for, imagining it was a contrivance of some of his enemies who envied his interest at the Spanish Court, was resolved to have the matter narrowly sifted ; and by cross- examining the informers, and other circumstances, it was found to be as he suspected ; the villians at last confessing that it was the force of torments, and fear of death, that induced them to accuse him. Though this affair cast a blemish upon * Camden, Annal. Eliz. p. 220. Father Thomas Fitzherbert. 2O3 Mr. Fitzherbert for a few days, yet when the stratagem was detected, it added to his reputation, and secured him against the attempts of his enemies for the future. In addition to this libellous charge, Mr. Fitzherbert was also in 1598, together with Father Richard Walpole, the subject of another and more infamous one of a pretended conspiracy against the Queen’s life by poison. Amongst the works of Father Fitzherbert, of which a list will be given at the end of this history, was his defence and apology in the matter of this grievous charge. Some examinations and State- ments regarding the pretended plot, copied from the State Papers in the Public Record Office will be found further on, with a short Life of Father Richard Walpole. Afterwards, returning into Spain with the Duke of Feria, he went with him to Milan, where the Duke was to reside by the King of Spain's orders. But the great desire Mr. Fitzherbert had of seeing Rome made his stay very short at Milan. At Rome he began to put in execution a resolution he had taken some time before, of entering into the ecclesiastical state, for which purpose an apartment was fitted up for him, adjoining the English College. Being ordained priest, he was made agent for the English clergy, and continued twelve years in that office, spending what time he could spare from other duties in study, and publishing several books much esteemed by the learned. In the year 1607, when the Court of Rome had some thoughts of sending over a bishop into England, Mr. Fitz- herbert was upon the list with three other candidates, viz.: Dr. Thomas Worthington, Dr. Wright, and another. The design was not put in execution, but it thus incidentally affords a proof of Mr. Fitzherbert's merits, and the Con- sideration in which he was held. - “In the year 1609,” continues Dodd, “Father Fitzherbert gave up his employment of being agent for the clergy, upon several remonstrances made by the Archpriest Birket and the rest of the body, who appointed Dr. Richard Smith, after- wards Bishop of Chalcedon, to take his place. They were induced to it by a jealousy of some long standing. They had discovered that Mr. Fitzherbert had constantly consulted Father Parsons and the Jesuits in all matters relating to the clergy; and that too, contrary to an express order lately directed to the archpriest from Rome; and moreover that this correspondence had been very prejudicial both to the 2O4. The College of St. Chad. interest and reputation of the clergy, as it was made appear from several instances. That Mr. Fitzherbert was an improper person to be employed by the clergy, appeared a few years after, viz., in 1614, when he pulled off the mask, and became a Jesuit, after he had been a member of the secular clergy about thirteen years, and intrusted with all the concerns that regarded their domestic interest. I take notice of this, says Dodd, not with any design of detracting from the merit of that worthy person, or that he acted contrary to the suggestions of a good conscience. But that the steps he took were somewhat mysterious, and detrimental to the clergy, is observed by the archpriest, Mr. Birket, in his letters to him, and to Father Parsons, when he desired his accounts and instructions might be delivered up to Dr. Smith, his successor.” - * It is to be regretted that the historian, who otherwise is perſectly fair and candid in his notice and praise of this distinguished man, should stop to make such manifest insinuations of improper, or rather, dishonour- able conduct, as are implied in these words, “throwing off the mask and becoming a Jesuit,” after as a secular priest, he had acted as agent in Rome for the clergy in England. The insinuation rests only upon the insufficient ground that Father Fitzherbert was in the habit of consulting and cor- responding with his old ſriend Father Parsons, and other Jesuits. Dodd gives extracts from eighteen letters from Fitzherbert to the archpriest and others, while he was agent for the clergy. These letters may be read in Dodd's Church History, vol. ii. pp. 491–496, but as they do not relate to Father Fitzherbert’s life as a member of the Society, they are not intro- duced into this notice. They do not appear to warrant the above insinu- ations. As to the charge of Jesuitical bias, Mr. Fitzherbert says in one letter to the archpriest, p. 494, dated September 19, 1609, “Whereas you signify in your postscript that your brethren there hold me either to be a Jesuit, or disposed thereto, wherein you wish me also to give Dr. Smith Satisfaction, I assure you I am heartily glad that you hold me for so honest a man; and I do not see any reason why I should seek to purge myself of a matter of that quality. Surely they go very near me that will examine my secret inclinations, which are betwixt God and me. But however it is, I shall be very well content that the Doctor here, or any of our brethren with you, shall take that exception against me. I perceive the Doctor is somewhat disgusted with the evil success of his business here; though truly he may rather ascribe it to the nature and quality of the matters propounded than to anything else, and especially to any man’s labour against him. I am still ready to do him all service, except in such of his propositions as I cannot in conscience approve ; wherein I leave him to his own opinion ; ſor that no advice of mine, or your old friend [Father Parsons] can anything at all prevail with him.” The real cause of the dissatisfaction upon which Dodd grounds his insinuations may probably have been the fact that Fitzherbert was both the ſriend and agent in Rome of Dr. Thomas Worthington, afterwards S.J., who had been appointed President of Douay College by Cardinal Cajetan, Protector of England, A’záñez 7%072&s A2/2/heróerſ, 2O5 “Afterwards,” continues Dodd, “Mr. Fitzherbert acted openly for the Society he had embraced, and being every way qualified, was made Rector of the English College in the place of Father Owen, who held that preferment immediately upon the death of Father Parsons in 16Io. Mr. Fitzherbert was a great lover of books, and perhaps few laymen of his time made a better use of their academical education. He endeavoured to render his qualifications useful to all mankind. His purse, his learning, and his interest with men in power, were under that influence. And while he himself seemed to decline all preferments, his friends thought him worthy of the purple ; and, as I find, there was some discourse of that dignity being con- ferred upon him. He published several learned books under the initial letters T.F., to say nothing of his manuscripts and letters, which are a proof of his abilities. The letters he wrote to Dr. Worthington and the Archpriest Birket, though they fre- quently mention several contentious matters, yet are penned in a Christian style, and demonstrate his capacity for business.” Father More 14 opens his account of Father Fitzherbert by observing that, “as honourable mention is made of him in the letter of Father Robert Parsons to Mr. Francis Englefield, of the Ioth of May, 1595, it is fitting that we here relate what sort of, and how eminent a man he was, since he was reckoned by Father Parsons amongst those he deemed worthy of the purple, as successor of Cardinal Allen, and who embracing the Institute of the Society many years before his death, besides filling other offices in it, did for a long time and most mildly govern the English College in Rome. “Born in the county of Stafford, he was rendered illustrious both by the high rank of his family and his literary attainments; but more distinguished still by his virtues and stern defence of the ancient Faith. Marrying a lady of equal rank, he devoted himself to the education of his family, attending equally to the care of religion as to his domestic Concerns. He gave also a cordial reception and liberal support to Fathers Campion and Parsons on their arrival in England in 1580. A severe inquiry was at that time set on foot with regard to those who did not attend the Protestant churches; the absentees were to be through the interest of Father Parsons. Certain jealousies had arisen regarding the government of that College, which some thought was too much under the influence of the Society while it remained in Doctor Worthington's hands. * Hist, Prov, Angl. 1. vi. n. vii. p. 235. 2O6 The College of St. Chad. punished, under the specious pretext indeed of procuring a . general conformity from all to the common laws, but in reality to procure by this attendance a gradual corruption of their minds to opinions adverse to the Catholic faith, or indeed to fill the Exchequer by the fines extracted from the recusants. Fitzherbert, heartily detesting this fraud and impiety, not only abstained himself from attending, but published reasons why all should refrain from the practice, if they would avoid putting in jeopardy the fidelity and obedience they owed to God. Nor was this the only scheme by which Catholics were assailed. Suspicions were spread about of the existence of an under- standing with the Sovereign Pontiff and the other Catholic princes for the invasion of the kingdom and disturbing the public peace. The leading Catholics were on this account either shut up in the prisons, or confined to their residences, and a limited circuit of a few miles. Mr. Fitzherbert's lot was cast amongst these latter. Although endowed with the greatest constancy, united with the meekest disposition, yet he could ill endure to live in this perpetual fear and vexation, and there- fore to purchase his freedom he passed over the seas, and resided first in France, so long as there were any hopes of aiding the Queen of Scots (at that time confined in the closest custody in England), by means of her powerful relatives, the King of France and the Dukes of Guise. Mary Queen of Scots having been barbarously put to death upon the scaffold by her cousin Elizabeth, and his friends the Guises atrociously assassi- nated, he travelled into Spain, and at the Court of the Spanish monarch laboured zealously for the support of religion in his native land, until, wearied of the world, and yearning for a more tranquil life, he accompanied the Duke of Feria first to Milan, and then passed on to Rome, where entering the ecclesiastical state he consecrated the remainder of his life to God and the Church, both by prayers and writings.” For this end he took apartments close adjoining to the English College, Rome, and by the Sound of its bell regulated all his hours, of rising, prayer, meals, studies, and retiring to rest, and was so careful to exclude all vain sights that he would never allow his chamber window, which looked out upon the opposite house, to be opened. Here he published, first in Latin, a learned and pious work, a treatise against Machiavellus’ thesis, An sit utilitas in sce/ere? He then published in English, in two goodly volumes, a work * This was in the year 1588, his wife having died that year. He was Ordained priest in 1606, at Rome. Aºzáñe, 7%072&s Aºf 2/heróerſ. 2O7 in which, using mainly the same line of argument, he teaches that no one can be a good citizen or a useful governor of a State, who does not ground his motives of action upon true religion; and then, Which is the true religion ? And he con- firms both with a multiplicity of authorities and proofs, illus- trated by examples. “In the year 1613, having openly assumed the habit of the Society, he was afterwards [1616] appointed Superior of the mission of Brussels, an office which he filled for two years; and during that period he wrote the controversies recounted by Alegambe. He was then appointed Rector of the English College, Rome [1.618), which he governed for nearly twenty-two years; and although unable, with all his kindness and accom- modating spirit, to secure entire freedom from the turbulent intrigues of some unquiet scholars, he succeeded in restraining them, and, by expelling a few, secured the peace of the rest. At more than eighty-eight years of age, passing to his eternal repose, he calmly expired on the 17th of August, 1640.” His memory is cherished to this day (adds Morus), not only among Catholics, but even they who differ from us in religion, preserve the remembrance of the reputation and esteem he enjoyed, recall it in conversation, and hold him up as one dis- tinguished among the rest who have adorned his ancient and noble family. In commendation of his virtue it is related of him, that he was frequently so consumed with the flames of fervent devotion, that in familiar discourses, when expounding some hymn or verse of the Psalms, he would be so suddenly enkindled, that his tears and sighs would choke his utterance, nor could he restrain the tremulous motions of his body. But regarding these affections of piety, let us hear his own account of them, when compelled by an order of holy obedience from our Very Reverend Father General to put them in writing. He thus speaks— “I, Thomas Fitzherbert, an Englishman, now sixty-two years of age, son of William Fitzherbert and Elizabeth Swinnerton, by command of holy obedience, reply to questions proposed to me relative to my vocation to the Society of Jesus. First, as regards particular devotions (omitting ordinary ones), I ever, by the grace of God, venerated the Blessed Virgin with a special devotion; whence when about twenty years of age, I made a vow daily to recite her Office; I also added other obligations, not only to fast on her vigils, but also to abstain from eggs, fish, and milk of any kind; also to recite daily one 2O8 The College of St. Chad. pair of beads, but on Saturday two ; also on her feasts to confess and communicate, and to recite the whole Rosary, even for the octave; lastly, to fast on all Saturdays when I was at home. “In the year 1588, my wife being now dead, after making a general confession to a certain Father of the Society, on the feast of the Annunciation I made a vow of chastity in honour of the Virgin; and in the year 1601, when I was in Spain, I made another vow on the feast of her Nativity to enter the priesthood, in which state I might be able to render greater service to God and His most holy Mother; and to this end on the feast of the Purification in the following year, I assumed the clerical dress here in Rome, and was ordained priest on the vigil of the feast of the Annunciation the same year, and sang my first Mass on the feast itself. Besides this, I made a vow daily to say the Office of the Holy Ghost, and to recite other prayers in honour of the most Holy Trinity, and my patrons, and to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays when I was alone. “I was chiefly moved to embrace the religious state by the reflection that all Christians are bound to seek their own perfect self-abnegation, which being much more easily com- passed in the religious state than in the secular, I determined to embrace that state. But, as to the Order I should enter, the Institute of the Society of Jesus appeared to me to be both more useful and necessary at this time for the Church of God, since, perfectly uniting, as it does, the active with the contem- plative life, it had for its proper end the defence of the Catholic faith, and the Salvation of Souls; and so seemed to be pre- eminently suitable for the conversion of England. Whence in the year 16oo, in the Church of St. Mary Major, and on the feast of the Assumption of the most glorious Virgin, I vowed to live and die in the Society of Jesus, provided only that the Very Rev. Father General Claudius Aquaviva would deign to admit me. Of this vow the following is a copy—‘Con- fiding in the grace of God and the aid of the Holy Ghost, by the merits of the Passion of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of my Guardian Angel, of the blessed Ignatius, and of all the Saints, I do promise and vow to Almighty God that I will humbly and earnestly beg of the Very Reverend Father General of the Society of Jesus, that he will be pleased to deign to admit me to the same Society ; and whensoever he shall see fit Aather 7%omas Fitzherberſ. 2O9 - to admit me to make my probation, that I will immediately enter the Novitiate, and assume the habit of the Society, and will afterwards observe the Rules and Institutions of the same, as long as I shall live: and in the meantime I promise and vow to obey his Very Reverend Paternity, and all those Superiors of the same Society, to whose care and rule he may commit me; and moreover all other Generals and Superiors of the same Society. So that it may be known that I now entirely renounce my own will, and give up and subject both it and my entire self to the Very Reverend Father General now being, and to all his successors, Generals of the Society of Jesus, until my death. In witness whereof I have hereto signed my name at Rome, August 15, being the feast of the Assumption of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, 1606. “‘THOMAS FITzHERBERT.’ “But as I have also to answer regarding particular favours, I acknowledge that the divine bounty has bestowed divers upon me, though I am a most worthless and grievous sinner, meriting nothing less than hell itself. And first and foremost, that, although being born in the reign of the heretical King Edward VI., when there was no public profession of the Catholic religion of England, both my parents were by the singular providence and mercy of God, Catholic, and that I was baptized with all the ceremonies of Holy Church, and was educated a Catholic. And I remember when I was a boy of five or six years of age, I possessed the light and gift of faith, being accustomed to stand and contemplate the heavens and to meditate upon God, especially upon His eternity, and that it had existed without a beginning ; and I strove much to Com- prehend how this could possibly be ; and although I could not understand it, nevertheless I believed it with much amazement. I also seem to have had a certain faith in the resurrection, although obscure to my infantile conception. For instance, in the year 1558, when I was six years of age, a friend of mine told me for the first time that my father was dead, and he waited to see what would be my reply. I was silent for some time, as though meditating something; which he perceiving, and asking what it was, I replied that I grieved for the death of my parent, because when he would rise again on the Day of Judgment he would appear worm-eaten and full of holes. The same friend himself afterwards explained it to me, and I seemed always to have retained some recollection of his Words. w - - - O 2 IO The College of St. Chad. “God, moreover, planted within me other seeds of virtue, in my infancy itself, although from want of discretion, and the many evils of my nature, they did not bring forth due fruit. For when I had attained nine or ten years of age, I was seized with a great desire of almsgiving, which as I could not satisfy otherwise, I would secretly abstract food from the stock of the house, and hiding it, would afterwards distribute it among the poor. I fasted also sometimes indiscreetly, not having any spiritual father to guide me: for instance, not being above twelve years old I would fast the last three days of Lent upon bread alone and a little fruit. And when I came to understand many things about the Fathers of the Society and their Institute, I was strongly affected towards them, and towards all who were attached to them. And in that early age I conceived a great desire of martyrdom, and often prayed God to bestow that favour upon me. With increasing years the light of faith also increased, and by the gift of the good God a zeal towards the Catholic faith, and a hatred of heresy; nor would I willingly converse with Protestants, or attend their sermons. Upon which point I cannot omit a benefit accorded me by God, for when sixteen years old I was a student in the University of Oxford, a temptation came over me, out of Curiosity, to hear a Protestant sermon. Nevertheless, I would not do so without the advice and consent of my confessor, an aged and not a very learned priest, who on account of the persecution lay concealed in Oxford. I asked his opinion, which was that I could be present without sin, provided I did not go to learn, but merely to hear. Indeed, in those times but very few Catholics abstained from attending Protestant sermons, although they would not be present at the prayers. Therefore, having heard the opinion of my confessor, I Sallied forth on a certain day to hear a special famous preacher, who had already ascended the pulpit before I arrived; but no sooner had I put my foot in the church, than I was seized with so violent a horror that I could not possibly remain there; I therefore rushed out, the only word I heard being the name of Jesus Christ. And from that time I openly professed myself before all to be a Catholic, and took every opportunity of defending the Catholic religion against the ministers and other heretics, and of confirming the Catholics in their faith. On this account I was forced to be hid for two years, and being at last seized, I bore an imprisonment to my great consolation. On the arrival of Fathers Campion and Parsons in England [1580], Aather 7%07/zas A/heróerſ. 2 [ { I associated with them, and rendered them what assistance I could, until the heat of the persecution became too strong for me. I determined to emigrate and live in exile as long as heresy was dominant. “I acknowledge also the high favour and goodness of God which never suffered me, as far. as I can recollect, to remain for twenty-four hours in any mortal sin, although when a youth I very frequently offended Him grievously, ungrateful and un- worthy of such mercy “The Divine Majesty, likewise, even from my childhood, excited within me vehement feelings and spiritual affections, with great emotions in my soul. For when my mother sug- gested to me, being then a boy of ten years of age, to prepare to receive the most Holy Communion, as I was going into the fields, and reflecting upon the greatness of the mystery, and begging of God to make me worthy of so great a benefit, such a feeling of Consolation suddenly seized my soul, that I burst into a flood of tears, which affection lasted until I had, as I hope with great profit, confessed and communicated ; and from that time even until the present, many similar visitations have occurred to me in England, France, and Spain, especially after my making the vow of chastity. And (to omit other cases) when in Spain, for several days the representation of our Lord Christ crucified remained so indelibly imprinted upon my memory, that except when actually asleep it was always present to me; which favour I lost by my own fault, since, ungrateful as I was, I did not esteem it as it deserved, nor did I endeavour to preserve it. “At another time, whilst I read the Life of St. Benet written by St. Gregory, I was melted into tears, and experienced during the greater part of the night great consolation and sweetness of Soul, lasting until overcome by sleep. But after my admission to the Society, I enjoyed these kinds of visita- tion much more copiously; and I appeared to myself to be sometimes totally inflamed with divine love; and one night being unable to sleep, whilst praying in bed, it seemed to me as though a stream, or rather I should say, a certain torrent rushed into my heart, filling me with inexpressible sweetness, giving me an assurance of the presence of God in my Soul, whereupon I began to praise God with great jubilee and copious tears, frequently repeating, Bene venerit Zomimus meus, bene venerit Dominus meus—“Welcome my God, welcome my God;” and returning thanks for so sweet a visitation. O 2 2 I 2 The College of St. Chad. Also, another time, when on the night of the Nativity of our Lord, I was singing Mass in the English College, and was administering the most Holy Eucharist to the scholars, I was overtaken by so great a consolation and flood of tears, as to be unable to proceed in giving Communion, or to finish the singing part of the Mass, although I made many and great efforts to do so. This happening in public, caused me so great a confusion and distress, that I begged of God to be pleased to remove from me this vehemence of devotion ; nevertheless, it was quite impossible for me to sing, and it was with difficulty that I read the remaining portion of the Mass in secret, my utterance being choked by tears and sighs. This holy consolation and joy lasted for two or three days. From which may be gathered how great was the kindness and mercy of God towards me, a wretched and ungrateful sinner. “Lastly, God was pleased to conſer the greatest favour upon me, in placing me under the protection of His most holy Mother during the whole course of my life, and especially on her feasts, which I experienced in many and great neces- sities, both spiritual and temporal, and especially in the observance of the vow of chastity which I had pledged in her honour. Also in a case of grievous Calumny and false witness borne against me in Belgium, in which my life was in peril; and likewise in many dangers both by Sea and land, in which I experienced the manifest help of the most holy Mother of God: so that I might justly repeat what my blessed Father Ignatius was accustomed to say of himself with the most profound humility—that it was impossible to find these two things combined at Once in any other individual, viz.: to have received from God such great and excellent favours, and nevertheless to have been so ungrateful towards His Divine Majesty. “But regarding the last thing inquired of me, I answer that I find such great Consolation and edification in all I see in the practice of the Institute of the Society, that I have great hopes by the means laid down therein, of attaining the end which I ambition—my own and my neighbours’ salvation. May Our Lord Jesus Christ and His most holy and sweetest Mother be for ever praised.” So far Father Fitzherbert writes of himself. Towards the end of his life he wrote the following docu- ment, from which we gather his great care and effort in gaining Indulgences— Aaſhe?' 7%07/2as Fāgheróerſ. 2 I 3 “Whereas I, Thomas Fitzherbert, priest of the Society of Jesus, eighty-seven years of age, labour under constant in- firmities, and these so severe that I am in daily expectation of my final change, and yet in the meantime I desire to con- tribute, as far as in me lies, to the public and common necessities of the Church, I offer to our Lord Jesus Christ, in union with His most holy Passion, all those corporal pains and the other sufferings of my sickness which I now endure, and may endure until the hour of my death, for the peace of the Church and the propagation of the Catholic faith, and the intention of our most holy Lord Urban VIII. according to the Bull of Jubilee lately published by His Holiness. And since, on account of my exceeding debility, I am unable to undertake other corporal penances, I resolve to recite the Rosary of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, with the Seven Penitential Psalms, and the Litanies of the Saints, every day (by the assistance of God’s grace) during the whole of this time of Lent, provided only that my life and strength allow me to do so; which I leave to the judgment of my con- fessor. “THOMAS FITZHERBERT.” The following brief but comprehensive eulogy was written by Father Thomas Courtney, who succeeded Father Fitzherbert as Rector of the English College. “An elogium of the Rev. Father Thomas Fitzherbert, Zemned by the A’ev. Father Thomas Courtney, Rector of the Æzig/isſ. College, the day after the said Father Fitzherbert’s decease, 1640.1% “Father Thomas Fitzherbert, of the Society of Jesus, and for the space of twenty-two years Rector of the English College in Rome, departed this life on the 17th day of August, 1640, at the age of eighty-eight, and yet more full of merits than years, with the last Sacraments of the Church, with the Benediction of the Pope, without any agony, in his full senses, and with all those signs of piety and Sanctity which may give assurance of his eternal happiness. The nobleness and anti- quity of his family is known to all. His natural parts were excellent. A clear and lively understanding, abetted by diligent observation and study, as his works do testity, a constant and perfect memory, a will more inclined to goodness than is ordinarily found in Corrupted nature, a happy and 16 Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, vol. iv. m. IO6. 2I4. The College of St. Chad. eloquent delivery of his conceits without affectation; a comely and venerable person even to his dying day. His moral parts, if they can be separated from his supernatural gifts, were also excellent, affability, benignity, liberality, and Com- passion general to all ; a conversation pious but not tedious, witty but not offensive, candour and sincerity without any duplicity, and a mind, naturally inclined by the constitution of his body to choler, free even from all rancour and hatred. But these are nothing in respect of his supernatural gifts. In his tender years he had great illustrations concerning matters of our holy Faith. He was sent to the University of Oxford in the most dangerous times of Queen Elizabeth, and yet ever remained constant in his belief, and being there persuaded by a ghostly father he used, that it was lawful to hear the sermons of Protestants, he went to St. Mary's Church to hear a famous preacher, but at the first entrance and sight of the preacher, was surprised on a sudden with such a horror, as that alone was sufficient for him in all his life never more to doubt on that point. He applied himself when young to the studies of controversies, and did not only in all occasions openly defend the Catholic faith, but did also endeavour to draw others to it. He liberally fostered and entertained priests and religious persons, and for this cause suffered many persecutions and imprisonment ; and finally was forced to leave his country and fortunes. He lived in the Courts both of France and Spain with so rare an example of piety, that his life may worthily be called the holy Court.” His hope and confidence in God was so great that nothing did more trouble him in these latter years, than a fear of so much assurance of his justification and salvation. His love and charity towards God was ever discovered by the purity of his life, not only in religion, but in so many princes' courts wherein he lived. His conscience was so tender that he did tremble at the least shadow of a venial sin. In so many years of infirmity he suffered, even almost to his dying day, he never omitted his meditations, examen of conscience, reading of spiritual books, and many other devotions he used; nay, for many years together his life was in a manner a continual prayer. His charity towards all, and especially to the poor, was incredible, that even in his countenance one might see an alteration when he was not able to succour their wants; his devotion to the holy Saints and Our Blessed Lady especially, was so ** Alluding to the work of Father Caussinus, S.J. which is so entitled. Father 7%0mas Fitzherbert 2 I 5 great that even from his tender years he did not only choose her for his patroness, but used many austerities, fasts, and pious exercises in her honour. For her sake he vowed chastity presently upon his wife's death, and after made himself priest in Rome, and finally did bear her such a pious and tender love, as never child could love his mother more, and was by her not less beloved and protected in occasion of many calumniations and dangers. His virtues would require a whole volume. Entering into the religion of the Society of Jesus in his old age, he showed so great abnegation of himself, so much humility towards all, so great obedience to his Superiors, as more could not have been expected from any young novice. Finally, to be brief, he observed the precept of Christ of loving our enemies in so eminent a degree, as not only he prayed most heartily for them, but sought all means to honour and serve them ; and this confused relation may suffice for the present, until times give means for more dis- tinction and particulars.” The following honourable mention of this distinguished man is from the liberal pen of the Protestant Wood.” } “Thomas Fitzherbert, son of William Fitzherbert (by Isabel, his wife, daughter and one of the heirs of Hump. Swinnerton of Swinnerton, Staffordshire), fourth son of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, knight, the famous lawyer, son of Ralph Fitz- herbert of Norbury, in Derbyshire, was born in the county of Stafford, I 552, in which county being initiated in grammar learning, was sent either to Exeter or Lincoln College, 1568. But having been mostly before trained up in the Catholic religion, the College seemed uneasy to him, for though he would now and then hear a sermon, which he was permitted to do by an old Roman priest that then lived abscondidly in Oxon (for to him he often retired to receive instructions as to matters of religion), yet he would seldom or never go to prayers, for which he was often admonished by the sub- rector of his house. At length, seeming to be weary with the heresy (as he called it) of those times, he receded without a degree to his patrimony, where also refusing to go to his parish church, was imprisoned about 1572. But being soon after set at liberty, he became more zealous in his religion, defending it against the Protestant ministers, and not only confirmed and strengthened many wavering Catholics therein, * Wood's Athen. Oxon. vol. i. p. 631. Edit. 1721. 2I 6 The College of St. Chad. but wrote also several valid reasons for the not going of Catholics to Protestant churches: for which, being like to suffer, he withdrew and lived abscondidly. In 1580, when Parsons and Campion, the Jesuits, came into the mission of England, he retired to London, found them out, showed himself exceedingly civil, and exhibited to them liberally. Whereupon, bringing himself into a premundre, and foreseeing great danger to come on him and all Catholics, he went as a voluntary exile into France, 1582, where he continued a zealous solicitor in the cause of Mary Queen of Scots, with the King of France and the Duke of Guise, for her relief, though in vain. After her decollation, and all hopes of the Catholics frustrated for the present, he left that country, and the rather because that he about that time had buried his wife, and forthwith went into Spain. For some years there he became a zealous agitator in the royal Court for the relief of Catholics and their religion in England; but his actions, and the labours of many more of that nature being frustrated by the Spaniards’ repulse in 1588, he, under pretence of being weary with the troubles and toils of this life, receded to Milan with the Duke of Feria. Whence after some continuance there, he wént to Rome, where he was initiated in Sacred Orders ; took a lodging near to the English College, and observed all hours and times of religion, as they in the College did, by the sound of their bell, and there composed certain books of which that against Machiavel was one. A certain author of little or no note, named James Wadsworth, tells us [in his Engl. Span. Pilgrim, c. vii. p. 65] ‘ that the said Thomas Fitzherbert had been before a pensioner and spy to the King of Spain in France, and his service being past, and his pension failing him, Out of pure necessity he and his man were constrained to turn Jesuits, or else starve. And he being a worthy Scholar and great politician, was very welcome to that Order.” But let this report remain with the author, who is characterized by a Protestant writer [Wm. Sanderson, Æeign, &c. of King /ames. Lond. I655] to be ‘a renegado-proselyte- turncoat, of any religion and every trade, now living (1655) a common hackney to the basest catchpole bailiffs,’ &c., while I proceed. In 1613 he took upon him the habit of the Society of Jesus, on the feast of the Purification, initiated therein on the vigil of the Annunciation following, and on the next day he sung his first Mass. Afterwards he presided over the mission of Brussels for two years, and at length, much against his will, Aaſhe, 7%07/2&s A/heråerſ. 217 he was made Rector of the English College at Rome, which he governed with great praise about twenty-two years. He was a person of excellent parts, had a great command of his tongue and pen, was a noted politician, a singular lover of his country- men, especially those who are Catholics, and of so graceful behaviour and generous spirit that great endeavours were used to have him created a Cardinal some years after Allen's death, and it might have been easily effected, had he not stood in his own way.” After mentioning his various works, Wood continues: “He surrendered up his soul to that God that inspired it, on the 7th of August, according to the reckoning followed at Rome, 1640, aet. 88, and was buried in the chapel of the English College in Rome. He had a son named Edward, living I suppose at the time of his death, to whom he dedicated the first part of his treatise concerning policy and religion, 1606; which Edward was a most zealous man for the Roman Catholic religion, and whether he was a priest or a gentleman I know not.” Erdeswich's Survey of Staffordshire, p. 1 Io, noticing Father Fitzherbert, confirms the pedigree we have given, and the date of his birth and his going to Oxford in 1568. Attaching himself to the Roman Catholic religion, he left the University without a degree and retired to his patrimony, but refusing to go to his parish church, he was imprisoned about 1572. He after- wards lived in retirement and concealed himself. In 1582 he went to France and Spain, and thence to Rome where he entered the Sacred Orders, and after encountering many difficulties and hardships, he became Rector of the English College, Rome, over which he presided for twenty-two years. He was a man highly endowed with parts and learning. The committee of the Parliament at Stafford, “Ordered that Mr. Fitzherbert's house at Swinnerton be forthwith demolished by Capt. Stones' soldiers. Dated 29th of February, 1643–4.” The following interesting letter written by Father Fitz- herbert to the Bishop of Chalcedon in defence of Father John Gerard should not be omitted in this memoir.” “Right reverend and my honourable good lord, “Having understood that one of our Society hath been of late traduced—facito ſtomine—in a printed book as to have * Stonyhurst MSS. Angliae, vol. iv. n. 94; and given in Father Morris’ Liſe of Father Gerard, Condition of Catholics. 2 I 8 The College of St. Chad. bragged that he had sweat in working in the Powder Plot, and that your lordship have named him, and as it seemeth, doth believe him to be Father John Gerard, I think myself obliged to represent to your lordship's consideration some things concerning him, and that matter, as well in respect of the common bond of our religion and his great merits, as also for that he is at this present under my charge (albeit I acknow- ledge myself unworthy to have such a subject) and lastly for the knowledge I have had many years of his innocence in that point ever since that slanderous calumny was first raised by the heretics against him, at which time I myself and many other of his friends and kinsmen did very diligently and curiously inform ourselves of the truth thereof, and found that he was fully cleared of it even by the public and solemn testimony of the delinquents, namely, of Sir Everard Digby (with whom he was known to be most familiar and confident), who publicly protested at his arraignment, that he did never acquaint him with their designs, being assured that he would not like of it, but dissuade him from it; and of this I can show good testimony by letters from London written hither at the same time, bearing date the 29th of January, in the year 1606. Therefore to the end that your lordship may the better believe it, I have thought good to show the same to some very credible persons, who are shortly to depart from hence, and do mean to present themselves to your lordship, of whom you may (if it please you) understand the truth of it, besides that for your better satisfaction, I have also by our Right Reverend Father General’s express order and commission commanded him in their presence upon obedience (which commandment we hold by Our Rule and Institute to bind under pain of mortal sin) to declare the truth whether he had any knowledge of that Powder Plot or no, and he hath in their presence protested upon his salvation, that he had never any knowledge of it, either by Sir Everard Digby or any other, until it was discovered, and that he came to know it by common fame; besides that, alleged many pregnant proofs of his innocence therein, which I omit to write because he himself doth represent them to your lordship by a letter of his own ; and of this also the witnesses aforesaid may inform your lordship if you be not otherwise satisfied. In the meantime, I have only thought it my part to give this my testimony of his solemn protestation and oath, and with all to send to your lordship the enclosed copies of two clauses of letters from Aºther ZThomas Fitzheróerſ. 2 I 9 England and Flanders touching this matter, not doubting but that your lordship's charity will move you to admit the same as sufficient to clear him of that calumny, seeing there was never any proof produced against him, nor yet any ground of that slander but the malicious conceit and suspicion of heretics, by reason of his acquaintance, with some of the delinquents; in which case a solemn protestation and oath, as he hath freely and voluntarily made, may suffice both in conscience and law for a canonical purgation to clear him from all suspicion as well of that fact as of all collusion or double dealing in this his protestation; especially seeing he hath always been not only integerrimae ſama, but also of singular estimation in England, for his many years most zealous and fruitful labours there, and his constant suffering of imprisonment and torments for the Catholic faith. Besides that he hath been ever since a worthily esteemed and principal member of our Society and given sufficient proof of a most religious and sincere conscience, to the edification of us all. This being considered, I cannot but hope that your lordship will rest satisfied of his innocence in this point, and out of your charity procure also to satisfy others who may have by any speech of your lordship conceived worse of him than he hath deserved ; for so your lordship shall provide as well for the reparation of his fame as for the discharge of your own conscience, being bound both by justice and charity to restitution in this case, as I make no doubt but that your lordship would judge if it were another man's case, yea, and exact also of others if the like wrong had been done either to yourself, or to any kinsman, dear friend, or subject of yours, all which he is to me; and therefore I am the bolder, I will not say to expect this at your lordship's hands (because it does not become me), but humbly to crave it of you as a thing which I shall take for a favour no less to myself than to our Society, and so this to no other end, I humbly take my leave, wishing to your lordship all true felicity, this I 5th of March, 1631. “Your lordship's humble servant, “THOMAS FITZHERBERT.” In a former note, page 201, we have observed that repeated mention is made of Mr. Fitzherbert in the letters and reports of Government spies among the State Papers, P.R.O. Great attention seems to have been paid to him by these gentlemen, who knew him to be held in much esteem in foreign Courts, 22O. The College of St. Chad. and to possess alike great influence and information. The fol- lowing are extracts from some of these papers— AXOmestic, Ælizabeth, vol. xxix. n. 39, Addenda. Rouen, August II, 1585. Letter from Thomas Rogers (a famous spy) to Secretary Sir Francis Walsingham. Amongst many other matters, he says: “From the conference at Paris he found that his token of commendation brought the effect he looked for. He delivered the token of Tramson toº Thomas Fitzherbert, who upon the sight thereof received me into his company most willingly, and has given me credit with all the Papists at Paris except Charles Paget, as they are divided in factions, viz., Lord Paget his brother, the Bishop of Ross (Dr. Lewis), Charles Paget, Thomas Morgan, and Thomas Throgmorton, and some few priests; on the other part, Dr. Allen, and Parsons, and all the Jesuits, with all the rest. Dr. Allen plays on both hands, and Thomas Throgmorton is rather with the Jesuits than against them. Thomas Fitzherbert told me a great secret, on my showing him the three ciphers. He has offered me a chamber in his house at Paris, but his commons are above my reach, and I must buy a bed if I will be there. Also he will want to borrow, and I have nothing to lend, being six Crowns in debt. Yet it is a place most necessary, as he gives and receives intelligence, and his house is the place of common conference, and the lodging of Charles Arundell when in Paris. But if I lodge there I must do so amongst a great number of the libels in French written against the Earl of Leicester. I , mean, however, to stay out of his commons till I hear your resolution. If I go there I cannot so well sound Charles Paget, as they are jealous one of another. Yet he has great means of knowing the proceedings of Paget and his company. . . . I shall remain at Rouen till I know your pleasure as to lodging with Fitzherbert, as he and his are the principal practisers, and by them I shall know some of Paget’s courses. Fitzherbert is the secretary of all the persons before mentioned of our nation and of the Jesuit's party.” º A)omestic, Elizabeth, vol. xxxi. n. Io?, Addenda, January 22, 1590. A letter from Hugh Owen, Madrid, to Mr. Hopkins, Paris, says that Mr. Fitzherbert is sick. Same vol. n. Io9, same date. Iletter from Thomas Stil- lington, jun., to Robert Tempest, Mignon College, Paris, says also (inter alia) Mr. Fitzherbert is ill. Same vol. n. 16I. Father Parsons writes to , “Mr. Fitzherbert embarked for Bilboa to come to you, and bor- Aºzáñez 7%0??zas A/heróerá. 22 I rowed twenty crowns of me to be repaid to you, but I fear he will not be able to pay it soon.” Date, October 28, Valladolid. Same vol. n. 162. William Copley writes to Robert Tempest, of Mignon College, October 31, 1590—“Mr. Fitzherbert is gone to St. Malo. God preserve him.” AJomestic, Ælizabeth, vol. cxcix. In. 46. Letter from W. Sterrell, the spy, to Phelleppes, the Government decipherer, Customs Officer, near Leadenhall. “Desires to know what resolution he has made with the Earl. He could not write in the same disguise to Fitzherbert unless he sent him his letter.” Vol. ccii. n. 38. Same Thomas Phelleppes to 4 [Gilbert Gifford]. Revives his former instructions as to furnishing intelligence, particularly as to parties formed since the Queen of Scot's death. To practice with the agents of foreign powers, especially with the Nuncio and Glasgow, Mr. Paget, Morgan, Charles Arundell, Fitzherbert, and others. Sends him a new cipher, &c. Vol. ccxvii. n. 3. Gilbert Gifford to Walsingham. Fitz- herbert has orders from Cardinal Allen to deal with the Bishop of Paris for his liberty. Eight priests arrived from Rome, of whom John Gerard and Arthur Shefford will be in England in a few days. Vol. ccxviii. n. 19. Letter from Thomas Fitzherbert to his cousin Gilbert Gifford. Regarding procuring Gifford's liberty. Vol. ccxxxviii. n. 168, May, I 591. Letter from John Snowden to Burghley. “Requires secrecy, because when Gifford used privacy with Secretary Walsingham, the Ambas- sador then in France, being envious, let Sir Charles Arundell and Thomas Fitzherbert know how they might discover Gifford and intercept his letters.” Vol. ccxxxix. n. 120, August 2, 1591. William Sterrell [a/ias St. Main] to Phelleppes. “There is none more fit to deal with Cardinal Allen than Mr. Fitzherbert. . . . Will be better able to inform him, after being amongst the party On the other side, yet thinks this peace may be effected, and would cause Thomas Fitzherbert to go to Rome about it.” Same vol. n. I54, August 20, 1591. A memorandum called “Remembrance for Mr. Baccar.” The letters brought by Mr. Baccar from Robert Parsons and other English Jesuits in Spain are addressed to (inter allos) “Thomas Fitzherbert, Cavalero-AEngles en Zouen.” 222 The College of St. Chad. Vol. ccxl. n. Io. Henry St. Main [Sterrell] to Thomas Phelleppes, September II, 1591. Sends Phelleppes the cipher, and desires him to keep it safely, as there will be cause to use it. Asks him to send him any letters he receives from Fitz- herbert so that he may prepare himself. Same vol. n. I42. Notes by Thomas Phelleppes, I 591. “Allott went to Scotland with two seminaries that landed at Shields. Fitzherbert, Nelson, &c., will come, if assured of pardon by a letter in the Dean of Westminster's hand.” Vol. ccxli. n. 2, January 2, 1592. W. Sterrell [H. St. Main] to Phelleppes. The spy dares not trust Cloudesley with any letter naming Fitzherbert, as he was Owen's man. Will send Sherwood's letter to Fitzherbert to confirm him if he should doubt the writer. Has credit with Fitzherbert, wants to go to Dieppe to be near him. Vol. CCxlii. n. I 27, August 27, 1592. A list of “Priests, and others in England ill affected.” Among many others, including Fathers Oldcorne and Southwell (the martyrs), Holtby, Creaton, Holt, and Parsons, is the name of Fitzherbert. Vol. CCXliv. n. I5, January 15, 1593. Same to same. “Wonderful circumspection must be used in writing to Fitz- herbert. Only to answer his, and not offer any service but readiness in general. He (the spy) will see Phelleppes shortly, when they will handle the matter cunningly. Fitzherbert wrote something in milk, but it will not appear, and that kind of writing is foolish.” Same vol. n. 26. Same (alias Robinson) to same. The spy begs Phelleppes to remember Fitzherbert's cipher, that their chief business be not slacked. Same to Same. Same vol. n. Io9, March, 1593. Entreats him to send away the letter he has for Fitzherbert, for the dis- continuance of writing would mar all and breed suspicion. Same to Same. Same vol. n. I23, April 6, 1593. Asks him to set down some course, so that they may send every week to Fitzherbert, who otherwise may take exceptions against his seldom writing, and all their endeavours will want success. Same vol. n. 124, April 7, 1593. Thomas Phelleppes to Sterrell (dictates the following letter to be written by him to Fitzherbert). “The Parliament is to end this week. The Bill preferred in the Upper House against Catholics has passed both Houses, with some amendment; they are to remain at their dwellings, or be banished the realm. The other Bill passed in the Lower House was suppressed, as it was thought Fażher 7%072&s A/heróerſ. 223 too extreme. A Bill was preferred against the Barrowists and Brownists, making it felony to maintain any opinion against the Ecclesiastical Government, which by means of the bishops passed the Upper House, but was found so captious by the Lower House that it was thought that it never would have passed in any sort, and that all the Puritans would have been driven within its compass, but by earnest labouring of those who sought to satisfy the bishops' humours it has passed to this effect: that whosoever is an obstinate recusant, refuses to come to church, denies the Queen's power in ecclesiastical causes, or is a keeper of conventicles, being convicted, is to abjure the realm within three months, and lose all his goods and lands; if he return without licence it shall be felony. They think that thus it will not reach any man deserving favour. “Barrow and Mr. Goodman, with others condemned upon the statute for writing and publishing seditious books, were to have been executed last week, but as they were ready to be trussed up they were respited ; but the day after the Lower House had showed their dislike of this Bill, they were hanged early in the morning. The reprieve was through a supplication to the Lord Treasurer, that in a land where no Papist was put to death for religion, theirs should not be the first blood shed who concurred about faith with what was professed in the country, and desired conference to be convinced of their errors. The Lord Treasurer spoke sharply to the Archbishop of Canter- bury, who was very peremptory, and also to the Bishop of Worcester, and wished to speak to the Queen, but none seconded him. The executions proceeded through the malice of the bishops to the Lower House, which makes them much hated by people affected that way. “Sir Thomas Tresham has got a dispensation for three months from his imprisonment, and it is thought by means of the Earl of Essex, whom his son follows of late. Lord Borough's revocation has been sent him, and he is looked for shortly. It is thought he will bring great protestations from the King of Scots of his zeal for England and malice against Spain. * “A new discourse is coming out on Scottish matters written it is thought by the Lord Treasurer. The drift is to make the King of Scots appear wholly devoted to this crown and religion. The last stories of Bothwell were all with his privity, and to serve a turn with all at home and here, but those here take it not well that they were deceived in it. 224 The College of St. Chad. “The Queen here daily bears more and more a new conceit of the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Countess, for the sake of the Lady Arabella, which has been evident in a late quarrel between his lordship and the Stanhopes. His cousin Fitzherbert [John] is a prisoner in the Fleet, being taken upon an execution by Mr. Baggot of Blore, sheriff of Derbyshire, after the other sheriff was returned a burgess of Parliament; whereupon much stir was made in the Lower House by Topcliffe's means, who openly gave out speeches deeply touching Mr. Baggot, as if he were a receiver of priests, and had intelligence with some on the other side the Sea, where- upon Mr. Baggot has made complaint to some of the lords, but Topcliffe says he will prove it.” Vol. ccxlv. n. 50, July 5, 1593. Phelleppes sends the same Sterrell (Gaius Park, Epping) another letter to be written to Fitzherbert, partly in cipher. He says, “The plague is hot in London and other places, and a great part of the household cut off, and therefore cannot write so often,” &c. The rest is upon politics without any interest. - Vol. ccxlvi. n. 60, 1593 (?). Earl of Essex to Phelleppes. The party employed was come to London two days before they heard from him. He has brought over a letter-carrier, by whose means he hopes to take Birkett the priest, to whom most of the fugitives’ messengers are directed ; as also by his credit with Father Holt, Owen, and Fitzherbert, to discover all their practices, as they commit their greatest secrets to him, and their messenger is at their devotion. Same vol. n. 61. Robinson (Sterrell) to Phelleppes. Returns the cipher, and a copy of Owen's. Has written to Fitzherbert, sending the word “Cupio,” lest he have not his cipher ready. Vol. cclxx. n. 47, March 1, 1599. Dated Madrid. Letter from Thomas Fitzherbert to Sterrell. “You want to be satis- fied whether the King of Spain will pretend himself [to the Crown]. I protest that not only his [late] father, but now he gives us as great assurance in that behalf as may be desired. We assure him that if he does it will never prevail. We expect the meeting of the Archduke and King of Spain Soon, and then a full resolution will be made about the manner of proceeding with the Infanta. I want your opinion whether it were not con- venient to publish her right, and make her a pretender presently, partly to counteract the King of Scots, and partly to engage * I suspect that the name written Baggot should be Bassett. Blore was the seat of that family, who were related to Sir Thomas More.—[Editor.] Aſaſher 7%0/zas A%eróerſ. 225 the King of Spain, and win a party in England, seconding it with negotiations and pensions here. All the inconvenience I fear is that the Queen would exclude her by Act of Parliament, and perhaps swear all her subjects against her, though this would not do as much harm as some imagine. I think that unless some good order be taken, the King of Scots will win the game, if the Earl of Essex be not in his way, whom never- theless the Scots take to be his greatest friend; but I think that they are deceived, and that the other takes him for his com- petitor, which will be well for the Infanta : when two dogs fight for a bone, you know what follows.” [The letter is not original, but an exact copy.] * - AXOmestic, Elizabeth, Addenda, vol. xxxiv. n. 42 ; 42i. 42 ii. October, 1601. In a very long and rambling report of a spy [to Cecil] running over a good part of Europe, and directed mainly against Father Robert Parsons, and pointing out his friends and supporters, the following mention is made of Father Thomas Fitzherbert. N. 42 ii. “Priests . . . Doctor Haddocks, Parson's coach- man, for that he keepeth his coach and horses, and are at his sole command, but sayeth or may say, Hos ego versiculos fect fulić alter honores. For it is well known unto the world that Dr. Haddock is not able to keep a coach and two horses at Rome, for it is very chargeable, and his living small, besides two men to attend him; but the poor scholars pay for all; and whereas the College [English] formerly was well able to main- tain seventy Scholars, now is not able to maintain fifty, although the living or revenue is rather increased than decreased ; Only except that Parsons, in despite and revenge of the Scholars, sold away a great vineyard, the goodliest in Rome both for vines, walks, fruits, houses, water and other neces- Saries whatsoever, and a thousand crowns, under the value as would have been given for the same. The said Mr. Doctor is President of the Council at the College, and generally every afternoon do they sit to deliberate of all causes. The coun- cillors names are these following—Parsons, judge; Walpole, Stephens, Smythe, Owen, Dr. Haddock, Mr. Thomas Fitz- herbert, Mr. Baines, and Mr. Sweete, when he was there. When the case is litigious then Father Harrison is sent for to Censure his opinion in the same. “They cannot well agree among themselves who should be Cardinal. Some will have Father Parsons, Mr. Fitzherbert, &c., but the Pope will take an order for making of English p 226 The College of St. Chad. Cardinals, for he is well persuaded of their sedition, and . * 'bishopric will not serve their turns, but must presently become Cardinals. Mr. Thomas Fitzherbert is held to be worthiest of our nation, a man of great learning and knowledge, worthy to be employed in matters of State, for that he hath [given] himself absolutely thereunto from the begin- ning, and in regard of his worthiness the King of Spain both made him equal to Sir Francis Ingleby for pension” . . . AXOmestic, Ælizabeth, vol. cclxxxii. n. 43, December 22, 1601. Paris. Letter from W. Smith to Cecil, Secretary. Says that “my departure was secret till I got to Ghent, where the Arch- duke ordered my apprehension, so I left as advised for Cologne, and thence for Rome to get Father Parsons' letter to the Duke ; but Parsons threatened to have me put in the Inquisition as being come from your honour to do service, so I was driven to depart. I hear that Sir William Stanley is gone to Rome; also Mr. Fitzherbert, who is to be a Jesuit at Lodi, in the Duchy of Milan. An army of 4,000 or 5,000 strong is preparing for Ireland. I have returned to Paris, but am in extreme poverty. I want my pardon, and to come home. I would keep secret, and could discover many notable things, as a boat which the Jesuits have in Hampshire to transport their money, for the great maintenance of the Semi- naries comes from England. I will be the greatest plague the Papists ever had ; do what you command me, but I am a soldier, and not a scholar to write.” Same vol. n. 52. Statement by —. That Richard Cooke was employed by Cresswell and Fitzherbert to burn the Queen's storehouses, and came to London to effect it, but was deterred by frightful dreams. He was directed to Wiseman to acquaint him with a second man, who by use of the token that “Walladolid was in Flanders,” would bring him to a third, whom he was to request to “look over the letters numbered 25,” when the man would find him an opportunity to execute his purpose. Wiseman was appre- hended, and the second man also, and they refused to intro- duce him to the third, but they railed on them and the CallSC. X- Fearing to be discovered by remaining too long in Bayonne for a pass, Cooke said he would go back to Cresswell and Fitzberbert, and bring their own letters to prove them arch-traitors, for which you gave him money. I have * MS. damaged. * MS. damaged. A’záže, 7%07/2&s Fºgheróerſ. 227 not heard that he did so, or has shown reason why he did not do what he was paid for. He was in Ireland coming with the Spaniards when they landed, and his papers show that he has had private Conference with Papists in England. He is too dangerous to be trusted in the Western parts. Let him be ordered to leave the country till he do some good service, or at least be banished from those parts, and bonds taken of his friends for his loyalty. - - Vol. cclxxxiv. n. 25, June 4, 1602. Thomas Pheleppes writes to Cecil, Secretary, inclosing information, ºnfer alia he says that Father Parsons has been out of town, having been forced twice to go to Civita Vecchia; the first time on the request of the Duke of Feria, who passing that way towards Sicily, where he is appointed Viceroy, desired Parsons and Thomas Fitzherbert to meet him there; the second to go thither with Cardinal Aldobrandini and the Duke of Sessa to meet the Countess of Lemos, Vice-Queen of Naples, whose confessor, * Parsons, had been in Rome, &c. . - Vol. cclxxxv, n. 6. Charles Paget in a letter of information to Secretary Cecil (September 15, 1602, Paris), says, inter alia, Parsons and Thomas Fitzherbert have written to Owen and others that the Inquisitors at Rome have decided between the modest priests and the broiling Jesuits—(1) That the Jesuits shall remain in England; (2) that the priests shall have their faculties restored; (3) that no books be written against each other on pain of excommunication; (4) that the priests deal no more with Queen and Council; (5) that the archpriest and assistants remain in office as before; (6) that the Colleges continue as they did, under the government of the Jesuits. There is no news the last two posts from Rome from the priests, so it is feared their affairs do not go on well, &c. Addenda (1580–1625), vol. xxxv. n. 61. James Z. A long letter from Sir Anthony Standen to Father Parsons. Dated Paris, December 17, 1603. Among other things he says, “As for Mr. Fitzherbert, his has been a long acquaintance, and while I lived in Tuscany, no Saturday passed without letters to each other. He came to Florence at his own charge to visit me out of love, and Com- plained of hard measure, from being tossed from post to pillar; and it was most rueful to hear in every place where I Came, and where English were, a heap of griefs and mis- contents.” - P 2 228 The College of St. Chad. AXOmestic, James J. vol. xix. n. 59, March 19, 1606. Letter from the Earl of Salisbury to Sir Henry Wotton, Ambassador at Venice. He praises the course he took with the Papal Nuncio. Parliament has made severe laws against the Papists. He has no authority to permit the return to England of Sir Robert Basset or [Thomas] Fitzherbert : the times are not fitting for their recall. Basset's goods will be confiscated to satisfy some French merchants, robbed by a pirate for whom he was surety. Vol. xix. n. 131, July 12, 1619. Grant to Bartholomew Beale of Gray's Inn, for the benefit of Sir William Harmon, of the moiety of the manor of Norbury and other lands, counties Derby and Stafford, seized into the King's hands for rent owing by Thomas Fitzherbert of Norbury, Derbyshire, to Robert Harcourt of Stanton, Oxford, an outlaw, the benefit of whose outlawry was granted to Sir William Harmon. Pomestic, Charles Z. vol. vii. n. 70, 1625, October II, Rome. Testimonial under the hand of Thomas Fitzherbert, |Rector of the English College at Rome, and under the seal of that College, that Troillus Lovell had remained at that College for six days, during which time he had attended divine service and received the Sacrament. Amongst other calumnies to which Father Fitzherbert was subjected was that of being an instigator of Squires in the plot, or pretended plot, to poison the Queen and the Earl of Essex. Father Richard Walpole (brother of the martyr Father Henry Walpole) was the chief party calumniated.” One of the books published by Father Fitzherbert was a defence against this infamous calumny, entitled, “Defence of the Catholic cause, containing a treatise in confutation of sundry untruths, slanders, &c., with an apology of his inno- cence in a feigned conspiracy against her Majesty’s person, for the which one Edward Squire was wrongfully condemned and executed in November, 1598, wherewith the author and other Catholics were also falsely charged ” (4to. St. Omer, 1602). This plot is mentioned in Lingard’s History of England of that date. * As Father Richard Walpole is thus introduced to our notice, we subjoin (by way of addenda) at the close of this history of St. Chad's College, a memoir of that eminent member of the Society. As he was never a missioner in England, but always resided in our Colleges on the Continent, we do not find any better opportunity of noticing him than the present occasion of this infamous calumny. We shall also give copies of various State Papers from the Public Record Office connected with it. Aather Thomas Fitzherbert. 2 29 The following are the works of Father Fitzherbert–His treatise against Machiavel's work, already mentioned; also his defence and apology in the Squire feigned plot; a treatise concerning policy and religion, &c. (a masterpiece of reasoning and learning, dedicated to his son Edward Fitzherbert, who died March 25, 1612); A supplement to the discussion of M. D. Barlow's answer to the judgment of a Catholic English- man, &c.—this work was interrupted by the author's death (Father Robert Parsons); A confutation of certain absurdities, &c., uttered by M. D. Andrewes in his answer to Cardinal Bellarmine's Apology (4to. St. Omer); A reply to Roger Widdrington's (vere Preston) Disputatio Zheologica, de jura- mento Fidelitatis apologia Card/, Bellar. pro ſure principium, 1614; Obmutesco of F. T. to the Eſºpheta of Dr. Collins (8vo. St. Omer, 1621). Dr. Oliver asks, “Did he not publish the English translation of Tursellini's Ziſe of St. Francis Xavier, 4to. Paris, 1632 P” (Collectanea S./. p. 93). “There was formerly,” adds Dr. Oliver, “in the English College at Rome a portrait of Father Fitz- herbert, of which a copy by Münch was in the sacristy at Wardour Castle.” Dr. Oliver also asks in a note (ut supra), “Who was John Fitzherbert, Esq., at whose house at Padly the martyrs Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludlam were seized by George Earl of Shrewsbury in 1588? For harbouring them he lost his estate, lay in Derby gaol two years, was then removed to London, and lived six years there in great want and then died.” This was probably John Fitzherbert, second son of the judge Sir Anthony, and the uncle of Father Thomas Fitzherbert (vide pedigrees, p. 198, ante). In the P.R.O. Domestic, Elizabeth, vol. ccxliv, n. 51, 1593, is a letter from the Earl of Shrewsbury to Queen Elizabeth in which he says (infer alia) “that in Derbyshire, where John Fitzherbert and other Seminary priests had lately been apprehended, he had induced many of the people to come to church.” See the same vol. n. 124, April 7 1593. In the letter from Sterrell the spy to Father Fitzherbert (see page 224) he mentions his (Fitzherbert's) cousin being a prisoner in the Fleet, &c. Dr. Oliver also asks—“Who was Nicholas Fitzherbert, who so virulently opposed Father Parsons at Rome P” “In a MS.,” says Dr. Oliver, “I read that Father Parsons returned from Naples to Rome, October 8, 1598. All the English in Rome came to the College to hear his reasons 23O Z%e College of St. Chad. against Mr. Nicholas Fitzherbert. So quoteth Mr. Baines in his diary. This Nicholas Fitzherbert, a great adver- sary of Father Parsons, was drowned in a brook called La Pesa, some miles this side Florence, November 6, 1612.” This Nicholas was probably the one named in the “spy’s” pedigree, as Cardinal Allen's secretary, &c. He was first cousin to Father Thomas Fitzherbert (see pedigree). In the P.R.O. Domestic, Elizabeth, vol. ccxxviii. n. 26, is an intercepted letter of the same Nicholas to Thomas Throg- morton at Brussels, dated Rome, November 20, 1589. It possesses nothing of interest. Nicholas was attainted, as appears by a grant * to Henry |Butler and others and their heirs, of such remainder of the manor of Over-Padly, Nether-Padly, and other places in the counties of Stafford and Derby, as may accrue to the King by the attainder of Nicholas Fitzherbert. [This would have been any expectancy from his father, John Fitzherbert of Padly..] . The family of Swinnerton likewise furnished the Society with another saintly member in the person of- BROTHER ROBERT FITZHERBERT, a most angelical youth, who was received into the Society just before his death in I708. He is thus noticed in the Annual Letters for the College of St. Omer, 1708. “Born of a family of rank in England, and descended from Catholic parents who were remarkable for their piety and constancy under the severe sufferings which they had to endure in persecution for the Faith; being most piously brought up, he carried his baptismal innocence with him to the grave. He lived like an angel upon earth, both before and after his entering the College. When a boy of twelve years of age he converted a Protestant Companion in England by his words and example, who faith- fully persevered. Robert lived a heavenly life at St. Omer's College, and was never seen to commit a fault. He bore his last sickness, no less protracted than severe, and also the deep incisions of the Surgeons, and Cruel sufferings caused by removing mortified flesh and bones, with an angelical coun- tenance, a joyful heart, and astonishing patience and equa- Inimity, even until death, and was regarded by all as a saint.” The following paper regarding the relics of St. Chad, now, or at least formerly, kept at Swinnerton Hall, will be found * Domestic, Vames Z. vol. vi. n. 84, February 29, 1604, P.R.O. Azoáže, A’offerſ Fitzheróerá. 23 I interesting, and not out of place in a history of the old College or district dedicated to that great Saint. “A’elatio quomodo sea ossa majora religuiarum S. Ceadda ad manus meas ſervenerunt scripta a P. D. Pietro Turnero et Z). Gulielmo Atkins Sacerd. Miss. S.}. “A.D. 1615, 8 Sept. ipso B. Virginis natali, Henricus Hodsheeds de Woodseten prope Segleiam in com. Stafford, moribundus me accersivit. Hominem munito praesidiis Eccla: ; deinde positis genibus litanias majores recitamus ad quas ager cum esset linguæ Latinæ non ignarus pia admodum respondit: cil ad ell locum perventum est ubi SS. confessores invocantur, Sustulit litramque manum e lecto extractam ef devote junctam, offerens in has voces prorupit: Sanctus Ceaddae ora pro me. Cum haec frequenter repeteret cursum Litaniarum interrupi Cumque petii cur toties S. Ceaddam. invocaret P Respondit S. Ceadda desuper in superiore parte lecti praesens est, quem ego thesauru majori cupio, cum honore asservari, et proinde illum tibi dono. His dictis et litaniis absolutis; sacras reliquias intueri cupio quas exaudio tincto seu velo majori lineo, Sed nigro (Anglice black buckeram) opertas, uxor Henrici mihi in manus dat. Tum Henricus qil ego opinibamur hoc velo tectus fuisse dum in theca aliquá argenteå in Lichfieldensi Ecclá reconderentur. Ego x velo praedicto Sacra ossa abstuli et in pixide ligneå Ig vel 20 digitos longae, 6 digitos profundā, 6 digitos latā minoribus seris firmatā eaden Ossa reposui cli velo separatim Complicato. “Roganti mihi qū-modo has reliquias nactus erat, res- pondit; cil fides Catholica everteretur, quidam Praebendarius (Dudley) cognatus Dni Dudley (qui famoso née Dns.) seu Baro (quondam dictus est) has sacras reliquias ab Ecclá Lichfeldensi honoris et reverentiae causã Sustulit quas duabus nobilibus foeminis (ejusdem nóis de Dudley) cognatis suis habi- tantibus apud Russel Hall, domum prope Villam de Dudley, asservandas dedit. Mortuo Praebendario feminae timore legum exterritae licet Catholicæ sese periculo eripere Cupiunt proinde easdem reliquas mihi fratriq meo Gulielmo (Familiares vicinae, et amicissimae nobis erant) libenter concesserunt. Pars altera fratri, pars haec mihi divisione factâ obvenit: ab illo tempore ad hanc horă fideliter eas conservavi. Illo mortuo ejus uxor mihi reliquias tradidit, qās in pixide Cú velo ut ante dixi, reposueram. Nec mihi dubium est quin verissima sint haec 232 7Âe Co//ege of St. CÀad. oia, cum prope 2o annos prudentiâ et fidem hominis illius perspectam habuerim. In cujus rei fidem nomen meum subscribo. ** Oct. I, 1652. ' ** PETRUS TURNERUS. ** FRANCISCUS COTTON. ** THOMAS WILKINSON. “ GULIELMUS ATKINS. ** RICHARDUS VAVASOUR. “ Dno. Petro Turnero mortuo 27 Maii I655, hæ reliquæ ap- probante Dno. Edvardo Bedingfield depositæ sunt apud Dnm. Joannem Levesonum eo quod hic ad districtü et Collegii B. Aloysii huic temporis pertineret. Velum de quo ante eo quod esset vetustum “nec satis honestu* a me Gulielmo Atkins com- hustum est. Pixis in quâ reliquiæ hæ repositæ sunt a militibus et apparitoribus effracta est, et os unum contra pavimentum allisisum in duas partes dissiliit in festo S. Andreæ I658 in domo Dni. Levesoni. Impii illi partem reliquiarü secum asportaverunt. “ GULIELMUS ATKINS. “ Ego Gulielmus Atkins ex pyxide illa a militibus effractâ sacras reliquias in aliam pyxidem serico tectam removi an. I 66 I 2. martii. ** R. P. Franciscus Fosterus Prov. Anglicanæ Provæ. S.J. ann. I 652, I Oct. diligenter inspexit reliquias S. Ceaddæ dixitq. sibi privilegium notarii Apostolici concessum reliquias approbavit dixitq. sese effecturü ut relatio Dni. Turneri in acta referretur et in archiviis reponeretur. “ Ego GULIELMUS ATKINS “ Præsens interfui.” To this relation is added another of Father Richard Strange, Rector of Gant, dated December Io, I67o, certifying that he brought out of England into Flanders the year before, some of St. Chad's relics. Also another of Father Anthony Terill, Rector of Liége, dated September 2 I, I67 I, attesting that he had obtained an approbation of the relic of St. Chad, and leave to expose the same to public veneration in the chapel of the College of Liége, from the most Rev. and illustrious D. Earnest, Baron of Surlet, Vicar General in Spirituals to his Serene Highness. In another loose paper is a third attestation of Father IRichard Barton, Rector of St. Omer, dated January 2o, I667, Aather Aºazzez's Aoster. 233 bearing witness that, being Visitor of the Residence of St. Chad, he took out of the box of St. Chad's relics, in domo efusa, mobilis Catholici, a particle of the same, and gave them to the Father Director of the English Sodality, to be exposed to public veneration if the Bishop of St. Omer should think proper. These relics were then probably at Blackladies, a house of Mr. Fitzherbert, not very far from Wolverhampton, where they were under the custody of Father Collingwood, Superior of that district, and from whence they were conveyed to Swinnerton, two miles from Stone, after Mr. Collingwood's death, this being the residence of Mr. Fitzherbert. The authentic MSS. are kept with the relics at Swinnerton Hall.26 TIXALL HAIL, STAFFORDSHIRE.-The seat of the ancient and, until late years, Catholic family of the Lords Aston, was often served by the Fathers of this district. In the time of the Oates' Plot persecution we shall have to return to it again, One of that unhappy perjurer's right-hand helpers, Dugdale, having once been a steward in the family, and left the service in consequence of his thefts. Father William Ireland, one of the victims of Oates, was also there for a time. Father Francis Foster appears to have been much there from the following information of a Government spy, P.R.O., 1629, State Papers, Zomestic Chas. Z. vol. clxxviii. n. 43, who says (inter alia): “Item, Father Francis Foster, newly come out of Spain. A Yorkshire man; was agent for the English Jesuits at the Court of Spain, when his Majesty was there; resorts much to London, and to the Lady Aston's house, Staffordshire.” Father Foster entered the Society in the year 1622, and was solemnly professed on the 8th of December, 1635. In 1642, he was Rector and Master of Novices at Watten. After professing theology at Liége, and filling other offices, he was proclaimed Provincial in 1650, and died soon after the end of his three years' government, in England, 7th October, 1653, aged 62. A business letter of his may be found in vol. v. Stonyhurst MSS., Anglia, n. 31, dated 26th of March, 1649, addressed to Father Thomas Barton. Father Foster was also * Copied from a MS. in the handwriting of the late Rev. Alban Butler, in a vol. of MSS. at Oscott College, entitled “Memoirs of Missionary Priests, MSS.” being Mr. Alban Butler's collection for Bishop Challoner's Lives of Missionary Priests. 234. 7%e College of St. Chad. Socius to Father Henry Bedingfield, alias Silisdon, who was Provincial I646–1650. WOLVERHAMPTON.—This ancient town was, we believe, the head-quarters of St. Chad's College or district. In the year 996 a monastery was founded here by Wulfrana, sister of King Edgar, and widow of Aldhelm, Duke of Northampton, in honour of whom this town, previously called Hampton, received the appellation of Wulfranis-Hampton, of which its present name is a corruption. The monastery continued till the year I2Oo, when it was surrendered to Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was subsequently annexed by Edward IV. to the Deanery of Windsor. In the intended history of the English Province in the periods of Oates' Plot, and the Revolution of 1688, we shall have to return to Wolverhampton, where, on the revival of religion on the accession of James II., the English Fathers of the Society had a flourishing College, and large residence and chapel. In fact, Wolverhampton was then called the “Little Rome” (Parva Roma) on account of the great number of Catholics there. It was also the seat of the long-lived labours of Father William Atkins who, as we have already said, died a martyr for the Faith in Stafford gaol, 17th of March, 1681, at the age of 80, and bed-ridden, being under sentence of death; and Wolverhampton also had for its missioner for some years the blessed martyr, Father John Gavan, who suffered at Tyburn, 3oth of June, I679. wAL POLE | PE DIG REE, S.J. ! (Extracted from the elaborate and valuable Walpole Pedigree cºmpiled by DR. JESSOPP, of Norwich, and EveRARD GREEN, F.S.A., 1874.) THOMAS WALPOLE, of Houghton-next-Harpley, = JoANE (first wife) daughter of WILLIAM CoBBE, county Norfolk, Esq. of Sandringham, Norfolk, Esq. i JOHN = ANNE HERWARD EDWARD, of Houghton, = Lucy, daughter of HENRY (of Harpley and = MARGARET (first wife) AGNES = WILLIAM RUSSELL, JANE | -> Esq. Sir TERRY ROB- of Whaplode, county daughter of Gent. sine Zºrole SART, of Sedis- Lincoln) HOLTOFTE, of Whap- Had issue CHRISTOPHER WALPOLE (fourth son of the = MARGERY, daughter of RICHARD BECKHAM, term, Norfolk, - lode, Gent. - - above-named HENRY WALPOLE, of Harp- of Narford. She married a second husband, | Išnight - - | ley), of Docking, Anmer Hall, and Dersing- RogFR WARNER, of Docking. - ham, county Norfolk. Died 19th July, - - | | | l I596 JOHN, of Houghton, = CATHARINE daughter and RICHARD, of Bracomash, TERRY, of Houghton ELIZABETH = — | - Esq. co-heir of WILLIAM county Norfolk Had issue | | | * | | - CALLIBUT of Coxford, Had issue w HENRY WALPOLE, S.J., the Martyr. JoHN JEFFREY RICHARD, S.J. Baptized THOMAS CHRISTOPHER, S.J. Bap- MICHAEL, S.J., alias DOROTHY MARGARET ALICE Norfolk, Esq. | Born and baptized at Docking in at Docking 8th Octo-, tized at Docking 23rd MICHAEL CHRIS- - - l 1558. Bred at Norwich Grammar ber, I564. Matricula- October, 1568. Educated TOPHERSON. Bap- | School. Matriculated pensioner at ted Pensioner at Peter at Ely Grammar School, tized at Docking EDWARD, S.J. Baptized 28th January, CALIBUT, of Houghton, - ELIZABETH, daughter of THOMAS DOROTHY ISATHERINE BONA ELIZABETH i8RIDGET Peter House, Cambridge, I5th June, House, Cambridge, Ist under Speght. Matricu- Ist October, I570. I559–60. Matriculated pensioner of Esq. EDMUND BACON of - r I 575. Resided there till I 7th April, April, I579. A Scholar lated “Pensioner at Caius Was companion to Peter House, Cambridge, 26th May, Hesset, county Suffolk, - * f 1579. Entered at Grays Inn 1578. at Rheims I58 . En- College, Cambridge, 8th Father John Gerard I576. Admitted a Convictor of the Esq. w Arrived at English College, Rheims, tered Alumnus of En- December, 1587. En- . 1588. Entered an tered Alumnus of English Alumnus of English English College, Rome, 23rd Octo- ber, I 590, and as an Alumnus 5th Tebruary, I 592. Received the Minor Orders in Lent, I 592 ; ordained Sub- deacon on Holy Saturday, Deacon on Easter Monday in the Cathedral Church of St. John Lateran, and Priest on Ascension Day, I 592, in the Chapel of the English College, Rome. Entered the Novitiate S.J. at Tour- nay Ist July, I 593. Conveyed cer- tain of his estates to his brother Cali- but 18th September, 1588, and in I612 renounced by deed all claim to his estates in favour of Calibut. Was converted by his cousin, Fr. Henry Walpole the Martyr. On the English mission forty years. Died 3rd No- vember, 1637, act. 77, in London. Walpole, Earls Orford. CHRISTOPHER WALPOLE (alias CHRISTOPHER WARNER). Born 1598. Native of Norfolk. Eitered Alumnus of English College, Rome, I Ith October, 1617, under the name of Christopher Warner, ºere Christopher Walpole. Took the usual college oath 1st May, 1618. Ordained Priest in Rome 16th May, I622. Sent in Pineam Anglicana/e, 19th January, 1624 (zide AEnglish College 7th July, 1582. Admitted an Alum- nus of English College, Rome, at. 24, 28th April, I583. Received Minor Order (after the usual dispen- sation propter haresime covetractame, &c.) in October, I583, from the exiled Catholic Bishop of St. Asaph. Left the English College before taking the usual college oath, in January, 1584. Entered the Society of Jesus 2nd February, I584; ordained Sub- deacon 26th December, I587, Dea- con 21st May, and Priest (in Paris) 17th December, 1588. In 1589, five months in prison at Flushing ; de- livered by his brother Christopher. At Brussels I 590; at Tournay I 591 ; at Madrid and St. Omer I592. Embarked at Dunkirk for English mission with his brother Thomas ; landed at Flamborough Head 4th December, 1593; apprehended next day at 1&irkham, and conveyed to York. Sent to London 25th Feb- ruary, 1593, and thrown into the Tower, where he was many times cruelly tortured. Remanded back to York; and on Monday, 17th April, 1595, he suffered martyrdom by being hanged, cut down alive, disembow- elled, and quartered, after having been tried and convicted of high treason, for taking Holy Orders abroad and returning to England to preach the Catholic faith. He was then aged thirty-six years (Wide Challoner’s Mār- glish College, Rome, at. 22, 25th April, I585. Ordained . Sub-deacon 26th November, Dea- con 30th November, Priest 3rd December, I589. In Seville 20th February, I593 ; at Valladolid 5th August, I592. Rector of both those Colleges. Died at the latter end of 1607, &ć. 42. Falsely accused as an instigator, with Father Thomas Fitz- herbert, S.J., and others, of the sham plot to poison Queen Eliza- beth’s saddle (Vide History). College, Rome, 22nd Feb- ruary, 1592. Entered the Society of Jesus 27th Sep- tember, I 592. Died at the English College, Val- ladolid, 1606, at. 38. “Cum dolore omnium et detrimento Patria.” College Rome, 12th May, I590. Took the usual college oath 20th March, 1591. Entered the Society of Jesus 8th September, I 593. At Valladolid, Su- perior of English Mission. . . . Died in Seville 1620, at. 5.I. Became a pro- fessed Father I609. sionary Aries/s, 7 anner's May tyrs, Z2;ary). Entered the Society 1625. Professed of the ſour vows 6th August, 1637. Rector - - … } º - S./., Aaroli’s Inghilterra, &c.). of College S.J., Ghent (/)owe, Zºrá.), 1642, &c. In 1655 he was serving in the residence of St. Stanislaus (Devonshire district). According to the Catalogue of 1655, he had filled various Portraits at Rome and at Valladolid. Copies of these at Rainthorpe Hall, important offices—Rector, Procurator, Consultor, Prefect, &c. He is called Warner alone Norwich, in the possession of the Hon. Fred. Walpole, M.P.; at Stonyhurst in the Catalogus. It is uncertain to which branch of the family he belongs. He was College, and elsewhere. Nineteen of his letters in the collection of MSS. at probably connected with the Warners of Docking. He died in England 1st December, 1664, Stonyhurst College. These were printed by the Rev. Dr. Jessopp, of Norwich, after a long missionary career, with Notes and a brief Autobiography, in 1873. Aather Æichard Walpole. 235 ADDENDA. LIFE OF FATHER RICHARD WALPOLE, S.J. FATHER RICHARD WALPOLE was a native of Anmer, in Norfolk, son of Christopher Walpole, Esq. of Docking, Anmer Hall, and Dersingham, county Norfolk, by Margery, daughter of Richard Beckham of Narford, gentleman. He was born in the year 1564–5, and was the fourth brother to Father Henry Walpole, the blessed martyr. The annexed pedigreel shows the members of the Walpole family who entered the Society of Jesus. He was admitted an alumnus of the English College, Rome, 25th of April, I 585 ; was ordained subdeacon the 26th, and deacon the 30th of November, and priest the 3rd of December, 1589, and was then sent into Spain. On the foundation of the English Seminary at Seville in 1592, he was sent with others to commence that establishment, and on the 20th of February, 1593, he and another priest, Henry Floyd, afterwards of the Society, publicly defended “conclusiones ex universa theologia decerptas, cum maxima omnium approbatione.” He entered the Society I596. Rather Richard Walpole is said, upon the testimony of Pitzeus, to have been an eminent divine, and displayed his powers in his Answer to Matthew Sutcliff’s Challenge (8vo. * Amongst the State Papers, P.R.O. Domestic, James Y. vol. lxi. n. 13, is a note by a Government spy, “of such Jesuits, &c., as I knew in Rome from 1589 to 1595.” The following of the Walpole family are named : “Father Richard Walpole, first a seminary and then a Jesuit, and now a reader of the philosophy lectures in Valladolid, Spain; Michael Walpole, his brother, Jesuit, Rome; William Walpole [should be Christopher], another brother, Jesuit, in Rome. Mota ... that these three brothers are Norfolk men born in Anmer, while another brother of theirs, which once served Sir William Stanley, possesseth their land; Edward Walpole, their uncle [should be cousin], and heir of that house, Jesuit, in Rome. Note that he was heir of their manor of Hauton [Houghton], near Anmer, in Norfolk, and his brother, William Calipote Walpole, now possesseth the said [manor].” The spy thus concludes, “For England I understand [among others] one Tregean a seminary, and Jesuit, in Norfolk. Item, one of the Walpoles a seminary in Norfolk. Sir, I make no question but had you but warrant, I could ferret some of these out. “Your loving friend, to be ever commanded, “ADAM KINGE.” 236 The College of St. Chad. Antwerp, 1605), and two years before that, in his confutation of Sallifi, a Protestant minister, under the initials O.E. (Dr. Oliver, Collectanea). As we shall see, he was accused, with Father Thomas Fitzherbert, of devising the absurd plot of poisoning Queen Elizabeth's saddle and the Earl of Essex's chair in 1598. When he heard of the accusation he treated it with contempt, but for the sake of truth was afterwards induced to publish a pamphlet, The discovery and confutation of a tragica/ fiction devised and played, by Edward Squyer, yeoman, soldier, hanged at Zyburn, 23rd of November, 1598.” The unfortunate Squires died proclaiming with his last breath Father Richard's innocence. - Father Walpole was Perfect of Studies at various times in the English Colleges at Rome, Seville, and principally at Valladolid, and succeeded Father Joseph Cresswell as Superior of the mission in Spain. In the will of the celebrated and saintly lady, Doña Louisa de Carvajal, who founded the English Novitiate at Louvain, dated Valladolid, December 22, 1604, Father Richard Walpole, then Vice-Prefect of the English mission in that city, is named as one of the executors. For a copy of this interesting and pious specimen of Spanish devotion and humility, see Father Morris' Condition of Catholics, Zife of Father John Gerard; also Father Henry More's Hist. Prov. Ang/. S./. Father Richard Walpole died prematurely at Valladolid, aged 42, A.D. 1607. The following account of the calumny against this eminent Jesuit is taken from Father More's Hist. Prov. Angl, S./. lib. v. nn. 44–46, p. 220, et seq. “One Edward Squire, an adventurer in the company of the famous pirate Francis Drake, was taken prisoner in the Indies with other robbers of the same breed, and carried to Seville. Being allowed to go about the city at liberty, his conduct both as regards his tongue and his actions was such as to bring him under the notice of the Court of Inquisition. Having been there tried, the judge Committed him at first to prison, and then, after some delay, handed him over to the charge of the Carmelites, in whose monastery he was detained for two years in the hope of working his reformation. Wearied out with the tedium of the solitude of the place, he pretended that he wanted to become a Catholic, and caused Father Richard Walpole to be sent for, who having previously heard much about the indomitable disposition of the man, whom he had Father Richard Walpole. 237 never seen, and surprised at this sudden change of affairs, resolved to deal both slowly and cautiously with him. He protracted the matter for many days in teaching and trying him. Squires asked if he doubted him, and prayed and intreated him to expedite it. At last Father Richard Consented, and remitting to God the hidden things of his heart, he heard the man's confession and absolved him. Squires had hoped by this stratagem to hasten the recovery of his liberty, in which being disappointed, he made his escape before a year had elapsed, leaving a letter in his room for Father Walpole, excusing himself for having departed in that manner without taking leave of him; which letter coming first into the hands of the Inquisi- tors, reached Father Richard from them. Edward Squire arrived at San Lucar, found a vessel leaving for England, by which he took passage thither, and immediately on his arrival went to sea again on board the fleet of the Earl of Essex, which was setting out to attack Tercera.” “The reader will remember,” says Father More, “in the trial of Father Campion, that one Craddock declared, when there was a talk of the formation of the Holy Alliance for the subjugation of England, that he was present at the conversation. The present fable is of a kindred stamp. Squires, on landing in England, went to a certain magnate in power, for the purpose of clearing himself, according to the laws, from the suspicion which busy report had raised of his having joined the Catholics; and, relating as a good joke what he had shammed with Walpole, he offered his ready services to the said magnate. The miserable man was as yet ignorant that in what way a man sins, in the same does God punish the crime, causing the guilt to fall upon the head of the criminal. It was schemed that one of those who had been taken prisoner with Squires should return from Spain with a letter which, by the ambiguity of its contents hinted that some- thing was to be undertaken by Squires, upon which hung many and important issues. At first the letter was rejected as a hoax; but as it appeared to some that the matter was sufficiently important not to be neglected, Squires was recalled from the fleet and examined. He denied having had any such conver- sation with Walpole. He was then put upon the rack and examined, and by force of the tortures confessed any fabrica- tion put to him—that he had received from Father Walpole a poisonous powder in a bladder, by sprinkling which upon the pommel of the Queen's saddle (which might be easily effected 238 The College of St. Chad. by perforating the bladder), she might get it upon her hands, and thence by chance to her nose and mouth, and thus Cause death. Nor did it suffice for their purposes to confess that he had merely received the poison, but he must go a step further, and say that he really made the attempt, and this was extorted from him by the tortures of the rack, and he afterwards signed his confession with his own hand. - “When news of this reached Father Walpole, he treated it as the idle dream of a silly fool. Becoming convinced by repeated letters that the matter was taken in real earnest, he wrote an epistle, commencing with the words of the great St. Athanasius, ‘With a loud and distinct voice, and with outstretched hand (quod didici aſ Apostolo), I call God to witness upon my soul, and as it is written in the Book of Kings—jusjurandum conciſio—may God be witness, and may His Christ be witness, that the whole of this accusation is false, and I protest before God, and the whole court of heaven, and on the word of a priest, that nothing of the kind objected against me, even entered my thoughts. But although I am fully convinced that this my protest is abundantly sufficient to prove my innocence with all whose consciences are unseared (for among the lapsed and profane, and the excommunicate, as says St. Cyprian, from whose breasts the Holy Spirit has departed, what else can remain except a depraved mind and a false tongue, a venemous hate and sacrilegious falsehood, with whom he that gives credence, must needs be found in the Day of Judgment), I will here subjoin some facts which will clearly show the whole of this accusation to be a mere fable conjured up by those who, provided only they can inflict an injury upon our Society, care little what evil things they either say or do. In the first place, therefore, so little acquaintance was there between me and Squires, that he did not even correctly remember my name ; for in the indictment I am called William instead of Richard. Then I reckon that those who impute this crime to me must think that my brain is affected; for who possessing the least spark of Sound judgment would intrust so great an affair to a stranger, hitherto perfectly unknown to him, of whom also there was no vague Suspicion that he would be faithless to his oath, and turn traitor, as it really happened? Add to this, his repeated request that I would, on his returning to England, recom- mend him to some Catholic who kept a priest in his house; in which matter, finding that I showed but little confidence in Father Richard Waºol. 239 him, how is it reasonable to suppose that I should make him a confidant in so great a crime P. Then, infer alia, he is reported to have said that if any hesitation or doubt in perpetrating so enormous a crime should occur to him, I had ordered him to go to a certain doctor who, with other secular priests, was confined in prison, whom he named [Dr. Bagshawe): for since they say also here, that I had imparted the affair to our Fathers, why not rather have sent him to ours than to that particular doctor, who of all the clergy in the whole island, it is notorious, is most ill affected towards the Society P But this happened by the providence of God, that no particle or resemblance of truth should be mixed up in the whole affair. Lastly, there is the first denial of Squires, then after a five hours' torture comes his retraction of his confession upon the rack, and his reiterated protestation before the judges at his trial that he had neither received any poison, nor had attempted any evil whatever in England against the Queen; all which facts show that the man was entangled in the nets by the wickedness of others, and struggled to extricate himself by shifting first to one side, then to the other ; and failing in truth in both, tossed in the waves of fear and hope, perished by his own inconsistency. For when the examiners had extracted by tortures the man's signature to his confession, they considered the punishment of death not unmerited, although it savoured of a lie, and by visiting so great a falsehood by a real punishment, to stamp the affair with some shade of truth, whereby the name of Jesuit might be brought into popular Odium. Thus, whether by the cunning or the gold of the powerful, do they sport with the character and life of the innocent, to serve their base purposes.’ “But there were many other facts besides those noted by Father Walpole to show that the whole of this tragedy (save only the real death of Squires himself) was a fiction and a lie, and either his own patchwork for the purpose of Com- mending himself to the magistracy on entering the island, or else imposed upon him by the suborned witnesses, Stanly, Munday, and Rolles. For those who are favourable to the plot, Say that Squires did not run away from Spain, but left it by some interchange of Spanish prisoners; whereas it is clear from his own letter, that he withdrew himself secretly. Then they say that Father Walpole, when he saw that Squires would not make any attempt of this nature, employed a Certain English released prisoner returning home from Spain 240 - The College of St. Chad. to discover the affair to the authorities, and to accuse Squires. As if forsooth Walpole was so prodigal of his character, that although it was in his power to conceal so great a crime, yet he should, without any fruit to himself beyond immense repro- bation, intrust it openly to any chance person Crossing the Channel. But the man to whom the affair was said to have been intrusted, on returning to England denied the fact, but said that the letter which he had privately brought over had been abstracted from his room. Zam difficile est sibi invitem coharentia proferre inter mentiendum. I am astonished at this,” adds Father More, “ or rather I will say a certain feeling of indignation comes over me on reading an account of the pro- ceedings taken down by one who was present, that Squires, when defending himself upon his trial for his life, openly repeated that he had during a terrible examination under torture upon the rack for five hours, confessed things he had never either said or done, merely that he might be released from the severity of the torments. But the counsel for the Crown, in the same place, affirmed that he had never been examined by torture at all, which,” says Father More, “I leave to be reconciled by the reader. To me it seems most certain that the whole affair was carried out with the most open collu- sion of the parties. Since Rolles, who came over from Spain with Squires, was in the meantime kept in close custody in the Tower, lest if called as a witness by Squires, he should confirm his denial that he had ever held any conversation with him on matters of this nature, and thus prevent a capital conviction, and leave it more at liberty to impute to Stanly and Munday, known informers, the crime they wished to lay upon Squires; a Scheme not unfrequent with those who, to compass their designs, consider no crime unfitting.” The following are extracts from the documents in the State Paper Office before alluded to. JDomestic, Elizabeth, State Papers, 1598, vol. cclxviii. n. 62. “Examination of John Stanley, taken October 23, 1598. Being first demanded during the time of his imprisonment who had access and conference with him, he says that an English Jesuit called Father Walpole, and one Davis and Owen came to him and the other Englishmen and did use persuasions to withdraw them from religion and to become Catholics. Being asked, after they had been dealt withal in matters of conscience, what other directions were made to him to do any service to the King, he doth affirm that neither Father Walpole . . Father Richard Walpole. 24. I [N.B.-This examination is almost illegible. The main part of it concerning Father Walpole is, that neither he nor the others persuaded them to do any service against the Queen's Majesty or the estate of this realm ; but of themselves they did devise to offer service to the King to procure their liberty. Examinant told Munday privately of his desire to recover liberty; Munday promised to be true, and thereupon they sent for Father Walpole, with whom Munday first dealt. After that they wrote to Don John Idiaques, and to Don Christopher de Mora offering to do the King service in general terms ; and if they might come to Court to prove themselves good Catholics and honest servants. Having no answer, Walpole told them they must state what service they would undertake ; they offered the taking of Flushing, and were sent for to the Court with irons upon them. Before they went from Seville, they told Father Walpole they would be honest men and do what they ought.] Same vol. n. 82. “The declaration of John Stanley, under his own hand, this 18th of October, 1598, at the Tower about twelve of the clock at noon. - “The 5th of August last, about seven of the clock I was brought unto the King by Joseph Cresswell, Jesuit, where they took me sworn by the living God to be secret in what I was employed, which was to go to William Munday and receive of him a perfume which should be cast in the way of her Majesty, to cut off her life, and the King said the words that I have already written in another paper, commanding me to speak somewhat of peace, and to write over what was said of it, especially what my Lord of Essex said about the same. Also I was employed to help Munday to burn her Majesty's navy, and that I should go to Sir Thomas Arundell, and tell him of one Father Smith, a seminary; and after he had showed me of Some [original illegible] subjects, Papists, to go to them and confer with them and tell them of the Catholics, their names and places, seeing I was of the contemplative life, and trusted in matters of fidelity; and if they did trust me with letters, then to acquaint them with my employments, or else not. William Bostocke, Edmond Edmondes, both servants. to Thomas Fitzherbert, shall be employed shortly. Bostocke. is about forty years old, with a bald head, somewhat tall. Edmondes, a low man, slender and lean. Also there are: Q 242 The College of St. Chad. three priests to come over, by name, Father Charles Tancred, Father Cooper, and another Father whom I have forgotten; they will repair to Scotney as they said. Bostocke is of a flaxen hair, and with a great rolling eye, dwelling in West Chester, where he hath a wife ; the other man a brown head, short. “After I had been sworn, the King said these words, “No sera solomento los diniros nombrados, que vos Juan Stanley termas si no ganaras con dios y yo y mi hijo estaremos Sempre para loque vos terra munster.” And then said Cresswell something to the King in secret: I heard a word or two thereof, which was that they had often been deceived by taking the bare oath of the Sacrament, and therefore they had taken me sworn by the Lord, and as I hoped to be saved, never to disclose it : but if I could not do it to come again, and bringing some Papists' letters with me. I sought often to be employed into Flanders, and then Thomas Fitzherbert, Cress- well, and Elliot, and James said if I would be constant in what they would command me, I should have ten thousand ducats at my return. They caused those two letters to be written, and my pass, bidding me say to the boys I was sent for Flanders, until I came to St. Jo. de Luz, and then say again myself how I had escaped, which would be believed. Don Juan de Idiaques, Don Christopher de Mora, and others were all privy to my employments, so was Jo. Ruez de Velasco and Don Fernando de Tolevo. . - “Concerning Munday’s employment, he was dealt withal secretly, for that he should not know of my coming over: they commanded me to tell him how I would run away; that thereby I should have more credit in the Court; if he should not be honest to them, then he would declare my saying. If he were honest I should deal with him, and join with him, and if he gave me the perfume, and told me where he had it, I should also write over of it ; and the King knew of this perfume, and his Council also. Walpole told me at my depar- ture from Seville to Madrid, Roals and Squier were employed about her Majesty's person, and how they had received money for the same, all I have written of theretofore . . . as near as I can call to remembrance. They gave the said letters to * S.P. Calendar (Mrs. Green). “That my gain would not only be much money, but that he and his son would be my friends in case of need.” Modern spelling has been adopted instead of the barbarous style of the originals. - Aather Richard Walpole. 243 deliver to the Council, saying Roals and Squier had discovered their employments, and for that they said of the King of France would make all the rest be believed, and what was said of the King of Scots, it were well if they would fall, together by the ears, meaning her Majesty and the said King of Scots. s “I know not any employed about anything more than her Majesty's person, and her royal navy. “For Oliver Alman, the priest, I should find him about Einsome or at Scotney, and he would also bring me to some other Papists who should relieve me, and help me in any- thing. “The King commanded me, which I had forgotten, if I found not Munday honest to him, then to take any course for her Majesty's death. “I could never perceive at any time that they meant to make any invasion by force, but in treason hope, first of her Majesty's death, or by assurance of help of the subjeets of England: neither have they power to do it by force, but if they were promised by them of Hamburg ships well provided, if they would, to help to gain England by force, but I could never hear any more of that. “Jo. STANLEY.” “At Essex House. Affirmed in the presence of “ESSEX. RO. CECILL. EDW. COKE,” Same vol. n. 83. “At the Tower. The examination of Edward Squier, taken this 19th of October, 1598. “He confesseth that at that time that Walpole persuaded this examinant to attempt and be employed against her Majesty's person, this examinant did take upon him to have Some skill in perfuming, and thereupon Walpole asked whether he could compound poisons, and this examinant said no, but said he had skill in perfumes, and said that he had read in Tartalia of a ball, the Smoke whereof would make a man in a trance and soon to die, to whom Walpole said that should be done with difficulty, but to apply poison to a certain place is the convenientest way. Whereunto this examinant said, ‘I have no skill therein.’ ‘Then,' said Walpole, ‘you shall have directions in that behalf.” To whom this examinant Said, ‘Is there no composition of poison to carry with me?’ ‘N o,’ said Walpole, ‘that were dangerous, for being taken at sea Q 2 244. The College of St. Chad. (the Earl being then ready to go to sea) on a sudden when a man should have neither leisure nor memory to Cast it away ; for [said he] joy or fear may suppress a man's memory.’ Then asked this examinant what directions he would give him ; and then Walpole said he would advise him against another time. “And at another time upon a conference between them, Walpole said he was resolved to now write; and the exami- nant asked to whom. Walpole said, “Know you Wisbeach P’ This examinant answered, ‘I know it, but I was never in the Castle, but I have heard of Bagshaw, an excellent man there.” Walpole said, ‘He knoweth all these courses the Jesuits do hold, and you shall have a letter to him.’ “Being demanded what directions he had from Walpole concerning his employment: saith that he had certain directions from Walpole in his own handwriting, which as he saith he threw into the water the same day he came from Seville. And the letter directed to Bagshaw he threw into the sea after he came past Plymouth. And saith that certain poisonous drugs whereof opium was one were to be compounded and beaten together and steeped in white mercury water, and put in an earthen pot, and set it a month in the sun, by Walpole's said directions.3 “This examinant demanded of Walpole how he should apply the poison, and he said it should be put in a double bladder, and the bladders to be pricked full of holes in the upper part, and Carried in the palm of his hand upon a thick glove for safeguard of his hand; and then to turn the holes downward, and to press it hard upon the pommel of her Highness’ saddle ; and said that it would lie and tarry long where it was laid, and that it would not be checked by the air. And these ingredients he said this examinant should buy at any apothecary’s, and willed this examinant to cause some other to buy one of the ingredients at one place and another at another, for fear of suspicions, there being five ingredients in all as he saith, but remembreth not the other three. And Saith that he is assuredly persuaded that he should receive further advertisement and directions therein, either from Bag- Shawe, or that Bagshawe knew who was able to direct this examinant further therein. And this latter conference together with the letter and conditions in writing were had and delivered * In the margin is written, (I) of opium, two drams, (2) mercury water, five drams; and of the other three, one a dram, and the other two, two drams a piece. Pather Richard Walpole. 245 in May was twelvemonth in the English College at Seville, in Walpole's presence, no other person being present ; and saith that he came away with Walpole's privity. “ED. SQUIER.” “Examined by us— “JoHN PEYTON, “F. BACON, “E. FLEMMING, “W. W.A.A.D.” “EDw. CokE, “He further confesseth that he bought two drams of opium and five drams of mercury water, at an apothecary’s shop in Paternoster Row, towards the further end, near Dr. Smith's house : One of the residue at an apothecary’s in Bucklersbury, at the Plough, and the other two at an apothecary’s shop in Newgate Market, beyond the Three Tuns on the left hand. All which he bought in an evening in July was twelvemonth; and Saith that he carried them about him six or seven days : and confesseth that he compounded them, and put them in an earthen pot, and set it in a window of his house at Greenwich, where it might take the sun; and saith that he applied part of it to a whelp of one Edwardes of Greenwich, and never saw the whelp after, and thinks it died thereof. “JoHN PEYTON,” &c. (as above). “EDW. SQUIER.” Same vol. n. 86. “The declaration of Edward Squier, taken this 19th of October, I 598. “If they find a man ſearful to attempt villainy, then they will choose him such a piece of work as may seem easy, promise much merit, and Small danger, and propose many reasons to persuade the same. As in my case Walpole did, viz., that I might safely attempt that matter against her Majesty, being a thing to be done not when she should be present in person, but before; and that I need not fear [care] to be seen of any great persons, nor men of the greatest care and judgment, but such as were to be conversed withal without Suspicion, drinking of a pot of beer or a quart of wine, and such good fellow-like parts; for a man that would spend his money frankly should be much made of, and be welcome. And so by little and little to grow into familiarity, which was a way so far to remove also suspicion, that I might come in time to help on the Queen's saddle divers times for expedition, and so at my fittest time perform the deed. 246 The College of St. Chad. “When I alleged that I had not any knowledge how to do it, he answered, turning himself to me, and taking me by a button of my jerkin, ‘Let not that trouble nor any way hinder your intention, for I will send you where you shall not need to fear the want of instruction how to do it with much ease, and he will do it for you so as you shall not need to study anything but time and place. “‘It were a very meritorious act to stab or kill the Earl of Essex, if you can come at him, but this against the Queen is all in all, for there shall need but little else than to do that well ; which I charge you to perform before all other things, where- fore I pray attend it, and let others alone with other things.” At my next coming, seeing me very pensive and Sad, he demanded what I wanted, and if anything did trouble me; if there did I should tell him and assure myself that he would do the best he could. I answered, ‘No, but my mind was in England.” “Be of good cheer,’ says he, “you may come there to the great joy and comfort of your wife and children.’ “At my next confession he charged me very hard with the matter again, and so he found by me that I meant not to perform my promise (which God only knows, to whom I appeal), I was fain to protest unto him that I verily meant to do it. Then he laid before me the danger I was in if I did not endeavour to the uttermost to perform it; and so I must not now fear death, though it might seem very imminent, for ‘what availeth it a man to win the whole world, and lose his own soul P’ And if I did but once doubt of the lawſulness, or the merit, it was sufficient to cast me down headlong to hell, and seldom did that sin obtain pardon. And then, taking me by the arm he liſted me up, and took me about the neck with his left arm, he made a Cross upon my head, saying, ‘God bless thee, and give thee strength, my Son. And be of good courage, I will pawn my soul ſor thine, and thou shalt ever have my prayers both dead and alive, and full pardon of all thy sins.” He used a speech over my head which I could not understand, save only Dominus, and that was the first word uttered with a groan or sigh. “He told me at another time that I must change my spirit, and talk of services done and to be done, and insinuate myself into the company of the better sort ; but not reveal my intent to any but my confessor, who was bound to keep counsel, but others were not. And that some had been deceived in being over-credulous of others. I said that it agreed not with my Pather Richard Walpole. 247 estate to keep company much. ‘Tush,’ says he, “let Mr. Dr. Bagshawe but see you intent, and be assured of your resolu- tion, and your wants will be supplied. “Also at another time of confession before absolution, he charged me not to practise any matter against the Catholics, and chiefly the Jesuits and priests; nor to come at church, nor hear sermons, nor receive the sacrament; nor to take arms against the Church upon pain of damnation eternally. I asked what service were best to undertake and keep at Court? He said that my apprehension was very simple if I could not find out something that might fit the time; but one thing is necessary, and if you prefer it before all others, and perform it, I have my desire, and you shall be a glorious saint in heaven. The letter was delivered about some two or three days before I came away, saying, ‘Carry me that letter when you come into England, and deliver it according to the direction, and you shall do well in all things, fare you well, and God bless you.’ ‘I am not going yet,” said I. He replied, “But when you go deliver, it; I care not when you go, so you tell not men of your going,’ and the reason of this speech is, as I take it, because they may not be directly acquainted with any matter which concerns the King or the Inquisition, but they must reveal it to the superiors of the house or the Inquisition within some small time, and himself is of council in the Inquisition ; and therefore would he say to the canons, to Jackson, and to us, that he must know no more than we would have others to know. The direction of the letter was ‘A. R9. P. D. Bagshawe.” “He took me in his arms at my second confession ; SO he did at his first coming to me in the Carmen,” but the time before spoken of, I do well remember that he put his left arm about my neck in a kind of hugging manner, and held me fast, making the cross, but I understood not what he said, Save in the beginning of his speech I understood Dominus, and when he had done he said, ‘God bless thee, and give thee strength, my son.’ “His persuasion to religion, constancy, and service for the Church he began at his first coming to me in the Carmen, Continuing then some at one time and some at another, but his beginning with me about the matter that concerns her Majesty, was (as I take it) in April before my coming away; which was after that Rolls had told me that he held me in suspicion, and that Jackson suspected me about the Supremacy. * The Carmelite Monastery. 248 7%e College of St. Chad. “I asked him if he would not write to me by some friends of his in Norfolk, that so I might know how to write to him, if there were more occasion; he said no, he would not trouble me so much, nor should I need that help, if I did as I should do. And I do verily persuade myself that if the canon's earnestness for the two priests had not prevailed more than his persuasion of my constancy, I should never have come from thence. “My relation to my lord was of the certainty of the Spanish preparation and their undoubted meaning to proceed, which I gathered from this—(1) That the King had given command- ment to set all mills and ovens at work for bread, and to proceed with all expedition. (2) Of the number of their ships, which I understood, by a Dutchman, a Scot, and an Irishman, all coming from Ferrol. (3) Of the place of landing in England, which I saw pricked with red ink in Don Pedro Tellow's plot for England, which he said he received ſrom Sir William Stanley, and the same places were Crossed in a general map of England, in the English College, by the direction of Gray, master's-mate of the Helſ. (4) Of the plot against her Majesty and the State, out of the Jesuit's speech. (5) Of the number of men mustered in Spain. (6) Of the means to invade and Surprise Seville, &c. “EDw. SQUIER.” “Read and affirmed before— “J. PEYTON, EDw. CokE, F, BACON, E. FLEMMYNGE.” Same vol. n. 89. “At the Tower. The second examination of Edward Squier, taken this 23rd of October, I 598. “He sayeth that the other three drugs or ingredients, whereof he did compound these poisons, were all such as might be beaten to powder; one of which was yellowish, and the other of a brownish colour, and were called by the Latin Or Greek names. And Sayeth that all three cost eight pence, as he remembereth. And Sayeth that all being compounded together, the confection was of a duskish colour, having some sort of yellow in it; and the whole composition was not above the bigness of a bean. “He confesseth that he hath dwelt in Greenwich these sixteen, and married there about eleven years past, and being demanded how he hath gotten his living, saith that chiefly he main- tained himself by working or writing, taking upon him to be Aather Richard Walpole. 249 a scrivener, and confesseth that he was deputy-purveyor to Keys for provision of the stable for the space of two years, immediately before his voyage with Sir F. Drake. “And saith that he came home from Spain on a Sunday in July was twelve months, and within an hour after Rolls and he came home, they made means to an honourable person in the council-chamber that they might go with the Earl in the last voyage, and on Monday following the honourable person, spoke with the Earl, and obtained their suit to go with him, and within two or three days after this examinant bought the poison, as before he hath conſessed in his former examination, and within five or six days after he had compounded the poison, he went to sea in one of the victualling ships. He confesseth that he received the Sacrament at Walpole the Jesuit's hands, as well to put these practices in execution, as to keep it secret, with such persuasions and execrations as are mentioned in his former declarations. “He conſesseth that at the persuasion of Walpole, the Jesuit, he undertook to poison the Earl of Essex, when he should be with him at sea, to the end to defeat the voyage, and that he carried the confection of the poison with him to sea in the Earl's ship, in a little earthen pot of a red colour, glazed within, with a narrow mouth, which he stopped with cork and parchment, made it close with a pack thread, and carried it in his portmanteau, and did apply it to the pommel of the Earl's chair, where he did use to sit and lay his hand, which chair stood under the spare deck, where the Earl used to dine and sup. And this he did in an evening a little before supper-time, when the Earl was at Sea between Fayal and St. Michael, and saith that the confection was so clammy as it would stick to the pommel of the chair, and that he rubbed it on with parch- ment. And soon after the Earl sat in the chair all supper- time, and that the arms of the chair were of wood. “And now at last confesseth that the Monday seven-night, after his coming home from Spain, and had obtained leave to go with the Earl to sea, understanding that her Majesty's horses were in preparing for her Majesty to ride abroad, as her horse stood ready saddled in the stable-yard, this examinant came to the horse, and in the hearing of divers thereabout, said, “God save the Queen,” and therewith laid his hand on the pommel of the saddle, and out of a bladder which he had made full of holes with a big pin, he impoisoned the pommel of the saddle, being covered with velvet by brushing the poison on it through 25O The College of St. Chad. the holes of the bladder, with his hand, and soon after her Majesty rode abroad that afternoon. “And saith that he came out of Spain a resolved Papist. And that he was directed that after he had done this fearful treason, he should go to the house of Mr. Woodhouse, of Breccles, in Norfolk, and there he should find one Upton, a priest, of whom he should be further directed ; but denieth that he had any directions to acquaint Mr. Woodhouse himself with it, or ever did so, or did ever see him. And saith that the private token whereby Upton should know that he was assured to them, was that after he had taken Upton by the hand, he should take him by the thumb with his little finger. And saith that Mrs. Woodhouse would direct him to the said Upton, and had no token to Mrs. Woodhouse, but that he came from a Norfolk man in Spain, and if she asked his name, he should tell her. And saith that he brought for Mrs. Woodhouse a pair of beads from Walpole, but that he cast them away with other beads of his own ; and that Walpole said that the poison would speedily work, and that after the act done, the Spanish fleet should come, being then in readiness for that purpose. “Examined by us— “EDw. SQUIER.” “EDw. CokE,” &c. (as before). Same vol. n. Io9 [Munday and Rolls' examinations]. “The examination of William Monday, November 3rd, 1598. “He confesseth that between Whitsuntide and Midsummer last, as this examinant was in the hall of Thomas Fitzherbert at Madrid, for his departure, he came in from Father Cresswell in a great rage and passion, and walking up and down the hall, and saying what villains, rascals are Rolls and Squier to deceive the Catholic King in this sort, and to undo us all, for they had be- trayed a number of giddy priests in England, and opened all their secrets, and undone them. And this examinant asked what they, meaning what Rolls and Squier had done, to whom he answered, Squier undertook to poison the Queen's saddle, and Rolls under- took to kill the Queen, and therewith departed away in a rage. That John Stanley two or three days after told this examinant that Father Walpole did write a letter unto Cresswell and Fitz- herbert, giving them thereby to understand that Rolls and Squier had played the villains with them and betrayed them. Denies having even spoken with Squier or Rolls about the attempt. “Examined by us— “WM. MUNDAY.” “EDw. Coke,” &c. Father Richard Walpole. 25 I “Examination of Richard Rolls, 3rd of November, 1598. “He confesseth that Squiers and Rolls came about the 4th or 5th of June, according to the Gregorian computation, was twelve months, from Seville towards England. That in April or May was twelve months, Squier and Rolls received the Sacrament at Walpole's hands at Seville to make a show of this examinant's religion. That after he was sent out of prison Walpole persuaded this examinant to serve the King, to whom he answered that he would not serve him by any means, &c. “EDw. Coke,” &c. “RICHARD ROLLS.” In the same vol. cclxviii. n. I I I, dated Brussels, November 19th, 1598, is a long letter, probably intercepted, from Richard Bayley to Sir William Stanley. It states, inter alia, that Stanley, Rolls, and Squiers, had been committed to the Tower, and sorely racked, and were to be arraigned shortly for intending to poison the Queen; the Court gates were straightly watched; no stranger may go into the private kitchen, &c. The unscrupulous Attorney-General, Sir Edward Coke, had the effrontery to introduce this manifest, though tragical fabri- cation into his speech for the Crown in the prosecution of Father Henry Garnet in 1606. He says: “Not long after him comes Squires, sent by Father Walpole from Spain to poison the Queen.” Father Garnet in his defence thus answers the calumny : “The third thing I determined to speak of was the Jesuits in general, of whom some have been by Mr. Attorney accused of undertaking several treasonable attempts in the matters of . . . and Squire, of all which I can say no more but this, that I have had the hands and protestations of those Fathers that are accused, as Father Holt and Father Walpole, who on their salvation affirm they never treated with the parties concerning any such matter ; and that it was very unlikely, seeing the enterprizers of them were no Catholics, or but feigned Catholics, as Yorke and Squires were, who died Protestants, and were of so little acquaintance with those Fathers that it was no way probable they would employ them in matters of such weight. And however they might in time of torture, or for fear be brought to accuse themselves, yet at their death, some of them discovered the practices, and protested they died innocent, as Williams and Squires did.” Dr. Lingardº notices this extraordinary case. After briefly * Aſistory of Ængland, vol. vi. ch. viii. p. 581. 252 The College of S. Chad. detailing it, he says: “It is difficult to conceive a more ridicu- lous or incredible tale ; yet it brought the unhappy man to the scaffold. At his trial one of the counsel for the Crown repre- sented with great pathos the danger of Elizabeth ; but his feelings grew too big for utterance, he burst into a flood of tears and was compelled to sit down. The next who rose was more successful. His task was to describe her wonderful escape from the venom on the saddle. It was as evident a miracle as any recorded in Holy Writ: ‘For albeit the season was hot, and the veins open to receive any malign tainture, yet her body felt no distemperature, nor her hand no more hurt than did Paul's when he shook off the viper into the fire.” The prisoner in his defence said that while he was on the rack, he had confessed anything which he thought would satisfy the commissioners and relieve him from torture ; the truth was, he said, that Walpole had proposed the murder to him, but that he had never consented to it, nor ever employed poison for the purpose. Here one of the judges informed him that on his own showing he had been guilty of concealment of treason, and Sir Robert Cecil prevailed on him once more to confess the charge. He received judgment, and suffered the punish- ment of a traitor; but died asserting both his own and Walpole's innocence with his last breath.” It would appear that Squires and Stanley were both impostors. When Stanley was asked why he had accused Squires, he replied that the Spanish Minister, supposing that the assassin had deceived them, had through revenge hired him to give infor- mation of the treason. He was then put on the rack, and made to confess that he himself had been sent by Christoval de Mora to shoot the Queen (see Cecil’s letter, ut suffra). Dr. Lingard adds a note in the Appendix,” and appears to have taken great pains in examining this strange event, which made no small stir at the time. The Doctor well observes that if Titus Oates had never existed, the history of this ridiculous plot would suffice to show how easily the most absurd fictions obtain credit when the public mind is under the influence of religious prejudice. Father Walpole's account was put forth in opposition to the one issued by Government. Both accounts agree as to who Squires was, but the Government One ° Ellis, Sermon iii. 189. 7 Camden, p. 779, and Speed, I 183, are the authorities quoted. Dr. Lingard also cites a letter of Cecil’s in Birch, Megotiations, 184, 185. * C. c. p. 714. Aather Æichard Walpole. 253 makes Father Walpole to put the man into the Inquisition, and then to prevail on him to become a Catholic, and having sworn him to kill the Queen, procured him and one Rolles to be exchanged for two Spanish prisoners from England. The poison of course failed, but how came the plot to be discovered P. This is the most clumsy part of the story. Walpole, finding that the Queen was still alive, through revenge for the supposed infidelity of Squires, sent Stanley from Spain to reveal his guilt to the Council. º Chamberlain (October 3, 1598), in Bacon's works,” says: “Because nothing succeeded of it, the priest thinking he had either changed his purpose or betrayed it, gave Stanley Orders to accuse him ; thereby to get him more credit, and to be revenged of Squires for breaking promise. The fellow confessed the whole practice, and, as it seems, died very penitent.” Father Walpole's epistle is dated Rome, March 1, 1599. He concludes thus: “The world is now grown over well acquainted with the tales of Queen killing, as also that these bruites are inductions to the killing of such innocent servants of God, as light into the hands and power of the bloodthirsty.” These things occurred during Father Walpole's residence at Seville. Being removed to the English College at Valladolid he there published a work to dispel a certain ghost of heresy of his time (as may be seen in Pitzeus and Alegambe). He also rendered signal aid in the conversion of the Honourable Pickering Wootton, eldest son of Lord Wootton, upon his death-bed; the following narrative of whose conversion, written by the convert himself, is too interesting to be omitted in a memoir of this Father. It is given in More's Aſist. Prov. Ang/, lib. v. n. 47. Pickering was the eldest son of Baron Wootton, and had travelled through the greater part of France, Italy, Spain, and Germany for the purpose of learning both the languages and manners, an ancient Custom among the northern nations. He was most tenacious of the corrupt religion which, from his tender years he had imbibed, both from his own disposi- tion, as because it was that of his paternal uncle Henry Wootton, who was then Ambassador at Venice.19 Greedy of * Vol. vi. pp. 41, 42, note. Edition of 1803. * Sir Henry Wootton was no friend to the Jesuits. In the Public Record Office are two documents concerning him, viz.: Vol. xciii. n. 97, is a letter from Secretary Sir R. Winwood to Sir Henry Wootton, 254. The College of St. Chad. hearing, he conferred much upon matters of faith with many persons, led either by inclination or curiosity, and being a clever man would omit no opportunity of gaining information. The following is his own narrative of what occurred to him at Valladolid in his last sickness : “On Monday, October 3, 1605, being seized with fever I sent for the man who attended me in my chamber (he was a Catholic), and bound him by an oath not to call in any Father of the Society of Jesus, nor to mention a word about my illness. For my mind was entirely made up to live and die a Pro- testant, and to hear no more discussions regarding faith, for I considered that I had heard enough from many in Italy, Spain, and elsewhere. On Saturday, the thirteenth day of my illness, a certain Father of the Society who by chance had heard of my sickness, visiting me, asked me the reason of my unwillingness to give him notice of my serious state. “I was afraid,' I replied, “lest you should introduce some discourse of religion ; and I now beg of you, if you regard me, not to say a word about it.’ And when the Father nevertheless several times offered me various reasons why it behoved me to live and die a Catholic, I as often implored him to desist and asserted upon my soul that I had resolved, living or dying, to remain in the Protestant Faith, in which I had hitherto worshipped, being assured of the forgiveness of my sins through Jesus Christ, if I retained that faith until death. The Father, preparing to take his leave, asked if I should take it kindly should he again call to see me? * Certainly,' I said, “if you visit me as a friend, but if with the intention of again warning me upon the subject of religion, I pray and entreat of you not to come.’ On finally departing he said, ‘I wish you however specially and seriously to weigh this September 19, 1617, stating that the Jesuit sent over by him reſused to confess anything, except under a promise of remaining a pensioner in England if needful for his safety. His narrative when given was “so senseless and sleeveless a tale” that all were surprised at a man of learning travelling so far to tell it ; he declared he had nothing further to tell, and was therefore dismissed with 4, IOO for his journey (Venice Correspondence, September 19). In the same vol. n. I23 is a letter dated October 17, 1617, from Nathaniel Brent to Dudley Carleton in which, inter alia, he says, “An Italian Jesuit sent over by Sir Henry Wootton, could not obtain an audience of the King, was dissatisfied with the Secretaries and knows not what to do with himself.” The name of the Italian Jesuit does not appear. If he was one, which is highly improbable, he was a useless and costly spy, and had bette have stayed at home. Father Richard Walpole. 255 —you and most other Protestants believe that salvation is pos- sible to Catholics. On the other hand, how many are there now, and heretofore have been, who consider that Catholics hold as an indisputable article of faith, that Protestants and the rest of the heretics out of the pale of the Catholic Church, cannot possibly attain salvation. If, therefore, I join myself to the Catholics, I enter by the assent of both parties upon a secure way.’ This proposition did not at that time much move me. He then cautioned me against rendering my soul completely inflexible, and that I should beware lest by resisting with thoughts, the things which the Divine Goodness was ready to implant in my soul, I should obstinately exclude myself from the means which He might mercifully dispose for its Salvation; that I should rather commit myself entirely to Him with perfect indifference, and should beseech Him, if hitherto I had devi- ated from the right path, He would be pleased to teach me the true way in which I might serve Him and save my own soul. Bidding me good-bye, he begged me to send for him should I wish to hear anything further about religion, and that he would come to me at any hour of the night. “His last address sank deep into my heart, and seemed so reasonable that I was unable to do otherwise than follow such wise counsel. Therefore soon after his departure, raising myself as far as I was able upon my knees, with my hands lifted up to heaven, I implored of God my Creator, with all the fervour I Could, from the very bottom of my heart and with many tears, that He would deign to look upon me with the eyes of His mercy, and to make known to me His holy will in my regard, and show me the right path to Salvation, if I was not already in it. As I was persevering in ardent prayer, a most brilliant light presented itself to my eyes in the form of a cross, and at the same time there was infused into my soul so many arguments in favour of the Catholic faith, and that it alone was the way of Salvation, and on the other hand that the Protestant religion was most absurd, and leading to damnation, that all doubt entirely vanished from my mind. For among these proofs there were many which I never before remember to have heard from any one ; truly did my heart leap with such great joy that I Cannot find words to express it. I therefore immediately sent again for the Father, in the meantime begging of God to pre- serve me in this fervour of heart. Immediately on his arrival I asked him to hear my general confession, and related to him all that had happened to me. I was filled that day with an un- 256 The College of St. Chad. broken consolation and confidence of obtaining Salvation, with the firmest resolution, if I lived, of doing all in my power for the exaltation of the Catholic faith ; but if it was the will of God to take me out of this life, that I died willingly, and I gave myself up entirely into His most holy hands, praying all the court of heaven to help me in giving all thanks to God for this His so great mercy, in making me by so wonderful a vocation, a member of His Catholic and Roman Church, in which grace, by His assistance, I will live and die. In witness of the truth of all which I have signed my name this 17th day of October, 1605. In the presence of “RICHARD WALPOLE, “FRANCIS YOUNG, “JoHN PERSAL.” This was the fiſteenth day of his sickness, which rapidly increasing, the following day he changed this life for a better. He was honourably buried in the Church of St. Laurence, attended by a great concourse of the Spanish nobility who had been summoned to the Court of Philip III., which at that time happened to be held at Valladolid. The written narrative, confirmed by the signature of his dying son, having been transmitted to his father, the Baron Wootton, it was so great an incitement to him that, casting off with all haste the fear of the penal laws, and despising the perishing goods of this world, he embraced the Catholic ſaith; and on that account having been called to trial, he persevered undauntedly, resolved to suffer the loss of all things else, rather than of the most certain and firmest of all—religion.” * The Annual Letters for the College of Valladolid for the previous year, I604, relate another case of conversion of an Englishman of rank, a Sir Thomas Palmer, Kt., a man singularly endowed with giſts both of mind and body, of high birth in England, and enjoying great favour and authority at Court. He came to Valladolid both ſor the purpose of seeing Spain and of learning the language, and in the interim visiting the English College, he treated familiarly with the Fathers, and began to entertain serious thoughts in his heart of the Catholic religion, and at the same time to despise heresy, in which he had been educated, and especially the Protestant ministers (truly, say the annals, a mean race of men), and of whom he declared that henceſorward he should be most cautious, lest they should cheat him out of his Salvation. But lo! whilst cogitating these things, he was overtaken by a sudden and mortal sickness. Therefore, perceiving himself to be in danger of death, he sedulously set to work to reconcile himself to the Catholic Church. Having received all the last Sacraments he died, and was honourably interred with Catholic rites; to the great amazement also Father Richard Walpole. 257 Father Richard Walpole is named in a statement made by a John Penkevelle to Secretary Cecil, who had been taken prisoner on landing from a bark arrived from Spain.” He says (among other things), that he was imprisoned thirty-seven days in Madrid by the Jesuits, then sent by the King's command to Valladolid, and kept six months in a dungeon among thieves. I was prisoner in all, eleven months—in irons and without a bed. I was visited by Richard Walpole, the Jesuit, who asked why I came to Spain and which of the Council sent me, saying the King was informed of me and the causes of my coming, and if he desired it I should be extremely tortured, and no mercy afforded. After acknowledging himself to be a spy, he says that Walpole carried his confession to the King, but brought no answer. After staying seven months longer in prison he was released. He says the Jesuits were his mortal enemies; would not admit him to their College, and blamed him for frequenting Mr. Waad [the cruel rack-master, &c. in the Tower], the only persecutor of Catholics. And that the Jesuits had him apprehended, believing he was sent by Cecil to breed factions in the College at Valladolid, as in Rome and England, &c. &c. [No one reading the man's own statement but would say that he deserved all, and much more. He states himself to be a Catholic.] The following intercepted letter from Father Richard Walpole, among the State Papers, P.R.O., is added, though it possesses but little matter of interest. State Papers, Domestic, Elizabeth, vol. cclxiv, n. 79. [Fri- dorsed, August Io, 1597. Letter from Walpole.] “Good Mr. Verstegan—With one of yours for me of the 18th of April came another yesterday for Father Pineda, wherein you certify him in what state his Seminaries be in ; he is now well forward in the reprinting of his book, and shall Conse- Quently have need of what you have despatched in all haste. If all three be done, he requireth they may be sent presently. If only the first be done, that the other be let alone, and that sent without expecting the title and name of the author, which here shall be added. The only thing which he most desireth of the English Protestants, who in great numbers were in the city, and attended the funeral. In fact, the event was the cause of the greatest admiration to all, who readily acknowledged in this change the hand of the Most High. * Domestic, Elizabeth, vol. cclzxxiv. n. 32 i. June 14, 1602. IR 258 The College of St. Chad. is speedy despatch, not being a little afflicted with so long delay, thanking you, notwithstanding, most heartily for your pains, who in truth had reason to think no such haste should be necessary, he having signified his want of letters and desired to find them here; but after met with a very good commodity in these parts. We thank you all for your diligence in buying these books, sent for by Father Penalty, which we expect daily; and hereafter shall have occasion to trouble you much more in that kind for this College in Seville, which yet is [wanting] of a library, the only and chiefest want it hath. And so for this time our Lord be with you. “Seville, this Ioth day of August, I 597. “Yours, “RICHARD WALPOLE. “To Mr. Verstegan.—These, “ANVERS.” We close this portion of the history of St. Chad's College with the following life of Father Edward Walpole, S.J., and short notices of Father Michael and Father Christopher Walpole.” LIFE OF FATHER EDWARD WALPOLE, S.J. Father Edward Walpole was a native of Norfolk, eldest son and heir of John Walpole, of Houghton, in the county of Norfolk, Esq., the owner of the ancient family estates in that county. He was first cousin to Father Henry Walpole, the martyr (who suffered at York, 1594, for the Catholic faith, and for having been ordained priest abroad and returning to England to preach the Faith), and to Fathers Richard, Michael, and Christopher Walpole. As Father Henry Walpole, his cousin, was converted to the Catholic faith by the merits and example of the blessed martyr, Father Edmund Campion, so did Father Edward Walpole owe his conversion to the merits, example, and instructions of his martyred cousin Henry. Edward’s father was a member of the strictest sect of Calvinists, and he himself, the eldest son, * It was not, the orginal intention to introduce here the life of Father Edward Walpole, as he was not connected with the Staffordshire district, but it has been thought better not to disconnect the notices of the Walpole family, which has furnished no less than six eminent members to the English Province, S.J. Pather Edward Walpole. 259 and the favourite of his parents, was no less deeply imbued with the same heretical doctrines. His cousin Henry, moved to it by an early intimacy from the very cradle, and the known sincerity of Edward's Soul, and his happy disposition, greatly desired to point out to him the right path; but the impious tenets he had imbibed from early years, strengthened by the example of his family and his own dutifulness to his parents, combined with the severity of the penal laws in force against Catholics, operated so forcibly to hold him back, that he held on the war for two years, some- times by familiar discourse with his cousin, sometimes by letter. Books also that were lent him aided the work of conviction : amongst others, the Confessions of St. Austin, the Imitation of Christ, &c. When he saw the perfect agreement in opinion of Catholics with those great Doctors and masters of the spiritual life, and, on the other hand, by reading the reply of Fulke, the Calvinist, to Cardinal Allen's book upon Purgatory; the contempt with which his own sect treated all the Fathers of antiquity, the Doctors and Councils both of the Latin and Greek Church, a deep impression was made upon him. But what put a finishing stroke to this contest was a letter he received from his cousin Henry, written with Such force of argument, and such fervent zeal, that he recognized the finger of God in it, and felt convinced that it was dictated by the Spirit of Truth. This letter was handed to Edward while sitting at table, who opened and read it there, and was so overcome by his feelings that, unable to repress or conceal them, he instantly rose from table and retired to a room alone, where falling upon his knees, with a loud voice and floods of tears, he acknowleged himself vanquished, begged mercy of God for so long resisting His grace, and yielded himself a conquest to the truth of the Catholic Church. All doubt and hesitation of embracing it at the same moment vanished from his mind, together with all fear of penal laws, or of offending his family. * His parents took his conversion so much to heart, that they actually complained to the Privy Council of his cousin Henry, who in consequence had to escape to the Continent. Love and grief struggled with rage in their breasts; his parents were also influenced by the fear of the laws which might come into force against themselves, should their son become a Catholic. Edward had not as yet seen a Catholic priest, though he held firmly to the Faith he had embraced. The R 2 26o The College of St. Chad. efforts made, and the schemes put in motion to move and subvert him, were equal to a father's natural affection, and the false religious zeal of a Puritan, to whom the very death of a son, and that an eldest and beloved one, as Edward was, in the flower of his age, then twenty-two years old, was far preferable to seeing him become a Catholic. He engaged the most learned ministers in the county of Norfolk to dispute with him, and endeavour to change his determination; these failing, they took him to London to be convinced by more able ones there, but with no greater success, for he was proof against all their attempts whether by threats or blandishments. Then, despairing of turning him from his resolve, his mother one day quite unexpectedly summoned him to her presence, and with many tears handed him about two pounds sterling (and this as though it was something great), and drove him from her sight and out of her house, telling him to go about his business, and seek his own livelihood and fortunes; and that so long as he remained a Papist, he should forget that he had father or mother in England. She moreover disowned him as her own son, repenting having brought him forth, and should he by chance at any time recur to her memory in spite of herself, it should be only to abominate, and call him most miserable She finally branded him an insolent apostate, a dishonour to his country, and a disgrace to his family. But all was in vain ; Edward preferred the love of God before all other considerations. His cruel mother was utterly ignorant of what the grace of God is able to effect in so amiable a soul, and the strength it can impart to meet such terrible threats; she foolishly imagined that the prospect of the inconveniences of poverty to a youth as he was, an eldest son and heir to a large property, so delicately nurtured, would alarm him, and soon cause him to return to his home and to her arms, nay, even to supplicate it at her feet. But by the help of God it was not so to be, that he who had ſound the treasure of the Faith, and through it eternal life and beatitude, should take into account as worthy of comparison his future earthly patrimony. He even changed his proper name of Walpole at the same time for that of Pauper (Edward Pauper, were Walpole). And thus embracing the state of poverty voluntarily for Christ's sake, he gave proof of a nobler spirit than was implied in the splendour of any earthly descent. Edward remained for some time privately with a relation Father Edward Walpole. 26 I of the family, who was favourably inclined towards Catholics ; waiting for a good opportunity of crossing over to the Continent. Being detected in the very port, he was appre- hended and taken to London, and brought prisoner before the Privy Council. God was pleased to design this event for the trial of His servant's faith, and also to remunerate the benevolence of his late kind host. For that gentleman having for a long time, owing to some domestic quarrels, been separated from his wife, Edward had during his Sojourn taken a favourable opportunity of adjusting their differences, and obtaining their happy reconciliation ; and the husband ſalling mortally sick, he also obtained his con- version and reconciliation with God. This gentleman dying without issue, made Edward heir to his estates. 14 Bettered in his fortunes by this windfall, he obtained leave from the Privy Council to travel on the Continent for three years. “Thesauro ostenso nunquam desunt qui inhient.” Edward's perseverance in his newly adopted Faith, joined to his long absence from the country, raised hopes in some that they would be able to obtain by favour with the Queen, the possession of his estates, should he become a priest. Again, they thought he might never return to England; or, should he return, he might be readily deprived. They, therefore, at first sought to get possession upon the ground of his being * This relative was no doubt Father Edward Walpole's first cousin, William Walpole (son of Sergeant John Walpole, of Harpley and Colkirk, Norfolk), of North Tuddenham, Norſolk, and of Fitleworth, Sussex, and of Gray's Inn. He died in 1587. His will was proved in Doctors' Commons, December, 1587. He married Mary, daughter of William Blackwell, town clerk of London. [See pedigree of the Walpole family by Dr. Jessopp, of Norwich, 1874.] “This William Walpole was leſt by his ſather's will under the tutorship of Bishop Thirlby, of Ely. Thirlby was connected with the Campions (whether closely with Edmund Campion I have as yet ſailed to discover, but I have small doubt upon the point myselſ); he was married after coming of age to Mary Blackwell (the Blackwells were connected by marriage closely with the said Campions) and at the death of her mother the pair were living apparently apart. On William's death, in 1587, they were living together, and almost certainly reconciled. The great bulk of William’s property was leſt to Edward aſter the death of the widow. I think this helped to save the property to the Walpoles, i.e. it made it easier for Calibut to buy the reversionary interest from the ſellow to whom it had been made over by the attainder ; but the diſficulty is that the Tuddenham property had been apparently already sold by Edward, though it too had been left to Edward only aſter the death of the widow’’ [From a letter of Dr. Jessopp to the Editor, 7th of September, 1874]. w 262 Zhe College of St. Chad. a fugitive ; then urged that he had incurred forfeiture by high treason in joining the Catholics, the Queen's enemies.” He had not as yet decided upon a state of life, and his three years having expired he returned to England, ignorant of the plots devised against him. He went to his brother, who lived in London, and who at first kindly received him. After a few days, however, he changed his tone, gave him notice to depart, and not again to appear in his sight; stating that he could not conceal one who was under the ban of the penal laws on account of so foul a crime; neither would he furnish him with what was lawfully his own, unless he cleared himself, and becoming obedient to the laws, put himself in a position in which he could without personal danger, render him assist- ance. “Tam parum fida est in discrimine ipsa sanguinis propinquitas.” His return being noised abroad, they searched the houses of many persons up and down the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk for him ; but, eluding the grasp of the pur- suivants, he gathered together some money, and again Crossed the seas, more eager to preserve his faith and piety than his estates. The lowly opinion he entertained of himself, deterred him at first from going to Rome for his higher studies pre- paratory to taking Holy Orders; for, with his high sense of the office of the priesthood, he could recognize nothing in himself suitable for that dignity in the least degree. But God was pleased to inspire him with the intention which he feared himself to entertain, by the following event. On his way to Naples, the vessel was overtaken by a terrible storm ; Edward hereupon made a vow, that if they were spared alive, he would give himself up to the Rector of the English College, Rome, and take Holy Orders provided he judged him fit to do , so ; and he made Dr. Richard Smith, afterwards Bishop of Chalcedon (his fellow-passenger), a witness to this his vow. They escaped the danger; and, arriving at Rome, he entered the English College as an alumnus on the 23rd of October, 1590, in company with his cousin Michael Walpole. After making his theological studies for three years, he was Ordained priest; then in order to go further on in the path of perfection, * Among the State Papers, P.R.O., Zom. Æliz. vol. cclxiv. n. 70, August 1, 1597, is a grant in ſee farm to James Hussey and John Goodman, of Houghton and Massington manors, in Norfolk and Suffolk, late posses- sions of Edward Walpole, attainted. Rent, 4, 19 3s. 8d. In consideration of services and charges rendered to Sir Anthony Ashley, clerk of the Privy Council, in finding out her Majesty's title thereto. Pather Ædward Walpole. 26 s he returned to Belgium, and entering the Society of Jesus at Tournay, in the year 1593, in the thirty-third year of his age, he dedicated to God all that remained to him in this world, which was himself alone.” Having completed his noviceship, he spent two years more in missionary work at Louvain, Brussels, and Antwerp ; then, returning to England, he laboured in that mission for full forty years, and accomplished what few others could do—to live and labour for so long a time, in the midst of the most bitter persecutions and in Constant danger of death, and elude the grasp of the pursuivants. He was a man naturally affable and cour- teous, which, with an innate candour of soul rendered him a general favourite. As we have seen, he abandoned his paternal estates—said to have been worth upwards of 4,800 a year in those early days—for conscience' sake, and was deprived of three other estates devised to him by his kind friend and host, namely, the manors of Houghton and Massingham in Norfolk, and Weybread in Suffolk. When upwards of seventy-eight years of age he fell into his last sickness. After receiving the Holy Viaticum he asked to be anointed, in order to defend himself on his journey to his heavenly country. He made all the responses with great sen- timents of devotion ; then, giving to a father standing by, a written paper which he kept in his prayer-book, he asked him to read aloud the following profession of faith; repeating after him each sentence in a clear voice. “I live and die in the faith of Jesus Christ, and of His Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church : I believe all that is contained in the Apostles' Creed ; that there are likewise Seven Sacraments ; and whatsoever Christ hath proposed by His Church to be believed. I hate all heresies ; I humbly beg pardon for my sins, and I firmly resolve to commit them no more, should it please God to prolong my life. I forgive my enemies all injuries committed against me, and I beg pardon of any whom I may at any time have injured. I desire to offer up these my sufferings and death, for the glory of God, and in Satisfaction for my sins.” The Passion of our Lord was then read to him, which he accompanied by frequent acts of the theological virtues—faith, * Father Henry Walpole, the martyr, in one of his examinations says that he brought over with him in 1594 “a note concerning some business to be done in England for his kinsman, Edward Walpole, the priest, who then was at Tournay in Artoise. 264 The College of St. Chad. hope, and charity. Then, asking for his rosary, with the blessed medal attached, he placed it round his neck, and closing his eyes, as though in sleep, he quietly rendered his soul to God on the 3rd of March, 1637. The following short eulogy of this good Father is taken from the summary of the deceased of the English Province, 1637. “P. Edward Walpole, a native of Norfolk, aet. 77. In Soc. 44. Professed Spiritual Coadjutor on Ist May, 1609. Died in London, 3rd November [March], 1637 (O.S.). He was born of a family of rank in the county of Norfolk. After making his humanity studies, according to the custom of Our gentry, he studied the law in one of the Inns of Court in London, where he was converted to the Catholic faith by his relative Henry Walpole, who afterwards entered the Society, and became a martyr for the Catholic faith. They were both at the time studying the law together. In his conversion, Father Edward Walpole encountered the greatest opposition from his parents and relations. After this, renouncing his paternal estate of three thousand gold crowns per annum, he betook himself to Rome, where he became priest, and entering the Society of Jesus, he returned to England, in which mission he lived and laboured for thirty-nine years with great fruit and edification. He was once Superior of the Devonshire district. In 1627, Father Edward was in London, as appears by a letter of one Alexander Couler to his friend William Jackson. P.R.O. State Papers, Domestic, Charles J. vol. lxviii. n. 8, June 26. After giving various information of Jesuits’ resi- dences, &c., he says “that the Countess of Buckingham's lodge, called ‘the Porch, at the end of the King's garden, lodgeth Fisher, Walpole, and Floyd. Two others dine there, but they remove at the end of this week to the Duke's house at Chelsea.” f & By a list of Jesuits, endorsed by Salisbury—“A note of the Jesuits that lurk in England,” furnished to the Privy Council by a spy,” it appears that Father Edward Walpole was then “with old Mr. Cotton, at Swanborough in Sussex.” He was also fixed by Father John Gerard,” at a place near Oxford, probably the seat of the ancient Catholic family of Curzon, of Waterperry, near Oxford. Father Gerard says that amongst the families who came to the determination to follow * See State Papers, Domestic, James Z. vol. vii. n. 50, 1603. * See his Life in Father Morris' Condition of Catholics, p. clv. Aather Michael Walpole. 265 the example of the Vauxes of Harrowden, in the religious mode of life which the Father had established there—providing altar, chapel, rooms for a priest, &c., in their mansions, was a certain lady resident near Oxford, whose husband was indeed a Catholic, but overmuch devoted to worldly pursuits. She however gave herself to be directed by Father Gerard, as far as she could, having such a husband. “I often visited them,” he says, “and was always welcomed by both, and there I established one of our Fathers, Edward Walpole, whom I mentioned in an early part of this narrative, as having left a large patrimony for the sake of following Christ our Lord, in the first year of my residence in England.” Among the Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia A. i. n. 62, is an original letter from Father Henry Walpole to Father Edward, addressed—“To my very good and loving cousin, Mr. Edward Walpole, Rome.” The letter is upon family and business matters, and scarcely worth insertion here, but Dr. Jessopp of Norwich, in his “Letters of Father Henry Walpole the martyr, edited 1873,” gives the following annotation to his copy of this letter. “This letter is written to Edward Walpole, son and heir of John Walpole, of Houghton, county Norfolk, Esquire. He was born, according to Collins' Peerage, in 1559. Accord- ing to his own brief biography in the album of the Tournay Novitiate,” he was born about 1562; spent four years at Cam- bridge, but at what College I have as yet failed to discover. At the death of Robert Earl of Leicester, he succeeded to certain estates in Norfolk, as heir to Amy Robsart. These he con- veyed to his brother Calibut, 18th September, 1588. He entered the Novitiate at Tournay, 1st July, 1593. He was indicted in the King's Bench for a supposed treason done at Rome, Ioth March, 38th Elizabeth ; upon which indict- ment, 26th May, 39th Elizabeth, he was outlawed. He was heir to large possessions in Norfolk and Suffolk, which were forfeited to the Crown ; most of them, however, his brother Calibut was able to redeem.”” FATHER MICHAEL WALPOLE, as we have seen by the pedigree, was seventh brother to Father Henry Walpole the martyr. He accompanied his cousin, Father Edward Walpole, to Rome, in 1590. Father John Gerard mentions * Brussels Royal Library MSS. IoI6. * Dr. Jessopp's Introduction to letters of Father Henry Walpole. 266 The College of St. Chad. him in his deeply interesting narrative.” He says, speaking of the goodness of God towards himself in regard to the faithfulness of his companions and friends, “Those who were my companions, or the servants I intrusted with Commissions to the gentlemen of my acquaintance, as they necessarily knew all my friends, would have been able to do very great mischief, and enrich themselves by ruining others; yet not one of them ever caused any harm either by word or deed, wittingly or un- wittingly ; nor as far as I remember did they ever give me cause of complaint. On many of them God, in His goodness, poured the choicest gifts of His Holy Spirit. John Lasnet, the first that I had, died in Spain a lay-brother of the Society; the second that I had for some little while was Michael Walpole, who is now a priest of the Society, and labouring in England.” In another place Father Gerard introduces him as converting a certain knight to the Catholic faith. “About the same time I received into the Church a lady, the wife of a certain knight, who is at the present day a very good and useful friend of our fathers. Her husband was at this time a Protestant, but his brother had been brought by me, through the Spiritual Exer- cises, to despise the world and follow the counsels of Christ. He introduced me to his sister, and after one or two interviews she embraced the Catholic faith, although she was well assured that she should incur great losses as soon as it should become known to her husband, as in truth it came to pass. For he first tried caresses, then threats, and left no means unemployed to shake her resolution ; insomuch that for a long time she had nothing to expect Or hope but to be separated from her husband, and stripped of all the goods of the world, that so in patience she might possess her soul. When her husband was on her account deprived of the public employment which he held, she bore it with great fortitude, and remained ever constant and even in mind. At length by her virtue and patience she rendered her husband a friend to the Catholics, and afterwards himself a Catholic. He was reconciled by the ministry of Father [Michael] Walpole, to whom I had recom- mended her on my leaving England.” In the same Life of Father Gerard” is a short extract of a letter written by Father Michael Walpole to Father Parsons in Rome, January 29, 1606, regarding the false charge against Father Gerard of being a party in the Gunpowder Plot. He says: “Touching Gerard’s letter, which I have seen, I can * Father Morris’ Condition of Catholics. * P. 245. Father Michael Walpole. 267 only say this much, that it seemeth to me to be so effectual, as nothing can be more; so that I am fully persuaded that the King's Majesty himself and the whole Council remain Satisfied of him [in] their own hearts, and his Majesty is reported for certain to have declared so much in words upon the sight of his letter.” In the end, after his name, he writes thus— “This letter is confirmed since by Sir Everard Digby's speech at his arraignment, in which he cleared all Jesuits and priests (to his knowledge) upon his salvation. And in par- ticular, that though he was intimately acquainted with Gerard, yet he never durst mention the matter, being fully assured that he would be wholly against it, to which my Lord of Salisbury replied, affirming the contrary, and that he knew him to be guilty.” As we have seen by the pedigree, Father Michael died at Seville in 1620, at the age of fifty-one. We have from his able pen—I. A treatise on the subjection of princes to God and the Church (4to. St. Omer, 1608); 2. “Five books of philosophical comfort, with marginal notes,” translated from the Latin of Boetius (8vo. London, 1609, I44 pages) ; 3. “Admonitions to the English Catholics Con- cerning the edict of King James’ (4to. St. Omer, 16Io); 4. Antichrist Extant, against George Downham (2 vols. 4to. St. Omer, 1613–14). He calls himself Michael Christopherson. Connected with this work we add the following translation of a letter written to the author by Cardinal Robert Bellar- mine, S.J., taken from the very rare collection of the Cardinal’s letters— To Michael Wałóole, S.J. (77th Leffler). “Very Rev. Father, P.C. “I do not esteem myself so highly as to wish other writers to swear to my words. Therefore your Reverence will do me no injury if you follow the opinions of others rather than mine. As to the first difficulty, I wish it could be clearly proved that Antichrist is to be born of the tribe of Dan, and your Reverence will do me a great favour if you could show the passage of Scripture by which this is proved; for though it might be said that in the Apocalypse the tribe of Ephraim is contained in Joseph, still it will always remain true that the name of Ephraim was passed over in silence, not without 268 The College of St. Chad. mystery; nor could one gather for certain from the fact that the name of Dan is not mentioned in the Apocalypse, that Anti- christ is to be of the tribe of Dan, for it may have been passed over for other reasons unknown to us. But it is probable that, out of hatred to Antichrist, that tribe was not mentioned ; I have not denied, and I willingly accept that hypothesis, but as an hypothesis, and not as a proof. As to the first beast, I cannot persuade myself that it signifies Antichrist, as one of its heads, viz., that which was slain and came to life, is held by the common interpretation of the Fathers to be Antichrist; nor does it contradict this opinion, that the number 666 is the number of the name of the beast, for I grant that the first beast is Antichrist, by reason of the first head, but not of all its heads. Again, it is ridiculous to call Antichrist Latin or Roman, because Antichrist will not be a Latin or Roman Emperor, but he will be one, and that the chief, of the heads of the beast—that is, one of the kings who will divide among themselves, destroy, and overturn the Roman Empire. In a word, let your Reverence do as you like, and fight for God’s glory and the good of the Church. He acts with me who refutes the adversaries of the Faith. I seek not my glory, but the glory of Christ. Wishing your Reverence all success, and a remembrance of myself in your holy prayers, &c., “Servus in Christo, “ROBERT CARDINAL BELLARMINE. “A’ome, August 7, 16IO.” In his epistle dedicatory to King James he treats of the system of persecution practised against Catholics. “It is too notorious in the world what Catholics suffer for their conscience in your Majesty's dominions, how many things lie hid which would astonish and amaze the world, if they were laid open to the view thereof What prying into men's secret actions ! How many are beaten and often tormented even to death in private houses without any trial I might add such other particulars as the rods kept in store by Some of no small account, for young persons under twenty years of age, whom they use like scholars, thinking it not to be against their gravity to whip them privately with their own hands.”28 * In confirmation of this, see the conſlict of the four Worthington boys, p. I22, ante. Aather Christopher Walpole. 269 The work Antichrist AExtant, against Dr. Downham, who had written a work to prove the Pope to be the Man of Sin, was reprinted in 1632. Father Michael Walpole also published a translation from the Latin of Father Ribadeneira’s Zife of St. Ignatius of Zoyola, St. Omer, 1616, 12mo, which has gone, says Dr. Oliver, through several editions. Several of Father Michael's letters are subscribed “Martinus Becanus.” FATHER CHRISTOPHER WALPOLE.-We have but little to add to what is given in the pedigree regarding this Father. When an alumnus of Cambridge University he was converted to the Catholic faith by Father John Gerard. At the time of his death at Valladolid College, S.J., in 1606, he was Spiritual Father in that College, and died, as Father Gerard says, “Cum dolore omnium, et detrimento patriae.” Father Henry More” very briefly notices him, thus— “ Unum memoravimus Regis Hispaniae stipendiis militan- tem; alterum, qui postguam captivo fratri in Zelandia suc- currerat exemplo et hortatione fratris petiit Societatem. Is erat Christophorus, Academiae Cantabrigienses alumnus, nostri Joannes Gerardi operä Ecclesiae conciliatus, et ad iter Hollandi cum viatico adjutus; profectus Roman in Anglicano aliquandiu studuit; annum deinde aetatis cum ageret, 24, in Societatem admissus 7 Sept. 1592, et missus in Hispanias non diu Superfuit. Nam ann. 1606, Vallisoleti obiit, spiritualium rerum Praefectus, quarum et sanctae solitudinis fuerat perquam studiosus.” As to the blessed martyr FATHER HENRY WALPOLE, we do not here give any detailed account beyond the summary in the pedigree. Dr. Jessopp in his Introduction to “Letters of Henry Walpole, S.J. (executed at York, April 17, 1595), from the Original MSS. at Stonyhurst College,” gives us good hopes to look for a full and complete history from his pen of this great martyr for the faith of his forefathers, in the following paragraph : “It would be out of place in my judgment to preface Such a collection by any long account of Father Walpole's history. I reserve that for another opportunity.” In the meanwhile the reader is referred to Bishop Challoner's truthful Memoirs of Missionary Ariests; Bartoli, S.J., * Hist. Arov. Anglia. 25 P. 3. 27o The College of St. Chad. Inghilterra; Tanner, S.J., Martyrs of the Society of Jesus; and the editor presumes leave of the above learned doctor to quote the following deeply interesting passage in his said introduction, in which, after speaking of a document in the Public Record Office, Brussels, containing a brief record of Father Henry Walpole's life, from his birth down to a few months after the date of his English letters, and which carries us by the help of the marginal notes to within a year of the time when he was summoned to Spain by Father Parsons, before being sent on that mission which introduced him to the horrors of the torture- chamber, and ended in the gallows, he continues—“On these matters it is not now the time to speak. Let it not be forgotten, however, that we are dealing here with an English gentleman of birth and fortune, a man of exceptionally high culture, of great intellectual gifts, of deep and fervent enthusiasm, who had sacri- ficed everything that most men hold dearest, for what he believed to be divine truth; and that, distinctly and unmistakeably, he suffered simply and only because he, being a Jesuit and a priest, returned to his fatherland to preach doctrines which fifty years before his execution were the only doctrines allowed in the land, and for controverting which in his father's boyhood, any man would have suffered as surely as the Son Suffered for proclaiming them in that father's old age.” The sixth and last member of the family who entered the Society was FATHER CHRISTOPHER WARNER (vere WALPOLE). We cannot satisfactorily trace to which branch of the family he belongs. We give in brief, at the foot of the pedigree in page 235, all the information that our present means afford us. (Ibitt 52tígg, PART II. COLLEGE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: THE DERBYSHIRE DISTRICT, S.J. THE COLLEGE OF THE IMMIACULATE CONCEPTION. THIS was another of the original Colleges, or quasi-Colleges, established by Father Richard Blount, the first Provincial of the English Province, about the year I 633, or very soon after that period. - For many years this ancient College had become extinct as a district; when, upon the establishment of the present College and Convictus at Spink Hill, Eckington, Chesterfield (one of the oldest missions of the English Province, dating upwards of two hundred and fifty years), by the late Father Provincial Randal Lythgoe, in the year 1842, it became partially revived, under the appellation of Mount St. Mary’s College—Collegium Sanctæ Marza ad Montem. `-- - - This College or district embraced the counties of Derby, Leicester, North Notts, and Rutland. The following places, among others of which no record remains, were formerly served or visited by the fathers attached to it, viz.— J3arlebrough - Leicester Belgrave (Leicestershire) Nottingham At Mrs. Brooksby's Queensborough (Notts) Clifton (Notts) Spink Hill Derby Stanley Grange, near Derby Highfield - Westhallam, Derby Holbeck (Notts) Wingerworth Holt (Leicestershire) Winsley. Husband-Bosworth In the P.R.O. State Papers is a letter from the infamous Topcliffe, the priest-hunter, to Lord Burghley, with information from Derbyshire, from which the following is an extract. Derbyshire. Zom. Æliz. vol. ccxlv. n. 98. Sept. 19, 1593. Richard Topcliff to Lord Burghley. Sends him intelligence brought from Derbyshire touching Francis Ridcall, the rebel and traitorous priest, late steward to S 274 College of the Zmmaculate Conception. the old Lord and Lady Montague, and what company he met at Buxton since he fled—Ridcall fled from his farm and goods worth 24, 1,000, which was near Woking, Surrey, upon land belonging to Lord Montague—to William Bassets, at Langford, county Derby, where he had conference with Mr. Langford the Papist, and Basset's cousin germain. Basset was examined upon these deep articles, whereof he was advised by his cousin Fitzherbert upon talk with Gray the priest, his old schoolmaster, but he denied talking of her Majesty. Ridcall fled from thence to Buxton, where he met Sir Robert Dormer and his wife, and Harris, her traitorous Seminary priest, Sir Henry Constable, of Holderness, and his wife with her traitorous priest Johnson, Sir Thomas Lea, of Stoneley, and his wife, and a number of Papists. From Buxton, Ridcall went to a tower of Lord Windsor’s in Derbyshire, let on lease to Edward Bentley, lately condemned for treason, but at liberty, and to his wife, daughter of Reaper, and niece to Lord Montague. There he was harboured and relieved in a wood of Lord Windsor’s by his tenants and servants, but hearing of the apprehension of Garnet and Gray by the writer, he fled northwards to some of his late patronesses. One of Lord Windsor's tenants' sons fled with him. Has taken the father and mother of Ridcall's guides; expects to take Ridcall also. Topcliff asks whether her Majesty knows how far the examination by Sir Edward Stafford and himself, at her express Command, of Gilbert Langhton [or Laton], prisoner in the Tower, come over from Father Parsons and Cardinal Allen, touched Lord Windsor. He can deeply touch him and other Papists. From the year 1635 to 1677, the period to which the present history extends, the average number of fathers labouring in the district was about ten each year; the number varying, the highest being fifteen, and the lowest seven. The average number of yearly conversions to the Faith was about thirty, but the means of ascertaining are very imperfect.' The Leicestershire missions of the Society were founded in 1607, by Father William Wright, who, on his escape from prison in London, retired into Leicestershire and there laboured for about thirty years; during twelve years of which he was the Superior. It does not appear in what part of the county he was settled, but in those days the priests were for the most part missionarić excurrenſes. The following memoir of this Father will be read with interest. 275 LIFE OF FATHER WILLIAM WRIGHT, S.J. This eminent Father of the English Province of the Society, was one of the many champions raised up for the defence of the Catholic faith and the rights of the Holy See in our country in the commencement of the seventeenth century. He con- stantly witnessed against the oath of allegiance and Supremacy, which James I. endeavoured to force all Catholics to take on pain of death, as in cases of high treason. Such testimony was the more urgent from the fact of the Rev. George Blackwell, the Archpriest of England, having unhappily yielded under the severe pressure of those terrible times of bloody persecution. By his defection in this matter, the archpriest drew after him a Small party of the clergy and laity, too ready to shelter them- selves under his authority and example. Father William Wright was a native of York, born in the year 1560. He entered the Society of Jesus in Rome, I 581, and was solemnly professed of the four vows 1602, and died January 18, 1639, at the age of seventy-nine." He was for a few months chaplain to the ancient family of the Gages of Hengrave Hall, where he was seized by the pursuivants and cast into prison in London, in 1606. By means of his friends he effected his escape after three months, and then, retiring into Leicestershire, became the ſounder of the mission of the Society of Jesus in that county. The Archpriest Blackwell having unhappily fallen, the King appeared to think that he had also put all the rest of the Catholics /lors de combat, and that, as he observed to the French Ambassador, he had but to show them the subscrip- tion of the archpriest to the oath. But he did not calculate that God had reserved to Himself instruments to witness to the truth, and by meek persistency to withstand the royal will. * At Gratz, the Sodality of our Blessed Lady of the Annunciation and Immaculate Conception was created and confirmed in 1595. On February 2, 1596, the first Rector of the Sodality, i.e. Prefect, was appointed— Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, “Vices Rectoris gessit Illustrissimus D. Nicholaus Ursinus Comes de Blagay.” Its Praeses was Father William Wrightus, who, I presume, continued to act as such until 1603, when I find a new Praeses. Annus Marianus Sodalis Gracensis, &c. 1707, pp. I57, I58. (Information by Edmund Waterton, Esq.) S 2 276 College of the /memaculate Conception. The first of these, it may be said, was Toby Matthews, Son of the Archbishop of York, who had been converted to the Catholic faith in Rome by Father Robert Parsons, and had lately returned to London; a youth of the rarest parts, greatly beloved and esteemed, especially among his young Cotem- poraries of the upper class. There were also three others, like himself, of the house of Gage, all of whom appeared to be possessed of that spirit of truth and courage in which the Archpriest Blackwell had failed. Great was the astonishment they caused to the whole of London, and afterwards to the entire kingdom, by their boldness in protesting against the oath of supremacy, and in defending the unlawfulness of taking it ; and this principally by word of mouth, and in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dr. Morton, his theo- logian, whom Matthews, moreover, put to silence in a disputation. This triumph over error procured them a very severe imprisonment, which they underwent with great joy of heart, being there visited by the fathers in stealth, and encou- raged to place their confidence in God against all possible eventS. But the greatest check given to the designs of the King was the opposition made to the archpriest by Father William Wright, who, by the divine disposition of Providence, fell into the hands of the pursuivants. When a youth, being possessed of great courage and sincere faith, and unwilling to risk either to any perilous encounters with the heretics who overran his unhappy Country, he escaped abroad by the aid of an uncle, a priest, and went to Rheims, from whence, after a time, he proceeded to the English College in Rome, in the year 1581, where on the 18th October, 1581, he was admitted an alumnus, and in less than two months, viz. the 8th December, 1581, was received into the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus. Here he made admirable progress in the science of virtue. He spent twenty years in Germany, partly at Vienna, and partly at Gratz, teaching philosophy, mathe- matics, and both moral and dogmatic theology, with the repute of distinguished ability; he also took his degree of doctor of divinity. In both places he was Prefect of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin of the Annunciation. The pious Emperor |Ferdinand II. and the princes of the royal blood, with whom he was equally in esteem, frequently honoured him with their presence, and the Emperor, when absent, corresponded with him. He made his profession of the four vows in 1602, into Pather William Wright. 277 the hands of Father Alphonsus Catillo, the Provincial of those parts, who made him his Socius. After so many years of labour, for the increase of his merits he begged of his superiors, by way of recompense, the ſavour of departing for England. He desired to spend there the rest of his life and strength, and per- adventure his blood also, in the service of the Catholic faith, and in assisting the souls of his beloved fellow-countrymen. The need of such assistance was indeed great. In consequence of the withdrawal, the martyrdom, and dispersion of distin- guished men of the Society, in our mission in England, through the iniquity of the times, others were sought for on every side who could worthily supply their places. Father Parsons, by virtue of a letter of authority from Very Reverend Father General Aquaviva, called Father William from his college labours, and sent him to England. He arrived safely in London towards the end of the year 1606. Then arose a spiritual strife among the Catholics, animated both by affec- tion and interest, to obtain possession of Father Wright, whose repute for virtue and learning had preceded him. But Mr. Edward Gage (of Hengrave, Suffolk), a man high in merit amongst the faithful, obtained from the Superior, Father Richard Holtby, permission to receive him, and with joy he kept him for eight months; when he was betrayed by a spy and traitor to the pursuivants, and by them handed over to Sir William Wade, the Lieutenant of the Tower. He received the captive with great Satisfaction, and Subjected him to strict examinations and re-examinations, and finding him, Contrary to what the spies had led him to expect, a perſect stranger in the country, to which he had only returned for eight months, after a long absence of twenty years, he sent a report of it to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury. These worthies, finding that they could not involve the Father in any suspicion of the Gunpowder Plot, remanded him to be judged by Richard Bancroſt, pseudo-Archbishop of Canterbury. He was taken, four days after, to Lambeth, before that morose old man, always most hostile to Catholic priests, but especially to those of the Society of Jesus. After a short conversation upon matters of religion, without more ado he committed Father Wright to the White Lion prison, with strict injunctions that no living man should either visit him or speak with him. Upon hearing which, Father Wright smilingly said, “I have lived for twenty years in Germany, and have every day been on familiar terms with those of your sect, with all sorts of Lutherans, and 278 College of the Immaculate Conception. have never given them offence. Now, that I am come amongst my own people, why should they treat me worse than strangers, and debar me from all intercourse with them P’’ He was sum- moned four times before Bancroft: the three first occasions were rather to Sound his general capacity and character; in the fourth he was questioned about his opinion upon various articles of religion, Bancroft flying off to trifles as soon as the Father's replies were in opposition to his Grace's ideas. The Catholics of London had at first been disheartened by the wavering of the archpriest, and afterwards much more by his lamentable fall, and especially by his general letter of invitation to all to take the oath, and which the ministers of the King had caused to be diſfused far and wide. They now stood in great Snspense and anxiety about the line that Father William would take, and which side he would adopt, knowing him to be a man of such authority, a teacher for so many years, and a doctor of divinity. It added to their anxiety, that Father William had a brother in London named Thomas, a secular priest, intimately attached to the archpriest, and with him entirely defending the legality of the oath. But as to the opinion of Father William upon the point, it needed but to demand it of him. In the fourth Summons to Lambeth, the Archbishop accosted him with a goodly preamble, and between soft speeches and threatenings, came at last to the point, to ask for his reply—whether according to all reason, ecclesiastical, natural, and civil, it was not most just, and therefore lawful, and, as being Commanded by the King, a duty, to take the oath P To which the Father instantly replied, “No ; in no shape.” The rest of his answer will appear in his own narra- tive presently given. He was proceeding in his argument, but the Archbishop would hear no more, and angrily remanded him back to the White Lion. The report of this answer spread the very same day throughout all London, by means of secret witnesses whom the Catholics kept in readiness. It is difficult to express how great was their joy and consolation, and they wrote to their friends throughout the kingdom to spread the news. This reply, it seems, was the cause of that wonderful manifestation of reverence and love expressed towards Father Wright during the three months of his incarceration, and which, in his humility, he was unable to account for. Catholics whom he had never scen, nor even knew their names till two or three days before, visited him, some to return him thanks, others to bring him alms for his support, others to bring him medicines \ Father William Wright. | 279 by way of antidotes to the plague, which at that time was raging. # On the other hand, the King, learning the answer that had been given, wished the Father's death; he declared this at the time, and often afterwards, adding besides, that he could not otherwise preserve the public good; but he would not hang him, as perhaps the plague, with less Odium, and as effectually, would do the work. In the interim, whilst it was not as yet a firmly established opinion that the plague was really in the prison, several Pro- testant doctors and ministers tried their hands with the Father, either in disputation, or in running through the controversies upon religion. Being accustomed to receive persons of this kind in Germany, and to the management of such discus- sions, he was most courteous to all, drawing them from the sophistries with which they usually came prepared, to discuss necessary and main points; inasmuch as the lesser details would fall into their places as a consequence. By the mercy of God, his words were not in vain, as will be seen by his own narrative, in which will also be given other details of his stay in prison, and his escape from thence, which his friends effected by means of a false key, during the interval of the keepers' supper and recreation afterwards. The Privy Council was indifferent about his escape; they rather made a jest of it. Father Wright was not a prisoner of their stamp. All the mortification of it fell upon Bancroft. The following deeply interesting narrative by Father William Wright himself, is taken from a copy supplied from the archives of the Society of Jesus in Rome. It is contained in a letter from the Father Rector of the College of Gratz, to another Superior of the Society. The original was written from London by Father Wright, to Very Rev. Father General Aquaviva. It was after his escape from prison, and is dated 13th November, 1607. “Rev. Father in Christ,-Pax Christi. tº & “. . . Mindful of my promise, &c. . . . I send a copy of a writing most agreeable to your Reverence, . . . from a copy of the author himself under the following head or title. “From a letter of Reverend Father William Wright, con- cerning his apprehension and liberation from prison in England. “It is long since I have written to your Paternity, but being hindered by the obstacle of prisons, without pen or ink, it was impossible for me to accomplish what I had purposed. But 28o College of the /mmaculate Conception. being now, by the blessing of God (and this a remarkable One, as all Catholics think), beyond all hope and expectation again set at liberty, I am able to write. The following week after the capture of the archpriest, I was myself also seized in the house of a certain gentleman of rank, most attached to us.” The pursuivants who apprehended me, although famished, and most greedy after money, nevertheless refused at any price or entreaty to take a bribe and allow me to escape privately. But being arrested as the Superior of the Jesuits, they imme- "diately carried me off to the Tower of London. When I arrived at the Tower I was subjected to an examination by the lieutenant. They interrogated me as to who I was, whether a priest or Jesuit P. How many years I had been abroad? When I entered England P and for what end ? I replied candidly to all, because both my name and person were previously known : That I was a priest of the Society of Jesus ; that I had lived abroad chiefly in Germany for about twenty-eight years; that I had at length asked for and obtained leave from my Superiors to return to England, and that I had returned eight months previously; that I had no other end nor intended any other, than to propagate the things which be- longed to my vocation, duty, and function. I was kept in the Tower for three days, thence on the fourth day I was conveyed by the river Thames to Lambeth, the Episcopal Palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who committed me to a prison in Southwark, near London, called the White Lion. I was summoned in four days from that prison to the Fleet, a place of residence of the pseudo-Archbishop. I only treated with him in Latin, and so whilst I was examined, he himself was compelled to translate the sentences in which I expressed my mind into English. I was examined regarding matters con- nected with their sect. Did I think that they had any faith at all, any priesthood, or altar, any Sacraments, good works, penance, and whether a Calvinist was worse than a Turk P To these and similar questions I replied according to the Orthodox Faith. Presently he proposed certain other matters of lesser importance, and at length added some propositions gathered from the last formula of the oath of allegiance, to which he received from me an answer anything but agreeable to him. This was, I said, contrary to the Sacred Writings; I adduced one place, St. John XXi., from which it is gathered that the Sovereign Pontiff was the Shepherd of the Church * Mr. Gage of Hengrave Hall. Father William Wright. 281 of Christ upon earth, to whose duty and office it thence belonged not only to lead out his sheep to wholesome pastures, but also to defend the same from the wolves, and these also to ward off with the dog and staff of ecclesiastical censures, should they be of any future hurt to them. My answer to this article was most eagerly looked for by all the Catholics about London; for indeed, the archpriest shortly before, to the grief of all Catholics, had approved the opposite before the nobles of the kingdom, and had invited all the disciples of the Orthodox Faith in England to follow his example and do the same; therefore, very many were most wonderfully strengthened by this my answer and opinion. For in one prison alone there were twenty, who one and all with a courageous heart rejected at that time the Oath proposed to them by the judges. The same also did that magnanimous gentleman, with his son, in whose house I was taken, with the excellent Toby Matthews, son of the Archbishop of York, and many others detained in Rome. “When these things had been carried on for about fourteen days, so severe a pestilence broke out in our gaol, as also in the entire city, that a part of the prisoners for the sake of precaution were liberated, another part escaped by flight, and another part was left. My friends left no stone unturned to induce the Archbishop to order my removal to another prison in Order to avoid the contagion, but in vain, for no other reply could be extracted from him but this : “If he will not take the oath, let him take the plague !” There were with me in bonds two ministers, the one a Puritan Brownist, the other a Calvinist. The former was always most faithful to me; but the latter having received leave to do so, migrated to a locality more safe from the pestilence. The first, except by night did not appear in the prison, for by day he was allowed to remain with his friends where he wished in the city. Never- theless he himself was also seized with the plague and died in three days. Two of the turnkeys, who inspected me nearly every hour, were attacked with the same violence of the disease, of whom One died a Catholic, having been instructed by me as well as circumstances admitted of. A little girl who waited at table likewise died, as also did two others who worked in the kitchen about the food. We buried fourteen. Nearly all the rest, except myself, were either attacked by the pestilence or by some other ailment; as many of the rest of the infected as timely took the prescribed medicine, escaped death. 282 College of the Immaculate Conception. “Whilst all this was going on in prison, my friends abroad, moved by charity towards me, began seriously to think about my safety. Therefore, after mature deliberation amongst them- selves, they sent to me signifying as the result their desire that, if in any manner I could possibly effect my escape from prison, I should attempt it: not so much on my own account, as for promoting the salvation of others, and they would spare neither cost or labour, provided only that I could safely undertake it. I found a man who was both a Catholic and trusty, to whom I confided the matter, and in conference together we discovered a mode which Ours approved. Therefore, making a vow to God and the Blessed Virgin, after supper on the octave day of the feast of her Nativity, whilst the keepers were recreating themselves, our attempt succeeded according to our wish. On the following day a rumour was spread throughout the whole city of London that a certain Catholic had set fire to the prisons at the White Lion, who had escaped by the aid of the light of the burning buildings, and under cover of the dark- ness of the night, whereas no such thing occurred. “My escape was gratifying to all sincere Catholics, though it excited the wrath of my Lord of Canterbury, but other members of the Privy Council appeared, by a certain merriment, to approve it as though necessary in a case of this nature. In the meantime I wrote two letters, the one in Latin to Dr. Morton, the theologian of the pseudo-Archbishop of Canterbury, with whom I held some conferences in prison upon affairs of faith ; the other to my principal turnkey, to whom I opened the reasons of my escape; to the first, that through him the Archbishop might understand that in the common opinion of all Protestants he should have dis- played greater charity towards me; to the latter, that I might exonerate him in the eyes of all these of any negligence on his part in my escape, should any such charge be made against him. “It is impossible to express how great was the charity shown by Catholics towards me, even on the part of those who had never before either known or heard of me, sending me in presents, money, precious medicines, and fifty thousand things besides. Nay, even the very Protestant preachers them- selves were not wanting on their parts. Morton, for my convenience, sent me in the works of Bellarmine, with a present of four scudi, and some other things. A certain other doctor of divinity and a veteran parson, being brought by means of Father William Wright. 283 frequent conferences with me to a better mind, sent me as a present in return twenty Crowns, and he has it in contemplation to abandon the duties of his ministry and to assume the character of a farmer, for saving his own soul, and even eventually. the numerous family he has ; and although I could not receive his gift, still it showed the best dispositions in the old man. The same person came to me another time, when he heard that the plague was raging in the prison, and that I was placed in danger, and was willingly desirous to offer his own life in my regard to any one who would deliver me from this contagious captivity, although he should personally incur the most manifest danger ; and he earnestly begged me to make my escape from hence by any means I could safely do so, and promised that he would on the next Sunday, or some other, even by himself, declare from the pulpit to the assembly at St. Paul’s Cross, that I had the best of rights to do so; and he once invited me to his own house, where I could stay most securely. “The third minister, also a preacher, was with me in prison, who being taught by the catechism of the illustrious Cardinal Bellarmine, and being convinced in disputations with Morton, was brought to that point, as O signify to his Lord of Canter- bury by means of Scudamore, a famous apostate, that he would never again enter a pulpit against the Catholic faith. And he moreover privately told me that he was prepared also to resign his living, and the abundant fortune, furniture, &c., he had amassed, that he might thus in his extreme old age save his soul. This old man, from my first being cast into prison, was my greatest Consolation, faithfully carrying my letters to and fro, since at that time I had no opportunity of intercourse with my friends except at the cell window, in a loud voice, and in the presence of my keeper; but now by the kindess of this well-affected old man, I did as I wished, and this in the best and safest manner. He was very often accustomed to break out into these words— “O Mr. Wright, from an English cleric, Lord deliver us.” The cause of his being himself committed to prison, was because being a man of rank and unmarried, he had preached against mendicant and married parsons. “Although in the whole time of this my captivity, by the express Order of my Lord of Canterbury, that no one should be allowed access to me; nevertheless it pleased God so to con- ciliate the hearts of all the keepers towards me, that almost daily a very large concourse of persons of all descriptions came to me: and, indeed, at first the turnkeys privately procured me 284 College of the /mmaculate Conception. a breviary; and in serving God daily with the rest of the Catholics, I experienced no difficulty on their part. Out of five dead, one died a Catholic, as I have before said. Three others often said that they were unwilling to appear before God the Judge, without that faith which we Catholics profess. The fifth, from my discourses with him, was brought to that state that he wavered in mind, and for the whole three months of my imprisonment ingenuously and publicly confessed that he would never enter a Protestant church. In the meanwhile as I treated with many, chiefly of secular youths both of the upper and middle classes, I found their minds entirely leaning towards the true Faith, and repugnant to that which they so contend for in England. A certain lady of the city of London came weeping to me, repeatedly asking me for the love of God to receive her into the fold of the Church; that she cared for no persecution or torture in this life, provided only she might be secure of salvation in the next, whom I dismissed with her desire accom- plished. Four youths of rank asked me with tears to prescribe them some aid for their souls, but which for certain causes I deferred to another time. The day before I escaped, the son of a certain baronet begged to be admitted, which in like manner I postponed until he had been well instructed. But what I was unable to do then well, on account of my escape, was accomplished elsewhere by the goodness of God. I have had various conferencesſor disputation with Protestant ministers; of these I will perhaps another time write an account. I Only mention this at present, that you would scarcely expect, nor even believe, how great ignorance prevails in the academies of Our Englishmen. For I have found amongst them not even One theologian, nor philosopher, nay, not even the worst Sophist, or still worse, grammarian. “I have now nothing more to write about, but only to Com- mend myself to your Paternity and all, earnestly begging that I may not be forgotten in your and their prayers, and other pious duties, as on my part I will also do the same. “London, 13th November, 1607.” The rest of this letter relates to matters of business not connected with the English Province. It is dated, “Gratz, 17th March, 1608.” The Catholics carried Father Wright off to a distance from London, into Leicestershire, where he laid the foundations of that mission, which for twelve years he governed and Sup- Father William Wright. 285 ported, to the great increase-of his own merits and of Souls to the Church. Here he taught, exhorted, strengthened the Catholics in the Faith, and reconciled heretics both by word and writing. Many were moved to admiration, to see a man of his great age and consummate learning, a professor of philosophy and theology in the most celebrated universities, Condescending to teach little children the lowest rudiments, and spending sedulously whole days upon them, not only willingly, but with a certain gust and hilarity. “And,” says Father Bartoli, Inghilferra, lib. vi. “I am bound to make Special notice of him, in regard to the great weight that he, according to the universal expectation conceived of him, ren- dered in establishing the truth of the impossibility of taking the Oath of Supremacy with a safe conscience, contrary to the opinion and exhortations of the Archpriest Blackwell, whose authority the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury made use of, if not to contravene that of Father William, yet as a tool, to the great damage and loss of Catholics.” At length the good Father grew superannuated in his work: still, even at the last, he would teach his servant who waited upon him, a rough, uncultivated man, the rudiments of Latin, and only ceased from such labour with his life. Ten years before he died he suffered severely from asthma, with constant danger of sudden death. But this admirable religious, by the daily sacrifice of the Mass, by his assiduity in prayer, by his Self-examination and meditation upon death, rendered that Solemn passage neither sudden nor unprovided. In spite of the severe pains he suffered during these ten last years, he very rarely omitted Mass or his stated course of prayers. The proofs, indeed, of his patience were very wonderful; for, although daily urged beyond measure by the severity of the attacks to allay the acuteness of his pains, he not only endured them with con- stancy and evenness, but, after the example of a certain leper, Seasoned each attack with the following ejaculations, which were very frequently on his lips: “Da patientiam, bone Jesu, et amorem ; auge poenam et dolorem ; Deo gratias, infinities in infinitum, Deo gratias.” In the last months of his life, the excruciations of the stone added to his ever-accumulating merits, and this additional cross Our noble religious soldier by many self-conquests, and many acts of patience, of charity, of faith, and other virtues endured, until the 18th of January, the festival of St. Peter's Chair in Rome, which holy See he had always strenuously defended. 286 College of the Zmmaculate Conception. Then, about the hour of Io a.m., after having said his Canonical Office and recited his Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mother, the Psalter of Jesus, the Litany of the Saints, and other prayers with his usual serenity, betraying not the slightest Suspicion of the near approach of death, he said to a certain father, who was preparing to say Mass, “Remember me at the altar.” These were his last words. Suddenly falling into a fainting fit, fortified by the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, he sweetly slept in Our Lord, in the year 1639, aged seventy-nine, in the Society fifty- eight. Father More” gives a number of pious ejaculations in the form of a litany, which this saintly Father composed in the midst of his pains, and by constant recital of which, day and night, he used to alleviate his severe sufferings. FATHER ARTHUR LAURENCE FAUNT, S.J. The Society of Jesus is indebted to Leicestershire for a very eminent member in the person of Father Arthur Laurence Faunt (erroneously stated by Alegambe 4 to have been a native of Lancashire.) The following account of him is taken from Mr. Wood’s Athen. Oxon,” and leaves little or nothing to be added. “Arthur Faunt, a most noted Jesuit of his time, was son of William Faunt, of Foston, Leicestershire. Born of an ancient and genteel family living at that place, in 1554, and being very studious, and delighted in letters while he was a child, became fit for academical studies at ſourteen years of age; whereupon, being sent to Merton College in 1568, he was committed to the tuition of the most noted philosopher of that house, named John Potts, who, though he had been before ejected by Mr. John Mann, the warden, yet was he permitted to attend his pupil, whom he had before instructed in grammar in the country. But the Said Potts, being a Roman Catholic, or else a hearty well-wisher to the Popish religion, took away his pupil from the Said College, with the advice of his relations (who were Catholics also), and in the beginning of 1570 conducted him to Louvain, in Brabant, where, entering into the College of the Jesuits the Same, year, left him and went into Ireland. In the said College he continued until he was B.A., at which time, having a desire * Hist. Prov. Angl. lib. viii. n. Io. * Aib. Script, S./. p. 538. * Vol. i. pp. 247, 248. Edit. I 721. Aather A7%zzº Mazareſzce Fazlızá. 287 to travel, he went to Paris, where he remained for a time. Thence he went to Mynchen or Munchen [Munich], a city and University in Bavaria, where William, Duke of that province, did, for the towardliness that he saw in him, choose him for his scholar, and maintained him in the said University. While he remained there he took the degree of M.A., and then, having an ardent desire to study divinity, he departed thence in the year 1575, went to the English College of the Jesuits in Rome, made a very forward progress in that faculty, and changed his name to Laurence Arthur Faunt. Not long after he was con- stituted Divinity reader in that College, and was in very great favour with Pope Gregory XIII., who, had he lived a little longer would, as it was then supposed, have honoured Our profound author, Faunt, with a Cardinal’s cap. However, in token of his love he gave him, on his humble desire, licence to make a seal, that by virtue of it, which should be set to a writing to be drawn up by him, any of his countrymen (whose welfare he ever tendered) might with safety pass through any country without peril of the Spanish Inquisition, Or any danger else whatsoever. In the meantime, the King of Poland having settled a College for Jesuits at Posna, a city in his dominions, our author was sent by the said Pope to be governor thereof. So that, leaving Rome in order ſor that employment, Ioth June, I581, he was, not long after, received there with ceremony, where for his great learning, gravity, wisdom, and his religious life and Conversation, he was held in great esteem by the 'spiritual and temporal estates of that kingdom. While he remained there he wrote several books, which the Biblio. Script. of his Society will tell you. This worthy person, who was much celebrated in his time, gave way to fate at Vilna, the chief city of the province of Lithuania in Poland, on the 28th of February, 159%, after he had religiously served in the Society of Jesus about twenty-five years, to their great renown and honour.” Dodd says: “He was admitted into the Society at Rome in 1575. Alegambe seems to place his admittance in 1570, which does not agree with other circumstances of his life. The Superiors of his Order, becoming acquainted with his capacity, made him Professor of Divinity in the Italian [English] College in Rome,” &c. Father Faunt's visit to Paris was for the purpose of study in the University there. Alegambe" says that he was Professor of Greek for three years at Posna, and then of Moral Theology and Controversy for nine years. * P. 538. 288 College of the Zmmaculate Conception. Father More" agrees with Father Alegambe about the date of his entering the Society at Louvain, saying he was there about the age of sixteen. This would agree with Wood's date of his birth, 1554. The weight of evidence is therefore against Dodd. Father More says that at Posna he was employed in disputing with the heretical ministers. Alegambe, tº suffra, gives a list of the works of this learned Father. They are as follows: I. A treatise against John White. By W. G. (4to. St. Omer, 1613); 2. Ditto against N. E., a minister of the Church of England. W. G. (St. Omer, 1622); 3. Against the said N. E., proving that Catholics may be saved from the testimony of twenty-four eminent Protestants. W. G. (4to. St. Omer, 1623); 4. A letter to a person of honour, concerning the evil spirit of Protestants. (4to. I622); 5. The controversies of James Gordon. A translation from the Latin. J. L. (8vo. St. Omer, 1614); 6. Treatises of Martin Becan. Translations from the Latin. (8vo. 1612); 7. A treatise of the Judge of Controversies. A translation from the Latin of Martin Becan. (8vo. 1619); 8. A treatise of Leonard Lessius, entitled Which faith is to be embraced ? Also a translation from the Latin. W. J. (8vo. 1619, 1621); 9. The Persecution of Christians in Japan. W. W. A translation from the Spanish. (8vo. 1619); Io. A short treatise on Penance, often reprinted. The following is a copy of an intercepted letter from Arthur Faunt to his brother Anthony.5 “Right worshipful and loving brother Anthony. After hearty recommendations, &c. “These shall be to signify unto you how the bearer of this present is my great friend, and of my brother being duly acquainted, both when he lived in Oxfordshire and in London, who for his courtesy hath offered himself to go and see you and Speak with you in my name. I pray you, seeing he is a very good guest and my great friend, to handle him as his virtue deserveth, and to credit him even as you would myself in these matters which in my name he shall confer with you. Of other things I write you by another bearer, as likewise to my brother George and Michael Purfrey, and my mother also, of the same date with this present. Thus leaving off to trouble you, I desire you to answer as soon as you can. I have written six or seven times since my abiding in Italy, but I have received * Hist. Prov. Ang!. S./. lib. i. n. 12, p. 19. * P.R.O. London, Domestic, Ælizabeth, 1580, vol. cxxxvii. n. 16. Azáàer A'offerſ Parsoſzs. 289 no answer. I pray you, good brother, to have a Care of your soul and faith which our ſather did teach us in. I pray you advertise me to my other brother and sisters, and to my cousin William, and Judas Vincent, and to my brother Ambrose. Then fare you well. The 6th of April, 1580. “Your loving brother to command, “ARTHUR FAUNT. “To his right worshipful brother, “Mr. Anthony Faunt, “At Foston, “Four miles from Leicester.” Several eminent members of the English mission and pro- vince have served in this district. FATHER ROBERT PARSONS.—After parting company with Father Edmund Campion, the blessed martyr, at Hoxton near London, in July, I 580, he says: “All the summer we passed over in preaching. My lot was the shires of Northampton, Derby, Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford. Mr. Gilbert was my companion.” ” There is some vague tradition that Father Parsons was at Park Hall, Spink Hill, for a time, during his short sojourn in England, and that he there wrote one or more of his contro- versial books. The grounds of this tradition have not been ascertained. Very probably he may have sojourned there, as Spink Hill was the ancient residence of the Pole family, through which family the site of the College of Mount St. Mary was originally derived to the English Province, S.J. |FATHER GERVASE POLE, related to Cardinal Pole, was a native of Derbyshire, born probably at Spink Hill, in the year 1570.10 He entered the Society, 1608, being then thirty-eight 9 See life of this saintly man, who was received into the Society at the English College, Rome, upon his death-bed. Lives of Pounde, Gilbert, and Darbyshire. Historic Facts Prov. Ang. S./. Series I. * Another member of this ancient family was an alumnus at the English College, Rome, as appears by the following extract ſrom the English College Diary—‘‘ I616. (No. 371.) Francis Layton, alias vero nomine Henricus Polus, Darbiensis, act. 21. Admissus est inter alumnos, Oct. I3, I616.” He took the usual College oath, May 3, 1617. Having received the minor orders in June, 1617, ‘‘Discessit May 6, 1621, quia ob nimiam apitis debilitatem non videbatur promovendus ad Ord. Sacros, et si diutius hic mansisset periculum eratne calores ei graviter officissent ; vixit in Collegio quiete et pacifice.” T 290 College of the Immaculate Conception. years of age. He was solemnly professed of the four vows, I622. He was at the English College, Rome, in 1599, as appears by the following intercepted letter from his brother, German Pole, then a student at St. Omer, or some other of the English Continental seminaries. Pomestic, Ælizabeth, 1599, vol. cclxxii, n. 79, State Papers, P.R.O. [Endorsed, “Priest resorting at Mrs. Ayre's house at Dunstone.”] Addressed, “To his very good brother, Father Gervase Pole, at the English College at Rome. Give these.” “Having at this time, good brother, some small opportunity to write, what in my last letter I did omit, wherein I thought good to signify unto you, because I understand you shall SO shortly return into England, as it is very like I may not enjoy your company at Rome, I am very sorry; yet in this I rather desire it than otherwise, ſor that I doubt since Mr. Hynacre's death, my mother hath seldom had the company of any good priests, except at Mrs. Ayre's of Dunstone, which also you know could not be often, and at my brother George's, there hath none been received to say Mass since he was married, by reason of the evil counsel of my sister's friends. Such alteration hath been in Spink Hill since your departure as will be somewhat strange unto you. William Ince is dead, an heretic, his living [the MS. not clear]: his son Richard married against his ſciends' mind, Scarcely worth anything; besides, very many of the town are departed in miserable estate ; no more of these matters. It grieveth me not a little that I was not meet to come into Rome with Mr. Sylesdone, seeing most Reverend Father Parsons had taken pains to provide my conducting, in whose great and more than fatherlike charity I still hope, if sufficiency of learning hereafter be found in me, to see that holy city, which chiefly I desire. I shall enter, as I think, into poetry at Michaelmas, and of necessity must spend the whole year in that study. I would be most glad to come into Rome this time twelvemonth, iſ any way it might be convenient, because of the year of Jubilee: what you think of it I pray you let me understand. It is requisite, I know, that I should hear rhetoric before I come, but for an extraordinary com- modity I would take extraordinary pains. Herein I trust my most reverend and charitable father, Father Parsons, will not forget me who hath always so remembered me, undeserving, to whom my simple prayers shall not be at any time wanting. Aather Gerzase Po/c. 29 I I pray you remember my most humble duty unto his Rever- ence. I have had my health, I thank God, as well since I came hither for the most part as in England. I have also all things necessary that I can wish or desire. Only I desire your good prayers, for I know I have great need of them. My reverend father, Father Nicholas Smyth, is never wanting unto me. Mr. Bath very willingly hath vouchsafed the carriage of these lines, by whose good precept I have received great Com- modity, to whom I beseech you render humble thanks for his goodness towards me. Thus wholly commending myself unto your'good prayers, I cease, in haste this 25th of August. “Your very loving brother, “GERMAN POLE. “P.S.—I never received any word of writing as yet from my brother John, whereat I marvel, for I wrote a letter unto him shortly after I came hither, by a gentleman that came with me over sea : it may be it was not delivered, or else he is as forgetful of his friends as I have been. Good brother, remember against the next year, if it may be that I may come to Rome.” In 1615, Father Gervase Pole was a prisoner in the Gate- house. In the latter part of that year, he was, with Father Alexander Fairclough, and others, transferred to Wisbeach Castle, where certain interrogatories were again put to them. In the same year he was delivered over to the Ambassador of the Archduke, and taken by him out of England as an exile. All this we gather from the following documents. P.R.O. State Papers, ZX/lestic, James Z. 1615, vol. lxxxii. n. 99. [The Archbishop of Canterbury to the Bishop of Ely.] “To the Right Reverend Father in God, my very good lord and brother, the Lord Bishop of Ely. Give these.” “My very good lord, It pleased his Majesty in March last to give Orders that certain interrogatories should by Sir John Bennett, and some other commissioners, be propounded to the priests which then remained prisoners in Newgate and in the Gatehouse. What their answers were unto them your lordship may see by the copy of the examinations which I now Send unto you, together with the interrogations themselves. And because some of them then gave no answer, and some other of them gave an ill answer, it is his Majesty's express T 2 292 College of the Zwemaculate Conception. pleasure that the said priests being now at Wisbeach should be re-examined to know what they will say who have yet given no answer unto the interrogatories, &c.” [His Grace then orders his brother of Ely to procure by the Justices of the Peace such examinations accordingly..] “And so forbearing to be further troublesome unto you, I rest, “Your lordship's loving brother, - “C. CANT. “Lambeth, October 24, 1615.” Interrogatories ministered to the Žriests. “I. Whether his Majesty’s temporal judges be our lawful judges in all temporal causes P “2. Whether a judge of our religion may not lawfully give sentence against a man of their religion P * “3. Whether his Majesty may not lawfully banish any subject offending against his laws, and being banished, if he return, whether he be not liable to the penalty of the law P “4. Whether the Pope have power to censure the King in any temporal cause that he shall transgress in P “5. Whether the King and his Parliament have not full power to make laws for matters of life and death in matter of religion? “6. Whether by this maxim of the law—Qui rapiſ jus alienum perdić jus ad suum—the King by abrogating the Pope's pretended authority, hath lost the right he hath to his own Crown P “7. Whether it be not directly and absolutely murder for any man to take away the life of the King's Majesty P “8. Whether before it be defined in a General Council, a man may hold it lawful to depose or to kill the King? “9. Whether, if the Church should define it, a man be bound to lose his life for the maintenance of that point? “Io. To which part in this question of deposing and killing in a man's private opinion it were fittest to incline P “ II. Whether the oath of allegiance be a damnable oath P “I 2. Whether it be treason to Swear it?” The following are copies from the State Papers of Father Pole's answers to the interrogatories, followed by the order for his discharge from Wisbeach Castle to go into exile. “xxxth Martii. Domestic, James I. vol. lxxxii. nn. 99, 99 i. 99 xvii. I615.” Aºz//her Gerzyase Po/e. 293 The examination or Žersonal answers of Gervase Pole, Žrisoner in the Gatehouse, taken before Sir John Bennett, Artight, and offers, to certain interrogatories. “To the first interrogatory he answereth that he holdeth that his Majesty's temporal judges are lawful judges in all temporal Causes. “To the second, that he maketh no doubt but judges of our religion may give sentence against a man of his religion in causes civil and criminal also, so as they concern not causes of faith and religion. “To the third, he holdeth that his Majesty may lawfully banish any subject offending against his laws; and that such party being banished, if he return again, is subject to the penalty of the laws, so as such banishment be not inflicted for a matter Concerning the Catholic Roman religion. “To the fourth, he holdeth that the Pope hath no power to censure the King's Majesty in any temporal cause that he shall transgress in, unless it be as it hath relation ad spiritua/ia. “To the fiſth, he desireth time to deliberate before answering. * “To the sixth, he desireth further time to answer. “To the seventh, eighth, ninth, the same. “To the tenth, he thinketh it most fit to incline to the point of deposing, but for giving his answer to the point of killing, he desireth respite for further answer. “To the eleventh, he holdeth the oath of allegiance to be a damnable oath. “To the twelfth, he answereth that he doth not hold it treason in any man against his Majesty to take the oath of allegiance. “All these answers he maketh as a private man, Subjecting his judgment notwithstanding to the judgment of the Church. “GERVASE POLE.” P.R.O. ZX2/ricsſic, James Z. I615, vol. lxxxiii, n. 25. This is a warrant to the constable of Wisbeach Castle, to deliver, with four other prisoners, priests, Gervase Pole, to M. de Barschot, the Archduke's Ambassador, or his messenger, they being liberated at his request, to be conveyed out of England. Annexed—N. 25, I. Order of the said Ambassador, authoriz- ing Peter Van den Velde to receive the said priests. London 294 College of the Zmmaculate Conception. November Io (in French), with a note by Van Velde that he had received the said priests. Wisbeach, November 15. The Annual Letters for 1641, announcing the death of this good Father, call him the Minister of this College or Residence, and say that he received into the Church a young lady of high rank. Some Protestant ministers, greatly exasperated at this event, gave information to the magistrates, and took measures to subject the Father to the extreme penalties of the law. Having learnt the dangers which threatened him, he escaped from the house at which he was staying, to take refuge else- where. He was seventy years of age, and ill at the time ; it was in the dead of winter, and the weather very severe. These hardships overpowered his remaining strength, and he died eight days after. He was a very laborious missioner, and truly apostolical man. He was highly favoured with the spirit of prayer, and from this holy exercise was derived the efficacy of his missionary exertions. He received many persons into the Church, and amongst the rest the countess who was the mother of the young lady above mentioned. The countess had been greatly attached to him in life, and when she heard of his death she hastened to visit his remains, and with many tears and great reverence embraced the feet of the corpse. Similar sentiments of grief for his loss, and veneration for his memory, were generally expressed by the laity who knew him ; who, while they lamented their loss, were excited to virtue by the remembrance of his piety, kindness, and zeal. He had lived in the Society for thirty-five years. - The summary of the deceased of the Province for 1641 observes that he was a man specially devoted to prayer; that he spent, over and above the usual devotions of the Society, at least three or four hours daily in communion with God ; and that the fruit of this intimate union with Him was the con- version of many souls. It observes that the journey in which he risked his life at night was really one of charity, on the occasion of a sick call, whence he contracted ſever which shortly carried him off. Father Gervase Pole is mentioned in Gee's list of priests and Jesuits residing in and near London, which list dates about I624, zide “Gee's Foot out of the Snare.” FATHER THOMAS HUNT, the subject of the following memoir, was a native of this district. The records extant con- cerning him do not mention the localities of his missionary Aather 7%07/2as A/zzzzz. 295 labours, yet the account of this virtuous religious is so edify- ing and interesting that we cannot omit it in the history of this College, though he may not have actually laboured in it. This Father was a native of Lindon, in the county of Rutland. He appears to have been a convert from Protes- tantism, and probably entered the Society about 1579, having been made a formed spiritual coadjutor in 1594. Although nothing very eminent is recorded of him, he appears to have been a man of the most solid piety and strict observance of every religious duty ; so that a brief account of him may be both edifying and practically instructive. Father Henry More” says that nearly about the same time that Father William Holt went to receive the reward of his labours in Spain, Father Thomas Hunt was, after twenty years spent in various employments in Upper Germany, attached to our English mission. He was a man of primitive simplicity, and had from his tender years imbibed such great innocency and piety, that when a boy, on seeing his father inflamed with anger and uttering intemperate and Opprobrious language towards him, he would spend the greater part of the night awake, and fearing lest his parent might die before his anger had subsided, he would get up and humbly beg him to lay it aside and to receive him to his favour, that thus both might securely go to reSt. After labouring at Dillingen and Ratisbon, and having taken his last vows in I 594, he passed over to England, carrying with him that odour of virtues he had shed around him in Germany. If any came to consult him upon worldly affairs, he confessed that he was a stranger to such things, as not being agreeable to his Institute ; and, at length, no matter with whom he was engaged, he would insinuate into the conversa- tion divine things, recounting something of the lives and manners of the saints. He held that dancing was promoted by the devil in mockery of Christ the Lord ; he would, however, teach the sons of gentlemen, when exercised or drilled at home, to refer that motion of the body to Christ hanging upon the Cross, or to present it as though it was an act of becoming veneration to the Sacred Host. It was a frequent saying of his, that rank was a certain representation of the heavenly habitation ; that all which could befall man in this life, how- ever sharp, is rendered agreeable if dipped in the sacred Wounds of Christ. * Hist. Prov, Angl. lib. vi. n. xxix. p. 272. 296 College of the /mmaculate Conception. On festivals and Sundays he always took care that some- thing for the profit of the attendants should be read by some one, or he himself would propose some lesson taken from Holy Writ, declaring with great ingenuity that as he was not suffi- ciently learned to discourse on the subject he would offer his auditors some eloquence, viz., from the holy Fathers, or from authors who had more recently written piously upon the same matters; which method, although it would seem tedious to some, yet others were greatly delighted with the candour of the Father, and it prevailed to secure him so great an authority amongst men of rank that no other person could easily obtain. Hence he would sometimes induce parties too deeply immersed in gaming, not only to cease play, but also to give some alms from their winnings; no one resisting him. At other times, on a quarrel arising between the players, throwing himself on his knees between them, he would entreat them not to give offence to others, or to hurt themselves or others by continuing their altercation, but to spare their words, and, after the example of Christ rather to forgive if anything out of the way had been said or done; and his Sanctity would prevail to bring about a reconciliation. But two events occurred which appeared to be means of accelerating the hour of his recompense. He went on a call of duty to a certain house Seven or eight miles distant, taking with him a guide, whose services he persuaded himself he could dispense with on his return ; being therefore alone, he either lost his way, or else out of his desire of prayer, he spent the night in the fields. Being sought for in the morning, he was found not far from the house he had been visiting, and expressed to the servant who was lamenting what had happened, that he had never before spent so sweet and pleasant a night. Not long after, when the pursuivants were searching the house in which he was living, for arms, in order to be out of the way he withdrew to a neighbouring garden, where, sitting in an arbour, he was caught in a heavy and cold hailstorm ; and in a few days after exchanged this life for a better, on Sunday, February Io, 1602. The following account of the Father is taken from the collection of Father Richard Cardwell.” Unfortunately it does not mention places. 4 * Collectio Cardwell; zita Martyr, &c. vol. i. p. 225. Ex Arch. Belg. Brussels. . Aafter 7%07/2as A/2/72.É. 297 “Of the Zife and Death of Father Thomas Hunt, S.J., who died February Io, I6O2. “Very worthy Sir, I have, according to your direction, inquired as much as for the present I can, for the particulars of the life and death of Mr. Thomas Hunt, who hath always ever since his conversion from heresy to the Catholic religion, wholly addicted himself to piety and devotion, and hath been very exemplar for his profound humility and diligent observance of our rules. Also in matter of obedience he hath ever been very punctual, desirous to do all his actions by order of obedience, and most strictly fulfilling what was commanded or com- mended unto him by his Superior. He always showed himself a great lover of poverty, not willingly holding or keeping anything with him that seemed to him to be super- fluous. His zeal of Souls and desire of helping others was so great that it hath been no small occasion of shortening his days, taking his last sickness by going abroad to help others, for in his return home, missing of his way, it being late and dark, was forced to lie without in the fields all night. And a little after being somewhat recovered, yet very weak, he went in the night (it being dangerous to have gone in the day) ten miles backward and forward to christen a child which had lain more than a fortnight unchristened by reason that the parents of it could not get any to do it. To add to all this, for the safety of the house where he lived, being sick and weak, he was constrained (while the Justices were searching) to stay abroad at the time in the open air, it being Cold and wet, which did cause a relapse. He was of great patience and mortification, not seeming to be troubled howsoever he was treated or used. And at the time of his sickness he showed himself very cheerful and comfortable, ever giving to those that came unto him some good counsel or spiritual lesson or other, still crying out to heaven, being then, as it seemed, not willing to think or talk of anything but heaven and heavenly things, which was his pious custom for all his whole life, for he was never willing to speak of anything but of spiritual matters, ever applying what himself or others said unto him of some Spiritual discourse, insomuch as that he hath left imprinted in the minds of all that knew him a great opinion of his Sanctity. He was of so great charity and so compassionate of the poor that he would give unto them all that he had in his power to give, and some refused to give him any money, because they 298 College of the Immaculate Conception. said he would not keep it but give it away; when he under- stood of any to be in want, if he had nothing himself to give them, he would beg of others for them, and was very untented [discontented] until he had relieved their necessities. He was never Willing that any should spend more time with him in talking and discoursing than was needed, nor to admit them to discourse with him before they had both said a Pater noster and an Ave Maria to commend it unto God, which he always observed, never undertaking any business but he first com- mended it unto God. In his diet he was accustomed to eat of that which was the worst, if those which were with him did not observe it. - “Now in his last sickness he was wont to accuse himself that he had not more endeavoured to gain perfection, and of his unthankfulness to God and not answering to His holy grace and good inspirations; he desired much to go unto God, and that His holy will and pléasure might be fulfilled in Him, keeping his mind continually united to God by short ejaculatory prayers, pious affections and devotions. He received before his death all the sacraments and rites of the Church, and desired those that were about him to pray for him; and so great was his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and his reverence for It, that, notwithstand- ing he was in extremis, yet he would not receive it but fasting, and Out of his bed, upon his knees, still crying out, “More reverence, more reverence,' when they that were about him would have persuaded him by reason of his weakness to have Communicated in bed. The last nourishment which he took was five spoonfuls of physic. . The first he took in honour of the Passion of our Saviour, the second in honour of the sorrows of Our Blessed Lady, the third in honour of the angels, the fourth of all the saints, the fifth in honour of the five Wounds of our Saviour, and then he would take no more. He died upon Sunday, February Io, in the morning, being Often heard to say that he was born upon a Sunday, and that he should die upon a Sunday. He was accustomed in his lifetime every day to say Our Lady’s litanies, to beg by her intercession of her Son a holy life and happy death. And a little before he died, sitting in his chair, he called for Our Lady's Litany of Loretto, and so holding the book of litanies in his hands, while that he was Saying them in the best manner that his weakness would permit, he yielded up his ghost to his Blessed Saviour after a most Sweet manner without any sigh or groan.” Arather Michael Afford. 299 FATHER FRANCIS WALSINGHAM, the eminent convert and controversialist, author of an “immortal” work, as Dr. Oliver observes, in which he was probably assisted by Father Robert Parsons, and which was dedicated to King James I., and is entitled, A Search made into the Maſters of Æeligion, was serving in this College and district in 1640. He died the Ist of July, 1647, aged seventy-one. His life is given at the end of this series. FATHER MICHAEL ALFORD, alias GRIFFITHS. This celebrated historian, author of the Annales Ecclesiastici et Civiles Aritanſtorieſ/l, Saxonum, eſſ Azng/orum, was for many years resident in this College or district, from about the year 1629. He was a native of London, born in 1587, and was amongst the first who entered the English Novitiate in 1607, arriving there on the 20th of February of that year. He made his philosophy at Seville, and his theology at Louvain. On being ordained priest, he was sent to Naples, where he acted as chaplain or missioner to the English gentry, merchants, and sailors who frequented that city. From thence he went to Rome. From 1615 to 1620 he filled the office of Penitentiary at St. Peter's in that city, to the general satisfaction. Having made his third years' probation, or tertianship, he was solemnly professed of the four vows during the sitting of the first Con- gregation of Procurators under Father General Mutius Vitel- leschi. In 1620 he was made socius to the Master of Novices at Liége, and later, about August 1621, became Rector of the House of Tertians at Ghent. He was then sent to the English mission. This was probably late in 1628, or early in 1629. Landing at Dover, he was seized by the searchers and placed under arrest. What led to suspicion of his being a priest, was the discovery of a copy of the Amitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, on his person. A minister of the Church established by law was called in for his opinion. After passing over the contents he gravely announced that the title-page was more objectionable than the text; that the author, Thomas à Kempis, was a regular Canon, and Canonists were proscribed by English statute, and that the bearer ought not be hastily discharged. In fact, the prisoner was expected to turn out to be the Right Rev. Dr. Richard Smith, Bishop of Chalcedon, and Vicar Apostolic, for whose apprehension the English Government had offered a reward of 4,200, by two several 3OO College of the Zmmaculate Conception. proclamations of December, 1628, and March, 1629. The Consequence was that Father Alford was conducted to London, but as his person in no way corresponded with the Bishop's description, he was restored to liberty through the mediation of Queen Henrietta Maria, consort of Charles I. The county of Leicester now became the chief theatre of his missionary labours, and Holt is supposed to have been his residence. There is a tradition that he was also in the Resi- dence of the ancient College of St. Francis Xavier, including Herefordshire, South Wales, &c. This Residence was at Come, or Combe, in Herefordshire. In the library of the British Museum may be seen, “A short narrative of the discovery of a College of Jesuits at a place called Come, in the county of Hereford, which was sent up unto the right honourable the lords assembled in Parliament, at the end of the last Session, by the Right Rev. Father in God, Herbert, Lord Bishop of Hereford, according to an order sent unto him by the said lords to make dilligent search and return an account thereof. London, 1679.”” From this narrative it appears that “in the parish of Llanrorhall there were two houses called the Upper and Lower Comes, or Middle and Lower Comes, with a walled court before each of them, having lands belonging to them worth about three score pounds per annum. . . . One of these houses is a fair genteel house wherein there are six lodging Chambers, each one a convenient study to it, with a standish left in them, besides several other lodging-rooms. The other house is also a good country house, with several chambers and studies to Some of them. . . . These houses are seated at the bottom of a thick woody and rocky hill, with several hollow places in the rocks wherein men may conceal them- Selves, and there is a very private passage from One of the houses into this wood. In one of these houses there was a study found, the door whereof, very hardly to be discovered, being placed behind a bed, and plastered over like the wall adjoining, in which was found great store of divinity books and others in folio and quarto, and many other lesser books, several horse loads (but they are not yet brought to me, it being Christmas holidays, but they remain in a safe hand), many whereof are written by the principal learned Jesuits.” This right reverend Father in God, after enumerating a large amount * A full copy of this very interesting paper is reserved for the intended Series—“The History of the College of St. Francis Xavier, S.J. 2. Father Michael Alford. 3OI of MSS. and other valuable property plundered, says, “Two vestments and some other small matters were found in two boxes hid in the wood above mentioned (it seems the other things were but newly removed, and they had begun also to remove the library, for they had carried out and hid in a pig's cote adjoining about two horse load of books).” In reference to this evidently valuable library (the extent of which as briefly detailed above, tends to confirm the tradi- tion that Father Alford resided in that district, and there, in great part, composedhis famous works), the Reverend Father Waterworth, S.J., of Worcester, long the resident Incumbent of the Catholic Church in Hereford, in a letter to the editor, says, “I have seen a portion of our library seized at Holm [Coombe]. It forms a part of the Hereford Cathedral library. Several of the works contain the name of William Morgan, who always wrote his name in German characters. A portion of his works, however, were formerly in the chapel house, Here- ford. Dean Mereweather one day came to my house at Hereford with a large volume, of which the title-page was missing, and asked me if I could tell him who the author was. I said ‘Yes;’ but added, ‘I can tell you more : that book belongs to me; see Father Morgan's name in it. It was taken from Holme [Coombe], and, knowing this, you will no doubt now restore our books to us.” He laughed heartily, but kept the book . There were also a good number of MSS., mainly consisting of inventories, ministers’ books and such like things, taken to the Cathedral library, but I cannot say whether or not they are still there.”14 * This Herbert Croft was (says Mr. Wood, Athen. Oxon, vol. ii. p. 264. Edit. I 721) son of Sir Herbert Croft, of Croſt Castle, Hereford- shire. The knight, weary of the vanities and fooleries of the world, retired from his family to Douay, became a Catholic, and lived a very austere life in a little cell assigned him by the English Benedictimes there, within the purlieus of their College. He wrote several works in favour of the Catholic religion, and died a holy death there on the IOth of April, I622. The knight, soon after his retirement, sent for his son Herbert to Douay, and placed him in the College of St. Omer, S.J., where he was received into the Catholic Church. His father did not wish him to enter the Society of Jesus, but, according to Wadsworth (AEnglish Spanish Aºgrim, &c., London, I630, c. 3), he did so enter, being drawn to it by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Wadsworth, who is held by Mr. Wood to be an author of “little or no note,” was the notorious pursuivant whose name so often appears in the lives of the English martyrs of his time. Croſt's name does not appear in the Catalogues of the Province for 1642 and 1653, and that he ever entered the Society must 302 College of the Immaculate Conception. Father Alford carefully devoted all the leisure time he could command from the duties of his ministry to ecclesiastical and historical studies, and when we consider the difficulty of getting access to authorities and proofs, the personal danger to which he was constantly exposed day and night, and the comparative dimness of critical light at that period, the extent and success of his researches are perfectly astonishing. The author of Florus Anglo-Bavaricus” says that Father Alford had searched all the existing libraries in England. To put a finishing stroke to his herculean undertaking, the Annales. Acclesiastic ef Cºvăſes Britan/lorum, Saxoſatºn ef Anglorum, he obained leave to quit England in the Spring of 1652. Soon after his arrival at the College of the English Fathers at St. Omer, he was seized with fever, which preyed upon his constitution, and of which he died on the 11th of August, 1652, aged sixty-five. “Four days before he died,” says Father More,” “he observed to the infirmarian, ‘It is now two-and-twenty years that I have been accustomed daily to creep into one of the Sacred Wounds of Christ. Lest, therefore, I should be less attentive to this practice on account of my sickness, I entreat you to recall it to my memory, and to remind me daily into which Wound I should enter; to-day it is that of the left foot. On Wednesday, the fourth day, on which day he had to enter the most holy Wound of the side of Christ, and which he celebrated by the following distich— . O anima, ingredere in centrum, pia viscera Christi : O Sacrum pectus ! da mihi amore mori; he breathed out his pious soul, received, as we may hope, to that Divine Heart, at which he had so often knocked in humble be considered more than doubtful. In 1626 he left Belgium for the English College, Rome, where, under the assumed name of John Harley, he was admitted a convictor among the alumni on the 4th of November of that year. On the 8th of September, 1628, he returned to Belgium. The diary of the English College observes, “Bene se gesserat, sed postea in Anglia turpiter apostatavit. Modo anno 1666 est pseudo episcopus.” We have seen how he requited his quondam ſriends and instructors. Mr. Wood adds that Herbert was sent by his father into England on family business, and in the meantime the knight died, and the son, after travelling about and promoting his studies in the sacred faculty, returned again to England on family affairs, and finally ended by rejoining the Church of England and becoming Bishop of Hereford. 15 P. 54. - - * Aſist. Prov. Angl. lib. 9. n. iii. Father Michael A/ord. 3O3 prayer. He lives, besides that everlasting residence with his God, in his useful work of the Anglo-Saxon Annals, deduced through twelve hundred years, from the period of the first entry of the Faith into this kingdom. The several volumes, which are compiled after the model of Cardinal Baronius, adorn the libraries of the Christian world. The Florus Anglo-Bavarious" observes regarding this great work, that with the exception of Baronius and a few others, nothing of the sort was then extant. The same author records that Father Alford was remarkable for his candour and affability of manners, and that he was not so buried in the libraries as to forget his duty in the service of his neighbours’ necessities; and adds that he accommodated himself to high and low alike, that with St. Paul he might gain all to Christ. There is a letter from Father Alford mentioned in the Annual Letters of the English Province, dated London, 28th November, 1647, to the Very Reverend Father General Caraffa ; giving his opinion regarding three propositions signed by the superiors of all the religious orders in England, and by the heads of the secular clergy, and by Father Henry More, the historian, Vice-Provincial, and Father George Ward, an eminent theologian ; presented to the Parliament as the basis for obtaining civil and religious liberty. In this letter he ably and learnedly defends the subscribers. The first work published by Father Alford was, 7%e Admir- - able Zife of St. Wineſride, with a frontispiece (8vo. 1635), re-edited the same year by Father John Falconer (not Flood, as Dodd, in his Church. History, vol. iii. p. 31 o, supposes). See Alban Butler's Zives of the Saints, November 3rd. Next followed Britaſzynia iſ/ustraža size Zucii, Helenae Constantini Patria et Fides (4to. Antwerpe, 1641). This ex- cessively rare book on British history (says Dr. Oliver, Collectanea S./.) seems to have escaped the notice of biographers. It consists of twenty-four pages of preliminary matter. Title engraved, two pages; Dedication to Charles, Prince of Wales, four pages; Index capitum, four pages; Synopsis libri, fourteen pages. Then follows the body of the book from pages I to 352, and an Appendix ending at page 424. His great work was published at Liége in 1663, eleven years after his death. It is in four volumes folio. The first contains 642 ; the second 693 pages. At the end of this Second volume, is an Address to the reader, written when the 17 Už supra. 3O4 College of the /memaculate Conceſtion. author lay concealed during the civil wars, and accounting for the unfinished state of the work. The two last lines furnish the chronogram, I645, viz., Hos ego depinxi libros quando Anglia bello Civili cunctos terruit, et latui. The third volume contains 580 pages, besides a chronological index of 136 pages; and the fourth volume, which is Supple- mentary, containing the history down to the year II89, is divided into two parts, the first containing 328 pages, the second 344. It is remarkable that the title-page varies in each of these volumes. Bishop Fleetwood has pronounced this collection to be a very valuable treasure of the ecclesi- astical history of England. The learned Benedictine Father Serenus Cressy, who died the Ioth of August, 1674, aged eighty, in his Preface to his Church History of Årittany, printed in 1688, with the candour of a great and generous mind, enlarges on his many obligations to the profound researches of Father Alford. He repeats that the Annales Eccl. formed the principal foundation for his own history. That Father Alford possessed in an eminent degree the two endowments which constitute an excellent historian, learning and fidelity; that to his unwearied labours all Catholics, yea, the whole nation, are indebted. He styles him a principal ornament of the age, and regrets his incapacity to raise a monumental pyramid suitable to his merits. Speaking then of his piety, he says that “great abilities and learning will per- petuate one's memory on earth; but if unaccompanied with piety, it will be apt to swell the person with pride, which can find no place in heaven. The venerable Father knew this well, and therefore made it his chief care and study to adorn his soul with piety and virtue. As he carried the name, so did he also bear a tender devotion to the glorious Archangel St. Michael, of which he left a memorial several years before his death, by a devout prayer and picture devised by him, which he caused to be cut at Antwerp, and dispersed to the honour of the saint, not only as his patron, but also the standard-bearer of the Church against rebellious heresy, which he endeavoured also to quell by word and writing.” Father Cressy then alludes to Father Alford's devotion to the Sacred Wounds of our Blessed Redeemer, as noticed above, from Father More's history.18 18 This Father Cressy, an ornament of religion and luminary of the Benedictine Order, as Dr. Oliver (Collectanea S./. p. 43) justly calls him, Aaſher Michael A ſford. 3O5 The following quaint paper, in the Public Record Office, Brussels (Collectio Cardwelli, varia S./, vol. iii. p. 868), is mo doubt written by Father Alford under the initials M. A. (in the third person), and is evidently intended for some was born at Wakefield, though descended originally from a family of the name of Holme, near Hodsock, Notts. His father was Hugh Cressy, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn. His mother, Margery, daughter of Thomas D'Oylie, M.D., London. After having laid a good foundation of learning in the country, he was sent to Oxford, at fourteen years of age, anno I619, and about ſour years after took his degree of B.A., and not long after of M.A. In 1627 he was chosen fellow of Merton College; then, entering orders, he became chaplain to the Earl of Strafford. In 1638, he went to Ireland as chaplain to Lord Falkland, and returned with him to England the following year. In 1642, Lord Falkland, the Secretary of State, procured him the appointment of a Canon of Windsor, and Dean of Leighlin, in Ireland. His patron, Lord Falkland, having been killed at the battle of Newbury, 1643, Cressy became tutor and guardian of Charles Berkeley, Esq. (afterwards Earl Falmouth), with whom he travelled through several polite parts of Europe, about 1644. This gave him an opportunity of informing himself, without prejudice or misrepresentation, of the doctrine and practices of the Catholic religion. His inquiries ended in his conversion to the Catholic Church, and he pub- licly renounced Protestantism before the Inquisition at Rome, I646. He returned to Paris, and published his AExomologesis, or motives of his con- version. He then deliberated upon a state of life, and was at first inclined to enter the Carthusian Order at Nieuport; but was dissuaded from it, chiefly upon account of the usefulness of his pen, and chose the Order of St. Benedict, where he might have more leisure for writing. He made his noviceship at Douay, and took the name of Serenus upon his profession. After spending seven years with great edification at Douay, he was sent to England. On the marriage of Charles II. to the Infanta of Portugal, Father Cressy became one of her chaplains, residing chiefly at Somerset House. In his latter days, he retired to East Grinstead, Sussex; and died at the seat of Richard Carryl, Esq., the Ioth of August, 1674, aged about eighty. (See Wood’s Athen. Oxon, quoted by Dr. Dodd, Church Aſistory, vol. iii. p. 307; where will be found a long list of Father Cressy’s works, Seventeen in number.) Dr. Oliver, ut supra, mentions another work omitted by Wood and Dodd, “Arbor Virtutum, or An exact model of all virtues,” &c., written by Father Cressy, for the use of Dame Mary Cary, at Cambray, 7th October, 1649. the original of which is at Lord Clifford's, Ugbrooke. In the beginning of the Catholic Apology, third edition, 1674, the author, speaking of the severity with which a person of honour had animadverted on Mr. Cressy’s Aramaticism fanatically imputed to the Catholic Church, observes, “Certainly, if you knew that gentleman, you would, instead of a wasp, have rather called him a bee, which gives honey, and never stings unless exasperated, and in its own deſence.” And again, page 592, after stating that conscience, and not interest, animated the sterling Catholic, adds, “Of this Mr. Cressy is a worthy example, who might now, in all probability have been one of the greatest clergymen in the nation. Nay, had he had never so potent enemies, they could not have hindered him U 306 College of the Zmamzaculate Conception. materials for the Annual Letters of the Province for 1640. These Annual Letters were always prepared in Belgium, and hence the paper is headed, “Occurrences out of England.” “I640.-Occurrences out of England. “Concerning pretty stories of passages in these times, I can furnish you as followeth. I. In the year 1640, Wilkinson” was taken, imprisoned, examined strictly, finally condemned in pramunire for refusing the oath, when by no means it could be found that he was a priest. After three years' imprisonment, he got out by leave of soldiers that brought him out. “2. Robert Arden, going to help a neighbour, was appre- hended, carried from garrison to garrison, and lastly lodged in prison, where, after nine months abode, he got out when the King took the town. “3. One of ours was killed at Shelford” (my cousin Brookes knows his name). It is constantly reported that quarter was given him, but when in searching they found what he was, he was thereupon killed. “4. Walsingham and Nelson” were sought for, being in a house which did long defend itself, and finally was taken. Both retired into a chamber, which by luck was not to be plundered. Walsingham was physician, and Nelson a kinsman to the lady; the kinsman was not known, the physician was, and so fell twice or thrice into soldiers’ hands, but finally came off, and ever since for the most part hath been in a measure bedridden. M. A.” was in a castle garrison with his landlady, whom he served every day, and being forced to pass daily upon his bare going to church, from the enjoyment of his former ample dignities, and the vast fines lately raised out of them. But a little cell with an upright heart, was more dear to him than all those allurements; nor has he since ceased, by his prayers, mortifications, and labours, to show himself, like the rest of his pious brethren, a true son of that holy Order to which our nation is so much engaged.” * Father Wilkinson was serving in the College of the Immaculate Con- ception at the time. * Shelford is a parish six miles from Nottingham. Here was ſormerly an ancient mansion which was burnt down in the civil wars, having been garrisoned for Charles I. Mr. Dodd (Church. History, vol. iii. p. 65), mentions George Carey, a gentlemen volunteer, who, joining with the royal army, was killed at Shelford House. * Both were serving in the College of the Immaculate Conception. This is the celebrated Father Francis Walsingham. * M. A. was Father Michael Alford, who was serving in the College of the Immaculate Conception, at Holt. Father Michael Alford. 3O7 through the common hall to come to her chamber, was one Sunday morning espied by a captain belonging to the garrison, and brother to the governor. The captain understanding, or at least conceiving him to be a priest, commanded his soldiers who were then with him, to seek him, but none stirred. The next Sunday he laid wait to search him, and accordingly placed soldiers in the room (he being serjeant-major), to be ready about ten o'clock in the morning. At the very hour came an aged man, somewhat like M. A. The captain gave the watch- word, and seized upon him, commanding his soldiers to bring him to the governor. Upon which there was a great noise in the castle, that a priest was taken. The governor, seeing his brother come with the prize, and with a loud mouth that he had brought a priest, asked him whether he was in his wits, for he knew the man to be a layman, a married man, and a Protestant. At which the captain stormed, and swore that the Lady N. had a priest,” who came to see her, and that if he met him he would run him through. The governor asked him how he knew it? He answered because Captain Letoige (a Fleming and Catholic) did threaten the parson to run him through, if he would not lend his surplice to Lady N. for her priest to Say Mass in, while hers was washing. M. A., while this was acting, knowing nothing, went his ordinary road to his lady's chamber, where he understood what immediately before had succeeded. There he found Captain Letoige, who, hearing what was reported of him, went to the governor, and told him in good English, “By , your brother lies in his throat, if he says I offered to borrow a surplice for the lady.” Then returning to the lady, and seeing that M.A. might be in some danger, he went with him to his chamber to stave off all encounters, and the next morning with two or three other soldiers, rode with him to another garrison, where M. A. remained, until news that the lady's youngest son (sometimes Mich. Car, then S. J. s), was slain. Then the chief of the castle desired M. A. might be sent for to comfort the mother, which was done accordingly. “This also seemeth remarkable. A parson’s wife, who had been long infirm, and for the space of twenty years never able to go a mile from home, did wonderfully desire to change her priest ſparson]. But, being acquainted with none, found it impossible. Her eldest son, a youth under twenty years, and a prime Scholar of Cambridge, was partly of his mother's mind. * Lady Neville, of Holt, Leicestershire, where Father Alford lived, TJ 2 308 College of the Immaculate Conception. Whereupon, both plotted how to come to the speech of a good man.* The youth was nimble-witted, and writ a lamentable letter to my landlady, entreating her to help him to the Speech of one to satisfy him. This done, the youth was brought by M. A. to our parish, declares his mother's case, but no pos- sibility appearing for any conference, the weak woman, in midst of winter, unknown to her husband, comes three miles on foot to M. A., and returned the same day, satisfied of her long trip. And finding that tendered to her wishes, comes again and again, still returning on foot, to the amazement of all that knew her. She had provided for her parish, what my cousin Brookes received from me in a box, which she bestows On M. A., and entreats him to fetch it away suddenly. And if he had not instantly sent a faithful messenger it had been lost; for immediately after the removal, the place where it lodged was plundered. The youth did earnestly entreat to go to Hilles.” I had promised him there a place; his mother had furnished him with money, but garrisons took him, threatened him, and finally he was sent back to Cambridge. The mother most constant endures from the husband much. She was Once or twice forced by him to the church, but falling in a swoon at the porch, the parish cried shame, and she returns home. I have no more of the story.”% * The priests frequently passed by that appellation amongst Catholics. * Watten, Belgium. * The lady here mentioned, and her son (the case is also further noticed in the Annual Letters, p. 26, post), were Mrs. Turner, and her son Edward, who afterwards entered the Society, and died a martyr for his faith in Newgate, in the time of Oates’ Plot. A detailed account of her, and her two sons, Edward and Anthony (Father A. Turner, the martyr, who died in the same persecution upon the gallows at Tyburn, 30th of June, 1679), is given in the Brezis relatio felicis agozzis, &c. (Supposed author, Father Matthias Tanner, S.J.), and will be reproduced in the intended history of the sufferings of the English Province, S.J., in the period of that terrible persecution, and of the Revolution of 1688. This Mrs. Turner was a lady of high birth—Elizabeth Chesheldine, of Brandon, Leicestershire. Her husband was rector of Dalby Parva, near Melton Mowbray. Although she had never associated with Catholics, yet anxious about the salvation of her soul, and trembling lest amidst the multitude of religious sects in England she might find herselſ outside the true Church, she diligently inquired of her sons, Edward and Anthony, on their return home from Cambridge ſor their vacation, what they had learned in the schools there about the true religion ; and on Edward’s asserting that he had learned nothing at all regarding it, she earnestly exhorted him to procure books, at whatever cost, treating upon that one all- Father H.enry WZZé2725072. 3O9 FATHER HENRY WILKINson, the same we have seen named in the above paper written by Father Alford, was a native of Yorkshire, born in the year 1595 ; entered the Society in the year 1619, and was solemnly professed of the four vows 20th January, 1633. In the year 1640, when a missioner in this College or district, he was apprehended for refusing to take the infamous oath of allegiance and Supremacy, and committed to prison, as we read in the Annual Letters for that year. As he was on his way to prison, an elderly Protestant woman, who had scarcely heard anything about the Catholic religion, observing the cheerful composure of countenance with which the Father bore the insulting and injurious treatment he under- important affair, so necessary for Salvation ; that she would readily assist him with the means of doing so, and that he should use every effort to discover the true religion. The youth, obedient to his mother's instructions, among other treatises on controversy, bought some of Bellarmine's works ; from these the mother, through her son's interpretation, or, rather, by the interior teaching of the Holy Ghost, in a short time began to discover the darkness of her errors, and the light of Catholic truth. Therefore, in order that she might be more fully instructed, she desired her son to seek out a Catholic priest. But this task was no easy one. For what Catholic would trust the son of a bigoted minister, and he a youth too? Who would incur the risk of drawing a priest into the danger of arrest? Nor was the youth himself able to make inquiry, scarcely knowing a single Catholic; and there was great danger lest Mr. Turner should discover the matter. It happened, however, that whilst daily urged on and encouraged by his mother, but really accomplishing nothing, because of the distrust of the Catholics, the matter came to the ears of Father Michael Alford, who, in consequence of the hot persecution at that time, lay concealed in the house of a certain Catholic of rank in the neighbourhood, who even with the uncertain hope of gaining a single soul, did not hesitate to expose his life to danger, and seizing a favourable opportunity of time and place, he met the lady, expounded to her the mysteries of faith, and happily reconciled her to the Catholic Church. This important event could not long remain concealed from the husband, because she refused to attend the Protestant church and Services. In consequence he cruelly assailed her with threats, reproaches, and blows, and in the most infamous manner daily assaulted her with his fists and heels, all which she bore with incredible patience until her death, which she most piously met soon aſter, laden with merits. Since, as Father Alſord himself declared in a funeral oration he made on the occasion, such was her innocence of life, even as a Protestant, that, with the exception Only of her erroneous faith, her soul had never been stained with a mortal sin. Her heroic example was the cause of the conversion of both the brothers, who, as we have stated, entered the Society of Jesus. When the faithless father suspected that his son Anthony was inclining towards the Catholic faith, seized with extreme grief, amounting almost to insanity (ſor it was but a bare suspicion), in a short time, and while yet in the obstimacy of his errors, breathed out his unhappy soul . - 3 Io College of the /mmaculate Conception. went from those who had him in custody, became greatly troubled in mind, and having sought out the mistress of the house in which the Father had been apprehended, she told her, with many tears, that the religion which taught men to bear injuries with so much patience, must be truly good, and much better than her own. She was introduced to one of the fathers, to be instructed as soon as this could be safely undertaken. Father Wilkinson is again alluded to in the Annual Letters of the following year, 1641, which state that he was this year brought to trial. As there was not sufficient evidence to prove who or what he was, the oath of allegiance and supremacy was again tendered to him; and on his refusing to take it, he was condemned to the forfeiture of all his property and imprison- ment for life. During the present year, his brethren were merely able to provide him with the necessaries of life, to which, indeed, he desired them himself to restrict their supplies. They were, however, unable to obtain access to him, or to afford him any consolation, or opportunity of hearing Mass, or receiving the Holy Sacrament. Such were the dangers of the times that no Catholic could for a long while venture to visit him. As we have seen in the narrative of M. A. (Father Michael Alford), he was liberated by some soldiers after three years' imprisonment. He again appears amongst the missionary fathers of this College in the Catalogue of 1655. Father Wilkinson died February 28, 1673, aged seventy-six. The notices of the two Fathers, ANTHONY TURNER and his brother, EDWARD TURNER, both martyrs, victims of Oates' Plot, the former expiring at the gallows of Tyburn, and the latter in the Gatehouse prison, are reserved for the history of that period. The following are extracts from the Annual Letters of the English Province, S.J. for this College— * “1635. The report for this year states that in the district of Derbyshire one of the fathers had a providential escape from an imminent danger. He had brought over to the Catholic faith some Protestants living near the house in which he was harboured. These conversions roused the indignation of a Protestant Earl who lived near. He ordered a number of con- stables suddenly to enter the house at which the father lived, at an early hour in the morning, in search of him; but the object of their search was not there. He had said Mass that morning, College of the Zmmaculate Conception. 31 I and shortly after had gone out to take a walk in the country. This was very unusual with him, and was observed with some surprise by the servants. Presently the officers arrived, and searched every part of the house. The father, having taken his walk, was returning home, when a Protestant peasant signi- ficantly advised him to betake himself to a neighbouring wood. The father took the hint, and escaped. His superiors presently removed him to another part of the country, where his person would be unknown. Enraged at the escape of his intended victim, the Earl discharged his anger on one of his flock, a poor Catholic in the neighbourhood, who was distinguished by his piety and his attachment to his spiritual guide. The poor man was thrown into prison, and after great sufferings died there, a martyr for his faith. “The persecution was, on the whole, rather more active this year than usual in this district; but it stimulated rather than checked the exertions of the fathers. An attempt had been made by them, two years before, to establish a school for Catholic boys in a house designed for that purpose. The attempt had been attended with a degree of success which was hardly to be expected in such perilous times. A considerable number of the children of persons of rank had been brought together, and the work of education was proceeding prosper- ously, when the establishment was suddenly dispersed by a Storm from a quarter least anticipated. A Catholic youth of good family” had been for some years under the care of the fathers for the purpose of education. Having returned home, he was induced to abandon his religion, and become a Pro- testant; then, to manifest his zeal in the cause which he had embraced, he gave information to the Council of the establish- ment which his late masters had formed, and of their names, and those of their pupils. They were soon apprized of this denunciation, and of course immediately sent their pupils home, and dispersed and concealed themselves as best they could. The King prevented any further proceedings against them. But the attention of the Council had been roused, and they Soon discovered other similar establishments under the charge of the fathers. Some of these zealous teachers were taken, and Conveyed in custody to London, where they suffered, with more Or less severity, the usual inflictions of the law. In consequence of these occurrences, the fathers thought it prudent to abstain * From the copies of State Papers presently referred to, it seems to have been a Mr. Lumley. 312 College of the Immaculate Conception. for the present from any similar undertaking. This year there were fifteen fathers and one scholastic, the highest number the residence ever attained. 28 - “1636. The report for this district observes that the perse- vering zeal of the fathers for the education of the Catholic youth was more successful this year than in the preceding, when, as has been said, they and their scholars were violently dispersed. The pupils were now reassembled in more limited numbers, and in a more unobserved and convenient locality. Here, under the care of three of the fathers, their education was conducted in tranquillity, with much care. Though several of the nobility earnestly solicited the admission of their children into the new establishment, the fathers prudently refused to increase the number of their inmates, at the risk of again raising the storm which had lately proved so disastrous. It further pleased Providence that these fathers should experience an unusual share of hostility. Some of them who had been dispersed by the persecution of the preceding year had not returned, probably from prudential motives, to their former localities. Some of the Catholics who, under their ministry, had experienced not only spiritual but temporal benefit, or who fancied they had acquired a claim to their gratuitous services, formerly rendered to them, complained angrily of their with- drawal. In one instance, in which the Superior was asked, but was unable to afford, the services of one of the missioners, all the abuse which an angry woman could devise was heaped on the heads of the fathers. These assaults, which the fathers met with religious patience, roused the zeal of their friends, who loudly defended their character, warmly supported their rising College, and bestowed upon them, in unusual abundance, the alms needed for prosecuting their salutary undertakings. The remarkable piety of a certain Catholic schoolmaster, his patient endurance of imprisonment for the Faith, his devotion towards the most Holy Sacrament, his habit of continual prayer, and lastly, his holy death, are recorded. Also the fact of a certain nobleman deprived of his office by the King, for refusing to take the heretical Sacrament. “I637. The Annual Letters say that the hostility experi- * The school in Derbyshire was at Stanley Grange, the seat of Mrs. Vaux. One of the other places alluded to was at Mr. Leuson's (or Levison's), near Wolverhampton. In the notice of Stanley Grange, p. 316, Žost, some interesting copies of documents from the State Paper Office, regarding the seizure, &c., will be given. Co//ege of the //zmacºlate Conception. 313 enced during the preceding year from the adversaries of the Society was gradually abated, as the falsehood of accusations brought against the fathers became more apparent. * “One of the fathers experienced further hostility from the adversaries of the Faith. A number of Catholics had assembled to avail themselves of his ministry. He had administered to them the consolations of the Sacrament of Penance, and was proceeding to the distribution of the Blessed Eucharist, when the officers burst into the house so suddenly, that before he had time to put off his vestments he was seized, and with his breviary carried before the magistrates. The oath of supremacy and allegiance was tendered to him, and, on his refusing to take it, he was committed to prison as a recusant. Having remained there for a few weeks, during which time he reconciled eight of his fellow-prisoners to the Church, he was transferred to London, and not long after set at liberty. & “It happened to the fathers of this district, as had been observed on similar occasions, that the liberality of the faithful seemed to be commensurate with the activity of their enemies. They received during the year abundant alms, which not only supplied their own wants, but enabled them to afford extensive relief to the poor. - - - “A remarkable conversion of a lady of rank is recorded, without mention of the circumstances. “I638. In this year two of the fathers were employed in teaching in the school. The Catholics in the district had become fully aware of the injustice of the misrepresentations and calumnies against the fathers, which had been circulated during the preceding years; and they now showed increasing esteem for them and for their Institute. “I641–2. In these years, mention is made in the reports of Fathers Henry Wilkinson and Gervase Pole, previously noticed in their respective memoirs. “The civil dissensions and miseries in 1641 afforded to the fathers much occasion for sufferings, but little for action. One of them, as he was visiting the houses of Catholics by night, for the purpose of administering the sacraments, was appre- hended by the officers. They had intended to take him at once before a magistrate, but as the nearest lived many miles distant, and they felt some consideration for the advanced age of their prisoner, they accepted of a sum of money and released him. - 3I4 College of the /mmaculate Conception. “ 1645. The number of the missionary fathers this year was greatly reduced, owing probably to the troublesome times. Forty conversions to the Faith are recorded. A young man, a student of the University of Cambridge, son of a Protestant minister, was converted by reading the “Ten Reasons” of Father Campion. Having obtained access to One of the fathers, he was fully instructed by him, and received into the Church. He made his mother acquainted with what he had done, and induced her also to visit the same father, who contrived likewise to call upon her. The father of the youth, On discovering these proceedings of his son and wife, became furious, and actually put her into strict confinement in his own house. She then fell into a mortal illness, and through the goodness of Providence was enabled to receive all the Sacraments, and died with sentiments of the greatest piety. Her son went abroad to finish his studies in a Catholic college.” - “A remarkable case of conversion of a Protestant young woman is recorded. Finding herself very ill, she was about to retire to rest, when feeling no less anxious for the welfare of her Soul than for that of the body, she first knelt down and with tears besought God to be pleased to afford her some clear indication of the way by which she might come to eternal life. Having then betaken herself to rest, she saw in her sleep a man meanly clothed, whose presence seemed to excite in her a great desire of becoming a Catholic, and at the same time to diffuse in her soul a sense of great relief and comfort. As soon as she awoke, she sent for her father and related to him what had happened, entreated him to permit her to embrace the Catholic faith. As he was himself favourably disposed towards Catholicity, he readily granted her request, and himself went by night to seek a Catholic priest. He found one of the fathers, who was passing through that part of the country and brought him to his daughter. AS SOOn as she saw him she declared that he was the very person she had seen in her sleep. The father was indeed very poorly dressed, that he might thus more easily escape the notice of the numerous military parties who were travers- ing the country. He had no difficulty in bringing to the Catholic faith one who had been so singularly prepared for it. - * The Annual Letters here refer to the case of Father Edward Turner and his mother, already mentioned in Father Alford’s liſe, p. 308, ante. College of the /m/gac//ałe Conception. 315 “In this district, as in other parts, the fathers suffered imprisonment and other hardships, and were preserved by many narrow escapes. “There is no further mention of this district in the reports until the year 1672 ; for which year edifying particulars are given of an aged father residing in this College. He was nearly eighty years of age, most observant of religious discipline, and a great lover and practiser of humility and holy poverty. Though he was afflicted with very severe bodily pains and infirmities, and had lost the sight of one of his eyes from violent disease, yet he exhibited no signs of either impatience Or sadness; but maintained a wonderful and constant tran- quillity of mind. He used great severity towards himself, and although so advanced in years, he would allow himself no indulgence, and was most abstemious both in food and sleep; the food he did take being moreover of the coarsest kind. Shut up in his room, he led a saintly and angelical life, like a real solitary; he scarcely ever left it except for meals, unless perchance to walk in the garden, or to visit the sick and dying. He seldom admitted visitors. Always alone, he was never idle, but spent his time in study or prayer. This mode of life was not for One year only, but of many years standing, and hence he was held by all in the highest veneration.” The further extracts from the Annual Letters will be post- poned to the history of the Province in the times of Oates' Plot, and the Revolution of I688. Among the ancient missions or resorts of the fathers of this College was the seat of the Brookesbys in Leicestershire. Father Henry Garnet is reported by a Government spy to have been there, and is named in his list of “The Jesuits in England with their chief places of abode.” This document is amongst the State Papers, P.R.O. Domestic James I. IGoł, vol. vii. n. 50. It is endorsed by Cecil, “A note of the Jesuits that lurk in England.” “Mr. Garnet with Mrs. Brookesby of Leicestershire, at Arundel House. He hath lodgings of his own in London.” Mrs. Brookesby was widow of Edward Brookesby, Esq., and sister of the Hon. Ann Vaux, the friend. and Succourer of Father Garnet, and of the Society. They were daughters of William, third Lord Vaux of Harrowden. HOLT, LEICESTERSHIRE, the seat of the Neville family was, as We have said, the habitation of Father Michael Alford. 316 College of the /mmaculate Conception. We shall have to return to Leicester in the history of the sufferings of the College under the Oates' Plot and the Revolution. Father William Bentney died a martyr in the Common gaol there in 1692. SPINK HILL, now the College and Convictus of Mount St. Mary’s, has been alluded to in our notice of Father Gervase Pole. This has always been considered as one of the very earliest centres of the labours of the English Jesuits. As early as 16oo, Father John Pole is named in a passage in Father More's history of the Province, as having been sent from Spink Hill to Spain, as Prefect of Studies, &c., at Valladolid. In a letter of the late Dr. Oliver to Father Lythgoe, dated 26th of June, 1842, he says—“With respect to Spink Hill, I have always understood that its mission was one of the earliest in the kingdom. I suspect from a passage of More, Aſis?. Arov. Ang/. page 286, that Father John Pole, who joined the Society in 1598, was sent from Spink Hill to preside over the studies, and teach moral divinity at St. Alban's College, Valladolid, but died at San Lucar, 1604.” STANLEY GRANGE, Derbyshire, the residence of the Hon. Anne Vaux, sister to Lord Vaux of Harrowden, mentioned above, the attached friend of the English Province of the Society. It was here that the fathers of this district had estab- lished a small college for the education of boys, as mentioned in the Annual Letters for 1635, which was dispersed by the pursuivants in the latter part of that year. Stanley is a town- ship and chapelry in the parish of Spondon, six miles from Derby. The following copies of documents relative to this event have been taken from the State Papers in the Public Record Office. Joomlestic, Charles Z. vol. CCXCiv. n. 74, 1635. [Endorsed, “Warrant for Stanley Grange, 1635.”] “Whereas we are informed that there is a school kept at the house of Mrs. Vaux, called Stanley Grange,” in the county of Derby, and that there are the sons of divers persons of quality brought up under the tutorage of the Jesuits, contrary to the laws of this kingdom. These are therefore to will and * [In the margin—“To the house of Mr. Leuson, within two miles of Wolverhampton.”] College of the Zmmaculate Conception. 317 require you to make your repair to the house of the said Mrs. Vaux. . . . And there if you shall find any Jesuit, or other suspected person, to apprehend him or them, and cause them to be brought up hither to be examined by us, as also all such children as you shall find there; and if they be dispersed, to inform yourself by the best ways and means you can possible whose sons they are, how long they were there at School, and where they now remain. * “As also to seize upon all such books, papers, and Massing stuff as you shall find in the said house, and locking them up in a chest or trunk, cause them also to be sent up hither to be disposed of as we shall think fit, and give directions therein. And we do further in his Majesty's name will and command all mayors, sheriffs, justices of the peace, constables, headboroughs, and all other his Majesty's officers and loving subjects, to be aiding and assisting unto you in the full and due execution of this our warrant, whereof neither they nor you may fail, as they and you will answer the same at the uttermost peril. Dated,” &c. [N.B.-The above is the draft of the warrant, and by the marginal addition no doubt served for the search at Mr. Leuson's house near Wolverhampton, where was also a School.] -* Zomlesſic, Charles ſ. vol. ccxcix. n. 36, 1635. [Endorsed, “Received October 8, 1635. Mr. Lumley’s information con- cerning Stafford and Derby, &c.”81) “This place where the most of the gentlemen’s sons do remain is in Derbyshire, four miles off from Derby town, at One Mrs. Anne Vaux’s house, called Stanley Grange, sister to the Lord Vaux, where there is the Lord Abergaveney's grand- child, with one Mr. Fossiter's son, and divers more, which Cometh to the number of ten or eleven. “There is also in Staffordshire, two miles off Wolver- hampton, at one Mr. Leuson's house, but who remains there I am uncertain.” We hope to return to this College in the history of the Sufferings of the Province during the trying times of Oates' infamous Plot, and of the Revolution of 1688. * The handwriting of the chdorsement is Archbishop Laud's. 3.18 Aather Francis Walsingham. THE LIFE OF FATHER FRANCIS WALSINGHAM, S.J. Formerly a Deacon in the Church of England, a convert to the Catholic faith, and celebrated controversialist. Entered Zhe Society of Jesus, 1609. Died ?uly 1, 1647. Aged seventy-one years. This eminent convert to the Catholic faith, and learned member of the Society of Jesus, was born (as we shall see in the formal declaration signed by him on his being admitted an alumnus of the English College at Rome in the year 1606, at Hawick, in Northumberland.” His father was Edward Walsingham, Esq. of Exhall, but the county he does not mention. We find two parishes of that name in Warwick- shire, the one near Alcester, the other near Coventry. His mother was alive in 1606, and was a Catholic. His father died about I 576. He had two brothers and two sisters, some of whom were Catholics. He received a liberal education, and studied for some time at All Souls College, Oxford, where he appears to have been a tutor. For a short time he served in the army under Sir Robert Sidney, Governor of Flushing; but leaving the army for a time he studied civil and common law. Sir Francis Walsingham, the Secretary of State in the time of Elizabeth, seems to have been his great patron in early life, and was probably a relation, but in what degree does not appear. The present life is mainly gathered from Father Wal- singham’s “immortal” work (as the late Dr. Oliver in his Collectanea S./., page 215, justly calls it), Search made into matters of religion. This is in fact an autobiography regarding that all important period of his life, the rise and growth of his doubts on religion, the diligent and laborious means he took to resolve them, his final conviction, and his embracing the ancient faith of Catholic England. Father More in his A/ist. A roz. Azng/, and Father Matt. Tanner in his Societatis Jesus Apostol. Zmitatrix, chiefly derive their notices of this * A small township in the parish of Kirk Harle, north-east division of Tynedale ward, fourteen miles from Hexham. Father Francis Walsingham. 3 IQ Father from the same source. So too does the anonymous author of a biographical sketch that appeared in the Catholic Miscel/any for December, 1824. The Annual Letters of the English College Rome, 1608–9, probably written by Father Robert Parsons himself, the then Rector, contains a brief account of Father Walsingham's conversion, but present no facts that are not contained in the present history. Dr. Oliver thinks, with much reason, that Father Walsingham was assisted in his work by that eminent controversialist. This very rare book is an octavo volume of more than five hundred pages of close print. Its full title is, “A search made into matters of religion. By Francis Walsingham, Deacon of the Protestants' Church before his change to the Cătholic; wherein is related how he first fell into his doubts ; and how for final resolution thereof he repaired unto his Majesty, who remitted him to the Lord of Canterbury that now is, and he to other learned men, and what the issue was of all those conferences. And how after this again he betook himself to the reading of Protestant and Catholic authors for better finding out the truth ; as also for discovering where, and on what side, true or false doctrine was to be found; and what the success of this search hath been.” He divides the book into three parts. The first is an historical narration of what happened to the author regarding his first doubts in religion. The second part, what resolution he took to read over more diligently Protestant books, for clearing a special doubt that he had conceived of their insin- cere writing, and what he found therein, to wit, far more untruths than ever he could have imagined, of which he gives copious examples. The third part, his like search into Catholic books; and finally, what conclusion he made of all, after some conference had with a certain old man of the Catholic religion. This learned controversial treatise was written in the year I609. We do not follow the author into all his researches, which would amount to a reprint of the work, but shall merely extract his personal history, with his discussions with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and others, and Occasional extracts of passages from authors, &c. Being a staunch Protestant, and looking upon the King as being indeed what he styled himself, Supreme head of the Church in England, Father Walsingham took the singular course of laying his doubts * A beautiful copy is preserved in the library of Stonyhurst College. 32O ; Father Aºrancis Walsingham. before King James himself presently, and dedicated his book to his Majesty, written some five years afterwards. We give his epistle dedicatory in full. “To the King's most excellent Majesty,+ “It is now (most dread sovereign) almost five years since making recourse unto your Majesty for comfort of my con- science in certain doubts and perplexities of mind, which by reading a Catholic book I had conceived; I was remitted by the clemency of your Majesty unto my Lord of Canterbury that now is, with order to give me satisfaction. And for so much as many things have passed in this affair sithence that time, wherewith I presuppose your princely Majesty hath not been acquainted, nor doth know of the small satisfaction which I have received; I thought it a point of my loyal duty, and not ungrateful to your royal benignity, to yield some parti- cular account what hath been done in the business, and what success it hath had ; hoping that your Highness will not be offended, that after due search and painful inquisition made on my behalf, and finding that which here in this book is set down, I took the resolution which I judged to be most secure for my soul's health and everlasting life in the world to COIme. “Almighty God knoweth, in Whose presence I speak, that if by any search I could have found out in all this time, but any one sure ground on the Protestant's behalf whereon to rest my Salvation, with any probable security, I should never have yielded to any change, all worldly reasons under heaven persuaded me to the contrary, as friends, kindred, Country, advancement, former education, and the rest : but I confess that not finding this, the consideration of eternity struck deeply into me; hope and ſear of endless future life did work effectually with me. For having descried so great insincerity in so many of your Majesty's chief and principal learned ministers, as in this search I have discovered ; and hereupon considered with myself, how undoubtedly true it is, that God’s most holy truth and sacred verity of Christian religion hath no necessity (but abhored rather) to be founded, defended, Or supported by Such sinister and concised means, I began to distrust and suspect that it was not God’s truth which was thus maintained, nor the saving verity which with these men I had learned. And therefore, at length (dread sovereign), after much travail and study herein, being compassed with a cloud Aather Francis Wa/singham. 32 I of witnesses, so many ancient and most learned holy Fathers and Doctors of Christ's Church, now Saints in heaven; and embarked on the forcible stream and current of all venerable antiquity, persuading me to believe them ; I was constrained (notwithstanding all resistance of flesh and blood) to make earnest suit upon my knees to be received into the only saving ark of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, ad quam perſidia non poſest habere accessum, as I learned of that holy Bishop and Martyr, St. Cyprian, and out of which Church the most holy Father and learned Doctor, St. Augustine, assured me that there was no hope of salvation.” “I will not here take upon me to be a suitor unto your royal Highness for some indifferent trial of this truth between your Majesty's learned Catholics and Protestants, by a free and public disputation (so many years desired, though never yet obtained); for that I must confess myself destitute of those requisite talents wherewith so many of your Majesty's learned subjects are furnished, which would readily undergo that charge. But might it only please your princely wisdom (imitating herein that memorable example of the most Christian King in granting that public trial+ between the Bishop of Evreux, now Cardinal, and the Lord Plessis Mornay) to ordain some indifferent trial to be made in some one or other of your Majesty's clergy (if not of him who styleth himself, your Majesty's ‘Minister of simple truth”) of those manifold untruths objected daily against them by learned Catholics, as well of our own as of other nations (for the fame of their infamous fidelity hath reached far and near), I am persuaded your most prudent Majesty as a severe judicator of only truth, would receive far more Content and Satisfaction to sit as umpire and judge in such a Conference or trial, than by a hundred such fruitless con- tentions between Protestant and Puritan ministers, as have been often graced with your royal presence. For that this trial would be most easy, brief, and pleasant unto your Majesty, and whosoever present; seeing it would be suffi- cient herein, as the Bishop of Evreux" saith, to bring only eyes to open the books and see whether the places be truly alleged. * Cyprian, Epist. lv. ad Cornel. A aftanz Augustine, t. v. l. 4, ZXe Symbolo, c. xiii. and Æðist. I. ad Bonifac. * At Fontainbleau, May 4, 1600. \ j * In his answer to the Lord Plessis' challenge. V 322 Aather Francis Walsingham. “And if peradventure your Majesty should resolve, and first adjudge to make some trial of my religious meaning and true fidelity in imputing this so heinous crime, prevarication in God’s cause, unto so many and principal men as in this search are attacked; I shall ever be ready (God willing) to render such account thereof unto your Majesty, as, if I shall be truly found (and I dare appeal unto the mature judgment of your royal Majesty alone) maliciously to have wronged any one of them herein, I shall most willingly submit myself unto your Majesty's heaviest censure, yea, if it were to lay down my life prostrate at your Majesty's royal feet to be rejected and cast forth from the society of men. And hereby, whereas your Majesty's noble ancestors have promerited that thrice worthy title to England’s victorious crown, “Defender of the Faith,' So your Highness shall by consent of tongues and nations, purchase to your immortal fame this singular epithet or encomium, ‘Zealous revenger of truth’s calumniation.’ “But if contrariwise your Majesty's judicious eye shall well discern and see that I have only made sincere relation unto your Highness of what I ſound to be most true, I would then Crave no other reward but this, that your prudent wisdom will give strict order and command that never Credit more be given unto these sort of men, or to their writings, especially in matters concerning men's souls; and also that your gracious Majesty will still acknowledge my unworthy self for your Highness' most loyal and devoted subject, though having made this charge upon such grounds and reasons as might prevail with one that most carefully tendereth his eternal Salvation. “Wherefore, most humbly on my knees I beseech your royal Majesty to pardon me this resolution, whereunto I protest upon my soul and conscience, that no earthly motive drew me, but only my love and obedience to Him that is King of kings, Who saith and threateneth that whosoever loveth father or mother more than Him (wherein no doubt but that kings and princes are also included, as fathers of their subjects) he is not worthy of Him. And therefore my trust and Supplication is that ſor obeying and ſollowing this my Heavenly King (in the truth of Catholic religion discovered unto me) I may not incur the displeasure of you my earthly King, for whose prosperous life and happy reign to eternal felicity, I shall be a daily suitor unto His Divine Majesty. “Your Majesty's most humble and devoted subject, “FRANCIS WALSINGHAM.” Aather Francis Walsingham. 323 In his preface, he says, to the end the better to understand the quality of the case that fell out to him these years past with his excellent Majesty, he has thought it expedient to lay down briefly at the beginning, a sincere relation of his state and condition, before he fell into any doubt about religion at all. Being brought up from his tender years in London, by the care of the right hon, his very good patron Sir Francis Walsingham, councillor and secretary of the late, Queen, under the fatherlike tuition and discreet government of Mr. Humphrey Walsingham, his near kinsman and citizen of that city, he was placed by him there for divers years in the common School of St. Paul’s, where he had his first beginnings and laid some foundation both of learning and Protestant religion, which he continued after, and increased as his years and ability, or the favour of friends served him, never so much as Once doubting any position held in the said religion by Protestants, but that it was the very truth indeed, as they professed the same. From thence he went to Oxford, and became a distinguished member of the University. He says that when he came to sufficient years and judgment to be able not only to follow sermons, but to read books also of controversies written by Protestant authors, he was not altogether negligent therein, as his often and diligent reading in Mr. Fox's Ac/s and Montaments, Jewell's writing against Harding, and Nappier's Axfositions on the ſevelations, with others, and amongst strangers the works of Calvin and Beza, bore him witness. By which readings and conferences with others that were of the same religion, he became so earnest and fervent therein, as to resolve not only to continue that profession during life, but further also to make himself one of that clergy. And accord- ingly in the year 1603, he procured himself to be made deacon by the hands of the Bishop of Ely, and having taken that degree, he thought it incident to the same not only to confirm himself, but others also whomsoever he could in that way. Hereupon he took all occasions to deal with others, either for their confirmation or gaining them to the Protestant religion. And to this effect he was accustomed gladly to lend books of that profession to any that would read them, persuading them. also earnestly to the same. By which occasion it ſell out that. One of his acquaintance that seemed to him to be wavering, “Somewhat backward in this zeal,” being offered a Protestant book by him, was content to receive the same with this con- dition that he should promise him to read another book that V 2 sº 324. Aather Francis Walsingham. he would lend him in lieu of his, which condition Father Walsingham accepted, though at that time he neither knew the argument nor the author of it. * Upon this Father More well observes that God drew him to the embracing the orthodox faith by the very same art that he himself adopted in his hatred of the Faith, to stifle the rising scruples of a friend, which event clearly demonstrates that the arguments of the most learned men who are wandering from the truth are of no force in defending those points which raise doubts upon their own sect. * This book was intitled, “A Defence of the Censure given upon two books of William Charke and Meredith Hanmer, ministers, which they wrote against Mr. Edmund Campion, priest of the Society of Jesus, and against his offer of dispu- tation, taken in hand since the death of the said Mr. Campion,” &c.," which book he little esteeming at the time, and thinking to have made a good exchange, by procuring his said friend to read the Protestant book which he had lent him, for that he somewhat suspected his soundness in religion, he carried the other home with him, not meaning that it should ever come so near his heart as afterwards it did, but rather that it should serve him for some passing away of the time, but especially for gathering out some absurdities against Papists, wherewith he imagined all their books to be abundantly stuffed. And therefore when he got home, he began presently to play with it, as with a trifle; but finding wheresoever he lighted certain passages which he could not well digest, and many proofs alleged whereunto he could not answer, he cast it often aside, and then took it in hand again. And finally, after many “ diversities of usage towards it,” he resolved to read and pass it over hastily, “as men take pills, with no good taste at all, but aversion rather of stomach.” Yet soon after he felt himself SO strangely troubled, and turmoiled in judgment and con- Science upon the reading thereof, as if his soul had taken pills indeed, and could not bear their operation. Wherefore he turned often from this place to that in the book, to find some ease, but everywhere he found grief and affliction. He thought with himself to despise it, but this endured not long. Then he imagined to confer with others upon the same, but none were present, and he durst not mention the fact that he had with him any such Papistical * Father Robert Parsons, the prince of controversialists, was the author of this famous book. Aather Francis Walsingham. 325 book, and seemed to be somewhat ashamed at finding matter in so small a book which he himself could not answer. Yet afterwards he did discuss divers of his difficulties with sundry ministers, without naming that he had them out of such a book, but they gave him but very little satisfaction, or none at all. Whereupon he made divers journeys to London, as well to see books of sundry sorts, as also confer with some of his friends. And having wearied himself for divers months in this manner, at last he betook himself to what will appear in our days a very strange resolution, but yet such as then, he says, seemed to him most necessary for the appeasing of his mind. And this was that, inasmuch as he had taken two or three several times the oath of Supremacy, first to Queen Elizabeth when living, and afterwards to King James I., pro- testing and swearing by the same that he held them for supreme heads of the Church in all causes, as well spiritual as temporal, he persuaded himself that his best comfort of conscience and full satisfaction of judgment would come from the said superior powers, but especially from his Majesty, who then governed the State, as from God’s lieutenant and substitute in all causes and affairs whatsoever. Wherefore, after much deliberation and beating his head this way and that, not daring to Confer with any Papist, or almost to entertain any good thought of them or of their religion, he determined with himself to make a short memorial to the King, and to deliver him the sum of his afflictions and doubts, together with the book itself, which had been the cause thereof; and to entreat his Majesty by his supreme authority to give order for his sound Satisfaction therein. And so binding up the old worn-out book in the comeliest manner he was able, he “got himself to London,” and thence to Greenwich, where the Court then was ; and there, after many difficulties of audience, he exhibited the same, together with his memorial, both tied and conjoined in one, as his Majesty was going into the chapel upon Good Friday, in the morning, in the year 1604, being the 6th of April, and thereof had the answer and issue, which afterwards he sets down more at large, with the causes and occasions that were offered unto him to enter further into the search of divers books and Controversies of religion than at the beginning he had deter- mined. In ending his preface or epistle to the reader, he gives his “ ponderation after all his search made” into matters of con- 326 Aather Francis Wa/singham. troversy, viz., “whensoever in impugning any point of Catholic belief, as for instance, Purgatory; Prayers for the Dead; Invocation of Saints; Æeal Presence, and the like, the learned Protestants are found to be constrained through necessity of their cause (for otherwise, I suppose, they would not) to falsify and corrupt by cutting off or adding to, or otherwise embezzling some authorities of the ancient Fathers or Councils, which Catholics do sincerely and truly bring against them for proof of the said doctrines; it seemed to me that the same doctrine was generally believed and practised by the most ancient Christian Church, wherein those Fathers lived ; and conse- quently I might with far more security believe and follow the same venerable antiquity, than deny it to be a truth with fallible novelty. - He thus begins his first chapter: “Having set down before in part the great variety of affections and troubles of mind which I felt in reading this book, which cannot be effectually expressed, by pen, as I then felt them in every passage almost that I read, and was not well able to answer, I could wish that the learned reader would examine the matter rather by reading the treatise itself than to stand to my relation thereof, but yet some few principal heads wherein I did stick most at that time, and was most desirous to be satisfied were these that ensue.” He then goes at some length through nine Several difficulties. His first difficulty was, why Protestants refused disputation and other public trials; for he found Father Parsons constantly complaining of this throughout the “Censure.”" “I considered that Mr. Campion, Mr. Sherwine, and others of the learned sort of Papists that made these offers of public disputation, had not in effect been disputed withal, but only in the Tower privately, and that (as their friends gave out) upon unequal conditions, when they were either Condemned to death, or like to be, as after they were, and executed also. And that one Mr. John Hart, another young man of that religion, though graduate, as I have heard, in divinity by the University of Douay, coming over about the same time, and either offering himself, or being taken and brought before my said honourable patron, Sir Francis Walsingham, and demanding this liberty of public trial, was not admitted there- unto ; but rather, after some months' liberty, was sent to the 7 The truth of this charge is apparent throughout the whole history df those times. Wide Father Campion's famous “Challenge” in the life of Thomas Pound of Belmont, Historical Facts, &c., Series I. Father Francis Walsingham. .. 327 Tower, and there, after his condemnation to death, he was assigned to confer with Doctor Reynolds in the said Tower, and that conference afterwards published, but with partiality, as the Papists say.” And the like they affirmed of the dispu- tation held in the Tower by Mr. Campion and his fellows; all which complaints and suspicions seemed to me might well have been avoided if the said trials had been public and free, as the Papists demanded them.” - * * John Hart was condemned to die with Father Edmund Campion, December 1st, 1581, at Tyburn, but was reprieved at the very hurdle, with James Bosgrave: both afterwards joined the Society. In the Public Record Office, State Papers, Domestic, Æliz. vol. clxxvi, n. Io, is a copy of the royal commission or warrant for the banishment of John Hart, James Bosgrave, Jasper Heywood, &c., dated I585. Accounts vary as to the exact date of his death. One says I9th of July, I586, another in I594. Mr. Wood says, I4 cal. of August, I 595. He was cruelly tortured in the Tower. The following is Mr. Wood’s account of this Father. He avoids, however, probably because he was not a Catholic, all mention of the fact that when the body was removed it was found wholly incorrupt. “John Harte was educated in most kind of literature in Oxon, but in what College or Hall I cannot find. One Mr. Harte was a sojourner of Exeter College, 1551, but him I take to be too soon for our author, who was but a young man when he encountered Dr. John Reynolds in a disputation. What degrees he took here it appears not, though those of his profession (the Jesuits) tell us that he was B. D. of Oxon ; yet upon the strict perusal of our registers, I cannot find the least authority for it. After he had left this University, being then and before very unsettled and wavering in mind, he went beyond the seas, changed his religion, took priestly orders, and was sent into the mission of England; but soon aſter taken, and committed to prison, to a filthy dungeon, as a noted author [Cardinal Allen] tells us, who adds, that after he (whom he calls the happy young confessor) had been by famine often tormented, was unexpectedly brought out to encounter John Rainolds beſore mentioned, I583 or thereabouts, which disputation being smartly held on both sides, those of Harte's persuasion say that Rainolds was ſoiled, though the opposite not ; whereupon some years after was published, ‘The sum of a Conference between John Rainolds, and John Harte touching the Head and Faith of the Church,’ &c. (Lon. I588). Afterwards our author, Harte, who is stated by a learned author [Camden Annals, 1584], ‘A man beyond all others learned,’ being banished with divers other Roman priests in I584, he went to Verdun, where he entered the Society of Jesus. Thence he was called to Rome, where making some stay, till authority commanded him thence, he went into Poland and settled for a time at Jaroslaw. At length giving way to fate on the I4th of the cal. of August, I 595, or thereabouts, he was buried at Jaroslaw. Seven years after, his body was taken up, and translated to another place belonging to the Jesuits, who had an high esteem for his person while living, his sanctity of life and learning, and when dead for his memory” (Athen. Oxon, vol. i. p. 277. Edit. 1721). 328 Father Francis W.alsingham. Father Walsingham's difficulties, from the third to the seventh inclusive, were concerning the first beginning of the Protestant religion with Luther and his followers, the infamous character of Luther himself, his acknowledged intercourse with the devil, his shocking and immoral doctrines as shown in that heresiarch's book, ZXe Capt. Baby/,” the contradictions between these so-called Reformers, &c. He concludes this category of his doubts thus: “These things then lay heavily upon my heart and afflicted me exceedingly, being unable to determine what way to take. For as for Papistry, I detested the same from my heart, thinking them to be wholly amiss, and to hold the truth in no one thing that lay in controversy between us. And yet now I saw that in all these points before mentioned, they had much more reason, and we much less truth in appearance of argument than ever I had imagined, and the slips which I had found in these learned Protestant ministers here named, Dr. Fulke, Mr. Hanmer, and Mr. Charke, did make me greatly to doubt lest they and others who wrote controversies did not deal sincerely and truly in matters, but rather in heat of con- tention did strive every one to maintain anything, true or false, that made for their part or purpose which they defended ; and so I came to doubt now whom I might believe or trust, and upon this doubtfulness came to resolve at length to make recourse to his Majesty, as before hath been said, hoping that by his means, order, and commandment, as Supreme head of the Church, I might be best satisfied and quieted in mind, which Christ Jesus knoweth was my only hope and desire in this world.” We must follow Father Walsingham at some length in his second chapter of the first part—his resolution to deliver the book to the King and how he did so, “and was the same day called to the council table before my Lord of Canterbury and Others.” ...” “Having thus wearied myself in seeking to and fro to pacify my disturbed soul, by the space of two or three months, and by no means able to recover my former peace of mind and wonted security concerning the certainty of my faith and assured hope of salvation, at last I began to think, What if this book that hath so much troubled me were delivered to the King's Majesty, that the truth or falsehood of the contents might be the better discovered P For now about the same time there were disputations had with the Puritans concerning their religion, or contrariety to the Protestants; and the Papists 9 C. de Bapt. • ‘ Father Francis Walsingham. 329 had been busy to procure a toleration of their religion, which was doubted by a great many, both Protestants and Puritans, that his Majesty would have granted. The King also, in his very first proclamation, seemed to be very desirous to procure a uniformity in religion in England, so that both Papists, Protestants, and Puritans might concur in one true faith, and thereof his Majesty mentioned the calling of a general council, wherein he most especially, as I suppose, meant the deciding of all controversies between Papists and Protestants. - “Moreover, I conceived his Majesty to be very studious of the truth, by that I had often heard he would dispute and reason himself concerning religion; being also of a good and godly disposition, of Sound judgment and bearing, as appeared by his books which I had seen and greatly liked, and therefore I presumed he would be the more ready upon my humble suit and request, to cause the verity of this book to be searched and sifted out, tending to great disgrace and Contempt of the first and chief proto-Protestant Mr. Luther, with Zuinglius, Calvin, Beza, and the rest of his successors, not only of their lives and manners, but also of their faith and doctrines. And the rather for that this aforésaid book, Zhe ZJºſence, being once presented unto his Majesty, would stand, methought, attending as a solicitor in the name of all Papists and, as it were, at the same instant with the Puritans, humbly Craving one day of hearing for some indifferent trial of their so long suspended cause, as therein they grievously complained. So I resolved at last to deliver this book unto the King's Majesty himself. “But yet sundry doubts soon crossed this resolution, as my own unfitness, considering my timorous and bashful disposition, and moreover, I being a deacon and of the ministry, and besides other respects I imagined what troubles might befall me to my great loss and hindrance, both temporal and spiritual, as also I considered the book itself was in respect of the oldness and indecent form thereof far unmeet to be presented to any noble personage whatsoever, and much less to his Majesty; neither could I possibly come to the sight of any other copy to present, with a hundred such-like Contradicting Cogitations. At length, therefore, I bound myself by vow unto Almighty God in my fervent prayers, daily streaming forth of the dolorous wounds of my languishing soul, thirsting after the fountain of living waters, the knowledge of the true faith leading to Salvation by Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and accordingly to submit myself unto the most sweet direction 33O Father Francis Walsingham. of His Holy Spirit, yea, though it were to yield assent to the very Romish religion itself (which was the hardest point I could then think of), if I might rightly discern them of that religion to hold the truth, albeit my natural inclination and habitual disposition even shrunk thereat, and as it were trembled to hear my own voice often saying, ‘And can / then become a Papist 2' “And further, besides the other motives aforesaid which moved me to determine to deliver this book, as also to vow the same, for the most certain performance thereof, being such an enterprise as might happily procure so great and general a good if it fell out well, I was further urged thereto by a certain particular necessary cause, as I thought. For having lately taken the oath of supremacy, acknowledging the King to be the Supreme head of the Church, as well in all, causes eccle- siastical as temporal, I esteemed myself so bound in conscience that if I should perceive the Roman faith to be the truth, yet I could not embrace the same (as to me it seemed), or submit myself unto a foreign power, such as the laws accounted the Pope and his supremacy to be, unless his Majesty should, as it were, dispense therewith and grant me liberty to use my Conscience, which I intended to sue for at his Majesty's hands. “Thus, then, having at length, as it were, overcome the difficulties, I framed a certain memorial, as I may call it, wherein I comprehended as compendiously as then I could (So many divers thoughts disturbing my obscured understand- ing like to a troubled fountain which sendeth forth no pure or pleasant water), some chief and principal causes of my doubts and difficulties, thereby to induce his Majesty to peruse the whole book itself, desiring his Highness that if, upon exami- nation of those things contained in that book, it should happen to be truth which was by that author affirmed, that then his goodness, for quiet of my conscience, would permit me to follow that religion which the same author professeth ; but if contrariwise he were found false in his assertions, that then whereas his Majesty had begun (as it seemed) to take some pity of the Papists’ former punishments, he would now most justly extend upon them and all their adherents more sharp chastisement than before; for that they would publish to the world such falsities against the truth of Christ and saints of God. “With this memorial then, together with the book itself, as fitly accommodated as I could, I went often to and from Father Francis Walsingham. 33 I London during this time between Christmas and Easter, never finding opportunity to deliver the same, until at length, hailed thereto by my vow, I went to Greenwich, where the Court then was, upon Good Friday, the 6th of April, 1604. And there, attending his Majesty's coming into the chapel, I, amongst other petitioners, as he passed by, delivered the book, together with the said memorial, not into the hands of his Majesty immediately, for I could not get so near unto him by reason of the press of people, but to Sir Roger Wilbraham, Master of the Requests, who taking it at my hands, and somewhat wondering thereat, delivered the same unto the King immediately after his coming into the chapel, which as soon as the King beheld, presently he spoke aloud, and with a great oath, as was reported, Smiting with his hand, said, ‘This is some Papist,’ and pre- sently sent forth a gentleman of his Privy Chamber to inquire for him that delivered the book, to whom I answered myself to be the man; then he, after we had walked three or four turns in the gallery, asking me Sundry questions concerning my Iname, kindred, Calling, and estate of life, as also concerning the book, wherein I was very sparing to answer him, willed me to stay there until his Majesty returned, for, he said, it was his Majesty's pleasure to speak with me, unto whom I answered I would willingly wait his Majesty's pleasure. Neither had I intent to depart without his Majesty's gracious licence and despatch of my business.” - “And now, he being returned into the chapel, and the rest of the company leaving the gallery, every man as upon that day exercising the best devotion he had, I walked alone, having no devotion to hear the sermon, but remained as the man walking between Jerusalem and Jericho, fallen into the hands of thieves, robbed of all life of religion, sore wounded in my understand- ing, and half dead in all my senses and power of my soul, expecting the present remedy and help of that Good Samaritan, Christ Jesus, my Saviour, Who as upon that day suffered death. upon the Cross for my redemption, unto Whom, as my chief helper in tribulations, I commended my present business. * Mr. Dodd, Church. Hist, vol. ii. p. 409, puts the King's conduct in a milder shape, but gives no authority for it. We much prefer the account of Father Walsingham himself, as being more in character with the man. Dodd says, “The King, though somewhat surprised at the gentleman's method, yet finding that it proceeded neither from humour nor from an unsettled brain, but from a real scruple, condescended so far as to enter into some discourse with him, and ſor further satisfaction remanded him to the Archbishop of Canterbury.” 332 Father Francis Walsingham. “The sermon being ended, before the King came forth, the Lord Chamberlain came inquiring for him that delivered the book; unto whom, as soon as I could, I presented myself; who asking me what I was, I answered, ‘May it please your lordship, I am a scholar.” “What, are you a minister?' Saith he. I answered, ‘No, my lord ; I am a deacon.” Me thinketh,’ saith he, “you are a Papist.’ So he commanded one of the grooms, there present, of the chamber to look unto me. I said, ‘My lord, I mean not to depart;’ and with this my lord returned into the chapel. Then presently came flocking about me many people of Sundry sorts and fashions, and divers of the King's guards, who would needs know what was the book I delivered, what it contained, whether it were of my own making, whether it were in Latin or English, and whether I were a Papist or no. To all which I endeavoured, as much as I could, to answer with silence ; but yet they persisted in their examinations, one demanding one thing, another another. To whom at last I replied, that it concerned not them to know what it contained ; it was a book concerning religion : then they stood gazing and 'wondering about me. One said, “He thinketh he hath done a meritorious deed to-day, he need care for no more.’ Another said, ‘By this he hopeth to redeem a soul out of Purgatory.” One said, ‘Is he not a minister P’ Another, “He may happen to be a priest.’ Another, “How durst you give a Papist's book to the King?' And another, who seemed to be a Puritan, and would presently have entered into disputation with me (being some tailor, as I supposed, or some other such-like artisan or craftsman), began to insult me and say, ‘Is it not a shame for a man of your years not to be settled yet in religion?’ To whom I vouchsafed no answer at all. And thus every One spoke his pleasure, until his Majesty was coming forth ; and the Lady Raighley being there present to prefer some suit for her husband that was in the Tower, requesting me and my keeper by earnest entreaties not to hinder her from speaking to the King, I could not but yield thereunto, which was the occasion that his Majesty passed by without speaking unto me, for that the press of people and the multitude of halberds was so great, as I could scarce come to the sight of him. g “Then I attended with my keeper in the Great Chamber, until word was brought unto him that he should bring me into the Council Chamber after dinner before my Lord of Father Francis Walsingham. 333 Canterbury (lately before of London) and his assistants, and so he did ; where, being come, my lord sitting in a chair at the upper end of the council table, with Doctor Montague, Dean of the King's chapel, standing by him, and divers other clergymen, but many more gentlemen of divers sorts which came in from time to time. His lordship seeing me, willed me to come near, and after some few questions about my name, state, and condition, commanded a certain gentleman (whose name I know not) to read the memorial which I gave with the book, which were both brought thither, to the end, as was said, I might explain my meaning concerning my whole purpose, and particularly about a certain allusion used by me in the memorial, taken out of the twenty-first chapter of Deuteronomy, concerning the law of a strange captive woman, whereunto I fitly, as I thought, applied this book, being unto me, as it were, the voice of the Church of Rome, which divers Protestants in their expositions of the Revela- tion, and I, in that place, termed the woman sitting upon many waters, and the harlot of Babylon. In all which I declared my meaning, though it seemeth I was not so obscure but that his Majesty himself (as I gathered after by my lord and Mr. Dean's talk) did rightly understand in what sense I spake. And concerning Luther, Calvin, and Beza, whom I had mentioned in my memorial and covertly glanced at, I so explained my mind out of the Book of Defence itself, . that it was little pleasing to my lord, or Dr. Montague there present to hear it: and therefore my lord called me yet nearer, so that I stood close to the table, insomuch that divers that were present could not hear what was spoken. “Then my lord proposing many questions about the place of my dwelling, and of whom I had the book, &c., asked what moved me to deliver this book unto the King, saying, ‘This is a book of Parsons', that notorious traitor, from whom I am Sure you have heard how many treasons have proceeded against the Queen in her time; if he could be taken in England, he would be soundly handled. What, had you no other book but this to deliver to the King P Why,” said he, ‘I burnt I cannot tell how many of them.” Whereto I answered, ‘May it please your Grace, I know not the author of it, neither do I respect who it is that wrote it; I only desire to be satisfied concerning the truth of that which is contained in the book, for if it be true, I cannot persuade myself that we are in the truth, or the right way. And yet 334 Aather Francis Walsingham. it is well known how great an adversary I have always been to the Papists' religion to the utmost of my power, and I yet think with horror how hard a thing it is for me to be of their religion.’ - “Then said my lord, ‘Why, what so great matter is in this book that should move you to doubt of that religion wherein you have been brought up all your life, and that you must needs give this book to the King above others ?? I answered, ‘There be divers points of great difficulties unto me, as may in part appear by my memorial exhibited to his Majesty, but much more by the book itself. And, amongst others, one chief point is concerning Mr. Luther and his scholars, that first began this Reformation (as we call it) from Papistry amongst us, of whom, as the learned of Our Church, Mr. Jewell, Mr. Fox, Mr. Whittaker, and others have written, so have I accounted him to be a man of God and one sent to enlighten the whole world, being before drowned in the superstition of Papistry. But if he were such a one as this book showeth him to be, one that was first moved by the devil to write against the Mass, that he had much Con- ference with the said devil, and so great familiarity with him as to eat a bushel of salt with him, as it seemeth his own works do testify, I have reason to doubt of our religion which should take beginning from the devil.” “Then Dr. Montague replied that Luther was a holy and learned man, but yet we took not our religion from him. And my lord said, ‘Will you believe a lying, traitorous Papist that practiseth nothing else but lying? They have their fia mendacia, and think it no sin to belie us that are their adver- saries. Do you not know, when two men go to law together, one will speak the worst he can against the other P’ I answered, “But then, the truth being known, my lord, it will redound to the greater discredit of him and his cause that belieth his adversary. And as for Luther's incredible railing against King Henry VIII., his adversary, the author of the Defence quoteth the book and leaf, and setteth down his own words;” and Surely I cannot think that any man indued with the Spirit of God could speak so vilely against a king. And even that alone, if it be true, though there were nothing else against him, would make me to think he were no such holy man as I believed him to be.’ - * Father Walsingham, in his second difficulty, quotes at length Luther's insolent and most scurrilous letter of abuse addressed to King Henry VIII., who had written against the arch-apostate. Aadher Francis Walsingham. - 335 “Whereto a certain lay gentleman that stood there, who had taken up the book from before my lord, and was reading therein, said, ‘Luther was somewhat rash indeed,” which (under- derstanding that he had said a rascal) I repeated the word with admiration. ‘Nay,’ quoth he, ‘I say not so.’ ‘But Surely I must think so,” said I, ‘if it be true, or else he would never have used such base terms, especially to SO noble a king as Henry VIII.' . “And here my lord spake somewhat which I remember not; but I went on, saying: “And besides this, sir, if we should not regard his person, but account that as a passion either of infirmity or great zeal against the King, being then a Papist, though it were so great a blemish in So rare a man; yet what may a man think of these foul doctrines which be taught,” and which appear to be truly reported of him because Mr. Charke confesseth them, and going about to defend the first, hath no other way but to leave out some part of Luther's words and falsify his meaning very strangely, that I was greatly ashamed at the reading thereof, like as he dealt before with a place of St. Augustine, which made me think with myself that God’s truth, if it be with us, needeth not to be defended with lies, which moved me the more for that I do hold Mr. Charke for some chief learned man, having been one of the chief dis- putants with Mr. Campion in the Tower, and therefore I thought if this were true, as it seemed, of this dealing of Mr. Charke's, it might well be that he and others used the like liberty in other matters against the Papists, as the said Defence complaineth very much ; and this, I assure you, my lord,' quoth I, ‘hath bred in me a great scruple of mind, not knowing whom to trust.’ Whereunto my lord answered, “And will you believe all that this paltry book saith to be true?' I answered, ‘If it please your Grace, I desire to be certified of the truth of this book, and that it may be examined, for I was not furnished with books to examine the same, and the author thereof is so full of his quotations of Luther’s own books for proof of what he saith, as either they must needs most of them prove true, or else he is the most impudent Creature that liveth, be it Parsons or whoever it may be.’ * Father Walsingham, writing a controversial work, was compelled to enumerate some of the doctrines in this place, which he more fully details In his second difficulty, naming, as we have before mentioned, the book of Luther containing them. These doctrines are too shocking even to hint at in our present history. The worst Mormonite tenets do not approach them. 336 Father Francis Walsingham. “And then my lord and Dr. Montague looking on each other, my lord said: ‘This book is answered already ;’ and then, whilst Dr. Montague looked on the date of the impres- sion, my lord added further, “I am sure it is answered ; I have burnt a number of them,' meaning of the Defence of the Censure. Whereunto I said, ‘My lord, I would gladly see the answer, and then I hope I shall be fully satisfied.’ My lord made no answer, but spoke something to Dr. Montague which I do not remember, but sure I am it was of no moment for my Satis- faction, for still I urged to have the places and authorities examined. From Mr. Luther we fell to talk of M. Beza, concerning whom I told them that the book reporteth how he sold his benefice to one, and took money for it beforehand of another, and ran away with another man's wife to Geneva, with other such-like behaviour.” Whereto my lord said, ‘Beza confessed so much of himself (concerning his benefice), or else they had never known it; but their cozenings and false dealings (meaning of the Papists) go far beyond this.’ “And for M. Calvin,’ said I, ‘whom I have always reverenced, and employed my chiefest time of study in his Book of Institu- tions ; I find him accused here to have been a false and deceitful man, and that he was branded with a hot iron for an abominable Crime, and would have raised a dead man, whilst he was alive, but afterwards found him dead indeed by his prayers and endeavours to raise him. And many such like things,’ said I, are in that book reported of him whilst he lived, until he died most miserably, afflicted with sundry loathsome diseases as were Herod and Antiochus.’ Then said my lord, ‘These be all lies and tales of that Bolsack.’ . . . Whereto I said, “My lord, I know not what their lies may be, but the question is now chiefly of their doctrines, which if it be true, a man may lead, I think, a good life amongst them if he will, though some of them be never so bad.' - “Upon this, Dr. Montague took occasion to talk some- what in praise and defence of M. Calvin, urging me to say Somewhat against anything that I had read in his doctrine ; and by chance I remembered a place which I had observed in his Institutions, where he scoffs at St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica, for that she had demanded to be remem- bered by him after her death in the sacrifice of the altar, which Calvin Saith was an ‘old wives’ request, which the son not considering well of was willing to grant, and would have others * Aather Aºrancis Wa/singham. 337 do the like,” whereby I inferred that St. Austin seemed to approve two doctrines of the Papists together, the Sacrifice of the Mass and prayers for the dead. But to this Dr. Montague answered, ‘Tush, I can show you there is no such thing in St. Augustine.’ ‘Then,” said I, ‘is M. Calvin a false man, that both confesseth and citeth the same.’ And with this I began to have a scruple of Dr. Montague's conscience also in avouching so publicly an evident untruth. “But now my lord, being desirous to rise, said to Dr. Montague (who had both the book and my memorial in his hand), ‘Well, Mr. Dean, now you can show the King his meaning.’ And then my lord and Dr. Montague, both standing on foot, said with a loud voice to me, ‘What did you mean to say in your memorial, “The King is only worthy and able to open the book,” as if there were nobody else could answer it?’ Whereto I answered, yielding for my reason the scruple I made of my oath taken to the supremacy; and then my lord, calling me friendly by my name, said, ‘Well, Mr. Wal- Singham, I see no cause why I should commit you to prison ; have you any friends in the Court that will be bound for your appearance?’ I answered, ‘No, my lord, none whom I would willingly trouble upon such an occasion.’ Then he asked me if I would promise him to come to his house at Lambeth the next day. I answered that I would, by God's help ; then he conjured me, as I would answer at the Day of Judgment, that I should not fail; I told him I would not fail, and then I was dismissed. And as I was going in the throng after my lord out of the Council Chamber, some one that came behind me spoke somewhat loud to me, saying, Zeneſe ſidem żuam, which com- forted me at the heart, but I could not well discern who it might be. And so I went somewhat more cheerfully that night from the Court towards Tondon. * - “The next morning, being Easter Eve, I went to Lambeth, where being admitted into my lord’s presence in his gallery, he bid me favourably welcome, and after some private speech Commanded one to call Doctor Cowell, his chaplain, unto him. When he was come my lord said: ‘Here is one that is fallen into some doubts by reading a Papist's book, the ZX fence of the Censure. Take him to you and see if you can satisfy him ; he is willing to confer.’ So leaving my lord in the gallery, I went with Mr. Doctor to his chamber, and being come thither he began to ask me concerning my name, dwelling, Calling, and * Calvin's Znstit, lib. iii. c. v. § Io. W 338 Father Francis Walsing/am. proceeding in this matter, being nothing willing, as it seemed, to talk with me of any further argument; but yet in process of much speech we came to talk of Papists and their religion in general, but nothing to my purpose, until I began to speak of the Church, saying: ‘It seemeth to me very strange that the Church of Rome should be so ſallen into heresy and supersti- tion as we hold, seeing our Saviour promised to be with the Church unto the end of the world, and to send His Holy Spirit which should lead it into all truth.” Then Mr. Doctor said : ‘Christ hath always been with His Church, and has preserved some true believers in all ages.” “But you yourself,’ said I, ‘do write in your book against the Puritans, that, doubtless the Church of Rome was once the light of the world for many ages, and the King in his speech at the Parliament now in print, calls her the Mother Church, which must needs import that once she was the true Church, and therefore it seems that either she endures so still, or else that Christ did forsake this His true Church, and permit her to fall into heresy and super- stition (which seems expressly against His own promise in the Gospel), if it be true that the Church of Rome has fallen into idolatry and blasphemous heresies, as we say.” . . . “Then said Mr. Doctor : ‘I do not condemn all the doctrine of the Church of Rome; I know they teach many good things, but yet they hold some opinions contrary to the Scripture.’ I answered, ‘If they do hold any points against the Scripture, they cannot be the true Church, for that she holdeth nothing but truth, being, as St. Paul says, the pillar and ground of truth; and, moreover, they have many excellent learned men amongst them, such as you yourself greatly Com- mended in your book, and they, may be, can discern no such errors to be in their doctrine against Scripture; and further- more do allege not only Scripture, but say that all the ancient |Fathers did acknowledge and confirm their doctrine. And whereas you say that Christ had always some true believers, it seems that some in so great a multitude of Christians cannot well stand for a Catholic Church.” Dr. Cowell answered, ‘The Fathers make as much for us as for them, though in many things they followed the time wherein they lived, and in con- tinuance of time men have attained to more light.” Which answer satisfied nothing at all my understanding, Condemning the Fathers as accommodating themselves unto the times, which is to evacuate all their authority, and the authority of the Church throughout all times. Aather Francis Walsingham. 339 “Many such speeches Mr. Doctor uttered, but very coldly, as not seeming to proceed from his heart. “But,” said I, con- cerning this book, ‘sir, I would gladly make trial of the truth thereof,’ and then I took out my notes and collections which I had gathered out of the “Defence,” saying, “I pray you let me See some of Luther's works if you have any ; I would fain see that De Missa Privata.” “I think I have it,” said Mr. Doctor, and So he went into his study, and at length finding it brought it forth. Then I began to speak of Luther's conference with the devil, and turning over a leaf or two of the book, as it lay before us in the window, I lit upon the same place cited by the “Censure,” and began to read until Mr. Doctor interrupted me, and turning away from the book, said, ‘Tush, you see I have this book and many such like, and I never regard them ; this hath lain by me I know not how long,’ &c. I answered, “But Surely, sir, if I had known it, or could have seen it before now, I should have regarded it, and considered well of it,” and this seemed enough to me, for I had as much as in this matter I desired, the thing being plain that Luther had this story of his conference with the devil in his own writings, which my Lord of Canterbury and Dr. Montague before ascribed to the pious lies of the Papists. But Mr. Dr. Cowell, flying from this, persisted in Sundry other discourses, saying, ‘Why I have myself divers of my own friends and kindred that are that way minded towards Papistry, and yet it doth not move me. I assure you, Mr. Walsingham, if I were persuaded that it were the truth, there should no promotion nor anything else cause me to forsake it,’ &c. “To this, though I answered little, yet I thought the more, and that promotion was not so lightly esteemed by him, for that as Soon as ever he perceived that I was not satisfied by these his words, he showed himself not a little offended, wishing that he had never known me, for that he should receive, as he said, discredit by having talked with me, and not satisfied me, and with this he left me, and went to my lord, it being now dinner-time : and when my lord and his Company were set at table, I was invited and called in also by one of his gentlemen to dine there, and by my lord's Commandment placed at the end of his own table, right over against him, who used me that day with extraordinary Courtesy, sending me from his own dish, and commanding divers par- ticular favours to be used towards me; for instance, he sent me his own dish of rice, with some extraordinary fish, but W 2 34O Aather Francis Walsingham. no flesh, though there was some at table. No matter of argu- ment or dispute fell out at that dinner, though I somewhat suspected that something would have been said concerning me and my cause. There was also present Sir Christopher Perkins, whom if I had then known as after I understood, to have been a Jesuit many years, it would have given me matter to muse upon. ** “But after dinner, walking up with Mr. Doctor into the Great Chamber, I found there another matter of greater musing, among other cogitations occurring, for three or four hours together, which was the pictures of all the Kings of England in their proper habits, of whom among other things I considered * Sir Christopher Perkins, olim S.J. This unhappy apostate, who died in 1622, was educated at Oxford, where he proceeded B.A. in 1565. Leaving the University without ſurther degree, he went abroad, and joining the Society of Jesus, was ſor many years an eminent professor in it. He was residing in Rome, when William Cecil, aſterwards Earl of Exeter, grandson to William, Lord Burleigh, was travelling in those parts: they entered into a ſamiliar correspondence. Mr. Perkins was very useful to this young nobleman in various obliging offices, &c., and at last there was such am intimacy between them that the young lord prevailed on Father Perkins to accompany him to England; this finally resulted in the Father's apostasy to the Protestant Establishment. Aſterwards, upon Cecil’s recom- mendation, Lord Burleigh procured ſor him the Deanery of Carlisle, which before was in secular hands, viz., Sir John Walley’s. Burleigh, observing Mr. Perkins to be a person of good address, and singular parts, with a head for business, recommended him in 1595, to the Queen, as a proper agent to be sent into Germany to hear the complaints of the Hanse Towns, in matters of trade. After his return it was the design of Burleigh that he should live at Carlisle, and attend to his ministry, yet we find him living still in London, where, being brought into acquaintance with Bancroft, Protestant Bishop of London, he was employed both for researches beyond seas, and upon other occasions also. In 1600, he, with the Doctor (Bancroſt), and John Swale, were sent by the Queen as Ambassadors to Emden, to conſer with the delegates of Denmark concerning trade, &c., and Perkins performed his part ably. Soon aſter, by the said Bishop's persuasion, he became substitute for Sir Daniel Domme, Master of the Requests, who was superannuated. On his death, Mr. Perkins succeeded to the office and was knighted. About that time, the Duke of Buckingham, being in great ſavour with James I., Sir Christopher, in order to promote his own interest at Court, married the Duke’s maternal aunt. Afterwards, the Duke, hearing of Sir Christopher’s former vow of celibacy, detested him, and resolved that he should rise no higher. Out of revenge, Perkins made over his estate to a servant man, who was childless, and near death. This servant, dying a few months aſter Sir Christopher, leſt most of the estate to the lady. This unhappy apostate is said to have had a hand in Contriving and drawing up the oath of allegiance, during his intimacy with Bancroſt (Wide Dodd's C/217%/, //istory of ƺgland, vol. ii. pp. 417, 418). Aather Francis Walsingham. 341 how simple and plain they were, until King Henry VIII., who first of all began to alter, or doubt at least of the religion which they all professed unto his time. And when, after long waiting, I saw myself not called, nor any come to me again for giving me satisfaction in my doubts, I began to think that there was more difficulty in them than I myself had hitherto conceived ; and SO at length, being wearied to wait any longer, I thought best to repair to Dr. Cowell’s chamber, to know what was my lord’s pleasure of me; who going and returning brought me word that I might go home into the country, until my lord should send for me again. And so I departed, marvelling not a little at my so slight and sudden dismissal, whereof yet afterwards I perceived the cause and felt the effects.” - Father Walsingham then proceeds to detail his third and fourth appearances before his Grace of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace. - “But now I was no sooner departed, but my lord, whether called upon by the King or otherwise, entering into deeper apprehension of the matter than before, he asked his chaplain, Dr. Cowell, the next day, what had become of me; and perceiving I was dismissed, was exceeding angry, and gave commandment that I was to be sought out and brought back again with all diligence: whereupon Dr. Cowell, besides the sending of some to seek me in London, sent also another to the Commissary of St. Albans, near unto whom I dwelt, charging him to seek me out, which made a great noise in all that Country. But I was met withal two days after walking in Paul's without cogitation of this matter, and so was presently brought to Mr. Dr. Cowell, where he then was, and with him passed to Lambeth again, whereof Mr. Doctor was very glad, and I not sorry, thinking that now I should have some good satisfaction indeed in all my doubts. “But as soon as I came, I perceived that my lord’s coun- tenance towards me was changed, for I being brought by Dr. Cowell before him into his study, where was also the aforesaid knight, Sir Christopher Perkins, as soon as I came into his presence, I beheld my lord's countenance framed to be angry. ‘How now, Sirrah,” saith my lord, ‘how chance you went away in that manner the other day P’ ‘May it please your Grace,’ said I, ‘Mr. Dr. Cowell told me it was your lordship's pleasure I should go home, until your Grace 342 Aather Francis Walsingham. sent for me.’ My lord said he gave no such order; Dr. Cowell is a wise man. Dr. Cowell said, ‘I understood your Grace so.” Then my lord, turning to the knight, said, with an angry countenance, “As soon as I came to the Court to-day, the first word the King spake unto me, he asked me what I had done with him who had delivered the book; you are a fellow, indeed; we have dealt too gently with you ; thou art a bold companion to deliver such a book to the King.’ Then I began to speak, and to give my reasons thereof. But my lord proceeded in his wrathful speeches, and after many fierce and angry words, he added, ‘I will even send thee to Bridewell; thou art worthy to be set on the pillory, and to have thine ears cut off for a libelling knave as thou art.' I answered, ‘May it please your Grace, I hope I have not deserved any such punishment. I have set my name to that which I have written. I desire of you, my lord, but to be taught the truth.’ His Grace replied, ‘Thou be taught, thou art a foolish bold knave, and I will handle thee as thou art, before I have done with thee.’ “So when my lord had chaffed and spoken largely his mind, thinking he had now put me in a bodily fear, the knight in the corner began to speak, and say, ‘My lord, he will be better advised. Mr. Walsingham, I dare say, is sorry for his rashness. You shall see he will conform himself, and behave himself as he should.” But my lord still continued his rough and angry terms, saying, “No man will serve you, forsooth, but the King, to deal withal?' I answered: ‘May it please your Grace to consider my reasons, why I addressed myself chiefly to the King?' Then, said my lord, ‘Why, what hast thou to do with the King; what careth the King, if thou wert hanged like a foolish knave as thou art;’ with many other such-like vehement and threatening speeches, but yet in the end he said, * Come near,’ for all this while I stood aloof. “And then he called for his secretary or notary, saying with indignation to me, ‘Come, come you hither, I will examine you further than I have done yet. I have but dallied with you hitherto. Come on, take your oath.’ Whereto I replied, ‘It shall not need to exact any oath at my hands, for I will answer nothing but truth to anything your Grace shall ask me without my oath.’ Then said my lord, ‘Grace me no more Grace come, I will have thee swear, and I will handle thee as thou art.” So I was examined upon my oath : How I came by the book; whether anybody else had dealt with me herein, Father Francis Walsingham. 343 and such like; to all which I answered truly, but negatively, for, in truth, hitherto I had never dealt with any Papist at all. Then he further urged me, saying : ‘What was your meaning by delivering the book to the King?' I answered: ‘My lord, I expressed my meaning and my cause in that memorial which I gave with the book.’ ‘What,' saith he, “but you thought to convert the King, belike? Did you think the King would believe all the lies in that book, as well as yourself?' I said, ‘My lord, I did not weigh nor consider his Majesty's judgment by my own, and my only desire is to know whether they be lies or no ; for then were I satisfied.’ My lord urged me still, saying, “But what did you think?' I answered : ‘I had so many and diverse thoughts, my lord, that I cannot say precisely what I thought.’ His Grace Said, ‘Nay, you thought to do some notable act, I am sure ; you thought to make the King a Papist, forsooth; come, I will have you tell me what you thought.” Whereunto I answered (forasmuch as he urged me so eagerly, and that upon my oath), ‘That albeit I had no express intention either to make his Majesty or myself a Papist thereby, yet did I hope that if by his sound judgment I should find any one of these things true, that are alleged, he would cause the rest to be searched, and so myself to be satisfied.’ - -- & “And now my Lord of Canterbury's anger being somewhat assuaged, the knight in the corner said, ‘If it please your lordship, you shall see Mr. Walsingham will be better advised, and conform himself as well as ever he did, after he shall have conferred with some learned man.’ My lord said, “Why, Dr. Cowell here hath talked with him ; what say you of him P’ Dr. Cowell said, ‘I have had but little talk with him ; he will talk of nothing but concerning that book: he stands altogether thereupon and the points therein contained.’ Whereto I replied saying: , ‘Dr. Cowell showed me Luther's book, ZPe Missa Arizała, wherein he confesseth he had conference with the devil, as the Book of Defence affirmed of him, and therefore I think he could not be a man of God that should enlighten the world,’ &c. “Why, then,’ said my lord, ‘we do not build our faith nor religion upon Luther.’ ‘Then,’ said I, ‘is there Beza also, may it please your lordship, whom I took to be a most reverend and holy man; he wrote such vile and indecent verses as is incredible.’ My lord said, ‘What if he did make such verses when he was in his youth ; and Beza was a Papist when he was a young man. Dost thou not know 344 Aather Francis Walsingham. how St. Paul was a great persecutor of God's Church, yet after became a holy Apostle?” I answered : “But if it please your lordship, St. Paul was no persecutor after he became an Apostle; and further, if we should pardon Beza in his youth, yet the book saith he became worse after he was a man of years and a Protestant, and not better.' . . . [Here Father Walsingham mentions some shocking crimes recounted of this miserable man, one being the murder of his own unlawful child.] ‘And many such, while he lived at Geneva. And further I added how Dr. Bolsack, the writer of the story, protesteth before God, and all His holy angels, that he setteth down nothing upon malice, or that is false, and therefore he dedicated his book to the magistrates of Geneva that they might make trial of that which he had written both concern- ing Calvin and Beza ; and as for that concerning Beza, he wrote whilst he himself was alive, as the Defence saith, that he might the better answer for himself, but we never heard that he convinced Bolsack of any lies or false reports. And is it probable that any man will damn himself, my lord,” said I, ‘that he may disgrace or discredit another?” But my lord answered, ‘Tush ; these are all Bolsack's lies, a renegade fellow. I have burnt a number of his books.’ “And with this he rose from his place, and walked into the inner part of his study, giving as it were place on purpose for some others to interpose themselves, and to take up the matter, which they did. For presently came the aforesaid knight, and Dr. Cowell about me, the knight saying, ‘Well, Mr. Walsingham, I hope you will be advised; my lord will use you favourably ;’ and with some other few words to the same effect, which seemed to me a strange speech of one that had been a priest, and, as Some Say, a professed Jesuit, to stand so much upon temporal favour in points concerning the soul. And then Dr. Cowell said, ‘You see, Mr. Walsingham, how angry my lord was. I would wish you not to be obstinate, and you shall see my lord will deal the better with you.' I answered, I hope my lord shall have no cause to deal hardly with me ; for I am willing to confer with any, but I cannot be satisfied with any conference but the trial of the truth of the citations in this book.’ “Then my lord coming towards us, said, ‘Why, if you stand so much upon books, I can show you enough ; you shall want no books; will you read one that I will lend you ? Aather Francis Walsingham. 345 Othergates” books than that lying fellow's libel?' I answered: ‘Yes, that I will, if it please your grace to show them me, and humbly thank your lordship for the same.’ Then my lord Called to one to fetch forth two books of Mr. Thomas Bell’s, One entitled 7%e Anatomy of Popish Tyranny, and the other Z7te Survey of Poffery, which being brought, my lord said, ‘Here are two books: will you read these ? You shall see what he saith here to the Papists.” I answered : ‘If it please your lordship, I will read them willingly:’ and furthermore, my lord asked me if I had read Mr. Jewell and Mr. Harding's books? I answered that I had read Mr. Jewell's only. “Why,’ said he, ‘you might have taken those books to read rather than this, and so you should have dealt more indifferently, and have seen what had been said on both sides; but to go and take such a paltry book as this’ [meaning Parsons' Zefence of the Censure], “it was a very foolish part indeed.’ But I stood still in this, to have the doubts and difficulties answered which I had gathered out of this book. “Then my lord returned to his former place, perusing my examination before taken, and added this also to my former Oath, that I should be bound to read through both these books of Bell, and return with them unto his lordship at the latter end of the next term following. Whereunto I subscribed. “But,” said Dr. Cowell, at the same instant, “my lord, if it please your Grace, you may swear him not to depart the land without some licence or notice thereof given to your lordship.’ Whereto, as I remember, my lord answered: “Why, he will Come again, and then we will see further, and I trow,” said he unto me, ‘by that time you have read these books, and marked them well, you will have no mind to be a Papist.’ ‘I will see, my lord, what he saith,’ said I. ‘Then,' said my lord, * Come again to me to-morrow, and I will write to Mr. Rolfe, the commissary, concerning you.’ And thus for that present time I was dismissed. “The next morning I repaired again to my lord, who had then put on a more mild and familiar countenance, and calling me near unto him, said, ‘Mr. Walsingham, you must be wise, and staid, and not run too far into these matters of contro- versy beyond your reading and knowledge. It is good that * i.e. Books of other gates, or ways ; of a different tenor. The use of term gate, for way, is common to the north of England and the lowland Scotch. It is, in fact, an Anglian or Scandinavian usage which has died out in the south. 346 Aaſhe, A'razzez's W.aſsingham. you confer with some that be learned. Let me see, whom do you know that you would desire should talk with you?” I answered : ‘If it please your Grace, I do not know many, but whom your lordship shall think meet, I shall be willing to attend.’ ‘Then,’ said my lord, ‘you are acquainted with the Dean of Paul's P’ ‘No, my lord,” said I. “Nor with the Dean of Westminster,’ said he, “Dr. Andrewes?' I said, ‘I am not known unto him, my lord, but I have often heard him preach before he was Dean of Westminster. He is held to be very learned.’ Then my lord, pausing awhile, said, ‘What ministers have you near about where you dwell that are well accounted of P’ ‘I know none, my lord, said I, ‘of any great note near us.” Then he said, ‘Well, I will write to Mr. Rolfe, that you may be conferred withal. How say you, are you willing to confer?’ ‘Yes, my lord,” said I, ‘I am very willing to abide any good order your lordship shall appoint me.’ ‘Then,’ said my lord, ‘I will write to the commissary that he shall not trouble or hinder you in anything.’ And so calling for pen and ink, he wrote his letter, and having ended, said, ‘Here, I have written very favourable for you, and you shall hear what I have written ;’ and then my lord read his letter to me, the sum whereof was thus: “Whereas the bearer hereof seemeth to be somewhat inclined towards Popery, we will that you appoint some grave and learned divine who may confer with him, and satisfy him in his doubts; but let all things be so done, as that the young man may not be dis- couraged, nor his infirmity divulged.’ Then said my lord: ‘You see what I have written ; nothing that can any way prejudice you, for you may confer with some learned man or other, which Mr. Rolfe shall direct you unto ; and I doubt not but by that time you come again, you will be well resolved and conform yourself.’ ‘I hope so, my lord,” said I. ‘You go to church P’ said my lord. ‘Yes, and if it please your lordship,” said I. “Why, that is well,” said he. And thus having received my lord's letter, and humbly taking leave, he bid me farewell: and then taking my leave of Dr. Cowell, he spoke very kindly unto me, saying: “I hope when you come again, Mr. Walsingham, you will be of another mind, and all shall be well l’ And so from Lambeth I passed to London, and from thence the next day into the country, somewhat to satisfy the expectation of my friends, and to appease somewhat the rumours raised about me. - “Whilst I was despatched by my lord, and on my way home, Father Francis Walsingham. 347 I began to think of divers matters, and amongst others of the manner of my despatch; how I had been treated by my lord and his doctors in divers sorts, first by fair means and then by foul ; and that in neither of them I had obtained that which I most desired, and my soul had special need of, to wit, to be satisfied of my doubts; whereof neither I had time to propose, nor they patience to hear, more than a piece of one or two of them, and that with such interruption as hath been mentioned. Nor found I any man willing, as to me it seemed, to enter charitably and soundly into the examination of the doubts that I had conceived. Whereupon I began to distrust with myself, and to suspect that matters went not so soundly upon our side, as I had hitherto persuaded myself, if authority of state were set aside, and things discussed simply by truth of learning, which by all that I had seen and heard, I was resolved to follow and seek out more than ever before. “And first of all I was now as good as fully persuaded that the foul things written by Luther of himself, Zuinglius, and others, about the conference with the devil and the like ; as also many of those things, at least; that are written of Calvin and Beza, were true; and thereof I did infer with myself for certain that the first founders of our religion in these ages were no Saints, nor holy men, nor consequently could have the Spirit of God in them (which cannot stand with the spirit of the devil), at leastwise in that measure which is required for so high an enterprise, as is the reforming of religion in matters of doctrine and life; and upon this I stood long, and my soul trembled to think of it, and yet could not escape from it, for still it came to my mind, that God having choice of virtuous men, would never use Such bad people, and scandalous persons, to begin and plant so great a good as we hold our new religion to be. - “Secondly, I did consider that Papists stood much more upon simplicity of truth in their Church than we do; for that they reject all sorts of sectaries that dissent from them in any point of faith determined by the Church ; but we, as appeared by this conference, do hold Luther, Zuinglius, and such others, to be brethren of our Church, though we condemn their doctrine in divers points, which seemed to me to be repug- nant to all reason, and to the purity and unity of faith that Ought to be in a true church, whereby all must be saved that are Saved in that Church ; but yet again, on the other side, it seemed to me impossible that Luther dying in all the points 348 Father Francis Walsingham. of his faith, and Zuinglius, and Calvin in theirs, and I in mine, so different among themselves, as our books do show, though all Protestants, that we should all be saved together, as by One and the self-same faith; especially remembering that saying of St. Paul, ‘One Lord, one faith, one baptism.’” Whereupon I determined to discuss the matter further. “And now remembering the two books that I had received from my lord, with obligation of oath to read them, as also the commission to peruse not only Jewell, but Harding also that writeth against him, I purposed to perform both the One and the other in due time; and so coming home I repaired within a day or two to Mr. Rolfe, the commissary of St. Albans, delivering unto him my Lord of Canterbury's letter before- mentioned ; who first marvelling much at the matter, and then Conferring with me about the man which should be fit ſor our purpose to answer my doubts, we could agree upon none more fit for the purpose than one Master Dr. Downeham, a preacher that dwelt some twenty miles off, and had written a book and dedicated the same unto his Majesty, wherein he would prove that the Pope was Antichrist, which was some special motive (as it seemed) unto the commissary to appoint him to give me Satisfaction." And as he was to be at a certain visitation within a few days after, we agreed to wait that opportunity of meeting and conference. “And so, not to be idle in the mean space, I read over one of Mr. Bell's works before I went to the said visitation, called Zhe Anatomy of the Popish Tyranny, the subject whereof was to expose all the bitter speeches and contentions that had passed from time to time between the priests and Jesuits, about their obedience to the archpriest.” Father Walsingham read the book with much disgust, and saw that the said contentions were not dissensions in point of faith, but merely as to the sufficiency of the arch- priest himself. But yet, he says, being bound by oath to read it over, he had patience to continue therein, though with much loathsomeness, to hear so much dross gathered together Out of men's passionate speeches and writings one against another. He was also struck with Mr. Bell's assertions regarding the Jesuits, which, says he, he must have known to have been false, such as that they were the murderers of King * Ephes. iv. * It was against this book that Father Michael Walpole took up his pen. Wide p. 267, ante. Father Francis Walsingham. 349 Henry III. of France; and that Father Holt, the Jesuit, and his companions in Flanders did gather from the Catholics in England such an infinite mass of money for dispensations, and other such uses, as it exceeded the sum of fifty thousand pounds sterling, “which makes,” saith Bell, “two hundred mi/ions of Złalian scudi " (more perhaps than all the princes of Europe together do possess) and maketh this note upon the fact, “Note here, gentle reader, the wealth, pride, and Saucy deceitful dealing of the Jesuits,” &c. “I do willingly pretermit almost infinite similar absurdities found in that book, wherewith I was well wearied before I came to the end. And truly I did marvel with myself how my Lord of Canterbury could suffer such an exceeding railing and defamatory book to lie in his study, and much more that he would bestow it upon me to breed a good spirit in me, which seemed for the spiteſulness of style, and wickedness of matter therein, to be fitter to frame the disposition of a devil in a man, than to quiet or resolve his conscience in matters of religion. -- “And being in this disgustful state, it was my chance, or rather God's providence, that I should make a journey with a certain friend of mine to a place where I had occasion to inquire of a good grave gentleman what this Bell should be (for hitherto I had not known the man), . . . of whom I under- stood that he was a Yorkshireman, of a town called Raskall, and out of that had been made minister, and afterwards casting off his ministry became a Catholic, and so hot and eager, as he was cast into York gaol, where he suffered much, and was more troublesome to the keepers than all the rest of the prisoners together. Being released, he went to Rheims, and thence to Rome, and there, after some years of study, was made priest, though always, as they say, of a fiery, turbulent, and quarrelsonne nature. . . . And so returning into England, continued the same vein of dissension, and falling into a licentious liſe, and fearing a threatened personal excommuni- cation, he apostatized and became an open enemy, as did Luther, Calvin, Beza,” &c. Father Walsingham acknowledges that the writings of some priests against the archpriest and Jesuits from which Bell drew his arguments, greatly scandalized him, and caused an aversion to their religion for a time. Yet afterwards, inquiring further, he was credibly informed that one Mr. Watson, the chief publisher of those contentions, did heartily repent him thereof 35C Father Francis Walsingham. at his death, confessing that he had greatly wronged those men, which somewhat pacified his aversion. “So the reading over of this book only wrought in me a great dislike both of the matter and writer, that could make a volume of such foul and unsavoury stuff, and no less of their sinister intentions that put the book into my hands, in which I scarce found anything worth a modest man's reading, and much less writing.” He then proceeds to give the dedicatory epistle of Mr. Bell's book, to Tobie Matthews, Archbishop of York, and expresses his astonishment that his Grace could have allowed it. “To let the judicious reader see how little cause I had to be moved or resolved in religion or in any of my doubts by reading this man's book, . . . the writer's spirit seemed so base unto me, and the subject so contemptible, as it often brought to my mind the aforesaid town's name where he was born, Alaska/. And gladly would I have cast the book both from my sight and memory, only that it was commended and Commanded unto me by my Lord of Canterbury, and so I forced myself in patience to go through it from the first line to the last.” In this history of a very remarkable man of his times, it is impossible to omit his journey to the visitation at Baldock, and his conferences with Master Dr. Downeham and another. The reader will therefore, it is hoped, pardon a few pages devoted to this important passage of our subject. “And now the time appointed by Mr. Commissary for my conference with Dr. Downeham being come, I repaired to the visitation, where all the ministers of that diocese were present, and so Mr. Doctor accepted this business, though with no great willingness of mind, as it appeared, but that it was imposed upon him by the commissary, by my Lord of Canterbury's authority. But after awhile, Mr. Doctor, walking aside into the churchyard, began to ask me what was the matter I desired to be resolved of? I answered, ‘Sir, I would gladly know which were the true Church of God wherein I might safely hope to attain eternal life: great controversies there are between Papists and our learned men in England. They affirm that the Church of Rome is the true Mother Church, teaching the true faith and religion planted by Christ and His Apostles, confirmed by miracles, deduced by Succession of bishops and pastors, and that our Church of England is heretical and newly sprung up of late years as proceeding from Zuinglius and Calvin, and the first original of all Protestancy to have been from Luther, before Father Francis Walsingham. 35 I whom they say there was never Protestant heard of?’ ‘No,' saith Mr. Doctor. ‘Then what were the Waldenses, and Wyckliffe, and the Albigenses that were long before Luther? The Church of Rome whatsoever it hath been in the beginning of the primitive Church, yet it is very clear that now it is that woman of Babylon sitting upon her seven hills,’ &c. Entering into a long discourse out of Revelations affirming that the Pope was Antichrist, whereof himself having written and printed an especial book, no marvel if he had his phrases ready in that matter. I answered, ‘Why then, sir, belike Christ hath not performed His promise that He would be with His Church unto the end of the world, and that the gates of hell should not prevail against it, which they of the Roman religion say must needs follow if He permitted it to fall into idolatry, and left it only to the Albigenses, &c., who were held, as they say, for condemned heretics in their days, and not agreeing either in religion among themselves, or with us.” Then said Mr. Doctor, ‘Yes, Christ hath been always with His Church, and hath preserved His elect in all ages, who have not followed Antichrist, nor worshipped the image of the beast, &c. You have met with some Papist book or other, that with lies do seek to seduce many, and to draw them from the truth of Christ's Gospel.” - - “Whereupon I granted that I had read the ZX fence of the Censure, which I confessed had driven me into many doubts, and among other special matters I declared how that it proved Luther, whom I esteemed to be a man of God, to have been rather a very bad man, and to have opposed himself against the Church of Rome by the instigation of the devil himself, with whom he had much conference, as that book affirmeth; and many vile and wicked doctrines of his be there set down, together with his scurrility and railing against Henry VIII., in his book written against the King, . all which, with many other things, if they be true, and the author shows most of them out of Luther's own books; Surely, sir, I think it concerneth me to be of some better faith and religion, than Such as should have its original and beginning from the devil: for what concord can there be between Christ and Belial, light and darkness?” Mr. Doctor Said, ‘It is a common practice of the Papists to blaspheme the true servants of God, and I think,’ quoth he, “I have the answer to that book.’ ‘I would gladly,” said I, ‘have a sight of that answer, and make some trial of the truth thereof by 352 Aather Ærancis Walsingham. Luther's own works, that I might know whether those things were true or not, that are reported of him, and then I should soon be satisfied.' . “And now, it being dinner-time, Mr. Doctor said he was to dine (as I remember) with Mr. Archdeacon, and so he left me, not intending, as it seems, to have any further Confer- ence with me, which made me conceive a hard opinion of Mr. Doctor's charity and zeal; who perceiving in what state I was, inclining now towards Popery, which himself esteemed the worship of Antichrist, and consequently the ready way to damnation, would seem so willing as he was to withdraw himself from so good and charitable a work, especially being commanded and appointed thereto by so Supreme authority. “But after I parted with Dr. Downeham I met with Mr. Com- missary Rolfe, who demanding whether Mr. Doctor had con- ferred with me? I answered, ‘Yes, sir, we have had some conference.’ ‘What,” said he, ‘hath he satisfied you?' I answered, “truly, no ; we have had but small conference to my purpose, but Mr. Doctor thinketh that he hath the answer to the Defence which chiefly I desire to see.’ ‘Well,” said Mr. Rolfe, ‘it were good you waited to speak with him again. It may be he will help you to that book, and have some further conference with you.’ ‘I am content,” said I, ‘to wait for him awhile, for I would very willingly see that same answer.’ And so I waited Mr. Doctor’s return to the church where the visitation was held; unto whom, as soon as I saw him, I asked him for the said answer, and so, walking along towards the church, we fell into speech concerning Luther, Calvin, and Beza, and after that we had much talk for nearly an hour concerning the Church and pastors thereof, the Doctor still inveighing against the abominations of the Church of Rome, and the Pope, affirming him to be Antichrist, and Luther to be a holy man, notwithstanding he might have his infirmities; and yet not yielding him to be the first beginner of their Gospel, but that in all ages there have been some that have withstood the doctrine of the Church of Rome; and that there is greater light and more illumination by God's Spirit in many of these days, for the understanding and delivering of the truth, than in former times, wherein the ancient Fathers lived ; upon whose writings or sayings, being men, we are not to ground Our faith and belief, &c.; which kind of speech seemed very fantastical and light unto me, though he were a doctor; for that by this means I thought that anything may be rejected, any Father Francis Walsingham. 353 creeping heretics of former ages may be accounted the elect of God, and the Fathers that were the pillars of the true Church in their days, and condemned them as heretics, may be thought as men to have erred therein, seeing nothing is to be built upon them ; yet I had not time, for we were interrupted by Certain ministers that came in—his neighbours—to call him to go homeward. At our breaking off, Mr. Doctor said, ‘Well, I can say no more unto you; but take heed you forsake not the truth and fall to worship Antichrist. I have some of Mr. Luther's works; if you Come to my house at any time, I will show you what I have.’ I answered, ‘Thank you, sir, and seeing it is the main business I conne for, if it please you I will go home with you at this present, for I know not when to have a fitter time.’ So I went home with the Doctor, being ten miles from Baldock, and one or two ministers more. “And being now come to his house at Munden, presently the Doctor went into his study to seek for the answer to the Defence, which at length he brought unto me, and amongst other books, Dr. Fulke's Rejoinder to Martial’s Reply, where- unto was annexed at the end, ‘A Defence of the Writings of William Fulke against the Quarrels of the Papists.” And so we walked into his garden with this Answer in his hand, wherein he began to read some part concerning the Defence of Luther, &c., consisting of nothing but bitter terms against the Papists, and especially against the author of the Defence, which he esteemed to be Parsons. . . . I desired to hear some con- futation of those reports against Luther, and some defence of his doctrines, and justifying Mr. Charke's honest dealing in citing Luther's words. But Mr. Doctor, as not willing to treat much of that which was my only desire, slipped over into some other discourses concerning his own book, dedicated to the King, wherein he said he had proved the Pope to be Antichrist so substantially, as that “I think,’ quoth he, “it is sufficient to overthrow the Pope and all the Papists’ religion.’ So he called unto him a little youth, that was both his curate and schoolmaster for his little children (for he had a wife and divers children), to bring him that book of his. But I said, ‘It need not, sir; I would first see some of Luther's works, for that is the chief cause of my coming to try what can be found there; and as for the argument of your book concerning Antichrist, I assure you that I have talked with divers learned men of our religion in England that hold the Pope not to be Antichrist.” “It is no matter for that,” saith he “if you will Y. 354. Father Francis Walsingham. read my book you shall see what proofs and arguments I allege for what I say,’ &c. And so we passed to Supper, which being ended, Mr. Doctor turning over his books (the answer to the Defence, and his own), I still desired to see some of Luther's works, and I asked if he had that De Captivitate Babylonica, which he brought, and so I began to search for certain places I had noted out of the Defence, whereof some I could not find, as not being in that volume, but concerning the immodest and railing terms of his writing against Henry VIII., I partly found those cited by the Defence in his preface to the Earl of Passune, and being interrupted by other talk of Mr. Doctor, &c., I was not very desirous to seek further, taking that as a sufficient testimony of the truth of the rest, although as the Defence affirmeth by the testimony of Gesner, a Protestant, that Luther's Latin edition of the book against Henry VIII. was nothing like for immodesty the Dutch edition. “Moreover I found in Assertionibus, where Luther repre- hends the Pope for defining, besides Scripture, the immortality of the Soul, also this assertion, ‘That neither man nor angel on earth can lay any one law upon any one Christian, further than he will himself.” Also these words, “So thou sees; how rich a Christian man is, who cannot lose his sa/vation though he Zwould, with never so great sins, except he will not believe; for , no sins can damn him, but only incredu/ity.” Which words, with the rest, Mr. Doctor endeavoured to justify with certain glosses, highly extolling that excellent work of Luther upon the Epistle to the Galatians; and upon the Epistle of Peter, adding that that upon the Galatians, was a most comfortable book exhorting to good works, &c. Whereto I replied, ‘But Mr. Doctor Cowell reprehended Luther's writing upon the Galatians, saying that he (Luther) was not unjustly called in question by the Church of Rome for speaking harshly, as he Saith, Concerning good works, when he writes thus: ‘Faith without, and before we have charity doth justify.’ And again, ‘Faith, unless it be without even the least good works, doth not justify; nay, it is not faith.” But Mr. Doctor would scarcely believe this to be so in Lüther, saying, ‘Tush; Dr. Cowell is but a young man;’ signifying thereby that there was but little to be ascribed unto him, though both of them had written books, and not more difference perhaps of age between them than some half dozen years. Then I desired * See both in Captiv. Bab. title “De Baptismo.” Aºváže, Fra/262s W.aſsingham. 355 we might try the place; but then he said he had not Luther upon the Galatians. Then I named that of Luther, “It is a false opinion, and to be abolished, that there are four Gospels; for the Gospel of St. John is the only fair, true, and principal Gospel:” which Mr. Doctor seemed not to beliève that it was in Luther: yet because I told him how Charke and Hanmer had confessed it, he made such an answer as Mr. Charke before made to the Censure—that Luther's meaning was that all the four Gospels were but one Gospel. But I replied he could have no good meaning in making such comparisons and pro- posing such disparity among the four Evangelists, as when he saith, ‘The Epistles of Paul and Peter do far pass the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.’ ‘What passing or pre-excelling is there,' said I; ‘were they not all penned by the Spirit of God?’” &c. Father Walsingham then goes on with various other extracts from Luther's writings, one of which books, he says, “I did see in English at the stationer's shop next to the north door of Paul’s Church, and there I presently copied out his words zeróatim. . . . To all this Mr. Doctor made little or no answer, but highly commended Luther, saying he was a holy man, and his works were many and learned, and full of great comfort, &c. And thus, having spent a good part of the night, we drew to an end, and then after Mr. Doctor had made a long extemporal prayer, without book, perhaps well near for the Space of half an hour, his wife and household being also present, I was directed to my lodging. “The next morning I prepared myself to take leave of Mr. Doctor and his wife, but in the meanwhile it chanced that another minister came to visit him, being a man somewhat aged and grave; to whom the Doctor named me, and the object of my visit, and he desired to have some talk with me, So we walked together with Mr. Doctor into his garden, where again, at his request, relating my case, the elder minister began to speak of the obstinacy of Papists, in that they would not hear the truth manifested unto them. And besides, he accused them of false writing and reports, &c. I said, ‘This is what I want to see : if I could prove the book false in its reports, I should have somewhat to say, but as far as I have made trial, I find the author to write no untruth.” Then he began to tell us how himself had been lately sent for to talk with a Papist in prison (in Hartford gaol, I think), “but when I came, he would neither hear nor speak, saying, You have no X 2 356 Father Francis Walsingham. authority to teach, neither do I acknowledge you for a lawful pastor,’ &c. “Why," saith he, ‘I am a minister well known in the country. I have been a preacher these (so many) years; I have taken the degrees of schools; I am a master of arts, and I have preached at the University, and the visitation, before all the learned men in the country; but for all this, as he said, the Catholic Church would not abide to hear me . preach or dispute there, nor would so much as hear his voice.’ After some such frivolous talk, we were requested to breakfast, where among other speeches against the Papists, and their doctrine, Mr. Doctor exclaimed against Indulgences; and thereupon calling for this answer to the Defence, read out of the same a great deal which that author had huddled together concerning that doctrine; upon which both ministers made large commentaries. I replied but little, saying I would leave it and many other things which the Catholics teach (for the word Catholic I then began to use with them), in abeyance, until I had heard what some learned men on their side can say about them, for that I have never yet conferred with any ; granting unto them that there were many things, among them which as yet I did not believe, nor should very suddenly be persuaded unto. “And thus, breakfast ended, I asked Mr. Doctor to lend me the Answer to the Defence, which he did, with Fulke and Martial’s reply; he urged me to take his own book of Anti- christ, as being sufficient alone to put me (said he) out of all doubts. Other like treatises he wished to lend me; but thinking I had work enough to peruse Mr. Bell's other book before the time appointed by my Lord of Canterbury, &c., with those only two, I took my leave of Mr. Doctor and the other minister, and so returned homeward. - “And now, by the way, I began to think of all that had passed between the Doctor and myself, with the whole manner of my proceeding; and setting on the one side all the motives, reasons, and inducements which might move me to become a Papist and to think well of their religion; on the other side I began to examine my mind and conscience what I could now say to the contrary. Again I expostulated with myself why I should now forsake my former faith and religion, being therein born and brought up, wherein also many men of great learning continued, with many such like thoughts and contrary cogita- tions, until I found myself to be as a man bereft of all his weapons, not able to defend himself any longer, having little or Aather Francis Waſsingham. 357 nothing to say but to think thus within myself: There are many strange doctrines which the Papists hold ; and yet again it may be I do not know their doctrines aright, nor how they are able to defend and maintain the opinions they hold. If I might once speak with some learned Papist or other I should know further, and upon what grounds they build their worship of images, prayers to saints, praying for the dead, and their belief of the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Holy Com- munion, with other such like doctrines ; but what then, said I, shall I ever become a Papist? Surely I cannot tell what to say, but methinks that would be a very strange alteration with me. And so, wondering at myself and that strange alteration which began to be in me, like unto the strong current of a swift running river suddenly turned backward, committing and commending myself to Almighty God, and resigning myself wholly unto the direction of His Holy Spirit, at last resolved fully with myself neither to turn to the right hand nor to the left by mine own will, which peradventure might be drawn to the one or to the other by fear of trouble, affection of friends, or hope of preferments, with other temporal inducements, but intended to put on as indifferent a mind as possibly I could towards the Catholic and Protestant religion, to the end that weighing and considering with most diligent and serious pon- deration and advice, the force and strength of Such arguments and inducements as should either move me to follow the one and neglect the other, I might absolutely embrace that faith, and constantly profess that religion which Almighty God should propose unto me for the only true way to eternal life, which way and which truth I therefore desired by earnest prayer to obtain, saying as near as I can remember these words, or the like in substance, which I often reiterated— “O Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all mankind, Who invitest all that labour and are heavy laden with the burthen of their sins to come unto Thee, promising unto them that they shall find rest unto their souls; refresh my wearied soul, enlighten me with the knowledge of Thy truth. Thou art the Way, the Truth, and the Life Teach me then, O Lord, Thy ways and direct me in Thy paths. Thou wouldst not the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wicked ways and live. Turn Thou me, O Lord, unto Thee, and then shall I be truly converted. My heart is ready, O Lord, my heart is ready ; with what simplicity and singleness of heart Thou best knowest; I know it not. Create in me, O Lord, 358 Aather Francis Walsingham. a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me. Give me the comfort of Thy saving health, and confirm and strengthen me in the same by Thy Holy Spirit. Then shall I teach sinners Thy ways, and the ungodly shall be converted to Thee. O Lord, open Thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to Thee ’’ He then goes on to relate what he did when he returned home from the conference with Master Doctor Downeham. “And now being in this good disposition to hear what God would say unto me in my heart, I thought best to open unto Him my ear, and to look over diligently again the book which before had so much moved me, to wit, The ZJeſence of the Censure, together with the answer or reply by Mr. Charke, as I Supposed, though he put not thereunto his name. The book was of a good bulk, in quarto, the leaves gilded, the print fair, the binding Curious, the argument and subject much desired and thirsted by me, all which you may imagine incensed me to read with appetite, hoping to find thereby a full satisfaction to all my doubts, and quietness to my afflicted conscience.” He then set himself to weigh and consider with the greatest indifferency he could, the arguments and proofs of either party. He says he found very little or nothing in Mr. Charke's reply that could give him any contentment. He goes fully into the various reasons, and thus concludes his examination of Mr. Charke: “So as indeed this answer of his seemed nothing else but a shifting off and desire of revenging himself upon his adversary by acrimony and acerbity of speech, which to me seemed little satisfaction. And so I left the matter, and passed over to read Mr. Bell's other book, according to the band of my Oath and promise.” - Bell’s second book was entitled 7%e Suzzey of Poſeyſ. “Although greatly wearied with the loathsome reading over of so many ſoul narrations as Mr. Bell had laid forth in his former volume of the anatomy, especially misdoubting with myself of the man's fidelity in relating many of them, &c., and therefore I had less appetite to return to the perusal of any more of his works; yet remembering my oath and promise to my Lord of Canterbury, and hoping also that in his second volume I should find more coherence between the subject and the title of the book than in the former, and more cleanly and sober matter handled therein, I began to peruse the part thereof, which was divided into divers books.” He found it a chaos of confusion. Aather Francis Walsangham. 359 . . . “But yet reading over all for the avoiding of scruple, though I had neither time nor opportunity of referring to books to examine all, I thought it needful to collect some few points here and there, to show afterwards unto my Lord of Canter- bury, whereby his lordship might see that I had not passed Over all SO lightly but that I had made some reflection thereon, both for my own instruction and his Grace's better information.” He then goes at considerable length and with great clear- ness, through some of the leading points of the book, and concludes: “All which, when I had read and considered, and found Masses here named both solemn and private, conse- cration of the sacrifice of oblation by the Apostles mentioned, as also the recital of the Lord's Prayer upon the consecrated Body and Blood, as a tradition of Christ and His Apostles according to St. Gregory; I marvelled much why Mr. Bell should cite him so confidently. And this bred in me many more doubts and scruples than I had before ; and so per- Suading myself that the further I should read in this man's Works the less satisfaction I should receive, I resolved not to examine many more places, but to note out these few to Carry with me to my Lord of Canterbury, there to receive further Satisfaction or explication of the same. “The time now drawing [near] Easter term, when I was bound to repair again unto my Lord of Canterbury, I began to put myself in Order for that journey, . . . but it so fell out that after this again there came into my hands another book of Mr. Bell's, entitled, Zhe downfall of Popery. And for that the title was so terrible, and the enterprise of such importance, I was moved to steal from myself a little time to overlook the same, and to examine also some places that seemed more pregnant for his purpose against the Papists.” After stating that he found not the work to be answerable either to the title or to the subject, which he proceeds briefly to show, he con- tinues: “But now, looking over his labours, I doubt me they will be to small effect; yet some points that seemed to me most remarkable of his defects in handling the same I took out by the way, to carry with me to London, whereby to inform my judgment about Mr. Bell's talent in writing, against the time I should be demanded what I thought thereof by my Lord of Canterbury, as I presumed I should.” He first mentions Mr. Bell's dedicatory epistle to the King, in which “he showeth himself so impatient, or rather impotent, in that behalf, as from the very first period thereof, not respect- 36O Aather Francis Walsingham. ing the majesty of the person to whom he writes, he rageth extremely, affirming priests and Papists to be the cursed brood of traitorous Jesuits; and then, as for the Jesuits themselves, his epithets are, traitorous, seditious, brutish, barðarous, villainous, zmost bloody, freacherous, £70m/d, tyrannica/, firebrands, thiezes, murderers, and defendents of the devil himself; which I Con- sidering thought with myself what he would do in the rest of his book, seeing he began in this intemperate manner in his very epistle to so great a prince. And further informing myself that he had been for divers years the Jesuits’ scholar, and received from them the learning he boasted of both in philo- sophy and divinity, and also many instructions towards good life (as some did report that would seem to know their pro- ceedings in their public and private schools), it discredited much with me the man's judgment, that he would begin with such passionate and unseemly speeches against them to whom he had been somewhat beholden, though now he were never so much different from them in religion.” Father Walsingham then gives an analysis of this book, exposing at Considerable length many gross misstatements and abuses, saying in conclusion, “Sure I am it perplexed me greatly, making me to fear lest much of the rest that he writeth was of this kind; and yet I resolved not to exhibit anything of this third book unto my Lord of Canterbury, until I had seen my former doubts, which I had gathered out of his second book, someway Satisfied by his lordship's grace, or by some other at his appointment. And so, with these notes for a supply, if need should require, I prepared myself for my journey, being possessed (to confess the truth) with no very good opinion of Mr. Bell's truth or sincerity in writing. And so I resolved to signify unto his Grace, if fit occasion should be offered.” - t We now come to his fifth appearance before the Archbishop. “The prefixed time of my obliged appearance drawing near, I repaired again to London, and upon the last day of Easter term presented myself at Lambeth to my Lord of Canterbury, whom I found not at home but at Westminster, where he had spent the forenoon of that day, and had dined there, by reason of a great cause handled that morning in the Star Chamber, before him and the other lords of the Council and nobility, who came from the Court, then at Greenwich, to be present at the hearing of that cause, which was about the legitimation Of Sir Robert Dudley, son to the late Earl of Leicester, by Father Francis W.aſsingham. 36I which occasion I waited a good while at Iambeth before the Archbishop returned, though in his absence there sat (as I understood) divers doctors and prelates about other matters appertaining to religion, in his said house at Lambeth. But I thought it not best to present myself before them, but rather to stay until my lord himself came, though indeed I would willingly have talked apart with Dr. Cowell (but he was not there), and have proposed somewhat to him concerning his book against the Puritans, entitled, ‘A just and temperate defence of Mr. Æichard Hooker’s five books of ecclesiastica/ policy, by Mr. William Cowell, 1603, which book, as I found it to be written with a far different spirit from that of Mr. Bell’s, so yet were there many things which made me greatly to muse, for that he seemed to me to hold divers opinions far different from those of other Protestants, as may be seen in every one of his articles.” He then at some length discusses two points in the book, one regarding the Catholic Church, and the other contended for in it, that the credit of a religion may not be brought in doubt by the faults of some principal men, the framers and founders thereof. “And for that I saw Dr. Cowell very unwilling to enter into any examination of Calvin's affairs, when before I proposed unto him those things which Zhe JDefence of the Censure had alleged, therefore I thought it better to let the matter pass for the present, until I had examined things further, and might peradventure have fitter occasion to return unto him again at Some time when he should be at home and more at leisure. And therefore, laying aside these cogitations for the present, I turned my thoughts to consider what I might answer to my Lord of Canterbury himself, con- cerning such things as he should demand of me, especially. about Mr. Bell's books, out of which I determined to present unto him only at the first some of those notes which I had gathered out of the first two, 7%e Anatomy, and 77a Survey of Poffery, which his Grace had commanded unto me to read, reserving the third, and the notes taken thereof, for a supply, if he should answer or make small account of the first. And being in these cogitations, I was advertised that my lord was come from Westminster indeed, and that his barge was arrived; whereupon I retired myself towards the hall to wait his passage that way, meaning so to place myself that he should see me at least as he passed by, for that there were so many there to give petitions, and for other business, as I might doubt lest his lordship might pass by without casting his eye upon me. 362 Father Francis Walsingham. “But now at length my lord came home, and a great train with him, and I, to be seen the better by him at his passage into his palace, placed myself within the hall, that his Grace might behold me as he passed by ; but it may be that his distractions in other things did not permit him to look upon me with any great attention; and in particular, there was a young man that had also placed himself purposely to be seen by his Grace at his passing by, who, as I partly understood, was upon sliding back from the Roman religion, or at least there was some hope thereof, and for that cause was retained there, as I think, in the house; he seemed to be some Scholar Or young priest, though I could not certainly learn his name. “There was also a certain schoolmaster's wife that gave up a petition in her husband's name, that was in prison for the Roman religion in the White Lion prison, as I remember, she suing for some release or relief of her husband. But my lord seemed to hearken little unto her, but rather to use hard words, and so passed into his garden. But after, coming to sit down among his doctors, she was called into the parlour, and there being on her knees, my lord told the doctors what a dangerous Papist her husband was, and how long he had sought to catch him, and so at length he bid her stand up, and dismissed her with a cold answer. - “With this woman, before she was called in, I had some Speech, and learning the state and cause of her husband's trouble, I told her that I was in some trouble also myself about like matters, though, hitherto, I were no Papist. I inquired also of the prison, where her husband was, meaning to become acquainted with him, though afterwards, when I inquired after him, I understood he was not there ; perhaps he was out upon , Sureties. “But now to return to my lord. He went, as I said, pre- sently after his return into his garden, to see certain workmen that were building there; whereupon I, with divers others, went in from the hall to a certain passage between the garden, and his parlour, to expect him there; and so he, coming out of his garden, cast his eye upon me among others in that place, and presently said unto me with a friendly countenance, and somewhat a low voice, ‘Now, Mr. Walsingham, how do you, are you satisfied?’ To whom I answered, ‘No, truly, my lord, I am not yet satisfied.’ Whereto he replied nothing, but went and sat down at his table in the parlour, together with his doctors and prelates about him, whither, after a little time, Father Francis Walsingham. 363 I was called in like manner, and then my lord began to explain my case unto them, and to tell them what scruples I had conceived upon the reading of a Papist book, and how I had delivered up the same unto the King's Majesty with a memorial desiring that matters in that book contained, espe- cially of fact, might be examined, and if they were found false, that then the Papists might be the more severely punished; if true, then that his Majesty, as head of the Church, would give me licence to believe them. And he further signified unto . them that his Majesty had remitted me to his Grace, and what pains he had taken, and others at his appointment, for my Satisfaction ; and, finally, that he had delivered unto me two books of Mr. Bell's, written against the Papists, to satisfy and resolve me withal, and then he calling me close unto him at the table's end, asked me very seriously whether I had read them, and what I thought of them P g “To this, I answered, that I had read them over with diligence, and that my judgment was that the author was a golden Bell, but his sound like as of a brazen candlestick, which I said in respect of the many golden advices, references, and corollaries, and the golden sentences which he mentioneth so often in his books, but that his sound was no better than of brass, according to the Apostle's similitude, for that he seemed not only to have no charity in his writing, but neither trust or sincerity in his allegations, as before you have seen by that which I have quoted out of him. - “The Archbishop hearing me call him a golden Bell in the first part of my answers, seemed much Contented, saying: ‘That is well; but hearing the second, he demanded, “Why so?’ And Dr. Barlow, then Dean of Chester, and Prebendary of Westminster, afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, looking back upon me with more displeasure, as it seemed, than the rest, said: ‘Why ; what say you to Mr. Bell?’ And all the other doctors in like manner cast their eyes upon me. But I gave the reason before mentioned. And then my lord, answering, and willing me to show wherein I had made that observation ; I laid forth upon the table before them the two books I had perused, turning to the places before mentioned out of St. Chrysostom, St. Austin, and other Fathers, which I asserted to have been untruly alleged by him ; presupposing that my lord would presently have commanded the said Father's works to have been brought forth out of his study, and the places quoted to be examined in all their presence ; but no such 364 Father Francis Walsingham. matter ensued, for my lord having slightly looked over the places in Bell as he citeth them, he laid them down again, and the doctors presently took them up to peruse them ; in which mean space his lordship began to talk somewhat privately and mildly with me concerning things objected by the ZX fence of the Censure against Zuſher, signifying his dislike that I should be so much moved by them, and in particular with the doctrines objected against Luther; to whom I said: “And will not your lordship have me moved to hear him teach.’” . . . [The Archbishop gave an answer rather in justification of the said doctrine.] - “And with this, my lord, answering me no further, began to talk unto Dr. Barlow, who this while with the rest was looking at Bell’s books, and began to speak somewhat con- Cerning them, seeming to maintain somewhat of a good opinion of Bell's fidelity, which yet appeared not to be great with my lord himself, as by some conjectures I gathered. But none of them, as I said, so much as once offered to call for the Fathers' works themselves to examine the places, which was my desire. But after some words to and fro among themselves, my lord commanded me to stand aside whilst they talked. “Whereupon I retiring myself by little and little down to the lower end of the parlour that they might confer more freely, they talked together of this and other matters; and after some little time, having despatched away the aforesaid Schoolmaster's wife, my lord began to speak with a high and angry voice concerning me and my affairs, and looking towards me, complained of my importunity and obstinacy, and said to the doctors that he would send me to prison; and thereupon Calling for his pursuivant or apparitor, who presently appeared, said: ‘Let a mittimus be made to send him to the Clink ;’ which the officer seemed very forward to have executed ; but belike he understood my lord's manner of speech to be but a threat. But here now I felt within me some conflict about this matter of going to prison. For as on the one side I * In a controversial work it was necessary for the author to state explicitly what writers on the other side had affirmed ; which Father Walsingham here does, and gives his authority from Luther’s words. Happily, the necessity does not exist in this notice of his valuable work. Moreover, the shameless teaching of that apostate ſriar are known to those who have been led to consult the writings he has left behind him. Father Francis Wa/singham. 365 found in myself an inclination, or rather a full resolution, to suffer imprisonment, or any other disgrace, rather than to do anything against my conscience ; SO on the other I thought with myself, what discredit, besides loss and hindrance, it might be to me to suffer imprisonment or open disgrace for opinion of Papistry, which ever heretofore I had hated, and had not yet resolved ever to admit, or embrace, but only had demanded solution of certain doubts. I thought also how my friends and kindred would wonder and complain thereof, that I should suffer myself to be cast into prison for matter of conscience, and yet not for being of any certain religion at all, and for making recourse to the King's Majesty in a business so important to myself as concerning my soul. But in fine, I concluded with myself to suffer whatsoever should come ; and yet I was of opinion that my lord would not commit me indeed, lest his Majesty hearing of it should not allow of such manner of solving doubts, arising upon so good grounds as mine did, and so indifferently proposed, with requiring only to have the truth declared. “But now, whilst I was in these cogitations and conflicts of mind, there came unto me from the other side of the parlour, the knight of the corner, mentioned by me before (Sir C. Perkins), who, out of show of great compassion and extraordinary friendship, began with divers temporal reasons to persuade me not to meddle further in these matters, but to accommodate myself to my lord’s will, and I should find his Grace a good lord unto me, and ready to perform as occasion should be offered : that these matters of contro- versies did not appertain to my profession, and divers other like reasons, all tending to worldly commodities and temporal respects: but I told him that I, being now entered into the ministry, and meaning by God’s grace to go forward therein, whose office must be to teach and instruct others, good reason it was that I should first seek to instruct myself; and for that cause, finding no other solution of my doubts, I repaired to his Majesty, and was by him remitted to my lord and his doctors, to be resolved in my said doubts. Whereto the knight replied nothing concerning that point, which was the substance of all, but he only inculcated unto me again what danger I was in, and how like I was to go to prison, and thereby to suffer no small disgrace and hindrance; but he never offered to confer with me, or to: go about to resolve my difficulties, as I understood afterwards: 366 Aather Aºazzez's W.aſsingham. that he had been able to do, for that he had been a priest and a public reader of Roman divinity for divers years in Germany, before he came to enjoy the temporal commodities of England; and consequently was best able, if he had listed, to have given solution to my doubts; but he never so much as once named any point of religion, but left me as he found me, when he saw that these human respects wrought nothing with me, wherein he seemed to deal with me rather like a knight, than like a priest or Jesuit, and consequently to esteem more of his knighthood than his priesthood. “And now, for that my sending to prison was thus delayed, my lord’s apparitor was busy with me to stand near and to show myself, fearing belike lest my lord should forget me and my cause, and so he miss his fee; but I told him that it needed not ; I was sure his Grace would have me in memory. And after a little time they arose from the table, and standing on foot my lord showed himself much displeased, talked again of me and my business, threatening to send me to prison. But after that again he retired himself into a window together with Dr. Barlow, who having conferred some little space together, my lord called me unto him, and insinu- ating unto me that the said Doctor had entreated for some favour towards me, said : ‘Well, Mr. Walsingham, I am content you shall confer these places with Mr. Dean here (meaning the said Dr. Barlow), who will take some pains with you to resolve you.’ And then turning unto Mr. Doctor, he said unto him : ‘You can show him, Mr. Dean, Chrysostom both in Greek and Latin ; and so willing me to repair unto him for Conference, dismissed me with saying only that I should return unto him again in the end of the next term ; and indeed his dismission was such and with such countenance and Speech, as it seemed to me that he could not well deter- mine what to do with me, being weary of me and of my Suit, and that he could have been content to be handsomely rid of me ; yet, he willed me to take with me Mr. Bell’s books again, which lay upon the table, though I would gladly have left them there ; and this was my dismission from my Lord of Canterbury, who never sent for me again, nor did I return unto him, upon the causes which after shall appear. - “Upon the next day, which was Sunday, I repaired to Westminster to Mr. Doctor Barlow, who, after evensong, went up with me to his study, and there at my request opened Father Francis Walsingham. 367 first one of St. Austin’s volumes, wherein the book ZXe bono Viduitatis is contained, and there sought for the place cited by Mr. Bell, and falling upon the words alleged by him, read them, and would have seemed to defend them as there they lie. But when I pressed him to have him go forward and to read the words ensuing, which do explicate St. Austin's meaning and wholly overthrow Mr. Bell's purpose, he was unwilling at that time to pass any further ; especially his man Coming to tell him that it was now supper-time, and so with courteous words he dismissed me, saying, notwithstanding, that if at any other time I would come unto him, he would be glad to speak an hour and take some further pains with me; but I thought to myself to what end should I come unto him, and trouble both him and myself; seeing it was but to weary and molest him, as I had done many others in the same cause before, for that I seemed now to perceive how little they were able or willing to give me that satisfaction in these points which I demanded about my doubts and scruples. And with this I departed from him, not meaning again to return for the present, but to take some other course, as afterwards I did. And this may suffice for the first part of my narrative, wherein I have set down sincerely, as near as I could remember, what passed in my sundry appearances before my Lord of Canter- bury, and conferences with others. Wherein not receiving the satisfaction I desired, as now you have perceived, I took another resolution, to examine books on both sides for finding out truth or falsity, beginning first with the writings of Protes- tants, and afterwards of Catholics.” Father Walsingham thus begins the second part of his treatise. “When I was thus dismissed by my lord, and in effect also by Mr. Dean of Chester, I began to think with myself what I should now do, and what way I should take to quiet my conscience, which I felt to be much more troubled than ever before. For as on the one side I had no serious inclination to be a Papist, but rather a great aversion from the same, so my confidence in the Protestant religion was So shaken by that which had passed with my lord and his doctors, as methought I durst rely very little on that side; for that now two points among others seemed to me to be very probable, if not clear and evident. The first, that my lord and his learned men were not able to satisfy me indeed, and with reality of truth, in the doubts I proposed ; for otherwise they 368 Aather Francis Wa/singham. would have dealt with me no doubt after a more effectual way, seeing one so urgent to be satisfied, and my cause commended unto them by the King himself.” His second point was “ that Protestant writers used not fidelity in their writings, nor alleged things against the Papists with sincerity of truth.” He then resolved upon the laborious undertaking before mentioned, of examining books on both sides. “This then being my resolution, I began to think what might be needful unto me for the performance of the same. And first of all I thought it not amiss that as hitherto I had never talked with any learned Papist in all my life, now I should do it, if I might find fit commodity and security for the same ; for that still I was afraid that if my Lord of Canterbury should call me to him again (as I presumed he would, if I returned not of myself), he would examine me again upon mine Oath, as in the beginning he did, whether I had talked with any Papist or no ; the which I, being always very loath to bring any man into trouble, was desirous to avoid. It staid me also somewhat" to consider that if I should have conference with any such man, and he should press me with arguments which I could not answer, to become a Papist, what I should then do in that case, for so much as I had no determination that way, as before I have said, but rather a great repugnance. And yet finally, having well thought of the matter, and finding myself greatly troubled thereabout, I resolved by help of a certain gentleman of my acquaintance who was some- what inclined that way (though no whit resolved therein), to have some speech with one in prison who was learned indeed, with whom, after I had at Sundry times had somewhat large Conferences, and proposed my doubts, and had heard his answers as also their grounds about divers controversies in religion, though I felt myself not fully able to answer him, yet I stood stiff not to yield, but to stand and continue in my former Protestant religion until I should have seen and examined matters further.” Whereupon I departed into the Country within very few days, though afterwards I returned again to London somewhat oftener than before, upon divers occasions falling out.” * For the sake of concealment, Father Walsingham withholds the name of the learned Papist, nor can we get any clue to his identity. It may very probably have been the Rev. Edward Tempest mentioned in Walsingham's declaration on entering the English College, and which is copied p. 382, post. . - Father Francis Walsangham. 369 He then proceeds to relate at length how he informed himself both of Catholic books and their positions, and also of Catholic school-writers, and his difficulty in finding “any Protestant book that all do follow.” He also narrates how, . by occasion of seeking out the book he had named in a former chapter, he came upon others that gave much light in divers matters, though with more trouble of mind than before, but especially about Luther's conference with the devil. He devotes a very interesting chapter to the exami- nation of the statements in Luther's works, ZXe Mºssa Privata, &c., and Zuinglius' De Subsidio Euch., &c., regarding their conferences and arguments with the devil personally as related by themselves. “And now, having read these things in the very arguments themselves that were the first teachers of Protestant doctrine in our age, whereat I so much wondered before, when I first read them briefly touched in the Defence of the Censure, I cannot well express how I was encumbered with this cogitation, to think that they should confess of them- selves that they had the very first and principle articles of their difference from Catholics (which articles are also now held in England), from the suggestion of wicked Satan; for that, as we have seen, the very principal points in controversy have been handled by the said spirit, as, namely, against the Mass, the Ordination and consecration of priests, against the Real Presence, about the faith of the Church, invocation and honouring of Our Lady and other saints, . . . and these points expressly impugned. . . . And I did marvel exceedingly that Luther and Zuinglius would publish such things in print, and much more that their followers would suffer them to be printed again and set forth after their deaths.” He then refers to “other speeches of Mr. Luther concerning the devil,” from his Afºstle to the ZXuže AE/ector of Saxony; and thus closes the chapter. . . . “And now, let any man imagine in what plight, horror, and aversion of mind I was, when I read these things in Luther's own writings, not being able to doubt the truth thereoſ, but that they were written by him. Then did I think with myself, out of what spirit a man so conversant with the devil could write anything of true religion and piety: and how dangerous a point it were for a man to rely his soul much upon him that was so beset with opposite and contrary Spirits. For as the Spirit of Christ cannot but persuade good things and true doctrine, so cannot the spirit of the devil but persuade to the contrary in all points either openly Y 37O Aather Francis Walsingham. or covertly. So that now I remained more perplexed than before.” In his third chapter he relates how after the perusal of these conferences of Luther and Zuinglius with the devil, he passed further to examine some of their doctrines before mentioned, and what he ſound confirmed thereof by themselves; as also the great dissentions he discovered in, Protestant writers of different professions. He then lucidly examines many of Luther's own writings, which he enumerates, and also points out the contradictions in doctrine between Luther, Calvin, &c. “All which,” he says, in concluding the chapter, “when I had read and pondered with myself, and remembered also the common saying of all our English ministers to be that the doctrine of the Church of England doth not disagree in sub- stantial and fundamental points from that of the Lutherans and Zuinglians in Germany, it amazed me greatly to think what Certainty I might have in points of religion, for So much as these were great and learned doctors also of the Protestant religion that write and defend these points, contrary to ours of England, and do hold us for heretics and men out of the way in most chief points of faith belonging to Salvation. And therefore I found myself every day in more perplexity than ever, not knowing which way Substantially to resolve myself; but yet determined to prosecute this search, with hope to find aſterwards more light for my better choice.” In his next chapter he shows at great length what he found in various Protestant authors cited in the ZXefence of the Censure, “concerning the life and manner of proceeding of Masters Calvin and Beza, the chief authentical doctors of our present English religion; wherein I had desired to have satis- ſaction from my lord and his doctors, as before narrated.” And further, “what I observed of myself in perusing Calvin’s works Concerning the point in hand of untrue dealing, false accusa- tion, &c., And so by a little more examination having found so much bad dealing in our chief and prime writers, Luther, Calvin, &c., I began to imagine what I might find in our English writers who either took out of these or imitated them. Whereupon I resolved and prepared myself with more atten- tion to go over some works of our chief English writers, and to observe such points as might appertain to this my purpose of seeking out the truth, especially in Mr. Jewell and such others as wrote in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's days, Father Francis Walsingham. 37 I and were accounted the chief pillars of our English Church for their times.” He then relates from the fifth to the ninth chapters “what view I made of English Protestant authors, especially of Mr. Jewell (sometime Bishop of Salisbury), for trial of this point of true or untrue dealing in their writings”—with a note prefixed of the chief books he found written on both sides from the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, renewing his purpose of noting only voluntary falsehoods. After giving his opinion upon Jewell's writings, he concludes that long and most interesting examination of the standard Jewell. “Where- upon I remember I had the cogitation, in what case many of my condition are in England, that do found all their doctrine, sermons, and writings commonly upon those of Mr. Jewell, as their chief father, prelate, patriarch, and doctor in that behalf. So as, if any man have his two great books of Æeft/y and Defence, they persuade themselves to have a competent library for matters of controversy, and so did I also, especially if they have the Acts and Monuments of Mr. Fox for matter of ecclesiastical history. And if any do further add unto these Mr. Calvin's ſºlstitutions, he then hath his ſurniture very com- plete for Protestant doctors.” Having clearly exposed the lies of Fox, he passes on in the following chapters to examine the falsities charged upon divers Protestant authors, naming them, and among others, Mr. Thomas Roger's book of the Thirty- nine Articles; and concludes his examination into Protestant authors. . . . “Well, then, finding the whole work of Mr. Roger's to be faulty in the two general points, . . . the One, that he setteth down these Thirty-nine Articles as conformably de- ſended by all Protestant Churches, wherein, notwithstanding, there is infinite disagreement; the other, that he never rightly allegeth truly and sincerely the opinions of Catholics, wherein they do dissent from him and his Church; by this, I say, I lost all desire of proceeding any further in confronting places together, for that I saw it would grow to a huge volume. And therefore perceiving that he agreed with the rest in the spirit of insincere dealing, I made resolution to end with this, as being sufficient to give me a full taste of what I was like to find hereaſter. And so I thought good to pass to the third part of this search, to see whether I could find the like dealing in Catholic writers or no. And for better helping myself herein, I thought it more easy to make this trial substantially by the help of those collections which Protestant writers had gathered Y 2 372 Father Francis Walsingham. against Papists concerning their untruths, which if I could see well verified by the collectors, it seemed to me that it would be a strong argument to induce me to think that neither part dealt sincerely. Wherefore unto this search I applied myself with great attention.” He then proceeds at considerable length with his task, under various heads —“Falsities objected to Catholics by Master Jewell,” “Imputations of falsities by Mr. Dr. Sutcliffe against Cardinals Bellarmine and Baronius,” and against Father Parsons in particular, “And how I was more diligent and attent in this point than in any of the former. And why?” This part of his “Search” is exceedingly interesting and instructive, and leads one to desire greatly to see a reprint of this most useful volume of controversy.” He ends this part by saying, “Wherefore, being cloyed now, . . . I resolved to give over for the present this kind of search about false or true dealing, being strongly impressed with that which already I had read and examined, to wit, that the spirit of true dealing remained not on the Protestant side, which did greatly shake also with me the credit of their whole cause, though yet I would not resolve wholly to leave them, until L had used some further diligence, which afterwards I shall declare more in par- ticular. Only, I must here say that among all other motives gathered out of the view of English Protestant writers, none moved me so much, aſter Mr. Jewell himself, as the considera- tion and examination of Mr. Sutcliffe's writings, in regard of their lightness and small care of exact truth in anything, as to me it seemed. And so I cast them from me, with some grief and disdain that I had lost so much time in perusing them.” He then brings his “Search” to an end by relating in three chapters a “journey which I was forced to make ; and first, how by that means I became acquainted with a certain old man that gave me much light in many things, with certain notes for the profitable reading of books of controversy ; and of the conferences I had with him about my doubts and difficulties. “And now being arrived hitherto in reading and examining of books there ſell out a certain forcible occasion of interrupting this course for a time by necessity of a large journey I was to make ; in which many things happened to me too long to be mentioned here ; and among other things, when I came to my * We believe that the edition which was published by Mr. Dolman in 1843, and ſorms vol. i. of “The English Catholic Library,” is out of print. Aather Francis Walsingham. 373 way’s end, I fell acquainted by means of friends with a certain old man of the Roman religion, who seemed to me upon further conference, not only to be learned, but also to have been in times past in the very same state and condition of perplexity and doubtfulness of mind, wherein I found myself now. And so much the more it gave me encouragement to deal freely and frankly with him. Whereupon after acquaint- ance made and Security given that nothing which I should say to him or he to me should be prejudicial unto either of us, or obnoxious to the laws, he seemed to take great compassion of my case, and required me to utter unto him plainly what state I was in, and what had passed with me hitherto. Hereupon I began (though somewhat reservedly) to tell him some par- ticulars; but afterwards, finding indeed he dealt really with me, I opened unto him largely the whole story as I have before narrated. . . . All which points I recounted unto him at large, with Sundry circumstances which I thought not necessary to put in writing. And further I told him the state of my very soul, how troubled I was in my judgment and reason about the matters which I had examined, and yet how fearful to make any change in religion, for many respects, which he might partly imagine. And finally I let him understand that I felt such a war between my under- standing, my will and affection, as I could not tell well what to do, but had resolved to go forward in reading more books both on the Protestant and Papist sides. “Here the old man interrupted me, saying that the word Papist was not a fit term to express their party in religion, and therefore not to be used in this conference, being a device only of such as first opposed themselves against the Pope, and thereby would make the word Papist odious; whereas it is indeed a most honourable thing for men to stand with their Head, and to have their denomination from him; and therefore (said he) if we shall talk and treat without offence one of the other, let us so proceed that as we grant to you and yours the new particular name of Protestant, which yourselves chose at the Diet of Augusta in Germany, not yet four-Score years agone, thereby to be distinguished from us, with whom you had been united before ; so let us remain with our old general name of Catholic, which our Church hath possessed time out of mind. . . . Whereunto I easily gave consent, both names being now well known, and I was not desirous to contend with the old man about names, but to have opinion in greater matters. . . . 374 Aadher Aºrancis Wa/singham. Wherefore, having given him satisfaction in this, I returned to my former narration. . . . Where and with whom I had been. . . . What read; in what perplexity I was, . . . that I could not tell what to think or say, much less what to do or resolve, . very loath to break off my search wholly, . . . yet more loath to make such a resolution of change in religion as many reasons seemed to induce me to do. . . I meant, therefore, to take a mean way between both, which was to suspend my judgment for some more time, and to continue my search and reading, &c. * “All which being heard by the old man, he smiling told me that he knew where the end would be, but yet seemed not wholly to dislike my determination to read and search further, though he told me it was a long way about, and subject to many stumbling-blocks, and not sufficiently secure or possible for all men ; notwithstanding, if I would do it profitably, and to the true quieting of my conscience, it was necessary to observe certain notes about the manner of my reading, which he had partly fallen upon in his younger years, when his case, perhaps, was not far unlike unto mine; but much more had observed them since that time, by longer use and experience. Whereoſ I accepted willingly, and desired him to let me know what they were, for that I was earnestly set upon the matter, my soul being in the state King David Speaketh of : Anima mea turbata est za/de. “And I apprehend,” said I, ‘that the very state of my Salvation doth depend much upon the event of this search.’” The old Catholic then proceeds to give seven notes or advices; the first being, to treat the matter as of the most vital importance, not to read curiously or captiously, but sincerely before God, making Him the Judge ; “observing at the end of his advices that for the present he did not mislike my purpose of reading more books, for it would serve at least as weak medicine that moveth humours, though it bring them not ſorth ; or as the Sun in March, that raiseth vapours, but dissolveth them not ; and so this my reading would serve to fill my head full of doubts at least, though not so soundly to resolve as would be needſul to the settling of my understanding and judgment, which he doubted not that God would supply after- wards by some other way. “When the old man had said all this I could not but thank him for his friendly and careful dealing with me; acknow- ledging that I had discovered some of these observations in Aather Aºrancis Walsingham. 375 my reading before, and very desirous I was to have understood more largely of that compendious and more certain way which he mentioned for resolving a man’s judgment; and albeit I guessed he meant the Universal Christian Church in every age, yet not to suffer myself to be overmuch pressed that way, I passed over the matter slightly for that present, telling him that I was desirous to go forward in reading of more books; and so we parted and went to bed. “But having thought better that night of the matter, and foreseeing, and partly, also, feeling that which he told me, that by much reading of books of different spirits and doctrine, I should but increase my own doubts and difficulties, I began to desire to be informed more particularly of that briefer way hinted at by him of resolving myself upon the authority of the Church. Which desire, when I had well thought of and imparted it to the old man, he said that he did ever think so, that I would fall upon that in the end, or else remain restless. For that it is more easy, quoth he, to gather doubts than to resolve them, as it is more easy to raise up dust than to lay it again. And, moreover, he said that this was indeed properly to seek to be a true Catholic, for that the principal difference between a Catholic and a heretic is this, that the one embraceth Żradžum ſton inventum, to use Old Tertullian’s words—that which is delivered unto him by authority and succession of the Church, and not invented of himself, as the heretic doth, who therefore is called a chooser, for that he followeth not that which is delivered, but preferreth his own choice, either in things devised by himself or by others. “And by this occasion he entered into another short discourse, but very substantial as to me it seemed, of the folly of the one and true wisdom of the other.” This he closed by counselling Father Walsingham to read more largely St. Augustine, especially concerning the sure means of relying upon Holy Church, particularly some sixteen or seventeen paragraphs set down in the first book and sixth chapter of a large collection out of St. Augustine's works, called Confessio Azagusłłmżazza. This he promised to do, and took his leave of the old Catholic for two or three days. Instead of returning in three or four days, as he had intended, Walsingham found he had so much to do both in digesting the old Catholic's discourses and in reading, that he was not prepared to talk with him again for eight or ten days. He gives at Some length the result of his reading of the Fathers, 376 Aather Francis Walsingham. and especially St. Augustine, perusing “greedily what the said Doctor writeth of the necessity of observing the Ten Com- mandments.” “And other such points of controversy I found so distinctly and perspicuously handled by St. Augustine . . . and so clearly in favour of the Roman religion at this day, that I began to imagine that the Roman writers could scarce set down matters more evidently for proof of their cause than these testimonies, &c., of St. Augustine do make for them ; whereby my admiration was yet more increased of my own former blindness, folly, and simplicity, that (notwithstanding my often reading over sundry ancient Fathers) did think for many years together Papistry to be a new device, and most of their opinions and oppositions never heard of in the old Christian Church. Wherefore, coming to talk again with the old man, I could not tell well what to say unto him, but only that I had read, as he willed me to do, and found much more than ever I had thought to find, so that now my appetite of reading more Protestant books of controversy was quite taken from me, seeing it was but breaking of a man's brains indeed. . . Wherefore I told him that now I was ready to follow his advice, and resolve myself upon the direction of the Church according to St. Augus- tine's counsel; praying him that, as he had been the persuader thereof unto me, so he would give some particular advertise- ments how I might proceed therein. To this he answered that he was glad of this my resolution, whereby, he did assure me, notwithstanding that I should not lose the freedom of my own judgment in subjecting it to the Church, but rather perfect the same; for that Catholics do allow as great a latitude unto their reason and discourse as Protestants can do, though for the conclusion they have far greater helps than the other to make it well, viz., the direction of the said Church,” &c. After a long address, the adviser concluded by saying that, as Wal- singham had gained the great point of all, to submit his judgment to Holy Church, he saw no cause why he should not be accounted a true Catholic. His inquirer asked if anything else were necessary to be done to make him a Catholic, but only to submit his judgment to the Church, to which the Catholic replied: “Not as regards faith; but, as to practice, divers other points were required.” Then came the last struggle and question, whether a man could be saved in both religions P “How say you to this, sir?” quoth I; “for, as on the one hand I would be loath to leave undone anything which is necessary to my everlasting salvation, so, on the other side, I would not Father Aºrancis Walsingham. 377 easily go further than absolutely is needful, nor make any change without precise necessity, for that you know what dependeth thereon for my whole estate of life, in this world at least.” The old man answered that for his temporal estate he could say little, but that he thought it both least and last to be considered, in respect of eternal life in the world to come, depending upon the right profession of true religion in this. He then goes on to prove to him how this cannot be done— that it is a desperate opinion, a refuge of a Careless conscience, if not devoid of all true faith; a refuge that divers Protestants fly unto, out of distrust of their own cause, or from sloth, and unwillingness to seek out the truth; it was a secret atheism and infidelity to believe it, &c. “After this he returned again to the point that another thing was necessary, no less important than the former ; which was, the conforming my life and actions according to the precepts of the Catholic faith, wherein he said that there was much more labour and length of time to be bestowed than in the other, &c. . . . Yet the Catholic Church,” said he, “with the assistance of God's holy grace, doth pre- scribe also to this matter so many sweet and effectual remedies, as with a little goodwill and industry all difficulties are easily overcome.’ Whereat, when he saw me somewhat moved, and desirous to know what these means were, he told me that this should be for another conference, counselling me in the mean space to commit the matter very seriously to God, as a business of the greatest importance that ever hitherto I took in hand, or ever should. And with this we ended our speech for that time.” Father Walsingham then gives the particulars of his third conference with the old Catholic—What was necessary to be done as to practice, being now settled upon the point of faith and submission to the Holy Catholic Church. His good old friend tells him that the way to arrive unto this was already set down by the Holy Ghost in these words: /Jeclina å malo, eff ſac bonum—“Decline from evil and do good.” The first comprehendeth all the means that God hath prescribed unto us to deliver us from sin, either already incurred, or for time to come to be avoided. The second contains the different ways of doing good and exercising ourselves in all kinds of Christian justice, piety, and other virtues. His instructions on this point ended in Walsingham's resolution to make his confession to the priest in the Sacrament of Penance; the repugnance of doing which he had virtually overcome by reading St. Augustine. To prepare him for this important 378 Father Francis Walsingham. duty the old Catholic recommends him to make a spiritual retreat of eight or ten days, which being a thing utterly new to the convert, his friend explains fully and admirably to him, and gives the necessary instructions how to make it. He then describes the retreat which he made under a certain father. At the commencement, he naturally felt it a great trial, such solitude and silence being completely new to him ; but soon afterwards he says, “I confess I found a new world, and felt so many inward consolations and most Sweet visitations from the Father of Mercies, as I neither needed, Inor desired more company, but thought myself most happy when I was most alone; and remembering often that saying of Scipio, recorded by Cicero, “Never less alone than when alone.” ” And methought I did both see and read more of myself, as also of Almighty God, than ever I had done before in all the books that I had pondered over.” After his retreat, and reception into the Church Catholic Consequent upon it, he returned to thank the good Old Catholic to whom he was so greatly beholden ; and concludes his interesting narrative with a short Summary of his doubts, &c., from his famous memorial to King James, as head of the Church, his comfortless conferences with my Lord of Canter- bury, and his doctors and others, and his perusal of Pro- testant and Catholic writers. “And this I speak here, good reader, as in the sight of Almighty God, and as in truth of conscience I have found, and no way out of passion and evil affection or worldly respects; in which each man will see how much I do prejudice myself by this new course taken ; but that both reason and religion, prudence and all true piety, doth require, that the everlasting Salvation of Our Souls should be preferred before all other human respects whatsoever, which is the true and sincere cause of this my resolution. And this I desire thee, good Christian reader, to believe, and assure thyself to be most true, as at the last day, when we shall all appear before the tribunal of our Saviour, and all hearts made known, will evidently appear. Christ Jesus make us partakers of His holy grace, and of the heavenly light of His only saving truth of the Catholic religion. Amen.” The following letter, preserved at Stonyhurst College,” appears to be the original draft of a letter from Father © sº * “Nunguam minus solus quam quum solus.” * Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, vol. vii. Aather Francis Wa/singham. 379 Walsingham to his relation, Mr. Humphrey Walsingham, citizen of London, accompanying a copy of his “Search.” This was the kinsman with whom, as we have already seen, he was placed when a child, by his kind patron, Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth. The title of “your worship,” which would have applied to an alderman and magistrate, rather Supports this presumption. “I may well persuade myself, right worshipful, that in presenting this my labour unto you in search of true religion, I shall do no pleasing thing unto you that are so settled, as I presume you to be ; and yet had I so many reasons and motives hereunto so as I could not well intermit the same. For to say nothing of particular kindnesses and favours received from your worship, the great obligation I have to the grateful memory of your right honourable uncle, Sir Francis Walsingham, late Secretary to her deceased Majesty, doth bind me thereunto, your worship now remaining as the Only stock and stem of that house and name, whereof that honourable knight and renowned councillor was a worthy head in his days, and vouchsafed also to admit both me and mine as his poor kinsman of the said name and house, binding me in particular, with many several and singular benefits, especially in mine education and study, for which effect he caused me to be brought in my very infancy almost from Berwick to London, there to lay more profitably than elsewhere, the very first foundation of the Latin tongue, and other studies which were to ensue, which by his untimely death were in great part Cut Off, and his further designed favour towards me utterly made void. “But yet his known goodwill and honourable intentions towards me must needs continue my gratefulness; which, he being departed, descendeth unto your worship, in all right and reason of duty, and as, if he had lived, I should above all other men, have desired to have given him satisfaction in this my fact (which I know would have been very hard), so now unto your worship, my desire is to give this satisfaction, at least that I have not rashly or inconsiderately made change in this mighty affair of religion, but upon much inquiry, search, and deliberation, and with the most mature ponderation of things that time and diligence could procure me, knowing well that it is a matter of infinite consequence and importance to my soul for her everlasting bliss or misery. 38o Aather Francis Walsingham. “Wherefore in this point I trust your worship, out of your known wisdom and equity, will not judge (especially if it please you to cast your eyes over this book) that I have attempted this of any passion or other disordinate humour, for so much as no interest of this life can be presumed to have moved me thereunto ; seeing that by making the resolu- tion which finally I found myself enforced to make, I well foresaw that I was to lose all interest which in this life the world could give me, and therefore your worship may well assure yourself that if the very fear of God and love of truth, and dread of eternal damnation, and most manifest arguments of reason and authority, had not, after long and laborious Search driven me thereunto, I had never made the same ; wherein, notwithstanding I must confess to have received so great abundance of comfort and contentment from the hands of His Divine Majesty as I could never have imagined the Same but by experience. And truly, sir, this pawn and pledge, or earnest penny of His heavenly sweetness is so necessary unto such a resolution, whereby country, commonwealth, parents, kindred, friends, and the dearest things in this life, are to be left or lost, that without the same you must imagine the said lack or losses were not to be endured but which that they are so sufficiently, or rather superabundantly recompensed, as they yield no grief or difficulty at all, which I shall pray unto Almighty God to impart also according to the sweet measure of His merciful providence, unto your worship and the rest of my good friends and patrons, as also to make you for the reasons and urgent motives set down here in this book, whereby it hath pleased Almighty God both 24 and effectually to draw me to the said reso- lution. His holy hand be blessed therefore, and assist me to the end; and preserve ever your worship, with your hopeful issue, in His holy protection and direction in the way of eternal salvation, which only is that which purporteth indeed in this transitory world to the attaining of happy eternity in the next.” He wrote his “Search” soon after becoming a Catholic. He now determined to embrace the ecclesiastical state, and to labour in the vineyard of the Lord for the sanctification of his own soul, and the good of his neighbour. For this end he quitted all his worldly connections, and desirous of being * Blank in original. Aºther Francis Walsingham. 381 more intimately penetrated with the truths of Catholicity, and of drinking them in at the fountain-head, he resolved to travel to Rome. Taking the opportunity of some proscribed priests going into banishment for their faith, he accompanied them as a voluntary exile; for going with this goodly company he passed over to Belgium, and hearing that Father Parsons was then Rector of the English College, he hastened on to Rome, eager to meet him, and was admitted as an alumnus of that celebrated Seminary in the year 1606. Here he entirely applied himself to the study of theology, and especially of controversy. And as he was most fervent in the Catholic faith, so in order to render himself the more fit to impart it to his fellow-countrymen, he applied to enter the Society, and was admitted as a novice in the year 1609, being then in his thirty-third year of age. He entered the English College, and also the Novitiate, under the assumed name of John Fennell. Having received all the minor orders, he was ordained priest in Rome, 12th April, 1608, and was sent to England in April, 1609. The following translation of the Latin declaration by Father Walsingham on entering the English College in I606, as an alumnus, is made from a copy of the Original Supplied by Dr. O'Callaghan, the Rector of the English College. “IHS. + MARIA. “Adm. Z.-I, Francis Walsingham, in the thirtieth year of my age ; born at Hawick in Northumberland, was educated by my parents in the liberal arts. In succeeding years I was tossed about by various conflicts and storms of fortune. I Served in the army by means of commendatory letters from the Hon. the Earl of Essex, under Sir Robert Sidney, kt., Governor of Flushing. Returning from thence I studied civil and Common law under two different professors; then for Some time I studied at All Soul's College, Oxon; then I was appointed by the Rector of the College, tutor to the young men and other Sodalists of the same College. I went thence to Middlesex, where also I was ordained deacon in the English Church. - “Adm. ZZ–My father, Edward Walsingham, was of Exhall in the county of . . . A man of birth, and died about thirty years since. My mother is yet alive, and in moderate cir- 382 Aather Francis Wa/singham. cumstances. She is a Catholic. I have other relations all. Protestants, and one schismatic. “Adm. Z/Z-As to my studies. I studied a little at Oxford, but reading divers heretical authors and becoming entangled thereby, and using them for the destruction of the truth, spending therein my ease and labour, I suffered loss. “Adm. ZV.—I am not aware that I labour under any disease, sickness, injuries, or infirmities, either mental Or Corporal (to the honour and glory of God be it said). “Adm. V.-For a long time I lived a heretic; at length by the divine compassion, when I was studiously labouring to pervert a schismatic who was earnestly defending the Catholic faith, I myself caught the Catholic faith, and discovered the falsity and depravity of heresy, by the perusal of a book which I received from him entitled ZXefensio Censura, and written by the Very Rev. Father Master Robert Parsons; and by the assistance and counsel of Master Edward Tempest, a praiseworthy priest in chains, and destined for martyrdom, I was received into the Communion of the Saints in the Catholic Church of God, suffering neither chains nor impri- SOnment. “Adm. V/.-I also longed for the ecclesiastical state, and now at length the true way of entering upon it is presented to me. And I do freely embrace the observance of the discipline of this College, and by the favour of God and Superiors, I will not cease to observe it in all things, as long as I remain here. “FRANCIS WALSINGHAM, alias JoHN FENNELL.” Being afterwards sent by his Superiors into England, and there solemnly admitted to the degree of Spiritual Coadjutor, during the entire space of thirty-three years he cultivated that thorny portion of the vineyard with indefatigable zeal and abundant fruit, and distinguished himself by every virtue. As the famous book of the “Search” clearly proves, he was well read in the religious controversies of the times, and had many conferences with Protestant ministers, in which he dis- played great learning and talent. His mission generally lay amongst the poor, for it was his delight to instruct the ignorant and needy. Children also claimed his particular attention. These he sought out and patiently taught them the great truths of the Christian doctrine, accommodating his words and precepts to their tender capacities. Whilst catechising Aather Francis Walsingham. 383 them, however, he did not overlook their parents, and others of riper years, with whom he would hold familiar discourses upon pious subjects. These he would especially instruct in the manner of making the act of contrition; also in the con- stant practice of ejaculatory prayers. Meantime the good Father was not exempt from dangers, being often betrayed to the magistrates by informers, and so suddenly attacked by the pursuivants, that he was unable to escape their hands except by means that would appear almost miraculous. Once the satellites suddenly rushed into the house where he was living, in order to seize and carry him off to prison, and although they entered the very room itself where he was actually kneeling before an altar, offering himself as a victim to God, nevertheless they did not observe him : this event the Catholics attributed to a manifest miracle, and on that account held him to be a holy man, and dear to God. The reader will recollect the mention made by Father Michael Alford in his report of Occurrences in AEngland, 1640, in page 306, ante. Possessed of the sweetest manners and a dovelike simplicity, he was athirst for the glory of God, in prayer to Whom he was accustomed to spend all the time he could spare from the labours of the ministry. At length, worn out by toils, he went to receive the hire of the workman from the Master of the vineyard on the 1st of July, 1647, aged 71. Besides his great work, 7%e Search, Father Walsingham wrote another book, A’easons for embracing the Catholic faith, Iómo (London, 1615). Also he prepared a small manuscript treatise on mental prayer for the use of the English Benedictine Dames established in Pontoise, who were probably at the time under his spiritual direction. This manuscript appears to have been only for private use, and was never printed. It was bound up in a volume of manuscript meditations, prayers, Spiritual exercises, and pious instructions, many pages of which appear to be also in the handwriting of Father Walsingham. This precious volume is in the library of the Nuns of the Holy Sepulchre, New Hall Convent, and by the kindness of the Reverend Mother Prioress we are enabled to make this notice of it. It consists of thirty-two pages 8vo, and is entitled, “The Evangelique Pearl, or a Treatise of Mental Prayer, whereby it is made easy to all ages, sexes, and capacities.” The dedication, “To the Vener- able Lady Abbess of the English Benedictine Dames, established in Pontoise.” 384 Aather Francis Walsingham. “Right Reverend Madame and Religious Dames, LIt is usually a practice in case of presents to desire the person they are made unto not to look upon the gift, but the heart of the giver. But I, on the clean contrary, beseech you to judge of the heart of the giver by the price and usefulness of what he gives you, which I doubt not but when well examined, will prove he that sends it is unquestionably one of your humblest and most entirely devoted servants, - “WALSINGHAM, S.J.” The first heading or section is, “Of the necessity and excellency of Prayer.” “The never enough admired St. John Chrysostom, tells us that a “soul without prayer is like a town without walls, which lies as much exposed to the malice and stratagems of the devil, as such a town does to the Surprises and attempts of an enemy, who may enter when and as often as he pleases.’ ‘St. Bernard assures us that prayer is a sacrifice for God, music for angels, a banquet for the Saints, and a sanctuary for sinners.’ St. Bonaventure counsels thus, ‘Would you overcome any vice, give yourself to prayer ; would you learn to be humble, obedient, chaste, patient; would you become truly mortified, and learn not only to bear, but to love your cross, exercise yourself in prayer.’ To conclude, would you surmount all sorts of temptations, and triumph over the devil himself, it must be by virtue and constant practice of prayer,” &c. His second section is, “Of the advantages mental prayer hath over vocal.” After giving four reasons, he con- cludes by saying, “Daily experience shows us that for one only half-hour every day faithfully employed in the exercise of mental prayer, there is more profit made in spirit, than by five or six hours of vocal prayer, insomuch that those who give themselves in good earnest to this exercise, acquire in a very short time that which others hardly attain to in many years.” His next heading is, “That mental prayer is not so hard as it is imagined.” After giving three reasons, he says, “Lastly, because that to learn to meditate and pray mentally, there are but two things necessary, whereof women and children are as Capable as the greatest Doctors. . . . The first is to have a will to do it; the second is to begin by times. I say first they must have a will bent unto it, it being most sure that whosoever has no affection to this exercise, can never learn it, be he never so capable of other things. The reason of this is that the principal exercise of prayer consists more in the Father Francis Walsingham. 385 will than in the understanding, insomuch that the understand- ing is like the father unto prayer, whilst the will is its mother conceiving it, and giving it its form, the understanding only furnishing the matter. . . . The second thing necessary is to begin by times, casting off all slothfulness and delays, betaking yourself rather to the use and practice of it, than amusing oneself upon its rules and precepts. . . . Half an hour or an hour daily, according to health and circumstances, spent in meditation upon some easy and moving subject of the life, death, or Passion of our Blessed Lord, one month's faithful and hearty application to this exercise, will teach you better how to pray and converse with the Majesty of God with comfort and devotion, than ten years study, a dozen spiritual directors, and a library of books.” The next section is, “Divers methods of mental prayer.” For every method he proposes a pattern. “The first kind of prayer shall be that of our Blessed Lord in the Garden; this is made with some short aspiration of five or six words several times repeated, with a pause between each, to the end you may taste them the better, as our Lord thrice repeated “Father,” &c. “The second sort of prayer is that taught us by that blessed penitent St. Mary Magdalene, which is made by exterior signs when we want thoughts to discourse upon the mystery meditated on. For example, upon the Passion, we may take a crucifix or picture in Our hands, and kissing it on purpose to make so many acts of adoration to the majesty of Jesus Christ, as we shall salute that cross or picture, &c. This kind of prayer is that which St. Mary Magdalen used at our Lord’s feet, where with silence she kissed them, looked upon them, washed them with her tears, embraced them, and held them fast until she deserved to hear the divine words, “Go in peace,’ &c. The third shall be in imitation of St. Teresa, who used to meditate upon the words in saying her Pater, Ave, or the Creed. She declares this plan to be better than a hundred run over according to the usual mode. She prac- tised it for many years, and it was the foundation of her wonderful progress in the divine science of prayer and con- templation. The fourth manner is taught us by Granada, to take a book in hand and read all the points of our meditation, and then take two or three lines at a time, stopping awhile like a bee to suck the honey, making as many acts of adora- .tion, &c., as we find subjects for in our meditation. The fifth kind is like the poor peasant, who, travelling with St. Ignatius Z 386 Father Francis Walsingham. and his companions, and seeing those good fathers as soon as they arrived at an inn, betake themselves to prayer, knelt down with them, and finding himself unable to produce any good thoughts or to discourse with God, usually prayed thus, ‘Lord, I would say unto Thee, all that these Thy servants say, and I do ask of Thee all that they demand ; these are saints, and I am only a poor baggage horse, who knows neither how to speak unto, or what to ask of Thee.” If you be in the company of many in prayer it is good to unite your devotions with theirs, and to offer to God the prayers of others as more worthy than your own. The sixth is taught by the Royal Prophet, St. David, who calls upon all creatures one after another inviting them to praise God with him. For this sort of prayer the matter is almost infinite, since all creatures in the universe, with our Souls and bodies, powers and faculties, serve for subjects, &c. The seventſ, sort of prayer may be called the prayer of children, since to make it we use the letters of the alphabet, attributing to our Blessed Lord, to the Blessed Sacrament, or to our Blessed Lady, all the praises we can fit to the said letters—for example: A. O my God, Thou art most amiable, most admirable, &c. B. O my God, Thou art most beautiful, most bountiful, most blessed, &c. C. O my God, how charitable, how condescending Thou art. D. O my God, how dreadful, how divine, how desirable art Thou, and so on. When three or four letters furnish you with matter enough, rest there, and entertain yourself, &c. The eighth sort of prayer is that which is called effective prayer, consising in making Sundry acts of virtue, especially Seven. (I) Faith: I believe assuredly such a truth, because God hath revealed it to His Church. (2) Adoration: Lord I adore Thee, and acknowledge Thee to be infinitely wise, just, merciful, my sovereign good, &c. To these you may add kneeling, prostration, kissing the ground, &c. (3) Acts of Oblation: O my God, I offer and dedicate unto Thee, and to Thy honour and glory, my body, soul, life, liberty, time, and eternity, and the like; likewise the actions, sufferings, merits, &c., of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, the saints, &c. (4) Acts of thanksgiving for the mercies and benefits of God. (5) Acts of contrition for sins, together with a firm purpose of amendment from the bottom of your heart, a true sorrow for and a detestation of sin, because displeasing to God. (6) Acts of love and conformity to His holy will. (7) Acts of petition which may be made to God upon all subjects, which Father Francis Walsingham. 387 principally are the coming and increase of His kingdom, the exaltation of His glory, the remission of our sins, the grace of God,” &c. * -- In page 24 of this treatise he says, speaking of the best way of placing oneself in the presence of God, “The most ordinary act in the beginning, the middle, and end of our prayer is this act of faith, ‘O my God, I believe Thee to be here, and do confess that I am in Thy divine presence.’ Yet to you I will tell a secret that is singular to help yourself with, to keep yourself in the presence of God, which is the application of the five interior senses of your soul, thus: “Sight. Lord, methinks I see Thee, and that I am environed with the glory of Thy presence. “Aſearing. Lord, methinks I hear Thee speak freely to me : Thy servant is attentive. - “Taste. Lord, methinks I taste Thee, Who art sweetness Thyself. “Smell. Lord, methinks I smell Thy divine odours, sweeter than all the perfumes of the world. “Touch. Lord, methinks that I do not only touch, but that I embrace Thee, and hold Thee in my arms, Who art my beloved; nay, and I am resolved to hold Thee fast, till Thou givest me Thy benediction. “Above all, remember that there is nothing makes us so acceptable in the sight of God . . . as true humility; there- fore to reap profit from your meditation, present yourself before the Majesty of God in one of the following postures. (1) As a poor beggar or lazar, begging only the crumbs that fall from His table. (2) As a poor blind, deaf and dumb person. (3) As a little child that knows not its wants, nor how to ask,” &c. After giving various other admirable advices regarding distractions in prayer, and the common temptations of inter- mitting it on account of business and other excuses, Father Walsingham ends, “Behold here comprised in a few leaves all that I think fit to say to you concerning prayer. If you will endeavour to put it in practice I dare promise you that what to you now seems so harsh and difficult, will in a short time, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, become sweet and easy to you. St. Teresa tells us that the prayer and intercessions of the great St. Joseph are very efficacious to obtain us the gift and spirit of prayer. I do beseech him with my whole heart to obtain that precious favour of God for him that writ this Z 2 388 Father Francis Walsingham. treatise, and for all them that shall read and study it the grace and blessing to make their profit by it, and to become true lovers of prayer, and constant practisers thereof. Amen, sweet Jesus. * ... • Speak efficaciously. Labour diligently. Mortify your- self heartily. Suffer patiently. Pray devoutly. Resign your- self wholly. Seek God only, and rest peaceably.” From the same collection we have copied also the following beautiful letter, for which the reader will no doubt pardon liS- “A £ious letter from a Religious Monk to his Sister, being a Novice, and upon the Žoint of her £rofession. “Dear Sister-The approaching time of your solemn engagement has invited me to return you two or three words in thanksgiving for yours. I wish all the world were of your Opinion. Experience, then, would soon demonstrate how easy the yoke of Jesus is to those who seek His love; and again, how sweet His Spirit is to those that do not choke His inspira- tions with fond affections. 'Tis worth our consideration to ponder how bold men are in living, and how remiss in their Only concern to employ those moments which the Almighty has given them for an eternity. How dismayed and dashed, alas ! will these poor creatures be, when their glass is out, and time shall be no more | What horror and dread will attend them at the sight of an inconceivable and an inevitable eternity. Cast but an eye into the world, where people live like atheists and die like brutes, and see if this be a just pro- ceeding for those that have immortal souls. “Dear sister, you have taken the right way and chosen the better part. You have chosen a Spouse which will never leave you, unless you leave Him first. His company is always easy, always pleasing, never cloying, always satisfying, but never filling. You are like a bird in the air, at full liberty to soar on high to contemplate your Maker's greatness, neither clogged nor loaded with worldly concerns. All that remains for you is to make your offering, like the poor woman in the Gospel; give Him, with her, your two small mites, your body, and your Soul. Fling them into His hands, with the solemn promise you are going to give Him, and that for ever; never offering to take them from Him for any fond or vain affection. If a thousand years in God's sight are but as yesterday, judge what Father Francis W.alsingham. 389 a reward will attend, perhaps many, spent with an inviolable fidelity in His service. Difficulties are to be found in all states of mortality, and Crowns are only given to such as overcome. “Dear sister, preserve the stole of innocency I saw you in, unspotted; keep your veil, which I hope by this you have received, undefiled, to make a present of to your celestial Spouse, and remember in your prayers, “YOUR LOVING BROTHER.” 3FQutti) 32tízg. PART I. COLLEGE OF THE HOLY APOSTLES; OR, THE SUFFOLK DISTRICT, S.J. I. THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, OR THE SUFFOLK DISTRICT. THIS was one of the early Colleges, or quasi Colleges, erected by Father Richard Blount, the first Provincial. It was founded about the year 1633. The following places, amongst many others, of which no record remains, were served or visited by the Fathers of this College, which embraced the counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridge, and generally passed by the name of “Mrs. Suffolk.” Acton (Sudbury) Lynn - Beck Hall - Melford (Long) Bodney Norwich Bromley Hall Oswell Bury St. Edmunds Oxburgh Hall Cambridge Parham Coldsea Wood Redlingfield Hall (Suffolk) Coldham Hall Sawston (Cambridge) Cossey Hall Saxis (Sudbury) Crandon Park - Swaffham (Norfolk) Flixton Thelton Gifford Hall Thetford Great Warningfield Thorndon Hall Hengrave Hall Walthamstow Hawley Park Wealside Hithelen Writtle Park (Chelmsford) Ingateston Hall” Wisbeach Castle Ipswich Witham Relvedon Yarmouth Lavenham or Lanham Yaxley Hall. The average number of fathers in this district, from 1633 until 1677, to which date the present history extends, was about sixteen each year: and, as far as can be gathered from * This was one of the family seats of the Lords Petre. The word is said to be derived from the Saxon Ing. atte Stone, or the Meadow ad lapidem, i.e. at the Stone; and in some old records it is called Ging or Yng ad petram (vide Gortoni Topogr. Dict.). 394. College of the Holy Apostles. the scanty information in those trying times, the number of Protestants reconciled to the Catholic Church, was about thirty-five or forty per annum. The principal benefactor, or rather the founder of this College, was Robert, third Lord Petre. The following are copies of letters from Father Richard Blount, Provincial, and Lord Petre, to the Very Reverend Father General Vitelleschi, regarding the foundation. Father Blount's letter is partly in cipher, deciphered.” The originals may be seen in Stonyhurst * The writing in cipher was a necessary art in the days of persecution, and was also much used for State purposes. The State Papers in the P.R.O., London, abound in intercepted letters and others in cipher. The deciphering must have been a more difficult art. The loss of a key to a cipher was fatal. In an intercepted letter of Father Henry Garnet the martyr, written from the Tower of London to a friend, in orange juice, 21st of April, 1606 (P.R.O., Gunpowder Plot Book), he speaks of divers crosses with which it had pleased God to afflict him (among others), “The ransacking anew of Erith and the other house. And now, last of all, the apprehension of Richard and Robert with a cipher, I know not of who's, laid to my charge ; and that which was a singular oversight, a letter written in cipher, together with the cipher, which letter may bring many into question.” The following is a cipher alphabet, &c., taken from State Papers, P.R.O., Domestic, Ælizabeth, vol. cclxxxiii A. (16O2) n. 75. The first line of the alphabet, consisting of cipher hieroglyphics, is not given here. a b c d e f g h i k 1 m n o p q r s t u w x y z p 9 4 + 2 & 3 8 ; ; io 2 is is 2, 4, 33 is a ji is 20 in 29 m f g 1 o k v x q f w y s r h d a c e z b n p x . A and all am are as Be by but best Call can come p W X 3 a 6 t d t f g h i Dare deal did doe |End else Far fear first fast for from . k l IIl Il O Q. S t ll W X. y God good Have hold haste I in if kill king Last least Z Cl IO I 2 I3 14 I5 16 17 18 I9 2O list leave live lost lust Man me men most must my 2 I 22 23 24, 25 26 27 28 29 3O 3 I No none may nor near Of one once or our old Proud 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Queen Rest read Save spill search sin To try trust truth 45 46 47 48 49 5o 5 I 52 53 54 55 Vice Was waste well which when where why what who - will 57 58 59 6o 6I 63 64 65 66 67 68 with You your 69 7o 71 To know in which cipher you write. If you write according to the first, then note C. If the second, then note P. If the cipher you sent to me, then note (the first). If in that which I send to you, then note the second. College of the Holy Apostles. 3 MSS., Ang/, vol. iv. nn. 95, 98. Lord Petre signs “Cepha- lini,” an assumed name doubtless referring to “Cephas”— “Petra’—a rock or stone. I 2 3 4. 5 6 7 8 9 Io 20 30 40 bis: IO3: & ho: cra; fig: le : na; Pe; lu : kos: tag: ab : try : 50 60 7O IO,OOO IOO,OOO I, OOO,OOO \ tw: tn: ma; lan: bu : bran: England 90: Friezland 24: Hampshire IO: Scotland 4O: Gelderland I4: Dorsetshire O I : France 64: Brittany 8I: Devonshire 2 I : Ireland 52: Brest 97: Cornwall 3I: Spain 33: Paris I2 : Wales 34: Denmark 72: Lyons 18: Milford Haven 94: Portugal 8o: Orleans I6: Essex 96: East Indies 50: Rome P Rouen II: Norfolk 95: West Indies 66: Laon O3: Suffolk 92: Italy 55: Rhemes O6: Isle of Wight 98: Florence O4: Antwerp 53: Portsmouth 99: Naples 93: Ghent 25: Berwick 41: Milan 26: I3russels O3: Rye 43: Savoy' 3O: Bruges O9: Dover 45: Germany I9: Flushing . 71: Sandwich 47: Venice 22: Middelburg 79: Yarmouth 46: The Low Countries— Ostend 75: Portland 48: Tlanders 17: Dunkirk O2 : Weymouth 58: Brabant 29: Brill 86: London 74: Holland 38: Rent 86: Bristol 78: Zealand 49: Sussex 36: York 79: The Pope - II2 : Owen 137: Emperor II6: Charles Paget I38: Išing of Spain II9: Fitzherbert I4O : Queen of England I2O : Thomas Throckmorton 143: Ring of Navarre I25: Sr Throckmorton I4I : King of Scots 122; Sherer I42 : King of Denmark I2I : Stirr I44: Duke of Ernest I26: Jaques I45: Duke of Savoy I28: Earl of Essex I47: Duke de Mayne I27: Earl of Arundell I46: Duke de Guise I29: Earl of Derby I47: The Count Charles I32 : Earl of Shrewsbury I48: The Count Foyntes I30: The Lord Treasurer I49: Verduge I33: The Lord Buckhurst 15o: The Count Morris I31 : The Earl of Worcester 152: The Estates I35: The Earl of Huntingdon 151 : Cardinal Allen I34: The Earl of Hertford I53: Father Parsons I36: Arabella I55: Father Holt I 39: 396 Co//ege o/ //ae Ho/y Apost/es. “ Adm? Rde in Chrto Pater noster,— “ Pax Chrij “Illyus Dnùs Baro Cephalini (sic enim vocari cupit hospes P. Ęji, £, £, ij) zelo fidei ac Religionis Catholicæ propagandæ accensus cùm liberis suis omnibus jam providerit, excepto natu minimo, pietatis in patriam suam monumentum quoq? aliquot relinquere post se optat. • “ Collegium itaq. Societati nostræ fundare in animo habet, cui dotando præter reditum annuum perpetuum quasi mille scutorum, summam capitalem sexdecim millium scutorum in parata pecunia seposuit : quæ si ad nummum duntaxat deci- mum quintum exponatur, ad alendas vigenti quinque personas omnino sufficiet. Quod si Divinæ Bonitati vitam ipsi ad aliquot annos prorogare visum fuerit, paratis quæ filio natu minimo sufficiant, dotem etiam Collegii aucturum se sperat. Dignabitur P. V. hanc optimi sanè viri et Societatis nostræ studiosissimi piam voluntatem gratam habere, et Collegium sic dotandum ad majus Dei obsequium et animarum auxilium admittere ; quod ipse §¤¤¤¤¤ (hoc præcipuum illius Comitatus oppidum est et nostris ministeriis percommodum) sub nuncupatione SanctOrum Apostolorum collocandum censet. Quiod eo etiam nomine libentiùs concessurum spero P** vam, quia, idem Illusmus Dnüs ab obitu parentis per complures jam annos insignis Benefactor extitit, donatis Societati in singulos annos mille scutis ; quam eleemosynam hodieq. dat, et ad obitum usq. daturus est. “Et quidem est ę Collegium, quod ab ejus majoribus fundatum, ob conditiones quasdem in ejus traditione pactas, sed jam manifesto ruptas, secundum jura ad ipsum devolutum censetur, cujus possessionem haud dubio jam adiisset, si per temporum iniquitatem jus suum prosequi licuisset. Itaq. lite pendente, sed non abjudicata, Collegium illud si quando à posteris recuperabitur, Societati nostræ per codicillum donan- dum Ordinabit. Quæ sanè res eximiam ejus in nos benevo- lentiam satis ostendit. “Cæterùm ubi perlatum fuerit responsum P. V. si Collegium admittendum videbitur, pecunia supradicta, cum reditu annuo, mihi statim legitimè consignabitur ; simul verò, si placet P. V. mittatur diploma, quo hujusmodi Collegium à se ritè admissum testetur. Cujusmodi diploma missurum etiam se promisit D. Carolo Shirbundo, quod tamen hactenùs non accepi. Quod College of the Aſſo/y Apostles. 397 reliquum est, sanctis me P. V. S. S. et orationibus humillime commendo. Londini, 27 Aug. I632. “Adm. R. P. V. “Indignus in Xto filius et servus, “RICARDUS BLONDUs.” [translation.] & C Very Rev. Father in Christ,- “Pax Chti. “The noble Lord, the Baron Cephalini (for thus the host of Father Henry More, the Lord Petre, wishes to be called), inflamed with zeal for the Faith, and the propagation of the Catholic religion, since he has now made provision for all his children, except his youngest, wishes to leave behind him also some monument of piety for his own Country. “He therefore contemplates founding a College of our Society, for which, besides endowing it with a perpetual annual income of one thousand scudi, he has laid aside a capital sum of sixteen thousand scudi in ready money [A4,oool, which if he lays aside only fifteen thousand, suffices for the support of at least twenty-five persons. But should it please the divine goodness to prolong his life for some years, having by that time sufficiently provided for his youngest son, he hopes to increase also the gift to the College. Will your Paternity Condescend graciously to accept this pious wish of a man So truly good and most solicitous for our Society, and to approve of the College thus endowed to the greater service of God and help of Souls; which he himself thinks of placing in the town of Chelmsford (the capital of his own county, and most convenient for our ministrations) under dedication to the Holy Apostles P And I also hope your Paternity will the more readily grant it on this account, because the same noble lord, from the death of his father, now for many years, has been a singular benefactor, giving yearly to the Society a thousand Scudi ; which alms he gives to this day, and will do so until his death. “And indeed there is a College at Oxford, which, founded by his ancestors, on account of the manifest breach of certain terms agreed upon at its delivery, he considers according to right to have reverted again to himself; the possession of which he would without doubt now enter upon, if the iniquity of the times allowed him to prosecute his right. Therefore Zife Aendențe, Séd non adjudicata, should this College be 398 College of the Holy Apostles. recovered by his posterity, he intends to give it by a codicil to his will to the Society. Which circumstance abundantly shows his extraordinary benevolence towards us.” “As to the rest, when your Paternity’s answer shall have been received, that it seems good to you to admit the College, the above-mentioned sum and annual income will be at once legally made over to me. But at the same time, if it please your Paternity, let a diploma be sent duly approving and authorising a College of this kind. “A diploma of this kind he also promised should be sent by Mr. Charles Sherbourne, which, however, I have not as yet received. { “It only remains for me most humbly to commend myself to your Paternity’s holy SS. and prayers. “Your Very Rev. Paternity’s “ Unworthy son and servant in Christ, “RICHARD BLOUNT. “Reverendissime Pater, “Inspecto Diplomate quod nuper ad me destinandum censuit Rºma Paº Vă incessi, ut par erat, laetitiã; et felicem me apud animum meum praedicavi, et praedicabo semper, qui Rº" Pº Vº sortitus sum interpretem tam benignum desiderii, et tenuium certè Conatuum meorum Catholicae Reli- 'gionis amplificandae in afflicta, quam incolo, patria : magnisq. beneficentiae vinculis obstrictum me profiteor erga Rºn Ptem Vin, quae exigua mea merita praemio tam amplo est remunerata. “Haec pia. Rºe Piº Vº liberalitas novis me erga hoc ipsum opus, et Societatem vestram universam animavit affectibus; quos, si vita Comes fuerit, novis etiam Conatibus testatos et obsignatos relinquere adlaborabo. “Hunctantum ambio honorem apud Riº Pºm Vºn uti credat animum mihi esse plenum zelo, et desiderio serviendi Rº Pº Vº et universae Soci. Cui omnipotens Bonitas Rºn Pºem Vº ad multos annos servet precor incolumem. Utd. mei in Sanctis SS. et precibus memor aliquando sit humillime et * This College must have been “Wadham College.” Dodd, Church Hist, vol. iii. p. 278, speaking of William Petre says (quoting from Athen. Oxon.) “second son of William Lord Petre, had his education for awhile in the University of Oxford, being gentleman commoner of Wadham College, which ſoundation was completed by his great aunt, Dame Dorothy Wadham.” Fażher 7% omas AEverard. 399 enixè obtestor ; qui in hoc nomine unice glorior quod Sim et esse ex animo opto (infirmus licet et indignus). Rºº Piš Vº “In Christo omnium Domino Servus, “GUIDO CEPHALINI. “Londini, 3 Aprilis, 1635.” [TRANSLATION.] “Most Rev. Father, “I have inspected the diploma which your Paternity has been pleased lately to assign me. I was beside myself for joy, as it was fitting I should be ; and I pronounce myself happy, and shall always do so, that it has fallen to my lot to find in your Paternity so kind an interpreter of my desires, and truly poor endeavours, for extending the Catholic religion in my afflicted country; and I acknowledge myself bound to your Paternity by the strictest obligations for having been pleased to repay my poor merits by so ample a reward. “Your Paternity’s pious liberality animates me to renewed affections for this work, and towards your whole Society, in whose regard I will endeavour, if I live, to leave proofs and marks of my esteem by fresh efforts. “I seek this only honour of your Paternity, that you will believe me full of zeal and desire of serving your Paternity, and the whole Society; to which I pray God always to preserve your Paternity safe for many years to come. “I humbly and earnestly beg sometimes a memento in your Holy Sacrifices and prayers, &c. “Your Paternity's most sincere (though poor and unworthy) servant of all in Christ the Lord. “GUIDO CEPHALINI. “London, April 3, 1635.” The following fathers of the English Province, who served in this College, deserve special notice. FATHER THOMAS EVERARD. Father Thomas Everard, alias Everett, was born at Linstead, in the County of Suffolk, 8th February, 1560, so he himself tells us in his examination at Dover Castle, upon his arrest on landing there in 1623, of which a copy will be given presently. His father, Henry Everard, was a man of rank, and a prisoner in England for his faith in 1593. His mother was Catharine Gawdyr. He made his early studies at home for about six 4OO College of the Hoſy Affost/es. years and a half. Lest he should be led astray in the slippery time of youth, it pleased God that he should become acquainted with Father John Gerard, under whom, with some other youths of distinction, he made the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in London. In consequence, he remained deeply imbued with a constant love and study of piety. Finding that he could not securely follow out the vocation he was conscious of having received, on account of the severity of the persecution against Catholics in England, he crossed over to the English College, Rheims, where he studied moral and controversy for eight months, and afterwards rhetoric at Courtrai for eleven months. He received minor orders on the 22nd of February, 1592 ; was ordained subdeacon on the 14th of March, by the Cardinal Bishop Placentius, Apostolic Legate in France; deacon on the 22nd of May, by the Bishop of Lyons; and priest on the 18th of September, 1592, by the Bishop of Artois. He was admitted to the Society by Father Oliver Manaraeus, the Provincial of Belgium; went to the Novitiate at Tournay on the 3rd of June, I 593, and began his novitiate the next day. On the 25th July, I 594, he was allowed to make his private vows of devotion. On the 17th of June, 1595, after taking his simple vows, he was sent ad Collegium. /nsu/ense. * Such a constant piety and yearning after heavenly things, joined to the utmost meekness towards all, shone forth in him, that his whole countenance, and his very gait, seemed to breathe forth sanctity. A certain Candour and agreeableness in dealing with his neigh- bour, both rendered him a general favourite, and wonderfully attracted his auditors, and made them compliant to his admo- nitions. He was afterwards seized with a slow fever, to which it was feared he would have succumbed ; but by the goodness of God he was spared for the salvation of many souls, and for a series of years filled the offices of Minister at St. Omer's College and at Watten, and was subsequently appointed Socius to the Father Master of Novices at Louvain. He took his last vows as a spiritual coadjutor in the year 1604. But, burning with an intense desire for the labours and sufferings of the English mission, he was allowed, although advanced in years, to Cross over thither, and exercise his apostolical functions in the county of Norfolk. This was about the year 1617. He assiduously made a circuit of the district, attending the houses of the Catholics, and always travelling on foot; nor could he ever be induced, although old and sickly, to make use of a horse. * Diary of Tournay Novitiate. Aather 7%0mas Ezerard. 4OI How abundant was the fruit he gathered into the garner of . the Lord, and how large a number, torn from the faith by heresy, he reconciled to the Church, clearly appeared by the rage of the magistrates, who caused all the roads to be narrowly watched, and used every effort to arrest him. In 1618, about a year only after his arrival, he was betrayed by wicked apos- tates, and seized in a hiding-place at a house in the county of Suffolk, which entailed heavy damages upon his host in conse- quence. He was committed to prison, and there detained two years in a painful and close confinement. Although he does not mention it in his examination, he must have crossed over to the English mission for a short time about 1603, when we find from Father John Gerard's narrative,” he fell into trouble. We cannot omit the interesting passage. Father Gerard, who, with the certain risk of death, if he should be taken, remained on in England after his remarkable escape from the Tower of London in 1597, was falsely suspected of a knowledge of the Gunpowder Plot, and was searched for, high and low. “I took,” says he, “the greatest precaution to remain hidden ; and I lay at a place in London known to no one. So, by the protection of God, I continued safe; and if it had seemed good, I could have remained so still longer. I did not, therefore, leave England to avoid being taken ; but as, in that great disturbance, it was no time for labouring, but rather for keeping quiet, I took a favourable opportunity that presented itself of passing over into these parts [on the Continent] and reposing a little, and after so long a period of distracting work in all kinds of company, that I might take breath, and recover strength for future labours. Why, even at that very time, when I was keeping so close, and when nearly all my friends were either in prison or so upset that they could scarcely help themselves, much less me, though I had lost the house I had in London, through the fault of one who disclosed it, as I have said, and though strict watch was kept everywhere, and danger beset me on all sides; yet before I had settled to leave England, I managed to hire another house in London, very fit for my purpose, perhaps more so than the former. I managed also, to furnish it with every- thing necessary, and made some good hiding-places in it; and there I remained in safety the whole of Lent, before my depar- ture. Besides this house, I also hired another, larger and finer than this, which I intended should be in common between Father Anthony Hoskins and myself. This house, after my * See Father Morris' Condition of Catholics, clºxx. AA 4O2 College of the Holy Apostles. departure, was used by the Superior of the mission for a con- siderable time, - “The first of these last-mentioned houses I brought into some little danger about the end of Lent, in order to rescue one of our fathers from imminent danger. The thing happened in this wise. The good Father, by name Thomas Everett, had gone to a gentleman's house in London, where there were some false brethren, or else some talkative ones; for the fact reached the ears of the Council. And as he is something of my height, and has black hair, Cecil thought it was I of whom, notice was given him, and said to a private friend of his, ‘Now we shall have him,' naming me. However, he had neither the one nor the other. For I, learning that the Father had gone to this place, where he could not possibly remain hidden, asked my friend, in whose house I had myself been concealed before I had procured and furnished my new abode, to fetch him, and keep him close in his house for a time, which he did. Here he remained, whilst the house he had just left was undergoing a strict search. Now it so happened that, after a few days, a search was also made in the very place to which he had been brought, on account of Some books of Father Garnet's which had been seen, and which this gentleman used to keep for him. After rifling the place well, and finding no one (for Father Everett had betaken himself to a hiding-place), they carried off the master and mistress of the house, and threw them into prison. Now when I heard this, and knew that there was no Catholic left in the house, fearing lest the Father should either perish with hunger or come forth to be taken, I sent persons from my own house, to whom I described the position of his hiding-place. They went thither, and called to him, and knocked at the place, for him to open it; he, however, would neither open nor answer, though they said that I had sent them. for him. For, as he did not know their voices, he was afraid that this was a trick of the searchers, who sometimes pretend to depart, and then, after a time, to return, and assuming a friendly tone, go about the rooms, asking any who are hidden to come out, for that the searchers are all gone. The good Father suspected that this was the case now, and therefore made no answer. My messengers remained a long time, trying to reassure him, and at last were obliged to return; but so late, that they fell into the hands of the watch. They were detained in custody that night, and got off with some difficulty the next day. One of them, however, was recognized as having formerly Father Thomas E zerard. 4.O3 4 lived with a Catholic, and was therefore believed to be a Catholic himself; and, as it was now known that he lived in the house that I had hired, this brought that house into sus- picion, though it had been ostensibly hired by a schismatic, who was under no suspicion at all. The consequence was that some four days later the chief magistrate of London, who is called the Mayor, came with a posse of constables to search the house. In the meantime, hearing that Father Thomas would not answer, and knowing well that he was there, to prevent his perishing from starvation, I sent the next night another party, with the man who had made the hiding-place, and knew how to open it. The place was thus opened, and the good Father rescued from his perilous position. They brought him to my house, and there he remained ; I myself however, before he arrived, had gone to a friend's house, a very secure place, for the purpose of staying there a little, as I had some fears that the apprehension of my servants a day or two back might bring the searchers to my house. My fears were well founded; for on Holy Thursday, while Father Everett was saying Mass, and had just finished the offertory, there was a great tumult and noise at the garden gate; and the Mayor used such violence, and made such quick work of it, as to have entered the garden and the house, and to be now actually mounting the stairs, just as the Father, all vested as he was, and with all the altar furniture bundled up, had entered his hiding-place. So near a matter was it that the Mayor and his company Smelt the smoke of the extinguished candles, so that they made Sure a priest had been there, and were the more eager in their search. But of the three hiding-places in the house, they did not find one. So they departed, taking with them those men whom they found in the house, and who acknowledged themselves to be Catholics, and the schismatic also, who passed for the householder. After this, having again released Father Everett from his hiding-hole, and advised him to leave London, I determined not to use that house again for some time.” From the following copies of papers in the Public Record Office, London, we gather that Father Everard was banished the kingdom in 162o. - In the State Papers, ZXomestic, James Z., 1620, vol. CXX. n. 4, is a paper endorsed, “February, 1620. A certificate from the officers of the Port of Dover of such priests as were trans- ported beyond seas by virtue of a warrant from the Lords.” AA 2 4O4. College of the Hoſy Affostles. “Dover. Whereas William Waterton and Henry Smith, messengers, brought to the town and port of Dover by virtue of a warrant from the Lords of his Majesty's Privy Council, dated the 29th of February, 1620, certain Jesuits and priests amongst other persons that had taken orders in the Romish Church, these, whose names are hereunder written, to be exiled and banished his Majesty's dominions. Amongst others John Curry, Zhomas Everard, John Grose, &c., all prisoners from the new prison. . . These were all sent and put aboard of a barque of Dover, called the Swan of Dover—John Danyel, master—for Calais, on Friday, the 2nd day of March, about two o'clock in the morning. In witness, - “JASPER FowlFR, Searcher. “WILLIAM Jon Es, Clerk of the Passage. “JOHN BANGOR, Mayor.” Father Everard was afterwards stopped on his landing at Dover, in endeavouring to return from this banishment. He gave the assumed name of Harrison, and was disguised as a soldier. Nothing can afford greater evidence of the burning zeal for the conversion of their fellow-countrymen in the missionary priests, both secular and regular, than their constant attempts, generally successful, to return from their banishment, in the face of the Acts of Parliament which inflicted death as for high treason, in such cases. Father Everard appears to have been released on bail in the follow- ing October, after a confinement in Dover Castle of three months. His speedy release was no doubt occasioned by the treaties of marriage then going on at Court. Dom. James Z. 1623, vol. cxlviii. n. 57, 57 i. 57 ii. Endorsed—“July 7th, 1623, Lord Zouch, concerning one Everard, Jesuit, stayed at Dover.” Address—“For his Majesty's special service.” “To the Right Honourable Sir Edw. Conway,” &c. &c. “At the Court at Windsor, be these given.—ZOUCH. Haste, haste, post haste. 4 “Monday, 7th July, at three of the clock in the afternoon. “Noble Sir, I am bold to use another man's hand, by reason I am not able to write myself. These inclosed came to my hand this forenoon, and I am desirous to have your account of them before I go to Dover, which will be (if God please) to-morrow thitherward : if his Majesty be pleased to Aather 7%0mas Everard. 4O5 have this party stayed, you had need write quickly, for I have already given orders that all of that nature shall be presently bound over as your former letter appointed, so as I doubt it will be too late. If it please you to command me anything else to Dover, I attend your commands; if not, I pray God have you in his keeping, and I will ever rest, “Yours faithfully to do you service, “E. Zouch. “Barbican, 7th July, 1623.” N. 57 i. Endorsed—“Mayor, &c., of Dover, to Lord Zouch, con- cerning one Everard, a Jesuit, stayed there.” “To the Right Honourable and our very good lord, the Lord Zouch, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Privy Coun- cillor, &c. “Right Hon., Our humble duty remembered unto your hon. good lordship. It may please your honour to vouchsafe to be advertized that this present afternoon was brought before us Thomas Everard, a Jesuit of continuance thirty years as himself confesseth, for which he heretofore of late was im- prisoned here in England, and banished out of the same about the 2nd of May, 162o. The said Thomas Everard landed here out of a ship of Calais, about two of the clock this morning, and by the diligent care of William Jones, clerk of the passage, was apprehended. At which time he named himself Thomas Harrison, and said he was a soldier, and had his Sword and pass under the hand of Sir Edward Parham, thereby hoping to have had here quiet entrance into this kingdom. We have taken his examination and send the same, together with his said pass unto your lordship, and detain him as a prisoner here until it shall please your honour to command us otherwise to dispose of him. And thus in all humble and dutiful manner we commend your lordship to God's protection, &c. “Your honour's in all commandment, “HENRY STEED, Mayor. “Dover, this 6th of July, 1623.” N. 57 ii. 1623. - “The examination of Thomas Everard, of the age of three score and four years or thereabout. Taken in the Town Hall of the town and port of Dover, in the county of Kent, on the 4O6 College of the Holy Apostles. 6th day of July, &c., before Henry Steed, mayor of the Said town and port, Francis Willsford, and William Jones, clerk of the passage, commissioners for restraint of passage there.” “He sayeth he was born at Linsted, in the county of Suffolk, and was brought up in his youth at Cambridge, by the space of about one year and a half, and went over the seas, when he was about the age of thirty-one years, and studied first at Rheims, by the space of one year, and remained beyond the seas many years; and about thirty years hath been a Jesuit, and was in England about three years before his banishment out of this kingdom, and was in prison about two years of that time, and confesseth that about the 2nd of March, 1620, he, with about twenty-one other like Jesuits, priests, and others, were banished out of this kingdom, and brought to Dover in the custody of William Waterton and Henry Smith, messengers of his Majesty's chamber; and confesseth that sithence that time he hath lived at Gant, where he had his provision of diet allowed unto him. - “Being examined where he took shipping for this port, the last night, he sayeth at Calais, in a French ship, and that none of his acquaintance came over with him. And sayeth that the cause of his coming into England is for recovery of his health, having been sickly about two years. And sayeth he was partly sent by his Superior, named Mutius Vitelleschi, to execute his function, and that his abode to be here in England is without limitations. “Being examined why at his arrival he named himself Thomas Harrison, and that he was a soldier, and did wear a sword, and that he served under Sir Edward Parham, and had his pass for coming into England; he sayeth he so named himself and termed himself to be a soldier, and gained the Same pass, thereby hoping to have the more quietly entered at this port, and from hence to have passed to London, whither he did intend to have gone. “Being examined what money he hath brought over with him, he sayeth he hath about fourteen shillings.” Adm. James Z. I623, vol. cxlix. n. 19. Lord Zouch to Secretary Conway. “I have by this bearer (the foot post of Dover), sent you all those books, pictures, and other impertinences which were taken from the three Papists that landed here about the begin- ning of this month, having (as soon as I had knowledge of his Aather 7%0mas Ezerard, 4O7 Majesty's pleasure), set them at liberty, upon their own bonds of 24, Ioo a-piece, to appear before Mr. Secretary Calvert, at London, on the Ioth of this present July. Howsoever, the books and other things may be disposed of when you shall see them ; I think that such subjects deserve well to have the benefit of their own whip bestowed upon them. “I have also caused the Jesuit (that came over as a soldier), to be kept safe prisoner in this town, as his Majesty's command is, to whose royal pleasure I shall ever readily express in all things my humble dutiful obedience, - “ E. ZOUCH.” AMom. James Z. vol. cliii. n. 59. Endorsed, October, 1623.—“Lord Zouch, concerning a prisoner at Dover, for whose release his lordship had received a writ out of the King's Bench.” “To the Right Hon. Sir E. Conway, Secretary. “Noble Sir, Having performed what you in his Majesty's name hath commanded me, I have had no occasion to write unto you until this time, but now in respect I have received a writ out of the Crown Office concerning the delivery of one Everratt, a Jesuit prisoner here by his Majesty's commandment, for that he had been before set at liberty to be sent over at the suit of the late Spanish Ambassador, which writ commands the taking of his own bond for his personal appearance there at a day prefixed in the same, to which I dare not obey until such time as by you I shall understand his Majesty's pleasure to that end. I beseech you therefore be pleased to acquaint his Majesty herewith, and to let me receive his pleasure by you herein. “Dover Castle.” “E. ZOUCH. Father Everard's name appears in Gee's list of priests and Jesuits in and about London," that list dating about 1623–24. He is also named with five other Fathers in a Catalogue of the Province, marked P among the Jesuit papers found in the residence of the Fathers at Clerkenwell, on its seizure by the Government in 1627–28. It is intended to give an account of this stirring event in a history of the College of St. Ignatius, or the London district in our next vol. of this Series. This list would date about 1624. “In missione Suffolciensis, P. Thomas Everard.” * “Foot out of the Snare.” 408 College of the Holy Apostles. In 1629 he accompanied the Lady Falkland in the great pilgrimage to St. Winefride's Well, as appears by the following State Paper, Domestic, Charles I. 1629, vol. cli. n. 13." [Endorsed, “A note of Papists and priests assembled at St. Winefride's Well, on St. Winefride's day, 1629.”] “The Lord William Howard, the Lord of Shrewsbury,” &c. “The Lady Falkland, and with her Mr. Everard the priest, . . . with divers other knights, ladies, gentlemen, and gentlewomen of divers counties to the number of fourteen or fifteen hundred; and the general estimation about a hundred and fifty or more priests, the most of them well known what they were.” Father Everard became eventually, from weakness in his limbs and eyes, unable to get about or to read. He com- forted himself in his loneliness by incessantly reciting his rosary, and with other prayers both vocal and mental, especially the Psalter of Jesus, to the use of which he had been accustomed from boyhood. Being an especial hater of anything like ease or idleness he was accustomed to spend all the vacant time he could spare from his missionary work and his long imprisonments, in translating a number of Latin, French, and Spanish treatises on ascetical subjects; all these were printed at St. Omer's College printing press. The following is a list of his works—Fulvii Androtii Nudet. de Comm; et Passione Domini (St. Omer, 1606, 1614, 1618); Alberti Magni Paradisus animae, et ejusdem Tract. de adhae- rendo Deo (1606); Lucii Pinelli, Gerson, seu de Perfect. Religiosa (1618); Lucii Pinelli, Nudit. de Eucharistia (1622); B. F. Borgia, Speculum operum Christiani homini (1620); Tract. de modo bene vivendi (1620); P. Canisii, Manuale peccatorum (1622); Lud. de Ponte. Medit. Compend. (1623); Ignatii Balsami, Method. Medit. (1618, published under the name of John Heigham); Dialog, de Contritione et Attritione (four editions); Ribad. Pet, de Principe Christiano; Rob. Card. Bellarm., de aeter. felicit. sanct. (1638). At length worn out with labours, diseases, and sufferings, he died most piously in London, May 16, 1633. The summary of the deceased of the English Province for that year thus names him —“Father Thomas Everard, of Suffolk, aged seventy-three. A formed Spiritual Coadjutor. In religion forty years. He had filled the offices of Minister and Pro- curator in various Colleges. He had endured prisons, bonds, 7 A full copy of this interesting paper is intended to be given in the history of St. Winefride's Residence. Aather ZThomzo's A/272.É. 4O9 and exile, and laboured zealously for the cause of religion in England, where at length he piously died, May 16, 1633. He translated several books from the Latin into English for . the consolation of the Catholics.” FATHER THOMAS FLINT-According to the diary of the English College, Rome, Father Flint was a native of the diocese of Lichfield, born 1575. At the age of twenty, he was admitted an alumnus of the English College, Rome, February II, 1596; having remained there for nearly three months, tanguam peregrinus proſter absentiam illust. Card. Protectoris. He was ordained subdeacon, February 26th, deacon, March 25th, and priest at Easter, 16oo ; and was sent to the English mission, April 27, 16oo. He entered the Society in England, in 1621. He was apprehended soon after, but the date of his arrest does not appear. In 1606 he was sent into banishment for life with forty-seven other priests, including several Jesuits.” According to the Annual Letters of the Province for 1638–39, announcing his death, he was sent that year, though an old man, to fill up the vacancy in this College or district, caused by the death of Father Simeon Swinbourne, who died November 11, 1638, upwards of eighty years of age, leaving to his brethren a great example of piety and all religious virtues, and his memory was greatly venerated. Pather Flint, however, soon followed him, for he died a few weeks after, namely, December 28, 1638. Both of these Fathers had laboured and suffered in the missions in England for a great number of years, in the most difficult times; during which the activity of the persecution allowed them no rest nor safety anywhere, so that all their spare time was spent in con- cealment and solitude, where there was no human Society to disturb their pious communication with God. Father Flint (continue the Annual Letters) had suffered a long and rigorous imprisonment, in which the cold and his restrained posture had caused great pain in all his limbs, particularly in the lower extremities, of which he never recovered the free use. Indeed, his last, illness was no other than the loss of health caused by his incarceration. Two days before his death, being left a short time alone, he chanted in a feeble voice, some passage from the Psalms. It was nearly the last use of his voice, as he scarcely uttered a word after. He died sitting upright, with his eyes and hands raised towards heaven, * See Challoner's Missionary Priests, vol. ii. p. 14. 4io College of the Holy Apostles with an expression of great sweetness in his features; and the Corpse retained for some time this appearance. rºy The following is a translation of a letter from the Rector of the College of the Holy Apostles to the Vice-Provincial, Father Henry More, announcing the death of this saintly Father.9 “Rev. Father in Christ,- “P.C. “On the day of the holy protomartyr, and about four o'clock p.m., departed this life, fortified by all the sacra- ments of the Church, Father Thomas Flint. He had attained the age of sixty-three; in the Society, to which he was admitted as a novice in England, seventeen years; and was a professed Father. He was a man pious and humble, a lover of silence also and modest. He indeed abundantly proved his con- stancy in confessing the Faith. For on the death of King James, when about to administer the sacraments to a certain Catholic family in the diocese of Gloucester, being engaged in the meantime in saying his office in a kitchen garden of the house, a spiteful neighbouring woman, by chance observing him, introduced the constables, who suddenly apprehended the harmless man, and carried him off to Gloucester prison, contrary to all right and justice, especially as at that time there had been no confirmation or renewal by the new King of the power of officers of this kind. Here the Father's health was injured by the sufferings and solitude of a nine years' imprisonment. His piety indeed, and sincere probity, were so conspicuous, that he even met with admiration and bene- volence from the pseudo-Bishop of Gloucester, who frequently sent for him to converse with him, and dine at his episcopal table; and at length, for the sake of more readily obtaining his liberty, he got him removed to London, from whence, at the kind instance of the Queen-Mother of the King of France, he was sent into exile. He shortly returned, and afforded proof of confirmed virtue in divers parts of the Province, sealing it by his death. A malignant fever produced mortifi- cation in the bowels. In the meantime he breathed only piety, and spoke of religious matters. Those who attended him in his sickness bear testimony that no levity was observed in him, nor any sign indeed of impatience. The daughter of the noble- * Collectio Cardwelli, MSS. (S.J.) Ex Arch. Brussels, State Papers, vol. i. p. 227. Father Francis Sanéey. 4 II man with whom he lived, a lady of no common faith and virtue, whose room was not far from his, a very few days before his death, heard to issue from his room the sweetest voice singing canticles, she had ever heard in the whole course of her life. He was at the time quite alone and in such a state of weakness as to be almost speechless. I came to him about a quarter of an hour before his death, and he earnestly begged to be removed from his bed into a chair. His wish being Com- plied with, he asked me for something, but in so low a voice that I could not sufficiently catch his meaning. He then very distinctly said, Deceſſ mea professionis virum in indigentia mort —‘It becomes a man of my profession to die in want.” He spoke no more; placing his hands in an attitude of prayer, and with his eyes devoutly raised to heaven, he sweetly slept in Our Lord, retaining more the appearance of a living man than of one dead, compensating for the severity of the chains he had so meekly borne for Christ, by the eternal liberty of the sons of God. However, should he by chance be still detained from that bliss, I have myself said, and I have given the usual orders for the accustomed Masses and suffrages of the Society for the repose of his soul, and the same we humbly ask of your Reverence. - * “December 29, 1638.” FATHER FRANCIS SANKEY, a native of Lancashire, born in I604, entered the Society in 1628, and was solemnly professed of the four vows on September 7, 1641. He was Superior of the District, and wrote, in 1647–48, an interesting paper for the Annual Letters of the College of the Holy Apostles, which will be given when we come to them ; he probably took a personal share in the events he mentions, though recording them in the third person. He died in England in 1663. He was serving at Norwich from 1647 to 1655, and probably for a much longer period. He is the earliest missioner we can trace in that city by name. FATHER ANTHONY GREENWAY, alias TILNEY, appears from the records of the English College, Rome, to have been born in I579 or I580, and at the age of twenty-seven or twenty-eight was admitted an alumnus of that College, as a convictor. Having been ordained priest, October 4, 1608, he was sent to the English mission, 1612. He was a native of Bucks; entered the Society in 1611, was solemnly professed of the four vows in 4 I 2 College of the Holy Apostles. } I623, and died in the Residence of St. Michael, or the York- shire district. He is named in Gee's “list of priests and Jesuits in and about London,” circa 1623–4. It appears from a very interesting MS., of which we give a translation, that he was for eight years a student at Magdalen College, Oxford. This MS. bears no date, but may be placed about 1616 to 162o ; the seat of his labours in this district was Cambridge- shire, where he was arrested. After examination before the Protestant Bishop of London, who knew his father, he was committed by that prelate to Newgate, where the MS. leaves him. The summary of the deceased of the Province says: “Being converted to God from the vanity of the world, in which he had obtained a great name for learning and the belles lettres, he spent the rest of his life with great zeal and humility in religion. The narrative in Latin, which from its abrupt ending would rather seem to be a fragment, and is badly written, is in Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, vol. vii.” “Of the seizure and imprisonment of Father Anthony Greenway, an English Żriest of Żhe Society of jestés. “Anthony Greenway, being sent to bring forth fruit, bestowed his industry laboriously and sedulously in the place to which he had been appointed. For, both by example and by word, he instructed the people of the house with whom he dealt, and others who came there to see him. When news of his arrival got out among his relations and friends, among whom some there are who profess the Catholic faith, he was earnestly entreated by them to go to their houses. He, both to satisfy the claims of relationship, and to gratify the hope long enter- tained by his friends, and reap the fruit—no trifling one— which he had looked for, betook himself thither, with the design of not being away long from his own home, but of returning in the course of two or three days. Nay, after one or two days, he began to get ready to go back; but he was detained by the urgent entreaties of his friends till the third day, since his manner and conversation so greatly pleased them. During that time many came thither to visit him and speak with him upon divine things; yet not all with the same disposition of mind and courage to receive the Faith. All, however, were men of intelligence, and desirous to hear * The Editor is indebted to the Rev. Cyprian Splaine, S.J., for the translation. g Aather. Anthony Greenway. 4 I 3 the truth. With these he treated in leisure moments as chance offered; he expounded the Faith, solved difficulties that were proposed, and so discoursed, that all who had heard him considered themselves satisfied. Some, however, among them proposed far-fetched and unusual difficulties, lest they should be received into the bosom of the Church. Others admit honestly what is in fact the case, that through fear of danger they continue to endanger their souls. They are apprehensive lest, amid the tempests and storms of these times, they should be hurried to the confinement of a prison, and be spoiled of the use and enjoyment of their rights and possessions. All ask for more frequent and longer conferences with him. While things are going on in this manner the third day dawns. Anthony, at early morning, when Mass was over, turns his thoughts homewards; but Divine Providence, which disposes all things most sweetly and most holily, had already prepared another road for Anthony to return by. His relatives, Catholics, ignorant of this providence, obtain by their request and entreaty, that he should wait anyhow till dinner-time. The request being granted, behold, a bishop's pursuivant, or lictor, from London, taps at the door, produces a warrant, and shows it for them to read if they would. The warrant, indeed, was out of date, and therefore null and void; but this could not easily be observed by those who read it, or, if it could, under such circumstances and at such a moment, yet provision was made by decrees of the prelates that it should not avail such Catholics as these lictors accost and summon by the name of authority and power. For these pseudo-bishops are wont for their own profit (for they are said to receive some share of that of their lictors, or an annual revenue) to license their lictors for the space of a year in their warrants. If they exceed this time without renewing their powers, by means of a fresh warrant, they are punished. The Catholics, however, as matters stand, must obey the lictors, unless they would incur the charge of contempt of authority. Wherefore he proceeds to ask who, and whence, these persons are ; Anthony, together with his companion, a secular priest, a pious man, is made prisoner on suspicion, because they had a scruple about. denying that they were priests. The lictor did not altogether despise the money offered him, and the estimated ransom ; but, eager for gain, he wanted more. Anthony, indeed, had it in his power, more than once, to seek safety in flight. But his relations impeded these attempts, lest new danger might Spring. 4. I.4. College of the Holy Apostles. up for them. Wherefore from the county of Cambridge, where he was caught, he is led off to London, both himself and his companion. His companion thought that Anthony would, if he were again to return to that place, bring forth very great fruit in the salvation of souls; and he himself wrote from prison, that had not that accident stood in his way a great door was open for him. ‘Oh, that some fit person,’ he said, * may be sent to so great a work; one who, after the lapse of a little time, when the memory of my mishap shall have been obliterated, may accomplish that which myself did hope for. But, as to this, the Lord from heaven will provide.” While Anthony is delayed in London, that lictor, by whom he was captured and taken off (when this fact became known to another of that tribe who knew his power and the character of his warrant), is ordered to be committed to gaol for having violated the power intrusted to him. Then he himself [Anthony] is brought before the Bishop of London” to be examined. The questions were put, where he had studied? whether at Rome P was he a priest? was he ready to take the oath of allegiance and supremacy P. To all this he answers that he had been educated, for eight years, in the College of St. Mary Magdalen, Oxford, but had taken no degree. That, then he had crossed the sea, and afterwards while travelling had applied himself to literary pursuits. That he had been a student in the English College at Rome; but, lest he should embarrass the answers of others, who may perchance be questioned on this matter, he would neither affirm nor deny anything about the priesthood. That he was hindered by the principles of the Catholic faith from swearing the oath of allegiance and supremacy in the form in which it was drawn up. These, he said are the main items, so far as I can remember, which either a public notary has noted down in his own writing, or which I have acknowledged by signing my name, to be the questions to me and my answers to them. Many other things were asked about my parents. The Bishop declared of his own knowledge that my father seemed to him to be a good member of the Anglican Church, and a good subject. Upon my admitting that this was so, he added that he understood it in his own sense. I replied that I too was of the same opinion, that he was a good subject. He asked if, when I was taken, I had my breviary about me. I told him * The original has Archiminister Zondimensis ; the writer having pro- bably a scruple to assign the title of bishop to one whose orders he denied. Father Anthony Greenway. 4. I 5 a book had been found upon me; that it was a breviary no one could prove. The lictor was asked what had been done with the book; he answered that, for the sake of peace, he had given that book back to me, but that I had handed it over to another; that he would affirm on Oath that it was a breviary. I begged the Bishop not to let the wretched man swear it, as he was illiterate and could not read. ‘He is not very clever at reading,” said the Bishop; ‘but still,’ he added, ‘ he knows how to read very well. I solemnly declared to the Bishop that that man, whom the lictor was accusing, knew nothing whatever about me except that I was his kinsman; and, as the blood-relation of his wife, was received with civility and affection. In my bag there was found a torn bit of paper, on which had been written out some part of the questions which had long before been put to priests. The Bishop asked me whether I had torn up that paper? I said I had torn it up as a thing of no importance. “It is, indeed,’ he said, a thing of small value.’ These matters having been so discussed, the Bishop brought up in conversation one Mr. Ainsworth, who, he said, had answered the questions he had put him in anything but a faithful way. This observation caused me to ask for a copy of my examina- tion, lest I should be similarly traduced. He answered that that was not usual, nor had any one ever before made such a request. When the formula of the oath which I was to swear was tendered to me, I rejected it, with this observation, ‘Your lordship will pardon me, I cannot take this oath under this form of words.’ ‘I,’ he said, ‘ cannot either pardon or dispense; ' but he offers, by way of some scheme to enable me to do so, if I would swear according to the formula, in the words in which it was couched, to take care that it was put before me, or held before my eyes for me to read. I answered that whether it was held or hung, no matter how it was presented, I would not take it. This said, I was sent to Newgate prison. There I now remain, shut up and inclosed in such a way, that no one may speak with me, nor come to the prison window by way of paying me a visit. Nay, more, the governor of the gaol has it set down in his instructions that, if he sets any value on his own life, he must guard me most securely, lest I should escape. “But this close confinement did not last long, for another of our fathers wrote subsequently that such a concourse went 416 College of the Holy Apostles. to Father Anthony, and that he treated with them upon the affairs of their souls with such skill and prudence, that great fruit was reaped from it.” FATHER ROBERT ALFORD, were GRIFFITHS, a native of Surrey, born in 1582, was admitted an alumnus of the English College, Rome, by the name of Griffiths, at the age of twenty, on the 24th May, 1602. He was ordained subdeacon June 9, deacon July 1, and priest July 8, 1607. He left Rome for the English Mission, September 12, 1608; but it does not appear when he entered the Society. He served the mission for thirty-three years, exhibiting throughout an edifying example of charity. The Annual Letters for this College, 1640, state that he died in it, July 8, 1640; that he had laboured thirty-three years in the mission; that four years before his death the pestilence then prevalent had attacked the numerous family with which he lived, the greater part of whom took the disease, and some of them died of it; that the good Father was indefatigable in his attendance on the sick day and night. He made it a particular subject of his most earnest prayers that no one in the family might die without the benefit of the last sacraments ; and once or twice he awoke in the night from a sound sleep, at a moment when an unfavourable turn in the disease had rendered his attendance on the sick urgent. He retained his health until the disease had entirely left the family, when he fell sick; and, after a long period of intense suffering, died on the day before mentioned, a victim of charity. FATHER HENRY MORE. Father Henry More, the historian of the English Province, was chaplain for some years with the family of Lord Petre, at Ingatestone and Thorndon Hall, Essex. He frequently passed by the name of Talman, that assumed name being probably derived from his stature. This distinguished member of the English Province of the Society of Jesus was a native of Essex, born in the year 1586. He was great- grandson to the great Chancellor, martyred for the Faith, Sir Thomas More. He made his humanity studies at the English College of the Society at St. Omer, which had been established there in the year 1593. Special and very interesting mention is made of him in the annual report of that College for the year 1601, which says: “Our family consisted of upwards of one hundred this Aather Henry More. 4 I 7 year. Three of the alumni were sent to Rome: sixteen to Spain, who have been replaced by other youths from England of the best promise; amongst others are two relatives of the blessed martyr, Father Southwell. We should have received more, had not fourteen boys on their way to us been seized, with their conductor, who had heretofore rendered faithful service in transporting both our fathers and Scholars to the Continent. They exchanged our Schools for the Confessors’ prisons, from which, however, some of them at length contrived to escape, and make their way over to us; and their guide himself is reported to have been eventually set at liberty. The eager application of all the Scholars to the study both of virtue and letters, gives daily promise of greater things from them. The visitation of our Father Provincial has wonderfully conduced to promote this spirit; his presence has imparted fresh alacrity to all; besides which he has ordained some new and very convenient regulations as to our domestic economy. “The most illustrious Countess de Zueda, of the Court of her Serene Highness the Infanta of Spain,” is on a visit to our city, going about with her Suite with coaches and horses to the astonishment of the inhabitants. She paid us a visit, and desired all the scholars to be marshalled before her. Seeing in the crowd Henry More (the brother of Thomas More whom we lately sent to Rome), a pleasing boy of the family of Sir Thomas More, and a stranger to her, she imme- diately embraced him with maternal affection, adopted him for her son both as to maintenance and education. She then gave a liberal supply of money, and the next day, after hearing Mass in Our chapel, was present at an instrumental concert, and an exhibition of Greek and Latin verse in the College. She besides gave her adopted son a brass crucifix, with which he was greatly delighted. On returning home she immediately sent our Father Rector a sum of money by way of a beginning of her said adoption. “The Bishop of St. Omer has paid us a visit, and conferred the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Eucharist upon upwards of fifty Scholars, to their great consolation, no less than that of the assembly present. This admirable Bishop displays wonderful affection towards the English youths. “Many English priests having been hospitably entertained 12 Probably the same as the Countess Doña Maria de Zuniga mentioned in the will of the Countess Doña Louisa de Carvajal. See More's Aſist. Prov, Anglia, S.J.; also Father Morris' Condition of Catholics, p. cxciv. BB 4.18 College of the Holy Apostles. here (some of whom had previously been unfriendly to the Society), were pleased on their return to England to speak highly of the integrity and charity of our Institute. “Some conversions have been made; among others of an English soldier who had escaped from the Seige of Ostend, where he was a great favourite with the Protestant Governor. He passed over to our side, to the no small risk of his life from the bullets of both parties. By order of his Serene Highness he was assisted and sent on hither ; and having been duly instructed, was received into the Catholic Church, to his great consolation.” Father More entered the Novitiate of St. John’s, Louvain, the 19th of November, 1607, aged twenty-one. His higher studies he probably made in Spain, which may account for the mistake of Dodd” in stating that he became a Jesuit in Spain. St. Omer's Seminary annually drafted off a number of scholars both to the English College in Rome, and to Spain. The Novitiate of the English Province was estab- lished by Father Parsons, through the munificence of the pious Doña Louisa De Carvajal, in 1606–7. It was opened in February, 1607, with six priests, two scholastic and five lay-brother novices, under Father Thomas Talbot as first Rector. Father More himself” describes it as seated on “high ground, commanding the whole city; below was a walled garden, and on the slope of the hill pleasant walks amongst the vines, which were ranged in terraces, and the whole, though within the city walls, as quiet and calm as befitted a house of prayer. The Novitiate was removed from Louvain to Liege in November, 1614, and Father John Gerard became Superior : his Socius was Father Henry More. When discussing before this appointment, those fathers who were fitted for that office, after mentioning others, Father Gerard says: “Father Henry More hath French well, Dutch prettily, and Italian sufficiently, besides Spanish very well, and Latin as I would wish him.” It appears by a letter from Louvain, dated 1st August, 1614,” “that on the preceding Monday, Father More defended his whole divinity with good satisfaction : ” that is to say, he passed the great examen. º Shortly after this he was sent to the English College of of St. Alban’s, Valladolid, where he filled the office of Minister. * Church. Historv, vol. iii. p. 120. * Hist. Arov. Anglia, lib. viii. n. 8, p. 353. * Oliver's Collectanea, S./. Aather Henry More. 4 I 9 He appears to have left it very soon, on being appointed Socius to Father Gerard, at Liege. A long letter from Father More, dated Liege, 12th of August, 1615, to Father Owen, Rector of the English College, Rome, and Prefect of the English Mission, giving his opinion regarding the intended new buildings at Liege, may be seen in the Stonyhurst MSS., Anglia, vol. iv. n. 39. This letter shows him, in addition to his other gifts in virtue and learning, to have been also a good man of business. Dr. Oliver observes that Father More in the beginning disappointed the expectations of his colleagues in the new establishment; he was naturally cautious, phleg- matic, sparing of his words, avaricious of his time, and of retired habits. Father Gerard, in a letter of the 25th of March, 1616, acquaints Father Owen, “that Father More had no talent for speaking, though his memory was excellent, and though he possessed a facility of writing in his study, 19 but that he will eventually be ripe, and qualified for governing.” It does not appear when he first came over to England. In Gee's list, before referred to, of Priests and Jesuits in and about London is “ Fr. Moore a Jesuit.” This list dates about 1623. Father Henry More is also named in the list of English members of the Society, marked P. i. among the papers seized at the residence of the College of St. Ignatius, at Clerkenwell, in 1628"—“Veterani Missionarii,” among others, “Henricus Morus.” In Dom. Chas. Z., 1628, vol. xcvi. n. 8, is “A list of the persons arrested at Clerkenwell.” Amongst others, “Edward More.” The Secretary of State, Sir John Cooke, has written against the name Edward, “Henrie.” Upon this authority, therefore, we must suppose that Father More was one of the seven captured.” It is singular that he him- * See Stonyhurst MSS. *7 Domestic, Charles Z. 1628, vol. xcix. * The following is an extract from this interesting paper : “Guido.” “George Holland, alias Guy Holt * \ “Tho. Poulton.” Joseph Underhill, alias Thomas Poulton Robert Beoment Daniel Stanhope “Aſenzie.” Edward More, Edward Parr Margaret Ishaw [the old housekeeper] Edmund Weedon, sick ; Thomas Weedon John Pennington, his servant Thomas Latham, the house- ) These two and the first keeper five are committed to George Kemp, gardener the new prison.” | These five | were taken | in a secret J place. ) These remain in the house. BB 2 42O College of the Holy Apostles. self makes but a brief allusion to this stirring event. In fact, few of our historical writers have noticed it. He says,” “It happened that the Rector of London, with six of his socii, were seized in a house appropriated for Our purposes. A day had been appointed for the renewal of the vows of some, and for the solemn profession of others. The matter was not so cautiously conducted but that the neighbouring Pro- testants observed an unusual quantity of necessaries and provisions carried in, which excited suspicion. The envy, too, of the adjoining shop-keepers increased the suspicious feelings; for the extra supplies were procured from a distance to avoid suspicion. They therefore gave information; and the house was surrounded about nine o'clock in the morning. The officers. broke in and searched the house from top to bottom. They seized the Rector, who was hidden in a cave underground, with the sacred vessels and altar furniture, and other fathers: others were caught in various places. They were conducted to different prisons, and tried ; and one only condemned to death, who admitted the fact of his being a priest, which could not be concealed, having openly lived and acted as such in the residence of one of the ambassadors.” It will observed that Father More makes no mention of himself. The King and his Privy Council were then more leniently inclined towards Catholics; this, indeed, was one of the conditions made on the treaty of his marriage with Henrietta Maria of France. No legal Steps seem to have been taken against the prisoners, who were arrested in March, until the month of December. Three of them were then put upon their trial at the Middlesex Sessions, and one was convicted; but which of them does not appear. He was reprieved the night before his intended execution; and Soon after, all were discharged upon bail to appear in twenty days, when called upon. This leniency provoked the rancour of the Puritan party. A committee of the lower House of Parliament was appointed to investi- gate the matter; witnesses were examined, even the judges themselves; all took shelter under the King's orders. No further proceedings appear to have been taken ; for the Par- liament itself was hastening to its premature dissolution, which took place in a few weeks afterwards, the Ioth of March, 1629, by the King's command. It did not reassemble for twelve long years; but then to maintain a more successful struggle 49 Hist. Prov, Anglice, lib. X. n. 14, p. 467. Father Aenry More. 42 I against the King. This affair of the Jesuits had caused a great storm in the house immediately before the dissolution, and was, in fact, the leading cause of it. Though by Com- parison, an occurrence of trifling import, it was the origin of deep and bitter political strife, and a forerunner of the gravest consequences as contributing to alienate the sovereign from his constitutional advisers.” Dr. Oliver believes Father Henry More to have been chaplain to William, second Lord Petre. Father More” thus mentions that pious nobleman, and his edifying death—“In Essex, William Lord Petre, being summoned, appeared before the Privy Council. And as the longer he lived, so the more obnoxious did he render himself to the penal laws; he was first dismissed from the county magistracy, and then stripped of his office of Armourer (on account of the dignity of that office, and his own rank, he had admirably arranged the armoury), and though the Office was translated to another, it was nevertheless annually embellished at his own expense. At length, being refused a reinstatement to his offices, unless he would abjure the Supremacy of the Sovereign Pontiff, and his rights over princes, which he refused to do, he remained so deprived until his pious death a few years subsequently. His expiring words were, after bidding the bystanders farewell, ‘I am now going thither, where I shall neyer more offend God.’” That Father More was chaplain to his son and successor, Robert Lord Petre, his special friend, and the benefactor of the English Province, is shown by the letter of Father Richard Blount, the Provincial, dated the 27th of August, 1632, already given above, page 397. Father More was admitted to his solemn profession of the four vows on the 12th of May, 1622. The long proofs he had exhibited of judgment, wisdom, and Solid virtue, recom- mended him as a fit successor to Father Richard Blount on his resigning the office of Provincial of the English Province in the year 1635. For six years, Father More discharged its various duties, and in very trying times, with singular ability, and credit. . In 1646 he acted as Vice-Provincial in England * As we have beſore noted, it is intended to give a full account of this interesting event in a subsequent Series, the history of the College of St. Ignatius, London. - * Aſist. Arov. Angliae, p. 467. 422 College of the Holy Apostles. for Father Henry Silisdon, were Bedingfield, the Provincial, who resided in Belgium. In the year 1647–8 he was Superior of the London district, or College of St. Ignatius. Dr. Oliver notices that in the MS. letters of Conn and Acosetti, Dr. Lingard discovered that Father More was liberated from prison in July, 1640, to which he had been committed for his services to religion—imprigionato £er azer fatti molt; cose in benefizio della religione Cattolico. He was twice declared Rector of St. Omer's College; from 1649 to 1652, and again from 1657 to 1660. He then retired to Watten, and died of apoplexy, December 8, 1661, aged seventy-five. The following is a letter written by him to another father in England.” He had then ceased to be Provincial, and was probably acting as his vicar. sº “Dear Sir, The quietest times of peace are never void of occasions of virtue, and tribulations never fail to attend us so long as we fail not in our pious observances, as daily experience can witness; and St. Leo doth prudently reflect conformably to that of St. Paul, ‘Omnes qui piè volunt vivere in Christo Jesu persecutionem patiuntur.” Of which kind of trials and exercises whatsoever use others do make, it behoveth us to follow the advice of the same Apostle in the same place, ‘tu vero permane in is quae didicisti et credita sunt tibi.” “These days do seem particularly to require this advice, and that as the storm of holy affliction doth threaten all, and hourly grows more fearful, we should be particularly vigilant towards all, to strengthen and encourage both ourselves and others (so far as any concern us) in all pious observances, which, as they are followed by persecution, so are they the Only means on Our side to abate it, and to leave us upright in the sight of God and man, so as to make perfectly good that which may be justly expected of us, who make profession of carrying the Cross of Christ, and of helping others in their afflictions cheerfully to carry it. “This consideration taking life from an advice which I lately received from Father Provincial, doth put me on to send you these few lines. And first, the particular serious application of ourselves to all that which our holy Institute doth daily and hourly require of us; which doing we * Collectio Cardwelli, zaria S./. P.R.O. Brussels. Father Henry More. 423 may the more confidently expect the protection and concur- rence of God in all good things, and fear the contrary if we fail. . “First, I say, by the advice aforesaid, to speak to you in the words of the Apostle quoted by our Blessed Father—‘Idem sapiamus, idem quoad fieri potest dicamus omnes.' That in the several difficulties and doubts which now are apt to rise, we walk all of us one way, careful not to vent or maintain an opinion or resolution which others of our own may have just reason to call in question, and much more careful not to oppose or enter into contradiction of that which we find another of ours to have delivered, but proceed advisedly in all things which we do deliver, and have recourse to Superiors for preventing, and when they cannot be prevented, for ordering such difference. “Secondly, that in our resolutions and discourses concerning matters now most in agitation, we do not swerve from the best and safest and necessary ways which hitherto all ours (blessed be the goodness of God) have ever walked, not admitting in things so nearly concerning faith and religion, any such subtle ways or evasions as the love of the world only can suggest, and cannot proceed from the Spirit of God and truth. “And therefore, as heretofore it hath been held and declared unlawful to take the oaths even with protestation, or to go to church, so I hope none of ours will be found to think or to deliver their mind otherwise, and that they will proceed con- formably in the late protestation also ; it being so advisedly penned against religion, that whosoever takes it must needs express in words a serious opposition to the true ſtruth], and no less defence of Protestancy, than if we professed in the like words to defend the Catholic religion (which is always under- stood so far as lawfully we may, that is, not by means or actions which in themselves are unjust, cruel, or otherwise unlawful), the which towards Catholic religion, as it is our bounden duty to do, so every Christian heart and tongue cannot but abhor unfeignedly to profess towards another profession which is not Catholic; and far be it from us to admit of any saying about religion : “Non enim satis est responsio confitentis Jesum, sed aperta Confessio, Saith St. Ambrose, discoursing upon some gloss given favourably in excuse of St. Peter's denial, and reproving them, adding, “quid prodest verba revolvere, si videri vis denegasse.’ “Thirdly, this showeth a fit fear wherein they to whom God hath given ability of exhorting should exercise their talent 424 College of the Holy Apostles. and vocation in it, so it will be done with prudence and with- out offence, animating Catholics to the esteem of things eternal, that they may bear with less difficulty the loss which is threatened of their temporals, and have their Saviour continually before their eyes as a pattern and comforter and rewarder. “And finally, have often -recourse to God by prayer, wherein if we be diligent, and do willingly and feelingly retire ourselves unto it, as to the fountain of all comfort in affliction, and the refuge from which none can be barred, none amongst us excused, that what we shall do in it will be of itself a great encouragement to those for whom we do it, they finding by it the care and compassion which we have of their dangers and sufferings, far greater, doubtless, than any which can befall any of us, and we shall be a means for them also to betake them- selves the oftener and the more seriously to their devotions, and to prepare themselves the better by them to whatsoever God shall be pleased in His wisdom and Fatherly providence to send, or to permit to happen. Sweet Jesus, give us strength in Him, and Christian resolution. And this being all which I am to say at this present, but to beg your prayers particularly for myself, - “I rest ever, your obliged servant, “HENRY MORE. “16th July, 1641.” The following is an extract from a letter of Father More to Very Reverend Father General Vincent Caraffa.” “Ad. R. in Christo Pater N*— “ P.C. - “Returning to England after a long journey, Safe and sound and without meeting with any great difficulties, to an office which half a year before I had commenced, I deem it to be my first duty to let your Paternity know, that we may together return the due thanks to God our Lord for His singular goodness in bringing it about. And lastly, should your Paternity have any commands to give me, you may know where I am, and in what dispositions. “As to the place, regarded in a human light, it is a most unfortunate One, where you can do nothing, nor is anything to be discerned but wretchedness of human affairs. Besides those * Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, vol. v. n. 24. Father Henry More. 4.25 things which all shrink from, a continual expectation that all Catholics will be expelled from hence. Almost daily new cases of imprisonment, flight, and banishment of ours. I found here fourteen shut up in a little narrow hut, for the most part, fled from home, and, like the dove in the ark, with but very little hope of finding where to rest their feet. If the other places are Snatched from the King, religudi's secund; di/wwii q24ts /ocus / “However, we keep up our courage as much as possible, hoping for better things, which God alone, Who casts down to hell and bringeth back again, can of His providence, when He sees the opportunity, restore. “This is what I have to say now in general; more here- after as time and occasion permit, &c. I earnestly pray that God may be propitious to us, and especially to your Paternity, to an interchange with whose Holy Sacrifices and prayer I humbly commend myself. “Your V. R. Paternity’s servant in Christ, “HENRY MORE.” “London, July 17, 1646.” The following very interesting letter,” written by Mr. Darcy to Father More, under the name of Talman, bears no date, but as the Father finally left England for Belgium late in 1647, and the letter commences by congratulating him upon his Safe arrival in those parts, its true date would be either the latter end of 1647 or the beginning of 1648. It is worthy of publication, as showing the sufferings of Catholics of every age, Sex, and condition, under the tyrannical robbers of the rebel Parliament ; and displaying also the eminent courage and Constancy of a noble lady, whose initial only is given, but who was no doubt the Lady Petre. “A copy of Mr. Darcy’s letter to Mr. Taſman. “Worthy Sir, I must needs rejoice at your safe arrival in those parts, and the more in regard I begin to be sensible of those miseries which are like to overwhelm those whom you have left here behind you. The Papists are like to have their shares first, but afterwards I fear neither Protestant nor other that hath anything to lose will be spared. It is now almost a fortnight since the trained bands of Colchester, and the * Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, vol. vii. 426 e College of the Holy Apostles. whole country round, were raised to the number of five or six thousand for the search of Sir John Lucas his house, who, as they suspected (and it proved so indeed), was arming, and even ready to send out by a back way, ten horsemen to the King. They forced an entrance, took him, his mother, and wife prisoners; they rifled and plucked down his house in a more outrageous manner than I can express, or I believe you can conceive. This ended, when it was hoped that every one would have returned home, some of the soldiers, country clowns and women cried out that now they were met together, the Parliament and country expected it of them to deal in the same manner with the Papists. They were easily set on ; presently the Catholic houses were named; Sir Osither, Gifford's Hall; Sir Henry Studyes; Mr. Forster;” Melford Hall; Borly; Bulmer; Sir Roger Martin’s ; Mrs. Caryes, and others; to every one of these they go ; they break in violently ; men fall upon men, women strip and rifle women; they pillage all, even to the walls, scarce leaving one stool to sit on, and miserably spoiling what they could not carry away. The Countess of Rivers her park is said to be the worse by it fifty or three score thousand pounds; the rest go with like proportion. You may conceive what effects this example will produce elsewhere. Upon it those of Maldon side rise also ; some fifty or sixty sailors made head, resolved to do as the Colchester men had taught them. They came first to Crandon Park, tore down all the hangings, broke open trunks, took Some linen, silver, &c., but by a chance a company of the Parliament volunteers coming to steal deer, the Maldon men thought them the trained bands raised to suppress them, fled away, and by this means did not the extremity of what they intended. Upon this the Catholics went to the justices, opened their case, and were answered, It is a hateful thing to protect Papists : they fear their own houses, and therefore dare not stir. Then they went to the captains of the bands, wholly as backward, doubting whether the Parliament will allow that they move in it. Well, now the Parliament volunteers billeted about the country must play their parts; they begin to reflect that others grow rich whilst they sit idle; they rise in arms; some hasten on toward Writtle side; they set upon Park House, upon Fitheles [? Fidlers], &c., others make on towards Hutton ; there live some poor Catholics, one Goodman * This Mr. Forster afterwards became a lay-brother of the Society, and his deeply interesting history will be given presently. Aather Henry More. 427 Wortham, Joseph Froud, Goodman Ellis, Goodman Bernard, Goodwife Wharton, and others, all of them known far and wide for their honest lives, most of them charged with children, and two of them having wives still expecting their hour of delivery. They had by their own industry raised to themselves a competent stock and living; the soldiers come among these, fall upon them like a raging tempest, threaten to kill them, drive away all their cattle, leave neither shelf, bed, stool, or any utensil; those who were yesterday well to live, now are become beggars. Sir, this is a miserable case, but withal a Subject of infinite comfort to see, as I did, how these persons themselves do bear it; they are nothing dismayed; they profess that if they were to lose again, they would joyfully lose it for God’s sake; that He Who took this, gave it them first, and can give them again as much more. I am confident the Divine Goodness will not desert His and our cause, since He gives some such resolutions to maintain it. Now I must Come to my Lady P.'s house, as she is one of the greatest ladies for birth and fortune in that county. So you may easily imagine they aimed first at her; they were kept off by the affection which the town and the respect which the neigh- bours had towards her. She had spent twenty-two years, the greatest part of her life, amongst them ; she is naturally courteous to every one, also to the poorest beggar that comes to her gates, and prodigally bountiful. Her house is ever open to them for physic, and Surgery, and alms, and particularly every Saturday night she divides the milk of twenty kine amongst those who have least in the parish. The soldiers then began to try whether they could divide or avert the town from her ; they put it into the townsmen’s minds that what she had ever done for them she had done it through fear, and if it might be done with her own safety she would poison or cut all their throats; then they go further, some hundred or a hundred and twenty come to her gate; they beat at it with staves and halberts ; she came down to them herself, with her three youngest children; she undauntedly asked what they meant, told them she was a poor widow, meant no harm to any ; if they hated her for being a Catholic, she was content, she and her children would come out to them, and rather than deny their religion, gladly be torn in pieces by them. By this time the townsmen came on to assist her ; they parley with the soldiers, they are persuaded to depart for that time with some three or four pieces of gold amongst them. The 428 College of the Holy Apostles. next day after it was thought fit her house should be searched for armour. She agreed to it. Two captains and Some twenty soldiers came to that purpose; they were carried into every corner of the house; it was not possible to persuade her to pluck her altar, or dissemble her chapel. No, said she, let all the world know that I am not only a Christian but a Catholic, and that I and my children and servants have a devout place to honour God in. This is all.” This College or District gave birth to two members of the English Province S.J., remarkable alike for their birth and eminent virtues; each giving the greatest evidence of contempt of the world, with its pleasures and honours, and of the deepest humility and self-abjection. In the case of one of them, long suffering was added, and Christian fortitude under the iron rod of proscription and persecution for the Faith. These are— first, Brother William Browne, of Cowdray, Sussex, (followed by a short memoir of his dear friend and fellow-religious, Brother Gerard Rogers); and the second, Brother Henry Forster, of Copdoke, Suffolk, with a short notice of his sons. The first we shall name, being the earliest in point of date, is— - BROTHER WILLIAM BROWNE. The Annual Letters for 1637, of the College of Liege (the house of higher studies and theologate of the English Province of the Society of Jesus), record the death of this holy and remarkable man, who was grandson, brother, and uncle of Successive Lords Viscount Montague, of Cowdray House, Sussex. He was born in the year 1578; entered the Society of Jesus in 1614, and died at Liege, 20th August, 1637, aged fifty-nine. He was of the ancient family of the Lords Mon- tague, Or Montacute, of Cowdray House, Sussex. In the narrative presently given he is stated to have been born in Surrey. His father was Anthony Browne, eldest son of the first Viscount Montague, and died the 31st of July, 1592 ; three months before William's grandſather, and consequently before succeeding to the title. The accompanying pedigree is an extract from the family pedi- gree of the Montague family, of Cowdray, from which it appears that Father Henry More and other biographers of William BROWNE, VISCO UNT MONTACUT E. Aſar'eiazz /l/SS. Additional, I4,31 I, pp. 130–I. ANTONIUS BROWNE, Vexilliſer = LUCIA, daughter and co-heir of JoHN Angl. temp. Hen, 7. NEVILLE, March, of Montacute. ANTONIUS BROWNE, Vexilliſer = ALICIA, daughter of JoHN GAGE, Angl. Miles Garterii. Miles Garterii. ANTHONY BROWNE. Miles qui Maria = ANNA, daughter of ROBERT RATCLIFF, Reg. ſuit a Consiliis, a quo creat. Vis- co. Sussex (first wiſe). count Montacute. Mor: 19 Oct. I 592. ANTHONY BROWNE. Miles. Obiit 31 = MARIA, daughter of WILLIAM DORMER DE MARIA BROWNE, - HENRY, Count of Julii, I592, ante patrem. ETHROP, co. Bucks (first marriage). - Southampton. ANTONIUS MARIA BROWNE, Viscount Montacute = JANE, daughter of THOMAS KATHARINA = TREGANIAN TREGONWELL JANE uxor. FRANCIS ENGLEFIELD, DOROTHY uxor. EN. T.E.E. WILLIAM BROWNE, fil. 3 us. JoHN BROWNE, - ANNA, fil, GIFFORD Mort. 23 Oct. I629. SACKVILLE, county * Bart. * Jesuita, fil, 211s. Dorset. FRANCISCUS, fil. Ius, et ANTONIUS, fil. FRANCISCUS, fil. et heres nunc VISCOUNT = ELIZABETH, daughter of HENRY SOMERSET, 2us., ob. in juventute, MONTACUTE. Marquis of Worcester. N.B. —The Pedigree is very ſull and long; the collaterals are omitted, the intention being only to trace the object of our history—Brother WILLIAM BROWNE, who is shown to be the third son of Sir ANTHONY BROWNE, who died shortly before his ſather, the ſirst Viscount, and before coming to the title. In Zar!. MSS. I.397, p. 189, old paging, is another more limited Pedigree which corroborates the above, and calls our brother “GULIELMUS BROWNE, filius tertius, de Societate Jhesus,” Žo ſtate Aage /23, Arother W7//za/z Azozyme. 429 Browne are in error in calling him nephew of a Lord Montague. The pedigree goes much further back, but the extract is suffi- cient for Our purpose. It was a family of great distinction; the head of it, Anthony Browne, being in the time of Henry VII. in the enjoyment of the high post of Standard-bearer of England, in which office he was followed by his son, Sir Anthony, who was a Knight of the Order of the Garter; while the next in succession, Sir Anthony Browne, grandfather of William, was one of Queen Mary's Privy Council, and by her created the first Lord Montague; Brother William Browne's Connexion with the Duchess of Feria was on his mother's side. The Duchess was Jane Dormer, his mother's half- sister. * * . The interest of the noble mansion of Cowdray House is no little enhanced by the fact of its having been the residence and property of the Countess of Salisbury, the mother of the great Cardinal Reginald Pole, and who in her extreme old age was so brutally martyred by Henry VIII. The following extract regarding Cowdray is taken from Allen's History of Surrey and Sussex, vol. ii. p. 512. “About a quarter of a mile eastward of Midhurst, Sussex, are situate the picturesque ruins of Cowdray House, once the magnificent seat of the noble family of Montague. They stand in a valley between two well-wooded hills, near the banks of the Avon, which runs between them through an extensive park. - “Cowdray, and the manor of Midhurst, belonged to Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, (daughter of George, Duke of Clarence,) who was attainted of high treason 31st Henry VIII., and two years afterwards beheaded in the Tower at the age of seventy-two, because certain Bulls from Rome were found in her mansion here, and it was thought that an insurrection in Yorkshire had been occasioned through the instigation of her son, Cardinal Pole. William of Fitzwilliam built the present mansion, as appears by his arms and other devices displayed in its various parts; but, dying without issue in the 34th Henry VIII., this estate went to his maternal brother, Sir Anthony Browne, from whom the late possessor, Viscount Montague, was lineally descended. It was built in the form of a quadrangle, with the principal front towards the west, in the centre of which was the gate, flanked by two towers. The east side contained the chapel, hall, and dining parlour. The 43O College of the Holy Apostles. chapel was superbly fitted up, and had an altar piece of peculiar beauty. The hall was decorated with paintings of architecture by Roberti, and statues by Goupe. The parlour received its embellishment from Holbein, or some of his scholars. On the south of the quadrangle was a long gallery, in which were painted the twelve Apostles as large as life; and on the north side was another gallery, containing many whole-length pictures of the family in their proper habits . . . likewise several old religious and military paintings from Battle Abbey. “This beautiful edifice, with most of its valuable contents, was destroyed by fire in the night of 24th September, 1793, and, by a coincidence that must certainly be deemed remark- able, about the same time that this stately pile was laid in ruins, the noble owner was drowned whilst imprudently venturing to sail down the cataracts of the Rhine at Schaff. hausen. Being the last male heir of his ancient family, his estates devolved to his only sister, married to William Stephen Poyntz, Esq. He erected a new brick house in the Park.” The following document, mentioning the Montague family of Cowdray, is copied from the State Papers in the Public Record Office.” We may well suppose that mansion and its neighbourhood to have been a refuge for the persecuted priests and Catholics in those days. “The substance of the Confessions of Robert Graye, friest, and maſter wherewitſ, he may be charged, &c.” “Taken before Richard Topclyfe and three others. “In his first examination, he commences by saying that he is a Catholic, and a Catholic after the same faith and religion wherein he was christened, and so he will die by the grace of God. [In the margin are divers notes, amongst others, ‘He showed himself very obstinate.’ ‘But after he was run away, and did break prison at Windsor, and taken again, he renounced the Pope and all his authority, and so will he do to get lease, and then work mischief as he did before.’] “In his third confession, 29th of August, I 593. “After warning, and that Robert Graye is told how he hath dissembled in his former confession, and denied that he * State Papers, 1593, Z20mestic, Elizabe//, vol. ccxlv. n. I38. * The original is in the handwriting of the inſamous Topcliff, who being as illiterate as he was base, the spelling has been modernized to render it at all readable. Azoffer WZ//ia772 A'zozyme. 43 I had spoken with any Jhezewitt [Jesuit] or Seminary priest since he did come to the old Viscount Montague's service, now again he is told that it is discovered by letters and by apparent confessions, that he hath been in the company of divers Jesuits, and beyond-sea priests, in Sussex, Surrey, in or about London, Bucks, and elsewhere, within these six years; that the names of divers of them be known, and the places of their haunts. “At length he sayeth and confesseth that in summer, now three full years last past, he being at Cowdray with his lord and Mr. [master] Sir George Browne, that now is, knight, did come to him and did ask him if he would go with him to speak with a learned man, and this examinant said yea. Then they two went together, and Sir George brought this examinant to OI)62 Denny's house to Todham, half a mile from Cowdray, and there Sir George brought this examinant up into a chamber, where they found a man sitting in his cloak, of above forty years old, long, slender face, black hair of head, and a little beard black, whom since he heard was Father Curry the Jesuit. [In the margin, ‘Here he showeth that he was forswore before in denying that he had been in the company of any Jesuit or Seminary.’] But of whom he hath heard so at that or any time, this examinant doth no way remember. And he and also Sir George Browne had talk with the said Curry about a contract of marriage betwixt Mrs. Constance Cussalde (or Cafelde), and a gentleman. And they talked also of old Garnett's matters. He sayeth that they three tarried together not above half one hour, and so departed, and he did never see Curry the Jesuit after nor before, nor never heard from him by letter, writing, or message since, nor ever did hear of him before or since. But once that he heard that the said Curry was at River Park, where Mr. Anthony Browne was living, son and heir to the old lord. “He never heard nor did see a priest called Plaisden, nor ever did hear or see any called Father Robarts called Jesuit or priest, nor ever heard that either of them was in Sussex. But he hath heard that Plaisden, the Seminary priest, was executed for treason as the law hath made it. And have heard twenty speak of Father Roberts, but doth not remember who. “He remembereth that when the Lord Montague, his old master, and the Lady Viscountess, his wife, were at Wynge, with Sir Robert Dormer, about St. James' tide, in the next summer before the Queen's Majesty was at Cowdray, or a day or 4.32 College of the Holy Apostles. two before the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, 1590, this examinant's lord and master and lady being at Sir Robert Dormer's (who hath married their daughter Elizabeth) for the space of five or six days. There was during those five or six days there one Mr. Harris, a priest, whom there he did hear that he had used much with the Lady Babington. A tall man, blackish hair of head, and beard. And this man, during this time, did always (for the time of the Lady Montague and the ladies being at Wynge) dine and sup and lodge in Sir Robert Dormer's house. Sir Robert Dormer and his wife being at home there at Wynge. And this examinant did daily resort into the said priest's chamber, called that Mr. Harris, and con- ferred with him, the said Harris, and during that time he did never see the said Harris go or come out of his chamber; but that he did twice, upon two several days, talk with the said Harris, and so did the Lady Montague with my lord, and the now young Lady Dormer, their daughter, they all being there in Mr. Harris' chamber. He doth well remember that Harris moved the lord and lady to be good to Anthony Garnett, and they both said to Mr. Harris then, that neither of them both did malice Garnett. Examinant resolutely answered that he would not accuse himself, having been asked if he had said Mass there, but he did not deny it; but would not confess whether Harris did or not : ‘for if he see a hundred priests say Masses he would not accuse one of them thereof.” “He confesseth that he hath seen Dowlman and Jackson at Cowdray, in his lord and master's house; and his lord and the old lady did speak with them, both his lord and lady knowing them to be priests. Dowlman and Jackson did dine in examinant's chamber, and did both lodge there at Cowdray one night; and this was three or four years passed. - - “ROBERT GRAY, Priest. “Confessed before me, RICHARD TOPCLIFFE.” He after says that he remembers that Dollman and Jackson were made priests in Queen Mary's time. The Annual Letters for the College of Liege, before referred to, thus reports (1637) the death of Brother Browne: “Three temporal coadjutors died of the plague during this year. The first of these, William Browne, a man of high rank, being brother of the Viscount Montague, nephew of the Duchess of Feria, and grandson of the last English Ambassador at Rome, before the change of religion. He was still more distinguished Aroffer W7//ia72 Årozyſze. 433 by the sanctity of his religious life; for he spent twenty-three years of great integrity in the Society, and wonderful self. abjection, leading him eagerly to seek the meanest employ- ments in the College ; and such was his ardent piety and union with God, that he seemed to hold constant intercourse with Him by prayer; he could think of nothing, speak of nothing, and aspire after nought else, save God alone. These virtues, admirable in themselves, are yet pre-eminently so in a man so delicately brought up. But we will say more about this good brother in our circular letter.” The following, which is no doubt the circular letter alluded to, is in the P.R.O., Brussels (see the Collectio Cardwell, MSS. S.J., P.R.O., Brussels, and also More's Hist. Prov. Ang/, lib. ix. n. xi. et seq. pp. 406, et seq.). “Reverend Father in Christ,- “Pax Christi. “It has pleased the Divine Goodness to call from this life to a better, our very dear brother in Christ, William Browne—the 20th of August—having attained his fifty-ninth year, and his twenty-third in religion, in the degree of a formed temporal coadjutor. A pestilential but hidden disease attacked him, which after a few days, and having received the holy viaticum, without any previous agony, invited him to bliss, rather than forced him away. He was born in that county of England we call Surrey, of a noble family, being nephew,” brother, and uncle, of successive Lords Montague, whose mother of the family of the Lords Dormer, was sister of the Duchess of Feria. His grandfather, before the birth of heresy in England, was the last Ambassador of the Kings of England to the Roman Pontiffs, who left as an heirloom to his posterity until this day, the ancient faith which England lost, although thwarted by many artifices. But the progeny to which William gave birth, was an exalted virtue, which the Divine bounty from his earliest years so implanted in his mind, that although perhaps too much given to hunting and hawking, as Englishmen in his station are wont to be, yet his confessor testifies that he never Sullied his baptismal innocence by any mortal sin, and I myself indeed, who for four years heard his confessions, can testify that I never heard of any fault com- mitted by him that would amount even to a venial sin, and that could afford sufficient matter for absolution. I should * Mistake, should be grandsome. See pedigree. CC - * 434 College of the Holy Apostles. not, indeed, have thoroughly known the purity of his soul, had he not sometimes in order the more deeply to “discuss” himself, if it were possible to do so, and which he certainly did, being endowed with an interior light truly wonderful, “searched Jerusalem with candles,” to discover any slight fault, even the least. In humility he especially excelled, weighing all things as in the scales of the Supreme Judge. Hence he had scarcely any affection to worldly honour, none of earthly nobility; SO much so that the very mention of these things was nauseous to him. On the contrary, he most studiously sought out, and tenderly loved the lowest offices in our Colleges. For fourteen years he spent almost two hours daily in the kitchen, in washing the dishes, &c. He cleansed out the out-offices, lit the fires, and performed other like offices, with so great a sense of internal pleasure, that showed itself outwardly in his countenance, and was a sign of a certain heavenly light whereby he penetrated into the hidden treasures of these employments, which are not revealed except to Such as are truly little. Many years ago I saw our William, when a garden was being laid out at the foundation of this College, not long before of the noble race of the Brownes, and honourable in title, acting as a common hodman amongst the workmen. With a sack or hodman's basket on his back, which he so fastened by a double cord over his breast as to leave his hands at liberty, in which he held his Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, he would carry rubbish backwards and forwards, and whilst they were filling his hod with earth, or stones, &c., he would sit for a little upon the trunk of a tree and draw something from the book wherewith in the meantime to feed his soul; nor did any dilatoriness show itself in his countenance or gait, but in the whole man a hidden fire which clearly indicated how light was the burden he was carrying for Christ. These things were so public, that from the first they became known by report to his sisters and mother, who from mistaken ideas interpreting them in a wrong light were indignant, and reprobated these exercises of humility as stains upon the honour of the noble family, to whom he made this only reply: ‘You,” said he ‘have your delights, whilst I in the meantime, of the Divine bounty, overflow with heavenly joys. You are upon the stormy and perilous ocean, God grant that you may One day land safely in port.’ The Spirit of God which rests upon the humble, inspired him with a comprehensive genius, and wonderfully extolled this lowliness of his soul. Therefore AE?"of/her WZ//za/z Aºzozyme. 435 God, Who is a Spirit, would change a mortal man in a short time into an entirely spiritual man, or unite him closely to Himself. Hence it was that all whatsoever he either thought, spoke, or did, seemed always to turn out not only Creditably, but the best. One who knew him intimately asserts this from himself. Hence he preferred a longer to a shorter life, with the hope of increasing in the love of God, although in the one there was assured salvation, in the other uncertainty. Hence, also, when any one would see him perspiring in the perform- ance of disgusting offices, and would put in a word upon the future glory of it, ‘Believe me,’ he would say, “my brother, this it is I desire, this I aspire after, that I may please God and do His holy will ; as to heaven, He will dispose of me as He sees fit.’ At another time he would say, ‘If the Saints from heaven should show themselves to us, I confess, indeed, that they would be most grateful guests, but with their good leave I would still attend to God alone.” When sometimes he would be sitting or standing by a large fire, and the discourse turned upon the Divine presence, it seemed wonderful to him how the Creature in such great ardours did not melt away like a little butter cast into this fire. When it was once proposed to him that according to the rule of our Blessed Father St. Ignatius, our tepidity might be assisted by the hope of rewards and the fear of punishment, he replied, “My father I do not remember for twenty years to have needed any other spur than the love of God alone.’ This was the source of William's continual communication with God. For my part I little doubt but that he attained to the highest contemplation in his mental prayer, and that in the same our brother for the most part ‘endured’ divine things. Without any previous discourse, he was drawn by the least attraction of the heavenly Sun, and like a pure crystal was totally filled with light and flame. Nor were these rays speculative only, but active beyond measure, which intimately penetrated his heart, and Communicated an effective force to all the powers of soul and body, to such extent that it made a very feast of the rest of his meditation. He made an hour's meditation in the morning before the rest; besides two or three more on his knees before midday. He beheld God present to him in whatsoever business or place he was occupied, so much so, that when as companion to the Brother Dispenser he would accompany him into the town, on any occasion of their stopping to transact business he would immediately, either on his knees pour forth his prayers, CC 2 436 College of the Holy Apostles. or retiring into some corner of the shop would read something from the Zmitation of Christ, with such edification to all, that although this devotion of his might in others have been deemed unseasonable, yet all things cooperated with him for good; he was called a saint, and became by degrees to be held as such in the city, and on this account the people esteemed their houses and shops fortunate that had been consecrated by his praying. He tenderly loved the most holy Mother of God, and con- stantly wore her rosary within his soutane suspended from his neck. .. William carried in his heart so strong a devotion to the most holy Eucharist, that he felt its force though many walls interposed, and hence he adored it as the God of his heart. In his prayer no position was so grateful to him as where with the high altar, and the chapel of our Lady he could make as it were a triangle, that at equal distances he could from the one drink milk from the breast, from the other feed upon the wounds. The abundance of his tears in that spot truly testified that this choice of situation did not happen of chance, but by design. He especially honoured those saints he knew to have excelled in the love of God, particularly St. Austin and St. Gertrude. Moreover, from this communion with God, arose frequent ecstasy, in which, although the soul was not entirely wrapt from the senses, yet they were so weakened, that their stupor often showed that his soul was rather there where it loved, than where it lived. But this was peculiar to William, that he was never so abstracted but he would recognise the pictures of the Saints, and piously salute them in the dark and in out of the way corners, never so overwhelmed with sleep, but that he would instantly awake on any mention of the name of God or spiritual subjects, showing a certain sympathetic feeling pleasing to him. If he knew any endowed with extra- ordinary virtue, he clung to them like steel to the loadstone, and it was most grateful to him to accompany the Fathers to the houses of the Curiae, and especially to monasteries which excelled in the ſame of sanctity ; and as he was a Sweet odour of Christ in every place, so he imbued others with the same, and was most acute in drinking in, as it were, the same from persons devoted to God, and this Sagacity he possessed in a truly wonderful manner. Amidst all this, the servant of God greatly feared lest this corruptible body should oppress the Soul and oppose any clouds of darkness to the great ardour and light of the mind. Arother W7//iamz Azozyme. * . 437 Hence, therefore, from his first entrance into religion, he declared the sharpest war against it. No one ever heard William complaining of food, clothing, or lodging—no one saw him eager for recreation. After mid-day, being exhausted with labours, when rather; overwhelmed with sleep than desirous of indulging in it, he would take a little repose laying upon the ground, with his head resting upon a brick. He defended himself against the cold of winter by his summer clothing; he never made use of any waistcoat, but simply a soutane over his undergarment. If he saw any small bits of dry bread upon the table, he took them as quickly as he could, as so many delicacies. He could never be induced to take breakfast, unless, indeed, by way of antidote against the plague. As to the rest, nothing was more admirable in the good brother than the constancy and equability of the whole tenor of his life. He was not by nature formed for labour, nor did long habit ease the burthen, but the love of God alone, which never relaxed in his soul, made the burden easy to him, even to the very day in which he fell sick; receiving the reward of the good and faithful servant, when consumed with fever, and with difficulty dragging himself through the house, he would carry water to the Cook, accompany the dispenser out of doors, and to the admiration of all, fulfilled his usual offices of humility in the kitchen. Thus the course of this just man increased, and like a splendid luminary, went on daily increasing even to the perfect day, that is to say, to that day in which encircled with the immense load of his merits, he rendered up his spot- less soul to God. It is attested that he was never observed to be in a state of greater peace of soul in the whole course of his life than at the approach of death. Therefore, with the most holy Sacrament of the Body of Christ in his breast, the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary in his hands, her Rosary about his neck, his Creator in his heart, and Jesus on his lips, he closed his eyes with which he had looked upon heaven, and now possesses, as we hope, that which his soul loves and shall never lose. That religious charity may not be wanting, I earnestly intreat your paternity to cause the usual suffrages to be offered for the repose of his soul. “Your paternity's humble servant in Christ, “GEORGE DUCKETT. “Liege, 22nd of September, 1637.” * Father More says that he died in 1633, which is a mistake. 438 College of the Holy Apostles. Father Moreº" chiefly borrows his account of Brother Browne from the foregoing letter. He says, in addition, that whilst in the world, when engaged in his honourable and lawful sports, he was divinely inspired with an ardent desire of visiting the most holy house of our Blessed Lady at Loreto. There- upon, disposing of his horses, dogs, servants, &c., amongst his friends, to be reserved for his return, he crossed over into Belgium. He called on his way to salute our Fathers at St. Omers' College. It seems that although then upwards of thirty years of age, he had not been confirmed. He had scarcely been a day at the College when he acknowledged the fact to our Fathers, who asked him, and he was inflamed with an ardent desire of remaining to receive the sacred Chrism. The better to prepare himself, he determined to make an examination of his past life, and a meditation upon pious things. In this spiritual retreat he conceived a great disgust of all perishable things, and resolved upon a stricter mode of life. Determined to quit the world, and uncertain to what order in religion to give himself up, he returned to England, and having received his rents went back again to St. Omers, and after again deliberating he resolved to enter amongst the temporal coadjutors or lay-brothers of the Society of Jesus, embracing with such great devotedness that degree so humble and so full of charity, that he would have wished the usual recreations allotted to the rest to be denied to himself, or he unwillingly admitted them, and he made so little account of the health of his body that he would listen to no one on this behalf until he was taught that he must submit in this also, in order that he might render a more prompt obedience to God. In speaking of his utter disregard of all worldly honour and esteem, Father More mentions the fact of a youth of the College at Liege who happened to meet him laden with a bucket of pigs' wash, when he made some observation, I know not what, as to his title and family splendour, upon which the brother in great confusion stopped for a moment, and laying down his load said, “I had rather that the whole bucket should be poured down my neck than to have heard these words from you.” Then resuming his bucket, he carried it to the pigs’ trough. i - - From his continual sense of the presence of God, it happened that when even the name of mortal sin was men- * Hist. Prov. Angl. ut supra. Brother William Browne. 439 tioned you might instantly see him as in the act of resisting some unexpected and dreadful thing, and exclaiming, at the same time crossing himself, “Oh how deplorable a thing it is to be without the grace of God l’ And when he heard any speaking of the malice and heinousness of the sins com- mitted by the wicked in the world, he would beg them to abstain from such subjects of conversation, as it was intolerable to him to see or hear of such things. The Zmitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis, was his favourite book, which he read again and again so assiduously and attentively that there was nothing hidden in the treasures of that book that he had not fixed in his memory and reduced to practice. Hence he drew mental illuminations and divers precepts of virtue, and laid special stress upon this sentence: “ Unless I can arrive to this point, to be willing to be despised and forsaken by all creatures, and to be esteemed as nothing at all, I cannot attain to interior peace and stability, nor be spiritually illumined, nor fully united to Thee, my God.” So that it is no wonder he excelled in the virtue of humility, of which he explained the advantage by the following homely example: “As the black coal dust cast into the fire makes a blaze, and causes it to burn brisker and brighter, so the black dust of humility cast upon the fire of charity appears for a while to obscure and suppress its flame, but afterwards increases its intensity and light, and more widely diffuses its rays on every side.” Being sometimes confined to his bed by an injury of his leg, he congratulated himself on the opportunity afforded him of learning by heart the chapter of the Zmitation, upon the Different Motions of Nature and Grace. Brother Browne not only took part, as we have seen, in forming the garden at the new College at Liege, I 614, but he also assisted in purchasing the property. We have a letter of Father John Gerard to Father Owen, Rector of the English College, Rome, written from Liege, I 9th of September, 1614, under the assumed name of Nelson. In this, speaking of the new house at Liege, whither the Novitiate of the English Mission, S.J., was about to be removed from St. John's, Louvain, he says, (inter alia), that whatever else was requisite for the purchase was provided by Brother William Browne, who, though grandson, brother and uncle of Viscounts Montague —his grandfather being Queen Mary's Ambassador to the Holy \ tº gº tº * Book iii. c. 4I, last verse. 44O College of the Holy Apostles. : See—was himself content to spend his life in the humble duties of a Jesuit lay-brother.” - In another letter of Father Gerard, written also in the same name of Nelson,” to Father Thomas Owen, dated April 6, 1614, he mentions Brother Browne, who had lately entered amongst the novices, and was then apparently engaged in arranging some business matters regarding his property. Amongst other things, he says, “I have now a letter from our Brother William's mother, whereof I will send you the copy. What those writings are that she would have to be sealed, I yet know not ; but I suppose they be no harm to his estate, she being so careful of him and so loving to him, but when the man [messenger] comes, Father Talbot will look into it. . . . she saith that she hath had much ado with one bad fellow about part of William's annuity, and that she will Send over a trusty man with writings unto him to be sealed this month of April, to whom she requireth her son to give all Credit.” In the Stonyhurst Library (iv. 55), is an ascetical book written by Brother Browne, evidently the fruit of his assiduous study and practice of Thomas à Kempis. In the first page is the following note, “This book belonging to the English College at Liege, was written by Brother William Browne, my Lord Montague's brother, who lived and died a very holy man, in the quality of a lay-brother of the Society of Jesus at Liege.” It is a thick 16mo. volume of some 760 pages of closely written matter, divided into thirty-four chapters. The volume itself is too long, and the writing, though a beautiful Specimen of its day, too difficult to allow time to make any extracts from, or review of it. In order, however, to give some idea of the industry of this good brother, and the extent of matter embraced in the volume, we will very shortly state the heads of the chapters. The book begins thus— “JESUS H MARIA.” Ist Chaft. “The flower of the field, in honour and remem- brance of the same name given to our Blessed Lord in holy Scripture.” 2. “Of the great profit of penance.” 3. “Of suffering crosses and temptations.” 4. “Of devotion to our Blessed Lady.” 5. “Of avoiding unprofitable thoughts.” 6. “Of being fervorous in good works.” 7. “Of devout * See Condition of Catholics, p. cxcix. “Life of Father John Gerard.” * Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, vol. iv. n. 6. Arother Gerard Åogers. 4:4. I following of our Lord by suffering crosses for His love.” 8. “Of peace of mind and joy of the Holy Ghost.” 9. “Of the great profit of time and how we may best use it.” Io. “That it is very profitable to increase daily much in virtue and devotion; to have a very true esteem and a high appre- hension of virtue and perfection.” II. “That we should always do the best we can for the best end.” 12. “How a Soul is honoured and dignified that is united to the Supreme Good by charity and grace.” I 3. “Of some means to come to Contemplation by degrees.” I4. “Of elevating our minds to the Creator by means of creatures.” I5. “That a soul when united to her Maker will then languish to depart this life, and enjoy her Creator in the next.” I6. “The great and ever- lasting reward in the next life for such who have lived and died well.” I 7. “Consider how delight will move men's minds.” 18. “That the soul of a just man is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” I9. “Of supernatural light.” 20. “That we should always endeavour to go forward in the way of virtue.” 21. “Of union of will with the divine will.” 22. “Of spiritual 'fruit and profit.” 23: “Of charity and divine love.” 24. “Of exterior and interior inclinations.” 25, “Of solitude and silence.” 26. “Of heavenly wisdom and divine knowledge.” 27. “Wherein felicity consists.” 28. “Of divine union with the highest good.” 29. “Of discreet government.” 30. “Of admiration, affection and delight.” 31. “How a devout soul may strengthen himself more in virtue and grace.” 32. “Of the presence of God.” 33. “What great and wonderful things virtue and grace will work in the soul.” 34. “Of virginal purity of body and mind.” BROTHER GERARD ROGERS." It will be well to give as a sequel to the life of Brother William Browne, that of Brother Gerard Rogers, who was admitted into the Society seven years later than the former. A great union of heart existed between them, which nothing human but a sincere charity had contracted, and a religious emulation of better gifts. They were, moreover, separated from each other in death by the interval of only three weeks. The day before Brother Rogers fell into his last sickness, he said that he had been warned by William during his sleep to * More, Hist. Arov. Ang/, lib. ix. n. xiii. p. 409. 44.2 Co//ege of the Holy Apostles. prepare himself, for that the time was near when he should follow in the way which he had previously taken. Brother Gerard was a native of Westphalia, born in a humble station, which, as we see by many examples, is fre- quently the habitation of exalted virtue. From his parents he had imbibed the Lutheran heresy, which error he cherished rather from ignorance than from perverseness of mind, for even then he felt certain attractions to piety, and some conflicts against the error of his conscience. The heavenly Husband- man saw what the soil was capable of producing, and decreed to transplant him where he might bring forth fruit in abund- ance. The time of his passing over to England is not mentioned, but when he returned thence to Belgium in the year I 619, he was drawn, by what he had seen of the Catholic Church, and by a certain sacred impulse, not only to embrace the Faith, but to entertain thoughts of a stricter Course of life. Being just arrived from England, a foreigner, making application to persons who were foreigners like himself, he was engaged to serve our English Fathers who were there. His good dispositions now developed rapidly. He gave himself much to the reading of spiritual books, and he used to say that he had received a fine patrimony from his parents, inasmuch as they had taught him to read and write. While he was reading the life of St. Teresa, not in a hurried careless manner, but quietly and little by little, as was his custom, pondering the force of divine grace which is capable of changing in a moment the heart of man into better, he felt his own to be touched and enkindled by a secret fire, so that casting himself upon his knees, he exclaimed, “This is the change of the right hand of the Most High.” From certain writings of his it appears that this was no Ordinary motion of the soul, for he styles it the first step of his conversion, and with vehement affection he calls upon the whole host of heaven to render thanks to God for it. From that time also he undertook to wage war against himself with such ardour, that in a short time, having obtained the victory, he said that the rule of seeking one's own greater self-denial and continual mortification in all things, the observance of which he had conceived otherwise impossible to him, now appeared easy and pleasant. He preferred the state of Soul of a Religious, who with a fixed and steady determination to deny himself, should go to a table richly and daintily furnished, to another who without this disposition should feed on bread and water. At table he Arother Gerard /čogers. 443 took just sufficient for the necessary refection of the body, but refused everything that went for the mere gratification of the palate. He would often weary his Superiors after the example of St. Aloysius with requests to be allowed to increase his fastings, watchings, and corporal afflictions. Thus, dead to the world, did Gerard live to God alone. He resolved to overcome sleep, which troubled him at unseasonable hours, and was wont to molest him in the midst of his daily labours, by subtracting one hour from his ordinary allowance of sleep, which he ever after spent in prayer. He opposed pride by the frequent remembrance of the poverty of his parents, and the harder condition of his former life. The divine will, to which he had entirely conformed himself, he used to say, could be found in anything however difficult, like the kernel in the hardest shell; and he pitied those who stick at whatever has any bitterness in it, and who know not how to suck honey from the rock, and oil from the hardest stone, since it was sweet whether it was offered on Mount Thabor or on Calvary. And since he knew that the will of God was manifested to him in the rules of his Institute, he obtained leave from his Superior, three years before his death, to bind himself by vow never deliberately to transgress any one of them, and this he observed unbroken. But as one virtue gives birth to and perfects another, the next year, at Pentecost, on the feast itself, he vowed always to do that which was most perfect, which vow the Superior allowed should only bind from month to month, although after- wards this space of time was extended to a longer period. To impress the presence of God more easily upon his mind, he used to behold in the Rector of the house, God the Father, in the minister, God the Son, in his confessor, God the Holy Ghost, in priests, the Apostles, and in the rest of his brethren, the seventy-two disciples. He used to say that creatures were the dress of God, and that He was to be loved in them in the same manner as we should always regard a friend, a superior or parent, with the same feelings, however differently he might be clothed ; and that, as the form of the Sacrament in the Holy Communion is no hindrance to the person who believes from giving his whole attention to the treasures concealed beneath that veil, in the same manner created things, to those who love God, do not separate them from Him, but are like vehicles which lead and unite them to their beloved. When he had to endure any inconveniences which happened to him for the love of God, 444 College of the Holy Apostles. he used to call it the art of alchymy, by the power of which all things were turned into spiritual gold. When he was thus illuminated with this increase of heavenly lights and virtues during the three last years of his life, which at the time that he read the Life of St. Teresa had been confirmed by the Spiritual exercises of an entire month, a pestilential fever seized him; but in the last stage of his life he had such an abundance of Supernatural light poured down upon him, that in his aston- ishment he told the priest who was assisting him that nothing similar in all his life had ever happened to him; which was a pledge, as it is hoped, of that happiness to which his subse- quent death opened the door on the 5th of September, in the thirty-seventh year of his age, the seventeenth from his admis- sion into the Society, after having obtained the degree of formed temporal coadjutor, a little more than three years. The Annual Letters for the College of Liege, A.D. 1637, after noticing Brother William Browne, say, “The next of these victims of charity º was Gerard Rogers, who followed after a very short interval. His great intelligence and skill had enabled him to render valuable service to the College, in which he had lived with great edification. During the last three years of his life particularly he seems to have obtained by self-denial a complete victory over himself, and had thus been enabled to attain to great union with God. It was a Cause of great grief to the Community that these two great examples of virtue were withdrawn from their sight; but a sensible increase of fervour in the survivors showed that these examples were not forgotten nor disregarded.” * The third Temporal Coadjutor who died of the plague is not named in the report for 1637, but “he had showed the devotedness of his charity by four times exposing his life in the service of the infected before he was at last allowed to render it up to God for the sake of his neighbour.” BROTHER HENRY FORSTER, S.J. Like those of so many others, both religious and secular, the life of this admirable person is an illustration of the tyranny and bitter hostility of the rebel Parliament towards the Catholics and the ancient faith. * From the tone of the Annual Report we may presume that both Br. Browne and Br. Rogers, as also a third lay-brother not named, were victims of charity, and had caught the plague in the service of the infected. F O S T E R P E D I G R. E. E. The family of Foster, of Cobdoke, or Copdoke, Suffolk, is descended from Richard Foster, of Ivelych, in the parish of Shifnall, Salop, Esq. The following Pedigree, as far as William, son of Robert Foster, of Cobdoke, and Elizabeth, daughter of Goldingham, Esq., is copied from the Harleian MSS., British Museum, I Io3, f. 47. “The visitation of William Harvey, alias Clarencieulx King of Armes, of the county of Suffolk, begun I56I.” The Pedigree is also repeated in several other volumes of the Harleian MSS., but none carry it beyond the same William. From the date of the visitation we may fairly presume that William was the grandfather of Henry, the subject of our history. The Pedigree, upon this assumption, may stand thus: we suppose Henry, S.J., to be the eldest son, in possession of the estate. RICHARD FOSTER, of = MARGARET, daughter of Ivelych, Salop, Esq. MICHAEL SELMAN (? SCHNAN), Esq., co. Stafford. THOMAS (son WILLIAM of Cobdoke, - MARLYON, daughter and MICHAEL ANTHONY and heir). Suffolk, Knight and co-heir of WILLIAM Esq. - SPENCER, of Ipswich, Esq. | | | - º ROBERT of = ELIZABETH, daughter THOMAS ALICE = HUMPHREY BREWSTER, ISATHERINE = RICHARD BELLAMY, of MARY, unmarried. Cobdoke of — GOLDINGHAM, of Rushmere, Suffolk, Harrow-on-hill, Middle- Esq., of Rushmere, .* Gent. Sex, Esq. Suffolk. WILLIAM of Cobdolce = (son and heir). CHRISTOPHIER = ELIZABETH ROOKWOOD s | | º | | | | | | ROBERT, S.J., alias' BARTHOLOMEW, S.J., A Son who died at HENRY, S.J. = — MASON, daughter and 5 6 7 8 9 WILSON. Born alias DARCY. Born St. Omer's College, IBorn 16O4. one of the co-heiresses of I586. Entered I592. Entered Soc. a Scholar. w Entered Soc. of -- MASON, of county Soc. 28 Oct. I609. I616. 1652. Died of Huntingdon, Esq. 5 Dec. 1679. | | | º | | | | | | | | JosFPH, S.J. MICHAEL, S.J., JoHN. Died a ANNE. In 1676 5 6 7 8 9 IO II I 2 Born 1631. alias GULICK. Donate among Sixth Abbess - Entered Soc. Died 6 Feb. the English of Benedic- I653. Died I684, in Mary- Benedictines, tine Nuns, I3 Ap. 1686. land Mission. Douay. Brussels. To ſitce Aage 4/5. Ayoffſher AZ.enry Aºo?"Sáez. 445 Mr. Forster was a man of birth, and highly connected in the county of Suffolk. He was one of the six children of Christopher Forster, Esq., of the parish of Copdoke, in Suffolk, by his mother, Elizabeth Rookwood, of the ancient family of that name. He married the eldest of three co-heiresses, daughters of a Mr. Mason, of the county of Huntingdon, and had twelve children. The nine who survived infancy, viz. six daughters and three sons, all entered religion. The following narrative is taken from the Collectio Cardwelli, MSS., S./., Prov. Angl. Ex Arch. Belgico, Brussels. “Brother Henry Forster, my father of happy memory, was born the 20th of March, 1604, in the county of Suffolk and parish of Copdoke. His father, Christopher Forster, and mother, Elizabeth Rookwood, were both persons of unspotted fame and reputation, and great sufferers for their religion, both as to imprisonment and loss of means, of whose virtues and sufferings my father may then be said to have been a true copy, as being a son who never degenerated in the least from so worthy and virtuous parents, whose marriage God did bless with six children, two daughters and four sons, whereof my father was the youngest, who with the rest of my uncles was carefully brought up in the fear of God, and taught the Latin tongue by their own mother so far, as being afterwards sent to St. Omer's were judged fit for grammar. The two eldest entered and died in the Society; the third died at St. Omer's in the course of his studies there, where the fourth, my father, was also prosecuting the same, with an intention to follow his elder brother's example, but my grandfather thought fit to recall him at the end of Syntax, for the Support of his now old age, to my father's indeed no Small mortification, yet even Providence itself did seem to dispense then with his vocation to religion, and as it were lent him to the world for some years trial, thereby to mould him, and perhaps the better for religion hereafter, as it proved by the event. “Thus my father was forced to march back for England to practise there, in the midst of a wicked nation, the Solid virtues which he had first received from the breasts of his most pious parents, and afterwards nourished and finally brought to perfection in the no less famous school of virtue than learning, St. Omer's College I mean, whereof he gave several notable proofs, both whilst he lived in the world, and then in religion, as may be gathered out of the series of his most 446 College of the Hoſy Apostles. pious life, which I shall divide into three parts, viz. the first of prosperity, the second of adversity, and the third of religion. But before I descend into particulars, I shall first give you a glance of his virtues in general, constantly practised during the whole course of his life led in the world, to very near fifty years of age, and redoubled in the part of his adversity, which generally even moves the greatest sinners to seek and call upon God's mercy with more frequent and reiterated devotions and prayers. “I. Amongst then his general virtues, the beginning of wisdom, the fear of God, justly deserves the first place here, as I doubt not but that it had in his heart, which was so possessed therewith, yet he ever seemed to have a kind of horror for all sins, and would punish severely even the least lie in his children, nor could suffer any one in his family who was any ways given to Swearing, drinking, and the like, or other excesses, himself being always irreprehensible in them. I myself being morally certain to have heard him say and avouch, that by God’s grace he thought he had not once swore an oath in all his life, nor exceeded in drink, meat, &c. “2. Besides Thomas a Kempis, he had Father Rodriguez, of Conformity to the will of God, both which he equally cherished, and profited so well by them, that he was scarce ever observed to complain or murmur against God or man, how cross soever things happened, or whatsoever losses he sustained, which were many and frequent, at which all he was wont to say would be, Æat 70/unſas /Je: ; and indeed he had so admirable a government over all his passions, that he was never seen in any transport. “3. Next after God his devotion to our Blessed Lady was great, reciting daily her long office, but how often his beads in a day none but God and he knows, he having for the most part a little pair in his glove, which at home and abroad, unless hindered actually by company, he would be often reciting. He never failed to confess and communicate on all the feasts of Our Lady and other chief feasts of the year, to all which also he brought up his children, as soon as they were of age. Besides high public devotions, he daily said his private prayers in his closet of whole hours in the morning, and before he went to bed, and many others unknown. “4. His charity to the poor would never let any one go from his gate without alms, and moreover, allowed corn and other victuals to be distributed at several times in the year to Arother Henry Forster. 447 the poor of the parish, but frequently to all poor Catholics about him. “5. He always had a great veneration for priests, without distinction of order, all being welcome, that sometimes I remember seven or eight at a time of several Orders, but chiefly indeed did esteem those of the Society of Jesus, of whom he had taken one into his family before he was engaged with a secular priest, who was put upon him at first keeping house and continued until he broke up and sold all. “6. He always had a great care to spend his time well, whereof he thought every moment precious, and therefore what spare time his affairs and care of his family allowed, he always spent in his devotions, and instruction of his sons in the Latin tongue and catechism, entertaining a gentlewoman to instruct his daughters, and teach them all sorts of work belonging to their sex and condition, till hard times would no more allow of the expense. - “7. He was always so just and upright in all his dealings, and so punctual an observer of his word and promise, that all who knew credited him his least word, as much as a lease or bond in all its formalities, and if any difference happened amongst his friends, they would often remit the case to him to decide, and stand to his judgment. 2 -- - “8. It was his constant practice, before he went about any- thing, or to anyone, or even before he did open a letter that came to him, to say always some short prayer upon his knees before God. - “9. Displeasures, affronts, and even injuries were equally welcome to him, whether from his betters, equals, or inferiors, making a sacrifice of them all to God, with promise I believe of never opening his mouth to man concerning them, as to complain thereof, &c.; as by experience Father Charles Darcey, whilst he lived at Brusséls, had disobliged if not injured him in a high degree, as he confessed to me, but I could never get from him what it was, giving for reason that he had offered it up to God, and was not to speak of it. “Io. In fine, he was ever obliging to all, and careful never to disoblige any, not even inferiors, with the least ill or harsh language, and in his conversation prudently merry and cheerful, which gained everyone to him, in so much that all his neigh- bours, though never so great zealots otherwise in their ways, were loath to part with him when he left England. Mr. Blosse, who was a knight of the shire, asked a crucifix of him, for a 448 College of the Holy Apostles. memorial, with promise to keep it with all due reverence, which with consent of our priest, my father gave him, and one Squire Bruce kept many years correspondence with him, and often urged to send him his picture over at any rate whatsoever, that he might at least enjoy his likeness being deprived of himself, to which my father (thinking it to be out of its place, being then religious) would never consent, out of mere humility. - “(1.) Thus far in general terms; now I will descend to parti- culars, and begin the triple partition of his whole life; and first to enter into that part of his prosperity, the passage of his marriage offers me a fair entrance. When having three sisters of equal portion, but not of equal beauty (by name Mason, of the county of Huntingdon, all three heiresses), left to his choice, the beauty indeed of the youngest had gained much upon his affections, which he knew so well how to temper and command, even in the first fervour of his age, that merely not to mortify and contristate the eldest by seeing her younger sister preferred before her, made choice of the eldest, which God Almighty did particularly seem to bless, first with a numerous issue of about a dozen children, then never two humours kept better together, before nor since perhaps, for it was never observed that ever a cross word passed between them, but about eighteen years they lived together in all reciprocal love and peace, rather like brother and sister as to the exterior or public than man and wife, so far were they from imitating the froward Carriage and behaviour of most married persons now-a-days. - “The better to continue and secure this peace at home, my father was one of those several Catholic families who compounded with the King not to be molested from abroad upon the account of religion, and thus they enjoyed themselves in all peace and prosperity from about the twenty-fourth to the forty-second year of his age, in as well a regulated family as any doubtless in England, keeping always an open chapel as long as the times did allow it, and Mass constantly about eight in the morning, and at four after dinner on Sundays and Holidays, Vespers of the Divine Office read by the priest, and always at nine at night the long litanies, and in holy week the whole office of the Church with all its ceremonies, &c.; likewise for dinner, constantly at two, and supper at six in the evening. - Arother Henry Forster. 449 “The heavens having destinated my father at length for religion, and perhaps to wean him timely off from all affection to worldly pastimes, the better to sup hereafter the bitter cup of persecution which was preparing for him, gave him in all this prosperity, as it were, a dislike and a kind of aversion to all kind of youthly sports, as dancing, hawking, hunting, which he used to tell us were rather a mortification than a recreation to him. Indeed he confessed at first he had liked to have been entangled in the Snares of gaming, but his constant bad luck made them soon so tedious to him. “In fine, when at home, both father and mother were for the most part the first and last in the chapel, where both their chiefest delights did seem to be, and indeed she grew so emulous in her devotions at length, that she outstripped as it were my father and herself too, for after a discourse held with one of the Society she observed some defects in herself which hitherto she had never perceived, and hereupon she grew extreme scrupulous, thinking everything a sin, in so much that my father and our priest were obliged sometimes to bring her by force of arms from her prayers to do ordinary actions, especially the last year of her life, which I will here Suppose to be drawing nigh its last period, and with it close also the first partition of my father's triple life promised. “(2) Providence now seeming as it were fully satisfied with his courageous wading through all the vain allurements of prosperity, resolved also to try him by the fire of adversity, and the better to encourage him thereto by the example of his Sacred Redeemer, began the sad catastrophe the same day which the Church does honour for His having ended the grand work of man’s redemption, Good Friday I mean, when all being met in the chapel for Tenebrae, only my mother wanting, several messages were sent in vain, for she had barred herself in her chamber, and gave no answer ; wherefore my father himself went, but fared no better, till forcing the wainscot door open, found her in a very modest posture stretched out upon her bed, as in a quiet sleep, out of which she never awaked, and may piously be supposed, that using sometimes to be pulled away from her tedious and scrupulous devotions, she had now bound herself up to give on this great day full scope and bridle to the same, out of which it pleased God to take her, to begin His eternal praises, as is hoped, in heaven. Thus the 15th of April, 1642, and the thirty-ninth of her age, DD 450 College of the Aſo'y Apostles. she left my father widower with nine children—three sons and six daughters, whereof Michael, the least and last, had scarce a year old complete, which my father bore with great resigna- tion to God’s holy will, though nature could not but vent its grief, in four or five days keeping his chamber. But this was as it were only a little prologue to the grand scene which soon followed the cruel wars not long after breaking out, and a great persecution against Catholics, whereof my father had his share. What stories were not raised against him P of armies underground which he had trained up in his court by night: of I know not how many cooks, who after having dressed and served in a vast number of Oxen, and not so much as a bone coming out again for them to pick, all quitted his house and service; and the maid of the parson of the next parish was said to have taken her oath that she saw a cart load of bright armour enter our great gate, which vain and false report gained even so much upon sober men, that three nights together our house was beset by men sent by the chief of Ipswich for to discover the hidden army, &c., but the rabble of Ipswich was so incensed thereby, that they could scarce be kept from gathering into a head to come and pull our house down over our heads, lest we should cut their throats with the hidden army, and what they long threatened, six or seven thousand not long after of the rabble, out of the associated Counties did in a manner effect, our house being the fourth they rifled and defaced, in so much so, that one Squire Blosse, a Protestant neighbour, coming to see it after- wards could not forbear weeping. Indeed, my father had this advantage over his fellow-Catholic neighbours who com- plained more of the insolence of their own parishioners than of those who came aſar off, whereas the whole parish urged and offered to take arms to withstand the rabble, and defend Our house, which my father refused, to hinder the mischief which might thence accrue to the parish itself, choosing rather to see his house and self perish than to permit any harm to happen to any one of them, resolved according to the example of others his Catholic neighbours to abandon all to God’s holy providence; but the parish would not rest here, but came in the night with carts to transport all the chief moveables to there own houses, to which my father consented in part, fearing lest finding the house wholly unfurnished it might Occasion their own plunder. “In fine, the following day being come, my father sent Brother Henry Forster. 45 I all but me and his men servants in the morning to Protestant ‘neighbours' houses, being himself resolved to stand it out, hoping to hinder by his presence the breaking at least the windows and walls of the house, but news was brought in about noon, being at our prayers in the chapel, that the rabble began to appear in troops, and were overheard to say, that if they could catch my father (Mr. Forster) they would lock him into some chamber, and set fire to the house, whereupon as they almost entered in at one gate, we ran both out of the other, till out of sight, and abandoned all to the fury of the said rabble, which lasted not long, for the same evening by God’s providence, a warrant came from the Parliament for- bidding all such riots, which was scarce read out in the Court to them but the parish fell upon the rabble, and forcing them to abandon many lots of goods and moveables, put them all to flight, and we all returned home to a troublesome lodging the night, after such a day of confusion, during all which my father was not heard to utter one impatient word, but took all with great resignation to God's holy will, whose divine pleasure was to try him further, for soon after not to leave his now motherless children also fatherless, was forced to buy himself off two or three times from being conveyed to prison for refusing the oaths and not going to church, the common fault of most Papists in those days. “Indeed, the act of sequestration now also came forth and did seem a little to startle his courage but not his confidence, being, as it were, struck at the first news, saying, how will it be possible to maintain so great a charge of children with slender thirds of a small estate P but after a short pause, doubt- less recommending de more in some jaculatory prayer, his case to Almighty God, he bade us all cheer up, and assured us with a cheerful countenance, that as long as he had a penny, we should all have our share, and when all should be spent, that he would go a begging with us. In the meanwhile, to make a little now only left to rely upon, to stretch as far as possible, he resolved to break up housekeeping, and let out half the manner [manor] house, with tillage, to a tenant, and make money upon his own stock to live upon in the other part of the house, as it were privately, reducing his family of Some twenty, to himself, nine children, and one maid, and priest when at home. “Having thus contracted his family, and admitted, as he thought, a honest tenant under his own roof, he had conceived DD 2 452 College of the Holy Apostles. great hopes of living quietly and peaceably at home, in expec- tation of better times from abroad, but was horribly Cozened in his tenant, who had no sooner got a lace [lease] for two years for one-half of the house, but resolved to make my father soon weary of the other, and by injuries and affronts tire him out of the same, if possible, out of mad ambition only, as he confessed himself, to lord and master it both in the village and manor-house. “I. He thrust upon the sequestrator, Mr. Basely by name, some hundreds he owed my father upon agreement for my father's whole stock sold to him, to which the very seques- trator owned that he could not lay claim, seeing it concerned not the rents, and could neither refuse it, being so frankly brought and offered to him, and de facto took every farthing of it. . “2. He called and let into his quarter of the house troopers with pursuivants at midnight to take Our Cousin, indeed our priest, as they did, but nothing being proved against him, he came off well. “3. He invited and called in new royalist troopers to come and fetch a couple of saddle-horses my father had reserved for his own use, and stood himself sentinel at the gate, and helped to open the doors where the horses were, in my father's very sight, &c. “4. Not to distract his pedantic devotions on Sundays, we children were not to play in our own court, and upon Christmas days he would put on all his worst clothes, and offered twelve pence a day to every one of his men if they would not work on that day, when my father, not to give scandal, would have his very Christmas pies baked in a private oven. - “Hence you may judge of the rest; for some eight years we continued in this tribulation, under this base fellow's impudence, &c., and all this while my father was so far from reharming him, or saying the least injurious word, or would ever permit us ever to say any harm of him in our discourses of times past, even to his dying day, having I confess myself been often chidden by him for it. Being thus, I believe, wearied out by the bad times and worse tenant, and being told of Sir Edmund Beacon, a friend of his, and a Parliament man, that things were likley to go rather worse than better with Catholics, and who thereupon counselled him to lay hold of a latte act of Parliament permitting such as would to sell their Arother A/enry Forster. 453 states and leave the kingdom, he resolved to follow his counsel, whereupon I was recalled out of France, whither I was sent upon the noise of taking all the elder sons of Catholics from their parents to breed them up in heresy, for fear and horror of which he could never be brought to yield to a certain heretic gentlewoman who had long solicited to have and provide for one of his daughters, out of mere kindness, though she promised to let her have all freedom of her religion, and all helps necessary for the continuing and maintaining of it. But he was persuaded that the company alone of heretics was enough to work upon a young girl's weak brain, and that he could not so well answer to God for her, being out of his sight, and therefore would never part with her. “Being now myself arrived out of France, where I had been about four years, my father was pleased to communicate unto me his design of selling his estate, which he would not do without my consent, though in rigour he needed it not, he said, because it was not entailed upon me, and my brothers and sisters being his children as well as I, he was obliged in conscience to provide for them as such, and the hard times not permitting him to make any reserve, but by their con- tinuance might ruin us all, he thought it prudence to make the best of what was left, and to divide it amongst us all, which I could not gainsay ; but when it came to the execution it was an unexpected hundred or two out of his way to get off the aforesaid composition with the then king for his religion, which at length happily effected, he sold all to Sir Thomas and Mr. Anthony Bedingfield in the year 1649, and having sent me with my brother John to St. Omer's, in the month of May, himself with the others his children, having cleared all things so that no one could challenge the worth of a penny of him, on the 5th of August following took leave of his house and native soil, to go into a voluntary banishment for religion sake, and came to Antwerp and Brussels, in which latter place he continued between two or three years, spending the mornings in the churches in an immoveable posture, to the admiration of the whole town, and the afternoons in visiting the same and other chapels of devotion. He dieted himself and brother Michael with Mr. Bedingfield, but put my sisters to pension among the Devotes, and not into monasteries, not to seem to thrust them into religion, but to leave it wholly to God and their own choice, which by God’s grace they all five chose before two years came about. My brother John not 454. College of the Holy Apostles. having indeed the least genius for studies, broke them off, and was admitted to the noviceship at Watten, but had not the good luck to continue, but died afterward in quality of a Donate amongst the English Benedictines at Douay. He had 24, 20 a year settled upon him for his life. I chose the Society, being now almost at the end of rhetoric, in which I was admitted on the 23rd of August, 1653. There only remained my brother Michael as it were unsettled, being only in the lower schools at St. Omer's : however, he settled 24, 330 for him, and to the monasteries of Sepulchrins at Liege, Benedictine Dames at Brussels, and English Teresians at Liege, where my six sisters were, to each house about 24, 6oo, and upon himself and me, 24, 4oo a piece, and thus made all even with the world, himself, and children, with which also I conclude my second part and task begun, and now shall follow him into religion, which in effect I entered some three months after him, viz.: he about the middle of May, 1653, and I at the end of August following. - “(3) Being now come to the third and last part of my father's pious life, viz., led in religion, of which there being many other eye-witnesses of our own, who lived constantly with him, which I did not, I think I ought rather to leave this part to them than myself, who might perhaps be thought also partial, though I do profess hereby, that as to the substance of all aforesaid, I have not added a word more than what of my own experience I knew to be true, and what I received and heard of others worthy of belief. - º “One circumstance I must not omit here, his resolution being known of becoming religious, he was highly counselled by the English Benedictines at Douay, and invited thither with promise of making him presently priest, but he thanked them, acknowledging his want of learning to be able to comply with the obligation of so high a dignity, and therefore had chosen rather the degree of a temporal coadjutor in the Society of Jesus, into which he was admitted at Watten, on the 16th of May, in the year 1653, about the fiftieth year of his age, where after his admittance he seemed to lay down his title of even father of his own children, whom henceforth he scarce ever styled otherwise than his brothers and sisters, and continued always so contented and satisfied with his vocation and con- dition, that he often told me, notwithstanding several difficulties according to nature he had experienced in his change of life, Brother Henry Forster. 45.5 yet that he would not change his state for that of king or emperor whatsoever, a proof of which may be reckoned his cheerful, and pious conversation in every time and place, observing otherwise most exactly even the least rule or order of the house, to which also he often excited me, I confess, both by example and word, whenever we met, as we often did. Whatever time his employments afforded was sure to be spent in hearing all the Masses he could in the morning, and after dinner in devotions before the Blessed Sacrament, which he daily and frequently visited. His most general employment was buyer, as long as he was able to go abroad, and porter at home till almost his dying day, so that in his later years, when his feet began to fail him, he would keep as it were to the gate to serve his poor. He had also a care of the strangers' chambers, which he kept so clean and orderly, as well as his own room, that I have often heard ours say that the exterior cleanliness was a great argument of his well-Ordered and pure conscience. In fine, wheresoever obedience required his help, in whatsoever other domestic office, he was ever ready, without the least reply and effect, all with so much forward cheerful- ness, as if he had ever been trained up to obey, and never had a family of his own to command for about thirty years together.” So far this deeply interesting narrative. It only remains to say that his son Joseph followed his father's good resolution, and entered the Society in the same degree of temporal coadjutor three months after his father, in August, I653. His son Michael was born in 1642. At the age of eighteen, and on the 3oth of October, I 659, he was admitted an Alumnus of the English College in Rome; and on the 5th of April, 1660, he left the College and entered the Society at Watten, and died in the Maryland Mission on the 6th of February, 1684, aged forty-two. He passed there by the name of Gulick, and was Superior of that mission from 1678 to 1683. The following report is extracted from the Annual Letters, S.J., for the year I 653– “Among those who joined our Society, to the great edifica- tion, example, and admiration both of Ours and of the Flemish, was Henry Forster, a man of high family and well to do. His wife having died some time before, his six daughters took the veil, and he himself, with his eldest son, consecrated themselves amongst us in the year 1653. His son, indeed, having, with 456 College of the Holy Apostles. credit to himself, completed his course of humanities at St. Omer's College, would have been adjudged fit for the priesthood, had he been disposed to have prosecuted his higher studies; but he determined to follow his father's example, in the humble and laborious lot of Martha.” The Annual Letters S.J. for the year 1679, among the Summary of the deceased, thus mentions the death of this holy patriarch, Brother Henry Forster— “Brother Henry Forster, a native of Suffolk, died the 5th of April, 1679, aged seventy-five. In religion, twenty-seven years; formed temp. Coad., sixteen years. After having lived in the married state for eighteen years, and had a large family of either sex (the whole of which followed his example), becoming a widower, he joined the camp of religion, late indeed in life, but in very earnest. From the first day of his noviceship, he Courageously set himself to the work of taming his nature, Chiefly applying himself to the subjection of obstinate motions of anger, to which the natural temperament of his body rendered him very liable. So great was the victory he gained over himself in this regard, that none was more mild, none more humble, than he. He was never wanting in the virtue of charity, and was always intent upon labour, and practices of piety, and prayer, as became his degree in the Society—that of Martha. He was a great lover of poverty, and hence arose his great affection towards the poor themselves, to whom he was exceedingly devoted. He was most observant of the rules in the minutest points. “Full of years and merits, and fortified by all the rites of Holy Church, he Sweetly slept in Our Lord, the day and year above mentioned.” Dodd” makes the following mention of one of Brother Forster's daughters, quoting from the Records of her convent. “Anne Forster, daughter of Henry Forster, of Caddock Hall [Cobdoke, or Copdoke], in Suffolk, Esquire, became a Benedictine nun, and was chosen the sixth Abbess of the English convent of her Order at Brussels, in the year 1676; and she surrendered the dignity after enjoying it for about six years. It is remarkable of this family of the Forsters that not only her father became a Jesuit, but all his children entered into religious Orders, viz., three Sons and three daughters.” Dodd is correct about the Sons, but not so about the daughters. * Church. Hist, vol. iii. p. 325. Father /ames Mumford. 457 FATHER JAMES MUMFORD.—This able writer, and dis- tinguished member of the English Province S.J., was a native of Norfolk. He was born in the year 1606, entered the Society at Watten the 8th of December, 1626, and made his Solemn profession in 1641. In 1642 he was at the English College, Liege, in the capacity of Minister, Consultor, &c. He was afterwards also Rector of that College. In or about the year 1650, he was sent to the English Mission, and Norwich appears to have been his allotted portion. The Catalogue of the Province for the year 1655 notices him as serving in this College or District, with a goodly number of offices he had filled in the Society attached to his name, such as Rector, Spiritual Father, Socius Master of Novices, Professor of Sacred Scripture, &c.; and with all this, that “he was of weak health.” He was also Rector or Superior of this College, which, as he had also done at Liege, he governed with charity towards his |brethren, and was an example to them of every religious virtue. He was a man intimately united to God by prayer, and most zealous for the divine honour and the salvation of souls. He was distinguished for his charitable compassion for the suffering souls in purgatory; applying to their relief every good work he could. He was inflamed with an ardent desire of suffering something for Christ, and God was pleased to grant him his desire ; for a few years before his death, being betrayed at Norwich, he was seized by the insolent Parliamentary soldiers, and thrust into a filthy prison, having been first led round the city in his priestly vestments, amidst the scoffs of the rabble, and with the sacred ornaments of the altar carried aloft on spears in a sort of military triumphal procession, with swords and muskets. All this while, Father Mumford was elated in spirit, rejoicing that he was found worthy to suffer such indignity for the Name of Jesus; and this he so clearly mani. fested in his countenance, that the mob, at first insolent, changed their sentiments into feelings of compassion for the sufferer. After a few days he was put on board a vessel, tightly handcuffed, and his feet fettered ; and after a full day and night's voyage, was taken to Great Yarmouth, a town thirty miles distant from Norwich. But in consequence of a dispute between the two towns respecting their chartered rights, he was remanded to Norwich, where he was much more humanely treated than before. A private apartment in the prison was assigned him, and permission given to the Catholics to visit him. By some of these he was furnished with a 458 College of the Aſo'y Apostles. breviary and other books, and took that opportunity to write a treatise, in which he clearly demonstrated that the Catholic doctrine was maintained by Holy Scripture. After spending Some months in prison, he was liberated on bail, and bound to appear at stated times at the Assizes before the Bench. This Condition he frequently and duly complied with, although most inconvenient on account of the distance from his place of residence, till at length his accuser ceased to appear against him ; and as they could produce no legal evidence of his priesthood, he was finally discharged by the judges. After these occurrences, he was Superior of the same district, in which he was an indefatigable labourer, until his death, in England, on the 9th of March, 1666.87 The Annual Letters of the English Province for the College of Liege, 1650–1, after stating that there were twenty fathers, twelve students in theology, &c., go on to report an occurrence connected with the treatise of Father Mumford on compassion for the faithful departed souls in Purgatory. Of this pious and instructive treatise the first edition had been nearly all sold out ; and William Triessemius, the printer at Cologne, was about to print and publish a second edition, when a son of his, four years old, was taken dangerously ill, and, deriving no benefit from medical treatment, seemed drawing near his end. The pious father seeking for consolation in religion, took up the first spiritual book that presented itself, which happened to be Father Mumford's treatise. Meeting with that part of it in which the author represents works of charity to the souls in Purgatory as very efficacious for obtaining all favours from God, the good man felt himself inspired to have recourse to this means to obtain of God the recovery of his child. His trade suggested the special mode; and, betaking himself to the Church, kneeling before the high altar, he vowed to Almighty God as follows: “O Lord, my God, if it please your Divine Majesty, to restore my boy to health, I here vow to distribute one hundred copies gratis of this treatise to Religious and Ecclesiastics, those most likely to diffuse the devotion it recommends.” Having made this vow, and returned home from his shop to dinner, he heard with joy and gratitude that his son was asking for food, and the next day the child's recovery was already far advanced. The father faithfully accomplished his vow. This worthy bookseller experienced a second time the 37 Vide Father Southwell, Bib. Script. SJ. Aather /o/m Clare. - 459 efficacy of his charity. His wife became dangerously ill, but recovered on his promising to distribute two hundred copies of the salutary work. . Father Mumford’s works were : A Remembrance for the Ziving to fºray for the ZDead. This admirable treatise upon the doctrine of Purgatory has passed through several editions, and a reprint of it has been lately put out by the Rev. Father Morris, S.J. (London: Burns and Oates.) Also, A Defence of St. Gregory's ZXia/ogues. His great work, which, Dr. Oliver well observes, will ever stamp his name as a controversialist, is Zhe Question of Quesſions, under the assumed name of Oſtatus Zuctor, which has also passed through several editions. Nor must we omit his Catholic Scripturist, written, as has been noticed above, while he was imprisoned for the faith he there So ably advocates. } FATHER JOHN CLARE. Father John Clare (really Sir John Warner), the celebrated convert of his day, who became a Jesuit, passed to the Society of Jesus from this College. John Warner, Esq., of Parham, one mile from Framlingham, Suffolk, was created a baronet by King Charles II., on the 16th of July, 1660, in reward for his loyalty and faithful services. On the 7th of June, 1659, he married Miss Trevor Hanmer, whose father had been created a baronet by James I., the 8th of July, I62o. He had two daughters, both of whom, at a proper age, consecrated themselves to God in the holy and happy state of religion. By the goodness of God, Sir John and Lady Warner were converted to the Catholic faith in the year 1664. Ilady Warner, with her sister- in-law, Miss Elizabeth Warner, were the first reconciled to the Church, on the 23rd of June, 1664, and Sir John followed their example on the 6th of July of the same year. Their unreserved correspondence with divine grace procured for them the in- estimable favour of a vocation to perfection in the religious state of life. For this purpose they consented to separate, and renounce each other in time, in the assured hope of being reunited in heaven, never to part again. Sir John Warner resigned his estates to his brother Francis, in October, 1664, and reached Watten, the Novitiate of the English Province, S.J., on the 20th of March, 1665, where on the 24th of that month he was admitted to his noviceship, under the assumed Iname of John Clare. 46O College of the Holy Apostles. In consequence of the death of his brother Francis, who was drowned off Nieuport, on the 3rd of April, 1667 (he had intended to embrace there the austere life of a Carthusian), Sir John was obliged to defer his simple vows of religion until the 1st of November, 1667. In 1685, November 29th, he was made Rector of Watten, and Master of Novices ; and on Sunday, the 4th of December, 1689, he was declared Pro- vincial of the English Province. He held this office for nearly four years, when he retired again to Watten. He died there the 20th of March, 1705. Several of Father John Clare's business letters to the Very Reverend Father General and others, are bound up in vol. v. MSS. Angl., Stonyhurst. It will be interesting to add some particulars of the con- version of this distinguished member of the English Province. They are gathered from the Zife of Zady Warner, of AEarham, in Æeligion called “Sister Clare of Jesus,” London, 1692. It mentions briefly the interview of Father Hanmer, S.J., with his cousin, Lady Warner, which led to her conversion on the 23rd June, 1664, at Parham, by means of Father Travers, S.J., then a missioner in the College of the Holy Apostles.” On her making known to Sir John her conviction of the truth of the Catholic religion, and her wish to embrace it, he urged her not to be too rash, adding, “How uncomfortable a thing it would be for them to be of different religions; that he had a soul to save as well as she ; and that no temporal interest or loss of reputation should hinder him from doing what was necessary to obtain Salvation. That he was troubled no less than herself upon what she had related; and assured her that he would not rest satisfied till he was thoroughly convinced which of the two religions was the truest; that perhaps after diligent inquiry he might be of the same mind, and that it would be most comfortable for both to be received into the same church together. But he believed this gentleman (Father Travers) would not be able to answer such difficulties as he would propose to him concerning the Roman Catholic faith; which if he could not, she would have little reason to acquiesce in those arguments he had given her for it. And lastly, desired her, for some time at least, to defer for his sake, the change of her religion, at the same time leaving her to do what she * A full notice of Father Francis Hanmer is reserved ſor a future series —the history of the College of St. Francis Xavier, or South Wales District, to which he was attached. Aather /o/ºn Clare. 461 thought best if his reasons did not satisfy her.” Hereupon she resolved to defer her reconciliation for a while. The next morning, Sir John accosted the gentleman (Father Travers), not doubting but that the difficulties he had to pro- pose were unanswerable. Father Travers, however, politely eluded all questions that might occasion a dispute in religion. Sir John, perceiving this, told him that he wondered he showed not the same zeal for his soul, that he had expressed for his wife's, and did not give him the same satisfaction in his doubts, that he found he had given her in hers. Father Travers, per- ceiving that she had informed Sir John of what had passed, desired him to propose his difficulties; which he had no sooner done, but the Father so clearly and easily answered them, that Sir John was astonished, and had nothing to reply to his answers, they being so convincing. Amongst other things, Sir John asked him, what rational grounds there were for a belief in Purgatory P Hereupon he solidly explicated them, showing the difference between the guilt of punishment, and guilt of offence, by the example of David, who after the pardon of his transgression, had the punishment of it inflicted upon him by the death of his child; and so ingeniously moralized upon God's infinite goodness and mercy, that would not permit Him to damn a soul for one small offence, no more than His justice would suffer anything that was defiled to enter into heaven; and therefore required either a voluntary penance or mortification to be undergone in this life, or an involuntary punishment to be suffered in the next, to purify such a soul, and thereby render it fit for heaven; and also clearly explained the difference between a voluntary satisfaction made for sin in this life, and a necessary undergoing the punishment inflicted for it in the next; and how much more acceptable the one must needs be to God than the other, and that therefore a small penance performed in this world was able to satisfy more than many years great suffering could do in the next—the One being freely and willingly undertaken, the other suffered by force. Sir John was so much touched by this discourse, that he told the Father, “That were he convinced there was a Purgatory (as he should be, were he once a Roman Catholic), he should use the best means he could to avoid it; and he thought none better than to betake himself to a religious course of life; the Toman Catholic Church affording this means of avoiding it, having many religious houses, whither such as perceived the great danger the world is exposed to, and the little satisfaction 462 College of the Holy Apostles. it gave, might retire themselves as to a secure harbour ; which happiness his own religion wanted.” The Father earnestly discouraged Sir John from such an undertaking, as not being necessary for salvation, and incompatible with his circum- stances in life; advising him to take a much more important course, viz., the disposing himself to become a member of the IRoman Catholic Church, out of which there was no Salvation; and giving him sound advice how to set about this great work. Sir John told him he would follow his advice, but, being a matter of such great weight, he would first consult others of his own religion, who probably might be able to return some satisfactory answer to the doubts raised in his mind about the truth of the Protestant religion, although he could not himself do so. He begged the Father to give in writing shortly, the points of religion in which the Catholics and Protestants differed, and the arguments, &c. What most surprised Sir John was to find that the chief things objected against Roman Catholics, and which he had thought unanswerable, were either false, or falsely represented; such as idolatry, of merit, forgiving sins beforehand, or giving leave to sin, &c. The Father promised to do so shortly, and the very day he (Father Travers) left Parham, Sir John resolved to set upon this all-important work. He therefore most earnestly begged of Almighty God to direct him into that same way that leads to bliss, and which Himself came into the world to mark out, that by the knowledge of it he might come to Salvation. While he proceeded in these pious exercises, it pleased God to bring into his mind certain good thoughts and resolutions of living a more virtuous life, which he had made in a recent dangerous illness, if his life was then spared. A dream also came fresh to his memory, to urge him on, which he had had not long before, of his being ready to receive the sentence of eternal damnation before the Great Tribunal, and how much he then wished he might return again to the world, to make satisfaction by a new life for his past offences. Also how insignificant all the pleasures and satisfactions of this world then appeared, and how willingly he would have sacrificed them all to have freed himself from the eternal misery he seemed about to be involved in. These things, presented in so lively a manner to his mind, wonderfully urged him on, and caused him to make an oblation of himself to God, begging pardon for past sins, and to teach him how to love and serve Him hereafter. The fear of his Aather /ohn C/are. 463 wife's death before his own, and the same thought of leading a religious life that had so affected him when discussing the doctrine of Purgatory with Father Travers, again offered itself to his consideration, as a means to make death and judgment (the most terrible of all things), comfortable and pleasant ; and that nothing could so much dispose him for such a necessary separation as death would one day make between him and his lady, as a voluntary separation beforehand for the love of God. Sir John was so violently carried away with these thoughts, that they prevented his giving any reflection upon changing his religion; a step so necessary to such a state of life he was so urged to embrace. He communicated them to Lady Warner, who received them with a flood of tears, the Cause of which Sir John not understanding, begged her to think nothing more about it; for unless she was of the same mind he would put such thoughts away. But she assured him that her tears were those of joy, that she was still of the same mind as formerly, regarding a religious life being the happiest in the world, but she had always put such thoughts aside, as opposed to her calling in life, and not daring to utter them for fear of wounding his feelings. Among other things she impressed upon him, as Father Travers had done, that a religious state they both so desired could only follow their being made members of the Roman Catholic Church, none but that affording the happiness of such a retirement, and that therefore they ought first to satisfy themselves and embrace this. Sir John then retired to his closet, where he suffered an intense agony of mind from various disquiets, perplexities, &c., all helping to ripen his conversion. Finding ease in no diver- sion, although it was but ten days since Father Travers' departure, he resolved to go in person to him and get the promised paper, from which he hoped to receive some comfort and satisfaction. He found him just starting for Parham, with the summary of the Catholic doctrine. He invited him back with him to Parham, where, reading the articles over to Sir John and Lady and Miss Warner, the two last were so thoroughly convinced that they resolved to take the oppor- tunity of the Father's presence to be received into the Catholic Church before his departure. This they did, upon the eve of St. John the Baptist’s feast, and received the most Holy Communion on that festival. But Sir John resolved to hear what those of his Church would say to the reasons set down in the said treatise, before he would make any change of religion. 464 College of the Holy Apostles. Wherefore he obtained leave of the Father to show it to some learned men of the Protestant Church, and for this end prevailed upon the Father to meet him in London, that they might be able to confer about the objections that others should make as to what he had set down in his treatise. Arrived in London, Sir John first applied to Dr. Buck, with whom, although he had formerly been his grandfather's chaplain, and had baptized him, he had no personal acquaint- ance. The Doctor, who was a free-and-easy man, read over the paper with Sir John, without even asking who he was, and (as he had also done in his interview with Lady Warner, as we have mentioned in the said memoir of Father Hanmer), made no objection either against the Real Presence, prayer to Saints, Purgatory, or satisfaction for sins. But when he came to that point that there was no true ordination or priest- hood in the Protestant Church (for a proof whereof Father Travers had alleged what Dr. Thorndike in his Weights and Measures wished, “That since ſhere was a greaf doubt in so essentia/ a Żozná, they zwould submit to a re-ordination by the suffragazz àishops of Æome,” the Doctor was so moved that he declared “the author of that pamphlet deserved severe punishment.” And when Sir John endeavoured to pacify him, telling him his citation was out of a Protestant author, and therefore, unless false, was not so much to be blamed, yet the Doctor could not be persuaded to read any further, which, when Sir John perceived, he desired the Doctor “that he would vouchsafe at least to inform him, since there was a doubt in the Protestant Church of a point of so great con- sequence as that of true ordination was, whether there could be any danger of his Salvation, if for this reason, as well as for the advantage of religious houses, which the Protestant Church wanted (finding himself most particularly moved to a religious state of life), he should quit the Protestant religion he was bred up in, to become a member of the Roman Catholic Church P” The Doctor expressed his concern that there wanted that conveniency in the Protestant Church, but would not own a want of ordination, and still inveighed against the author of that embarrassing assertion, and earnestly per- Suaded Sir John to continue in the Church of England, which was very good, and had everything necessary for salvation; assuring him that in a short time they would both be united, the chief difference between them being the Pope's supremacy, a power Christ had not given him ; their Church allowing him Father John CZare. 465 the primacy, but not to be Supreme Bishop; which question he believed would be decided by a condescension on both sides Sir John was not satisfied with this absurd and illogical answer, but resolved to go to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Sheldon, whom Dr. Buck had quoted to be of his opinion. And, that he might not be too troublesome to his Grace, he reduced what he intended to propose to him to three queries: First—Whether there were a Church established by Christ, out of which there was no salvation P Second—Whether the Roman Catholic Church were a member of this P g * Third—Whether there was salvation in the Roman Catholic Church P - Arrived at Lambeth Palace, his Grace would not give him an audience before he sent up his name, which he did, con- cealing his title. To the first question Dr. Sheldon answered affirmatively. To the second, he said “ it was a corrupted member; ” whereupon Sir John asked him “if it erred in any fundamental point?” He answered, “It did not, for then it would be no Church.” Hence out of the premisses granted, Sir John drew this conclusion to his third query, telling the Archbishop that then it evidently followed there was salvation in the Roman Catholic Church. But his Grace told him “that for Roman Catholics bred and born there might be Salvation, but for him who owned himself to be an educated or bred and born Protestant it was very doubtful, it being very dangerous to leave a pure Church to enter into one defiled with errors.” Sir John replying, out of his own words, “that they not erring in fundamental points, he humbly conceived it could not be so dangerous as his Grace asserted, to embrace the Roman Catholic religion;” to which the reply was, “that he was not so competent a judge of this as himself, and there- fore should rely upon his (the Archbishop's) Opinion, rather than upon his own.” Sir John humbly submitted his judgment on this point; but having understood from Dr. Buck the esteem his Grace had for a religious state, from an expression he had let fall when robing in the lobby to go into the House of Lords, viz., “How happy it would be did their Church afford such a conveniency as the Church of Rome did, that brethren might dwell together in unity, and what a comfort their con- versations would be to each other,” resolved to propose the Same question to him as he had done to Dr. Buck, which gave IEE 466 College of the Holy Apostles. him occasion of relating this passage concerning his Grace, viz., “Whether the embracing a religious state might not be a sufficient warrant and motive for a Protestant to become a Catholic?” His Grace avoided the question by asking Sir John whether he were married ? Who replying that he was, the Bishop answered, “that it was a vain proposition, because the state he was in rendered the other incompatible.” Sir John answered, he humbly conceived that a mutual consent would meet all difficulties. Dr. Sheldon then asked him if he had any children, and he replied that he had. Whereupon his Grace told him that he was obliged in conscience to see them educated. Sir John met this by saying that he con- sidered he should be better satisfying his conscience by leaving them to a trusty friend with sufficient maintenance, than by educating them himself with risk of his own Salvation. They were here interrupted by a boy of about ten years. of age, a relative of the Archbishop's, who was going to Westminster School, with whom the time was consumed in asking trifling questions; while Sir John, who sat by, justly concluded that the danger of becoming Catholic was not so great as my lord affirmed, otherwise he would have thought his time better spent in Satisfying him in a business of such great moment. The Archbishop at length told him “that since his weighty affairs allowed him not so much time as the answering his doubts required, he would recommend him to one who should make it his business to do so; ” and therefore called one of his gentlemen-in-waiting, and Ordered him to accompany Sir John to Dr. Dolbin, the Dean of Westminster, afterwards Bishop of Rochester, and finally of York, and in his name desire the Dean to render him what service was in his power, in the business he came about.” As Sir John was going out of the palace he met Dr. San- Croft (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury), a neighbour and acquaintance of his, entering in, who offered him his service, and probably afterwards informed his Grace of the rank of his visitor. For at the Thames' side, Sir John, meeting Dr. Dolbin just landed at Lambeth Stairs, desired my lord's gentleman to say nothing to him, but return back and follow the Doctor to his Grace, whom he found much more civil and obliging than before; who after he had talked nearly a * The similarity between Sir John's case and that of Father Walsingham cannot fail to strike the reader. Aather /o/* Clare. 467 quarter of an hour with the Doctor, they both came to Sir John, and his Grace assured him that he had thoroughly informed the Doctor of his difficulties, and that he was ready, whenever he pleased, to give him Satisfaction in them, and Dr. Dolbin, at Sir John's request, promised to expect him at his house the next morning for that end. Sir John went according to appointment, and was imme- diately introduced into his closet, where, perceiving by the Doctor's endeavours to prevent his proposing his doubts, as well as by his answering such as had been proposed to his Grace much after the same manner as the Archbishop before him, that he was not likely to have the Satisfaction he expected, made few or no objections to what was said, thinking it better to go away quietly, as in appearance satisfied, than otherwise give occasion of dissatisfaction both to the Archbishop and the Doctor, and thereby cause them to divulge what few knew of, to wit, the disquiet and uneasiness he found in the Pro- testant religion. Nor was the Doctor much bent upon inquiring into doubts, but took Occasion to ask many Curious questions; such as, his wife's name, what relation she was to his old friend Sir John Hanmer, and being informed she was his sister, he made greater professions and offers of service to Sir John than before, for which he returned him thanks. The Doctor also offered him a book called 7%e z0/loſe duty of 7/lan, which he civilly declined, telling him that he had it already. Where- upon the Doctor counselled him “diligently to peruse that book, and that he would engage soul for soul, provided he followed the advice he met with there, that he should be as happy both in this world and the next as he could hope to be by his entering into a religious state.” He added also, as Dr. Buck had done, “that it was a mere functilio the Pope stood upon which hindered the union of the two Churches, a thing he hoped to live to see decided ; and assured him that whenever any other difficulties occurred he should find him ready at all times to answer them, and to render him what further service he was able.” Which Sir John humbly thanked him for and took his leave, resolving now to embrace (as the Securest way) that religion in which both allowed salva- tion, rather than remain in one where the contrary Church (which the Archbishop had owned to be a true one), denied that any could be saved. As soon as he had taken this resolution he began to find Some interior repose and quiet in his soul, which from his EE 2 468 College of the A/o/y Apost/es. first doubts about the truth of the Protestant religion had been continually upon the rack, especially during the time he was in London, and it had so affected his health that he feared by his present feelings of indisposition that some violent sickness would follow, and wrote accordingly to Lady Warner, who, fearing that he might be worse than his letter stated, hastened to London on horseback. But Providence ordered this for their mutual satisfaction, that she might be present at his reception into the Catholic Church; he having appointed the next morning after her arrival to meet Father'Travers for that purpose. Sir John was reconciled the 6th of July, 1664, and afterwards experienced such a transport and security in his Soul, that it is impossible for any one to imagine what this is but those that have felt it. This step now ushered him on to execute his other design, of leaving the world. The enemy of mankind, having failed to hinder the former, resolved to prevent, if possible, the latter; objecting to him in lively Colours the Sweets of fortune he so abundantly possessed, in family, rank, estates, &c., with the difficulties of observing poverty, chastity, and obedience. But God's grace assisted him with reasons to answer these objections, by a reflection upon the transitory nature of such happiness, and that if he refused to follow God’s call he might thereby provoke Him to deprive him of what he chiefly took a pleasure in, as a just punishment for that ingratitude, and thereby make him as well miserable in this world as in the next, for refusing to restore to God what He had so liberally bestowed upon him. . - These thoughts increased his desire to abandon the world and live a religious life; and finding Lady Warner's inclina- tions intensely the same, Sir John resolved speedily to dispose his affairs for his going to the Continent by a settlement of his estates, and in order to do so he sent for his brother, Mr. Francis Warner, who was then in London. . As soon as his brother came to Parham, Sir John discovered his intention to him ; that, having no son, he desired to make him heir of his estates, Securing portions to each of his daughters, and that he would make no conditions with him that might sway him to do what he himself was not convinced was for the best, but only desired, in requital, that he would do what he had done himself, viz., ſaying aside Öož/, /assºon and interest, examine the principles of both religions, and upon solid motives embrace that which he should find the most Secure Father /o/ºn Clare. 469 for his eternal happiness, and daily beg of God, by His Sacred Passion, to direct him into the true way to salvation. Mr. Warner promised to do so, and for this end accompanied Sir John to London, where, being present at a dispute between Father Travers and Dr. Chamberlain, then chaplain to the Duke of Ormonde, he was so convinced of the danger of continuing a Protestant, that he soon after reconciled himself to the Roman Catholic Church, and afterwards told his brother that he was more obliged to him for the manner of giving him the estate, thah for the estate itself. For at first he was so sure of the truth of his own religion, that, had these advan- tageous offers been made to him upon condition of his abandoning Protestantism, he would sooner have refused the estate than have forsaken his religion, and so had never . enjoyed that happiness now experienced in his soul, beyond his powers to express, and far exceeding any he could hope for in the enjoyment of the estate.” Whilst Sir John was in London thus settling his affairs, Lady Warner did the like at Parham, by disposing things in such an order that as soon as he returned he might not be hindered, ſrom his journey. She made an inventory of all things in and about the house, that nothing might be em- bezzled, or out of the way when called for by Mr. Francis Warner; and she had done all this so carefully, that Sir John at his return ſound nothing wanting for his departure. Where- fore he, with Lady Warner, his two children, and sister, left IParham the 20th of October, I 664, and came to London, where she stayed till the 27th, upon which day, with Miss Elizabeth Warner, her sister-in-law, and his kinswoman, Mrs. Frances Skelton, his two children Catherine and Susan, and a servant, with One Mrs. Fausset, a woman who knew the Low Countries and was accustomed to conduct young gentle- women on their way to convents, began their journey towards Dover. Lady Warner then changed her name to Clare. They immediately embarked on arriving at Dover, Sir John remain- ing privately in London to see what consequences might follow their departure, and to prevent any ills that might ensue. A particular providence made them take the first oppor- tunity ; for no sooner had they left London, but IDr. Edward Warner, one of the King's physicians, and uncle to Sir John, 40 It may be added that several of the servants and neighbours at Parham followed the examples of Sir John and Lady Warner, and became Catholics. 47O College of the Holy Apostles. heard of it; he procured an order from the King and Council to stop them. The Mayor of Dover did not receive it until the packet boat was gone. He took a gentleman who happened to sail in the same packet to be Sir John. The Mayor therefore made a return to the Privy Council accordingly. - Dr. Warner, upon the supposition that Sir John with his whole family was gone abroad, endeavoured to secure his nephew's estate, and therefore petitioned the King and Council for a grant of it, upon pretext of keeping it out of the Jesuits' hands, who had, he alleged, persuaded Sir John out of his estate, as well as his religion, and had been the principal authors of his rash undertaking. His Majesty, who did not like importunities of that kind, endeavoured to put him off with a jest, telling him, “if Sir John /ad a mind to make himself one of God A/mighty's foo/s, he must /tave patience; and that Žf he would lef /ai/, alone a little, he himself would soon be weary of the course /he had undertaken.” The Doctor, how- ever, persisted; urging that it was to prevent the ruin of a family that had always been faithful to His Majesty, and the ſing at last told him to go to the attorney-general, and order him in his name to do what the law required for the security of the estate. The author of the above-mentioned life here makes a digression for the purpose of showing the incorrectness, if nothing worse, of Dr. Warner's charge against the Society of Jesus. He mentions, first, the strong dissuasions used by Father Travers with Sir John against hastily entering upon his proposed state of life. Secondly, upon a strong scruple which Sir John experienced in his noviceship, that after pro- viding for his children, he should have given the residue of the estate to pious uses, especially a portion of it that had formerly belonged to an ancient abbey, his Superior assured him that in the settlement he had made he had acted most prudently, and had prevented clamours and disturbances which might have arisen upon any different arrangement; and, as to the obligation of restitution he was quite free, for the Pope had by a special decree of dispensation (sent into England by Cardinal Pole in the reign of Queen Mary), made the possession of such property lawful to all persons, even Catholics, counselling them only to a greater liberality in almsgiving to obtain God's blessing upon their estates, which they thus enjoyed by His dispensation. . Father /o/izz Clare. 47 I Sir John, finding his uncle still busy in his earnest pursuit after his estate, though he was assured by his counsel that the deed of settlement was valid, and could only be set aside by an Act of Parliament, thought it better to come forward and check his uncle, than allow him and his brother to be engaged in litigation. Having been out of London for a day, with his father-in-law, Sir Thomas Hanmer, on his return, the same night, he went to the tavern nearest to his uncle's house in Covent Garden, and sent word to let Dr. Warner know that a friend desired to speak with him there. When his uncle came, he was so overjoyed at the unexpected sight of Sir John, or perhaps so confounded at what he had done, that he was unable to Speak. His nephew, out of compassion, was forced to make that apology for him, which he ought to have made himself; thanking him for the pains and trouble he had taken for the security of the estate; though there was no need of it; inasmuch as he had settled it as firmly as possible by law upon his brother Francis, who, if he had consulted him, would have shown him the deeds ; wherefore, now he was assured of this from his own mouth, he hoped that he would desist from giving himself or his brother any further trouble in this affair. This he promised to do, and was as good as his word. Brother John Clare, now in his noviceship at Watten, met with a serious distraction by the accidental death of that brother, Mr. Francis Warner, upon whom he had settled his estates. This obliged him, by order of his Superior, to make a journey to England for a resettlement of them, as they now reverted to him as heir-at-law of Francis. The particulars of these events are too interesting to be omitted. In the month of January, 1667, Mr. Francis Warner visited his brother at Watten. On his way through the Low Countries he visited several religious houses, and among others the English Carthusians at Nieuport, where the admirable order and cheerfulness he beheld amongst them, amidst so much solitude and austerity, had already, by the influence of grace, so touched his heart, that he resolved to follow his brother's example in quitting the world. He never mentioned his design until, one night at Liege, he and his brother being alone together, he asked to borrow his biretta, which he put on, and asked him how he looked in it? Brother Clare answered, it became him very well, and that he did not doubt but if God gave him inclination to a religious state, he would find the Same happiness and satisfaction in it as he himself had done. 472 College of the Holy Apostles. Mr. Francis Warner replied, with tears, that he was sorry he had not profited by his education at school as he wished he had done, since by reason of his neglect he could not now be so happy as to be his brother also in religion. But, he added, that he had made a resolution of becoming a Carthusian, in which Order literature was not so absolutely necessary as in the Society. He expressed his intention to hasten back to England, there to settle affairs, and on his way to make the Spiritual Exercises of the Society at Watten, to try his vocation. Brother Clare was overjoyed at this welcome and unexpected news, and encouraged his brother with seasonable counsels. On his way, Francis took his two nieces, Brother Clare's children, from the Ursuline Convent, Liege, to the English monastery of Benedictine Dames at Ghent. After calling at Gravelines upon his sister and Lady Warner, who were equally rejoiced to hear the good news, he made his retreat at Watten, and settled his vocation. He then hastened to the Carthusian monastery at Nieuport, to take a view of the place in which he had resolved to end his life, and thence to embark for England to wind up his worldly affairs. - Having waited longer than he intended, as the weather Continued very stormy, his eagerness to compass his happy design caused him to urge the captain of the packet to venture out to sea. The captain, overcome by his large promises, and earnest requests, hoisted sail; but instead of steering out of the harbour, got upon a sand-bank, where the vessel stuck so fast that the following tide quickly filled it with water, and the waves washed those overboard who came upon deck to escape. Among these was Mr. Warner, who, as the waves carried him into deep Sea, cried out to those who had got upon the shrouds, conjuring them, if they escaped, to let the Carthusians know the manner of his death, and how earnestly he desired they would pray for his soul. . This was done, and in their charity the monks searched for and discovered his body, which they buried amongst their own Religious, he having plainly declared himself a Carthusian in desire. His innocent life merited, as a reward, a death, which though sudden, was not unprepared. It happened on the 3rd of April, 1667. Thus was Brother Clare, with sorrow obliged to resume again his worldly estate, and to revisit England. Arrived in London, he received an express from his steward at Parham (to whom he had given notice of his arrival), informing him that he had been arrested and sent to prison, that Parham Father John Clare. 473 House had been searched by order of the lord lieutenant of the county, all the arms carried off, and the house placed under guard. It seems that the Dutch, having planned a descent into England, had appeared upon the coast of Suffolk, about seven miles from Parham, upon which some malicious persons gave out that Sir John was come over, and lay hid at his mansion, with a great many more Papists he had brought with him to assist the invaders. Sir John Warner, whose family as well as himself had always been loyal sufferers for the King, was more hurt by being accused of such black crimes as treason and rebellion, than for any other charge they could bring against him. He went at once to a friend, then in London, a major in the King's guard, desiring him to acquaint the King of it; but instead, he accompanied him to the Countess of Suffolk, whose husband was lord lieutenant of the County, and informed her of what the Earl had done, an act that could not fail to displease the King, convinced as his Majesty was of Sir John's fidelity and loyalty. Upon the Major's testimony, she wrote to the Earl, desiring him to make all amends to Sir John, who posted off with the letter, and the next morning handed it personally to the Earl, the consequence of which was the release of the steward, the discharge of the guards, and restitution of the arms, with an apology that the Earl had given the order rather to secure Parham from the rabble, who had threatened to pull it down, than from any suspicion of his fidelity. Most of the informers and chief actors living at Framlingham, Sir John first went thither, lest the news of his arrival might create another alarm. Here he was met by the chief inhabitants, who congratulated him on his arrival, expressed regret for what had happened, and set the town bells ringing, &c. This storm being ended, Sir John returned to London to make a settlement upon his second and only surviving brother, Mr. Edmund Warner, a merchant in London. Here he met with Sir Thomas Hanmer, who raised another storm ; for On telling him of the increased portions he intended to settle upon his grand-daughters, and the estates upon which he meant to charge them, Sir Thomas made objections upon the ground that they were old abbey lands, which he said “never thrived with the owners, but like a moth, little by little insensibly eat up the rest of their estates.” Sir John, however, at length satisfied him, by promising to settle other estates instead. • 474 College of the Holy Apostles. Another and the most severe storm raised by the enemy against Sir John, came from a source he least Suspected, viz., a discontentment felt by Lady Warner at the Order of the Poor Clares, and a strong temptation of trying another Order, where she could practice greater austerities, &c. This was, in fact, the last and most desperate assault of the enemy upon her vocation ; but it was happily and victoriously overcome, by means of Father Thomas Worsley, who had been her director at Liege, and who was sent expressly to Gravelines to Confer with her. He did so with such success, that she was restored to peace of soul, and finally confirmed in her vocation ; living and dying in the same holy convent at Gravelines. Father Clare having now finally settled all his affairs, returned to Belgium, and having made the usual retreat under Father Thomas Worsley, made his first, or simple vows of religion in the church of the Poor Clares, before Father Worsley, on the Ist of November, 1667. Lady Warner died 26th January, 1670. Her two daughters entered the convent of the English Benedictine Dames at Dunkirk. We now proceed to give the lives of two glorious martyrs, of this College, viz. I. Father Thomas Garnet, alias Rookwood, who was seized on his way to Coldham Hall, Suffolk, the seat of the Rookwood family, and martyred at Tyburn, the 23rd of June, 1608, aged thirty-four. 2. Father Peter Wright, who suffered at Tyburn, the #th May, 1651. Aaſher 7%omas Garnet. 475 THE LIFE AND MARTYRIDOM OF FATHER THOMAS GARNET. The Holy Catholic Church may be said to have its martyrs and confessors in defence of every article of its Creed. The noble martyr, St. Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, gave his life in defence of the temporal rights of the See of Canterbury against the rapacity of a powerful earthly monarch, who had long invaded them to the danger and Scandal of the Church of England. So did our blessed martyr, Father Thomas Garnet, sacrifice himself by a more ignominous death upon the gallows of Tyburn in defence of the spiritual rights of the Sovereign Pontiff, in witness of his Supremacy or Headship of the Universal Church of God. A new and more stringent form of the oath of allegiance and Supremacy than was known before, was forced upon all Catholics in 1606. In this oath they were made to swear (I) allegiance to James I., not only as their lawful King, but as Supreme head of the Church in England; (2) an open and formal denial of the Headship of the Sovereign Pontiff in all matters ecclesiastical. This no Catholic could take without committing an overt act of apostacy. The Holy See condemned this wicked oath ; and the prisons of England were choked with Catholic recusants. Many, unhappily, worn out by sufferings, and in order to save themselves and their families from utter ruin, yielded and took the oath. The lamentable example of the Rev. George Blackwell mainly tended to produce this calamity. He was then in prison ; he fell, and drew a multitude after him. The expostulations of the great Cardinal Bellarmine were in vain ; he was Con- demned by the Holy See, and removed from his office of archpriest over the Catholics of England. The members of the English province of the Society of Jesus distinguished themselves by an unflinching support of the Supreme Pastor against this act of iniquitous tyranny, and drew upon themselves the utmost hatred and persecution 476 Aather 7%07/2as Gazzez. both of Protestants, and of lax and nominal Catholics. The Society had the special honour of giving, in the person of Father Thomas Garnet, a glorious martyr in defence of this righteous cause. His steadfast refusal to take the oath, or to admit its lawfulness, was the main charge against him. It was not his being a priest and a Jesuit, which, though capital offences, were not proved by any sufficient legal evidence, and would not, have been publicly known unless, he himself had voluntarily admitted them. A singular circumstance attended his execution; in testimony both of the regard in which he was held, and of the actual cause of his death. A member of the Privy Council, Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter, actually followed the martyr to the gallows, and repeatedly urged him “just to take the oath,” and save his life, and this in the King's name. After the martyrdom of Father Henry Garnet, who suffered in St. Paul’s Churchyard on the 3rd of May, 1606, the members of the English Province S.J., as also all priests throughout the whole kingdom, like sheep scattered by the wolves when the shepherd is stricken, were proscribed by the severest and most exterminating edicts and punishments, contrary to the Solemn promises made by the King to his Catholic subjects to whom both himself and his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, were so deeply indebted. Amongst other measures was the new oath we have briefly alluded to. All who were detained in the prisons were banished from England. Father Strange, however, of the Society of Jesus, was still detained, and underwent most savage and barbarous treatment, decreed against him by the Privy Council. For he was most cruelly racked for the space of three days by the brutal Sir William Wade, rack- master of the Tower; and for another three days so severely tortured by iron manacles, that for the rest of his life he was enfeebled, lame, afflicted with violent headaches, and a total ruin of health. However, through the intercession of his relations, he was eventually banished." Amongst other cham- pions in the same cause was Father George Wright, who suffered severely in prison, and whose life is given in the A/isſory of the College of St. Dominic, which follows this of the Holy Apostles. Father Thomas was nephew of Father Henry Garnet, and was born in Iondon in the year 1574. His father, Mr. Richard Garnet, “a man above all praise,” says the * A short life of this conſessor of the faith is intended to be given in the History of the College of St. Ignatius, or the London District. Aaſher 7%0772&s Gazºzzeź. 477 writer of an eulogy of the martyr,” “having more than Once confessed Christ with great constancy, both in chains, and before the tribunals of judges and magistrates.” Mr. Richard Garnet was a student at Oxford, where becoming weary of the heresy into which the University had lapsed, resolved to cross the seas and to prepare himself for the priesthood by studying theology. He deferred putting his plan into execution, and through this delay became involved in the marriage state ; and in order to make some pious Compensation for his change of resolution, he vowed to con- Secrate his first-born son, should he have one, to Almighty God and His great martyr, St. Thomas of Canterbury. This he did, and named him Thomas, after that saint. The life of Richard Garnet may be said to have been rather a tissue of afflictions rather than of days, from his youth to his death ;” So much so, that Catholics were accustomed to say of him and of his son Thomas, that they had made a good division of favours between themselves ; the father a confessor of the Faith by the testimony of his sufferings on its account, and the son by martyrdom in its defence. As to Richard Garnet, he was the first, or amongst the first, who boldly came forth into the battle-field to sustain and defend the honour of religion against all the oppressions with which Queen Elizabeth attacked it in Oxford, where he studied, and had already graduated in philosophy, with a reputation for distinguished ability and learning. A Court of Inquisition had been opened in Oxford to punish and to plunder Catholics; and having found in the college room of Richard a statue of the most Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, it was seized by these ministers of justice, and carried in mock solemn procession through the most frequented streets of Oxford, amidst the scoffs and blasphemies of the people, until eventually the judges of this new tribunal condemned it to the flames. Richard accompanied the statue of our Blessed Lady, receiving with Such great modesty and joy of countenance the cursings and affronts that assailed him on every side, that the very sight of him was in itself a rebuke to the insane fury of the rabble. Having arrived at the court, followed by a great crowd of all kinds of persons attracted by curiosity, he there, before that dreaded tribunal, spoke in * Collectio Cardwelli, Vita Martyr, etc. Varia, S.J., P.R.O. Brussels, vol. ii. p. 277. * Bartoli, Zugh iſlerra, lib. vi. c. xv. 478 Aather 7%072&s Garneſſ. favour of the cultus shown to holy images with such great fervour of spirit and truth of reasoning, that a considerable part of the students and other members of the University who had been present, returned home impressed with worthier sentiments of the ancient traditions and usages of the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the judges put him in prison, from whence being afterwards liberated by means of his friends, on condition of perpetual expulsion from Oxford, he came to London, and there studied jurisprudence. Nor did this change for any length of time tend to better his fortunes, seeing that for nearly forty years he remained continually exposed to all the dangers and assaults aimed at the Catholic recusants. He was often thrust into prison, more frequently spoiled of his property; continually under the surveillance of spies, and in the more rapacious hands of commissioners; whilst he him- self ever remained constant in his confession of the Faith, and endurance of these afflictions.4 Such was Richard Garnet, the worthy parent, and the good instructor, both by word and example, of his son Thomas. Like a careful father, and that nothing might be omitted that would tend to a fulfilment of his child’s dedication, he kept him at home, and there gave him a good primary education, especially well grounding him in the articles of the Catholic faith. When he was sixteen years of age, in order to remove him out of the way of all danger, he sent him to St. Omers, in Belgium, where a College for English youth had been lately opened by the English members of the Society of Jesus. Here he made his humanity studies with great success, and in the end of the year 1595, went to the English College at Valladolid, lately founded by Father Robert Parsons for the use of the English Catholic youth, debarred as they were from all education at home, and obtaining it abroad under the ban of the same penal proscriptions. Here for the space of four years Thomas Garnet made his higher studies of philo- Sophy and divinity; when, his health beginning to suffer from the insalubrity of the climate, change of air being necessary, and having nearly completed his course of divinity, he was Ordained priest, having just attained the canonical age of twenty-five. He was sent back to England in company with Father Mark Backworth, a priest of the Order of St. Benedict, who afterwards suffered martyrdom for his Faith, with Father Roger Filcock, S.J., and the pious widow, Mrs. Anne Line, on * Bartoli, Inghilterra, all suffra. Aafter 7%0%as Garnet. 479 the same day, the 27th of February, 1601, at Tyburn gallows. In the English vineyard Father Garnet laboured for about six years, reaping a good harvest of Souls, both by word and example. He was especially industrious in bringing those under his care to a thorough sense of solid piety. So powerful was his ministry, that several persons in the married state, and who by age, birth, and fortune were fitted to enjoy the world, embraced the evangelical counsels, and consecrated themselves to God by voluntary vows. But turning his mind to a life of higher sanctity, he applied to his uncle, Father Henry Garnet, then Superior, to admit him to the Society of Jesus, which he had long desired to enter. To this he was chiefly attracted by observing that its members were the foremost defenders of the rights of the Holy See against the new and ungodly oath of allegiance and Supremacy, which had been condemned by the Supreme Pastor of the Church. He observed, too, that upon them and their friends every effort was made to cast all the odium of its rejection. This conduct towards the Society inflamed him all the more ardently with a desire of entering it, especially when he saw that nothing was further removed from their practices and habits than the things falsely laid to their charge. Father Garnet most readily complied with his request, and admitted him on the 29th of September, 1604. He was about to send him into Belgium to make his usual two years’ probation at the noviceship, when the Gunpowder Plot broke out, and Father Thomas, though most innocent, being suspected, and all the ports and outlets of the kingdom being strictly guarded, so that escape became impossible, was seized with his uncle, though they were confined in different prisons—the former in the Gatehouse, Westminster, the latter in the Tower of London. The fact of his being a relative of Father Henry Garnet, and the circumstances attending an intercepted letter written by Father Henry in the Tower to his nephew in the Gatehouse, led to his being strictly examined by Cecil concerning the Gunpowder Plot, and that under severe threats of the rack. Cecil being enraged at having drawn nothing from Father Thomas to injure his uncle's cause, looking him in the face with a terrible countenance, said, “I advise you rather yourself to tell me of your treasons, or else I will take care to draw out a confession from your mouth at your fingers’ ends,” meaning to say, by force of tortures, by thumbscrews, and the rack. Unable, however, to discover any ground whatever for a . 48O Father Thomas Garnet. suspicion even of his being at all cognizant of the plot, they pro- ceeded no further, but kept him in the Tower, whither he had been removed, for eight or nine months in close confinement. Here, by lying on the bare, damp, and frozen ground in his loathsome cell, in the severest season of the winter, he con- tracted rheumatic pains and a kind of sciatica, which afflicted him for the remainder of his life. t Father John Gerard, in his Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot, alludes to the above letter of Father Henry Garnet to his nephew and the consequent removal of the latter from the Gatehouse to the Tower.” Amongst other stratagems, says Father Gerard, resorted to by the Lord Chief Justice and the Attorney-General to entrap Father Henry Garnet, his keeper, who alone was allowed to see him, was directed to feign himself much moved with his behaviour and words (as indeed they were sufficient to move a better and wiser man than him that had not been without grace), and to pretend that he began to be much inclined and almost won to the Catholic faith, and in the meantime to show himself very friendly, and promise to be faithful to Father Garnet in anything wherein he might do him service. And the fellow was so Cunning in this art of Cozenage, and set so fair a gilt upon his copper, that the good father, being full of charity, “which believeth all things, hopeth all things,” did hope the best of his mind, though he meant not to trust him so far as might greatly endanger either himself or others until he had better trial. But yet he made use of his offer so far as to send by him some notes of ordinary matters (as the fellow might think); first unto a prisoner in the Gate- house, a virtuous priest, and his kinsman of his own name, unto whom he sent a short letter concerning some necessaries that he wanted, which letter being written with ordinary ink, he wrote besides in the margin, and in the free parts of the paper, some other things with the juice of Orange, which could not be seen without holding to the fire, and would not have been suspected if the letter had only by casualty come to the light. But this faithless messenger, Opposing his malice to the father's charity, carried the letter presently to be scanned, which imported, besides the writing in black, a brief relation of the father's estate, the effect of his examination, and that he was so clear of the Powder, that it could not be proved * See Father Morris, Condition of Catholics, pp. I66, 167. Father Thomas Garnet. 481 against him. When this letter was thus read by warming at the fire, because it could not then be delivered to the priest, they therefore counterfeited the father's hand, and sent it to Mr. Garnet in the Gatehouse, to deceive him also and to make him return answer to the father, that so he might think himself secure, and be emboldened to commit yet further trust to this false messenger. This letter was so cunningly counterfeited, that it could not be distinguished from Father Garnet's own hand, and it was signed also, and so licensed to pass, with the Lieutenant of the Tower's brand unto it. Yet all such necessaries as the father writ for, and the other sent, were seized upon by the Lieutenant, and the priest himself brought after in great trouble for returning this charitable answer. Not only were all the necessaries sent to Father Thomas by his uncle, but he himself was called into question about the whole matter and strictly examined, and so removed from the Gatehouse to the Tower, where he remained, continues Father Gerard, in likely expectation both of torture and of death for his charity shown to Father Garnet, to whom no man could show any friendship and be withal esteemed, Amicus Cæsaris. Cecil afterwards tried another and a darker stratagem upon Father Thomas Garnet. The martyr, on the evening before the day of his execution, mentioned to his keeper the fact that upon his being taken from prison to the ship on the . river for embarkation, in pursuance of his sentence of banish- ment, Cecil sent a messenger to present him with a paper containing divers deceitful ambiguities and manifest untruths, injurious to not a few Catholics, and to Father Henry Garnet himself, in whose feigned handwriting the document was couched, and who, it was pretended, had sent it to his mephew. “But,” said the Father, “how can I, unless to my own damnation, approve, for so many truths, such notorious and grave Calumnies against my uncle and these other inno- cent Catholics, and lie against my conscience by asserting that Father Henry sent them to me, from whom I never received them, and that the paper is in his handwriting, which it certainly is not?” He then left the messenger and rejoined his keeper. The object of this attempted fraud was to have reserved this writing as authenticated by the nephew's signature, as a convincing proof against Father Henry. It contained the very same things he had frequently seen of the false assertions regarding the confessions and letters attributed FF 482 Father 7%amas Garnet. to Father Henry, upon which he was afterwards put to death, and to make him appear to say things which when dead he would be unable to refute, and thus confirm the falsehoods which men had asserted concerning him, both in their deeds and writings." After all their efforts, finding no sufficient ground for capitally convicting him on the charge of his priesthood and of returning to England without leave, which was one of the charges on which he was apprehended, nor even a shadow of suspicion of any complicity in the Gunpowder Plot, he was banished by royal edict in 1606, with forty-six other priests." Thus exiled, Father Thomas eventually arrived at a better port than the one at which he was landed. He repaired to Louvain, the novitiate of the English Province, which had lately been established, and which he was the first novice to enter. That novitiate commenced in February 1607, with six priests, two scholastic novices, and five lay-brothers, under the care of Father Thomas Talbot as novice-master.” Here did this athlete learn the rudiments of a religious life, with such fervour of Soul, and so good an example to the novices, as to show himself rather a master than a fellow-novice; and by the testimony of all, his remarkable virtues seemed to presage his future martyrdom. Father More,” after mentioning the foundation of the College at Louvain, relates, as amongst other prosperous events connected with it, that Father Thomas Garnet, its first novice, had consecrated it by shedding his blood for the Catholic faith. He made his simple vows on the 2nd July, 1607. In the turn of the year 1608 he was sent back again to England by his Superiors, to resume the labours of his apostolic ministry. But God intended His servant to combat, even to death, in defence of the high principle of His own Vicar's Supremacy. He was to set * See Bartoli, all supra. * The names of the forty-six are given in Bishop Challoner's Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 14. Amongst these were the following members of the English Province S.J. : - Blundell, James. Garnet, Thomas. Bradshaw (? Barton), Robert. Norris, Silvester, D.D. Bustard, Robert. Laithwait, Thomas. Dawson, Edward. Stanney, Thomas. Flint, Thomas. - White, Andrew. Floyd (or Lloyd) John. * Father Morris, Condition of Catholics, czcv. * Hist. Prov, Ang, lib, viii. m. 8, p. 356. Aather 7%0mza's Garzeń. 483 Catholics an example of courageously refusing, even at the cost of life, to take such an oath of allegiance to the King as would involve disobedience to the Vicar of Christ; and the Father persuaded men to this fidelity more efficaciously by his voluntary death than by many years' preaching it to the whole kingdom. Shortly after his return to England, being then in Warwick- shire, he was petitioned for by the Catholics of Cornwall; and on his way thither (one account says whilst he lay con- cealed in Cornwall),” he was discovered and betrayed by an unhappy apostate priest named Rouse, who, in the King's name, gave him in charge. He was conducted under escort to London, and again became an inmate of his former prison, the Gatehouse, at Westminster.” How long he remained there, and how treated before his examination, is not known to us. The following are copies taken from the original of three examinations of Father Thomas Garnet before Thomas Ravis, then Protestant Bishop of London, in the valuable collection of the Old Chapter MSS., which the Editor has been allowed to copy by the kind permission of the Chapter, through the Very Reverend Provost Hunt :— . . “ 17 Nov. 1607. “The examination of Thomas Garnet, a prisoner in the Gatehouse, taken before the Reverend Father in God, the Lord Bishop of London. “Being asked whether he be not commonly known and called by the name of Rookwood, 10 Dr. Oliver, in the Collectanea S./., says he was on his way from London to Coldham Hall, Suffolk, them the residence of the Rookwood family. This is not improbable, as the martyr was commonly known by that name, and was probably a relation of the family. g * This was probably the priest Anthony Rouse, one of the forty banished with Father Thomas Garnet in 1606 (see Bishop Challomer's list, att supra). He would consequently have been well acquainted with his victim. In an ancient list of benefactors to the College of the Holy Apostles, amongst others, “Mr. Michael Hare gave land which was sold for £300, with obligation of paying the rent of it to Mr. Rouse in case of his repentance. The rent was twenty marks a-year, which Rouse enjoyed for many years. After his death, it was given for the use of some of the Society helping the poor Catholics in Suffolk or Norſolk. This money, with other funds, was lost in troublesome times.” As Mr. Rouse enjoyed this ſund so long, we may hope that he was converted and returned again to the bosom of the one true fold. FF 2 484 - * Aazher 7%0m2as Garzeź. “He confesseth and saith that he is so called and known by the name of Thomas Rookwood. - “That he hath been scarce known by the name of Garnet, but hath been, within the space of these three or four years last past, Commonly called by the name of Thomas Rookwood. “Being demanded whether he be a seminary priest or a Jesuit, - . “He saith that he hopeth he shall not be pressed to make any other or further answer hereunto than such as heretofore he hath made at his former examination. “Being showed the oath of allegiance, 3rd James, c. 4, and every particular thereof, though debated for the present, he saith that he cannot lawfully take the said oath, although he doth acknowledge so much authority to be due unto his Majesty as ever was prescribed unto any sovereign prince or king by the Word of God. “He further saith that the same power that was given unto Christ by His Heavenly Father in the words, ‘Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo et in terra,’ was by Christ given unto Peter in these words, ‘Sicut me misit Pater meus, ita et ego 'mitto vos.” And consequently the selfsame authority is derived from Peter unto all his successors. - “Whereupon the said Lord Bishop inferring, “Ergo data est Papae omnis potestas in coelo et in terra,’ the said exami- nant said, ‘Yea, so far forth as maketh for the good of God's Church through the whole world.’ { “Being demanded whether, then, if the Pope, as Peter's successor, should declare it definitely that it is for the good of God's church in the universal world to depose King James, whether then it were lawful for the said Pope so to depose him, he this examinant saith that he hath no reason [bottom of the sheet—signed ‘Thomas Garnet’] to suppose that the Pope will declare so with his Majesty, and that his Majesty, as he thinketh, hath given the Pope no cause so to do. And being further urged, “But what if he should so deserve?’ this examinant saith, ‘Dato uno absurdo mille Sequuntur.’ “THO. LONDON. “THOMAS GARNET.” “Andorsed—Thomas Garnet's Exam., 17 Nov. 1607.” “Septimo Aprilis, 1608. “Thomas Garnet, prisoner in the Gatehouse, being further examined before the Lord Bishop of London, Saith as followeth— Aather Thomas Garneſſ. 485 “That to take any oath of allegiance unto his Majesty so far forth as ever any Christian subject either did, or was bound to do, unto any his native sovereign, he is ready and willing ; but to burden his soul and conscience by taking such an oath as under pretence of allegiance, doth not only imply a breach of the Catholic faith, but also, as he conceiveth, a violation of his duty unto his Majesty, he is fully resolved never to do. And therefore utterly refuseth to take the oath in manner and form as it is now set down, 3rd James, c. 4. “That he thinketh it would be a violation of the Catholic faith if he should swear that he doth detest and abjure as impious and heretical that doctrine and position, viz., that princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other whatever, because he thinketh that were a violation of the Catholic faith, to abjure any king as heretical which the Church hath not defined to be heretical, or is not manifest by the Word of God to be heretical. “It being replied that this doctrine and position, viz., that princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the |Pope may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other whatsoever, is heretical by the Word of God, he denieth that so to be. And being further required to show anything that is heretical by the Word of God, he giveth that for an instance of St. Paul, ‘Hereticum hominem post unum et Secundum Correctionem devita ; sciens quia qui hujusmodi est, subversus est, cum sit proprio Judicio Condemnatus.’ “It being replied that that place doth note what manner of man a heretic is, and not define any position or doctrine to be heresy, he answereth that the words may be understood against a particular person, though not there named by the Apostle, and Consequently note unto us, his heresy, though it be not expressed. “He being further desired to set down some more sub- stantial and pregnant reason why he doth so peremptorily deny to take the oath, as if in taking it he should violate the Catholic faith, saith that the authority of the two Briefs come from Rome do move him (together with divers reasons which he for beareth to specify), and persuade him that he may not [bottom of page—signed ‘Thomas Garnet’] with a Safe conscience take the said oath. “That he thinketh he should violate his duty to his Majesty if he should swear that, notwithstanding any declara- 486 Aather 7% omas Garmeſ. tion, &c., as it followeth in the second section, he will bear faithful and true allegiance to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, &c., because there wanteth the word lawful. ..Secondly, he saith that he is not able to judge of right unto the crown (if, which God forbid, there should grow a question betwixt some challenger in England and some other out of Scotland), and therefore he may not take the said oath without violating his duty to his Majesty. “Being desired to set down some better and sounder reasons why, in respect of his duty to his Majesty, he refuseth as aforesaid to take the said oath of allegiance, he answereth that he doubteth not but the reasons by him formerly set down are very sufficient why he should forbear to take the said oath of allegiance in regard of his duty to his Majesty. “He confesseth that his name indeed is Thomas Garnet, but that he hath been called Sawyer and Rookwood, but denieth that he went beyond the seas in the year of Our Lord I 594, or thereabouts. Also he denieth that he went beyond the seas in the company of any sister or sisters of Sir William Wiseman. Further, he denyeth that Father William Holt, then resident at Brussels, sent him, this examinant, unto the English Seminary at St. Omers, &c. “Being pressed to say whether he ever was a student in the said Seminary, he refuseth otherwise to answer than to say that he desireth not to be urged therewithal, or to make any other answer thereunto. “Being likewise charged that he was sent by a mission from St. Omers to the Seminaries in Spain, and there ordained a priest according to the Romish fashion, he refuseth to answer otherwise than as before. Further, being charged that after- wards he came into England, and was admitted into the Society of the Jesuits by his kinsman, Father Henry Garnet, then Vice-Provincial of the Jesuits, he answereth unto that as unto the former. “THOMAS GARNET.” “Octavo Aprilis, 1608. “Being further pressed that he was so admitted, [and that] his place of residence was of Coldenham Hall, in Suffolk; “He refuseth to answer any otherwise than that it cannot be proved to be true. Likewise, being charged that he was apprehended about the time that the Gunpowder Treason was discovered, in the county of Warwick, or the parts near adjoin- ing, he saith he was not taken in the county of Warwick, and ERRATA. . 9, note, line 3, omit AVotts. . 32, note, line 4, omit rather. . 79, line 18, read quia for quid. 96, line I, read Arofessor of Zheology for Master of Movices. . I69, line 3, read hate for haste. . 280, line 27, omit Fleet, a place of . 281, read the city for Rome. . 429, line I2, omit half. . 556, note 7, read Hervey for Garniez. . 608, note 30, read Z anner for Zanum. . 666, Index, Worsley, Thomas, S.J., omitted. 3 2 ,, Wright, Peter, S.J. 33 Aather 7%0%as Gazºzef. 487 otherwise doth not think fit to answer, but confesseth that about that time he was brought up to London and imprisoned in the Gatehouse, and that Father Henry Garnet did write unto him, whilst he was prisoner there, from the Tower, in which letter of Father Garnet there was the Lieutenant's hand, and the same was brought unto him by a warder of the Tower, keeper of the said Father Garnet : that thereupon this exami- nant was also removed to the Tower, but upon what occasion he forbeareth to say, lest by delivering the cause thereof he should say somewhat that may offend the State, which yet, if he be urged, he must be ſain to do so. “That he remained there in the Tower until he was sent away anno 1605|6], which he doth not think was a banishment, because he never knew or heard of, nor yet took notice of his Majesty's proclamation until he came to the ship whereon he was conveyed away with divers priests, as also with some other lay Catholics. “Being offered the use of any books that shall be thought fit to help resolve his judgment in the lawfulness of taking the oath of allegiance as it is set down, 3rd James, c. 4, or any conſerence with men of his own profession that have taken the said oath, he saith that he is willing to read, thereby to inform himself the better what reasons can be brought pro and contra, but is fully resolved of the unlawfulness of the said oath, and thinketh that they that have taken it, if they be of the Catholic faith, have done it out of fear, which he hopeth shall never so far prevail with him, this examinant. “THO. LONDON. “THOMAS GARNET.” An eulogium upon the martyr” states that the Privy Council had just issued a new form of oath of allegiance. This form was all the more deadly because more artfully concealing the injury intended to the Holy See than the former ones; and Catholics who were less upon their guard would be caught by the fraud, thinking that nothing was contained in what it professed, beyond a servile subjection ; and indeed this device involved not a few of the leading Catholics, following the example of the archpriest, who had for want of sufficient precaution fallen into the Snare. Father Thomas was for a long time most urgently pressed in prison to take this oath, but always steadfastly refused, ever professing his readiness to Swear allegiance to the King, according to the form pre- * Collectio Cardwelli, Vitae Martyr., etc. ut supra. 488 Aather 7%0mas Garneſſ. scribed by foreign princes to their subjects. He drew up a form of oath himself, which will be given further on. Being asked to consult with those who had consented to take the oath, seeing that any delay or hesitation on his part, however small, would afford occasion of scandal, as though the Society of Jesus, of which he was a member, entertained a shadow of doubt about the perfidiousness of the oath, he answered that he had no doubt whatever upon his mind, that his firm conviction was that the oath could not be admitted, and hence he had no need for delay or deliberation. When threats were held out, he showed himself imperturbable, and raising his eyes to heaven, declared his readiness to offer his life for Christ. As we shall see, his constancy enraged his examiners, and the Privy Council, who, finding themselves thus defied by the champion of Christ, ultimately determined upon his death. Father Bartoli gives an account of an examination of the martyr before the same Bishop of London and Sir William Wade, the rack-master of the Tower, a most cruel torturer of the priests. He fixes the date of the exami- nation the ºth of June, 1608, shortly before the martyrdom ; and refers to a letter of the ºth of June, 1608. At first they examined him upon various points. Was he a priest and Jesuit? For they had, they said, proof of this by his having himself written upon the walls of his cell in several places in large characters, “Thomas Garnet, Sacerdos.” Three servants of Wade also gave evidence to the same point, but it amounted to mere conjecture. Then, had he been a medium for passing letters to and fro between his uncle and Father John Gerard, from one rebel to another? The bishop failing to prove these and similar accusations, or even to establish the slightest suspicion, laying aside all such minor points, came openly to the grand one, to which from the beginning they intended to lead him. The bishop, assuming a courteous tone, yet not without threats, and urging him by reasonings to the dis- covery, begged him to prove himself a good subject to the King by taking the oath of allegiance and Supremacy, whereby his case, which must otherwise end in Conviction and execu- tion, would be at an end without more ado, and he himself would obtain liberty and life. To this the Father replied firmly, that he would not ; adding quickly and positively that he could not ; for that this oath involved ecclesiastical with civil rights, and destroyed the one to establish the other: that he was prepared to swear such allegiance to the King as Aather 7%0mas Garnef. 489 became a subject, and as far as a Catholic was able to do so— to wit, reserving the rights of the Supreme Pastor. The bishop, with the same courtesy as before, said: “This refusal that you have given, I will not for your good accept, and by the prudence with which you are sufficiently furnished, and in the more mature consideration I will give you time to make, promise me that you will take more wise counsel. Go then, and take until the feast of St. Luke, four entire months, to consider; in the meantime, hear what the archpriest, Black- well, has to say upon it, and by means of a man of the learning and conscience he possesses, I hope, as he has done, that you will change your opinion.” But the Father courage- ously replied: “I wish to take neither advice nor time to deliberate upon the yea or may to that which others so well know cannot lawfully be done, and as to the Archpriest Blackwell, I need not to hear him in a matter where the Sovereign Pontiff speaks and defines to the contrary.” Now, whilst the Bishop was again renewing the offer to Father Thomas of the four months' delay, and he again refusing it, Sir William Wade interrupted them, and in a rage turning to the bishop said, with an oath : “I will never again examine men of this sort, if this man be not at once sent off to Newgate.” Into this prison malefactors once entering are left without any hope of going forth, except to execution, it being the nearest to Tyburn gallows. “As this is your opinion, be it so,” said the bishop. “And if the King wishes him to die, let him die.” To whom the martyr meekly replied: “My lord, I am not only ready for Newgate, but to be dragged through Holborn to Tyburn; and death to me is my highest ambition, that I may wholly possess my Jesus, to whom long ago I have given my whole heart.” This reply, made with so lofty a spirit as it was, and uttered at the same time with the deepest humility and modesty, was a violent blow to both Wade and the bishop, but as the same Father wrote, affecting them differently according to their different dispositions; Wade, to whose brutal nature any act of lofty virtue could not but be highly displeasing, was in a rage, and stamping on the ground like a madman, loaded the innocent Father with every insult and abuse that he could find words to utter. But the bishop, affecting the guise of a preacher, and to reprehend him in a milder manner, “I fear,” said he, “this Spirit of generosity savours but little wisdom, and is badly advised. We must not do evil to arrive at the other world.” 49C Aather 7%omas Garnet. Adding that he went to his eternal damnation if he trusted in his good works, &c. Then he went on to say that he had heard of him through the Archbishop of Canterbury, and thereby had a great regard for him, and would send him to his Grace (which, however, he never did), who was, he said, curious to know whether in him more than in the rest it were verified, that in taking the habit of the Society, he had divested himself of all habits of morality, in which he so abounded before he became a Jesuit. Which Father Garnet showed to be quite the contrary, and fully met this insinuation, citing the testimony of all nations of the world in their continual intercourse with the Society. This examination, and his removal to Newgate, ended that day's proceedings. The next day Father Garnet procured an opportunity of writing to Father Holtby, who had succeeded Father Henry Garnet, in 1606, as Superior of the English mission of the Society, giving him an account of what had taken place. He begged him moreover, in Order to remove from himself, from the priests, and from Catholics in general, the odious calumny that they refused to swear fidelity to the King, to allow him to present the following form of oath of allegiance— “I, Thomas Garnet, sincerely and heartily profess before the court of heaven, that I will pay to my rightful King James all fidelity and obedience due and owing to him by the law of nature and the divine law of the true Church of Christ. That if this proof of my loyalty is not deemed sufficient, may God and the whole world be my judge, that no King can exact a greater fidelity from his subjects than is accorded to him by the law of God; and that no subject is able to promise or Swear a greater obedience than what is approved of by the Church of Christ. This is my mind. So help me God in the hour of my death.” He also implored Father Holtby not to consent to any attempts which the Catholics might wish to make to liberate him ; for perchance, said he, by the grace of God assisting me, my death may avail more in the service of the Faith, and of Souls, than my life could possibly do. To induce him the more readily to make this promise, he gave Father Holtby as a sign, that on Some Catholics making him an offer of escaping death by some innocent plan, and he, Out of a desire of serving his neighbour, at the first proposal listening to it, immediately heard within himself a voice speaking to his heart, and saying to him, “No, endure, persevere ; do not Aºaz/her 7%07/2as Garned. 49 I allow so unprofitable an exchange, since the common good is more assisted in one hour by dying, than by the labours and fatigues of a life of many years.” And this was the cause of his great emotion and overwhelming joy of spirit when he heard the sentence of death passed upon him. Several times afterwards he said with many tears, that nothing that could happen to him could give him so sensible an affliction and grief as any event that should intervene between him and his death. He feared lest, by the intercession of Catholics, the sentence should be respited, and not carried into execution. The fourth day after his examination before the bishop and Wade, he was called to the bar of the Old Bailey Sessions for trial, and the Attorney General, Mr. Henry Montague, appeared for the Crown. He was indicted upon four counts. (1) That he was a Catholic priest by authority derived from Rome, and remaining in England contrary to the statute of 27th Elizabeth. To prove this, three witnesses were called, who deposed that whilst he was prisoner in the Tower he had written in several places, “Thomas Garnet, priest.” He readily admitted this fact, though the evidence was insufficient to prove it. (2) That he was a Jesuit, which he also readily admitted, though it could not be proved. (3) That, returning to England, he had seduced his Majesty's subjects from their duty and allegiance; this he denied, and by irrefutable argu- ments showed it to be a false imputation, and very great Calumny; for he had no greater desire, nor could he make greater efforts than he had done, to induce all Catholics to pay all due allegiance to the King in temporals, and to the Supreme Head of the Church and Christ's Vicar upon earth in spirituals. The fourth count, which was in fact the main one, was that he refused to take the prescribed Oath of allegiance and supremacy. To this he pleaded that it was not allowable for any Catholic to damage the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff, who was the Supreme Pastor of the Church, and Representative of Christ upon the earth. Let them remove the injurious matter from the oath, and he was ready instantly to bind himself to any service and fidelity to the King. If the authority which by divine right is due to the Vicar of Christ is sacrilegiously arrogated by an earthly prince, a refusal to confirm this arrogance by oath cannot be imputed as infidelity to the prince. Hear this, he said, as a proof of my fidelity to King James; and, so saying, he drew from his breast the paper already mentioned, in which he had 492 Father 7.homas Garnet. written the form of oath sent by him to Father Holtby, his Superior. He had reserved this copy for the purpose of reading it publicly in Court, and at the place of execution, by way of protest on behalf of all Catholics, priests, and Jesuits, that they do not withdraw themselves from the obedi- ence to the King, except where forbidden by conscience and by the Church of Christ. He was there stopped, and the paper taken away from him by force, and torn; but from the copy sent to Father Holtby it has come down to us. Upon the slender evidence before named he was found guilty by the jury, and being remanded back to prison, was brought up the next day for judgment, when the judges, regardless of his plea, pronounced sentence of death against him. He received this sentence so joyfully, that when certain Catholics amongst the crowds that flocked to Newgate with the desire of Seeing him offered him a rope by means of which he might have effected his escape from the prison, and at the same time tendered their services to assist him, he said that he had rather be raised up once into the air by a rope, than leap down to the ground twice by the same means. These good people eagerly sought his blessing, and strove to carry off whatever they could lay hands upon, to reserve as precious memorials and relics of the martyr; to whom the holy man exclaimed, “What are you about? And what new kind of pity is this of yours, to increase your own consolation, and to redouble my grief? I am yet alive, and possibly may not die.” And returning to his weeping and his first affections, he said, “I have already mounted up three steps, I have been taken, fried, and condemned. Alas me ! how intolerable will be my grief and confusion if I do not arrive at the last grade of death.” The good work of grace, however, which had been begun in him was perfected even to the end. The last two days of his life he spent in an underground cell called Limbo, which was the condemned cell, and lay there heavily chained and handcuffed, as was usual with the condemned, as a precaution against committing self-destruction. Thus he remained until the 23rd of June, the vigil of St. John the Baptist, and the day fixed for his execution. Masten, in one of his narratives, recounts that, being himself in the same prison with Father Thomas, in that last night he got up and announced to the martyr that the light of the day so eagerly Sighed for by him, wherein he was to make the sacrifice of himself to God, had already dawned. He ſound him in Aather 7% omas Garneſſ. 493 his dark cell, rapt in prayer, his eyes brilliant with gladness and joy of soul, that seemed to him to be a certain foretaste of Paradise. The previous evening he had seen the same eyes filled with tears, and heard him complaining, in his humility, of the pious thefts which the devout Catholics had made, even to his very girdle. This witness had seen him weep with appre- hension lest his great prize should be Snatched from him when almost within his grasp, lest those same zealous disciples should interest themselves in procuring the King's favour for his liberation. Now, however, seeing that the dawn of day ushered in that hour when he should be led out to execution, and feeling secure that neither pity of these Catholics, nor (what he much more feared) his own unworthiness, would prevent his sealing with his blood his faithful adherence to the Holy See, he was so joyful, so radiant with gladness, so wholly absorbed in God, and his heart so completely in heaven, that he appeared to me (says the same narrator) more like a bride- groom going to his espousals than as one about to suffer a cruel and ignominous death at the hands of the public execu- tioner. He adds that this great joy was nevertheless accom- panied with an equal modesty, and a certain invincible patience and fortitude of soul. - - As he was leaving the prison, in the Courtyard, a man of respectability and of courteous manner accosted him, and presented a young man that had read some theology, and was now come to try his hand with the Father upon a certain article of controversy between Protestants and Catholics. On account of the narrow space, however, he was unable to force his way near, and went from side to side, rather nodding to the Father than speaking in any Consecutive manner. As the young man had changed from a theologian to a lawyer, he was especially desirous to warn the martyr not to protest from the gallows that he died for the Catholic Faith; but wished him rather to acknowledge that he suffered for his broken allegiance to his King, and was justly condemned as guilty of high treason. The Father, Smiling, answered him pleasantly : “Sir, he who is obedient to his prince is not faithless. The prince issues a command : ‘If any priest returns to England, let him be slain.' I have returned here, and I consent voluntarily to be put to death, and with all my heart; thus I give my body to Caesar and my soul to God—to each one that which is his own.” After thus speaking, he courteously turned away from the young man. Meanwhile, 494. Aaſher 7%0mza's Garmed. approaching the door where the executioner awaited him, he prayed him to hasten his pace. Arrived at the hurdle upon which he was to be dragged to Tyburn, he blessed it, and stretched himself upon his rude bed. Drawn at the horse's tail through the streets from Newgate to Tyburn, he found there an innumerable concourse of persons of every class, assembled to behold a man of whom it was reported that he would not take the oath of allegiance, nor even accept the offer of time to deliberate. More than three hundred knights and noblemen were present, either on horseback or in carriages. Arrived at Tyburn, and raised from the hurdle, he was addressed by Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter, one of the Privy Council, who asked him in the most gracious manner about various things, and for nearly half an hour argued with him in so low a voice that I could not well (says an eye- witness) comprehend the whole. He tried to persuade him to take the oath and save his life, alleging that several priests had done so, and that many more looked upon it as a dis- putable matter in which faith was not concerned. Why, therefore, should he be so stiff, and not rather embrace the offer of the King's clemency by conforming, as others had done P Father Thomas replied : “My lord, if the case be so doubtful and disputable, how can I in conscience swear to what is doubtful, as if it were certain P No ; I will not take the oath, though I might have five thousand lives.” And with these words he cut short all further argument. Having said this, he was ordered to mount up into the cart beneath the gallows, which he did joyfully and with alacrity; when a preacher behind him began to persuade him to take the Oath, and, as though this did not suffice, added an exhortation to die a Calvinist; but the Father, not attending to him, cast around a glance at the great multitude present; then, as though recollecting himself, he made the sign of the Cross, and kissing the beam of the gallows, he turned towards the people. But the said minister, indignant at these ridiculous ceremonies (as he termed them), exhorted the martyr to abstain from them. Father Thomas in a tender manner gently tapping him on the shoulder, said, with a pleasant countenance, “Don’t let us quarrel in this place. Let us part friends.” He then in like manner kissed and blessed with the sign of redemption the rope which the hangman proceeded to place round his neck, while the martyr helped him to do so. Then turning to the A&#/.er 7%0mza's Gazzet. 495 people, he asked if they would listen to his reasons for a while, and being answered in the affirmative, and silence having been obtained, he said: “By the mercy of God, I am a priest of the Catholic Church, and though unworthy, and the most imperfect of all, I am a religious of the blessed Society of Jesus. It is nevertheless the truth that I hold this day to be the most fortunate and joyful one of my whole life; and I call God to witness that I say this sin- cerely from the bottom of my heart.” The aforesaid preacher, utterly astonished at a doctrine so entirely new to him, asked him, in the words of one incredulous, whether there was any equivocation in what he said. The martyr replied, “No, sir; if I had been minded to equivocate, I might have taken the oath and saved my life, which oath I did not decline out of any unwillingness to profess my allegiance to the King, which I offered to do, and for that end produced at my trial a form of an oath of allegiance, drawn up according to what was looked upon as Satisfactory in the days of our forefathers, to which I was willing to swear; but this new oath is so worded as to contain things quite foreign to allegiance, to which in my opinion no Catholic can swear with a safe conscience.” When he had said this, the hangman began to remove his garments, in which the Father instantly began to assist with great signs of joy. Being now undressed to the lower garment, the same Earl Cecil turned to speak to him, and amongst other things asked, in his former courteous manner, why when first apprehended he had not acknowledged himself to be a priest. The Father replied that he left the ministers of justice to do their own part, which was to prove it; and moreover, because I have understood (and, Says the eye-witness, he spoke the truth, as I also remember to have heard elsewhere), that the members of the Privy Council have very often openly complained of the inconsiderate readiness of some priests to confess themselves to be such, without any need at all of doing so, thus exposing the judges to the necessity of proceeding according to the laws, and contrary to their wishes, by sentencing them to death. And to show that it was not the fear of death, and that none might be ignorant of the reasons for his not dis- covering himself, he had left full evidence of it in several cells of the Tower in which he had been confined, having written in full seven places upon the walls, in clear characters, “Thomas Garnet, priest,” which he was quite aware the servants 496 Father Thomas Garnet. of the Lieutenant Wade had read, and had given evidence of the fact before the Bishop of London and their own master. Having thus satisfied the earl, he resumed his interrupted address to the people. He declared that he had lived in England nine years, during which time he had employed himself solely in the exercise of his ministerial duties; that by the watchful care of Providence over him, he had never attempted anything either against the King or the State, nor had such an idea ever even entered into his mind. On the contrary, to the utmost of his power he had ever solemnly warned Catholics to be patient under their wrongs, and never to attempt any such machinations against either. He then pronounced the before-mentioned form of oath, adding the reasons why no Catholic could be allowed to take that form prescribed by the Parliament and Privy Council. Then, Crossing his hands upon his breast, and lifting up his eyes to heaven he returned thanks for all, and gave infinite blessings to God for that, the last and happiest day of his life, adding, “May God turn away His just anger from this kingdom, and not require an account of my blood at the King's hands. Domine, ne statuas illis /loc/eccatum.” He then spoke as follows: “The apostate Rouse has betrayed me; may God forgive him. The pursuivant Cross apprehended me; may God forgive him. The Bishop of London thrust me into prison ; may God forgive him. His secretary, whispering into his ear I know not what incitements, inflamed him against me ; may God forgive him. May God pardon Sir William Wade, the Prefect of the Tower, who eagerly solicited my death, and Sir Henry Montague, the Attorney General, who at my trial invented so many things against me. May all attain Salvation, and with me reach heaven.” Being warned to make an end of speaking, he begged the Catholics who were present to pray for him, for whom he would also pray. He then prayed God to accept the offering of his blood for his King and country, and with hands and eyes raised to heaven, and endeavouring to fall upon his knees in the cart, which the length of the rope round his neck would not allow, he recited with a loud voice, and singular tenderness of affection, the Lord's Prayer, “Our Father,” the angelical salutation, “Hail Mary,” the “Apostles' Creed,” and the hymn of the Church, Veni Creator Spiritus—“Come Holy Ghost,” as far as the words in that hymn, Sermone ditans gut- ſera, when the cart was drawn away and he was allowed to Aather 7%omas Garnef. 497 hang until dead, by the order and kindness of the Earl Cecil (who had during the martyr's address frequently forbidden any interruptions), and the favour of the people. Three or four friendly persons were permitted to draw him down by the feet with all their strength, to assist and hasten his release from suffering, and to put him beyond all danger of the most terrible part of the sentence, the being cut down alive, and in that state disembowelled and quartered, accord- ing to the Statute for high treason. Amongst these was a Protestant relative of the martyr, whom the Father was observed with one hand to motion away from him, and with the other to bless him ; then fixing upon him a glance suffi- cient to distinguish him from the rest, he closed his eyes and expired. Other criminals were executed after him for various offences; but the crowd of spectators, who were attracted to the scene by the Father's known reputation, and to see a man voluntarily dying as a martyr to the oath, returned back to London. Protestants were also heard to praise him highly. But whilst the executioner was engaged in quartering the body for the purpose of affixing the quarters to the gates of the city, a person came up with disordered hair, dressed in a green habit, like a wild man of the woods. This was in fact one Mr. William Atkinson, whose great love and esteem for Father Thomas Garnet had induced him to assume that strange guise to prevent his being discovered. Addressing the executioner, and telling him that the relatives of this poor convict were in straitened circumstances, he induced him to make a bargain for no great sum for the martyr's clothes and some portions of his flesh, which they wished to obtain as a memorial. But Mr. Atkinson, with- out knowing it, was really purchasing his own life. Not long afterwards, being overtaken by a strange and most fatal disease, and already given over by the physicians, he felt within himself a great confidence of being cured by invoking the aid of his friend Father Thomas. This he did with much affection, placing the relics upon his breast, and felt at Once a most salutary relief, insomuch that the next day he had strength to make a journey upon some necessary affairs of business.” * In the choir of the Church of the College of the English Fathers at St. Omers, up to the 16th of October, 1762, when the College was violently taken from them by the Parliament of Paris, was a cupboard containing the remains of Father Thomas Garnet and Father Peter Wright, martyred (GG 498 Aather 7%0mzas Gazºzzeſ. Father Thomas Garnet was in his thirty-fourth year. Stow, in his Chronicles, thus honourably preserves the memory of the martyr. “On the 23rd of June, 1608, in the sixth year of the reign of King James, Thomas Garnet was executed at Tyburn, being offered his life if he would accept the oath of allegiance; but he refused both the one and the other.” It is said that on the Earl of Exeter, and others also, relating to the King the beautiful death of Father Thomas Garnet, and the prayer he offered to God for his Majesty, James complained of and condemned the imprudence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, and said they were badly advised in making choice, for putting to death on account of refusing the oath, a man that could exhibit to the people so glorious a spectacle of his virtues. But his happy death was more worthily celebrated at the Novitiate of St. John's, Louvain, where the martyr was the first to consecrate himself to God on the feast of the Visitation of our Lady, 1607. A public act of thanksgiving to God, and a lasting commendation and memory of his virtues, formed there a tribute from fervent souls to him who so gloriously reigns above, among the patrons and intercessors of the Church militant, and of his own loved Society. - In a letter of Father Michael Walpole to Father Robert Parsons, dated 26th of July, 1608, of which a copy is sub- joined, it is stated : “This blessed martyr's death seemeth to have silenced the Parliament oath, as his good uncle's did the Gunpowder treason.” The following interesting original relation of Mr. Masten, who was evidently the Protestant chaplain of Newgate, is preserved in the Stonyhurst MSS., Anglia, vol. iii. n. 84. “Being necessarily urged out of the duty of humanity to show what courteous attendance I might to the last rest of Mr. Garnet, I rose at six in the morning to wish his last light blessed to him. I found him at his prayers, but yet in no such extraordinary devotion but that it seemed his peace was confidently made with heaven long before. This morning's orisons being ended, suddenly he began to discourse in 1651, 19th of May, at Tyburn, and of nine secular priests who had suffered for religion. The cupboard bore this inscription—Reliquiæ SS. nondum approbata et monumenta virorum pia, memoria. Father Wright's body was removed to Liege (Dr. Oliver, Collect, S.J. p. IOI.) Father Thomas Garnet. 499 upon the day on which he died, zealously protesting much devotion to St. Ethelred, the saint of that day, who being twice married yet died a virgin, and (said he) since one of my wives is chastity, I hope for the powerful mediation of so blessed a maid. His eye was filled of extraordinary cheer- fulness, which the night before I saw once wet only (as himself testified), and all men might justly witness, for fear lest he should not suffer the next day, but that some unwished mediation would hinder him from the sudden accomplishment of his reputed most glorious service to the Catholic Church. I shall never forget his words, which have been in effect these : ‘Oh,' quoth he, ‘have I through the mighty aid of the unresistible care of heaven happily passed through two guards, and shall the least and weakest detain me from entering into the palace of the blessed ? Alas!” said he, here zealous people have searched for rags from me, intending to keep them as monuments of piety; what a derision were it to my readiness, and what a wrong to my holy resolution to put me now back from my most expected service. I shall account it the most heavy affliction I ever had sent me, if I should now be reputed as unworthy to suffer for His testimony.’ This over night. “But the next morning, hearing of no hindrances to his hopes, I protest he appeared to me risen with trebled spirits. Certainly, for the little space I knew him, I never saw him appear so full of life, and almost miraculous cheerfulness. He distributed to the officers of the house liberally, and would have given more, but (said he) ‘I fear the hangman will be angry if he find no more money in my purse.’ “For my own part, protesting my inability to strengthen his soul, and my want of learning to dissuade him from any opinion, I desired him somewhat to comfort his body against the last encounter, whereupon he asked for a caudle, but remembering it was fasting day he recalled it, and only drank Some burnt wine. After he had washed he drank, and used Some passionate ejaculations; he appeared to me more like a bridegroom that went with a raised affection to his espousals, than a feeling man bound to the knife of the executioner. Something he spake so humbly of his own perfections and weak deservings, that no Protestant, nay, I think no man but himself can worthily recite them. Therefore I omit to repeat what my unworthiness shall much wrong to recite. For his outward appearance in the morning he suffered, I GG 2 5OO Father 7,Womas Garnet. dare not, I protest, speak freely whom my imagination per- suaded me he thoroughly resembled. Certainly unto the hour of his departure he seemed full of a most willing affability, , holy modesty, more than human patience, and most unshakened constancy. At his departure one of the sheriffs, whose name I know not, but he seemed a man of much humanity, brought a young divine to confer with him. A loose skirmish of words passed betwixt them, and to my weak understanding they appeared like wrestlers who rather caught for advantage to take hold, than with plain and clear strength to overthrow. At the last the divine persuaded Mr. Garnet not to wrong the State in proclaiming at his death that he suffered for religion, when assuredly he suffered for treason; to which he answered with an humble Smile and a self-like modesty, ‘Sir, he that obeys his Prince is no traitor; I obey my Prince, and am therefore no traitor.’ The minor, being desired, he pro- ceeded : “Obedience is twofold, active and passive. The law is, if thou returnest thou shalt die. I render myself most dutifully, my body to my King and my soul to my God—so Caesar hath that which belongeth to Caesar.’ With this, him- self hastening the sheriff, and confessing his priesthood and his holy Order of Jesus’ Society, with an astonishing cheer- fulness, he departed, and took his hurdle which he blessed, and then with an unabated resolution lay down and was drawn from our eyes, when we with poor prisoners, helpless pity, only swam in tears after him.” - The two following letters are written by Father Michael Walpole, under his assumed name of Martin Becann, addressed to Father Robert Parsons, under the name of Marco Mercante, Venice. Ang/ia, vol iii. n. 86. “Good Sir, I cannot choose but take this fit occasion of signifying to you the happy martyrdom of Mr. Thomas Garnet, though I doubt not but you shall hear of it by many other means. Yesterday, the 23rd of June, and St. John Baptist's eve, after our account, about nine of the clock, he was drawn from Newgate to Tyburn upon a hurdle, as the Custom is. In his countenance he discovered much joy and Comfort, as before also in the prison he had shown extra- Ordinary forwardness to the sheriff and minister that were with him in the morning. Yet though his desire of suffering in So glorious a cause was exceeding great, his carriage was Aºzá/her 7%0%as Garnef. 50 I so mild and moderate that it was offensive to none, but gave exceeding great contentment and satisfaction to all. They had exceeding little matter against him, but would willingly have falsified his examination, at which he took exception in the Sessions House, especially about the point of murdering. There were about one thousand at his execution, more than three hundred horses, and three coaches, in one of the which was my Lord of Exeter, who spoke with him willingly half an hour and used him very well, seeming to remain satisfied; he spake divers times that he might not be interrupted either in his speech or prayers, and likewise that he might not be cut down till he was dead. The effect of his speech was to declare his profession that he was a priest and Jesuit, fighting under the banner of Jesus; that he had been well nigh nine years in England, in which time all his endeavours had been only to instruct and help such as he found disposed in things appertaining to their salvation, without intermeddling himself with any other affairs; that he was most ready to show all lawful allegiance to his Majesty, and that he had divers times offered to take his oath of allegiance, and that now he had brought with him the form of the oath which was heretofore taken by all loyal subjects in this realm, and that he was now also prepared to take it ; but he found that this new oath, which is by some called the oath of allegiance, had many other things mingled in it which no Catholic could take with a safe conscience. He prayed for the King, &c., and in particular forgave Rouse and Cross, which were the cause of his apprehension, the Bishop of London and Sir W. Wade, who were the chief urgers of his condemnation and death, and especially the latter; and finally he beseeched God that he might see all that were present in heaven. He likewise protested that he esteemed himself the happiest man in the world at that present, howsoever it might seem other- wise in the eyes of others. Having ended his speech he fell to his prayers, pronouncing the Pater, Ave, Credo, and the Hymn of the Cross with a loud voice, and so the cart was driven away; and presently three or four ran in to weigh him down, and the people cried hold, before anybody offered either by word or deed to cut him down, and so he continued till he was quite dead ; and then also no man seemed willing to cut him down, but at length there was one with a Welsh bill found out, who had withdrawn, and hidden his bill as well as he could ; and so he was opened and quartered as 5O2 Father Thomas Garnet. the use is, and his quarters are set upon the gates. He was offered and in a manner requested to take time to con- sider of the oath till Michaelmas; but he refused any such respite, telling them he was altogether resolved, and therefore they might assure themselves they should find him the same man then as now. Surely the Catholic cause hath gotten much by his glorious victory. It is wonderful how all sorts agreed in his commendation at their return from his execution, which the most part of the better sort did presently, not expecting the rest; there were some coiners and women to die. This is the brief narration of this glorious martyr, to whose merits and prayers I humbly commend myself. “The Spanish Ambassador is exceedingly troubled with these courses. Mr. Blackwell sayeth that Mr. Garnet is a glorious man, but I am afraid he will still be miserable. “D. L.” was in some trouble these days past. I was then out of town, and returned not till the night of her delivery. Some blame her of indiscretion, but as she relateth the matter she could hardly excuse anything, she said, and besides spake it with such circumstances and moderation that the hearers took no offence at those words which are most blamed, but only at her being Catholic, and giving so good’ and resolute reasons of her faith. My Lord Treasurer, who was informed thereof, was content to take an occasion to make the Ambassador beholden to him, to which end he urged these speeches in the worst sense, which troubled the Ambassador, and made him also incline to condemn her the more, to prevent the like occasions hereafter, and if he might, with her departure out of this country. But it will be very hard for him to draw her to, and besides not necessary for that he desireth, for which it is sufficient that she be more wary hereafter, as she will be ; and not to give him offence, hath abstained from visiting Mr. Garnet in the prison, or being present at his death, both which otherwise she would have presumed ; and now she did all that was possible for her to do in absence. You may do well to comfort and animate her, for so she deserveth, and would be grieved to see her friends forsake her to give content to others by hindering her in her best Courses, so long desired, and now at length * This was the pious Spanish lady, Doña Louisa de Carvajal y Mendoza. See her Liſe, by Lady Georgiama Fullerton (Quarterly Series, vol. vi. c. v.). Aather 7% omas Garmeč. 5O3 obtained in great part, and as she hopeth, at length to be accomplished, of which these accidents are no bad signs. “Thus wishing you all happiness, I always rest, “Yours most assuredly at command, “MARTIN BECANN. “ (For mark.) “The 24th of June, 1608 (S.V.).” Same to same. Anglia, vol. iii. n. 88. “Good Sir, I have yours of the 5th of this, since which time I doubt not you have received the happy martyrdom of Mr. Garnet, of whom I wrote at large, and yet now think good to add this more—that it is credibly reported that he being cast from the ladder, among others that ran to pull and weigh him down, one was a kinsman of his, but Protestant, whom he put away with one hand and blessed with the other, and withal opened his eyes and looked upon him. This is reported from the party himself. Likewise the evening before his execution, he signified to his keeper and divers others of good credit, that my Lord Salisbury had caused him, before his banishment, to set his hand to a paper as Coming from Mr. Henry Garnet, in which there were many things added most untrue and pre- judicial to others, as he perceived after he had set to his hand; and though he disclaimed from them, yet the paper was kept, and may perhaps be produced hereafter, for the prevention of which he discovered this much, and meant to have done the like at his execution, if he might have had time; but he was cut off, and some think the going of my Lord of Exeter thither was chiefly for this purpose. Well, this blessed martyr's death seemeth to have silenced the Parliament oath, as his good uncle's did the gunpowder treason. Though still the priests in the Clink persevere, and Mr. Warnington as forward as any, that is as Mr. Blackwell, Mr. Charnock, or Mr. Heburn, who still stand in the defence of themselves and their faculties; and they give out that the doctors of Sorbonne are wholly for them. But the Council inclineth rather to find out some new form, in which Mr. Pugh hath holpen them well, for he hath presented a form in the name of all the clergy, which the most mislike, and none, or very few, will adventure to approve, till they hear from Rome. The three priests in the Gatehouse are coura- 5O4. Aather 7%0mas Garnet. geous, for Mr. Molineux, alias Almond,” is in Mr. Garnett's place. . “And thus, wishing you all happiness, I ever rest your most assuredl Y; “ MARTIN BECANN. “This 26th of July, 1608 (S. V.) Address—“Al motto Magg. Sigor il Signor Opim, Marco Mercante, in Vinegia.” The following is a letter from Father Thomas Talbot, Rector of the Novitiate S.J. Louvain, and the Novice Master of the blessed Martyr, to Father Robert Parsons, Rector of the English College, Rome (Anglia, vol. iii. n. 87)— “Rev. Father in Christ,- “ Pax Christi. “I send you now our first fruits of this little garden of St. John's, viz., the martyrdom of Father Thomas Garnett, our first novice, and the first which made his vows in our novitiate. The particulars I cannot relate, but I make no doubt but Father Baldwin will send them you. It is told us of those which came out of England that he behaved himself most constantly. And now, dear Father, you may consider what joy we have had here at St. John's, for this so happy news, and what courage we receive to go forward in this our course begun, whose event we see so happy. Certainly, as it hath pleased Almighty God to bless our beginnings, so I hope He will con- tinue, and that out of this little novitiate, which hath been begun with such difficulties and contradictions, I hope He will bring forth many Campions, many Southwells, and many Garnetts, who for His honour and glory, and for defence of His holy Church, and the authority of Peter and his successors, shall not be afraid to testify that faith which we have received of our forefathers, of the Apostles, of Christ Himself, and to sign the same with their own blood, as this our happy Father (in times past our fellow, but now a most glorious martyr, and I hope our intercessor in heaven) hath done. Yesterday we said the Ze Deum in the Church, with the prayer of thanks- giving, and I think there is none of us which would not be partakers, not only of his glory, but also of his death and * This glorious martyr suffered at Tyburn on the 5th of December, I612. See Bishop Challoner's Memoirs. Aafter 7%0m2as Gazºzef. 5O5 passion. I am Sorry we cannot relate the particular circum- stances, but I hope you shall have them from Father Baldwin. And thus, my good Father, desiring your blessing, and that it would please you to remember us in your prayers and holy Sacrifices, that we may better imitate the example of this glorious martyr, I take my leave this 18th day of July, 1608. “Rae Vae, Servus in Christo, “THOMAS TALBOTT. “From Louvain, al motto Rev. &c., Il Padre Rob. Personeo, della Comp. di Gesu, Rettore dal Coll. Inglese, Roma.” The following authors have treated of this Father—And : Cadaemon, A/o/, pro Garneto, c. 6; Relatio MS. in Coll. Angl. in Roma ; Menol. S.J. MS. ; Ribad. in appendix ad centum M.M. S.J.; Petrus Oultremon, De viris illusf. S./. : Jacobus Damianus, in Synop. S.J. l. 5. c. 26 ; Hil. de Coste, Aſist. Cath. l. 3. in Edm. Camp. (Gallice); John. Rho. variae virt. hist. l. I. c. 5 and 9; Elias de St. Ker, in legatione Eccl. triump. l. 2. c. 30. n. 74; Tanner, Vita et mors Jesuitarum ; Morus, Hisſ. Prov. Angl. , Bartoli, Inghilferra. 506 Father Peter Wright. THE LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF FATHER PETER WIRIGHT. THE following life of this blessed martyr, and truly noble champion of Christ, is compiled chiefly from the relation of Father Edward Courtney were Leedes, entitled, Mors of fidem A. Petri Wrighti, who was an eye witness of his martyrdom, and wrote his account on the spot. This narrative was used by Bishop Challoner in his Memoirs of Missionary Priests, and was also to a great extent adopted by Father Tanner— Vita et mors /esuitarum Żro ſide interſectorum. We have also made use of a long and exceedingly interesting report written by Father Francis Foster, who was the Provincial at the time, and in London, and also wrote upon the spot. This letter is pre- served in the Annual Letters of the English Province, 1651–52. Mittera AV. P. Provincialis Anglia, S.J. ad socios in partibus transmarini's agenſes, de felic: morte A. AE Aetrž Wright: effusdem Societatis Zondini ob ſidem cast 29 Maii, (s.7).) 1651. Some additional facts are also given from Father Tanner's Vita et Mors, &c., and Florus Aznglo-Bavaricus, p. 84. Four interest- ing letters of the Father, written a few years before his death to another Father, of the Society are also annexed. CHAPTER I. FHIS EARLY LIFE IN THE WORLD. FATHER PETER WRIGHT was a native of the parish of Slipton, Northamptonshire, about three miles distant from Thrapston. He was born in the year 1603, of poor, but respectable parents, who were zealous Catholics. His father, though unable to bequeath him a rich patrimony, took care to bestow upon him the better inheritance of a good education in the local schools; and the talents and disposition he there displayed gave no small augury that he would one day become a priest and Religious. His father was carried off by a premature death, Father Peter Wright. 5O7 leaving behind him a large family, thirteen in number. Sum- moning his family to his bedside when dying, he earnestly exhorted them to perseverance in the faith and the Orthodox Catholic religion. Peter was then entering upon manhood. Compelled by his mother's poverty to seek his own living, he left home and engaged himself in the service of a country lawyer, in whose employment he became tainted rather than imbued with heretical and depraved opinions. He spent ten years in this situation, ever nourishing the fond hope of better- ing his fortunes, and at last of making a rich marriage with a lady of rank who was residing in his patron's family. The lawyer, however, Suspecting what was in contemplation, sent the lady to another place, and thus frustrated the match. Peter took this heavy disappointment so much to heart, that leaving both his patron and his house, he turned his thoughts to a different kind of life. His father's dying exhortations began to rise up like spectres before his mind, and so vehe- mently knocked at the door of his troubled heart, that like a sheep long wandering in error, he began to look about for a return to the fold of the Church. By means of a Catholic sister, he was introduced to a pious priest, by whose whole- Some advice and opportune instructions, he was much streng- thened in his desires ; but he was not as yet standing upon firm ground, being carried away by the unsteadiness of youth. For one day he allowed himself imprudently to be persuaded to enlist in the English forces serving in Holland, although naturally he had a horror of the dangers of a military life. This resolution was so sudden, and, when taken, so hastily executed, that he did not return home to settle his affairs, and left everything to the mercy of the first comer. This would have been about 1626–27. But, while he was thus carried away by his own impetuosity, Providence was the while working out its own designs to bring him through storms to shelter. His innate disposition to virtue could ill brook the licentiousness of a soldier's life and the de- praved manners of a camp. Therefore, before a month was over, disgusted with this kind of life, he sighed after some Catholic land, where he might enlist in the more hallowed Camps of the Church. As no safe opportunity offered itself, he preferred to run the risk of cutting the rope, than to incur delay by loosening it. Therefore, in open day, running off in sight of the whole army, and amidst a shower of bullets, he got on board a vessel in the Scheldt, and crossed over to 508 Father Peter Wright. the Brabant side, near the fortress of Santulier, where some Spanish regiments were lying in ambush to prevent the enemy's passage. The fugitive was received by them with open arms, and he now felt himself safe. He was accustomed to relate how, upon his first arrival, he was greatly strengthened in his opinions of the Catholic faith and of Catholics, by the striking contrast he observed in the soldiers of the rank and file ; the English, given to excessive drinking, while the Spaniards, naturally grave, evidenced their piety and veneration for sacred things. He was ever grateful to these preservers both of his life and soul, and always entertained sentiments of the highest regard and honour towards the nation. He then pursued his journey towards Brussels, but found the road infested with robbers, who stripping and plundering him of his clothes and money, taught him a lesson, though yet but a mere tyro, to bear the cross of his Master, despoiled of all. In this plight, without cloak, sword, cap, or shoes, he entered the gates of Brussels, and meeting a poor man of his own country he was asked, whether in joke or earnest, he did not know, how much money he had left in his purse. He replied, that he was not very well equipped for his furlough; and his companion led him to an obscure inn, where he was treated to a much more splen- did supper than he could have hoped for from so poor a man. He found this good man to be a Catholic, and was encouraged and advised by him to make a pilgrimage to Rome, the seat of religion. His friend also fitted him out the following day with clothes, shoes, Cap, and pilgrims' Staff for his journey; adding likewise a supply of silver money for his pocket. Thus equipped, by little short of a miracle, he pursued his way, and called at the English College of the Society of Jesus at Liege, where, on ringing at the bell, he found in the Brother Porter a true physician of his soul. The Father Rector, on discovering the talents of the youth, and his parents being likewise known, was so prepossessed in his favour, that after duly instructing and reconciling him to the Church, he sent him with letters of commendation from the English residents of Liege, to Ghent (1627). There he spent two years, supported by the pious liberality of the same Catholics, in the Seminary of the Flemish Fathers of the Society, and during that time displayed such assiduity as to obtain to be readily chosen among the select scholars who in the year 1629 were sent from the College of St. Omers to the English College, Rome, for their higher studies. Father Peter Wright. 5O9 CHAPTER II. ENTERS THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. INSTEAD of proceeding to the English College, Rome, with the rest of the scholars, Peter, having a short time before petitioned for admission to the English Province of the Society of Jesus, was sent to the Novitiate at Watten. This favour was received by no unthankful heart or indocile will. The recent convert entered on his noviceship with great fervour of spirit. His universally tractable disposition, his ingenuous manners, and robust strength, no less of mind than of body, seemed to promise great efforts for the glory of God and his own sanc- tification. In the first year of his probation, he had gained so great a mastery over himself and his passions, that whereas he was naturally hot tempered and hasty, he became from that time distinguished for his tranquillity and evenness of temper, his perfect self-control and self-contempt. From this time also, until his ordination (says Father Tanner), he strove, by enduring cold, want, and other voluntary austerities, to temper his body for the enduring of future harder trials in England, revolving in his mind nothing else than chains, racks, the gallows, &c., to be undergone there for the cause of the faith. He was also most ready in making excursions, even in the depth of winter, to the neighbouring villages. As he clearly predicted by these self-conquests his own future bloody combat, so by catechising poor children he foreshadowed the dexterity he was to acquire as a preacher. During the three years of his theological studies at Liege, he continued with great ardour the practice of catechising in the village churches of the neighbouring country. So inflamed was his zeal for the Salvation of souls, that he petitioned to be allowed to make only the three years, or short course of theology, so as to be the Sooner at liberty to enter upon missionary work. This he succeeded in obtaining. Having gone through the short course of divinity, he returned again to Ghent, the first Cradle of his new life, for the purpose of making his tertian- ship, or third year of probation, according to the institute of the Society. This third year is dedicated to the renewal of fervour after the distractions of study, preparatory to Solemn profession. In the severe exercises of this period of preparation, he exhibited himself no less a man, than in the 5 IO Arather Peter Wright. Novitiate at Watten he had approved himself a novice of the highest promise. His tertianship being ended, and with it his religious education, he was sent forth upon the sacred campaign of souls. His first employment, not the least trying certainly, nor the least responsible, was that of prefect of morals over the scholars in the College of the English Drovince at St. Omers. He acknowledged that nothing could be less consonant to his natural inclinations than this trying office; but he made a generous sacrifice of his own will to the will of God declared to him by his superiors; and the more perfectly to overcome his repugnance, after having prostrated himself before God in prayer, he went to the Father Rector of the College and generously offered to continue prefect, if superiors thought proper, during the whole of his life.” - A more spacious field, however, for gathering in a rich harvest of souls, awaited him in the camp, as missioner or chaplain to the English forces in Belgium. Having been him- self in the army, and possessing naturally a special talent for winning the hearts of the soldiers, he joyfully undertook the appointment. His soul had long since yearned for it, and God so disposed it as a reward for his generous self-conquest in the matter of the prefectship ; for within an hour after that act of self-sacrifice he was admonished by the Father Provincial to prepare for the camp mission. He was ever a stout defender of the Catholic cause among all ; and when in active service, whether on the battle field or at sieges, especially where the struggle was carried on in the cause of religion, he refused no labour, and shrank from no danger in the exercise of his functions. So too, when the army was quiet in camp, or resting in winter quarters, he assiduously laboured amongst them, preaching, hearing confessions, comforting the sick, making up quarrels, or relieving the wants of the more needy soldiers, “ of whom,” says Father Courtney, “there is now-a- days enough in the army.” Hence he endeared himself to all, both high and low, and so captivated their hearts, that he found it no hard task to draw them to a better life, and very many, forsaking heresy, he reconciled to the Catholic Church. Before all others he especially won the affectionate regard of Colonel Sir Henry Gage, a man of deep and sagacious * The Father Rector at that time, about 1636–7, was most probably Father Thomas Worsley, mentioned further on, who was actually present at Tyburn, and assisted the blessed martyr at his execution. Father Peter Wright. 5 II penetration. With unwearied zeal he served in camp for upwards of seven years, partly in Belgium, partly in England, in both equally approving himself by his industrious zeal for souls. He witnessed the brilliant action of his colonel, when Sir Henry was sent by King Charles by a forced march to the relief of Basing House, the seat of the Marquis of Winchester, the long siege of which by the parliamentary army was raised. Father Peter was introduced on this occasion to the Marquis and his wife, who perceiving his virtue, gave him an affectionate invitation to stay with them. This he willingly accepted, with the desire of being at once a consolation to them in affliction, and of some assistance in the care of souls. He spent, therefore, the last years of his life as their chaplain. During his residence with them in their house in London, he did not confine himself to that family alone, but visited other houses of the citizens and nobles, to whom he often preached, and yet more frequently gave exhortations and administered the holy sacraments, with constant exertion, and regardless of danger. He had prepared two sermons shortly before his death, upon the happiness of those who suffer for Christ ; little thinking, perhaps, at the time, that he was so Soon to give them at the gallows an example more efficacious than the words of a preacher.” Before detailing the seizure and final combat of Father Wright, it will be necessary to notice the general state of Catholic affairs in England. This may be done partly from the letter of Father Francis Foster, the Provincial before alluded to, partly from Father Courtney's Mors ob ſidem A. Wrighti, and partly from Father Tanner's Vita et mors, &c. Father Foster observes, that from the commencement of this new republic in England, better times for the Catholics seemed at length to dawn. Their fortunes were indeed still daily exhausted by heavy pecuniary fines; yet, inasmuch as the persecution to blood had ceased, they were able to breathe a little, deeming themselves well off in so escaping. They were permitted, by the connivance of the magistrates, a certain freedom and impunity in the practice of the Catholic worship in their private houses, the more unmolested exercise of which they secured by weekly pecuniary agreements made with the * Among the Stonyhurst MSS. is a collection of Father Wright's Sermons for the course of a year, sixty-two in number, averaging about thirteen pages in each. - 5I 2 Father Peter Wright. officers themselves, and by constant bribes to keep them quiet, and prevent these troublesome dogs from barking at the Lord’s flock. The Catholics now entertained great hopes that this calm might be lasting; seeing that the Parliamentarians them- selves affected to respect religious liberty. In addition to this, a new treaty of peace then agitating with Spain greatly tended, as was commonly believed, towards the tranquillity of Catholic affairs. *. Father Courtney observes that the pecuniary fines and the severity of their exaction, on account of the Catholic faith, was so far from ceasing, that this species of persecution never tried the Catholics more severely than under the sway of the new Parliament. Especially on the breaking out of the civil war, partly from an insolent soldiery, and partly by the riotous rabble, the houses of nearly all the Catholics were miserably plundered and stripped, the owners ejected, while the houses themselves were despoiled, shattered, and in many instances levelled to the ground. Nor were cases wanting in which the most respectable families, and ancient nobility, driven from their ancestral seats, were obliged, by flight through woods and Out-of-the-way Spots to seek the most secluded hiding-places. These enormities were perpetrated simply by the popular fury, without any authority of the magistrates, nor legal warrant, except perchance in the case of the nobles who were of the royal party, against whom the Parliamentary soldiers raged more brutally. In the meantime it was decreed in Parliament, under the tyrannical domination of the Calvinistic party, that the most Savage penal laws against the Catholics from the time of Henry VIII., the rigorous execution of which seemed to have been for a short period suspended by King Charles, should be strictly enforced. It was no sooner said than done; all the prisons were filled with Catholics of every rank and condition; and when these were so crammed that they could hold no more, then for want of other places they had to resort to the Thames, and the very ships themselves were converted into prisons for the innocent upholders of the ancient faith. But such as were arraigned at the tribunals, and convicted of having taken Holy Orders abroad, were condemned to death. Instead of the effusion of blood, a more severe torture was inflicted upon the laity ; they were stripped of half of their goods, real and personal, and thus prevented from taking up arms for the King : for being thus deprived of their property, a fifth part being reserved for the support of their wives and Aather Peter Wright. 5 I 3 families, they were totally ruined. Lastly, even the goods and earnings of many were either mercilessly forfeited to the Commonwealth, or sold by public auction. The Catholics groaned under these intolerable burthens, when, beyond all expectation, a new faction emerged from the camp, called Independents; by whose influence an army was marched upon London, the purely Calvinistic party” either ex- pelled from power, or forced to submit, and another form of government in Church and State introduced. It seemed good to the Independent party to grant liberty of conscience, and to punish no one on the sole account of religion. The new government, therefore, showed more moderation towards Catholics in matters of faith, abstained from shedding the blood of the priests, and from interfering with the Mass and the accustomed Catholic religious ceremonies. The seeds of a solid and permanent peace seemed to have been sown, and this was strengthened by an agreement made with the pursuivants and priest-hunters three years before, for an exemption, by money payments, from their usual vexations. It is incredible how great a relief and breathing-time this interval of lenity, short as it was, afforded the afflicted Catholics. Although they had little relief from the heavy pecuniary exactions, by which many were reduced to poverty, yet the fact that they could now with somewhat more security enjoy the private exercise of their holy religion reconciled them to all the rest, and made everything comparatively tolerable. Many, however, suspected, and too truly perhaps, as the succeeding calamities attest, that this act of lenity in favour of the recusants was not sincere, but was rather a trap whereby the more surely to discover the Catholics, who were certain to make an ample use of the concession. Further hopes were entertained from the repeal during the past year of certain penal laws formerly enacted against Catholic recusants, or those who refused to attend the Pro- testant churches. The renewal of a firmer friendship between the King of France and the Parliament came to crown this hope. Don Alfonsus de Cardenas, the French Ambassador, was first among the foreign representatives to acknowledge in the name of his sovereign the new republic ; and from this recog- nition, as a sort of diversion, all Catholics hoped to derive a benefit. This interval of repose lasted but three months. The very * Probably the Presbyterians are here included. |HH 5 I 4. Father Peter IVright. day before the French Ambassador was going to the Senate, to demand his credentials (it was Christmas Day, 1650), an armed and lawless body of soldiers attacked his residence, and by the terror and dismay they caused, broke up the Christmas devotions of the Catholics, who were assembled there in considerable numbers to hear Mass. On the first alarm the priest withdrew, and unvesting himself passed through the dense crowd, and so escaped. The soldiers had chosen that festival day, and at that hour, in the certainty of finding and arresting the priest. They made a most minute Search, but, being disappointed in their expected prey, they arrested numbers of the Catholics, men and women, young and old, and even the Ambassador himself and other French nobles of his suite, who were detained prisoners for some hours. After a few days, the Ambassador was ordered to depart the kingdom. It was generally considered by the Catholics that this first tumult was directed rather against the French than themselves, until the Feast of the Epiphany, 1651, when the residence of Count Egmond (who was formerly Spanish Ambassador), was attacked by a like lawless and furious force, and similar violence used, amidst the alarm and tears of the Catholics, who were desolated at seeing the sacred furniture, the pictures, crucifixes, &c., carried off. These, with the Catholics who had been apprehended, were paraded through the streets with the greatest indignity. It was now obviously a revival of malicious and undying hatred against the Catholic faith. All doubt on this point was removed when the faithless pursuivants, who had shortly before received their usual peace- offering, again resumed their work of priest-hunting. They conducted this with such severity that none, even of the leading nobility, eluded their quest. No house escaped ; and these scrutinies were generally made on festivals, not once, but repeatedly ; the Searches being pertinacious and indefatigable. To make things worse, the lawless and dominant soldiery, jealous of the pursuivants who were armed with magistrates' warrants, and were thrusting their sickles into what they con- sidered their own peculiar harvest, procured for themselves warrants of similar authority. Armed with these, they went on exploring parties through the town. They tracked the priests at every step ; they watched the houses of Catholics for every comer and goer, especially at early morning and evening, the times when, as they knew, the priests were accustomed to issue forth upon their ministerial functions. Aºther Peter Wright. 5 I 5 # Every suspicious person, if he failed to give in reply to their imperious questionings a satisfactory account of himself, was instantly seized, and carried off to the magistrates. These searchers did their business so effectually, that in a very short time they had incarcerated altogether eight priests, amongst whom was our own brave champion of Christ, Cui suffremies Agoſtof/leſa /)alds certamen forée dedić ºf vinceret.* CHAPTER III. FATHER PETER IS SEIZED : IMPRISONED : E F FORTS FOR HIS RELEASE. - IN this sudden and most unexpected storm, was our blessed martyr Father Peter Wright involved. The parliamentary bloodhounds, hunting down the lives of Catholics, especially of priests, had scented their prey to the mansion of the Marquis of Winchester, in London, with whom, as we have seen, the Father was living as chaplain. An occasion of seizing him soon presented itself. The feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary was at hand, when the Marquis, out of his singular devotion to Our Lady, was, with Father Wright, preparing for it with greater Solemnity. It was a happy augury, that on the anniversary of the day on which the Divine Infant Jesus was offered in the Temple as a victim, Father Wright should thus enter upon his own sacrifice. The pursuivants having ascertained that he was in the house, a body of them concealed themselves in ambush early in the morning of that day, watching their opportunity of rushing into the house. This was afforded them by a footman of the family who had gone out, either on business or by treachery. On his return, they rushed from their hiding-place, and entered with him by the open door into the house. Having by some treachery previously gained all details, they made at Once for the back stairs, and would have gone direct to the Chapel and the Father's room, had not the Marquis himself for some time detained them in their progress. An opportunity was thus afforded to the soldier of Christ, had he willed to take it, of withdrawing to a secure hiding-place. But he preferred to trust himself to a retreat among the leaden water pipes in the * Wisdom x. I2. HIH 2 516 Faſ/ler Peter Wright. roof of the house, which he had for some time selected against the hour of need; these he quickly gained by an open window. In his hurried retreat, he left sure traces of his flight behind him ; his cassock, breviary, and the open window. In the chapel, also, were various preparations for Mass, and the cruets ready filled with wine and water. On finding these things, the pursuivants had no doubt of their prey, and sent a youth to hunt it out among the leads of the roof. After searching through one or two of the divisions of the roof, he discovered the Father, who was seized by the satellites eagerly waiting the event, and brought down to his room. They then conducted him to a lower room, where the Marquis himself was. He was one of the leading nobility of England, and his wife a lady of equally illustrious birth. They were renowned for their constant fidelity to the King, but far more noble for their undaunted profession of the Catholic religion. The constables malignantly observed the honour and veneration which the Father received from his noble entertainers, and from this fact they strongly suspected the real character of their prisoner. Later on, they used it as one of the proofs for obtaining his conviction, when indicted and tried for the priesthood. Meantime, the news spread through the city among the Catholics that Father Peter was apprehended. This afflicting news pierced them with the liveliest grief; especially those who had known him best. Many hoped that he might be bought off for money, since the hungry pursuivants into whose hands he had fallen, were known for their greed of gold, and in the beginning were actuated only by the ransom they hoped for, and would willingly accept. But these men, antici- pated a greater reward for their capture from the Privy Council, or most probably, some who hated the very name Catholic, had exerted themselves to rekindle the decaying embers of per- secution. The captors accordingly dragged their victim at mid-day before the Court, shouting according to custom to the Lord Chief Justice, that they had brought up a traitor and a priest. But, as the proofs were very slight, his lordship thought fit in the meantime to commit him to Newgate as a suspected priest. At first, he was placed among the better sort of prisoners in the lower court of the gaol, where the habitation was less inconvenient, and where he could at least have a cell to himself. But a heavy charge was demanded for this accommo- dation, which he was unable, or, from his love of holy poverty, Aather Peter Wright. 5 I 7 reluctant to pay; his humility also made him prefer a humbler treatment. He chose, therefore, to be removed to the upper court. A new source of comfort here awaited him, as he found other companions in his chains, his faith, and his hopes of bliss. For Father Peter was not the first victim of the renewed storm, several other priests having been arrested and com- mitted not long before. In the preceding year of Jubilee, when the treasury of Indulgences was again opened in Rome, it pleased the Divine Goodness, with the recurring Indulgence, to visit the Catholics of England with a greater weight of affliction. One in their faith, and alike in disposition as well as in the cause of their suffering, these fellow-combatants of Christ were closely united in God, so that, although of different Orders and rule, they manifested themselves to be but branches of one vine, germinating from a common root, fed by one circulation of grace. This little band was greatly refreshed and strengthened by the arrival of Father Peter. In proportion as they knew him better, they were captivated with his virtues and the Sweetness of his manners, which acted upon them as a daily charm. He was, indeed, gifted with a candour and simplicity of heart truly Christian, without colour or deceit of any kind. Hence it was an easy matter for them to live together as brethren of one heart; and they used one common table. It might in truth be said that the prison of these captives was changed into a convent of Religious. Nor was the opportune liberality of the pious faithful wanting to them from that time, in abundantly pro- viding for the confessors of Christ. All private donations to Father Peter, he with most ready charity devoted to the common use. But the chalice of the Lord is “full of mixture,” and, among other trials to his patience, it was not the least that contrary to his Institute and Custom, he was obliged to share his cell and very narrow couch with another. Yet here again, to his immense consolation, and not without the divine interposition of Providence, he had as Companion the Reverend Mr. Cheney, a venerable priest, who emulated, while he wit- nessed, the Father's virtues, and who afterwards wrote and sent to the Father Provincial a long account of what he had observed. As warriors love to discourse upon campaigns and the .dubious events of battles, so did these combatants of Christ frequently discourse upon the mode and points of their defence, and the probable events of their trials. Soon after 518 Aaſher Pećer Wright. - the arrest of Father Peter, the time of the meeting of the judges approached for the trial of prisoners in London. In modern times these meetings pass by the name of “The Old Bailey Sessions,” and used formerly to be held nearly every month, on account of the great number of prisoners. As the Father had been so short a time in prison, it was the common opinion that he would not be called to the bar at the approaching Sessions. So indeed it ſell out; either from anticipation of his ransom, or because as yet they were not prepared with evidence sufficient to secure his conviction. They therefore summoned to the bar the Reverend Mr. Baker, already a veteran combatant in a similar arena, and the same Reverend Mr. Cheney, also a well tried athlete. The notorious Luke, Mayo, and Wadsworth, one of them an apostate, attempted to prove a case against them. The apostate swore that about twenty years before, he had seen Mr. Baker saying Mass at an altar. The difficulty was less in the case of Mr. Cheney, who, while admitting the priesthood, shielded himself by another line of defence, the fact of his being a foreigner. He was born in Belgium, and was therefore beyond the jurisdic- tion of an English Court. Both cases having been left to the jury, they returned a verdict of not guilty, amidst the immense plaudits and Congratulations of the by-standers, accompanied with an outburst of indignation and derision against the infamous informers. The jury accounted to the Court for their verdict, and said that, sitting in judgment upon the lives of men, other- wise innocent, they did not deem the point of the priesthood sufficiently proved by the mere fact of the accused being seen officiating at an altar, unless the witness could go further, and say that he had been present at the ordination itself. This verdict gave great offence to some of the legal authorities, who, to show their displeasure, on the following day, by some new process, Condemned each of the priests in a fine of two hundred marks, for having celebrated Mass in England. In vain |Mr. Baker argued that, having been acquitted upon the charge of the priesthood, he could not certainly be condemned for saying Mass ; for Mass could not be said without a priest But no small joy pervaded the Catholics, inasmuch as innocent blood had been saved, and the attempt of malicious men defeated. This victory is detailed more fully, as it serves to bring out in Striking contrast, the greater goodness of God in afterwards allotting the martyr's palm for Father Wright. The Sessions having terminated with this result, there was Father Peter Wright. 5 I 9 a general and certain expectation among Catholics that Father Peter would shortly be liberated. Meanwhile, Holy Week and Paschal time came round. Never before were the sacred sepulchres on Holy Thursday, which had been splendidly constructed in the chapels of the Spanish and Portuguese Ambassadors, more devoutly visited and vene- rated by crowds of the faithful. Nor did the fear of danger restrain them from visiting the prisons, where, with the servants of God in bonds, some daily and others frequently refreshed themselves with the Bread of Heaven. Many, especially of his old penitents, flocked to Father Peter, both to confess to him as usual and to be strengthened and confirmed by his conversation and example, always returning home more joyful and Consoled. Paschal time being cnded, the matter of the Father's ransom began to be again negotiated, and seemed frequently on the eve of being concluded for a handsome price. The affair was undertaken by a strenuous agent, who left no means untried to satisfy the anxious desires of his friends, and especially the daily importunities of the good Marquis of Winchester. But God was pleased to Ordain otherwise, designing His servant for greater things, and inclining his ear to His ardent prayers, who “ desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ.” The generous soldier of Christ was justly indignant at the merce- nary yet vacillating , conduct of his captors, and earnestly signified to the Father Procurator “that he was unwilling that he should treat any further with such merchants—let them do their own work; that this life was not so precious to him but that he would willingly lay it down in death to gain immortality.” Hence from that time, at his own request, all further treaty for a ransom ceased. His friends, too, still clung to the hope, and felt persuaded that it was not the policy of the heads of the new republic to spill the blood of the citizens for the sake of conscience or religion. 52O Aather Peter Wright. CHAPTER IV. PREPARATIONS FOR HIS ARRAIGNMENT. HIS TRIAL AND CONDEMNATION TO DEATH. HIS CONDUCT IN PRISON. RENEWED EFFORTS TO SAVE HIS LIFE. REV. M.R. CHENEY'S LETTER TO FATHER PROVINCIAL. FATHER PETER’s fellow Religious, too, entertained the same hopes regarding the policy of the men in power, until a few days before the approaching sessions at Newgate, when it was reported through the town that special messengers had been sent into Kent by order of Rolles, the Lord Chief Justice, to summon Thomas Gage, an infamous apostate priest, and now a preacher among the sectaries, to London. This man, member of a noble and most Catholic family, had a few years before been guilty of a base defection from the Faith, and that, too, from a most religious Order," amongst whom he had lived for many years, and had been brought up in the school of Christ. As usual with apostates, he had fallen into the lowest abyss of a scandalous life, and must now again Crimson his hands in the blood of this innocent victim, as heretofore in that of the blessed martyrs, Fathers Thomas Holland, Ralph Corby, and others. His brothers were eminent and excellent men. Henry, the eldest, we have already mentioned—the gallant and loyal colonel. He was a knight and a distinguished officer in the Anglo-Spanish auxiliary army in Belgium, and afterwards in the royal army in England. Appointed Governor of Oxford, he had fallen mortally wounded in an engagement with the Parliamentary rebel army at Collumbridge, near Abingdon, January II, 1644. He died in the arms of his affectionate friend and chaplain, Father Peter Wright.” Another brother, the Reverend George Gage, was an excellent priest of high standing among the English Secular clergy, and of great authority among Catholics. Lastly, Father William Gage, of * The Dominicans. - * “Henricus Hoardus alias vero nomine Gagaeus, Londini natus annum agens 18 in Festo Sancti Joannis prox. elapso, habens confir- mationem admissus est ut Convictor inter Alumnos Sanctissimi Dni nostri a Revdo Patre Thomaeo Odoeno Rectore de mandato Illust. Card. Farnesii Protectoris 17 Oct. 1615. Discesset Angliam versus 23 Sept. 1618 absoluto Scilicet cursu Philosophiae, evasit egregius vir in Sæculo, ut postguan aliquot annis in Belgio magna cum laude tribunus ſuisset legionis Anglorum transportavit in Angliam ut militaret pro Rege Pather Peter Wright. 52 I the Society of Jesus, was a pious and prudent missionary in England. Nothing gave his family so great affliction as to have a member, whose Catholic parents had suffered the loss of their property for the faith, so utterly fall away from it. This unhappy man was now deservedly dreaded, both as having before given testimony against the soldiers of Christ, and because he had been familiarly acquainted with Father Peter in Belgium. Meanwhile some relief was afforded by the pious activity of his brother, the Reverend George Gage, who did not shrink, though at considerable personal risk, to go to the haunt of vice where the wretched debauchee was lodging, and to warn him of the divine judgments that were hanging over him, if he should make himself guilty of innocent blood. He had regard especially to the safety of two, viz., Father Peter, about whom there was less discourse, and Father Dade, the Provincial of the Dominicans in England, upon whose destruction, on account of some ancient grudge, the apostate was the more set. After exhorting and entreating him, in his own name and the names of other friends, upon the faith of God and man, not to commit so enormous a crime as to give evidence against the priests of God in court, his fraternal exhortation so far prevailed that the apostate solemnly pledged his word to his brother that he would not injure either of them ; he also suggested to him a means to avoid the force of the evidence forthcoming. The Marquis of Winchester and the other friends of Father Peter, hearing of this promise, rested in some degree of security. But no reliance can be placed on a man who has broken his faith with his God. As to Father Dade, he was as good as his word; for, while giving evidence that the Father had been Superior of the Dominicans, he astutely avoided the main point, viz., his priesthood, showing that though Superior he might possibly be no priest, and citing the case of St. Francis of Assisi, who was Superior of his order, yet not in priest's orders. This argument prevailed with the jury, men decidedly averse to shedding the blood of the innocent. They at once Carolo primo contra Parliamentarios, multa egregie gessit, unde magnum nomen et benevolentiam acquisevit, et in tanta ſuit gratia apud Regem et Magnates ut Gubernator Oxoniae creatus sit. Hinc orta invidia, paulo post occisus prope Abingdoniam, et ut creditur proditorie caesum glandie tormenti expiravit animam et mortuus est inter amplexus Patris Societatis confessarii Sui A. D. I.645. Hic Pater ſuit Wrightus gloriosus postea Martyr" (Extract from diary of the English College, Rome). 522 Aather Peter Wright. unanimously declared Father Dade not guilty, and he was thereupon released, and “is now expending himself (says Father Courtnay) throughout England in the Salvation of souls.” Far different was the lot of Father Peter, through the treachery of the unhappy apostate. Against all the pro- mises he had given to his brother, he poured out upon him all the virulence of his malicious heart, and to the very Con- clusion of his trial assailed him with every argument he could bring to bear. It is uncertain whether he was urged on by his innate envy and desire of revenge, or by pressure from without. This at least is certain, that on his arrival in London he went immediately to Bradshaw, president of the Privy Council, and Rolles, the Lord Chief Justice, by whom, it is believed, he was instructed as to his evidence and course of proceeding. { The tragedy having now commenced, the apostate Gage, accompanied by the chief clerk of the Lord Chief Justice, and Luke, the pursuivant, Came to the prison the day before the sessions, to ascertain beforehand that he was correct as to his. man. Being called into an adjoining room, Gage was instructed to salute the father civilly in his own name. Father Peter, to elude the trick, would not acknowledge Gage. He, how- ever, persisted, and turning to his companions, boldly asserted that he was the very Father Wright; that he was well known to him ; that he had formerly been confessor to his brother, Colonel Gage ; that he lived with him several days in the camp in Belgium, between Sassa and Ghent ; that another Jesuit named Latham was present at the same time that his brother crossed over into England; that Father Wright after- wards lived with the Colonel at Oxford, and lastly, was present at the battle near Abingdon, where the Colonel received his fatal wound, and had administered to him, when dying, the last Sacraments, in a Carriage. Gage, having uttered these things against the friend of his brother in a somewhat spiteful manner, then, to obliterate any sign of malice, added an apology ; that he was moved to allege these things against the Father on two accounts : First, because the state of public affairs required it, and he was compelled by lawful authority to appear ; secondly, that his own conscience induced him to do so; and as he was here evidently labouring under a difficult argument he prefaced it by a reference to history. “King James,” said he, “caused Father Henry Garnet to be punished Aather Peter Wright. 523. by a just death, not forsooth because he was an actor in the powder plot, but because he would use no means to dissuade the conspirators from the crime, being their confessor. I would not,” he continued, “assert against you that you had resolved upon my death, but as you were my brother's confessor, and it was notified to you that he had on foot certain designs upon my life, and had suborned one Vincent Burton to commit the crime, you ought to have dissuaded them from that wicked intention; therefore have I a right to act as I do.” He then added that the Father abounded in powerful friends in the city, from whom he had just reason to fear that his life was in danger, especially since that great lady in whose house he lived, not so long ago caused a most respectable person, to whose custody she had been consigned by the Parliament, to be thrust through with a sword. It would be impossible to conceive the deep grief, and holy indignation of the blessed martyr on hearing these infamous lies against his (Gage's) own brother, and the excel- lent Marchioness of Winchester. He was more concerned for the reputation of the calumniated than for his own safety. He therefore dismissed the man with a suitable reply. “Go On ; ” said he, “do your utmost, since it so pleases you. I care not a straw for all you are able to do.” Indeed, how prodigal he was of life, and how great was his confidence in God, he expressed the same day in a letter to the Father Provincial. “Wheresoever these things may end, I thank God I am. not troubled. I have fortified my soul for all events, and have resolved not to allay the fury of the satellites in one jot, being ready by the help of God, to run every hazard. Where- fore I humbly entreat the aid of your prayers, and those of my brethren, and of friends in the city. Reverend Father, I am truly your most humble and obedient servant in Christ, “ P. W.” From these beginnings it was not difficult to augur the event. The day following was the decisive day. In the morning the athlete of Christ was brought to the court, and ordered to stand at the bar of the criminals. The court was densely crowded. There sat the Recorder with his Assessors, and in the midst of all the Lord Chief Justice Rolles, according to custom, in Solemn assembly. The four accusers—projectac- 524. Father Peter Wright. omnes nequiſiae, stood on one side, Luke, Mayo, Wadsworth, and Gage. The three first gave such paltry evidence that the court was unable to infer even a suspicion of the charge—the real and only one being that he was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, and a Jesuit. Luke was the first to begin. He testified that on such a day he had arrested Peter Wright in the mansion of the noble Marquis of Winchester, before he was yet fully dressed ; that the prisoner had leapt through a window on to the roof of the house in order to escape ; that he found in the said house the chapel with cushions here and there lying about, with cruets prepared with wine and water ; and lastly, that he had seized the priestly vestments from the hands of one of the servants who was running off with them; and he concluded his evidence by relating the great reverence shown by the Marchioness and the rest of the family to Wright, upon his being brought down to the lower room. Wadsworth and Mayo confirmed this evidence, and then the Lord Chief Justice demanded of the accused what he had to say in reply. With a modest excuse, the Father declined to reply until his accusers had completed the series of the charge against him, which when done, he would then endeavour to Satisfy the Judges and the whole court. He was turning Over in his mind, what he should say in defence, for nothing but what could most easily be met was as yet adduced against him ; when behold ! at last Thomas Gage was produced, who had been kept in reserve, like the Triarins, for the fatal attack, and by a well-prepared, and by no means inelegant address, being a man of ability, he declaimed against the Father for nearly half an hour in so violent and marked a manner, that it was evident from the beginning that he was instigated by hatred, and a thirst for his blood. The Father Provincial, in his letter to the members of the Province to which we have before alluded, states upon this point that shortly before (which would no doubt refer to the interview the preceding day, in Newgate), in a private conversation Father Peter had sorely wounded the unhappy man's guilty conscience, by giving him a strong warning about his running headlong into Crime, to the ruin of his own Soul; again and again exhorting him to enter into himself, as though about to die, and to answer before an incorruptible judge, whose rewards to the just and punishments to the wicked would last eternally. This wholesome advice, however, profited nothing to a con- science Seared by Crime. Father Peter Wright. 525. The sum and substance of Gage's evidence was, that some years ago he had passed over into Belgium, with the intention of going to Rome; and took that opportunity of visiting his brother, at that time a colonel in the English army in Spanish- Belgium, in order to prevent him from dismissing the Dominican Fathers from the said army, and introducing the Jesuits, to whom he found his brother zealously attached. Staying for Some time longer at a military station, at the long aqueduct between Ghent and Sassa, he found there a certain Father Latham, and this Father Wright (thus he always pointedly called him), for whom a chapel had been fitted up in a tent; and this Father Wright he often saw saying Mass at the altar, and hearing confessions. Being afterwards invited to the English College of the Society at Ghent, he had been present also when he had said Mass in the domestic chapel there; and at that time Father Wright was a sharer with him of the same room ; that this same Wright had passed over from Belgium into England as the chaplain of his said brother, Colonel Gage, whose confession he had heard when mortally wounded in battle, and had administered the last Sacraments to him. Then intently and fiercely eyeing the accused, he vehemently declared, “This is he ; this, I say, is Father Wright himself, although he is become somewhat grey, yet I know the man by his voice, his eyes, his countenance; I know him to be a priest and a Jesuit.” He then affectedly fell to his yesterday's history of Father Garnet and its application, wishing to excuse his conduct for appearing in court to give evidence against a man arraigned for his life, from whom he had never received hurt or cause of offence. In this digression he exerted to the utmost of his skill all the force of eloquence, asserting before that most distinguished bench of judges that his life was in danger from the powerful friends of Father Wright, and begging that they would deign to see him protected from barm. The blessed martyr bore with great equanimity this intem- pcrate tirade, uttered as much against the apostate's own gallant departed brother and Father Garnet, as against him- self. Whilst the man was thus declaiming against the prisoner, the good Father's mind was distracted by a double care. Should he endeavour to rebut the evidence of his adversaries, or at Once openly admit the truth, and acknowledge that he was a priest and Jesuit P. Having shortly consulted God in prayer, he decided at last to waive his defence. On the one side he 526 Aather Peter Wright. religiously concluded that in a matter so clear, either to hesitate, or openly to deny the truth, would give a cause of scandal to the by-standers; on the other hand, if by a Candid avowal of the facts alleged, he entailed upon himself a certain death, might it not be said that he was in Some degree accessory to the shedding of his own blood P Having there- fore taken his resolution, he prudently decided upon adopting the middle course, and, as he afterwards wrote to the Father Provincial, turning towards the judge with an intrepid counte- nance, he thus addressed him : “My Lord Judge, I give Almighty God thanks from the bottom of my heart that He has been pleased to dispose that I should be here arraigned, to use the words of St. Peter, not as a murderer, nor as a thief, nor a reviler, nor for any crime, but solely for my religion, the Catholic religion, I say, which was, is, and ever will be celebrated over all the earth. This is my cause ; this is the charge against me, if charge it can be called. I have nothing more to say.” Then, with the same serene Counte- nance, and in a firm voice, addressing the jury he said: “You have indeed enough to do in discharging your duty. Weigh my cause in a just balance, and pronounce your verdict according to equity and conscience.” Having said this, he turned back as though wishing to retire a little whilst the jury consulted together, upon which the Chief Justice ordered him to stand forward, and thus addressed him : “Indeed, sir, you greatly deceive yourself, if you consider this trial to be for the cause of religion. I wish you to understand that the point in question is whether you did not go out of England into foreign parts, and being there ordained priest contrary to the law of the land, and returning back, persuaded the people to embrace the doctrines of the Church of Rome.” “Very good, my lord;” the soldier of Christ replied, “Nero, Diocle- sian, Domitian, and the other tyrants of ancient times might just as well have objected this charge against the Apostles, the priests, and all the martyrs of old.” “By no means,” inter- rupted the judge, “the case is far different. They preached the true gospel of Christ. You, on the contrary, preach error.” “That is the very point in question,” said Father Peter, adding with emotion : “all manner of heresies and errors are tolerated in England, but the one only true and holy Catholic religion of the Church of Rome is condemned, proscribed, and punished with fire and sword.” Upon this, Gage recommenced speaking upon trifling and Aather Peter Wright. 52 7 irrelevant matters, drawing out of his pocket and exhibiting in court the Father's breviary, and also a small picture of St. Francis Xavier, the Apostle of the Indies, and a manuscript prayer of St. Ignatius, adding that these were two of the Saints that the Jesuits venerated. These were in fact Some of the spoils taken in the house of the Marquis of Winchester on the arrest of the Father. These he produced by way of con- firming his evidence. The servant of God could not now repress the zeal that inflamed him. Hence he took the opportunity of again closing with Gage, in order to vindicate the honour of the colonel, Sir Henry Gage, whom the un- grateful apostate had so grossly calumniated. He therefore brought back to the recollection of the judges the praises of that renowned officer, the great ſame of whose noble character and valiant deeds was spread throughout the land, and no one in that court was ignorant of them. “This I am able to assert of that great soul, that so sweet and Courteous were his manners, that one knows not whether he did not gain himself an equal name for kindness and philanthropy as for military prowess. Certain it is that he was held in equal esteem both by friend and foe.” “But,” said the Lord Chief Justice, “he was a Papist.” “Nay,” said the Father, “he was a Catholic, nor was his religion unbecoming to him, nor he to his religion. It is sufficiently clear from his well-known piety and meekness of character, how unlikely it is that he would desire to plot against his brother's life, whose welfare he so earnestly desired. On the contrary, he strove entirely to eradicate all remembrance of him and of his misdeeds from his mind. And for myself, I also forget and forgive both himself and his injuries.” These words stung the apostate to the heart, so that he turned off the subject to give the Father an admonition upon the Day of Judgment, and the hour of death, both of which points the Father had the day before opportunely urged upon him at the meeting in Newgate. But now he endeavoured to turn off in the same noisy manner to a discussion upon the invocation of Saints, which being declined also, he again, to the disgust of the Court, began to beg compassion for himself, as though Snares were laid for him by a man in chains and by his friends, and for a protection against which he demanded that a military escort should be assigned him. The Father upon this remarked that the unhappy man fell under that saying of Solomon— Algić impius, memine persequente. 528 Father Peter Wright. Gage having now left, the Father retired, while the jury were still consulting, from the bar of the Criminals to an adjoining apartment, where he was honourably received by a large crowd of comers-in. Respectable citizens, with other London jurymen, and various persons, were present, together with a number of criminals. It is scarcely credible with what honour and respect he was treated by them. Some Congratu- lated him on his wise answers; others inveighed against Gage for having so impotently raved against his brother and his brother's friend. Others remembered to have been present at his (Gage's) first sermon, when he renounced his faith, on which occasion he related a silly tale about a mouse having carried off the Sacred Host whilst he himself was saying Mass, adding that the man appeared to them to be of a wanton dis- position, and from that time they disliked him, although he was their own preacher. After the lapse of about forty minutes, he was again recalled to the bar to hear the fatal verdict of the jury, which the foreman pronounced in a sorrowful voice, and which was that Father Wright was found guilty of being a priest. He received this sentence unmoved, and, inclining his body as though about to return thanks, with a most pleasant countenance, he bowed his head; then, standing upright, with his hands and eyes raised to heaven, and in as clear a tone of voice as he could, and as he afterwards expressed to the Father Provincial, flooded with consolation, he exclaimed, “May the most Holy Name of God be blessed now and for evermore.” Having uttered these words, he remained silent. Remanded back to prison, nothing else occurred that day beyond a great anxiety among the Catholics. Some foreboded the worst, others more cheerful results from the severe Chief Justice. Learned lawyers were consulted as to what delay might be obtained in carrying out the sentence of death which would probably be passed the next day. A humble petition to the Judges and Court was advised to be prepared, begging them to consider that the Convict would perish by force of those very penal laws, which they had themselves declared to be tyrannical and out of date. This petition, which was only prepared the next morning, could not be handed in before the confessor of Christ had been taken back to the Sessions-house among the criminals, and now heavily fettered, a sure token of the sentence to be passed. It was then thrust into his manacled hands by some individual, who trembling the while let it fall. The Father, who was Father Peter Wright. 529 unable to open or read it, began to suspect some trick, fearing lest he might be compromised, and compelled almost in the final combat to commit some improper action ; for he dreaded nothing so much as to petition for life by any unworthy mode. However, in deference to the wish of some of the officers, who appeared to favour him, he consented to the petition being handed to the Bench. It, however, failed of effect; for the Recorder taking the occasion to make a prolix speech, produced Acts of Parliament passed not only in the time of the Monarchy, but also under the new Republic, by which priests were liable to death, and excluded from all grace. Whereupon soon afterwards, for no other cause than that of the most sacred character of the priest- hood, amidst the breathless stillness of the Court, the Chief Justice pronounced the horrid sentence in these words: “You shall be taken back to the prison from whence you were brought, thence you shall be drawn to the place of execution, and there hanged by the neck until thou art half dead ; your head shall then be cut off, and the rest of your members divided into four parts shall be fixed up at the four usual points of the city, and may God have mercy upon you !” This brutal sentence struck terror and grief into all; he alone, the victim, stood undismayed. Truly, after the example of the Apostles, he went from the presence of the Court rejoicing that he was counted worthy to Suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.” Among his sorrowing friends he alone was cheerful and merry, and beside himself for very fervour of joy. He testified, in a letter written the same day to the Father Provincial, that he had never in the whole course of his life before experienced sweeter gusts of the Holy Spirit the Comforter, of Whose Feast that very day was the vigil. The Father Provincial in his letter says: “This, his joy at the result of the trial, is evidenced by the last sentence of a letter he wrote to me on his return to the prison : “Sentence of deat/ is passed upon me, and / ſhank God for the excess of consolation / experience in my soul.” Another of the fathers, whom I sent in disguise to the prison to impart to him the last consolations of religion, as to a dying man, considered that it would be rather an intrusion upon one who appeared to him overwhelmed with the Superabundance of holy joy, and who was melted in tears of consolation. He himself candidly acknowledged to the same father that he experienced within himself that abundance of divine consola- * Acts v. 4I. I I 53O Father Peter Wright. tion that he durst not make it known, for fear of being tempted to vainglory, and it was only by virtue of an order of holy obedience that he could be induced to acknowledge it. “And know,” said he, ‘and tell Father Provincial from me, that in all my past life I have never tasted spiritual joy like to this, nor can I conceive it possible either to hope for or expect greater in this mortal body.” The other Father himself was so melted into tears of joy and tenderness of soul, that he was scarcely able to relate to me afterwards these words of the blessed man.” In the meantime, whilst the father in his condemned cell was thus abounding in heavenly delights, his secular and dis- tinguished friends in London (which, in fact, was full of his spiritual children) were agitated with far different feelings of soul. For although it was a matter of great joy to themselves, and all the rest of the Catholics, that the father was combating for the glory of God with such exalted and magnanimous courage, yet when they reflected that such a priest, and one whom they so greatly venerated, was about to be torn from them, they could not but be excited with feelings of excessive grief. All were, in fact, thunderstruck at the event, so unex- pected, since it was difficult to persuade themselves that the heads of the new Republic would ever allow blood to be spilt for the sole cause of religion. Hitherto they had professed to vindicate the liberty of conscience no less than of the person. But those who were more intimately acquainted with Father Peter predicted, indeed, his happy lot, though grieving at their own impending loss. Hence it is incredible what great exer- tions were made by many to retard, if possible, the execution of the sentence. Zºieżałis ducebayºf 7/12////s, 2// Zºozz//z servazemż parente/l. It happened, also, most unfortunately for their efforts, that the Houses of Parliament had adjourned for the Whitsuntide holidays; nor was the Privy Council then sitting. Had it been otherwise, there were those in readiness who, both by their authority and money, would have been able to obtain the father's respite. A man of high rank and great wealth, though not a Catholic, signified that money would not be wanting, if a ransom were set upon the father. In this desperate state of affairs one thing alone remained to be done—to pro- cure, if possible, a few days’ respite from some competent authority. Recourse was had to that universal helper of Catholics, the Count Alonso de Cardenas, the French Ambas- sador. The representatives of the other Catholic powers had Father Peter Wright. 53 I. been for some time dismissed from the realm. His own piety and the example of others, and the sight of the tears of the good Marchioness of Winchester and her family, induced him readily to lend his aid. He instantly despatched his Secretary, and afterwards his Chamberlain, to wait upon the authorities to whom it might appertain to grant the reprieve of the con- demned. At first they treated with the Recorder, who, with a humanity beyond himself, and even an appearance of grief, declared that it was not in his power to grant the petition, and added that he thought it would not be very pleasing to Mr. Wright, “whose fortitude,” said he, “amazed me; and I never before admired in any one such a contempt of death and desire of dying.” The Lord Chief Justice was then appealed to, but was more concise and sparing in his words, giving this short reply: “I am not able to grant the reprieve.” The President of the Council would not admit the applicants, but sent a message by another party, that the matter belonged to a public meeting of Parliament or of the Privy Council. In the meanwhile, it was well known that the father would be executed the day before they met. Thus all their efforts proved abortive ; not only those of the Ambassador and the other Catholics, but also of certain members of Parliament, who ceased not unsparingly and openly to profess that trials of this kind were not consonant with the spirit of the Republic; and that, although they had hitherto Succeeded in gaining some repute for moderation both at home and abroad in matters of religion, yet that this good fame would be completely destroyed by the blood-shedding of this one man. One member of Parliament also wrote an excellent letter to the Lord Chief Justice to caution his lordship upon this point. But vain, we may say, were all efforts. Divine Providence had already decreed to Father Wright his martyr's Crown. Thus between these fervent souls—his Catholic friends on the one part, and Father Peter on the other—a certain holy contention seemed to be going On : they by indefatigable exertions eager to save his life; whilst he, on the contrary, was quietly preparing himself for the death he so ardently 4esired. Upon this remarkable case Father Foster, the Provincial, in his letter, makes the following reflection : “To me indeed it seems, after a careful review of all the facts, that this our most blessed Father was chosen and set apart for this palm, by the special favour and decrees of God. For humanly I I 2 532 Aºz//her Pećey W.night. speaking it could scarcely happen that he alone in this new Republic should be visited with the extreme sentence of death for the cause of religion, seeing that it had hitherto kept its hands unstained with blood in matters of conscience; which shortly before had repealed those very penal laws by which he was condemned as redolent with tyranny ; which only a few days before had actually acquitted at a public trial other priests, fellow-prisoners of Father Wright, notwithstanding they had been found to be priests by the same evidence that had convicted him ; which received deputations and petitions in his favour from so many notable persons, including the French Ambassador himself, and deprecating the proceedings as utterly inconsistent with its boasted spirit of moderation, &c. All which circumstances whilst I ponder them, I am brought at once to the conclusion ‘that this soul was pleasing to God’—A'/aciłu/, ſºcisse ZXo anima/m 2//#/s, who willed to bestow the reward of glory upon His soldier for his well- earned virtues, and hastened to crown him as it were the proto-martyr of this new republic.” But to return to Father Wright's prison, from which we lave digressed. When he beheld himself thus destined to be sacrificed upon the altar of the gallows, as a victim for the Cause of religion, his first object was to present himself in the Divine sight as a spotless lamb, by cleansing his soul in a general Confession of his whole life, and to wash away his faults by his tears, which were afterwards to be effaced in the better laver of his blood. And therefore, being doubtful if any of his co-religious would be able to reach him, on account of the great danger to be incurred, he made his general confession to his fellow-captive the Reverend Mr. Cheney, to whom he had also made a similar confession on his being first committed to Newgate, as though he had received some divine presentiment that he must quickly lay down the taber- nacle of his body. His conduct, indeed, throughout confirms. us in the belief that such was the case. “Oh I admirable virtue of the man,” exclaims Father Foster in his letter, “who at the same time that he was, as I may say, like a river over- flowing with divine delights, yet from him also flowed the waters of Sorrow and tears of penitence. This showed the more praiseworthy care, as being in the case of a man of such religious integrity, and about to die for Christ, the less, necessary. Prudent as he was pious, he tempered joy with mourning. He listened to the advice of St. Austin, that no. Father Peter Wright. 533 One although unconscious of any actual offence, should depart this life without penitence. Truly God is taken with pure victims, and unites Himself more strongly and liberally to holy souls.” - Having thus cleansed his soul, the blessed martyr would gladly have spent the rest of his time alone, had not charity for his neighbour almost entirely engrossed his attention. When the first news of his certain condemnation got abroad, eager crowds of Catholics of every rank and condition, and of either sex, flocked to the prison, desirous with a certain kind of pious emulation, to catch the last words of the blessed man; some would congratulate the noble athlete of Christ upon his approaching palm of victory and happiness, others implored the aid of his prayers when he should have arrived in heaven, others sought his salutary advice or his privileged benediction ; he heard the confessions of many, and these general ones; to many, and especially to those he knew, he gave pictures with his own signature (one of his friends alone sent him six hundred of these for signature); he wished God speed to all, and was unwilling to Omit a kind word to any, blessing all on going away with the sign of the Cross, and following them, on their leaving, with prayers for their welfare. There was none in that great concourse who did not retire inspired with feelings of great joy, and Congratulating themselves on having either spoken a word to, or at least seen, the saintly man. An almost constant homage continued until night, only to be renewed on the next morning. Not a few among the Protestants began to entertain a great admiration of the Father, and these also, mingling with the crowd, would come to the prison, that they might contemplate the Countenance of such a man. When indeed he met with those whom he had begotten to Christ, his children in the Gospel, or whom he had fed as his penitents with the food of the sacraments, then his paternal charity would be enlarged; he would insist on embracing them, and bedev them with his tears, and could with difficulty separate himself from them. For the two last days of his life, he was so occupied in this manner as to be scarcely able to get any portion of repose. His historians express great astonishment how any man was able to receive so many visitors, and so thoroughly Satisfy them, exhausted as he was by a two days' trial for his life, by a long incarceration, and with the expectation of his terrible death. But He who added strength for the combat, strengthened him 534 Aather Peter Wright. also to expend his charity upon his neighbours. Thus did the blessed Father Peter occupy the remainder of the time left him upon earth. And now dawned the thrice happy day when, relieved from the troubles of this miserable life, he should be translated to the rest of a blessed eternity. Having therefore spent his last night partly in watching and contemplation, and partly in necessary repose for the purpose of renewing his strength for the combat, he went to the altar at break of day, and prefaced by the Sacrifice of the unbloody Host, his own bloody oblation. Then the holy priest drank the last chalice of his Lord's Blood, which he was presently to repay to the same Lord with the interest and addition of his own. He was assisted at Mass by the Reverend Mr. Cheney. He devoted what remained of his time after Mass and thanks- giving, to the consolation of the Catholics, who returned again and again to him, and could never be satisfied with seeing and speaking to the blessed candidate for heaven. After having satisfied them all, as far as the remains of his precious time allowed, he visited the priests his fellow-prisoners in the Lord, tenderly embracing each of them with a joyful and sweet Countenance, wishing them a last farewell, until they should at length meet again “in the liberty of the sons of God.” There was not one of them who did not shed tears, and piously envy him the honour of the cross that awaited him. The following letter was written by his affectionate friend and fellow-prisoner the Reverend Mr. Cheney, from Newgate, to the Reverend Father Provincial, in praise of the virtues of the blessed martyr, and as a record of his own personal love and veneration for him— “Reverend Father, Some have brought me your Reve- rence's Commands, which from my great love and veneration for the friend so lately snatched from us, impose a grateful task upon me, who, unworthy as I am of that happiness, happened to be the sharer both of his cell and couch. Being but a frail man, I cannot indeed deny that his departure is bitterly felt by myself, and those more intimately acquainted with him. But this I may say without any sign of boasting, that I fearlessly assert that no man ever attended the last day of his friend either with less grief, or rather mourning, or with more copious tears of sincere joy. He was by nature wonder- fully formed for attaching the souls of others to himself; his courteous manner, united by Divine grace to an upright and Father Peter Wright. 535 truly noble soul, not so much allured the affections of men as bound them to him as it were by encircling chains. I was permitted (and here I Congratulate myself upon my good fortune) to observe most intimately his manner of action and of life; and when I had accurately, I may say even to curiosity, made my observations, I discovered in how very rare a manner they were enjoyed in him, with a certain innocent freedom void of any cloak of pretence. His open frankness of heart towards all acquainted with him, not only excited their affection, but even veneration towards him. Whilst he was detained here our fellow-prisoner, nothing was observed in him but what was equable, no change of counte- nance or mien. For even from his first entrance here his care was to season all the incommodities of a prison by a certain wonderful courage and cheerfulness of Soul; and hence it happened that after the fullest observation we never remarked the contrary ; as if this was the only alleviation of trouble, and the sole fountain whence all the joy we may be permitted to look for here below, should issue. I know not if it be possible for anything more admirable to be seen than in what follows. Far from suspecting that his journey to eternal felicity was approaching him so speedily, from daily assurances we received from without, it was a matter of uncertainty which of us two should be the first to be discharged from Newgate. When therefore it was first announced that he was to be tried for his life, we intently gazed upon each other, and stood in astonishment as though some prodigy had happened, What I now relate the grace of God could only have effected. For the person, Winfield by name, who accompanied him on his return from the sessions'-house, solemnly asserted, with tears of joy running down, that he never before observed in any one such great presence of mind and intrepid courage. We had resolved by arrangement to receive him on his return from the court with all the serenity and cheerfulness we could muster, in order to relieve in some measure the weight of sadness that might afflict him ; but on his arrival he exhibited such great hilarity of countenance, and was, as it were, so beside himself for very joy of heart, as though now delivered from all dangers and troubles, he was summoned from this miserable state of existence to the last stage of attaining felicity. He related to us in confidence the mode of proceeding he intended to adopt at the bar, and how he was prepared to answer the evidence that might be adduced against him by the 536 Aather Peter Wright. pursuivants (a thing which did not seem to promise much difficulty). ‘Yet when,’ said he, “this Thomas Gage gave such clear and convincing proofs of my priest- hood and religious profession to the Court, then indeed I resolved that I would neither attempt to rebut or to weaken the evidence against me. With regard to myself, I esteem it no little honour that whilst he lived with us in prison, I shared with him a part of his couch. I must needs confess that our nightly inconveniences were more severe than those by day, for it was a new and unusual thing to both of us thus to share our prison bed, especially as it was narrow and very incommodious, and so was the cause of no little incon- venience to both. But as this was the greatest portion of the troubles we had to endure, animated by his words and example I embraced the trial with a contented mind. ‘For if,’ said he, ‘the Palaestra lacked ever so little of these trials, what place would be left for exercising our patience?’ And thus by mutual encouragement every difficulty was overcome. During the time he was left in quiet to himself, after receiving sentence of death (altogether two nights) he slept so soundly that it seemed almost impossible to awaken him ; and so still, as though void of those sad and feverish imaginations which the near approach of death is accustomed to imprint on the mind. Formerly the least motion, even breathing itself, was accus- tomed to awaken him ; but having received the fatal sentence, his senses were so wrapt in sleep as to become, as it were, impervious to all approach. Oh, tranquil Soul | Oh Serene security of heart, which neither the near approach of death, nor any other care could disturb . The state of health of both body and mind would, without doubt, have been injured had he not been refreshed by this sound and almost unbroken repose. “Such was his dexterity with visitors, that addressing all in an affable and courteous manner, dissipating every cloud of gloom by a pleasant countenance and agreeable conver- sation, he dismissed them, not without exciting astonishment in the most Sedate among them. “When the day appointed for his glorious triumph arrived, he was awake before I called him, being then five o'clock, and the hour was come for preparing himself for his happy journey to eternity. He then said, “My friend, I feel myself greatly oppressed by drowsiness, and although a long journey is before me, yet I hope before midday to be in a secure Father Peter Wright. 537 lodging.” He thereupon arose, and as soon as I was ready, prayed with me. He observed that his time was short, and he wished to spend some portion of it in again making his general confession to me. This he did briefly indeed, but with great fervour. He appeared, I may truly say, totally transparent, and from his exterior Candour of manners, it is not difficult to conceive the interior whiteness of his soul. Having performed this duty to his own consolation, he pre- pared himself for duly celebrating, and, as I assisted at, his Mass, I frequently beheld him breaking forth in those ardent flames of love and joy which were nourished in the bottom of his heart, and which, although at other times they would frequently betray themselves, yet never more vehemently, never brighter, than at that time. Having finished the Holy Sacri- fice and his thanksgiving, he descended to a lower room, where he found refreshments prepared, and being told they were for the purpose of strengthening him for his combat, he took them without hesitation, adding that, feeling by the Divine goodness he had sufficient strength of soul, he trusted that strength of body also would not fail him. “An artist had been sent with an introduction to me in order to take his likeness. When I learnt this, I begged him not to think it too much trouble to sit for him. He prepared himself accordingly; but that no part of the time should be lost and fruitless, he strengthened the Souls of those who were present with words replete with Consolation, which were so many internal witnesses of his confidence. He repeatedly warned the artist not to delay, as he was expecting every moment to be summoned away.” Nor was he deceived, for in about half an hour his expectations were realized. “When the sheriff’s Officer knocked at the iron bars and he heard his own name called out, he immediately broke forth in these words, “I come, Sweet Jesus, I Come.’ Then leaping up, he hastily and joyfully embraced us, and grasping my hand, exclaimed, “Farewell, my chamber-fellow and bed- fellow, ere long we shall see each other again in heaven.” As he was going out I said, ‘I will not yet leave you.’ ‘I know * This artist was no doubt the one sent by the lady by desire of her Protestant husband, as mentioned later on in the account of his miraculous conversion, p. 555. The ſacility with which the martyr sat for the artist, a thing which otherwise must have been most repugnant to him, points, in connection with that marvellous event, to something out of the ordinary course of things. 538 Aºz//e7 Peće?" M2right. you will not, he answered, and again seizing my hand, he retired with me, as he was accustomed to do, to another part of the prison, where we found a truly miserable group, who were condemned to suffer the extreme penalty of the law with him, one and all of whom seemed to be over- whelmed with stupor, deploring their unhappy fate with mournings and lamentations, their faces streaming with tears. These persons were as much astonished at the Father's joy as he was at their grief. “Will not this day,” said he, ‘put an end to all our lives?” On their assenting, ‘Would,” he said, ‘that it may open to all a gate to a happy eternity.’ Then one of them named Webb said, ‘I hope, my master, we shall enjoy a mutual meeting in heaven.’ ‘You rightly hope,” said Father Peter, ‘if we both acknowledge the same Church.” As he was about to follow up the speech he had commenced, one of the officials begged us to retire into another room, where we should be apart from the crowd and noise, but in reality the object was to interrupt the Salutary advice he was giving. Then leaving this miserable group, who continued lamenting their own unhappy condition, yet wished all success to Father Wright, we were conducted to a large and spacious place, where we saw a certain preacher walking about, who, according to custom as it appeared, briefly and hastily put the Father in mind of his last hour, asserting that they (the ministers) were both educated men and mindful of their duty; nor did he think that having run over so great a part of his course, he (the Father) would retrace his steps; wherefore, extolling his firmness and constancy of Soul, he said that he had not the least doubt about his eternal felicity. “Father Peter thanked him for the kind feeling he had evinced, and prayed God, by a ray of His divine light, to make known to him. His will, and to teach him the right path that would lead him to heaven. The minister then left us, having saluted the Father, not without signs of gratitude. Then having spent half an hour in pious conversation, in which he exhibited wonderful ardour, he was summoned down to be placed upon the hurdle. It is impossible to express in words the air of triumphant joy he displayed, and the swiftness with which he walked, so that the officers could scarcely keep up with him, and on arriving at the hurdle, turning to me he said, ‘My companion, upon this bed I shall lie alone; henceforth you will have yours to yourself.” Then sitting upon the hurdle he said, taking my hand, ‘I have Pather Peter Wright. 539 sinned much in life ; I am sorry for my sins;’ and, having mutually embraced and imparted the kiss of peace, I gave him absolution, and so we were parted from each other.”” Thus wrote this venerable priest. CHAPTER V. HIS TRIUMPHAI, PASSAGE FROM NEWCATE TO TYBURN. IN England it was a part of the sentence upon those convicted for high treason, that they should be drawn to the place of execution upon a hurdle. All who suffered for the faith in England were compelled to undergo this ignominy of traitors; as if they were traitors to an earthly monarch who were sub- servient to the Divine, and betrayers of their country whose great effort it was to save souls. This was the kind of punish- ment now prepared for our combatant. He met the sheriff of the Gity at the entrance, with the other officials and attended by a large posse of constables. An immense multitude of spectators was gathered around, forming a confused Crowd. In the midst lay a sledge upon the ground higher than usual. It was a kind of hurdle made of Osier and straw, Somewhat resembling a low car. To this four horses were linked, decked out with plumes and little bells. “One might have imagined,” says Father Foster, “the High Priest going into the Holy of Holies.” The executioners reverently laid the venerable * Nadasi, S.J., in his work, Araſiosa. Occupationes /l/orientium in Sociedate /es.it (Romae, 1657), in his second chapter, “Secunda occupatio : Frequens confessio,” &c., after quoting at length examples from St. Stanislaus Kostka, Ven. Cardinal Bellarmine, &c., he said, “Denique in Societate ſuère, qui desiderabant non ab ordinario tantum confessario, verum illo absente, ab aliis quoque, ac aliis praesentibus praemissa confessione, absolvi; ac velut in ipso illo actu mori.” He then quotes a striking example of Father Rorive at Mussiponte in 1636, who, in the dead of the night, feeling himself threatened with apoplexy, got up and went to a confessor who happened fortunately to be in the same room, made his confession and died. He then gives the example of Father Peter Wright, “Non absinnile quid ſuit id, quod cum P. Petro Wright Anglo evenit, quem, cum in Odium fidei in patibulo pendere, subtracto curru, inciperet, signo doloris paulö ante de peccatis praemisso, Confessarius, qui propè inter turbam erat, rité absolvit.” Father Nadasi is mistaken as to the time, and evidently alludes to Father Wright's several conſessions to the Rev. Mr. Cheney, 54O Father Peter Wright. servant of Christ, upon whom all eyes were fixed, upon the sledge, not stretched out upon his back as was customary with others, but gently placed in a sitting position supported at his back; nor was he bound tightly down to the hurdle, but merely with loose bands, at which the Father, gently Smiling, asked them if they did not at least expect him to run away." A cap or hat covered his head, and a violet-coloured mantle was thrown over his body, and his hands were joined on his breast, fastened with a silken band ; for the ministers of cruelty remitted much of their accustomed severity, out of Compassion for his innocence, and veneration for his Sanctity. Next to the martyr's hurdle followed three carts filled with the lowest malefactors; then two coaches containing some convicts of the higher ranks of society, who had been convicted and condemned for some notorious highway robberies. These were followed by a long train of noisy horsemen, and many persons on foot, partly javelin men to keep off the crowd, partly musketeers to overawe them, and so closed the troop. Such a multitude flocked to this great spectacle, that the oldest man could scarcely recollect its like. In the streets, and in booths and stalls, and at the windows and doors, and upon the roofs of the houses, they crowded the whole line of march from Newgate to the gallows at Tyburn, a distance of about two miles, to be witnesses of the first scene, at least, of this new tragedy now being played by the actors of the new Republic. “I,” says Father Courtnay, “who write this account, was personally present, and beheld this cavalcade passing through the principal Street of London, with no less wonder than joy, when I saw the Father sitting boldly rather than reclining, clothed in a purple cloak of rough cloth, his head covered, his forehead bare, a Smiling face, beaming eyes, and a certain air of majesty and cheerfulness in his comportment, exciting a feeling of astonishment in all. It was rather a triumphal procession than of one going to execution, bearing more the appearance of rejoicing than of grief, unless by chance you turned your gaze from the hurdle to the carts and coaches that followed it, which presented a miserable aspect of mourning and wailing, showing by their contortions and useless lamentations how unwillingly they were carried off. It was easy to distinguish, by the diversity of their gait and whole appearance, between the innocent and the guilty, both their fate and its cause. Father Foster says, “As to myself, I went to Holborn, Father Peter Wright. 54. I along which the Father was to pass, mingling with the crowd. I came, and I saw, and was permitted to enjoy one hasty passing glance of my beloved confrère, truly both to my great profit and delight. His whole carriage, his gravity and modesty, mixed with feelings of joyful emotion, violently excited within me admiration and love. Indeed, the majesty of his countenance seemed to me to be superhuman.” The pious boldness of the Catholics enhanced the triumph of the victor ; excited by the eager desire of witnessing the sight, they poured in from every side, from the streets, the suburbs and country, in such numbers, that on whatever side he chanced to look, his eyes met some penitent or friend. The sight of this most brave man inspired even the weakest females with courage, some of whom penetrating through the dense line of soldiers, actually sat upon the very hurdle. One of these was indeed liberally rewarded for her pious boldness. Having for many years suffered from a scrupulous turn of mind, from thenceforward every cloud was dispelled, and she gained a serenity of soul for which she had never hoped. The men behaved even with greater boldness, either reverently kissing his hands, or stealing away some relic; and in order to Satisfy the desire of the faithful, a certain lady had bought some yards of woven silk, which, being blessed by the Martyr, she divided into fragments and distributed to numbers. Many carried pieces tied to their hats. Others put into those hands, bound for Christ, gold and silver coins, by doling out which to the poor he doubly enriched the donors. Vast crowds approached him to beg his holy prayers either for themselves or their families; all who drew near reverently bowing their heads, asked his blessing, which some begged upon their knees in the sight of all, and which he pronounced with a loud voice. The driver of the sledge himself, an ignorant but humane man, having so often heard him pronounce the well known formula, Benedicat Pater, &c., caught it up, and on seeing any one running to the sledge, turning back towards it, he would cry out, Benedic Pater. Among the crowd were many distinguished by birth, many noble ladies, closely veiled or under some disguise to prevent recognition. Even when the influx of the crowd was at its height, none retired but fully satisfied and with feelings of incredible gladness. Great was his affability in speaking to all ; great the cheerfulness of his countenance ; with an unwearied effort to gratify all, accom- panied with words of sweet and tender piety. Such reverence, 542 Father Peter Wright. in a word, appeared in his mode of acting, and the compo- sition of his whole body, that many could not satiate themselves with gazing upon him, but would often go and return again, unable to tear themselves away. One man was prompted by his affectionate zeal to run forward again and again to points in advance of the procession, and thus obtained no less than twelve opportunities of speaking to the Father. Those of the higher class, from their carriages and windows by means of their pages sought his blessing, which the Father, sweetly raising his eyes, and as, far as he was able, his hands and body, gave them in succession with a placid countenance. But his emotions of joy were never livelier than when he was passing the house where he was told the Marquis of Winchester and his noble lady were awaiting him ; when he caught sight of these his especial friends in a balcony at an upper window, Surrounded by their family and others, begging his blessing, he was overwhelmed with joy, and used all his efforts to raise himself from his straw couch to perform this last office; he did what he could and managed to bless them with a distinct form of the sign of the cross, all the more grateful to the receivers, because made with hands that were manacled for Christ. Truly happy patrons who had nourished such a guest. More happy he who by such distinguished merits repaid his hosts to their great joy. Wonderful to say, in such an immense multitude densely crowded with noisy soldiery, and SO large a gathering of aliens from the Catholic faith, not a sharp or reproachful word was heard. Father Wright had conciliated his very enemies by a certain natural grace, which it pleased God On that day to impart to him in greater measure. His firmness and constancy of soul caused astonishment, and the alacrity with which he went to death, his manifest Sanctity, joined to a simple dignity of bearing, as of one on the threshold of eternity, inspired even his adversaries with veneration. Hence none of the attendants prevented the Catholics from their pious officiousness; no one hindered them from approaching, except when the press became too dense ; no one throughout was found harshly to rebuke those who addressed the Father. “I observed,” says Father Courtnay, “many who were silent, as though thunderstruck, except when they broke forth into his praises, as if their hatred had been congealed, and had passed into the opposite feeling of kindliness. Indeed, a companion of mine was at a loss to distinguish which were the loudest, the praises and acclama- Father Peter W.7-ight. 543 tions of Protestants or Catholics; for, to the equal admiration of both, the blessed Father was drawn like a triumphal victor to Tyburn, the Calvary of England, deeply dyed with the blood which for more than a century past had been offered by holy priests for the crimes of England. “At Tyburn you might have seen a new theatre prepared by that immense multitude that spread on every side, presenting rather the bosom of the plains than of the city. Whilst I passed along the streets, blocked up with spectators, I had believed that none would have been left in the city, but on reaching the place of execution, I thought that all London had removed from its site. They who could estimate numbers reckoned the concourse at twenty thousand. Nearly two hundred carriages lined the streets, in which were some of the principal nobility. There were no fewer than five hundred horsemen composed of men of rank and opulent citizens. These were chiefly mingled with the carriages, and surrounded the gallows in Such a dense mass that collisions and overturns were appre- hended, and that many would be trampled under the horses' feet. Another inconvenience was that many persons mounting On the tops or hoods of the coaches nearly crushed them in by their weight. The crowd of pedestrians was pushed further back for fear of being kicked by the horses, and congregated in thick masses here and there on every rise of the roads. At length the whole field and the neighbouring deer inclosure * waved to and fro with a dense multitude of living souls, the greater part of whom were too far off either to see or hear. In many of the more curious, the desire of seeing was so urgent that they climbed to the tops of the trees, and sat upon the branches, though at a distance. The great danger was near the gallows, but this was unable to deter some pious persons, though on foot, from awaiting the arrival of the Father under the very beam, in order to embrace him on being taken from the hurdle.” * Vicinum cervorum septum—Hind, now Hyde Park. 544 Father Peter Wright. CHAPTER VI. HIS GLORIOUS MARTYRIDOM AND WHAT FOLLOWED. “ON arriving at the place of execution, behold ! the magnani- mous champion of Christ met with an unexpected happiness; for he found himself assisted in rising from the sledge by the outstretched hand of Father Edward Latham, a man most dear to him of all the Society, and his quondam confrère in the Camp Mission in Belgium, as the apostate Gage had testified at the late trial. Dressed in a hempen smock frock, disguised as a common hodman, he had mingled with the crowd, and in his eagerness to console his blessed companion at his death, he was careless of incurring the risk of his own life. Being at once recognized, it is impossible to express the joy of the dying Father. They applied themselves instantly to the one only affair, da/ſ/lałus capife conſifeſur; abso/viſur. The disguise was so complete that none of the by-standers Suspected it. Some little delay being thus occasioned, as the time passed so quickly and unconsciously with them, the officers interrupted them, and some of them struck Father Latham some smart blows, saying, “Be off, you troublesome hodman ; what do you mean by annoying a dying man P’ Then, having placed Father Peter in the cart, they drew it to another side of the gallows, and thus tore him away from the sight of the sorrowing hodman. But neither here did the good Jesus suffer His beloved soldier to want encouragement, for by design, and a preconcerted plan, another priest of the Society, was at hand, who for the greater certainty of being seen had mounted the hood of a coach ; between them a signal had been mutually agreed upon for asking and receiving the last absolution. And indeed on whichever side the martyr turned his eyes, his fellow Religious had so surrounded the gallows, that he found others ready also to give him the abso- lution. Nor was it becoming that he who by thus nobly shedding his blood, was rendering illustrious the Society of Jesus, should find degenerate fellow soldiers who would shrink from exposing life itself for his consolation in his combat.” There were altogether thirteen criminals, convicted of various offences, that day to suffer with the Father. Four of these, as we have before observed, were men of the higher class of society. These, as a mark of distinction, were hung Father Peter Wright. 545 from a separate beam; three others, also, less conspicuous, were hung upon another. The Father was reserved for the basest of all, and he was placed in the midst of three women, thieves of the lowest class; God so disposing it, that he who would suffer for the love of Christ should undergo His shame also, in being “reputed with the wicked.” When placed amidst these unhappy ones, like a rose among thorns, he began to communicate the fragrance of the word of life, and to preach the message of salvation. But no sooner did he commence Speaking than a Calvinist minister interrupted him, and so con- tinued, making a noise like the yelping of a hound. Being therefore, frustrated in his holy purpose, and entirely self- recollected, he buried himself in close communion with God. Many asserted that no sight could be so sweet or lovely as to behold the martyr amongst the thieves, thus transfixed for nearly an hour (during which time the other criminals were being executed), with closed eyes and hands joined upon his breast, or raised to heaven, and his body motionless, showing most visibly that his holy soul was rapt in God, and was now soaring forth to Him to whom presently, freed from his earthly bonds, he was to depart; and it was but due to the servant of God, that having spent his last three days in acts of charity to his neighbour, he should spend his last hour in this heavenly communing with his Lord. Father Foster says there were some who affirmed that a Protestant minister, in their hearing, said to the Father, when thus occupied with God, that if he would have a little respect for himself, and renounce his errors, there was yet room for pardon and hope of life; whereupon the Father, as one aroused from sleep by the voice, asked whether he said this sincerely, or otherwise P The minister replying that he had spoken sincerely, and bringing out some passage of Holy Scripture, the Father instantly caught him up: “‘ Gef ſhee behind me, Safazl ſhou ar; a scandal to me.’ I have long ago resolved to die a Roman Catholic, and willingly would I a thousand times shed my blood for the same faith.” Upon hearing this the parson, thinking his labour lost, said no more to him. Hitherto we have preluded the tragedy with the admirable fortitude of our noble hero. The last act remains to be told, and this, to many, would have been one of commiseration; but to Our Father, victor, rather than vanquished, it was the path to his highest glory. All the rest having been executed, the hangman JJ 546 Father Peter Wright. now approached, and intimated to him that all was ready, that he might dispose himself for his last moments. The rope had been put loosely about his neck an hour and a half before. The invincible athlete, nothing daunted at the close proximity of death, and death in this terrible form, turning himself to the multitude, hushed into a death stillness, with the same calm countenance, addressed them in the following brief speech from the cart, as from a funereal pulpit— “Most noble Sirs and dear fellow-citizens,—This is a short passage to eternity. The time is short, as you see, for me; I have not much to say, nor do I desire to detain you long. Accept, therefore, the outlines of a speech. I am brought hither, convicted of no other crime but that of being a Catholic priest. I confess I am a Catholic; I confess I am a priest; I confess I am a Religious of the Society of Jesus, Or, as you call it, a Jesuit. This is the cause for which I die; for this alone have I been condemned to death, nor is any other charge alleged against me than the performance of the functions of my calling in propagating the Catholic faith, which is spread throughout the whole world, taught through all ages from Christ's time, and will be taught for all ages to come till the end of time itself. These duties have constituted my greatest happiness during my whole life, and the profit of my soul; for this cause I most willingly sacrifice my life, and would die a thousand times for the same if it were needed ; for I regard it as my greatest felicity that my good God has chosen me, most unworthy, to this blessed lot, the lot of the saints. This is a grace which so unworthy a sinner could scarcely have wished for, much less hoped for. And now I beg of the goodness of my God, with all the fervour I am able, and most humbly entreat Him that He would vouchsafe to enlighten you, who are Protestants, with the rays of His divine truth, to receive and embrace the true faith. As for you Catholics, my fellow soldiers and Comrades, as many of you as are here, I earnestly beseech you to join with me, and for me, in prayer till my last moment, and when I shall come to heaven I will do as much for you. I give you my last benediction (at the same time making the usual sign of the cross). I forgive all men; and now farewell till we all meet in heaven in a happy eternity.” Having spoken to this effect, he wiped his face with a towel which a friend beneath the gallows had handed to him, and which was thus tinctured with his precious sweat. Then he again recollected himself a while in prayer, offering himself Father Peter Wright. 547 up as a victim well pleasing to God—and the cart was drawn away. At the same moment he raised his hand, which was the signal agreed upon for the last absolution, which was duly imparted. Contrary to the usual custom of being hanged in a nightcap, or some other head covering, his face was exposed, and the multitude stood amazed at the novelty of the spectacle presented to their eyes; for he exhibited no signs, as is usual in the case of hanging, of any frightful distortions of the face, nor did his Countenance show anything horrible or alarming. On the Contrary, he appeared to be smiling, retained his usual colour, was perfectly composed, and in every feature appeared as though alive. Whilst all were astonished at the prodigy, the Catholics especially greatly rejoiced, gathering from thence guám pulchrum esset pro Christo mori. “It might be said,” observes Father Foster, “that the innocent priest of Christ did not die by any violent separation of soul and body, but rather 'sweetly fell asleep in our Lord l’’ Thus died Father Peter Wright, a man renowned by many titles of praise, and adorned by God with many gifts; but in nothing more brilliant than that he alone of the eight priests confined in prison (of whom two were condemned to death, two others convicted upon the charge of priesthood, and the rest exposed to the same dangers with him, and others also, who in the meantime had been captured)—that he alone, as by a certain special privilege, beyond all expectation, should be destined for so glorious a combat and so noble a palm. * The usual barbarous sentence that the condemned should be cut down alive, was so far remitted that he was allowed to hang until dead. His body was then cut down, decapitated, dismembered, drawn and quartered, and his heart and bowels burnt. His head, for many days afterwards, presented the appearance of that of a living person, to the wonder of all spectators. The usual custom of holding up the heart by the executioner, calling out.at the same time, “Behold the heart of a traitor,” was omitted. The quarters were intended, according to the sentence and common custom, to have been fixed upon the gates of the city and on London Bridge; but the Sheriff of London, who, by virtue of his office, superintended the execution of the criminals, when he saw that the Father was dead, demanded in a loud voice, and with a humanity wholly unheard of, if there were any relations or friends of the noble gentleman (for so he called the Father) present? And JJ 2 548 Aather Peter Wright. this call being reiterated by the crowd, great numbers came forward. “Take,” said he, “the head and members, and bury them with all the honour you wish.” The friends, rejoicing at the offered treasure, paid some money, and joyfully and at once carried off the sacred relics in a cart, for fear lest the unexpected favour might be recalled; “and hence it is,” says Father Foster, that I have in my possession the mortal remains of our most blessed brother in Christ and confrère Father Peter Wright, more precious than all jewels and treasures. I possess his venerable head, still most pleasing to look upon, retaining his own sweet smile, which he exhibited in the midst of death. One might almost be inclined to say that perhaps the head participates with its glorious consort the soul in some little share of its joyful bliss.” “The concourse of Catholics to see and venerate the relics. of the blessed Father,” continues Father Foster, “is truly great, without end or measure; and in order that nothing should be wanting to the sum of our joy the heart also of Father Peter is in the posession of Catholics. Count Egmond, out of his singular devotion towards the English Martyrs, which he has clearly shown by many proofs,” commissioned his servants to linger behind at Tyburn after the execution was over, and the crowd dispersed, and whatever relics of the Father they found to bring to him as sacred treasures. They readily obeyed his orders, and, in turning over the cinders and * The Duke of Gueldres, who, under the assumed name of Count: Egmond, or Egmont, was the Spanish Ambassador in London from. I640–1645, had the highest veneration for the English Martyrs, and was. present at the execution of eleven at Tyburn during that period. Among: others, of Father Thomas Holland, Father Ralph Corby, and Father Henry Morse, all S.J. He made a large collection of the relics of the martyrs, and conveyed them to the Continent on his return, and caused a solemn. attestation to be drawn up and signed by himself, dated St. Victors, Paris, July 26, 1650. In it he gives particulars of the relics and to whom they appertain. A copy of this most important and deeply interesting document, taken from the Public Archives at Lille, was published by Mr. Simpson in the Rambler for 1857, vol. ii. p. I 19, with an excellent article upon the subject of the English Martyrs. This document was. prepared as the date shows, shortly before the death of Father Wright. The good Count appears to have been again in London in 1651, though not as Ambassador, probably, and, as we see, was again present with his. servants at his old work of charity and devotion towards the martyrs. This document has been made use of in the late process for the beatifi- cation of the English Martyrs, and a copy of it annexed to the evidence. taken before the Court in July, 1874. Father Peter Wright. 549 ashes of the fire, they unexpectedly struck against what had the appearance of a small piece of coal, which proved to be the holy heart itself, much charred and burnt, indeed, yet re- cognizable. So that, as many waters of persecution could not extinguish his charity, so neither could strong flames Consume his flesh. Thus the Divine Goodness willed to reward his athlete, that no portion of his body which had been entirely immolated for God, with the exception of the bowels burnt, should be wanting to the Catholics, in order, doubtless, that they might hereafter be duly honoured. Others, equally desirous of possessing some relic for their own private vene- ration, ran with great ardour to the spot where the holy body had been quartered, with garlands or girdles to dip in his blood, or to procure some particles of his flesh or hair. Nor were they molested or driven away by the officials, as had previously been the custom, but free access was afforded them. From the time that heresy had afflicted England, never had the Catholics been made partakers of so great a consolation and dear a pledge.” They preserved the sacred relics in a safe place, whither the Catholics in crowds were eager to flock to venerate them, but from motives of prudence this was discouraged. It was however impossible to refuse admittance to many, who could never be satisfied with looking upon his venerable head, and kissing his sacred flesh. “The head,” says Father Courtnay, “still continues with its most placid smile to breathe a love and veneration more majestic than that of a human being. Those who visited the sacred deposit before it was embalmed bear witness to having inhaled divers heavenly odours such as they had never before experienced. One in high authority amongst us was present” when a nobleman introduced his wife's sister, of the ancient family of the Earl of Shrewsbury. On entering the place they perceived a certain admirable perfume so fragrant that they thought it could only come from heaven. They searched everything to ascertain if by chance there was any spice or aromatic herb beneath, but nothing sweet-smelling was found. Whence it was naturally concluded that the odour issued from the sacred relics, im- parted to them by the Soul in heaven, as a testimony that the body had been a good odour to Christ upon earth. That which I relate of the fragrant odour seems the more striking since the member of our Society who was present was neither * This was probably Father Foster the Provincial. 550 Father Peter Wright. of a quick smell, nor did others who followed immediately afterwards observe the fragrance. Whether what I relate regarding the sweet odour, is above the force of nature or not, is not for me to define ; I only assert that this prodigy was evidenced to many.” . In thus mentioning the relics of the blessed Father we should add that the Annual Zeffers of the English Province of that date, after speaking of him as dying for the faith, Say, Caput venerabile et membra dissecta unguentis delibuta afted 770s sumſ. The late Dr. Oliver, in his Collectanea S./. says, “The body was kept, it seems, at St. Omers, until 1762, when I believe it was conveyed to the College Sacristy at Liege. For the details of the incorrupt state of his body at Liege College, in 1781, see page 63 of Talbot's Faith and Poctrines of the Roman Catholic Church (Dublin, 1813).” At Lanherne Convent is a picture of Father Wright, “Petrus Wrightus passus 29 Maii, 1651, Soc. Jesu ;” with a relic marked, “Rev. Father Wright, M.” At Stonyhurst College there are also the following relics—“H. No. 13, Ex- Carne A. Wright, M. No. 14, Cloth, blood-stained, Æx sazz- guine A. P. Petri Wrighti, Zondini, Żro ſide interfect. No. 15, Cloth, blood-stained, P. Wright, S./. K. No. 12, B. P. Wright (formerly at the Novitiate, Watten). L. No. 3, Sanguis A. A Act. Wright, Marſ.” At St. Beuno's College–C. No. 3, “Rel. of B. F. P. Wright,” from Lanherne Convent. At Durham, in the possession of Provost Consitt—No. 3, “Relics of Fr. Wright, S.J.” But to return to our history. - “His exit,” says Father Courtnay, “was our triumph, the glory. of which was enhanced by various circumstances. It occurred in the early springtide, with a brilliant Sun, tempered by a mild south-east wind; it was on the second feria of Whitsun week; and lastly, the execution of other criminals of rank, and the great number of the condemned, truly excited the whole city. Hence an innumerable multitude of spectators had collected in the streets and fields, God so disposing it by a singular pro- vidence, that all eyes being attracted to His servant, they should be so many witnesses of Catholic fortitude, and should depart with a general astonishment at such a display of pru- dence, constancy, and piety. Not a voice was heard deriding the priest, although the name is so odious to Englishmen, no one was heard who did not highly applaud him. For days Araſher Peter W.night. * 551 after his death, he was the common topic of conversation, always accompanied with amplest praises. His memory is still fresh, and will flourish for years to come. The Earl of [name erased], who stood near the gallows at the time of the execution, and who ranks among the first of the English nobility in wealth and station, is reported to have publicly asserted afterwards, ‘That he had, indeed, seen many Christians die, but among them all he had never seen one die so piously and nobly.’ A soldier among the crowd of horsemen, being asked for what Crime that priest was executed, replied, “He has more of Courage than crime.’ A certain member of Parliament, a man of great talent and standing, who, while indulging his sarcasm against Catholics, yet highly reprobated the sentence against the Father, made a no less pointed remark. ‘The Papists,’ he said, “according to their custom, are acting their absurdities in worshipping the dead priest, but we have acted much more absurdly in condemning such a man to death.’ Moreover, that attestation to the innocence of the Father should not be wanting, the editor of a certain weekly London gazette, makes the following honourable mention of the death of Father Wright, and its cause. ‘To-day (Whit Monday), fourteen persons condemned to death, were led out from Newgate prison to Tyburne. Of these, one was a Jesuit, an excellent man, of a firm and undaunted courage, who was hung in defence of his religion, and his body according to custom, quartered.’” This eulogy, such as it was, highly offended the apostate Gage, who inserted an article in the newspaper, in which, after laud- ing himself, he endeavoured to persuade the world that the Father died for treason. No wonder that a man who had renounced his faith in God, should be so active and persistent a calumniator. A reference to the report of the trial will show that neither in the verdict of the jury, nor in the sentence of the judge, is any mention made of any other charge, except * Newspapers were then in their happy inſancy. Father Foster, in giving the above extract, observes : “There are in London, as also in many other large towns, persons who report the daily occurrences and more remarkable events of the place, and of other localities also ; which are published in certain letters and despatches commonly called gazettes. These, when printed, are sold weekly to the public, ever eager for news.” The reader need hardly be reminded of Macaulay's graphic account of the rise and progress of English newspapers in the seventeenth century, given in the first volume of his romance of history. It would be well for himself and the public, iſ all his narratives were equally reliable. - : * * 552 Father Peter Wright. that of his having been ordained priest abroad, and returned to England for the conversion of Protestants to the Catholic Church. - “Far different was the opinion of a writer of candour and learning, a Protestant, who soon afterwards, under the name of ‘Christian Moderator,’ copiously and elegantly labours to prove that the consciences of Catholics are not to be forced by penal laws and violence. Referring to the case of Father Wright, he thus treats of his death and the cause of it. ‘Nor can I avoid protesting how highly indignant I was at the dis- gusting report regarding Wright the Jesuit, dragged like a traitor to Tyburn for the cause of religion; and the more so, because up to that time I had predicted moderation in the present Government; that it would not shed one drop of blood on religious accounts. The confiscations of their pro- perty, indeed, by which Catholics, though peaceful, are afflicted, are entirely repugnant to our principles and institutions; yet the dire necessities of the Republic, appeared greatly to moderate the odium of this pecuniary severity. Now, with a heavy heart, I throw down my arms, and at length, covered with confusion, I recall the argument with which I was accus- tomed hitherto to extenuate this iniquitous proscription for conscience' sake, and to assuage the minds of so many well affected and religious men, to whom that animarum Żecunia, as King James used to style it, was always so greatly displeas- ing. In that matter, indeed, I met with no little success, but in this I cannot with a safe conscience make any further attempt, lest I should seem to lay a burthen on the people, and myself to contribute to it. “‘ I avow, indeed, that by these confiscations, all our principles are violently shaken, or rather, by inference, entirely disjointed and dissolved. To what end, during all of this time, are our weapons principally applied, but that religion should be foisted upon us by force of arms P. To what end so many and such toilsome counter-marching of soldiers, so many edicts published, except that at length they would obtain liberty for tender consciences? Do they thus finally exhibit truth in love? Thus finally build up in meekness, as becomes the servants of the Lord? Let us beware, indeed, that we fall not into the hands of the living God. Let us beware of the interior voice that calls to us : “Judgment without mercy upon those who show not mercy.” Besides the atrocity of the sentence, as I take it, the very judicial trial itself has many Father Peter Wright. - 553 singular and unusual points; inasmuch as nothing was proved against the accused, except that many years ago he had cele- brated Mass in Flanders, and this upon the evidence of one witness only, who did not shrink from confessing in open Court, that he was influenced by an ancient and private grudge against the prisoner, which he said was partly the cause of his coming to London to give evidence against him. No disturb- ance of the public quiet, no breach of the peace, was even objected against him. This was the only charge—that he was a priest, and in England. And that this was so, is proved even by a Protestant minister, who out of charity to him made him a promise upon the very gallows, that he might yet save his life if he would renounce the errors of Popery : and when he magnanimously refused the offer, as repugnant to his con- science, saying that if he had a thousand lives he would most willingly give them all up in defence of the Catholic religion, he was hanged amongst thieves and homicides, and presently quartered as a traitor And yet in the meanwhile, both the undersheriff, the jury, and even the judge himself, and all who in any manner were the authors of his judicial murder, one and all professed that nothing was so dear to themselves, nothing So Consonant with reason, as that none should be in any way coerced in matters relating to salvation. May God grant that this mode of procedure, so brutal, so plainly abhorrent to the Gospel, especially this most bloody one, so distasteful to the Spectators, and So little advantageous to its authors, may at least not be injurious to our continental brethren, may not cause alienation amongst friends and kindred, and scandalize the whole world. For even upon the very day itself of the execution, I myself heard a man of ready wit observe, “When things come to this pass, that contra foºdus armis, we contend for the reforming Church, proscribe the goods of Catholics, and wish to persevere in doing so, although they themselves but little persevere in that their own religion; when we are cook- ing up a clandestine peace with Spain, and in the meantime are doing away with Jesuits by public hanging, sit anima mea cum p/ailosophis.” So writes this ‘Christian Moderator,’ in this book, printed and published in London, under the very eyes of England, and of those who then bore sway. - “We can hardly conceive anything more as coming from his point of view, or any ampler or more valuable commenda- tion of the Father, and of the cause of his death. Catholics, of course, members of the household faith, united in one creed, 554 Father Peter Wright. and one heart in the divine praises, joined also with one voice to sound his praise, and in this, that of his Divine Master. I cannot omit to name (amongst others), the following account, sent to us by an illustrious lady in her own handwriting. She visited the Father in prison, two days before his death, and received a present from him of a small picture of the Nativity of Christ, upon parchment, which he asked her to keep in memory of the giver, and at the same time to recite daily a Pater and Ave for him, until his perilous combat should be over. Returning home joyful with her little present, which in her gladness she showed to others, she neither herself, nor any of the others who saw it, remarked anything upon the parchment besides the picture itself, and the Father's name written upon the back. Neither on Whit Sunday, when, mindful of her promise, she again curiously examined it, did she observe anything more upon it. But on the Monday, as the hour of the Father's being taken to execu- tion approached, she took out the picture in order to say her promised prayers, when she beheld spots of blood here and there about the name of the Father on the back. To this day the drops appear so distinct, that it would be itself a marvel had they been overlooked before. Whether these blood spots came by accident, or were put there by an unseen hand, I would rather leave others to decide, to whom it pertains. The pious lady accepted it as a sign that the hour was at hand in which the Father should shed his blood to water all England as with a heavenly sprinkling. This event was indeed a sad omen of his bloody death. What follows is a more joyful token of his assured felicity. In the midst of the horrors of his execution, as the Father, suspended in the air, drew his last breath, lo a little bird (they say it was a sparrow), on a sudden, whence coming no one could tell, flew through the forest of javelins, between the gallows and the martyr's head, then spreading its wings, it poised itself over the crown of the head for some time, as hawks are used to do in the air, and settling there, seemed to all the spectators (some of whom called out to it), that the bird would perch there by way of a sacerdotal crown upon the Father's head. This prodigy again drew all eyes upon the dying man, and inspired many with the thought that perhaps God designed to show by this sign that the most happy Soul of the Father, now freed from the prison of the body, like a bird had at that instant flown away to its heavenly home. Truly could Father Father Peter Wright. 555. Peter sing with the martyrs of old : Anima nostra sicuſ passer. erepta est de Zaqueo venantium; /aqueus contritus est, et nos liberati sumus.* At all events, it excited the applause of all, and the Catholics wonderfully exulted, and were not only filled with incredible joy, but inspired with renewed courage of heart by the death of their priest, so honourable and precious.” A writer records the following amongst other cases of the supernatural”— “We relate the following upon the clear testimony of a noble lady. She was a Catholic, but her husband, a man of high birth, was most hostile to his wife's religion; he especially detested holy pictures, and whilst his wife was engaged at her prayers he would frequently rush into her oratory and tear in pieces, like a madman, any pious pictures he found there. The lady in her affliction opened her case to Father Thomas Worsley, S.J., who procured for her a written promise from Father Wright, who was about to die for the Faith, to pray to God at the very place of execution for her husband’s con– version. She kept this note as a treasure, and put it up, as she thought, in a secure place. But it could not elude the close scrutiny of her husband, who found it, but to his great profit. For his wife, expecting he would be inflamed with his accustomed rage, on the contrary, found him suddenly changed. ‘How is it,” said he, ‘ that Father Wright entertains such great kindness towards me, that in the very article of a violent death, forgetful of himself, he should remember me P’ Then again, addressing his wife, he said, “By all means see that a portrait of so dis- tinguished a man be painted, and that I get it as quickly as possible, that I may make some return for such an act of unmerited friendship.’ The pious lady did so, and handed to her husband a vivid likeness of the Father, not without some fear lest he would tear it in pieces. But not so, for the nobleman thanked his wife for it, hung it in a good situation, and appeared to be moved with affection for his patron. He moreover sought the friendship and conversation of the Fathers of Society, and by degrees became so inflamed with the desire for religion, that he could get no rest, until by the aid of Father Worsley, he entered the Catholic Church, in * Psalm crxiii. * See Florus Anglo-Bazaricus, p. 87. 556 Aather Peter Wright. the bosom of which, not long after, full of hope he rendered up his soul to God.”" “It is not without cause,” continues the same author, “that I here mention Father Worsley, both because possessing great skill in treating with various characters of men, he brought many from their native errors into the fold of the One true Faith, and also because he honoured Father Peter in life, assisted him at his death, and venerated him in heaven with great devotion. Whilst Father Worsley was labouring in the conversion of convicts under sentence of death in Newgate (of whom he is said to have converted about sixty each year, becoming himself almost a constant inmate of that prison), the thing coming to the ears of the Privy Council, they were so indignant that they issued a warrant for the Father's apprehension, and gave orders that should he be taken, he should be tortured by a public flogging at the cart's tail along the whole way from Newgate to Tyburn gallows. But by the Divine protection he succeeded in crossing safely over to Belgium, and for some time acted as Spiritual Father in the College of the Society at Liege. At length, attacked by severe sickness, which he bore with the greatest patience, he found much consolation from the fact that near the chapel of the Infirmary was preserved the mutilated body of Father |Peter, who without doubt gave assistance in death to him who had before stood by him in suffering.”" * This may have been the occasion of the artist mentioned above, page 537. 7 We may here add that Father Thomas Worsley, alias Hervey, son of John Worsley and Leonora Garniez, of independent fortune, was born at Louvain on the 31st of May, I 597, entered the Society of Jesus at Antwerp on the 30th of September, 1614, having made his humanity studies at Antwerp for nine years with the Fathers of the Society. He was professed of the four solemn vows on the 8th of December, 1629. On the death of Father William Baldwin, Rector of St. Omers' College, S.J., in 1632, Father Worsley was appointed his successor. Having finished his three years of government of that College, he was ordered to the English Mission (1634-5) where he distinguished himself by his zeal and charity, especially to his fellow-prisoners after his own apprehension. In their conversion he was very successful, as we have seen from our quotation from Florus Anglo-Bavaricus. Dr. Lingard (History of Ængland, vol. viii. p. 645) gives a list of arrests of priests and Jesuits made by the renowned pursuivants Wadsworth, Mayo, Newton and Luke, between 1640 and 1651 ; amongst others is “Thomas Worsley, alias Hervey, indicted and proved, and reprieved by the Spanish Ambassador and others.” Mention is also made of Father Worsley in the life of Father Henry Morse, martyr, who suffered at Tyburn on the Ist of February, Father Peter Wright. 557 “Well done ! brave combatants of Christ l” exclaims Father Courtnay, “a progeny will never be wanting to the Church in England so long as blood flows in the veins of 1645. He was then engaged in his dangerous work of charity in Newgate in disguise amongst the prisoners. The life (quoting a manuscript at Stonyhurst) says, “that Mr. Hervey having stayed with some twenty gentlewomen all night in Newgate [they had been visiting the martyr the previous evening], was in the morning detained and kept prisoner there by the pursuivants. About noon the gentlewomen got away for some twenty pounds, but no money would be taken for him. Wadsworth says his name is Worsley, born at Antwerp, and that he is a priest. The Spanish Ambassador will claim him for his Catholic Majesty's subject. What paper Mr. Morse had written the pursuivants got and tore in pieces.” The Spanish Ambassador, as we see above, did claim him. Very interesting mention is also made of this Father in the life of Miss Elizabeth Warner, sister of Sir John Warner, alias Father John Clare, S.J. [see Life of Lady Warner, p. 293—4. Abridgment.] Miss Warner was a Poor Clare in the Convent at Gravelines, and suffered greatly from desolations. Father Worsley was the confessor of the house. “She was once in a profound desolation, and found no ease from heaven, which she seemed even to have tired out with her constant and fervent petitions for assistance. And being able to receive none from any upon earth, because Father Thomas Worsley (the only person from whom she used to receive comfort, or at least direction how to bear her afflictions), was absent at Watten, she kneeling down in her cell in this desolate condition, chanced in a chink of the wall to perceive a little paper rolled up sticking between the bricks (their cells being then only separated with bricks, without any plastering), which she taking out and unfolding, found these words written in it : ‘Be at rest, and afflict yourself no more ; it is well between God and you.’ This filled her sad heart with joy ; she looking upon it as sent from heaven, because she had never before received any such paper from Father Worsley, whose hand she found it to be. And when she showed it to him, he owned it was so, though he never remembered to have written it : and doubted not but that God (for reward of her fidelity) had permitted her good angel this way to play the part of a comforter in his absence, hereby to increase her confidence in His all powerful assistance, even in the greatest desolation : and what effect his counsel, together with this favour, wrought in her soul may be gathered from the following act which she afterwards daily made to God with the approbation and permission of her ghostly father.” This oblation is then given, and two spiritual letters to Father Worsley. Father Worsley's name also frequently occurs in the same interesting work. He was empowered by Father John Clarke, then Provincial, to receive the proſession of Brother John Clare (Sir John Warner), which was done on the Ist of November, 1667, at Gravelins. He was also em- powered by the Bishop of St. Omer's to receive the vows of Lady Warner (Sister Clare of Jesus), which he did on the same day, and at the Convent of the Poor Clares. Father Thomas Worsley died at Liege on the 8th of February, 1671, aged 7I. 558 Aaſher Pećer Wright. English priests May Peters arise; may Pauls arise again, who will joyfully shed their blood for the salvation of souls in their native land 1 May God grant that a most abundant harvest may respond to the recent seed of Father Peter's blood. For from the time of his death, many have been reconciled to their Holy Mother Church. Indeed, at the very place of execution, a great stir amongst Souls was excited, which was expressed by tears, sighs, and groans, even from many men. So that it was not surprising that one of the softer sex, a woman who was present, and had long struggled with 'God and the truth, urged on, as by additional goads, by the sight of the dying priest, breaking into tears and sobs, solemnly promised that she would instantly cast off all further hindrances. & - “A nobleman returning in his carriage from Tyburn in con- versation with his friends about the execution, declared that he would die in no other religion but that which could minister so great courage, and give such hope of an assured felicity. “We trust,” continues Father Courtnay, “that many will daily come in and surrender themselves into the hands of Christ, as vanquished in the battle of Truth. Amongst others, I wish that the servant, that wretched hound of the pursuivant Wadsworth, who hunted after and caught the servant of God in the roof of the house, might yield himself. This man, after the death of the Father, like another Judas, betrayer of innocent blood, began to be tormented with such stings of conscience that he was very frequently upon the point of putting an end to his life by a death like that of Judas. Not many days ago that infamous searcher, disgusted with his pay for priest-hunting, ran away from Wadsworth, his employer, with his clothes, money, and whatever else he could secretly carry off with him; to the no small loss of his most iniquitous master. Precipitated from one calamity to another, he fell at last into despair, hating the very light; and declared to a Catholic whom he met some time ago, that he should find no rest until he had hanged himself. And some say that this did happen to the miserable man. But I have not yet been able to ascertain the real facts from any competent authority. I sometimes rather hope that he may become a partaker of the mercy, and not of the vengeance of the martyr's sacred blood, and emerging from the deep gulph of his sins and despair, may return in Safety from a fatal shipwreck to the harbour of salvation.” Father Peter Wright. 559 The following is a short eulogy of the blessed martyr among the State Papers in the Public Record Office, Brussels: Carton, S.J. - “May 28|9]. This day is kept the memory of the glorious death of Father Peter Wright, who in the year 1651 was con- demned to die in London by the Protestants for being a priest of the Society of Jesus. He received the sentence of death with such abundant proofs of spiritual joy, that he affirmed in all his lifetime he had never felt greater comfort. At the place of execution he rejected the Protestant minister, who offered him the choice of life if he changed his religion, or death if he persisted; testifying openly that if he had a thousand lives he would sacrifice them all for the only true Catholic faith. The Protestants themselves, full of admira- tion and astonishment at his conduct, wrote singular commen- dations of him, yet not without grief and envy that the Roman Church, by means of the generous death of Father P. Wright, had so gloriously triumphed in England, once their own.” “Father Wright spent nearly twenty-two years in the Society, and was in his forty-eighth year, an example to the spiritual coadjutors of the order, in which degree he had been professed for ten years. His memory lives in perpetual bene- diction, and flourishes for the increase of the Church, the Consolation of Catholics, an ornament to the priesthood, an honour to “the least Society of Jesus,” and to the everlasting glory of God and His most Blessed Mother.” The following are copies of four letters in the handwriting of Father Wright in the Stonyhurst collection of manuscripts.” In the handwriting of Father Green at the head of the letter is “Autographum B. Patris Petri Wright, Martyris.” “Sir, The chiefest news this week affords is our great preparations for Ireland ; the houses have voted two thousand horse, and eight thousand five hundred foot to be taken out of Sir Thomas Fairfax his army to be sent thither, but are extremely troubled in that they know there is a petition framed by the Independents and some of that army, to which have subscribed eleven thousand, for the not disbanding or sending for Ireland any part of that army, for liberty of conscience that they may have the royal assent to keep them from damage from what they have done, and that they may have an Act of Parlia- ment passed for that purpose; which petition is considered by * Father Courtnay's Mors off fidem, &c. * Anglia, mn. 5, 6, 7. 56O - Father Peter Wright. the Houses to be of dangerous consequence, and much retarding the service of Ireland. Whereupon by order are sent for the Lieutenant-General Hamond, Colonel Hamond, Commissary-General Ireton, and Colonel Rich, who are the men that took the said superScription, as also another prime officer for saying publicly that he who should refuse to put his name should be cashiered the army. Also a declaration is published by the Houses to require all men to desist in that petition, assuring that those who shall do so shall, notwith- standing they have subscribed, be looked upon as men who heretofore have done good service and should be remembered with a bountiful recompense; but if any shall persist they shall be held disturbers of the State and public peace; likewise that the forces which are called from remote quarters do return, being there is no need of increasing that army, and the country where it is, much impoverished by such a multitude. Ten pounds were given to him who brought the news of the sub- scribers, and also money and other rewards ordered for those soldiers which refused. Major-General Skippon, a zealous Presbyterian, is sent for from Newcastle. It is said he shall be appointed general of that army, because Sir Thomas Fairfax is thought inclining to Independency. What will be the end of this, time will show ; however, it is hoped that our Parlia- ment abounding with money, will therewith so work upon the affections of the Independents that at length they will con- descend to what shall be required. Thanks are also ordered, and all their arrears, to Colonel Rossiter's regiment, being the only pure regiment that hath conserved itself spotless from that crime of subscribing. The King is kept so close that there is no more speech of him than if there was no such man. The six Scottish Commissioners, which have been so long looked for, are now upon their way; then we shall see what they will do with the King, who is threatened much if he take not the Covenant and sign the propositions. Poor man, he is as much afflicted for his conscience as ever poor Papist was, for the Houses will grant him none but Covenanter Ministers, which he refusing is debarred of all. “Sir, I am your humble servant, “ PE. W. “London, this 2nd day of April, stilo veteri. This is the third letter I have written to you. “For Mr. Joseph Simons, these. Recommended to Mr. John Clayton, Antwerp.” Father Peter Wright." 561, In Father Green's handwriting is the following—“Auto- graphum B. Patris Petri Wrighti, Martyris.” . . . “Sir, The inclosed paper is a speech made by a Judge of our law, called Jenkins, who having been long prisoner in the Tower for siding with the King, was called before the Commissioners of Examination, whereofthat famous and zealous Parliament man, Corbet, was chief. None of them made any reply thereto, but, being surprised with his unexpected answers, stood amazed at his resolution and sent him back to the Tower, where he remains in as great or rather greater freedom than before. There is yet no certainty what Sir Thomas Fairfax his army will do. The general opinion is it will not disband, for as yet the Parliament hath not ready for them the 24, 200,ooo (which notwithstanding is one of the least things required by the soldiers), and I believe will not suddenly procure it, the City exacting so great security for the same—(1) As delin- quents' estates at Goldsmiths' Hall not compounded for; (2) the estates of Papists and others in the Exception out of mercy; (3) the remainder of bishops’ lands not disposed of ; (4) the security of the grand Excise of the kingdom. The soldiers in that army cry, Viva the King, and this last week back, beat soundly a Presbyterian constable in Norfolk, and some others, for refusing the King's health. The Scottish Com- missioners, as Duke Hamilton, the Lords Lotherdale and Dumfermline, are at length come to town, to join with our Commissioners to try if they can persuade his Majesty to take the Covenant and pass the resolutions, and ’tis said they will give him ten days to consider, at the end of which, if he refuse, then let him look to himself. He, on the contrary side, remains the same, and seems resolved to condescend unto them in nothing. He hath leave now to go some days in the week to the Lord Vaux’s house at Boughton to bowls: the Parliament hath [granted] every second Tuesday in the month a play-day to the apprentices of London. Exceeding good they are to all sorts of people, for which as some say we shall know what our religion shall be within this month, for from Tuesday next the house hath appointed fourteen days together to consider thereof, and the Assembly of Divines to bring in their places of Scripture. My prayer is that we may have and keep a good One. “Sir, I am your humble friend, [Some pious thief has cut off and stolen the signature.] “London, this 23rd of April, 1647. - KK 562 Father Peter Wright. “To Mr. Joseph Simons, these. Recommended to Mr. John Clayton, Antwerp.” Endorsed by Father Green, “B. F. Peter Wright's auto- graph.” “Upon Friday last the grand council of the agitators at Putney voted to have no King ; but General Cromwell, understanding what the Scottish Commissioners’ message was, both to the King and the two Houses, made an earnest speech unto them to the contrary, telling them how dangerous such a vote would be to the whole army ; for, said he, we have hanging over our heads a black cloud from the north that we shall not be able to disperse, for should we persist in that opinion, not only the whole kingdom of Scotland with all their Presbyterian brethren here, but all the King's party would join against us to our inevitable ruin. This made a stop of the business, though many of the agitators stormed thereat. In this printed paper inclosed you will find the Scottish speech and demands, which speech hath also troubled both the Houses, they not knowing what answer to return thereunto ; neither is the trouble less in the army among themselves, for Cromwell, Ireton, and the principal officers are earnest to come to a speedy conclusion with the King. Rainsborough and the agitators are of a contrary opinion, and maintain the sense of the army to be that which was put out in book by the agitators of the five regiments, which was as bad almost as could be for the King, and ill enough for the Presbyterians, for by it scarce one of them will be permitted to remain in the House, and their ministers will be pitifully provided for, for all tithes should be taken away, and all sorts of people should have liberty of conscience, &c. Hereupon, by instigation of the officers, Sir Thomas Fairfax hath revoked his commission granted to the agitators for their agitating, and remanded them to their quarters, calling also all the soldiers together, and causing this next week a general rendezvous to be, where the soldiers (as it is said) shall deliver their own sense whether they are for the agitators or officers. This rendezvous, as I understand now, is to be upon Monday next. In the meantime, both agitators and officers labour to make their party strong by endearing themselves unto the soldiers, and many are of opinion that the agitators will prevail, for upon Tuesday last a soldier of Colonel Husory's regiment, which lies about Streatham, four miles from London, was, for Father Peter Wright. 563 a mutiny against the officers, condemned to the gauntlet, that is, to be stripped from the girdle upwards and to be whipped by the soldiers of the whole regiment as he should pass through them, and being put into this post, no not one of the soldiers, though commanded by their officers present, would touch him themselves or suffer their officers. The agitators are high against the King, and so is that party of the Parliament which sides with them ; for upon the Gunpowder Day a Presbyterian minister, preaching bitterly against Catholics before the Lower House, caused the old inveterate hate to be revived in them, and they to begin to talk in the House to act against them, until Martin, a professed enemy of the King, stood up and in a speech said that that treason of the Papistry, nor any treason he could call to mind, were to be paralleled with the King's against the State. And upon Wednesday last a chief agitator said publicly at a meeting that that man which is called a King was no better than a wild boar muzzled by them, and if they should take the muzzle off his snout, which for the safety of the people they had now put on, he would gore them as deep as ever, and therefore in no case would he ever consent it should be done. “This day being Friday we have strange news, which is, that the King for certain is gone from Hampton Court, but the manner, how, or upon what conditions, is not certainly known. There are for the present two reports. The first, that he is gone to some far distant garrison by the Connivancy of the officers of the army, to have him out of the power of the agitators and soldiers, if the soldiers upon their meeting should declare for the agitators. Others confidently affirm that he is stolen away without the knowledge either of the Parliamentary army, Scottish Commissioners, or any other than his own party, and these relate that he departed privately from Hampton Court at the time his guards were changed, and passed over the ferry at Ditton all alone at five of the clock at night, not being missed till eight by the howling of his dog which he had shut up in his closet, and that at this ferry he met Ashburnham and Egg, and being on horseback to go with them he despatched away five letters, one to the Upper House, another to the Lower, a third to the Scottish Commissioners, a fourth to the Lord Montague, chief of the Commissioners from the Parliament, and the last to Colonel Whalley, who had the guard of his person. The effect of the first two was that he was certainly informed his life was KK 2 564 Father Peter Wright. in danger, and therefore the law of nature gave him leave. to provide for himself, but he would be in such a place as to be ready to correspond with his two Houses when they could assure him a way of settling a firm and grounded peace; that to the Scottish Commissioners was to thank them for: their large proffers, and that he would make use of them when: he saw occasion ; by that to the Lord Montague he thanked; him and the rest of the Commissioners with him for their civilities, and that he was retired for a while for reasons. best known to him ; and that of Whalley was to will him to have care of Hampton Court till his return. These are: all the particulars that I can yet learn of his going away. By the next I shall be able to write [more] certainly, till, when, • - * “I am your servant, * * “ P. W. “November 12th [1647].” * “Sir, The Dippers in our county increase much ; they are now for dousing over head and ears, and allege two places of Scripture for it : John iii. 23—“And John also was bap- tizing in Ennon beside Salem, because there was much water there.” Whereupon they infer that he chose that place to douse them in because there was much water. The other. text is Romans vi. 4—“For we are buried together with Him by baptism unto death *—which kind of death, say they, is best performed by drowning. The practice of this doctrine had lately a sad effect in Lincoln. The passage is most certain. The Dippers having persuaded a poor man to be re-baptized, brought him to the river below the bridge ; and whether it was that his hair was too short, or the stream too strong, the careless Dipper let the poor creature go and drowned him. One Dr. Kayner, a famous Presbyterian, and others of his companions, have instituted this form of baptism—“I bap- tize thee into the Father,” &c. Their meaning is into the covenant of the Father, &c., for of this they make a long. harangue before the baptism. * “Yesterday, as the Committee of Goldsmiths' Hall was: treating the business of Papists’ compositions, one Allen, an alderman, came and opposed, reprehending the Committee for meddling in a business they had nothing to do withal, for, saith he, all Papists’ lands were given in the beginning of the Parliament, by the Parliament to the City for the security. College of the Holy Apostles. 565 of the moneys they then lent them. Yet the Committee hath sent a certificate thereof to the Council of State. What oppo- sition Allen or any other will make there, or in the Parliament, time must tell. The Scots have lately received arms and ammu- nition from Holland, and their grand council is removed from Sterling to St. Johnston's. The Kirk was against this removal, :but they were enforced to submit, the cavaliering party being ...there strong. We have taken a castle or two near Edinburgh, and our mayne goeth there gallantly on. They begin to shoot at us from the Castle, but they kill more of the Edinburgh folk than they do of us. We have had an insurrection in Norfolk by the Presbyterians, which we hope we have appeased; yet some letters say that Rosseter and King are still up in the Isle of Ely. Last night our State had ill news from Ireland; that which we expressed of Clanricards' beating was not considerable, and since that they have killed seven of our best troops of horse, not giving quarter to any one of them. Adieu. - - . “Yours, * - + - - ( & P. “December 5th.” The Annual Letters of the English Province are scanty in the early times, on account of the danger and difficulty of letter-writing, amid the unrelenting persecution carried on against Catholics and their faith. We will briefly notice a few of the leading facts. - 1635. In the Suffolk district of this College, a ritualistic movement somewhat similar to that of our own times sprang up. There occurred one of those attempts which have been made from time to time in the State Church to impress on the people the necessity of, and to establish the practice of con- fession of sins to the Church minister. In the present instance the attempt was defeated by the indiscretion of one of the ministers. A lady of high rank had confessed to him. Soon afterwards, amidst the hilarities of a tavern, the parson made known to his gay Companions what he had thus confidentially learnt. This breach of confidence put a stop to the practice as may be supposed. - r 1636. Some remarkable cures of dangerous diseases through the application of relics of the blessed martyr, 566 College of the Holy Apostles. Father Robert Southwell, by his surviving sister are recorded. In this and the preceding year, cases of evil spirits cast out by the exorcisms of the Church are noticed. - 1637. A Master of Arts of Cambridge was converted to the Catholic Church. 1638. Two of the Fathers were chiefly employed this year in teaching boys their religion and “elements.” The rest were occupied in the usual missionary duties. The Catholics were desirous to increase the number of the Fathers, but none Could be spared. Among fifty-two cases of conversion of Protestants this year, was that of a woman who became a Catholic by the advice of a Protestant minister, who was himself also received into the Church before he died. 1639. Among the conversions this year to the Faith was that of a Fellow of one of the Colleges of Cambridge: he was in consequence deprived of his fellowship, apprehended, and brought before the tribunals in London, where he was required to give heavy bail not to leave the kingdom for foreign parts: he also suffered other great vexations. Another Protestant minister acknowledged the truth of the Catholic doctrine, but unhappily deferred the duty of embracing it; nor was he able on his death-bed to repair his fatal delay. There were some remarkable instances of the recovery of health following the reception of the sacraments. A case is mentioned of a young gentleman who had been in his education inoculated with hostile feelings towards the Society of Jesus, so that he would not even read the lives of its Saints, and attributed a bad motive to every action of the Fathers. Being completely changed, after accidentally coming: into communication with some of them, he was ever afterwards. their admirer and zealous co-operator. 1640. Among the conversions to the faith recorded this. year, many more who were brought to a full knowledge and conviction of the truths of our holy religion, were deterred from embracing them by the apprehension of the storm with which the kingdom and the Catholics in particular were threatened,. and the great political changes which were expected, especially after the Scottish army had invaded the Northern Counties. In this state of things, the main object of the Fathers was to. strengthen the attachment of the Catholics to their faith, and to animate them to bear with Constancy whatever sufferings, Brovidence might permit their enemies to inflict upon them;. and to induce them to implore the mercy of God, and to seek- College of the Holy Apostles. 567 by fasting, prayer, and other exercises of piety, to appease His wrath justly incurred by their sins. These labours were not fruitless. Many were relieved from their fears, and many who had begun to waver, were inspired with Christian fortitude. During each year, the Fathers were able both to send over boys to the seminaries on the Continent, and young ladies to convents for education; varying in number each year. 1641. In this district, as elsewhere, the Fathers experienced the effects of the increased violence of the persecution. It was only by the utmost vigilance that they could escape the active pursuit of their enemies, who were too often guided by infor- mation derived from false brethren. Following the injunctions of the Gospel, they fled from city to city; they often sought concealment in woods and caves, without other solace or Society than Christian patience; going abroad mostly in the night, to give comfort and spiritual help to the Catholics. By means of considerable alms which were placed at their disposal, they were enabled to relieve the temporal wants of the more indigent Catholics. Through the special protection of God, none of the Fathers during this time fell into the hands of the pursuivants. - - There is mention of one of those attempts which had been made from time to time by Protestants to devise some com- promise by which Catholic and Protestant might be brought to religious agreement. The author of this scheme proposed among other things, that many of the forms of prayer in use among Catholics, should be retained in his united church, and among the rest the Litany of the Saints, but with some omissions, among which he proposed, unaccountably, to leave out the petition to be preserved from a sudden and unprepared death. It was very remarkable that, shortly after, the person died both suddenly and unprepared, suffering the very evil which he had so strongly refused to pray against. A case of miraculous cure is mentioned by means of an Agnus Dei, a small portion of which the sick person swallowed by advice of one of the Fathers. - 1642 et seq. About thirty were in 1642 converted to the Faith. In Suffolk, &c., the Parliamentary party had numerous and zealous adherents." Accordingly, the Catholics who re- * See Mr. Darcy's letter to Father Henry More (alias Talman), ante, p. 425, detailing the excesses of thsee rebels. The author of this letter, I believe, was Mr. Henry Forster (Brother Forster, S.J.), under the assumed name of Darcy.—[EDITOR.] ,568 College of the Holy Apostles. mained faithful to the King were deprived of their property, driven from their houses, and dispersed; some seeking con- cealment among their acquaintances, but most escaping to the Continent. The Fathers became thus exposed to great dangers and hardships, yet they continued to devote them- selves, as they were able, by day and by night, to their missionary duties. One of the Fathers had gone to London on some business. During his absence, the rebels broke into and plundered the Catholic house in which he usually lived, placed the master of it in custody, dispersed his children amongst different Protestant families, that they might be per- verted, and turned the house into a military station. The Father, having finished his business in London, set out on his return to the country, ignorant of all that had taken place. As he drew near the house, he observed some change in the approaches to it, which put him on his guard. Instead there- fore of going into the house, he went cautiously to a window and looked in. Seeing a strange female domestic, he asked for a Flemish woman servant who had lived in the house with the Catholic family, and to whom he said he had a message to deliver. The woman answered that she had been removed from that house, with her mistress ; and was going on to tell him what had happened, when one of the soldiers came up, and taking him by the arm, conducted him to the military party. They examined him closely, but could not elicit anything to criminate him. He accounted for his inquiring for the Flemish servant, by saying that he had for some time resided in Flanders, and had been sent to England to transact some business. They finished, however, by saying that he was, no doubt, a Papist; and they accordingly made him mount upon a lean horse without Saddle, and so Con- ducted him to a ſortress seven miles off. He was here ex- amined by the governor, to whom he admitted that he was a Catholic. The governor said that he had no doubt but that he was a priest also, and had been sent over from France by the Queen as a spy. He accordingly ordered that he should be confined in a close damp dungeon under ground, in which a number of common soldiers were already im- prisoned. Here he underwent great sufferings and privations for inearly three months. He was examined a second and a third time without any result. Proposals were made to him to set him at liberty, on payment of a sum of money, and College of the Holy Apostles. 569 he was sent in custody to London, that he might procure. his ransom. But the officer into whose charge he was delivered, being more zealous in the popular cause, ignored the agreement about the ransom, and brought the Father at once before the Parliamentary Commissioners. By these he was examined, and the oaths required by the Parliament to be taken were tendered to him. On his refusal to take them he was committed to Newgate prison, where he found many of his brethren already confined; and it was no small relief to him to have them for his fellow-prisoners, instead of the rude soldiers with whom he had been associated in the country. He had daily before his eyes: “Quis nos separabit a charitate Christi 2 &c. Sed in his omnibus superamus, £rofter Aum qui di/exit nos.” - * - * 1647–8. The following is the paper written for the Annual Letters of this College or district by Father Sankey the Superior, referred to in the short account of him given at p. 411, ante. It shows that cases of obsessed persons were common in England in those days. Indeed, throughout the kingdom, the annual reports in the olden times abound in such cases, and in the successful use of the Rites of Exorcism in the Catholic Church. - “Pro annuis Coll. S.S. Apostolorum, 1647–1648. “What here followeth, the under-written can testify to be true as being an eye-witness of the passage. . “FRANCIS SANKEY.” “One of our Fathers of our least Society of Jesus being in England, as I take it, in the year 1643, or thereabouts, as he was performing that Supreme service to God at the holy altar, after consummation, being to give the most Blessed and all- praiseworthy Sacrament of the Eucharist to the people there present, who as far forth as I can remember, were about the Inumber of twelve persons, turning himself as the manner is to the Communicants, and Saying, Æcce Agnus Z)&i, &c., one of the company in the chapel or place of sacrifice, cried out with a loud voice, as much terrified with some fearful and horrid spectre, looking out at the window, as if he would leap into the street of Norwich city in Norfolk, insomuch that the priest judged it necessary to turn to the altar with the Sacred Relic of Relics, the most venerable Sacrament, and then desired the people to help him down, the party ran with such 57O College of the Holy Apostles. violence against the door, which was hard by the altar, as if he would have broken it to pieces, with danger of throwing himself headlong down the stairs, and when he was out of the place he was very quiet and no more was made of it, but divers were of an opinion that it was some diabolical power that could not endure the presence of his Judge that had condemned him to hell for his great pride and ambition. “To this same priest of the Society it happened that being to take a journey into the northern parts, by leave of his Superior, the night before his journey was so troubled with dangerous apprehensions of what might befall in that journey, that he was forced to go to his Superior to free him from this obligation; and whilst the Superior was considering how to give a satisfactory excuse to some people of good calling, in whose company he was to travel, came a messenger with a letter to desire him with all haste to go to one that was dangerously ill, either by reason of some frenzy, or else as by some understanding men, whereof one was a priest, it was thought to be under some diabolical power. Time there was taken to consider of it, and it was finally concluded that some trial might be made whatever [? whether] the devil had any power or no. Lastly the manner how it was to be done was proposed, and this priest of our Society, when it was pro- pounded to speak what he judged best, made this answer, that, being men generally are sinners, and consequently though such power be given by our all-powerful Master, Jesus Christ, to cast out devils, or to vanquish all demoniacal fancies unto His substitutes, the lawfully made priests by the Church of Rome, yet he for his part was most inclined to ascribe this power to the same Jesus Christ, present now in the Eucharist, as He was in humanity shape formerly, though not after the same manner, as is by our holy mother the Catholic Roman Church expressed, and so the best to be done, after consecration, and by virtue of the Blessed Sacra- ment and Sacrifice [was a] trial to be made, which was assented unto by all. But to pitch upon the party that should be the actor there was some difficulty, which at last was over- come, and it was resolved that the said Father of our Society should effect what had formally been agreed upon, who, having been at confession and prepared himself as well as he could before the breaking of the Sacred Host in the most holy Sacrifice of the Mass, he took the most Sacred Host with him, and in the presence of some discreet Catholics, went College of the Holy Apostles. 57.1 to the bedside where the party lay distempered, commanded by virtue of Christ Jesus, present before them all there, that 1f the devil had any power that then he should make some expression thereof; when, presently the party made an ugly and a kind of horrid voice, dissonant from the ordinary tone of the voice; then presently the said priest commanded by power of Him there present that he should depart and not molest the party infirm, [who repeated] after him a confession of Faith, an acknowledgement of the Real Presence, a detesta- tion of sin, with an act of contrition, and such like works, which were spoken in a different tone, and after an accustomed manner of voice. Thence after some days, the party being on the mending hand, our said Father returned for Norfolk, where presently he was sent for to Mr. Jerningham, who was then in danger of death, who, at his approach being exceedingly glad Saluted him with these terms, that he was the man who was to help him, and such like ; and so after some days, he reconciled that knight unto the Catholic faith, who formerly for many years had laid in schism, and frequented Protestant churches ; who, within a month after his conversion, having received his Viaticum for his journey to heaven, departed from earth to enjoy a better habitation in paradise, out of which none shall ever be evicted. “This present year of our Lord God, 1648, it fell out that a party formerly noted for a scandalous life, and being in a chapel, where was one of our Fathers, then at his prayers, a pious thought coming into his mind, and rising up from his prayers Spake thus to the party, calling him by his name. “There is one thing may do you good, and help you to gain your Salvation;' who, being somewhat surprised to hear himself called by his own true name, asked what that was, and it was replied by the said Father, that three or four days of spiritual exercises, or retirement of spirit, would do the deed; which motion was accepted. Yet being attempted twice, it would not take by reason of some obstacles. At last, about the Holy Week, the bud was turned to blossom, desires ended in effects of a sincere conversion, after nine days' retirement, and a perfect general confession made him confess that he had been blind, and gives now singular example to all, in all that is good and virtuous.” * Collectio Cardwelli, varia S.J. Archives de l’Etat, Brussels, vol. i. p. 361. - 572 College of the Holy Apostles. 1650. Among the converts to the Catholic faith this year was a Cambridge man of high talents, and greatly beloved by his fellow-collegians. His conversion drew down upon him great hatred, and was an effectual bar to his future academic prospects. He had been a leading preacher of high repute among the Protestants, which rendered his loss all the more severely felt by that party. . , 1654. The following letter regarding this district is histori- cally interesting. “Mr. P. Rock to Col. Mackworth. ~ - “Ipswich in Suffolk, 15 Dec. 1654. “Right Honourable,_May it please your honour to remem- ber that I did inform you of twenty-three Popish priests that are in these parts; Mr. Gilbert informed me that it was your pleasure to have me write to you, if I could find any, that could prove them priests, which causeth this boldness in me to trouble your honour with these lines. I have spoken with the mān that did inform me of most of them, and he will take his oath, that he hath seen five or six of them execute their priestly office, and will find others that shall prove the same against those and others of them; and he will bring me to the places where they and their Church stuff are kept, and also show me the person that they employ as a post to carry letters among the Papists; this man hath a relation to a great Papist in the country, whereby he hath gotten this knowledge; and if your honour may think it may be for the glory of God, and this good of the Commmonwealth, I shall use my best skill to get them apprehended. If you please to let me have a warrant, and power to call to my assistance officers, military and civil, to search for them, at Christmas will be the best time to look for them ; for then they will be employed at gentlemen's houses; or if your honour shall think fit to employ any man else in this business, that may be more fit for it, I shall give him all the light I can ; for I conceive that man which undertakes it, shall never be out of danger of his life; yet I shall willingly put that in my hand if I am called to it. I know where they have some long pieces, and pistols, and muskets, and swords, and rapiers; and when any Papist in this country ride, they be very well armed, and here be very many in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire hath some. I could give your honour College of the Holy Apostles. 573. a further account of some of them ; but I fear I am too . tedious, wherefore I beg pardon for this boldness, and shall. wait for your honour's commands at Mr. Robert Hall, his house in Ipswich, where I shall endeavour to show my thankfulness for the many favours I have received from your honour, by my faithfulness in what you please to com- mand me. . . . - “Your honour's faithful servant, “POLICARPUS ROCK.” The superscription.—“To the right honourable Colonel *, Mackworth, at his lodging in the Green Mews, near Charing Cross, London—humbly these present.” " . 1671. There is no further special notice of this College until this date, when the Annual Letters make a general. remark relating to the whole Province, to the effect that in England there were one hundred and thirty-two Fathers labouring upon the mission. These were like soldiers in an army, which, although under the Command of one general, and all proposing to themselves the same end, the glory of God and salvation of souls, nevertheless occupied each his several post. Some were chaplains in the families of the nobility and gentry, strengthening them and their households by sound doctrine and the Sacraments, as a guard against the depravity of heresy and vice. Others were like skirmishers, running hither and thither,” traversing country and villages, and visiting the houses of the Catholics at stated periods; often taking long journeys to refresh them with the holy Sacraments, consoling them with the word of God, embuing them with sound doctrine, and bringing back many from the first beginnings of heresy to the liberty of the sons of God, restoring them to our holy Mother the Church. Others, Combating with the heretics themselves, would engage their ministers in controversy; proving both by word of mouth, and by books, their falsehoods and distortions of Scripture, the ancient Fathers, &c. All were instant, both at home and * Thurloe's State Aapers, vol. iii. p. 23. * Thus, indeed, did they especially fulfil their mission as members of an Order which has been called “The Light Horse of the Church ; ” ever on the move, and ready at a moment’s notice to exchange place for place, wherever a prospect opened of extending God's glory, and winning Souls. 574. College of the Holy Apostles. abroad, in lending their aid to the utmost of their power, to the urgent needs of their common country and of individual souls. Several of the places included in this College or district, which were served or visited by the members of the Fnglish Province at various periods, contribute much interest to its ..annals. We will mention a few of these. I. BRADDox, or BROADOAKs, Essex. This was the house of the Wiseman family, the great harbourers of the priests, ..and who were such severe sufferers for the Faith in the time of Elizabeth and James I. - Bradokes or Broadoaks, the old family mansion of this Branch of the Wisemans, stands in the fields two miles from Wimbish Church. The estate at Northend, in the parish of Great Watlham, was called Billocks, and had been in the possession of the family since the time of Edward IV. In 1551, Bradokes came into the possession of John Wiseman, Esq. of Felsted, whose son Thomas was the husband of Jane, who was well known as “the Widow Wiseman.” William, the eldest son, is said to have been subsequently knighted. His wife was Jane, daughter of Sir Edmund Huddlestone, Knight ; and his children, John, Dorothea, and Winefrid. John, who married Mary, daughter of Sir Roland Rydgetey, had two daughters Lucy and Elizabeth, and an only son, Aurelius Piercy Wiseman, who was killed in a duel in London, 1680. The following inscription on his tomb-stone in Wimbish Church may be seen in Wrights’ Essex— Here rest the sad remains of Aurelius Piercy Wiseman, of Broadoak, in this parish, esqre., the last of the name of that place, and head and chief of that right worshipful and antient family, who was unfortunately killed in the flower of his age, Dec. 11, 1680. Amongst others, Fathers Henry Garnett, the martyr, and John Gerard, with Brothers Richard Fulwood, and Nicholas Owen, the martyr, were certainly there. The following are extracts from the papers in the Public Record Office, London, in which mention is made of this place. I592. In P.R.O. Zom., Elizabeth, vol. ccxliv, n. 7, may be seen two forms of indictment of Richard Jackson, priest, for College of the Holy Apostles. 575 saying Mass at Braddocks, and of various members of the Wiseman family for being present at Mass, on the 25th of August and the 8th of September, 1592. This paper is endorsed Massemongers. “1594, January 2nd. State Papers, Dom. Eliz. vol. •ccxlvii. n. 7. Richard Young to Lord Keeper Puckering. “Mr. Worsely and Mr. Newall have been to Widow Wiseman's house in Essex,” and found a Mass preparing, but the priest escaped: they brought Robert, her son: William Clarke a lawyer, &c., recusants, who all refused to take an oath to answer matters touching the Queen and State : he has committed them close prisoners apart one from the other. They also found in the house Mrs. Wiseman's family, servants, &c., all recusants. He thinks they ought all to be sent for and examined, as Mrs. Jane Wiseman's house is the only place of resort for these wicked persons. She was at Wisbeach with the Seminarists and Jesuits, but repented she had not gone there bare-footed. She is a great reliever of them, and made a rich vestment and sent it to them.” “1594, April 4. Vol. ccxlviii. n. 68. Same to Same. “If he should give him orders for examining the prisoners -committed, wishes Sir Thomas Wilkes, &c., to be employed therein, with some of the counsel-at-law, as some of the prisoners have long lain in oblivion, and by delay and lingering, matters of great importance are hurt and hid. Young incloses to the Lord Keeper a list of seven recusant servants found in Mr. Wiseman's house [Braddox], who will not take the oath of allegiance, nor answer anything. One Thompson was apprehended when his master was taken, but fled with his master's best gelding, and a handful of gold that he gave him. Wiseman is a continual receiver of Seminary priests: went to Wisbeach to visit the priests and Jesuits there, and since his imprisonment there was a Seminary priest in his house, who escaped from the Justices, leaving his apparel behind. Mrs. Jane Wiseman, William Wiseman's mother, has also been a great harbourer of priests and other bad persons, and went to Wisbeach with her two daughters, where she was absolved and blessed by Father Edmonds the Jesuit, since which her daughters have been sent beyond seas to be professed as nuns, as her other two daughters were * At Northend, Great Waltham, near Chelmsford. 576. College of the Holy Apostles. before. Her son Thomas is a Jesuit in Rome or Spain. Robert Wiseman, her other son, is also an obstinate recusant, and a prisoner in the Clink. Mrs. Jennings, her kinswoman, sojourned in his house, and is a perverse recusant, as are three others who sojourned there : two were apprehended.” “I 794, June 13. Vol. CCXlix. n. 12. , “In one of Father Henry Walpole's examinations he says: He has heard that Garnet, alias Roberts, alias Whalley, was kept at Mrs. Vaux’s house, and at Mr. Wiseman's, and that he had been at Braddox.” - “In another confession of Father Walpole's on inter- rogatories, same vol., n. 44, he says, “Garnet is at Mrs. Vaux's or William Wiseman's. John Gerard has been at Mr. Wise- 5 -, } }} man's. “I 594, May II. Vol. ccxlviii. n. 103. “The examination of John Frank (the traitor who betrayed Father Gerard). He says, when the pursuivants went to old Mrs. Wiseman's house at Northend, on December 26, Brewster, a priest, was hid in a chimney, and was fetched away by William Suffield, William Wiseman’s man. He gives notices of other priests received by the Wisemans ; Scuda- more [a secular priest called alias John Wiseman]; Rook Chapman, born in Samford; Gerard, altas Tanfield, alias Staunton, a Jesuit; Richard Fulwood, was with Mr. Wiseman in the examinant's house, when Mr. Ormes, a tailor of Fleet Street, took Gerard’s measure by the name of Tanfield. Gerard lay one night at the Lady Mary's [Percy's], in Black- friars, and Ralph Willis his servant, lay at examinant's house. Since Richard Fulwood has been a prisoner in Bridewell, he has written to Gerard, and sent to Lady Mary's : Received and took the letter to Gerard at Mr. Wiseman's house at Braddox, where Gerard was hid whilst the pursuivants were there. He heard them read it; Fulwood writing that he expected torture every day; Gerard said he wished he might bear some of Fulwood's punishment. Willis said that John Jeppes, Wiseman's man, could do hurt in revealing matters, and that Jeppes let Staunton [Father Gerard] and Willis through his grounds from Mr. Wiseman's house at Braddox. The satin doublet and velvet hose found in Middleton's house at Gerard's apprehension, were Mr. Wise- man's, and the cuffs Mrs. Wiseman's. College of the Holy Apostºs. 377 “Last autumn was sent by old Mrs. Wiseman from North- end, to Mr. Gerard in London, with Scudamore, alias John Wiseman, the priest, Richard Fulwood, Gerard’s man, and others. John Jepps had them a week at his house, and then they embarked at Gravesend and went over to Middleburg, and thence to Antwerp, &c. “Nicholas Owen, who was taken in bed with Gerard the Jesuit, was at Wiseman's house last Christmas twelve months, and was called Little John and Little Michael; the cloak he wore was Wiseman's : he was at Mr. Emerson's house at Felsted, whilst Mrs. Wiseman lay there. William Wiseman has Muckin Hall, in Rochford hundred, which was Thomas Wisemans, a Jesuit in Rome. Richard White owed Thomas Wiseman A, 4oo, which was to be paid to William Wiseman. The writings were in Wiseman's counting-house when the pursuivants were there. If they had been taken they would have ridden off to White with a counterfeit acquittance, Wiseman having told him to so.” “I 599, August 12. Vol. CClxxii., n. 36. “Sir A. Capel to Secretary Cecil. The townspeople of Starford have brought me, John Gurgune, whom they stayed on suspicion of being a Jesuit priest, with certain Superstitious wafers, which I send together with his examination, and a book written by him containing some Popish prayers, and the form of Mass. He only confesses that he is a messenger to carry wafers, &c., to Mr. Wiseman's house at Broadoaks, Essex. I send him to you, not knowing whether there may be any further matter to be got from him.” - The following notice of this excellent family is given by Father Morris: 7 - “Among those to whom Father Gerard gave the spiritual exercises while in this residence, were two brothers of the name of Wiseman, who entered the novitiate of St. Andrew’s in Rome, under the name of Starkie and Standish, “which they assumed,’ says Father Gerard, “as a remembrance of me; for under these I passed in the first and second county where I took up my residence.’ The one died there, and the other at St. Omers not long after. Their eldest brother was William * For a full copy of this examination see Condition of Catholics, p. xli. 7 See Father Morris’ Condition of Catholics under James Z. Second Iºdition, pp. xxx—xxxii. We reſer our readers to the same work for further inſormation about the Wisemans. LL 578 College of the Hoſy Apostles. Wiseman of Braddocks or Broadoaks, a family mansion which stands in the fields, two miles from Wimbish Church, in Essex. He had lately come to his estate on the death of his father, and had made himself a large deer park in it. There he lived like a little king in ease and independence, surrounded by his children, to whom as well as to his wife he was tenderly attached. As he kept clear of priests from the Seminaries, he lived unmolested, feeling nothing of the burthen and heat of the day; for the persecutors troubled chiefly those who harboured the Seminarists, not caring to inquire after those who kept the old Priests, that is those who had taken Orders before the reign of Elizabeth. In his house there was living my host's mother, a most excellent widow lady, happy in her children, but still happier in her private virtues. She had four sons and four daughters. These latter, without exception, devoted their virginity to God. . . . Her sons were all pious young men; two, “Thomas and John,' died in the Society, as was related above : the third, “Robert,’ chose the army, and was lately slain in a battle with the heretics in Belgium : he fell fighting when all around him had surrendered : the fourth, ‘William, who married Jane, daughter of Sir Edmund Huddlestone, knight,’ was master of that house, who to his mother's great joy had given himself up to every good work. “Mrs. Wiseman, or ‘the Widow Wiseman,’ had a house of her own at Northend, Great Waltham, which had been in possession of the family since the time of Henry VI. On Father Gerard’s recommendation she went to live there, and maintained a priest, ‘in order that so noble a soul, and one so ready for good deeds, might be a profit not only to herself, but to many, as in fact she became. Her house was a retreat, and no small protection both to ours and to other priests.’” As we have seen by the before-mentioned papers in the Record Office, the good widow and her son William were in bad repute with the Council. “She was condemned in 1598 to the Žeine forfe ef dure for refusing to plead when indicted for harbouring Father Jones alias Buckley, the Franciscan martyr. ‘However, on account of her rank, and the good name which she had, the Queen's Councillors would not let such barbarity be practised in London. So they transferred her after condemnation to a more loathsome prison, and kept her there. They wanted at the same time to seize her income for the Queen. Now if she had been dead, this income would not have gone to the Queen, but to her College of the Holy Apostles. 579.’ son, my host. The godly woman therefore lived in this prison, reft of her goods but not of her life, of which she most desired to be reft. She pined in a narrow and fifthy cell till the accession of King James, when she received a pardon and returned home : where she now serves the servants of God, and has two of Ours with her in the house.’” - Father Gerard says further, that “While Braddocks was my headquarters, I found time both for study and missionary excursions. I took care that all in the house should approach the sacraments frequently, which none before save the good widow, used to do oftener than four times a year. Now they come every week. On feast days, and often on Sundays, I preached in the chapel. Moreover, I showed those who had leisure, the way to meditate by themselves, and taught all how to examine their conscience. I also brought in the custom of reading pious books, which we did even at meals, when there were no strangers there: for at that time, we priests sat with the rest, even with our gowns on. I had a soutane besides, and a biretta, but the Superior would not have us use these except in the chapel. In my excursions I almost always gained some to God. There is, however, a great difference to be observed between these counties where I then was, and other parts of England : for in Some places where many of the common people are Catholics, and almost all lean towards the Catholic faith, it is easy to bring many into the bosom of the Church, and to have many hearers together at a sermon. . . . On the Contrary, in those parts where I was now staying, there were very few Catholics, but these were of the higher classes ; scarcely any of the common people, for they cannot live in peace, surrounded as they are by most violent heretics. The way of managing in such cases, is first to gain the gentry, then the servants ; for Catholic masters cannot do without Catholic servants.” The widow Wiseman and her husband, Thomas Wiseman, had four sons, as we have named before, viz. – William, the eldest, of Braddox. Thomas, who entered the Society in Rome (St. Andrea's), aet. 24, May 26th, 1592, under the assumed name of William Starkie, and died at St. Omers in 1596. Robert, who died in battle in Belgium. John, who entered the Society with his brother Thomas, at Rome, under the assumed name of Robert Standish. He died the same year 1592, in the novitiate. LL 2 58O College of the Holy Apostles. The reader is referred to Father Morris' Condition of Catholics, p. lii. &c., for a full and thrilling history of a search at Braddox, on Easter Monday, the Ist of April, I 592, and of the escape of Father Gerard. The facts are shortly these. Father Gerard, on account of threatened dangers, had risen early on that morning and was trying to get ready for Mass before sunrise, when suddenly the house was surrounded by pursuivants, headed by two magistrates, and thus all escape was cut off. The servant of Mr. Wiseman, John Frank, had turned traitor and given information of Father Gerard being there. The doors were kept fast until Father Gerard with the altar furniture was stowed away into a hiding-place near the chapel by Mrs. Wiseman. He had wished himself, to go to another hiding-hole near the dining-room as being less. suspicious, and also affording him the means of getting some- thing to eat, which the other did not. But by a wondérful providence Mrs. Wiseman would not consent, and eventually the one near the dining-room was discovered. The searchers broke in, locked up Mrs. Wiseman, her daughters, and the Catholic servants in various rooms during their search. They spent two days, when finding nothing they thought Father Gerard had left on the Easter Sunday, so the magistrates. went away, leaving the constables to take off Mrs. Wiseman to London to be imprisoned and examined. The traitor Frank was left behind with others to take care of the house. Mrs. Wiseman, not knowing of his treachery, and anxious to relieve Father Gerard, who would otherwise die of starva- tion, having taken no food for four days except a biscuit. or two and a little quince jelly which Mrs. Wiseman had hastily given him. On entering the hiding-place, actually told him (Frank) where Father Gerard was, and ordered him to let him out. This the traitor promised to do faithfully, but instead, called back the magistrates who the next morning renewed the search. After a long search they actually came upon the very place, and partly opened it, and he must have been discovered but for a marvellous display of Divine Trovidence in answer to the Father's earnest prayer that he might escape for the sake of the good family, in whose hos- pitable mansion he had been so charitably entertained. The searchers' eyes, and memory too, appear to have been Com- pletely blinded, and Father Gerard eventually escaped. His hiding-place was in a thick wall of the chimney behind a finely laid and carved mantel-piece. At the end of four Co//ege of the Hoſy Apostles. 581 days the searchers gave up, leaving Mrs. Wiseman and her domestics free. Father Gerard could not have held out much longer; he was all wasted and weakened, as well with hunger as with want of sleep, having to sit so long in such a narrow hole. Mrs. Wiseman herself too had eaten nothing during the whole time, not only to share the distress of Father Gerard, but to try upon herself how long he could live without food, and especially to draw down the mercy of God upon him and her family by fasting and prayer. She was so completely changed, that Father Gerard says he should not have known her but by her dress and voice. II. COLDHAM HALL, SUFFOLK, the residence of the ancient |Rookwood family, will ever be dear in the recollection of the Province, as connected with the noble martyr, Father Thomas ‘Garnet, alias Rookwood, whose history we have already given. As we have seen, Father Thomas was betrayed by an unhappy apostate priest, named Rouse. In an ancient list of benefactors to this College is the following item : “Mr. Michael Hare gave land which was sold for 24, 300, with obligation of paying the rent of it to Mr. Rouse in case of his repentance: the rent was twenty marks a year, which he enjoyed for many years. After him it was given to some of Ours, helping the poor in Suffolk or Norfolk. This, with other moneys were lost in troublesome times.” This Mr. Rouse is supposed to be the betrayer of Father Garnet, and we may hope, from his having enjoyed the above fund, that he repented and was converted. This mission or chaplaincy remained with the members of the Society for many years, and was frequently served from Bury-St.-Edmund's. III. HENGRAVE HALL, the seat of the Gage family, will also be ever dear in the recollection of the English Province, as connected with two of our Fathers. I. Father William Wright, the courageous impugner of the impious oath of Supremacy, the form of which, as imposed upon Catholicism in 1606, was even more stringent than before, for which fearless conduct he was imprisoned in Newgate, and escaping thence retired to Leicestershire, where he founded the mission of the Society of Jesus about 1607.8 * See his life, p. 275 ante. 582 College of the Holy Apostles. 2. The glorious martyr Father Peter Wright, chaplain of the Gage family, whose life has been given above. IV. INGATESTONE HALL AND THORNDON HALL, the seats of the noble family of Petre, the chief founders and benefactors of this College, and to the present day the Constant. friends and patrons of the English Province “ of the least. Society of Jesus.” Amongst other chaplains residing there we find the historian Father Henry More ; and in later times, Father Thomas Eccleston, son of Henry Eccleston Esquire, of Eccleston, Lancashire, born 1659, was there at the close of the seventeenth, and beginning of the last century. This Father was an alumnus at the English College, Rome, in 1677, and joined the Society in that city in 1697. When a secular he had the misfortune of being drawn into fighting. a duel, in which unhappily he killed his adversary. This so. affected him, that renouncing the world he became a religious, of the Society of Jesus. His picture, a full-length portrait, was, formerly at Eccleston Hall. He is represented as pointing to his sword thrown on the ground.” Succeeding to the Eccleston estates, he gave them up to John Gorsuch Eccleston, Esq. He usually passed in religion by the name of Holland. He was rector of the College of St. Omer from August, 1731, to September, 1737. He died in, England 30th December, 1743. He wrote a treatise called 27te Way to Happiness, 1726. A new edition was printed in 1773. Father Gilbert Grey, vere Zalbot, thirteenth Earl of Shrewsbury, for some time served as chaplain between 1720 and 1730. Father Gilbert Talbot, for the last twenty-five years of his life was thirteenth Earl of Shrewsbury, though no title could add to the lustre of his virtues. One pedigree makes him eldest son of Gilbert, second son of John, tenth Earl of Shrewsbury; another contends that he was the son of Thomas, fifth son of the said John, Earl of Shrewsbury.10 He was born in the year 1670. Renouncing all the prospects of fame and fortune, he entered the Novitiate of the English Province S.J. at Watten, the Ioth of April, 1694. He is * Letter of the late Father Nicholas Sewall to Dr. Oliver, 23rd December, 1831, in Arch. Prov. Angl. * Burke's Peerage says that he was eldest son of Gilbert Talbot, who was second son of John, tenth Earl. College of the Holy Apostles. 583 described by all that knew him, as a man of prayer, of un- affected humility, of great self-denial, and of such charity towards the poor, that occasionally he stripped himself of part of his clothes to cover the needy. On the 29th of August, 1709, he was solemnly enrolled among the Professed Fathers of the Society. By the death of Charles, twelfth Earl, and first Duke of Shrewsbury (at Isleworth, 1st February, 1718), the humble Father succeeded in right to the earldom. He had long before renounced the family estates in favour of his younger brother, George Talbot, who married Mary, daughter of Thomas Viscount Fitzwilliam, of Merrion in Ireland. For several years Ingatestone and Dunkenhalgh were the scenes of his missionary labours. He was rector of the College of St. Aloysius, or the Lancashire district, I 734—1738. At the end of this period he removed to London, where he died 22nd July, I 743, at the age of Seventy-three. He was buried, as appears by the register book of Old St. Pancras, in the burial-yard of that church. He also served the mission of Preston, about 17oo ; also the little mission of Billington, near Blackburn, regarding which mission a letter from Father Talbot, dated 3rd October, 1736, is still preserved in the Archives of the College of St. Aloysius. Though now touching upon more modern times than form the scope of the present volume, we must not omit the following account, taken from a manuscript in the Archives of the Province, of the visit of his Majesty George III. and Queen Charlotte, to Thorndon Hall, written by Robert Edward, the ninth Lord Petre, grandfather of the present and eleventh noble lord, William Francis Henry, who has been pleased most kindly to supply the editor with the dates of the royal visit, and to express his lordship's approbation of the insertion of the paper. The King and Queen arrived at Thorndon Hall on the 19th of October, 1778, and on the following day reviewed the troops at Warley, and left Thorndon on the 21st. “The accounts in the different newspapers of his Majesty's visit to Thorndon have been as wide from truth as any of their other intelligence ever is, and as it may not be disagree- able to you to hear a little of it as it really was, I shall endeavour to describe it in few words. Being the first Catholic that has ever had such an honour since the Reformation, and especially as happening just after the favour we have received, you may easily imagine that in such a situation I should leave 584 College of the H.oly Apostles. nothing possible to be done unaccomplished, in order to give his Majesty the most royal and respectful reception, and most splendid entertainment that money, joined with a most ardent desire to please him, could effect. - “Against his Majestys' arrival on the first day, which was about three o'clock, I had assembled all the country, some on horseback and some on foot. The horse advanced to meet his Majesty a little beyond Brentwood, and returned with him through the town (which I had caused to be ornamented with boughs and flags), the bells ringing, and bon-fires blazing with- out number round the country so as to be either seen or heard from all the windows of my house. The army arranged on each side of my avenue, the park of artillery giving a constant fire, his Majesty in the midst of this advancing with all his suite, accompanied with innumerable horsemen, was, I think, the finest sight I ever beheld. “On their Majestys' arrival at the door, Lady Petre and I received them. I had obtained leave to have the honour to act as her Majesty's Chamberlain, and to wait on his Majesty as Lord of the Bedchamber. I handed her Majesty out of the chaise and upstairs, where, the whole apartment had been new furnished. There we had the honour to kiss their Majestys' hands. As soon as possible dinner was served up, and Lady Petre dined with the Queen, as did Lady Egremont and Lady Amherst. I dined with the King, the lords that accompanied him, and the general officers. I served the King, and Lady Petre the Queen, at table. I shall say nothing of the dinners, as they were like other great dinners, where everything possible to be had or cooked is served up. The desserts were quite new come from Paris, and were both days quite different. As to the second day, it was much the same as the first with regard to the entertainment. I shall only say that one hundred and fifty dishes were served up to the Ring and Queen's tables, and that (their suite included) there were seven tables. How many dishes the five tables ſor their attendants had I don’t know, but two of them were served in plate, and were of consequence. The evening passed in playing cards with their Majesties in the presence-chamber, and his Majesty's talking with the officers in the outward room, as nobody but I and Lady Petre ever went into the presence." chamber without the King or Queen sending for them. After dinner I had his Majesty's leave to drink several toasts: he drank a good glass of wine, and was extremely cheerful and PEDIGREE, SHOWING VARIOUS FATHERS OF THE PETRE FAMILY JOHN, first BARON PETRE = of Writtle. Ob. 1613. Ingatestone. Born 1549. Buried at I561). MARY, daughter of Sir EDWARD WALDEGRAVE of Borley (who died in the Tower of London, Married 1570. Ob. at Westhorndon, 1604. WILLIAM, second LoRD PETRE, - LADY CATHERINE SOMERSET. founder of the College of the Holy Apostles, (and not Lord Robert, as erroneously stated (vide p. 394) continued the family and title. Hon. EDWARD, died an infant, I577. at West Hanning- field. Ob. 4 Sept. I622, Buried at Ingatestone. Hon. JoHN. Lived = First wife, daughter of LORD MOR- LEY and MONTEAGLE, CATHERINE, - Second | wiſe, DoROTHY MOORE. Uncertain which was the mother of John Petre of Fidlers (below), but probably the second wife. Morant's Essex says at Cranham, Essex. Ob. I625. N.B. —The family of Petre of Cranham became ex- tinct about the year 1700. THOMAS, third son, settled = ELIZABETH, daughter and heiress of WILLIAM BAS- KERVILLE, of Wansbro', Wilts. | ROBERT. the first. Pedigree at Thorndon, 1805, says, all issue by Second mar- riage, JoFIN PETRE, of Fidlers, - First wife, ELIZABETH, - Second wife, ELIZABETH, as Third wife, FRANCES ANNE. Both died young. Essex. Born 1617, ob. daughter of THOMAS PINCHEON, Ob, 1678, WHITE, No issue. 1690. Buried at Writtle. PORDAGE of Rodmar- aet, 4O. sham, Kent, Ob. 1658, aet. 38. JoHN PETRE, of Fidlers. Born = MARY, daughter of Sir WILLIAM, a sea CHARLES. MATTHEW. JoHN, THOMAS, Buried at LAURENCE. Nonjuror BENJAMIN, Bishop of Three daughters. 1640. On death of his wife, FRANCIS MANNOCK, captain. Nothing known of these three sons. Writtle, 1731. in Warwick, 1715, Prusa, Vicar-Apos- (ELIZABETH, a 1689, entered Soc. as a Lay- Bart. Born 1644 ; tolic Londom district. mun at English brother. Ob. at St. Omers Ob. 1689. Ob. 1758. Augustinian- College, 4 February 1697. esses, Paris). | tº s º * * | | JoHN. JoSEPH. = First wife, CATHERINE, = Second wife, DoROTHY, JOHN, alias MANNOCK, ROBERT, allas MANNOCK, ANNA MARIA, a MARY, a nun Two sons. T)aughter. infant, Ob. 1721. daughter of Sir WIL- daughter of GEORGE S.J. Born 1661, En- S.J. Born 1666. Entered nun at Paris, at Pointoise, Of these nothing certain LIAM ANDREWS of THROCKMORTON. Ob. tered Soc. 168o. Prof. Soc. 1686 at Watten, English Augus- O.S.B., Ob. known. The sons may be Denton. Ob. 1700. I714, sine prole. of four vows 1698. Ob. Prof. of four vows 2 Feb- tianesses. Ob. I733. Father THOMAS PETRE and 9 Aug. 1738, aet, 77. ruary, I7O4. Ob. at I 731. - Father RICHARD PETRE Ghent 17 July, 1726. (see pp. 585, 586), . * g | e JOHN PETRE. Ob. = ANNE, daughter of Sir WILLIAM. Ob. inſant, EDWARD, Ob, infant. FRANCIS, Bishop of Armorica, JOSEPH. Ob. 1729. = MARY, daughter of I 721, 2t, 3.I. ROBERT THROCK- Vicar - Apostolic Northern No issue to survive THOMAS HICHEN, MORTON, Bart. District. Ob. 1775, aet. 84. infancy. of London, Gent. Buried at Stydd Church, Ob. I 725, aet. 30. Ribchester, JOHN JOSEPH. Ob. I 72 I, unmarried. brother's death. The last of her family. MARY, only daughter, = FRANCIS CANNING, and heiress on her Esq., of Foxcote. Sir FRANCIS, JUSTINA, Abbess of of London. Sir FRANCIS. proved Ingatestone. Ob. 1658. Will Supposed to Hall, Suffolk. have been made baronet by Charles II. in exile. Sir ANTHONY. Ob. 1660. |Buried at | Sir EDWARD, SJ., known as Father Sir THOMAS. ELIZABETH, daughter of Sir JOHN GAGE, of Hengrave CHARLES, S.J. Professed MARY. Living Buried at Stanford Died 1787. Buried Rivers. at St. Pancras, CATHERINE. Only child and heiress. BLOUNT, of Mapledurham, Oxford. Had issue by both marriages. Married, first, Mr. WRIGHT ; second, Mr. Her son, MICHAEL BLOUNT, of Mapledurham, ob. I874. Her grandson is the present possessor. ried 1762. English Benedic- before 1699 ; pro- EDWARD PETRE, alias SPENCER. Living 1722. of the four vows 2 Feb- in 1699. Ob. before tines at Ghent. bably before 1684, Born in I.ondon, 1621. Entered ruary, 1681. Appointed I679. Succeeded Mary as Father EDWARD novitiate at Watten, 1652. Pro- Rector of the new Išmatchbull, 1696. PETRE is called fessed of the four vows 2nd Feb- College in city of Lon- Ob. 7 December, eldest surviving son ruary, 1671. Appointed Clerk of don, 25 March, 1688. 1698. in 1684, the Closet and Privy Councillor Seized at Dover in No- by James II., 1687, Nov. Rector vember, 1688, and dis- of St. Omers College, S.J., 1693. charged. Died Procura- Ob. at Watten, I5 May, 1699, aet. tor of St. Omers College. 68. Died intestate. Letters of 18 January, 1712. administration to his effects granted - at Doctors Commons to his sister Mary in November, 1699, | | | - & A. B. Son. C, D, Son. WILLIAM, third son of second = LUCY, daughter of Sir - LORD PETRE. He translated RICHARD FERMOR, Ribadeneira's Zizes of Saints. of Somerton, co. Born at Ingatestone 28 July, Oxford. Ob. 1679. 16O2. Died 15 January, 1677. Buried at Stanford Rivers. ! | | WILLIAM. Born = ANNE, daughter of John, of the Park. CATHERINE, = JoHN POWELL. I630. Ob. 1686. DANIEL CALDWELL, Living I699. Died 1678. of Cantis Hall, Horn- dom-on-hill. Ob. I688. WILLIAM. His first wife = Second wife, PENELOPE FRANCIS. was ANNE POWTRELL, WOLFE, daughter of Living who died 21 February, Joh N Wolf E, of 1696. I688, and left no surviv- Great Hazeley, co. Oxford. Married I692–3, 23 February. } | | WILLIAM. = LADY MARY TUDOR RAT- BRIDGET, Died ANN. Born OHN. Ob. PENELOPE, ROBERT, S.J. Born at Belhouse, WINEFRID. EDWARD. Fourth = SARAHI KREPE, MARY ANN. MARY. Died a THOMAS FRANCIS. CLIFFE, sister of JAMES, a nun at the I696, at infant, 1697. Died a mun 27 May, 17OO. Baptized by Died a nun son. Born at Bel- of Stanford Died a nun at nun at Liége, Born 1712. Nothing Earl of Derwentwater, Convent of Belhouse. at Liége, Father William &ollins, S.J. at Liége, house, I6 July, Rivers. Died Brussels (En- I74I. Bap- known. No surviving issue. Holy Sepul- Entered Society at Watten, 7 I 735. I705. Baptized before Octo- glish Benedic. tized by Fr. chre, Liége, September, 1719. Professed of by Father William ber, I 743. times), I 727, Edward Le- I 739. the ſour vows 2 February, 1737. Pordage, S.J. Baptized by vison, S.J. Served Eccleston and Callaly Father Ed. for some time. Died Chaplain mund Plow- at Dunkenhall (then belonging dem, alias to his kinsman, ninth Lord Gage, S.J. Petre), 27 April, 1766. | loº. Ob. I762. = FRANCES MANBY. SARAH. Ob. unmar- [To face page 585, College of the Holy Apostles. 585 affable. I shall say nothing of the review, which was very fine, and very much admired by all military people. Shall Only add that the King and Queen's affability, politeness, and attention to everything that was done for them surpasses all that you can imagine. They expressed themselves here in the strongest terms, they have talked of nothing else in London but of the obligations to us for our entertainments, of their happiness while here, and that they shall never forget Thorndon and its inhabitants. I should not have tired you with this long story had you not desired it in your last letter. The account I have given is written in haste, but I hope you will be able to form some idea of the fête, which I am happy enough to hear gave everybody satisfaction, and that it was thought to be well conducted. - ‘‘IPETRE.” A mistake is made in page 394 ante, which we wish to correct. The principal benefactor, or rather founder of this College, in 1632, was William, the second lord, and not Robert, the third, although that nobleman was also a kind friend and benefactor to it. Several members of this family, the Fidlers and Cranham (Essex) branches, became members of the English Province. The annexed pedigree, which the Editor has been enabled to prepare from information kindly furnished by the Honourable Mrs. Douglas, sister to the present Lord Petre, shows no less than five. Of the Fidlers’ branch were John Petre, Esq., grandson of William, the second Lord Petre. On the death of his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Francis Mannock, Bart., in 1689, he abandoned the world and its fickle fortunes and deceitful joys, for the solid peace and happiness of the religious life, and entered the Society as a lay-brother, and died, in 1697, at St. Omers' College. His two sons, John and Robert (under the assumed names of Mannock), followed his example, and both became Professed Fathers [see pedigree]. It is very probable that some of the following were of the same branch; but the sad loss and destruction of records we have so often to deplore in the times of persecution, prevents our tracing their histories. - Thomas Petre, born 1663, entered the Society 1679; a Professed Father, who lived for many years with the Waterton esquires of Walton Hall, and died there January 5, 1729, aged sixty-six. He was a great botanist, and appears to have had full scope in following out that interesting science in the 586 College of the A70/y Apostles. gardens of Walton Hall.” Also Father Richard Petre, who died at Ghent, September 21, 1692. Also two other Robert Petres: one was a victim in the Oates' plot persecution, and was arrested, but discharged on bail in July, 168o ; he appears also to have been again imprisoned at the breaking out of the Revolution of 1688. The second Robert was born in 17oo; entered the Society in 1719 ; became a Professed Father, and died at Dunkenhall, Lancashire, April 27, 1766; and Father William Petre, who was born 1650, entered the Society 1670, and died at Ghent 1722. The pedigree of the Cranham branch shows the celebrated Father Edward Petre, who succeeded to the baronetcy, and whose life is reserved for the history of the College of St. Ignatius (or the London District), 1678–17 Io; and his brother Charles, who was the first Rector of the College of the Society, opened in the City of London in 1686, and which, with the flourishing one at the Savoy in the Strand, was broken up on the retirement of James II. in November, 1688. On that occasion Father Charles was arrested, but soon after released, and crossed over to Belgium. A full account of these stirring events is also reserved for the same history.” * See many letters of his to the famous botanist, Richard Richardson, D.D., F.R.S., in 1723; AVicholls’ Ziterary Zllustrations, vol. i. p. 330, et seq., where is also a letter from the then Lord Petre to the same Doctor. * The Editor takes this opportunity of introducing the following paper (Zansdown M.S.S., Burghley Papers, 33 Plut. n. 16), in which frequent’ mention is made of the Petre family. The original is endorsed, “IO Aug. I581. A declarön of certain Papists, &c., writ by G. E., is by one that was servant to the old Ladye Petre.” [This G. E. was George Elliot, the base apostate and traitor, who betrayed Father Campion at Mr. and Lady Yates’ house at Lyſord, Berks. Vide Mr. Simpson's Life of Campion, p. 221 et seq. The spelling is as base as was its author, and has therefore been changed to render the document readable. This information was probably one of the first fruits of the man's apostacy or reconciliation.—EDITOR, - “Certain notes and remembrances concerning a reconciliation, by me exhibited to the Rt. Hon. my good the Earl of Leicester. “The names of all such Popish priests as I have been acquainted withal, and at this time can call to remembrance : Blackburn. Smith. - Physter. Sheppard als. Chapman. Jackson. Blackwell. Lee als. Cooper. Hudson. Scott. Todd. Pytts, and one other Chester als. Barlow. Hayter. with him, name for- Norris, and one other Sutton (three brothers). gotten. with him, name for- Glaslyer. Shert. gotten. Wade or Ward. Newman als. Meredith. Thompson. Cook. Clitherow. Thirkill. Payne. - Gray. In all thirty. College of the Holy Apostles. 587 V. LOZELL, SUFFOLK, the residence of Henry Drury, Esq., was a noted refuge and harbour of priests in the cruel days of “The names of all such Papists as carry the countenance of gentlemen or gentlewomen, which I know of my own knowledge, as also such as have been made known unto me by report of Papists. “Yorkshire.-The old Lady Wharton who hath in her house a priest that is steward of her house. . Jº “A)erbyshire. —Sir Thos. Fitzherbert; Sir Thos. Gerard; Mr. Longford; Mr. Rolleston; Mr. Powtrill of Westhallam ; Mr. Shirley; Mr. Bentley; the old Lady Foljambes; Mr. Whittall; Mr. John Fitzherbert. “Mondon.—The old Lady Pembroke; the Earl of Southampton ; Lord Montague ; Lord Compton; Lady Goodwin ; Lady Paulett, she hath a priest, is steward of her house ; Sir Geo. Peckham ; Mr. Talbot ; Mr. Francis Browne ; Mr. Wm. Browne ; Mr. Edw. Peckham ; Thos. Gerard; Mr. Philip Bassett; Mr. Chas. Bassett; Mr. Wm. Rogers; Mr. Loveday; Mr. Cocks; Mr. Littleton, who I take it has an office in the Court; Mr. Smith, Dr. of physic; Mrs. Treville, wiſe to Mr. Lodowick Treville ; the wives of Sir R. Baker's two sons; the wiſe of Sir John Goodwin’s son and heir. - “Staffordshire.—Mr. Rich. Fitzherbert ; Mr. Dracot of Painsley; John Trevan, a man of good countenance but no gentleman. “Aerks. –Mr. Yates. ‘‘ Oxfordshire.—Mr. Moore. “A end.-Mr. Tho. Roper; Mr. Geo. Gouldwell; Mr. Fingean, he hath a son, &c. “Assex. —The old Lady Petre; the young Lady Petre; Mr. Milford, Mrs. Pascall, widow ; Mr. Pascall, her son and heir ; Mrs. Napper ; Mrs. George.” ‘‘Sir John Petre is supposed among the Papists to bear good will that way, and three causes which I now remember move me to think it rather to be true. I. For that his wife is known to be an earnest Papist, and so by him suffered. 2. For that he keepeth in his house a schoolman called Watham, who hath spent a great time beyond seas, and we all know to be a Papist ; for I have been divers times at Mass with him at the old Lady Petre's. This Watham teaches Sir John his son and heir, and learneth him amongst other things such prayers as Papists use. And third and last of all, I being the old Lady Petre's servant, the last summer it happened I went on business to Sir John Petre's house in Sussex, Sir John and his wife being then at home, at which time I found there the aforesaid priest, Hudson, and another priest with him whose name I have forgotten. They were then newly come from beyond the seas. This Hudson was some time steward in the house of Sir Wm. Petre, and then departing Sir Wm. his service, about nine or ten years ago, went beyond the seas, leaving then Sir John within the compass of the Papists' Church, and now at his arrival though belike to have found him as he left him, took upon him boldly to tell him of an array that was either prepared or preparing by the King of Spain and the Pope, and that it was bent towards the realm, and that there were certain prayers set out beyond the seas, and delivered to the Papists, there to be used and said among other prayers for the good success of the said array. Sir John thought the said Hudson (so I hear say) to be unwise for declaring any such 588 College of the Holy Apostles. Elizabeth. This place gave, in the person of Mr. Henry matters to him, and told his wife of him, and willed her to be beware of him. Whereupon she told two of her men that be Papists, and wished that her mother, the old Lady Petre, had warning of him, lest perchance he might be suffered to say Mass there; and so the two men told me of it in manner aforesaid, and wished me to make haste home to give warning to them for that they said they would go thither. And so I went in haste and ſound the said priests there before me, and told my lady what I had heard of them. And so she being then something timorous gave them but cold entertainment, so that they tarried there but One night. * Payne to be examined. “The said priest Payne went about once to persuade [Burleigh's hand.] me to kill (Jesus preserve her) the Queen's Majesty, and said there were divers matters from the Pope published against her, that it was lawful to kill her Highness without any offence to Godward. And said unto me that he had talked beyond the seas with the Earl of Westmoreland, Dr. Allen, and divers other Englishmen touching that matter, who left him to understand that the Pope would yield as much allowance of money as would fully ſurmish fifty men, to every man a good horse, an army Sword, a privy coat, and a pocket dagger. These men should be had in readiness against some convenient time that her Majesty went in progress, not all in a livery, but in Sundry sorts of apparel. And for that it was supposed your honour, my Lord Treasurer, and also Secretary Walsingham were like to be there, and that you were all thought to be enemies to the Papists, it was appointed that four or five should set upon her Majesty's royal person, and so upon the sudden to destroy her Highness ; three upon your honour, three upon my Lord Treasurer, and three upon Mr. Secretary Walsingham as aforesaid. The rest of the Said company of fifty to be ready when the deed were done to come to and fro with their horses amongst the people to dash them out of counten- ance that they should not know what part to take. A nobleman. “And that withal there should be a 770&leman [Burleigh's writing.] (whom to me he would not name) ready well appointed near the Tower, presently upon the deed done, to enter therein and keep the same, and that forthwith the Queen of Scots to be there proclaimed Queen of England. And further, he said, he doubted not but that the Mr.Talbo, Rob. Elliott, aforesaid Mr. Talbot would be aiding therein. And fran. Eiðt, Robºiam’, that one Robert Elliott, servant to the aforesaid Lady istie, Ph. Lowes. Paulett, Robert Tamistie, then servant to the said [Burleigh's writing.] & tº “º e Sir John Petre, and one Philip Lowes, then servant to the old Lady Petre should be of the number of the fiſty aforesaid. And this is all that yet I can call to recollection.” “Certain further notes by me remembered concerning my aſoresaid reconciliation. “About this time twelve months I served the aforesaid old Lady Petre, and having some doing for her as touching her lands, I received also for Sir John Petre, certain rents, who had then as I took it a very good opinion of me in respect of dealing, which I dealt in under his mother and him. The said Sir John had many times before persuaded me to go to your church for ſashion sake, and in respect to avoid the danger of the law, yet to keep my own conscience. And then at the same time he persuaded College of the Holy Apostles. 589 Drury, a member to the Society, in the degree of lay-brother. me to do the like, saying I might lawfully do it. And further saith he, Do you think there are not that go to the church that bear as good a mind to Godwards as those that refuse, yes, and if occasion serve, will be able to do better service than they which refuse to go to the church. Yet woul I not for anything wish you to participate with them either in their prayers or Communion. And I verily think that Sir John, although he goeth to the church, doth not receive the Communion. - “Robert Tamistie, whom I before in other notes named, being then Sir John Petre's man, told me that Sir John was very timorous in respect of the laws, but Mr. Talbot hath said unto me (saith the said Tamistie) that if he were, as the said Sir John, he would not willingly part with any such as the said Tamistie is, for, saith the said Mr. Talbot, the time will come he will need such fellows. And if you do by any means go from him, I will give you the best entertainment I can. “Mr. Lodowick Gryvell was imprisoned about Easter was two years, concerning a fray between, as I take it, Sir John Conway and him. The said Mr. Gryvell, upon the release of his imprisonment, came to the old Lady Petre’s, his mother-in-law, and shortly after I heard the said old Lady, as many times before she had done, say that your honour was a great enemy to the said Mr. Gryvell, both touching that matter and other causes before. But yet, saith the said Lady, let my Lord of Leicester take heed, for a time will come that a revengement may be by my said son-in-law used. “Priest Shepherd alias Chapman, whom I before in my other remem- brance named, told me that if the Queen's Majesty by any means were taken away, that the Queen of Scots should be Queen of England, and that Mr. Rolleston was sure to be one of her Privy Council, for that said priest thinketh as well of the said Rolleston as of any one in England. “I verily think Mr. Francis Browne or Mr. Chas. Bassett can tell of the Jesuits where they are, for that indeed Mr. Browne and Mr. Bassett were (by the report of one Humphrey Heyton, late steward to Mr. Thos. Rooper) not long ago very often in company with the said Jesuits, and so was the said Heyton in like manner; this Heyton is now beyond the seas, unless very lately he be returned, and it is not long ago since he sent letters over to the said Mr. Bassett. They were conveyed first to one George Stoneide, a vintner's man at the White Bell in New Fish Street, and so by him delivered over to the parties, according to certain instructions to him from the said Heyton sent. “Priest Thompson, whom I before mamed, brought two books (set out by Campion and Parsons) to his master, Mr. Thos. Rooper, his house at Orpington in Kent, and did leave both or one of them to one Mr. Tyles Virar, of the said town. . “There are two bookbinders in Powell’s Churchyard, called Cawood and Holder, whom I verily think were of the council for the printing and binding of the said Jesuits’ books, for I am sure they sell Papistical books forbidden to be sold. And this is all yet I can remember. * ‘‘ G. E.” “Oxfordshire.—John Payne said Mass at Mr. William Moore his house at Haddon, upon Sunday, being the 2nd of July, Anno. Regae. 23. At which Mass were the said William Moore and his wife ; one 590 College of the Holy Apostles. We give the following short notice of him, taken from the State Papers of the Public Record Office.” “I have been most at Mr. Henry Drury's, of Losell, Suffolk, whose wife, during his imprisonment was content, so long as I "would stay there, to give me meat, drink, and lodging, and that when at any time he did come home did never bid me depart, but rather friendly did use me, because I did for three years before teach his two sons, and had otherwise served him as faithfully as I could. And because I felt myself at my first coming unable to travel continually, partly by weakness of body, partly for want of skill, audacity, and behaviour, determined with myself, if I could, to stay in some one place, though I take pains to teach children.” Henry Drury, one of the above-named two sons, appears to have become a lay-brother, and to have died in the novitiate about the year 1594. His father and elder brother having died, he came into the property. Father Morris, upon the authority of Watson's Decacordon, says that it is almost certain this Henry Drury was Father John Gerard's second host. Father Gerard arrived in England in 1588. The following State Paper mentions him.” It is a list, by a Government informer, of priests and Jesuits and their entertainers : i “AWaynes of /–ás, etc. “A”/aces of resort. “Suffolk. Hance, alias Draiton, brother to Hance that suf- fered.” “Henry Drury, of Losell.” His death is also mentioned in one of Father Henry Walpole's confessions in the Tower.” Speaking of persons he knew abroad he says: “Also one Mr. Henry Drury, who died lately at Antwerp, had some sums of money, of his own Mrs. Tempas; one other gentlewoman, daughter of the said William ; Edward Moore and Mary Moore, brother and sister to William Moore ; two serving men-servants to the said William, and myself. Godsaffe said Mass there on Tuesday, the fourth of the said month, at which Mass were all the persons aſoresaid, the said William Moore excepted. - ‘‘ G. E.” * Confession of a priest, Dom. Æliz., vol. 175, n. 75; date about 1584. No name given. • * I 586. Zom. Æliz. vol. cxciii. n. 13. * Dom. Æliz, vol. ccxlix, n. 44, 1594. College of the Holy Apostles. 59 I or others, which were to be made over when I came from Brussels.” - Father Gerard went to live with Henry Drury about Sep- tember, 1589. Father Morris" thus records Father Gerard's first acquaintance, and subsequent residence with, Mr. Henry Drury, but Father Gerard purposely omits the name. “After some six or seven months I received a visit from a Catholic gentleman of another county, a relative of one of my spiritual children, who was very desirous to make acquaint- ance with a Jesuit. He was a devout young man, and heir to a pretty considerable estate, one half of which came into his possession by his brother's death, the other portion being held for life by his mother, who was a good Catholic widow lady. Her son lived with her, and kept a Priest in the house. He had then sold a portion of his estate, and devoted the proceeds to pious uses, for he was fervent and full of charity. After the lapse of a few days, as I saw his aspiration to a higher life and his desires of perfection wax stronger, I told him that there were certain spiritual exercises by means of which a well-disposed person could discover a short road to perfection, and be best prepared to make choice of a state of life. He most earnestly begged to be allowed to make them. I acceded to his request, and he made great spiritual profit thereby, not only in that he made the best choice, which was that he would enter the Society of Jesus as soon as possible, but also because he made the best and most proper arrangements to carry his purpose into execution, and to preserve meanwhile his present fervour. After his retreat he expressed the greatest wish that I should come and live with him, and I had no rest until I promised to submit the matter to my Superior. For my own part, I could not but reflect that my present public mode of life, though in the beginning it had its advantages, could not be long continued, because the more people I knew and the more I was known to, the less became my safety and the greater my distractions. Hence it was not without acknowledging God’s special providence that I heard him make me this invitation. So after having Consulted with my Superior, and obtained his permission to accept the offer, I bade adieu to my old friends, and stationed a priest where they might conveniently have recourse to his ministry. * Condition of Catholics, “Life of Father Gerard,” p. xxix. 592 College of the Holy Apostles. “In my new abode I was able to live much more quietly and more to my taste, inasmuch as nearly all the members of the house were Catholics, and thus it was easier for me to conform to the manner of life of the Society, both as regards dress and the arrangement of my time. . . . Whilst in this residence (and I was there all but two years), I gave much time to my studies. At times I made missionary excursions, and not only did I reconcile many, but I confirmed some Catholic families in the Faith, and placed two priests in stations where they might be useful to souls.” VI. NoFWICH* was a very ancient mission of the Society. We have already named Fathers Sankey and Mumford, two of its early missioners. Father John Gerard, also, who first landed in the county, and often visited it, may have resided here, though in close concealment. In the intended history of the Province in the times of Oates' Plot and the Revolution of 1688, we shall have to return to this city. The following extract from the State Papers 19 is a curious specimen of the reformed Church in Norwich at that time. “Edward Gaston to Mr. Haddon, Master of Requests. “Since your departure from Norwich the preachers of the city have taken in hand (both for their better exercise and also for the education of the people), prophesying, which is done once in three weeks, when one first interprets a piece of the Scriptures, which at present is Paul to the Romans, for an hour, and then two others reply for half an hour, when we end with prayer. “My Lord Bishop, at his last giving orders, admitted none that had no knowledge of the Latin tongue or that exercised any secular occupancy, by means whereof John Cayme was not admitted, for he lacked the Latin and was a butcher.” VII. WISBEACH CASTLE, which may with truth be called the tomb of Catholics in the reign of Elizabeth, was also included in this district, though it had probably ceased to * Wordo-Vices, or the Wor/ern Viſ/. The capital of the Kings of East Anglia. In the time of St. Edward the Confessor it was so considerable a place as to contain twenty-five churches within its limits. In Catholic days it was full of religious houses and churches. A reference to Dugdale's Monastico” will amply repay the reader's trouble. * P.R.O., Zom. Æſic. vol. xii. n. 27. 1564. College of the Holy Apostles. 593 be used, as a place of incarceration long before the formation of this College. The name of this celebrated Castle is said to be derived from Wise, the ancient name of the river Ouse, and Bec, a Saxon word signifying a place near the confluence of two rivers. William the Conqueror here built a castle, which was destroyed by a flood. Another was built on the same site by Bishop Morton, and became the episcopal palace of the Bishops of Ely. In the reign of Elizabeth it was used as a place of confinement for State prisoners, and in the time of the Commonwealth was bought by Thurloe, Cromwell’s secretary. Some short description of this Castle and dungeon is given in the first volume of this series, in the Life of Thomas Pounde, S.J.,” quoting from Bartoli.” Mr. Pounde was en- tombed there with Father Weston, and many others, for ten years. It is called “a famous Castle,” and is truly so, for the horror of its dungeons, and the blessed company of So many priests and most noble confessors of the Faith sent thither to rot in the foul atmosphere of that fetid and marshy place. It is situate in the Isle of Ely, an island at that time formed by the waters of various rivers that washed the extremity of the county of Cambridge from the north, between Lincoln and Norfolk. The ground is there so low that, until drained as now, it had no sufficient outlet for the water of the many streams running into it, which thus for a large extent within became stagnant and brackish. A Creek of the Sea which runs up inland added to this ill character of the spot. The Castle was half in ruins, a most antique place, and for a long time abandoned and forgotten, till that it occurred to the recollection of the Ministers of Elizabeth to prepare it as a fitting place to despatch their victims by a lingering death in its pestilential atmosphere, and so save themselves the Odium entailed by the crying injustice of so many public executions.” Amongst other sufferers in that terrible prison was the 20 P. 67. - * Bartoli, Zºghilterra, lib. i. c. xv. p. I23. * Father Tanner (Vita & Mors /esuit. p. 21, Life of Father Thomas Mettam), says of this place : “It is fifty miles from London ; formerly a castle of the Bishops of Ely, now rather a ruin than retaining the semblance of a building ; surrounded with cracked walls on every side ; roofless, because the avarice of heretical bishops has removed the lead and copper sheeting ; without ceilings, the joists and rafters having been torn down. A place destined by Elizabeth ſor a common Sepulchre of Catholics and priests, who were kept in close confinement and excluded from all inter- course with those dear to them.” MM t 594 College of the Holy Apostles. eminent Father William Weston, alias Edmunds, whose life, by Father Morris, S.J., has just issued from the press.” He entered the Society in 1575 at Rome, and was sent to the English Mission in 1584. Sailing from Dieppe, he landed on the coast of Norfolk in September of that year, accompanied by Brother Ralph Emerson, S.J., and a gentleman named Hubert. He was appointed successor to Father Jasper Heywood, as Superior of the Jesuits in England, that Father having been committed a prisoner to the Tower. Great were the fruits of his zeal, seconded by a holy life and engaging manner. Philip, Earl of Arundel, was one of his converts. Father Weston was a prisoner for the Faith for seventeen years, partly in the Clink prison and the Tower, London, partly at Wisbeach Castle. While in the Clink he was in daily expectation of being sum- moned forth to Tyburn. On the accession of James I. he was discharged from prison, having nearly lost his sight through the rigour of his confinement. He left London for Rome the I3th of May, 1603. - After some stay there he became Rector of St. Alban’s College, Valladolid, where he died in the odour of sanctity, 9th of April, 1615, aged sixty-five. His skull was brought to Stonyhurst College, I 5th March, 1843, and is now preserved at the English Novitiate. Wood,” in a short notice, says that he was born at Maidstone, Kent, and was contemporary with Edmund Campion the Jesuit, in the University of Oxford, which place he left and went beyond seas and entered the Society of Jesus, I571, aged twenty-five, and that he died, leaving behind him a precious name amongst the brethren of his order. We abstain from further notice of this good Father, and refer our readers to Father Morris’ volume. Thomas Pounde, S./., the great confessor of the Faith, was also for Some years a prisoner in this castle. The reader is referred to the life of that veteran soldier of Christ, in Series I. Historic Facts, lives of Pounde, Gilbert, and Father Darbyshire. The Editor avails himself of the present opportunity of Supplying two Omissions in the life of Thomas Pounde. The first is the confessor's own most interesting nar- rative of his cruel sufferings, which may be seen in the P.R.O. London, ZX27mestic, James Z. Vol. XXi. In. 48. It is endorsed— “A malicious discourse of the sufferings of a recusant.” * Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, Series II. * Wood, Athen, Oxon. vol. i. p. 591. Edit. 1721. College of the Holy Apostles. 595 “My God, my God, the eternal God of the Catholics, only to Thy Almighty Majesty (to whom the greatest earthly monarchs are but dust) I make my complaint to judge and discern my cause, and to witness between Thy enemies and me what their justice hath been towards me, and what my weapons or offences against them, almost these forty years. Thy admirable mercy it was which delivered my soul out of the very jaws of hell mouth about the thirtieth year of my age, perchance for the comfort and consolation of any sinner, never so great, never to despair. The favours of Court and of all this sinful world I found to be but very mermaid’s allurements to perdition. My age is now sixty-eight years complete, this 29th of May, 1606 [a mistake for 1609]. The same year born into this world that Father Edmund Campion was . . . and to suffering some like disgraces, sweet Jesu, for Thy holy Name's sake as he did. Half these sixty-eight years Thou hast accepted me to be for Thy Catholic cause in prison, and three times there for to be put in irons. My first imprisonment was in the town of Ludlow, and the shortest of all other, but for one fore- noon’s space; but much the sweeter for my fellow and partner in that imprisonment, Father Thomas Stevens, these thirty-nine years since a famous preacher of the Society at Goa, where their colony of St. Paul's is, at the East Indies, of whose great favours there showed to many of our English Protestants there sometimes arriving, they have in the history of their Inavigation given good testimony. He and I going on foot, first to see the ground in Herefordshire which moved, and beyond that to Ludlow to try our legs in footmanship, because we walked out, while we rested our blistered feet for a few days in Ludlow, to see the high cliff called Olee Hill, we were suspected forsooth for spies come to view the country.” * This prodigy of nature made a great stir at the time, and no doubt drew many others to see it besidies Thomas Pounde and his faithful com- banion, Thomas Stevens. Spede thus quaintly mentions it under the head of Herefordshire. “Things of rare note in this shire are said to be Åone Well, a spring not ſar from Richards Castle, wherein are continually found little fishes' bones, but not a finne seen; and being wholly cleansed thereof, will notwith- standing have againe the like, whether naturally produced, or in veynes thither brought, no man knowith. “But more admirable was the worke of the Omnipotent, even in our own remembrances, and yeare of Christ Jesus 1571, when the marshy hill in the east of this shire, rouzed itselfe out of a dead sleep, with a roaring noise removed from the place where it stood, and ſor three days together travelled MM 2 596 College of the Holy Apostles. My second imprisonment was in the Marshalsea, for certain months, by Mr. Sands committing me only for visiting and comforting the best that I could of a merchantman of London, one Whitelock, in Mark Lane, which was possessed.” My third removing from thence was upon bonds, down into Hampshire, to my own mother's house, but not suffered there a year in quiet. My fourth removing from her and Committing was by Horne, into the gaol of Winchester for a few months. My fifth removing was from thence, and from all other Catholic gentlemen of my own country, up by myself to the Marshalsea, and there kept five years. My sixth removing from thence was by Mr. Elmer, for a year to Starford Castle, in greater desolation, by myself alone, in revenge partly of my Six A'easons, and partly of my petition, which I put up at the same time in the name of all the Catholics, for public disputa- tion upon even conditions to be granted for Open trial of our cause. My seventh removing from thence was up to the Tower of London, when Father Campion was apprehended by Judas Elliot (for which good service his red coat was given him), and there kept four years. My eighth removing from thence was by the Queen and the Council, once more to my mother's house, first in Hampshire for half a year, and after- wards to the brick house at Newington, until the beginning of the tragedy of the King's good mother's death. My ninth removing again from Newington was for a year into the White Lion at Southwark, where, out of my window, I saw the bonfires and banquets in the streets for our King's mother's death; a justice there saying to me in derision, at sight of her from her first site, to the great amazement and ſear of the beholders. It began to journey vpon the seventh day of February, being Saturday, at sixe of the clocke at night, and by seaven in the next morning had gone ſortie paces, carrying with it sheepe in their coates, hedgerowes and trees; whereof some were overturned, and some that stood upon the plaine are firmly growing upon the hill; those that were east were turned west; and those in the west were set in the east ; in which remove it overthrew Aïtylaston Chappell, and turned two highwayes neere a hundred yards from their usual paths formerly trod. The ground thus travelling was about twentie-six acres, which opening itself with rockes and all, bare the earth before it for ſoure hundred yards space without any stay, leaving that which was pasturage in place of the tillage, and the tillage overspread with pasturage. Lastly, overwhelming her lower parts, mounted to an hill of twelve fathoms high, and there rested herself, after three dayes travell; remaining his marke, that so laid hand upon this rocke, whose power hath poysed the hills in his ballance.” - * This is the case referred to in the liſe of Pounde, p. 33. College of the Holy Apostles. 597 picture in my chamber, that he was sorry, for the loss to all Papists of so great a friend. My tenth removing from thence was to Wisbeach Castle, in the Isle of Ely, and there kept ten years. My eleventh removing from thence—and three more with me, viz., Father Edmonds, Mr. Southworth, and Mr. Archer, priests—the first into the Counter in Wood Street, for six weeks; from thence into the Tower again, for my second durance there, for three years more close imprisonment, and that my twelfth removing: my thirteenth removing from thence was with Mr. Alabaster and Mr. Archer to Fremingham Castle, and there kept three years. My enlargement from thence was by the pardon of course at his Majesty's coming to the crown ; and afterwards my committing by the King himself to the Gatehouse for my fourteenth durance; and from thence to the Tower for four months, my fifteenth durance. From thence to Fleet, at twice, for three months, my sixteenth durance. Of so many committings and manifold afflictions so many years for my zeal of the holy truth and honour of Thy house, sweet Jesu, send me some special comfort in Thee at my last hour . against all the enemies of my soul, for Thy accepting of me so oft and so long to some partaking with Thee in Thy sufferings. Some defamation besides Thou knowest that I have endured, and besides all privy Crosses; moreover, of worldly substance no small losses by most intolerable oppressions, even to distressing of some orphans and innocents, whose dependence, under Thee, is wholly of me, to our great distressing, I say many times, but most of all at this present, for repayment of that which of creditors we have borrowed for our poor main- taining, while this ravening State hath robbed us these many years of two parts of our poor revenues, taking away the children’s bread, and giving it, Thou seest to whom. Thus groaning, we lie under as grievous afflictions as ever did the Israelites under the Egyptians. Vice is advanced and virtue punished; falsehood is impudently maintained, and truth obstinately resisted, yea, as their fleeing from any open trial of their cause manifestly betrayeth most certainly against the contradictors' own conscience. The godly under persecution are still in misery, the ungodly they flourish still in prosperity. This makes the atheist to think in his heart there is no God ; and from the grievous scandal lately given by a few, in whom Abner his words to Saul were verified, that it is a perilous thing to put men in desperation, and whether any other were in it, God knoweth, the most innocent of Catholics do Stink 598 College of the Holy Apostles. now in his Majesty's nose, his heart being much hardened against them, whom his royal mother at her last hour so well wished to, specially commending them for her sake to his favour, whensoever he should come to reign, as now he doth in her right over them. Were we not recomforted by daily meditating how far greater indignities Thy own majesty, sweet Jesu, suffered for us, it were able to shake our confidence in Thee. But Thy own blessed Mother's heart was pierced with many sharper Swords of sorrow, and Thy great Apostle St. Paul was five times whipped with whips, and three times with rods, besides public stoning once for a blasphemer. Therefore, what are all the despisings and disgracings in this world now to such moths and worms as we are in comparison of Thyself and Thy greatest saints. Neither can all these heavy crosses inflicted by him upon us, which promised more Christianity to protect us, make us to cease our prayer for him . and his prosperity. “Maledicinur,’ said the Apostle, “et bene- dicinus, blasphemamur et obsecramus, persecutionem patimur et Sustinemus ; tanquam purgamenta hujus mundi, facti Sumus Omnium peripsema.” They which curse us, we bless them ; they which blaspheme us, we pray to God for them; of them which persecute us we take compassion. We are become as the outcasts of this world, contemptible as the pavings of pavements under men's feet. What remaineth for them which any means have to flee out of this Egypt into any Catholic country more flowing for them with the spiritual milk and honey, but all speedy despatch thereto P “Exi de terrá et de Cognatione tuă,’ said God to Abraham, “et veni in terram, quam monstravero tibi.” If God's sweet providence in all extremities have wonderfully provided for us here in this land of such desolation, where every man in his own country is of least estimation, His blessing and comfort may be more with us in foreign peregrination for His more honour undertaken ; He loving the pilgrim as ever He did, suffering him to want. neither food nor clothing ; and oh, how piercing are His Callings thereto, how Sweet also His promises, therein to. provoke us! “If any one come to Me,” saith our Saviour, ‘and hateth not father and mother, wife and children, lands or livings, yea, and his own life, he cannot be My disciple.’ Again, ‘Whosoever shall forsake father and mother, wife and children, house and land, for following of Me, shall receive a hundred-fold in this world, and in the world to come life. everlasting.” Yea, moreover, as He assured St. Peter, when He- College of the Holy Apostles. 599 asked Him what their reward should be which had forsaken all that they had and followed Him, ‘Verily,” said He, “when the Son of Man at the dreadful day of judgment shall come in His glory to judge men of the world, you shall be so secure from damnation, that ye also shall sit with Him upon the judgment- seat, as judges with Him upon the world.’ Is it so, my good King? Is it so, my good lords, ye which here devour unstable souls like bread as it were into excrements, which neither will come yourselves into the only ark of safety, nor suffer any others, if you can keep them back from it? Do ye believe the Scriptures or no? or can ye forget that ye are but mortal men, to give account of all your doings, and the more mighty ye be, if ye abuse your authorities, to suffer most mighty torments. Oh, what will your judgment be for so long resisting against the Holy Ghost, from so long sinning, not only yourselves, but making so many millions of souls to sin with ye My heirs be of age to enjoy the gift which I have given them, of āll that I have, to be as loyal subjects to the crown in all temporal things, as who is most, their obedience to God and His spiritual Vicar, in all spiritual causes concerning their soul's everlasting safety, first reserved. My dear country, God con- vert thee out of this pitiful captivity of schism and heresy. My sovereign liege lord, with so fair issue blessed of God, how gladly would I give my life for your conversion, that ye might reign for ever, both in earth and heaven I envy not your Majesty's greatness; I hope you will not malign at my fleeing and abjecting of myself rather to be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, to which, in my heart I have these many years been dedicated, than to be, if I might, among the highest in your Majesty's favour.” The second omission is the following letter in the P.R.O. State Papers, Dom. Æliz. I 586, September 1, from four justices of the peace of Surrey, to Secretary Walsingham, on their reapprehending Thomas Pounde, who had been bailed out of the Tower by his mother under bond not to leave England : “Upon the late bruit of arriving of foreign forces, watches being provided, and order taken for stay of seditious bruits and for searches of suspected places—upon search, One Mr. Poundes, of the Co. of South was found, that heretofore hath had (as he saith) twelve years' imprisonment for religion (as he *7 State Paper Office, Dom. James I. vol. xxi. n. 48. 6OO College of the Holy Apostles. a pretendeth, but he is either impaired in mind or otherwise); giveth very rash and unadvised speeches, affirming that the cause of foreign forces was by reason of robberies and piracies, and not by the Catholic means; and that he meant to have made bonfires: and being demanded why he would so have done, he affirmed that it was to declare his innocency; and when these speeches were misliked, and it was said to him he was to go with the officer for his forthcoming, he said that then he was sure he should remain during the Queen's life. The same speeches being also suspected as proceeding either of guilty conscience or else of some hope of her Majesty's peril, we have also sent your honour a letter found with him, and as it seemeth written to him. And in consideration hereof, as for that also he confessed himself to be the man named in certain papers of notes of such as were suspected, we have committed him to prison ; he allegeth that by the lords of the Privy Council he was committed to the keeping of his mother. We will proceed further with him as we shall be directed by your honour, or otherwise leave him to your honourable wisdom. “EDWARD FENNER, EDWARD BELLINGHAM, “EDWARD SAWYER, WILLIAM GARDYNER. “Southwark, 1st Sept.” A very interesting biographical sketch of Thomas Pounde in the Rambler, vol. ii. 1857 (from the pen, we believe, of Bichard Simpson, Esq.), and to which we refer our readers with pleasure, says that the following letter written to Pounde is the one referred to by the justices in their report to Walsingham : ** + Sztó cruce Zaboro. “GOOD SIR,-As I was verye glade to heare that youe were plunged oute of the ponds and pitts of infinite perills when youe were freed from the tragicall Towers, whence rather was expected your marterdome then youre enlargement; so hearing yt youe were relegatus in insula and confined to a place of perpetuall imprisonment never to be sene or harde of of youre lovinge frends dwringe the tymes of persecutyon : I asswre youe even Gladius doloris Žertransivit animam, meaſºn quod talem amicum amiserim, cujus amicitia tam jucundissima o/imi perfrui solebam. Howbeit nowe latly, havinge receyved youre goulden cordiall Counforte, and made partaker wth my aflicted frende of youre country's prouysye,” et fibi graſu/or et * i.e. prowess. College of the Holy Apostles. 6OI Żnihi gaudeo, et habetur et referefur a me (cum fºotero) tibi gratia, semper. And forasmuch as, being acquainted wih your zealous godly constancy, I have known your disposition to be delighted rather wth authentical antiquities than wºn new-fangled novel- ties, I send for your new-year's gift an oulde booke of Contem- plative Centiloquies, in won ar comprysed a swete delectable himme made of the Cros wh a dolefull songe of the mitingall toutchinge Christ's passion, wch youe will putt pen to paper to give it a new Inglish liverye. Ufere, fruere, lege, relege, perlege, contemplando meditare, et meditando contemplare, et (quam graft/lice £oteris) in nostram /deoſnam [sic] traducito, sic semper /lonos momengue futum sine fine manebunt. Thus being merye wºn my sorrowes when I wryte unto youe, besechinge oure Lorde to bles youe with all benedictyons temperall and eternall, I ende. Vive, vaſe ; sufferes Zongos AWestoris annos. “Tuus pro arkitratu [sic] fuo, “STEPHANUS CAPTIVUS.” “This Stephanus Captivus is probably Stephen Rousham, the martyr of Gloucester, who had been long Pounde's fellow- captive in the Tower, having been brought there May 19, 1582 ; kept in the hole called Little-ease for eighteen months and thirteen days, and then removed February 12, 1584, to the Marshalsea. He was banished in the following year. The ‘Golden Cordial Comfort’ was probably a poem of the suffer- ings of Catholics, which Poundes had sent him.” We subjoin a copy of the original letter of Thomas Pounde to Father Robert Parsons, dated the 3rd of June, 1609, which is preserved in the Stonyhurst MSS. Anglia, vol. iii n. 95. Father More and the other historians of his life, give but a very meagre extract from, or rather the spirit of it. “Having received your most loving letter to me of the 3rd of January, Right Rev., with our Father Cl. [Father- General Claudius] so ſatherly commendations and remembrance to, and of one of the unworthiest of his children about three months past, and thereupon expecting here my humble governor his direction to me, until the 15th of May. At length, upon the 29th of May, upon which very day of that month I was born and christened, and my age then just seventy years full completed, I received his loving answer. To whose reverence here so near me as to your 6O2 College of the Holy Apostles. own, so far distant, I fall upon my face for very confusion of so many years' muteness to you both (my rule therein also failed towards my nearest Superiors) and my negligence towards your reverence inexcusable, whose special love and affection towards me (belike for my love and zeal of our Blessed Edmund C. [Campion]) his honour of glorious memory, could not contain itself, but in some of your good monuments [writings] wherewith God's happy afflicted flock (not only in England but elsewhere far and near are exceed- ingly comforted and confirmed) to give me such titles as the very hearing some time of them, out of such records may make me to blush, and how could I then contain my pen from rendering some kind of congratulation again to you (such a Jacob-like wrestler with God Himself for the conversion and preservation of your whole country as you are), which attributed much more to me for a little suffer- ance by God’s good favour laid upon me, than anything else in me could deserve. O Father, I am too much ashamed of it. Truly nothing else it was but a little (nay not a little) pusillanimity. The last letter that I wrote to the greatest of our Council was thus subscribed, Zof annis in statera appensus Z. P. If any strength or weight in that time were God's gift, it was (not of myself). And yet you have seen now my weakness towards such whom in our spiritual warfare the highest of our powers here are not ignorant that I most honour them of all men living. And whereof came such weakness? I will truly show you. When, after thirty years' imprisonment through ten prisons, under most hungry caterpillars and many other oppressions, and in that space 24, 4, ooo spoil suffered of my substance, by 120" for twenty years yearly paid to the Queen and her patentees (my land for all that, by God's strange preserving, a good esquire's estate) worth between the King and my two nephews with my own reservations, yearly above a thousand Crowns. “When after all this I say nine of our Council had set their hands to a licence for me to pass over sea, they well enough weeting [knowing] what my privy meaning was, there to have rendered up myself at the Society's feet (what they laid in wait for, it was suspected). But my farewell here given out in a few verses to honour my native country in the best manner that I could. When I was ready to have cut off all Cables, and to cross the seas towards you, our dear Father W.’s last words to me were out of the Apostle whose College of the Holy Apostles. 6O3 spirit was in him, AVon quarimus vestra sed vos. Behold my Superior here sent me word (under whose hold I must be fanquam baculus in manu Domini) that my good will and readiness were sufficiently seen; but nevertheless I must stay on this side until both he and I did hear further from F. G. or with his privity from you. In which meanwhile, by long expecting and re-expecting to hear from you, I still remained mute, like One ashamed of my barrenness to such a company. So many years through intolerable oppressions of so miserable a time, and therefore more desirous to prostrate myself to some of you there by visible presence than by any letters, to appear, as it were, empty before you in comparison of presenting you with myself, the tree itself with whatsoever fruit it may yield you, such as it is. Now in your desiring to hear (as due correspondence between the Superior and the inferiors every head and its members doth require) of what comfort I am in my course, and what fruit I reap thereof, your reverence doth make me to remember what our Royal King and Captain, under whose glorious banner of the cross our warfaring is, did inquire to know of His disciples, “Quem dicunt homines esse Filium hominis.” An unprofitable member I acknowledge myself. And yet, as long as I find so much Comfort in this course taken upon me, that I hope I shall say still to my last hour (as at Ipswich openly long since I did, when for news by the pursuivants to be carried back to the Council, to whom, by their spies it was not before unknown, laying my own hand upon the breast of my cloak, I protested to them that I would not change that cloak for the Queen's Crown). So long, I say, I had rather your reverence should inquire what the voice is that ab his qui forts stant, as well as from friends more con- versant, what men say of this man and his ways, but a little contrary to theirs ; of this man in the furnace so long at weyling [wailing]; and in the end where rest and cherishing should be sought, so yielding up his patrimony to his Catholic nephews given him of God from Protestant parents, to be bred up and adopted as his own children. A strange thing I may tell you, I hope without vanity, giving the glory to [the] God of all tribulations. The State hath almost wearied themselves in persecuting and pilling of me, seeing me and mine so brought down, and my sails so set to another course than outwardly I bear still the name of And yet the very Protestants, yea, and some also Puritans, seeing my contempt 6O4 College of the Holy Apostles. of that which they so scrape for, do somewhat muse at it, and are not unready to any neighbourly kindness that lieth in them to serve me. Yea, Salisbury himself (upon my plain telling him what our Gospel taught out of Christ's own mouth, that it was more blessed to give than to take, and a fortiori, much more blessed to give than to take away from Catholics, as they had taken so much from me), took so much Compassion on me for his own honour, as to give me back 20i for my relief of 2005 which for a ward that fell to me of one of my tenants he had taken from me, and given it to his secretary. - “Moreover, to keep my weapons from rusting, and me wheresoever I am waking, I have not wanted daily crosses for three years’ space, very near to my own doors. “Attamen intercessione B. Virginis, totiusque in coelis Societatis, Deo nobis protectore, Deo nobis adjutore in his omnibus superavimus. Hi sunt spiritualis militiae nostrae triumphi. Nec tamen in his justificati Sumus, Sed Cum timore et tremore usq. ad horam mortis, quae nobis est tam incerta ut salutem nostram operemur multo cautius vigilandum. & “Touching the state of my health, the constitution of my jumentum hath been strong in a mean degree, and my stomach still meetly strong for my years ; only my sight these two years is grown very dim and hardly knoweth to read a small print with any spectacles. Any rheumatisms or distillations never troubled me, yet if I should much use any waterish and extenuating meats, they would breed soon the scurvy to a prisoner, or in any like life, as once in the Tower they did to me. º “Your reverence will give me leave in secret to you to show some experiences of so long a hermit’s life. I retired myself from the life in Court to solitary life in the country, near seven years before any committing of me to any prison ; which being added to my thirty years' imprisonment, with the time since my enlargement, may resemble my life in that respect somewhat hermit-like for forty years’ space. So long have I found some experience, that next to humility of heart and meekness of spirit, fervent love of God and holy Church, with contempt of this world, there is nothing more dreadful to the devil than fasting and prayer, adding also watching to it, or else early rising (the disciplines of our holy patrons now in heaven are scarce imitable, but the third part of that in use makes him soon to flee). But to return to your College of the A/o/y Apostles. 605. hermit's forty years' experience. So long he hath practised the abstinence of one competent meal the day, taken at the common dining hour, endeavouring always to a light Supper, which, if it be not of any flesh, but rather some pittance of cheaper feeding, as every stomach shall best agree withal, not only less burthening the stomach, but the less to burthen the purse, whosesoever the charge shall be. These I dare com- mend to be as quick a taking hook for fishers of men to use now in England (where Catholics are pilled and preyed on to the bare bones, and yet neither any succour sent them, nor any zeal of God's house showed for them), as quick a taking hook, I say, for this miserable time as a right good sermon ; with which blessed bait, through so many false brothers as here now are risen, there is almost no safe fishing for them. . Only within some gentleman's house of mean estate, yea, or in meaner place, a prompt and plain preacher might do great good, to the great comfort of many devout souls. Of which talents I humbly beseech my reverend Superiors here to help me to one rather of our own Society than of any other coat, Zam froßer vicinum bonuſ/t 77/am froſter zestrum majorem /lonorem (to whom I would have the secret of our estate as open as the sun), although our doors are shut to none. For my N. [nephew) is that way, as all other way very valorous and zealous, and his constancy well tried from his infancy. If Samson were some way proud and weak, who may not have some infirmity, and yet by God to be turned to his good P For the fruit which I have found in so long abstinence (eſ quonian validiora sunt exempla quam verba), I have made a secret memorial of the hardest of it in these nine verses following, that it may plainly appear to have had no rigorousness in it in a life at such rest as mine hath here: “Sat michi prandenti tres haustus, coena Superq. Prandenti libra sit cibi, sic nomine coenae Esto librae panis pars tertia, fructus abite; Forte tamen casei similis pars tertia grata. Necme laute magis quam fratres Scimus egenos, In votis milli sit vel vivere, vel recreare. Sit Vinum infirmis; mihi sit cervisia potus, Nil mihi cum medico ; cibus medicina valenti. Et memet pascens pasco simul esurientem. “My sight now is dim and weak to write any more than of great necessity. Therefore the acknowledgment signified to my Reverend Father Weston, from his long pupil in ÖO6 College of the Holy Apostles. Wisbeach Castle and comforter, what I could in the Tower, how much I am bound to honour him in my heart (and next him to love my dear brother some time, but many happy spent years since that, ten thousand miles hence ; I mean my Father Thomas Stevens), which was my first messenger for obtaining of my admittance into the Society, will be, as I hope, not uncomfortable to them, nor yet to my loving Father Ed. Co. of our College at Fremingham [Father Edward Coffin], whose hand I knew to be the secretary of your reverence's letter, having sent to my Reverend Father General (the poor mite of an affectionate child) and to yourself, dear sir, and to Father Weston the like, as to my governor here, yea both F. W., for each of you and them, a London knife, with damask haft of the finest making, whereby to remember me, and the [same] to my Father Ed. C., your secretary, in requital of his book which he gave me at his last departure, with his name in the end of it. These I did provide of purpose for tokens to so many of your reverences, against my intended voyage over two years past, belike in bonum omen of my hearing at least from you in such manner as of late I have. “Immediately after my release out of the Fleet, I sent a great packet to Father Wh. als Ga. [Whalley als Garnet] by Richard Fulwood, with many particulars in it not only of all my last troubles, but of all the chiefest things which I had put up to the King, part whereof was my reply to Crowley within Father Campion his lifetime. I sent up from Starford Castle by Justice Snag, both to the L. of London and to the Council, to cause it to be rejoined to, for the credit of their cause; as to his Majesty, I still continued the like demand, to show that no obstinacy was in us, if we might be convinced in any error. If Father Wa. did never send any particulars of that packet Over to your sight, perchance your reverence would be willing enough (considering what accidents have since fallen Out) to see some of them yourself, or else to my Governor here to refer them. Humbly beseeching all your reve- rences to remember me to God in your holy prayers. At my house at Belmont. My verses for my farewell at this mark is above mentioned I have also inclosed, if they be worth seeing. Q “One of your most devoted children, although hitherto least beneficial “THO. P.” Co//ege of the Ho/y Apost/es. 6o7 The following verses were inclosed in the above letter, written two years before— - ** Præstantissima hujus insignis insulæ patriæ meæ dulcissimæ commoda. ** Anglia musarum mater hæc peperitq ; priori Oxonium partu. Te (Cantabrigia) secundo. Hæc tot sanctorum Regum mater atq. sepulcrum, Hic tot martyrio Sancti supra astra levati : Totq. Sacerdotum nunc Carnificina. Quid ergo? Non ausim celebrare meo tua commoda versu ? Audeo et audebo, cave tu (Lutherame) placebo. Septima pars Regni Sacris celeberrima votis, Quæq. suam repetet quondam los Sacra Mariæ Templa, seges, naves, mulier, bos, lama, metalla, IPammi, cornipedes quovis bene principe digni. Dant pluviam nubes, flores et flumina montes. Melleq : lacte fluunt campi, dant æquora pisces, Quid referam quales, quibus est genus omne natamtum? Est mare pro muro (vos non ingrata colomæ) Estque salis ferri, stanni, est et copia plumbi Et crocus in latis (merx quam ditissima) campis. Instar et ignis habet lapides cognomine seacoal, Hocq. faber sua ferra liquat ferrarius igne. Hoc silvæ umbrosæ : vivaria deniq. multa, Cervorum et damarum grex pinguedine clarus. Tectaq. nobilibus Dominis O quam speciosa? Planities, montes, fontes non igne caventes. Non lupus in silvis (taceo quod mente revolvo). Est potus quovis melior cervisia vino. IDæmonis invidia cui invemtum credo tobacco. Deliciæ O nimium multæ atq pecunia multa. In bello cives fortes, in pace fideles. IRustica gens (mirum dictu) quam militat audax, Gens munita satis sine muris, sat sibi dives, Ingenio pollens, quibus ars fere absq. labore est Musica, et (heu) saltans nimium famosa juventus. Lauta viatori, si quærat, coena, deinde Et cubitum lætus, quoniam hospes ab hospite tutus. O fortunatus mimium bona si sua movit Angligena, admonitus vanasq. relinqueret aras. Cætera mom dicam, tibi Christus sed benedicat, Tot mihi tam charos ut in te sinat ille perire. Nos patriam fugimus, Thomas cognomine Pondus ; Omne solum forti patria est, valeatis amici. Ætatis suæ 68. I6o7. Thomas Pounde, as we have seen in his letter, mentions his nephews to whom he had been a parent, and that one of them was very valorous and zealous, and his constancy well tried. He may very probably be the party named in a letter c 608 College of the Holy Apostles. of Father Anthony Rivers, S.J., dated April 28, 1602, written to Father Robert Parsons, addressed Signor Ridolfo Perino, Venice.” In speaking of one Bomer, an apostate student of Douay, who had turned Government informer, he says, “Bomer with his pursuivants, meeting with one Mr. Henry Pounde, that had been a traveller, the day after the execution [of Father Francis Page, S.J., and the Rev. Robert Watkinson at Tyburn, April 20, 1602] would have staid him as a priest and traitor; he inquired by what name they arrested him, and what warrant they had, which they refusing to show, he drew upon them in the streets, hurt the pursuivant in divers places, and defended himself most valiantly against many 'prentices that came with halberts to help the pursuivant, and had not his sword broken, he would have beaten the whole street before him. Having wounded and hurt many, and being himself wounded and disarmed, he yielded, and was carried before the chief justice, where he testified himself as no priest, and was therefore wronged by their manner of proceeding, Notwithstanding, for that he was a Papist, and had been a traveller, he was sent to Newgate. The pursuivant is like to die; the gentleman is much pitied, and highly commended for his valour by all sorts.” * We do not trace what became of Mr. Henry Pounde, but as he was acting in self-defence he was probably soon released. Father 7%omas Metſam or Metham, S./., who died a martyr for the Faith of Christ in Wisbeach prison, is the last we shall notice, and must devote a few pages to that holy priest in con- cluding this portion of the history of the College or District. of the Holy Apostles S.J.90 Deeply venerated by all English Catholics was Father Thomas Mettam. He was born in the year 1532, or there- abouts, of a good family. Dodd" says, “That he was of a considerable family in Yorkshire, a son probably of Sir Thomas and Lady Mettam presently mentioned, educated at Douay and Louvain, in One of which Universities he took degrees in divinity, and became licentiate in that faculty. He was an excellent Scholar, and in great repute with Dr. Allen, who sent * Many of Father River's letters are preserved in the Old Chapter collection, London, and some few intercepted ones are in the P.R.O., London. * See More, Hist. Prov. S./., Zanum Vita cf. Alſors /esuit: pro fide Žnterf; Bartoli, Anghil/erra ; Dodd, Church Aſſisſ., &c. * Dodd, Church Hist, vol. ii. p. 109. College of the Holy Apostles. 609 him upon the English Mission from Douay, in the year 1574. He laboured at that function with great success, and was a kind of oracle among his brethren in Wisbeach Castle.” In Father Bridgewater's Concertatio Eccl. Caff. mention is made of Sir Thomas Mettam, knight, “a just man and fearing God, who, with his lady, were for many years prisoners for the faith of Christ.” Sir Thomas had formerly lived in great friendship with the martyred Earl of Northumberland, then a captive (1572) for the faith, and had an ardent desire to see the noble confessor in his chains, that he might encourage himself by his example, the more constantly to persevere in his holy purpose. He gained his desire: he saw him, addressed him, and bade him farewell, and returning to his prison, after a few days rendered up his soul to God; ut sicut in vita sese di/exeraní úřa mec in morte separaz’enfur. A Lady Mettam is also mentioned among other ladies as confined in York prison by Lord Huntingdon, the President of the North, “a rank heretic,” in the narrative of the Babthorpes of Babthorpe, in Father Morris’ Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, Series I. - Father Mettam was a man of varied and profound erudi- tion, and for his skill in the classics, with Hebrew, history, &c., he took the Doctor's cap in Philosophy and Divinity. To this was united solid and manifold virtue, leading him to the love of God above all things, and to a due estimation of the value of Souls and a sense of his own nothingness; all which tended to increase the esteem of Catholics for him and to conciliate the implacable hostility of Protestants. Escaping from England, he duly prepared himself in the colleges abroad, and having reckoned the cost of life and blood, devoted himself to the salvation of his countrymen ; taking holy Orders, he returned speedily to England, where he arrived in September, 1574. From his very entrance into the island, chains were his welcome. His portion, indeed, was simply imprisonment for seventeen years; and in prison he died. At first he was confined during four years in the Tower of London, where the foulness and squalor of the place brought him to death's door. The cruel clemency of the Privy Council, however, so far relieved him, as to change him to another prison. He was there treated with a little less rigour, and not so closely confined, so that by the more liberal use of necessary food, having somewhat recovered his strength of body, his hopes revived of being spared to pursue the one NN 6 IO College of the Holy Apostles. great desire of his heart, which his strict confinement in the Tower had rendered impossible, of being admitted to the Society of Jesus. He therefore wrote a letter to Father Thomas Darbyshire, then living in Paris, and his most inti- mate friend, urging and entreating him by every means in his power to promote the affair for him.” This Father Darbyshire did, and the result appears by the following letter of the Very Reverend Father Mercurian, General of the Society: “I have received great consolation in our Lord from the letter of your Reverence, written to our Father Darbyshire, because of the holy and salutary desire which is expressed in it. As this desire comes, we feel assured, from the motion of the Holy Spirit, we should fear to be resisting the Giver of all gifts and graces, were we not on our part to cooperate with your Reverence's wishes, and, as far as in us lies, antici- pate your consolation. Therefore, according to the power conferred upon us by Christ, though unworthy, in this Society, we receive your Reverence into our fold, and unite you to the body of the Society in every respect, and embrace you in spirit as a true member of it, and make you a sharer in all our labours, merits, and privileges. We hope, indeed, that the Divine Goodness, Whose property it is to hear the desires of the poor, will also be pleased at some future time to grant that your Reverence, being delivered from these troubles, may be curs, not in spirit and affection only, but in person and in deed. But nevertheless, should it please His Divine Majesty to decree otherwise, we pray God at least that we may be hereafter united together in the eternal mansions of heaven. -- “But in the meanwhile, so long as the Divine Will thus disposes present events, you must nevertheless consider your- self as a member of the Society, although in bonds and wonderfully helpless in body. Rather, by how greater and harder things you suffer for Christ's sake, so much the more may you deem yourself in the sight of God, Who sees the heart, to be a disciple of Christ and a true son of the Society. It remains for me, however, to admonish your Reverence to keep your secret, and not rashly to disclose to any one the faculty we now grant you, nor at all, unless you can do so without danger, or some good end may call for it. We pray our Lord Jesus Christ to prevent your Reverence largely with * See the Life of Father Darbyshire, Historic Facts, First Series. College of the Holy Apostles. 611 His blessings, and to impart to you strength from above to correspond worthily with so great a vocation, and that neither persecution nor the Sword, nor things present nor future, may ever separate us from the charity which is in Christ Jesus, Who is blessed above all for ever. Amen. “Rome, 4th May, 1579.” Father Mettam was not long allowed to enjoy this more commodious prison; but with restoration to health he had again to bear harder things, being frequently transferred from one prison to another, always accompanied with fresh accession of sufferings; for having in some prisons succeeded in taming his rough warders by his meekness, patience, and the example of his innocent life, it often happened that, passing to a fresh gaol, he would have to experience anew, from their studied inhumanity towards priests, the ill-treatment of a strange gaoler, uninfluenced as yet by his sanctity. But it happened that the servant of God, from this selfsame variation of prisons, always painful to the body, experienced all the greater consolation of soul; presenting him, as it did, with new occasions for the exercise of his zeal among the malefactors. These were made up of every description of offenders, with whom he found his successive prisons filled. The insults, reproaches, and worst of treatment they heaped upon him, both from heretical spite and uncultured insolence, formed a great addition to his suffer- ings. Yet eventually, these men, having ever before their eyes the standing sermon of his devout life, and hearing him reason so powerfully upon every point of eternal truths, con- fessed themselves conquered, pronouncing him to be a holy man and one that had greatly profited their souls. His fre- quent discussions upon points of religion with Protestant ministers and preachers aided not a little to this ; these, according to their custom, would boldly and contemptuously present themselves to challenge him to dispute with them, but would return with their heads down, silenced and abashed. Father Weston, his fellow-prisoner, affirms these victories to have been both frequent and distinguished, and such as made the very name of Father Mettam terrible to the preachers. Father Tanner observes upon the successful prison labours of Father Mettam and other captive members of the Society, that whilst those who were at large could scarcely effect any work of note, owing to the fierceness of the persecution and the Sagacity of the pursuivants, they themselves, shut up in NN 2 6I 2 College of the Holy Apost/es. their prisons, were making a constant succession of converts. These, in turn, on regaining their liberty, would go forth as so many domestic preachers of the holy Faith they had received. It was, perhaps, on this account, and because of the great concourse of Catholics that flocked to him for direction and consolation, that the Privy Council deemed it more advisable to remove him from London, and consequently added him to the list of those who had been selected for confinement in Wisbeach Castle, as to a school of severer suffering and the exercise of greater patience. Father Bartoli says, “We have before described this place, and the miserable condition of life of the Confessors of Christ destined for it. We had, a quasi College there of three ; few, indeed, in number, but in virtue, each of them without a rival. These were Fathers Mettam, Weston, and Thomas Pounde.” - About thirty-five priests and lay-Catholics inhabited this wretched prison. These were either under sentence of death or perpetual imprisonment. Amidst such miseries, truly buried alive, some of them were kept in solitary cells, some had com- panions of their dungeons, and all so closely confined that they could never go out except at the same time to one common table. Nor then, unless with Protestant witnesses to dine with them, of whom the chief was Gray the gaoler, a brutal man, and so determinately hostile to Catholics, that he openly declared that, were it proposed to him that he would never find grace and Salvation, except amongst Catholics, he would prefer to die and be lost eternally than to be saved as a Papist. This unhappy man was taken off by a dreadful end, which was over-ruled to the great spiritual benefit of his daughter, who, immediately upon her father's lamentable death, renounced her heresy and became a Catholic. The sufferers at Wisbeach were entirely excluded from all intercourse with friends ; only Protestant ministers were admitted to treat upon affairs of religion, and the bearers of the alms of the faithful, upon which alone they depended for existence. The place was closely guarded, within and without, day and night. The hatred of the guards against the soldiers of Christ, their revilings and insults, not unfrequently accom- panied with pelting of Stones, made up their constant con- fessorship. They had, however, one consolation amidst all these sufferings, the secret celebration of the Divine Mysteries, means for which they contrived to retain in spite of the vigi- lance of the guards who would now and then break in upon College of the Holy Apostles. 6I 3 them, but were always baulked. Leave was given to those who were sixty years of age to go about the prison more freely and to visit each other's cells. They made use of this liberty, especially Fathers Mettam, Weston, and Thomas Pounde, to practise religious discipline, doing everything by the sound of a bell, such as the appointed time for morning meditation, examination of conscience, spiritual reading, study, &c. Each one also, according to his strength, added corporal mortifications to the rigour of the prison. They had at stated hours, lectures upon Holy Scripture, instructions in Greek and Hebrew, explications of questions of faith and morals, and exhortations on virtue and the perfection of their state. This course of life being reported abroad throughout England, Wisbeach Castle began to grow so noted a place in the estimation, not only of Catholics, but of Protestants also, that it came to be held rather as an academy of most learned men and a school of every virtue, than a prison of malefactors. It pleased God at length to take to Himself Father Mettam, who was then not less than sixty years of age, with scarcely any sickness or mental disease beyond the wear and tear of a seventeen years' imprisonment. On feeling the near approach of death, with his mind raised to God, he prepared for the reception of the last Sacraments, having received which, he placidly rendered up his soul to God, surrounded by a company of noble champions of the faith, his fellow-prisoners, in the month of June, I 592. His prolonged though bloodless martyrdom brought great glory to the holy cause for which he died. Nor was he less honoured by obstinate hatred with which the heretics regarded him ; in proof of which, ten years after his incarceration, when seventy priests were, by virtue of a commission from the Queen, taken from their various dungeons in England, and sent into permanent exile [1585]. Father Mettam was excluded from the benefit of this act of royal clemency. Still kept a prisoner, he was reserved for a lingering death, by a punishment all the more severe as it was more prolonged.” * Frequent mention is made of Fr. Metham in the life of Fr. William Weston—Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers. Series II. jFouttſ, 32tízg, PART II. COLLEGE OF ST. HUGH ; OR, THE LINCOLNSHIRE DISTRICT, S.J. THE COLLEGE OF ST. HUGH, Or the Zincolnshire District (formerly the Residence of St. Dominic). THIS Residence was one of those established by Father Richard Blount, the first Provincial, about 1633. It included the County of Lincoln. In the year 1675, we read in the Annual Letters, that by the authority of the Very Rev. Father General Oliva, it passed into the title of a College, and was afterwards generally known by the name of St. Hugh. The following places appear to have been served or visited by the Fathers of this Residence, though they would doubtless make missionary excursions throughout the whole District. Even as late as 1781, Father Richard Knight, for many years missioner at Lincoln, in a corespondence with another Father, Speaks of his having ridden about five hundred and fifty miles in five months; being then between sixty and seventy years of age. Blyborough (the Southcote Ringerby Hall (the seat of the family) * Young family) Boston Lincoln Brigg Little Paunton Driby Market Rasen Dunstan (near Lincoln) Reasby Irnham Sixhills-Grange Kerman The average yearly number of Fathers attached to this Residence, from its commencement until the year 1677, was about eight. The number of conversions, as far as they are recorded, was about twenty per annum ; but this return must have been very imperfect, in consequence of the difficulties of the times. º Among the various Fathers serving in this District, the following must be briefly noticed. I. FATHER JAMES SHARPE, who often passed by the assumed name of Pollard. He was a native of Yorkshire, born of a 6 I 8 College of St. Hugh. respectable family. He was a convert to the Catholic faith, and entered the Society in 1607–8, aet. 31, being then already in holy orders. At one time he was Professor of Sacred Scripture and Hebrew at the English College S.J., Louvain. He was promoted to the degree of a professed Father on the 12th May, 1622, and died in the Residence of St. Dominic, IIth of November, 1630, aet. 54. It does not appear how long he was a missionary in St. Dominic's Residence. Under the initials of J. S. he published in quarto, the year he died, a work, Pe Privato Spiritu Hareticorum, divided into two parts. The following interesting account of his sufferings for his religion, at the hands of his own parents and relatives, is given in Father Henry More's History of the Ænglish Arovince S./., lib. viii. n. 9. The events recorded would appear to have occurred in Yorkshire. After a short history of the combat and martyrdom of Father Thomas Garnet, who suffered at Tyburn, 23rd June, 1608, Father More continues: “There, indeed, the martyr's laurel was gained by the effusion of blood. . . . Let us see a combat of another kind, and in the useless efforts for the conversion of his parents, let those learn a lesson who are carried away by an over ardent zeal for bringing their relatives to the Faith, and in how great danger they may be involved if they suffer themselves to be led by their own judgment rather than by that of their superiors. For although he came off a victor, not of his parents, but of himself, nevertheless, every one should not be too ready to offer himself for this, lest being over self-confident, instead of relying upon God alone, he be overwhelmed by the torrent of pleadings, tears, and lamentations, and so sink and perish.” About this time (1608) James Sharpe came to the novice- ship, being already a priest. After completing his two years' probation, he returned into England and wrote the following narrative to our Very Reverend Father General, Claudius Aquaviva. “Very Reverend Father in Christ,- P. C. “Four months ago, I wrote your Paternity some account of my life, and my endeavours to convert my parents; but as events turned out contrary to my expectations, I thought it would not be ungrateful to your Paternity (after consulting Superiors) if I recounted to you a few things regard- College of St. Hugh. 6 IQ ing the termination of the affair. On my first arrival in England, I frequently treated with my parents, both in person, and, when absent, by letter, as to leaving their residence and neighbourhood and moving elsewhere, where I should be able to live more familiarly with them, and they would have a better opportunity of profiting by the society of Catholics, and thus find a more ready means of salvation; they at length acceded to my request, and pledged themselves to perform every thing according to my wish ; so that nothing else seemed wanting but to meet with a suitable house. This task I joyfully and most readily undertook, having regard less to the pleasantness of locality, than to the sweetness of gaining my parents to our holy religion. But I fell myself into the snares I had designed for their capture. My parents, indeed, changed their residence of their own accord, but it was in order to circumvent me, and betook themselves to a house belonging to a certain doctor of divinity, a Protestant Archdeacon. In the interim they gave notice, with no amicable intention, to my friends that I should come to communicate with them at that place. The Catholics were not up to the manoeuvre, and urged me to satisfy them. I consented, and visited them on the eve of the Ascension. We began to treat about the situation of the intended house and the domestic arrangements. They promised to accompany me to the place I had designed. Whilst we were settling these matters, behold, the said Doctor and his wife came themselves to live at this house. He had solemnly promised me some time before, and had written in a letter still extant, the following declaration : ‘May I never see the face of God, if I do not allow you a safe ingress and egress to and from my house.’ This he had frequently and faithfully performed, treating me kindly at his house (for, pitying his heresy, I hoped on this account to be of service to him as well as to my parents). He had also asked for, and obtained a licence under the public seal of the Archbishop of York, that I should freely converse abroad with my parents. He also led me to my father's house, and reconciled me to a Justice of the Peace who some time before had arrested me as a priest. Everything seemed to go swimmingly, according to my wish. But whilst on the day after Ascension Day, I was preparing to take a journey with my father to seek after a new house, a Justice of the Peace having been summoned by my father and the Doctor, suddenly hastened to the house and entered the room, inquired much about 62O College of St. Hugh. my state of life, and the places I had frequented. He charged me with having said Mass in the house of a certain nobleman. Quid multa ? He provoked me to disputation, and at length committed me to the custody of my own parents, for they showed him the licence that had been granted them by the Archbishop of York. The Justice of the Peace, to carry on the scheme, pretended to threaten my father; warning him to keep me in safe custody, and bound him in a heavy pecuniary penalty to that effect. Two domestic servants, by way of constables, were appointed to guard me, lest I should escape on returning home. Thus I was led, in strict custody, to the house of my parents. Relatives and neighbours flocked together, congratulating themselves on the prosperous issue of the plan. My parents, rejoicing at the success of the affair, and happy in their fraud, assailed me with new devices. They desired me to be of good heart, promising me abundance of money, better clothes, and all things needful. I was kept there for some days that I might receive the visits of friends, and this was done under the outward show of gladness, though but to conceal the dart in the treacherous soul. The Feast of Pentecost being at hand, I was seized with a vehement desire to celebrate that day amongst the Catholics. I accord- ingly applied my wits how to manage an escape. Whilst I was considering this, I was invited to a neighbouring town, where a public meeting was to be held. I consented, on condition that I was not to come in contact with any preacher for disputation, nor magistrate for examination. They accepted the terms, . and we started. But there was in that town a certain noted minister, who although by profession a physician, skilful in the law, and holding the authority of a magistrate, nevertheless took upon himself the care of souls. They invited him to meet me. He was crafty in disposition, bland in speech, and fully acquainted with the conspiracy against me. Privately summoned, he came in as it were ex improviso, Saluted me most politely, and entered into a long discourse on religion; after a slight skirmishing upon one or two points of controversy, he invited me to his house, or rather ordered me there by virtue of his authority; on these terms, that if I should draw him over to my side, or he should draw me to his, I should have my liberty, but if not that I should depart in the same custody in which I had come. My parents accepted the terms on my part, and promised that I should be ready for the contest after the feast. Things being thus arranged, I began to reflect upon the dubious College of St. Æugh. 62 I and suspicious faith of the Doctor, and upon the treacherous schemes of my parents, who not only were unwilling to conform to me in matters of religion, but left no stone un- turned to entice me to their sect. I therefore resolved to turn my mind again to a flight. On a certain night, my parents being gone to rest, and the servants lodging at a distance from the door, I went out, shutting them all up, and locking the door; and being ready booted, I hastened to Saddle and bridle the horse. The servants, who were locked up, discover- ing it, raised an alarm ; leaped out of the window, pursued me with naked feet, overtook me, and seized hold of the horse. Frustrated in this hope, I took to my heels, thinking to reach the house of a Catholic fifteen miles distant. But they, having aroused the neighbours, guarded the roads, and pursued me both on foot and horseback. Exhausted with running and perspiration, nothing else was left to me but to give myself up to the pursuers and return home. My parents having gained this victory, most carefully examined everything, and strengthened the windows with iron bars. My mother was my keeper by day, and would not let me leave her side. By night, my father lay down upon the same bed with me. Being full of suspicions, they durst not trust me to the care of others, lest perchance they should admit any relatives to converse with me. Thus things went on for some days, when I was led to the house of the said Doctor, where I remained five days in the company of my parents. I held daily dis- putations with him, chiefly upon the Canon of Scripture, and every duty of civility was observed towards me. Gaining nothing by Soft Speeches and arguments, he persuaded my parents that a longer delay was necessary, when he did not doubt that at length he should conquer, for he boasted that he had brought over many priests and laymen captives to his religion. “I returned home again, when it happened most unfortu- nately for me that the Catholics who were anxious to know my situation sent a certain person in the garb of a beggar in order to visit me and know how matters stood. But before we could possibly Converse, my parents caused the person to be arrested and Carried off prisoner to York gaol, where he is now detained. Not content with entirely fencing off all approach to my friends, they daily admitted Protestants, that if not conquered by reason- ing they might at least allure me to their side, by wearing me out with importunate debates. They offered me an ample 622 College of St. Hugh. inheritance, saying to me, ‘All these will I give you, if falling down you will adore according to our faith—Hac omnia tibi dabo, si cadems adoraveris secundum ſidem nostram.” They pro- posed marriage, offering me a wife with a large fortune, and above all, the hope of possessing the property of the family. My mother especially urged this upon me. These were com- paratively light matters. In truth, I was more Sorely assailed by the continued entreaties of my parents, their tears, and eyes apparently moist with weeping, their worn faces, and words enough to melt a heart of stone. I am not inventing idle tales. What was I to say, when compelled to see both my parents upon their knees before me, with upraised hands, uttering in the most pitiful manner these words: ‘Have pity upon me, my son, have pity; pity your father, pity your mother, pity the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that nourished thee. You received your life from us, and do you repay us by causing our death? Pity, at least, these grey hairs, pity our old age; do not bring down our grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. Do not, like the serpent, gnaw in pieces your mother's bowels; are you not moved by your mother's wrinkled face, wet with tears; have you no pity for your father, no sense of religion towards God? Cursed be the hour in which you were begotten, and the time in which we have nourished and brought you up. Will a son thus desert his father—thus abandon his mother P Ungrateful son, first take this knife (offering me one at the same time), and cut our throats rather than be compelled to witness your unhappy end.' I do not exaggerate; they repeated these things over and over again, a hundred times. There was no hour of the day, no place, no meeting each other, but these lamentations resounded in my ears. What, you ask, were my feelings under these harrowing circumstances? Indeed, I could not but grieve, but I was accustomed to relieve myself by the words of our Saviour, “Qui di/.gif fatreſſ, et mažrem,’ &c.—‘He that loveth father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” That noted saying of St. Jerome also occurred to me, and was indeed represented to the life: ‘Si mater sparso crime, scissis vestibus ostendai ubera quibus te nutrieſat, si žafer in //mine faceał, Aer ca/catum few ge Załrem, sicci's oculis ad Crucis vexi//um evola, Soſum £ietatis genus esſ ºn hac re esse crudelem’— “Should your mother tear her hair, and show you the breasts that nourished you ; should your father lay himself across the threshold; tread upon your father, and with dry eyes flee to the standard of the Cross; in Such case the only kind of com- College of St. Hugh. 623 passion is to be cruel.’ I refreshed my soul with this spiritual consolation; by this coat of mail I defended myself against all temptations of flesh and blood. But whilst these things were going on, the Archdeacon himself, of whom I have before spoken, invited me to dinner. After many ordinary topics had been canvassed, the conversation at length fell upon a recent edict of the King, banishing all priests from England. Rejoiced to hear this, I began to make known my priesthood, for my parents had concealed that fact ; and I regarded the edict as a benefit whereby to gain my liberty. I often treated with my parents, and solicited friends to persuade them, that if I was discovered to be a priest, their property would be in great jeopardy. But no entreaties, no arguments could move them ; the hope of sometime bringing me back to their religion pre- vailed. I wished to appear before the magistrate openly as a priest. But this was not allowed, and all facility was denied me. It happened opportunely that the said doctor often in- vited me by letter to discussions, and this by public authority. I willingly appeared. Amongst other things, I requested to be furnished with a copy of the said edict of banishment. As I read it, being asked if I were a priest, I voluntarily admitted it, desiring it as a benefit; but the matter did not succeed as I had wished, for forthwith I was sent to York before the Royal Commissioners, and detained for seven weeks, waiting the decision of the chief President. During this interval, my parents took precautions against my being sent to the Common gaol; lest, by intercourse with the other priests there I should become more courageous. They managed to have me con- fined in private custody, in the house of a most incorrigible Protestant, and one most hostile to Catholics, where nothing met my ears but wranglings, blasphemies, and such like abominations; and lest I should get any breathing time, my parents themselves also came. My mother remained in the same room with me from morning till evening, either to Soften me by her tears, or to intercept any letters that might be written to me, and to hinder the access of any Catholics. She sat down when I did, accompanied me in walking, and followed me if I left the room. If I said my hours (for I always had my breviary with me), with the door shut she would watch me 'outside. If I had business with any one, she would be present, and discuss everything. A certain Catholic wished to meet me, and, to do it with less suspicion he came in Company of a Protestant minister. My mother invited him to dispute 624 College of St. Hugh. with me. He said, absurdly enough, he wondered that I, forsaking the national religion, should have embraced one unknown to himself and many others. The keeper of the prison, standing by, indignantly said, ‘What, you say you are ignorant of their Faith, when you undertake to impugn it? get about your business l’ And, loading him with reproaches, turned him out of the house. My mother denounced all Catholics as seditious and treasonable persons. She inveighed against those who supplied them [in prison] with anything, whether clothes, money, or lodging. Especially against a certain priest of venerable age, and very learned, who was detained in the same prison; declaring that he had perverted her son. At length, she herself, anxious to conclude matters with me, frequented Sermons, and if anything was said against Catholics she reported to me, and strove to persuade me. She invited me to hear a sermon, promising to put me in a secret place in the church, and that the sermon should not be upon subjects offensive to my ears; she offered me wool to stuff in my ears, would I but only just once be present. Seeing me immovable, she again had recourse to her lamenta- tions. ‘Will you then do nothing for me, my son P I have been to your Church, and have heard Mass, and do not con- sider my conscience wounded on that account. All our doctors do this: are you more prudent than they P I will stand for you in the Day of Judgment, I will answer for you. Con- science teaches us to venerate our parents; you neglect them. You multiply prayers as though you cannot be saved without them. You worship images, whereas God alone is to be worshipped. But if you will return home with me, I will allow you all these things; I will pray with you, I will fast with you, and for your sake I will distribute whatever alms you wish : will nothing of all this move you? O unhappy mother that I am,’ &c. And with these and similar exclama- tions she wearied me from morning till night. They preferred my remaining in perpetual imprisonment to going into exile, in order that they might enjoy the sight of me. They treated this affair with the Royal Commissioners and judges, and also importuned for it by bribes. Consent was obtained, provided only that I would attend at a sermon, or take the oath of allegiance and Supremacy lately framed. I con- sented to attend a sermon. On condition that I was allowed immediately after in the same place to preach aloud to the people. This did not please them. In the meantime, the College of St. Hugh. 625 pseudo-ministers of the Gospel constantly visited me ; for my parents never omitted to bring to me any one of them who was remarkable for learning. The Lord gave me a mouth and wisdom whereby to furnish a satisfactory answer to my opponents, and to the expectation of the audience.” Thus wrote Father Sharpe to our Very Reverend Father General Claudius. He was then sent into banishment, and returning into England after some years of labour in that vineyard, he was solemnly professed on the 12th May, 1622, as we have already mentioned. He did not long survive, dying on the IIth November, 1630. II. FATHER JOHN BLACKFAN was a native of Horsham, in Sussex; born in the year 1560; promoted to the degree of a professed Father in 1603, and died in this residence the 15th of January, 1641, aged eighty-One. He was a Cambridge student, and took the degree of M.A.; and was a man remarkable for his integrity and candour of Soul. At that time Catholicism in England was deeply afflicted. At College he was seized with a contagious disease, by which, together with reading the works of St. Austin and other Catholic writers, his conscience was aroused and his mind was led towards the Catholic faith. However, he deferred his conversion, being held back by the free course of life in which he indulged. He was at length compelled, in quite a supernatural manner, to embrace the Catholic faith, and brought over with him a young man who was the head of an illustrious family. Father Morel relates the occasion of Father Blackfan's breaking through his trammels. He had a vision, or dream by night, in which he saw clearly before him our Lord Christ sitting as Judge, before Whom he was accused of many things, especially for delaying to follow out the instructions and good motions he had received in his said readings. The Judge condemned him to be tortured by pains in the bowels, which he really felt, and this so severely that he cried out that the commands of the Judge had been exceeded, and he then made a promise never again to attend the prayers of the schismatics. He not only stood to his promise, but the better to please Christ the Judge he imposed upon himself a severe ſast of four days a week; he spent his nights in watching and prayer, and by day retired himself in the times of recreation ; and in this course he persevered for six months, before he could meet with any Catholic. At length * Hist, AErov. Ang?, lib, viii, n. 26, p. 384. OO 626 College of St. Hugh. a respectable man one day met him, and asked him whether he wished to hold familiar intercourse with a priest. “Most willing I would do so,” he said, “but I fear none is to be found, so many having been made away with in these years.” “Fear not,” said he ; “I will shortly teach you where you may meet with one.” Returning after the interval of a few days, “Go,” said he, “to such a wood, and the person you desire will meet you.” He went accordingly to the wood, and there met with an old priest of the time of Queen Mary, who, after a short conversation, first of all absolved him from excommunication, using the solemn rites of the Church, even to the striking his bare shoulders with a twig of a tree during the time of his reciting the Psalm Miserere. He then appointed him to return to him at a certain time and place, to make his general Confession. He came accordingly, and after a long examination by the priest, was reconciled to the Catholic Church. He kept up his adopted practice of fasting until he Crossed over to the Continent. In the year 1587 there was a great preparation made in England for opposing the intended Spanish invasion, and this rendered all navigation most difficult. God, however, was his leader, and was pleased to bring about an opportunity of his crossing over to Dieppe. From thence he went to the English College at Rheims; from Rheims he went to Valladolid; and after his course of studies there, was received into the Society of Jesus in 1593, being then aged thirty-four. He met with much trouble on his way to Valla- dolid. The English College of the Society had been then just founded (1588-9) by the exertions of Father Robert Parsons. Doctor Barrett, the then President of Rheims, being over- stocked, sent to Father Parsons' new establishment ten or twelve promising youths. Amongst them were Father Blackfan, then a sub-deacon, with Father Henry Floyd, S.J., then a deacon,” and another youth named John Boswell. War was then raging in France between the Leaguers and the King of Navarre, and the roads were everywhere impeded by the Constant marching and countermarching of the soldiers of both parties, nor were any of the other ways through France more practicable. They were, therefore, constantly falling in with the troops; but, by the goodness of God, they escaped safely. They had the greatest difficulty in persuading Du Plessis Mornay (who wished to pass himself off as one of the chief * The life of this eminent Father is intended to be given in the History of the College of St. Ignatius—London District. College of St. Hugh. 627 pillars of the Calvinists) that they were Englishmen, Catholics, and clerics, on their way to Spain for their studies. This was Soon after the Spanish invasion (1588), and the two nations being then at enmity, Du Plessis Mornay insisted that they were going upon another errand, to the injury of their own Prince and Country. He therefore declared them to be traitors or spies, and was for sending them to Rochelle to be shipped off for England (he had previously sent over certain glorious champions, who afterwards suffered death for Christ). However, by producing some influential letters of recommen- dation which they had fortunately brought with them, and which stated the Cause of their journey to be the prosecution of their studies, and at the intercession also of the wife of Du Plessis Mornay, they were at length released from custody. Sailing from Nantes to Bilboa, they had to encounter at the Castle of Burgos no less a storm than the one they had passed through in France. The day after their arrival in the city, as they were returning from the cathedral to their inn, they were arrested by the officers of the Inquisition, on whose information is uncertain. It was published throughout the whole city that they were Lutherans, and brothers of Admiral Sir Francis Drake, who had been some time previously sweeping the Spanish seas, and was then leading a fleet to invade Portugal. They were thrust into the House of Correction, and their effects and money seized. But the Court of Inquisitors, finding nothing about them that could cause the least suspicion, and having inspected the letter they had brought from Dr. Barrett, and one they had received from a certain Spanish Father, professor of theology, addressed to the Rector of the College of the Society at Burgos, they were furnished with proper accommodation for the night. The next day, being summoned to the Court, and having fully explained the cause of their journey, they were liberated with many apologies. About the money, however, their common stock, there was no slight difficulty. The keeper of the prison obstinately denied that any had been taken away. Blackfan, from whose bag it had been abstracted, maintained the contrary, and described the coin as being seventeen gold Spanish pieces. He had no witness—it was his simple assertion ; it prevailed, however; the intention of these foreigners was now known and clear. The gaoler still persisting, the Court of Inquisition sent an officer with orders to seize and sell his articles of silver goods, OO 2 628 College of St. Aſagh. unless he instantly gave up the money. At last, out came the very identical sum that Blackfan had described and sought for. On the following day, as they were preparing to depart, the Court of Inquisition ordered a certain person of authority to conduct them to the market-place. Here he made known to the surrounding crowd that no shade of suspicion rested upon them ; that they were exiles for their faith, and had passed hither on their way to pursue their studies, meditating a return to their native land with noble and courageous hearts, superior to all the cruelties of the heretics. Thereupon the people, who had before been disposed to insult them, began to venerate their constancy in the faith, their probity of life, and fortitude in adversities. He then led them to the city gates, pointed out the road to Valladolid, and, courteously saluting them, bade them good-bye.” Being afterwards called to Rome, Blackfan did good service there in forming the minds of the youth of the English College both to virtue and a conciliatory tone towards the Institute of the Society, which several eminent scholars at that time embraced. Returning again to Spain, he was solemnly pro- fessed of the four vows, 1603, and laboured in the College of Valladolid with no less fruit than at Rome. He was confessor to the celebrated Doña Louisa Aloysia de Carvajal, and was the first to turn her attention to commiserate our unhappy Island ;” and, although he did not come to the opinion that she should pass over to England, on account of the various troubles which she would have to encounter there, nevertheless, by the advice of many doctors and holy men amongst the Spaniards, she did cross over, and preferred Father Blackfan to accompany her party, whom, in manners and language, it was hard to distinguish from a Spaniard; so much so, that he more than Once ſell into danger amongst his countrymen, and in the year 16Io was apprehended and committed to the Gatehouse prison in Westminster." Mon es; inter improbos Zida, a ca/u/inia quanta/ibet sincerissima integritas. They en- deavoured (by the instigation, it is alleged, of the pseudo- Archbishop of Canterbury, Abbot), to asperse the character of this most innocent man by charging him with the highest * More, ſ/ist. Prov. Angl. lib. v. n. 1, c. 2. * See the life of this noble lady, by Lady C. Fullerton, 1873. * This arrest was not, as Father More says, in 1610, but in 1612. This appears by the two letters of the Archbishop of Canterbury to James I., presently set out. College of St. Hug/. 629 crime. They suborned a person to swear that he had heard Father Blackfan promise a certain goldsmith eighty thousand gold Crowns to find a man who would assassinate King James. The diligence, however, of the Father exposed this wicked fabrication. He wrote to Father Anthony Hoskins at Brussels, who instantly went to the goldsmith, got him examined before the magistrates; and his evidence, denying the impudent lie, being reduced to writing and duly signed, and the public seal of the city affixed, was forthwith sent back to London and given in evidence of the falsity of the charge, and the Arch- bishop put to the greatest shame. The following are copies from the originals in the Public Record Office, of the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury's letters to the King before referred to, informing his Majesty of the arrest, &c., of Father Blackfan. Pom. James / I012, vol. lxx. n. 33. [Archbishop of Canterbury to the King.] “Most gracious Sovereign, . . . I am not forgetful of the business touching the two Jesuits, and on Thursday last I thought I had light upon Blount; but on Friday morning I found it otherwise for the man, but not for the matter. For employing some persons of good discretion to attend secretly the Ambassador's house (who yet lieth in Barbican), they discovered on Wednesday morning at four o'clock, one coming out of that house in this manner: First the porter came out into the street and viewed whether the coast was clear or no, and then spying no man stirring, he steppeth in, and imme- diately the other person cometh out, and goeth towards the fields. Those who attended observed this ; but because his beard somewhat differed from the description sent to me, they let him alone. But on the Thursday morning at five o’clock, finding the same person to come out there again, and the porter to do as he did the day before, they imagined that there might be some little error in describing of his beard; but resolving howsoever that he was worth the taking, followed him into the fields, and from thence a mile or two as far as Ratcliff, where he offering to take a boat, they laid hold upon him. This ſorbearance to take him near the Ambassador Innigaes’ house was by my special direction, which I gave in charge partly because Innigaes should not know what was become of him, and partly because the other for whom we lay wait should not be scared by the taking of their fellow. 63O College of St. Hugh. And accordingly I have hitherto caused him to be kept safely and secretly in a pursuivant’s house, for his arrest could not be so well concealed if he had been sent to prison. In the meantime, we give not over the pursuits of Blount and Pelham.” By this which is before written your Majesty will See apparently that the place of his lodging was in the Ambassador's house. And there for aught I know, may the other two remain, but they shall do well to lie close. “The party now taken is a principal Jesuit, who nameth himself upon his examination Thorneton ; but in further debating with him on Friday, he confessed unto me that beyond the seas they call him Blackfan, but I know his true name to be Blackman, and that he was born at Horsham in Sussex. It is thirty years ago that he ran beyond the seas, and hath lived much in Rome and Spain, being confes- sarius to the English Colleges in those two places. I mean Rome and Valladolid, for the space of eighteen years, in which time by his subtle and fair carriage, he got much love and reputation with the scholars, but was indeed special man of trust with Parsons and Cresswell, the rectors of those two Colleges. Since his coming into England, he maketh the despatches between Jones, the Superior of the Jesuits, who lyeth always near London, and Holtby, who was the Superior next before Jones, and lieth commonly in Yorkshire. In a word, he is a man full of action; and if any in the land can yield an account of any evil purpose, this is like to be the Iſla Il. “I directed my watchmen that whomsoever they light upon they should forthwith search, to see what papers they had about them. They did so to Blackſan, and found two or three, whereof one was a part of a letter rent in the middle, and written on the back side with another hand. There are in it some things worth the observation; as that Pelham's name is three times used, and mention made of accounts, as if he had the laying out of sums of money more than his own. That there is the word Barbican, as if his business lay that way. That Juan de la Cruz is named, as if his affairs were with Spaniards. But in the letter itself a man may guess at more. In the sixth line Sp. meaneth Spain. In the seventh line I conceive it to be meant a hundred thousand crowns, sent from the King of Spain to his Ambassador, which may easily be conjectured by the piece of the word [sador] torn * Vere Father Alexander Fairclough (alias Pelham). College of St. Hugh. 63 I off from the end of the line, and sticking in the margin, by reason of the sealing-wax. By Canterbury, Shrewsbury, Pe. are intended myself and the Earls of Shrewsbury and Pembroke. Your Majesty may see what I mean by the copy sent herewithal, which is written in the same form as the original is, which I keep here with me, lest per- adventure it should be lost. And some use we may make of it. “When Blackfan was caught and conveyed to safe custody, he wrought with the messenger's man that he would convey a letter for him to the Spanish Ambassador's porter, part whereof was written in English and part in Spanish. I send your Majesty now also a copy thereof, for I caused this letter to be brought unto me. A man may gather thereby that money may easily be had by a Jesuit in the Ambassador's house; that they will use it to corrupt their keepers, and that there is amity between Blackfan and the Secretary to the Ambassador. In these terms things now stand with great 'silence, my endeavours going on for the taking of Blount and Pelham. - “But in speaking with Blackfan I have not used one word concerning the Spanish Ambassador, nor examined him at all touching his being or lying in that house, partly because I am not willing to strike upon that string till I have your Majesty's directions what to do, and partly because I aim at some further matter (and the forbearance of a few days will do no harm). For I learnt by a sleight that Henry, the Ambassador's porter, who is of counsel and great trust with the Jesuits, hath delivered secretly to his friend (by whom it cometh unto me) that even now in London are Jones, the present Superior, and Holtby, who was next before him. And if this prove true, then is there some great assembly of the Jesuits from divers parts, which must intend no good design ment among them. We omit no diligence or vigilancy for the ..discovery thereof. [Other matters of no interest follow.] “And so craving pardon for this my long letter, with prayers to the Almighty ever more to bless your Majesty, I rest most humbly, - “Your Majesty's most bounde “Servant and Chaplain, “G. CANT. “From Croydon, August Io, 1612.” 632 College of St. Hugh. Same to same. Same vol. In. 52. “Most gracious Sovereign, . . . I have caused Black- fan the Jesuit secretly at ten of the clock at night to be committed close prisoner to the Gatehouse, where he hath the sight of no person but only one who bringeth him meat. I have also caused the keeper to call him by a strange name, that none may understand who it was that was sent unto him. And besides my first examination of him, which was general, and nothing touching the Ambassador's house, I have said nothing to him, because he is fast enough ; and I am in hope to light upon some more of those at whom your Majesty further aimeth, so that as yet I ſorbear to mention the main purpose. “I heard your Majesty once speak of a Spanish priest whom God had enlighted with the knowledge of His truth, and that he had an intendment to come to England. There was very lately such a one that came to London, and made himself known to the Italian Minister and others, giving them to undérstand that he had lain several years in the Inquisition for his conscience ; but before I could speak with him Don Pedro de Suniga by a train got him to his house in the Barbican, and there (as I am informed by the ministers of the Dutch and Italian Churches in London, who complain exceedingly thereof) he keepeth him as a prisoner. An act in my judgment most insolent, and not to be endured, that he should violently detain a poor soul who is now under the protection of so great a king as your Majesty is. And if Sir John Digby, now Ambassador of your Majesty, should play such a part in Madrid with Cresswell the Jesuit, or any of our English ſugitives, besides the clamour which would be spread thereupon throughout all Christendom, the people of Madrid would violently take him out of the Ambassador's house. I doubt not but your Majesty will proceed in a more calm Course; but in my poor opinion it were fit that with some speed he were required at Suniga's hands, least by poison or murder he come to his end. “. . . Looking over some papers of last year, I meet with an advertisement touching Blackſan the Jesuit above- mentioned, and that is, that he is a man personally known to the Archduke, and that the Archduke maketh a special account and reckoning of him. “So beseeching the Almighty evermore to bless your College of St. Hugh. 633 Majesty both in body and soul, and to confound all those who intend any evil unto the Lord's anointed. I rest, &c., “G. CANT. “At Croydon, August 17, 1612.” By his letters, Abbot can find nothing against the Father, and yet, to Curry favour with the King, was eager to convict him. The following interesting passage connected with Father Blackfan is taken from a long MS. report of events in England. The date is 1612.7 “At the sessions held at the end of the term, there was a priest arraigned and condemned upon a question demanded of him by his keeper's wiſe—whether, if One should kill the King, he might absolve him ; the which he answered that, if one should kill the King of France and be truly penitent, he might. Tor which he was condemned and executed, my lord of Canterbury having obtained the same of the King, promising him that it would be very profitable to their cause, for that the priest was both timorous and unlearned; which, when the King heard to be otherwise, he raged exceed- ingly, and said he would execute no more.” At whose death a Protestant, beholding his undaunted courage and bold spirit, full of life and comfort, concluded in himself that he only was happy on account of his religion, and thereupon went from the gallows to the Gatehouse prison, and desired to speak with a priest. They bringing him to Father Blackfan he resolved for the best, and was reconciled within a few days, for which my Lord of Canterbury clapt up close Mr. Blackfan, where he still remaineth, and at the same sessions was indited.” Having been detained in prison, where he suffered extreme want of everything ſor thirteen months, he was scht into exile, and succeeded Father Percy as Vice-preſect at Brussels. He continued in that office for nearly three years, then returned to Valladolid, and succeeded Father William Weston, upon his death, as Rector of the College, in April, 1615. Having accomplished his triennium, he went to Madrid, and became Vice-prefect there. At length, returning into England he laboured most usefully in that vineyard to a great age, in this Residence. Being desirous of spending the short 7 Stonyhurst MS. Ang/ia, vol. iii. ii. I 19. * This priest was the glorious martyr for his ſaith, the Reverend John Almond, who suſſered at Tyburn gallows, 1612. 634 College of St. Hugh. remains of his feeble life at the Novitiate of Watten, he obtained the Provincial's leave to do so. Starting on his journey, he had scarcely ridden four miles when he fell off his horse, and was carried home again. There he recom- mended the matter to God, and on awaking in the morning these Spanish words were upon his tongue: Hermano, morad alla.” He remained, therefore, in the same place he had occupied for so many years, and died there, prope octogenarius, 13th January, 1641. The summary of the deceased calls him eighty- one years of age, and states, amongst other things, that he was a model of religious virtue ; most severe towards himself, afflicting his body, and, with St. Paul, bringing his rebellious flesh into subjection, by means of severe abstinence, and corporal inflictions even to the last. He was so great a lover of humble employments that, although he had filled most of the chief offices in the Province, he zealously laboured for seven years in grounding one boy alone in the rudiments of grammar, contenting himself with this reflection, that this one object of his care might eventually become the means of many entering the Society, and of a numerous progeny after his death. Father Blackfan is named (as Blackman) in Gee's list of priests and Jesuits in and near London, about 1623.4% He is thus described in a paper in the P.R.O., Domestic, James Z., State Papers, vol. ii. In. 44. 1603. [Endorsed, “Particular description of Sir Griffin Markham, and many other Jesuits.”] “A particular of the names and several descriptions of Sir Griffin Markham, and divers other Jesuits and Seminaries which James, my servant, saw, and I took of him.” [Among others.] “Black, a Jesuit, a very tall and big man, his head and beard black, cut with a pirkedevant; he hath long mustatoes; his feet go much outward, and his knees inward; of the College of Cologne, in France.” 9 i.e. Brother, remain here. The account adds, that thirty-six years before, Father Blackſan had known a certain Brother Germanus at Madrid, as though his name was associated with these Spanish words. But this is probably a mere suggestion of Father More, who might have been unacquainted with the language, and misled by similarity of sound, or identity of derivation. Brother Germanus himself may, in those former days, have played thus on the word; and the two may have come together into Father Blackfan's mind. * Foot out of the snare. College of St. Hugh. 635 III. FATHER FRANCIS BERRY, a native of Lincolnshire, born 1598, entered the Society in 1622; took the vows as a Spiritual Coadjutor, March, 1634. He had held the post of Minister and Professor in some of the Colleges abroad; and, in 1642, was Rector or Superior of this Residence and District, and had then been on the mission ten years. He wrote to the Very Reverend Father General Caraffa a letter, dated 22nd May, 1646, of which the following is a transla- tion. 11 Father Caraffa had just been elected General of the Society. “Our Very Reverend Father in Christ. P.C. “While writing this my first ex-officio letter, I at the same time transcribe the hearty affection with which I congratulate our whole Society, though not your Paternity, since I well know that a most weighty burden is laid upon your shoulders, conducive rather to trouble than to joy. “This one thing I pray our good and great God, that He will be pleased ever to favour all your Paternity’s efforts and labours. “As to what regards our affairs; we have been for these four years and more most grievously oppressed, no rest, no settled abode. About the beginning of these disturbances we numbered ten priests in this our District, and struggling hard for a maintenance. The Catholics are nearly deprived of their property, several are driven from their homes, and yet they are constant and cheerful in their misfortunes and trials; from which a certain person amongst the Protestants invents a calumny, saying that the Papists are thus joyful and courageous in the rapine of their goods, because they are nourished by a certain secret hope of some future help, whereby they may defend and reinstate their party. This one thing I assert, that I have never seen in such afflicting circumstances so divine an aid to shine forth, and so great a joy to spring up in the hearts of the faithful, deeming themselves happy to suffer for their fidelity towards God and their loyalty to the King. I do not recount all that is known of the injuries sustained by the people caused by the war; it would be too long to do so. I see now before me a most splendid mansion, shamefully dismantled; a most noble lady reduced to such distress, as not even to have a bed for herself, * The original is preserved in vol. v. MSS. Angl. Stonyhurst, n. 23. 636 College of Sá. Hugſ. except a poor cottage one, which she had succeeded in borrowing. Her lord and husband for the last four years has been denied access to his house, been stript of his abundant income, and has not ventured as yet to return home. I have recently returned from a town that, after a siege of six months, capitulated to the enemy [probably Lincoln); and I lie concealed, as their troops are quartered here, so that very few even of the Catholics are aware of my return. I have lost all my sacred furniture; my well-stored library has been plundered, torn up, or burnt; and what I deem the greatest loss, a portion of a copy of our Institute has perished; the rest I still hold, though almost useless. Whilst we retained the royal garrison, we could more freely perform the ministerial functions of our Society amongst the Catholics. * “A few have fallen away from the Faith. More have been proscribed. As an unbounded liberty of believing leads many to atheism, so the dread of this licence reduces some to Orthodoxy. * “As to our annual income, since our lot is almost the same as that of the Catholics and Royalists, we have received nothing for these three years. Although the alms of the pious are few and small, yet we have contracted no debts. “I will detain your Paternity no longer, at whose feet I humbly cast myself, begging for myself and my confrères your holy benediction. - “Your Paternity's most humble servant and son in Christ, “FRANCIS BERRY. “Dated this 22nd May, 1646. “From England, and the Residence of St. Dominic.” “Adm. Rdo. in Christo Patri Nostri, “P. VINCENTIO CARAFFA, S.J., “Praepositi Generali.” Father Berry survived the date of this letter without seeing much relief afforded to his brethren, and died in this district Ist June, I656. 4. IV. FATHER THOMAS LEUKNER is mentioned in a catalogue for I642 as being a missioner in this district. He was a native of West Dean, in Sussex; born in the year 1587. He entered the Society, and was one of Father John Gerard’s first novices, . on the removal of the Novitiate to Liege in November, 1614. College of St. Hugh. 637 In a letter from Liege, dated 19th September, 1614, Father Gerard says: “There is Mr. Leukner, who growing of late to a full resolution of entering the Society, and being so much known in England, and in the Court as he is, so that he could not be concealed in the English College at Rome, being to go daily to and from the schools, and his father (as he considers), being morally sure to lose his place (which is worth unto him one thousand pounds a year, and his estate not great besides it), he therefore thought it very needful to stay his journey to Rome. Mr. Leukner is a man every way fit for our employment; he hath a very good will, both quick and judicious, and an excellent good disposition, with a fine behaviour and experience, and, which I most respect, he is, and will be a solid, virtuous, and spiritual man. He hath learning sufficient to begin logic, which, after his novitiate, he may do privately in France. I beseech your reverence to send order for his admittance.” Father Leukner died (probably in this Residence) 1645, aged fifty-eight. V. FATHER ADRIAN TALBOT (whose real name was FORTESCUE, was a son of Sir Francis Fortescue, Bart., of Salden, Bucks), is said to have exercised his missionary functions in this Residence for some time about the year I638. He will be more fully noticed in the intended history of the Residence of St. George. VI. FATHER JOHN GROSE, alias FELTON, was a native of the County of Norfolk ; born 1580. At the age of twenty-three he was admitted an alumnus of the English College Rome, on the 2nd of October, 1603, and took the usual College oath on the 25th July following. After receiving all the minor orders in Rome, he was Crdained priest 15th October, 1606; and at the age of thirty, in 16Io, he entered the Society of Jesus, and was promoted to the degree of a professed Father on the 12th May, 1622. Under the assumed name of Felton, for the purpose of more secure concealment, Father Grose with great zeal, laboured in the English mission for twenty-seven years.” Dr. Oliver says for thirty years. His labours appear to have been chiefly Confined to this district. It is scarcely possible to name any of the Calamities and inconveniences of those persecuting times, by which he was not tried, especially in the latter days, * See Tanner, Vita et mors Jesuit, fro fide interſ&#. 638 College of St. Æugh. when the Parliament, rising in rebellion against the King, proceeded to revenge, by open war, his lenity towards the Catholics, and raged with such fury against the secular clergy and Jesuits, that in no corner of the kingdom, by no art, nor habit, could they be effectually screened from the pursuivants. Yet Father John was prodigal of his life amongst these daily deaths, provided only he might sell it at the price of martyrdom ; he did not cease from holding public assemblies of the Catholics, and performing the functions of his ministry, and never omitted (an act in which he was singular) to gather the faithful together for the space of so many years, on every Sunday and Holiday, either to preach to them or to explain the Christian doctrine. In these indefatigable exer- tions he was not only moved by the hope of bringing an abundant harvest into the garner of the Church, but he deemed them well repaid could be but pick up one single ear of wheat. To lead back one precious soul to the sheepfold of Christ, he was ready to pour out his life and blood, to spend both. body and Soul. He acted on this spirit admirably on the occasion in which he fell into the hands of the enemy and went forward to his death, which was as follows— Father John Hudd, who was charged with the crime of being a priest, and whose conviction and execution for high treason at the approaching assizes appeared certain, was confined by the Parliamentarians in close custody in Lincoln gaol. The extreme danger of his beloved companion, deprived of the strength and solace of the holy Sacraments of the Church, appeared hard to Father John, but how to remedy it he could not devise. Far from being able to penetrate into the prison, he could not enter the city. Resolved, never- theless, though at the cost of his life, to break through every obstacle, he dressed himself in the garb of a peasant on the market day, and, mingling with the country people who were Carrying their produce to market, he entered with them in the dusk of early morning without accident. He tried during the whole of the day, by every contrivance, to penetrate the prison, but in vain. Failing there of his purpose, he mingled again with the peasants, as one who had sold his marketings and was leaving the city, when he was stopped by the sentinels at the gate. At that time they had liberty to detain at pleasure any who they suspected of being priests; these they would keep in custody, and sorely treat them unless they redeemed themselves by money. They arrested Father Grose and con- College of St. Hugh. 639 ducted him to the governor to be examined on suspicion of being a priest, of which, however, he afforded no indication or ground for suspicion. This arrest seemed to Father John most opportune for obtaining his wish ; he hoped that he might be confined in the same prison with Father Hudd, to whom he longed, at whatever cost, to afford the consolations of religion. But the Governor destroyed this hope by Ordering him, to his great chagrin, to be detained in military custody, and to be transferred to another prison. This order, however, whilst it precluded him from all hope of reaching Father Hudd, gave him the privilege of enduring for his Lord the iron fetters and other calamities of that prison, and the insults and injuries of wicked men, of which for some weeks he had his daily portion, even to the extremest want of food, clothing and bedding. In the meantime the royal army was preparing to retake Lincoln from the Parliamentarians; all the military captives, together with Father John, were carried off in boats to the deserted Church of St. Botolph, and there detained in custody.” - - The Father, who was now upwards of sixty-five years of age, was confined here for three months in the depth of winter, in a place open on all sides to the weather, and wanting in every aid, in fire, comfort, and clothing to repel the piercing cold of night. He was again removed to a place more convenient indeed for the body, but a more grievous affliction to his soul, as he was then compelled to hear insults, blasphemies, and curses against God from wicked men, which he felt more than all his sufferings. At length, after an imprisonment there for seven months, whereas no probable indication of his priesthood, nor evidence to Capitally convict him could be gathered, they began to throw out hopes of his release, if he would redeem it with a sum of money. This being at length raised by the liberality of the faithful, he was discharged from the confinement of his prison, but with health and constitution so broken by his long sufferings, that in a short time he was released from the prison of his body in peace. On being discharged from Custody, his host, into whose family he had been received, being ruined by the evils of the civil war, and driven into exile, Father Grose was compelled to betake himself to a house which had been ruined and pillaged by the military. Here, before a * This would have been Boston, or St. Botolphs’-town, so called from the saint of that name, who built the abbey there. 64o College of St. Hugh. month had well passed, terminated that life which had been dragged on wearily, tried by so many sufferings in chains for Christ. After saying Mass on the 27th day of February, 1645, and whilst in the act of making his thanks- giving, he fell upon the floor half dead, and a little after placidly expired amidst ejaculations expressive of penitence and singular love of God, aged sixty-five. Father Grose is shortly noticed in the Florus Anglo- Aavariºus,” where the author commends his zeal and remark- able desire both to preserve and to propagate the Catholic faith through the space of twenty-seven years. After mentioning that he never omitted Sunday or festival, to gather the faithful together for their religious duties and instruction, this writer applies to him the words of the Apostle, Zasta offortune, im- fortune. - The Annual Letters of the English Province S.J., for the College of St. IDominic, also notice Father Grose and his charitable efforts to reach Father Hudd in Lincoln gaol. According to the State Paper in the Public Record Office (copied in p. 404 ante), being a certificate from the officers of the Port of Dover of priests and Jesuits sent there for transportation, February, 1620, Father John Grose had been a prisoner for the Faith previously to that day. His name appears there with Fathers John Curry and Thomas Everard. VII. FATHER JOHN HUDD was a native of Durham. Born in 1571, he entered the Society late in life, 1622, aged fiſty-One. All that can be gathered about him is taken from the history of Father John Grose, as above, and from the Annual Letters of the Residence of St. Dominic, for 1649. From 1640 to 1649, no annual reports are given, for which the reason is assigned that, during that period the number of priests who suffered for the Faith was less than in Some preceding years. It was probably found that the extreme severity produced other than the desired result, both in regard to the zeal and constancy of the clergy, and the return of Protestants to the Church. Yet the hatred to the Catholic religion borne by the popular party, which, since 1645, had been advancing to sovereign power, was increased in intensity. They constantly avowed their deter- mination to root it out of the land. Letters sent by the * P. 75. & College of St. Hugh. 641 ordinary means of conveyance were in danger of being inter- cepted, and thus exposing to danger both the writer and the family. that harboured him. Hence the letters and accounts that were sent were both few, brief, and far between. In 1649 the Residence of St. Dominic had possessed- a house of their own for nearly twenty-nine years, in which one or two of the Fathers generally resided. It was a building of mean appearance, but on that account, and from its situation, well suited to their purpose, and of great advantage to the Catholics of the country, especially to the poorer class, who resorted to it for their spiritual duties, and were often liberally relieved there in their temporal wants. But this refuge did not escape the hostile vigilance of the Parliamentarians. They broke into the house three several times, and plundered whatever was worth taking; but they had almost despaired of finding what they were most in search of-the Catholic priest. At length one of them, in making a last search in an obscure room, observed a rope hanging loose. Suspecting this might lead to some discovery, he called back some of his comrades who were leaving the house, and they pulled the rope. It opened a trap door, and thus exposed to their view the object of their search. It was Father John Hudd, who had concealed himself under the roof, with the furniture of the altar, and in his hurry had omitted to draw up the rope after him. A loud shout announced their success. The venerable Father was of a delicate constitution, and seventy-four years old or upwards, and was at first unable to stand on account of the constraint he had suffered in his narrow hole. They carried him out in his cassock, and put him on a horse to convey him to the neighbouring town, bringing his servant with him. As they approached the town, in order to draw on their captive the insults of the rabble, they made the servant put on the clerical cap, or biretta, and walk before the horse, whilst they rang the bell used at the altar. The next day the Father was conveyed in the same manner to Lincoln, and there imprisoned. This would have occurred in the year 1644. They set the servant at liberty, after stripping him of what was worth taking. The venerable appearance of the Father, and his patience and gentleness, moved the gaolers to compassion, and they provided for him to the best of their power. But what the good Father most desired was the spiritual assistance of Some one of his brethren, and the more so, as the Assizes were drawing near at which he might probably be tried for his PP 642 College of Sá. Hugh. life. It was at this time that Father John Grose made the heroic attempt to get at Father Hudd in Lincoln prison, which ultimately caused his own death, as we have seen. Father Hudd was not, it would seem, brought to trial ; the King's forces soon afterwards retaking Lincoln, when he was set at liberty. He remained bedridden for the rest of his life. He joyfully resigned his soul to God in the year 1649, aged seventy-eight, after overcoming some remarkable assaults of our spiritual enemy. In religion twenty-seven years. The same Annual Report thus continues, and introduces us to another Confessor and martyr in Lincoln gaol- VIII. FATHER THOMAS FORSTER, S.J.-The spiritual wants of the Catholics of this district, caused by the loss of these two good missioners, were relieved by the accession of Father Thomas Forster. Being obliged to fly from the scene of his mission in Yorkshire, he chanced to come into this district, where, seeing that help was needed, and being more desirous of labour than of rest, he resumed his missionary occupations. In a mean garb he went about the country on foot, visiting the poor afflicted Catholics, and extending his welcome services to the few gentry who were able to remain in the country. But he was not allowed to remain long at liberty. He was arrested on the public road on suspicion, by a justice of the peace, who happened to be passing, and committed to prison, where he was treated with great severity. He was twice had up before the magistrates for examination, and remanded to prison, though nothing could be proved against him. From his prison he found means to send a letter to his Superior, in which he says: “I have not been worthy of the happiness which I have longed for during forty years. Blessed be God, Who has granted me at least this tribulation of imprisonment; and I humbly beg of Him to receive it as some part of the Satisfaction due for my many and great sins.” After two years' confinement he died of dropsy, brought on by sufferings and privations. His Superior contrived to visit him on his death- bed, and to administer to him the Sacraments, to the great consolation of both. Thus, as in other instances, as some of the Fathers were imprisoned, others took their places with alacrity, and continued their labours, especially amongst the poor. Father Forster died the 31st of March, 1648, in vincuſis pro ſide Christi. Owing to the loss of records, we cannot trace College of St. Hugh. 643 his āge, or the date of his entrance into the Society of Jesus. He was probably labouring in the Yorkshire mission from about I 608. In the Public Record Office, Z)&m. James Z., State Papers, November, 1605, vol. xvi. n. 56, is the declaration of a Government spy, Edward Brymstede, late factor at Lisbon, stating his intercourse with Forster, an English Jesuit, who tried to pervert him to Romanism, argued on the Zazºfuſness of Aïng-killing, and prophesied speedy destruction to James I., unless he tolerated Catholics. This may have been our Father Thomas, then perhaps living at the Residence of the English members S.J. at Lisbon. That he should have endeavoured to convert the spy is very probable. Of the alleged argument in favour of King-killing, our readers may judge from the proofs of Catholic loyalty we have brought forward in other portions of this history. - IX. FATHER RICHARD ASHBY, whose real name was THIMELEY, was of the respectable and ancient family of that name in Lincolnshire. He was born in the year 1614, and may have been a son of Richard Thimelby, Esquire, of Irnham.1% * Father Morris, in Series I., The Zºroubles of our Catholic Arorefathers, in the article upon Father Tesimond, p. 156, thus mentions this family, quoting from the Chronicle of St. Monica's Convent. “Mrs. Brooksby had a daughter who married Richard Thimelby of Irnham, in the county of Lincoln. Their daughters Wineſride and Frances entered the Convent at Louvain in 1634 and 1642. In 1668 Sister Winefride was elected Prioress of St. Monica's Convent, the third in that office. . . . This generation of the Thimelby's was doubly connected with the family of the Astons [of Tixhall, Stafford]. . . . Sister Gertrude Thimelby, the widow of Sister Wineſride's youngest brother, Henry Thimelby, and daughter of the first Lord Aston, was professed at St. Monica's the 29th of September, 1658. . . . These are mentioned only on account of their relationship with Eleanor Brooksby, “Mrs. Ann Vaux’s sister,’ as the same Chronicle words it, all very good and constant Catholics, who kept Father Garnet, the worthy martyr, in their house, the chief of the Jesuits.” Amongst the State Papers, P.R.O., Domestic James Z., 1603, vol. vii. n. 50, is “a list of the names of the Jesuits in England, with the chief places of their abode,” and which is endorsed by Salisbury, “A mole of Zäe Jesuits that lurk in Zngland.” Amongst others is found, “Mr. Johnson, zvith Mr. K'ichard ZViºlelby, in Zincolns/ire.” ! Father Bridgewater, S.J., in his Concertatio Æccl. Cat/.. in Anglia, De Aersecutione Angl. p. 30, edition I 594, makes the following deeply inter- esting mention of another member of this ancient and faithful family. “But the following, which happened at the same time [1581] and in the same city [Lincoln), must not be omitted. A lady of noble birth, and young, having first obtained permission, entered the prison to visit her |PP 2 644. College of St. Hug/. He joined the Society in 1632, and the Annual Letters describe him as vir doctus effºrudens et amore /instituti excellens. He was solemnly professed of the four vows in 1646. After teaching philosophy, and discharging several collegiate offices, he was ordered to the English mission, where, as we shall presently see from the Annual Letters, he laboured very diligently, and chiefly in this Residence and district, his native county, of which in 1655, as appears by the Catalogue of that date, he was Rector. In 1666, on the death of Father William Campion, he was appointed to the responsible office of Master of Novices at Ghent, and in 1672 became Rector of St. Omers' College, where he died in 1680, aged sixty-six. Father Thomas Jenison and others, who suffered much in husband, who was incarcerated there for the cause of religion. Being known to the gaoler, and thus caught in his net laid for her, he ordered her also to be detained a prisoner. Mrs. Thimelby, either from the shock caused by this inhumanity and perfidy, or else from the foul air of the place, was seized with severe sickness, and brought into extreme danger of life, and when she appeared hourly about to expire, Mr. Thimelby, over- whelmed with grief, earnestly implored that she might be removed outside the prison, and obtain the aid of matrons, but his request was refused. Oferrea Żectora.” Challomer mentions that Gabriel Thimelby, gentleman, died in prison. Dodd, Church. Hist, vol. iii., mentions several of the same family, three of whom lost their lives fighting for the cause of Royalty, in defence of King Charles against his rebel Parliament, viz., Charles Thimelby, a captain at Worcester; Robert Thimelby, a captain at Newark ; and Nicholas Thimelby, a gentleman volunteer at Bristol. Edmund. Thimelby, of the Irnham family, became a secular priest, and died, Provost of the Collegiate Church of St. Gury in Cambray, about 1690. (Dodd, alt supra). A member of this family, Henry Thimelby, also under the same assumed name of Ashby, was admitted convictor amongst the alumni of the English College, Rome, aged nineteen, by Father Thomas Fitzherbert, the rector, on the 18th of October, 1628. Having spent three years in philosophy, he left for England on the 9th of October, 1631. Optima: indolis et suavissimtaº conversationis. Another, viz., Edward. Thimelby, under the same assumed name of Ashby, aged twenty, was admitted on the 30th of November, 1636, by Father Fitzherbert, the Rector, as a convictor. Iſe left the English College on the 12th of November, 1639, and lived for a long while in Rome. AWazeera satavis, in studiºs satis proſºciſ. ! “Thimelby, or Thimbleby, was the name of an ancient knightly family, seated at Pelham, in Lincolnshire, in the reign of Edward III. [See Clifford’s History of Zºxall, p. 223]. Towards the end of the fiſteenth century Richard Thimelby married the heiress of Sir Andrew Lutterell, Rnight, of Irnham, in the same county. This lady brought with her to the family into which she married, besides a claim to the barony of College of St. Hugh. 645 the persecution raised by Oates' Plot, are reserved for the intended history of that eventful period. . The Annual Letters of the English Province relating to this College or District are as usual in those trying times, but scanty. The cause of this we have already stated in the notice of Father John Hudd. . 1637. The report is confined to a detached narrative of a vision vouchsafed to a young lady of thirteen years of age, the daughter of parents of high birth and great virtue, but not wealthy. It is one of that class of narra- tives of Supernatural or miraculous occurrences, which rest on no other authority than the apparent trustworthiness Lutterell, the manor of Irnham, which continued in Catholic hands until comparatively recent times. [Irnham was for many years served by Fathers of the Society of Jesus. Father Thomas Clarke, deceased, was the last missioner there (1844–45), when the estate passed into Protestant hands. The present handsome chapel was built in 1823.−ED.] Their son Richard Thimelby married a daughter of Mrs. Brookesby, daughter of Lord Vaux, of Harrowden. [See Troubles, First Series, pp. 156, 369.] This Eleanor Brooksby and her sister, Anne Vaux, were Father Henry Garnet’s brave benefactresses. Two of Eleanor Brookesby's grand daughters, Winefride and Frances Thimelby, joined the English Augus- tinians, as we have before seen. Henry Thimelby, the younger brother of these two, married Gertrude, daughter of Walter, the first Lord Aston, of Forfar, and on her husband's death she also entered the same con- vent. Her niece, Catharine Aston, the daughter of her brother Herbert Aston and of Catharine Thimelby his wife, entered St. Monica's convent at the same time. Elizabeth, another sister, married Richard Conquest, of Houghton Cônguest, Beds; and on the déath, sans issue, of her eldest brother's grand-daughter, Mary, the wife of Thomas Gifford, of Millington, the property passed to the Conquests. Mary Conquest, heiress of the last of that name (Benedict Conquest, who died in 1753), married Lord Arundell of Wardour, and thus Irnham passed to the Cliffords through her daughter Eleanor, wiſe of Lord Clifford of Ugbrooke. “Wineſride, Frances, Catharine, and Elizabeth Thimelby had two brothers besides Henry, already mentioned. The eldest was Sir John Thimelby, Knight, with whose son John the male line of the Thimelby's expired. The other was the translator of Father Binet’s work, Purgatory Surveyed, &c., Paris, 1625, viz., Richard Thimelby, alias Ashby. He spent nearly fifty years in the labours of the Society, and held many important offices. He taught philosophy at the English College, and polemical or controversial theology, of which in those days there was a professorship distinct from that of dogmatic theology. He laboured on the English mission for sixteen years.”— [Extracted from additional note to Father Anderdon's edition of Purgatory Surveyed, &c. pp. xi., xii., xiii., 1874.] (646 Co//ege of St. Hugh. of the narrators, yet are not to be discredited for any external improbability, since there are similar narratives which are in the highest degree authentic. It is at least one of great beauty and simplicity. The father of this pious family, influenced by gratitude to our Saviour for the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, resolved to form a sanctuary in his house, in which the most Blessed Sacrament might be constantly preserved. On the night of the birth of Christ in the preceding year, the Sacred Host had been deposited in the Tabernacle prepared for its reception. On the 3oth of the following January, the daughter passing near the domestic chapel, went in, as was her custom, to pay a short visit to the Divine Guest, whose abode it now was. After a brief prayer, she attempted to rise and go away, but found herself unable to move. Presently she ceased to See any of the surrounding objects except the Tabernacle, which now appeared suspended in the air, and surrounded with a bright light which spread all around. As she gazed on this spectacle, the door of the Tabernacle opened, and disclosed to her view a form of an Infant of Superhuman beauty, exhibiting the five wounds of the crucified Redeemer. From these wounds issued rays of light, which far exceeded in brilliancy the light of the Tabernacle. A head female domestic who happened to be present, observing the unusual fixed attitude of her young mistress, went up to her and asked her to go downstairs. The young lady answered that she would not move while she saw her Saviour present before her. The servant alarmed, went to fetch some restoratives. The Divine Infant now grew suddenly sorrowful, and wept. The young girl became agitated by fear, lest she had offended her Saviour, but her fear was soon dispelled, for the vision resumed its former appearance, and Speaking, invited her to draw nearer. She approached and prostrated herself before the altar. Then the Divine Child, having blessed her with the usual Catholic rites, told her that the cause of His sudden Sadness was a grievous transgression of a certain noble lady; and that He would have her to know that such transgressions crucified Him as it were anew. He then told her that if her parents had been wealthy, riches would have corrupted them, as they had others; but that now He esteemed them more than others who possessed abundant wealth. Finally, He gave the girl some directions for her own conduct, which determined her to practise thenceforth a far higher per- College of St. Hugh. 647 fection. The domestic now returned with another matron, and one of the young lady's brothers. They led her out of the chapel, while her reverted look was still fixed on the vision. She soon resumed her ordinary state, yet frequently expressing her gratitude for the glorious vision she had been permitted to witness. She repeatedly related it in detail, and without variation, to her mother and one of the Fathers who resided as chaplain in the family. The favour conferred on this pious family did not end bere. On the festival of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, three days later, one of the sons, a boy of ten years of age, whilst the Blessed Sacrament was being administered, saw a great brightness proceed from the Sacred Particle as it was given to one of the family. The sight elicited from him a cry of admiration, which he afterwards accounted for by relating what he had seen. Other blessings followed : the father of the family who was then absent, suddenly felt a powerful impulse to virtue, for which he could not account. He unexpectedly succeeded in a law suit against a powerful opponent. The mother soon after was saved from imminent danger of a fatal illness, besides other favours. The servants experienced an unusual fervour in the practice of virtue. The house itself, as if protected by the presence of the Divine Guest, narrowly escaped a threatened conflagration. 1640–5. There is no report, probably for the reasons stated above. - * - 1649. The report, which is a full One, is embodied in the memoirs we have given of Fathers John Grose, John Hudd, and Thomas Forster. 1650–1. Amongst other Conversions to the Catholic faith this year, one was that of a Protestant minister, who always previously imagined that he had received a peculiar call and grace from God to diffuse the doctrines of his religion. His conversion was Consequently a subject of great displeasure to Protestants and a Consolation to Catholics. 1651–5. The reports are chiefly confined to details of the zealous labour of Father Richard Thimelby, allas Ashby. He was the Superior of the district. A certain noble lady, a penitent of Father Richard, who had been seized with a violent fever, appeared to be drawing near her end. Having fallen into a sort of slumber, she thought some one took her gently by the hand, and told her to ask that the Litany of Loreto might be recited to her, and that she would then get 648 College of Sá. Hugh. better. No one was in the room at the time. As soon as her attendant returned, she desired that the Litany might be said. When it was finished she fell into a sound sleep. On awaking she was found to be free from fever, and greatly refreshed, to the astonishment of all present. Her sister, a Protestant, and a lady of great talent and active mind, who had been accustomed to ridicule the doctrine of the invocation of Saints, at Once changed her opinion on this point, and was afterwards instructed by Father Richard and received into the Church. - In 1654, Father Thimelby was called up in the night to a Protestant clergyman, who had been for some time convinced of the truth of the Catholic faith, but had been withheld from embracing it by temporal Considerations, and was now alarmed by a severe attack of fever. The night was very dark, and the Father lost his way, but Providence at length guided him to the house. He duly instructed the sick man, administered the Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction, and saw him die happily an hour after his arrival. - Three families in this district, nearly related, who had been engaged for twenty years in Scandalous hostility and ruinous. litigation with one another, were reconciled by the prudent and zealous mediation of the same Father. They were not, all of them at least, Catholics, since the conversion of one person was expected to follow the happy reconciliation. Very little else is reported until the times of Oates' Plot, and the Revolution of 1688, when the Chapel and Presbytery at Lincoln were destroyed by a “No Popery’ mob, and a flourishing College of the Society there was broken up. BRIGG, one of the places named as served or visited by the Fathers of this district, is mentioned in the following paper in the Public Record Office, in connection with Father Henry Garnett the martyr (alias Darcy), who said Mass there on one occasion, in 1604.” The confession of one John Healy, a servant to Launcellot Carnaby of Hatton, Northumberland ; who says (inter alia): “In Lincolnshire, he hath heard Masses. at Twigmore, Thornham, and Brigg, where one Mass was said by One Darcy a Jesuit; at the other places by One Nicholas, an old priest, whose surname he knows not. At the Mass. at Brigg, which was at Easter last was two years [1604], there: were present, besides himself, Mr. Constable, son to Sir Philip. * State Papers, 1606, Domestic, James Z., vol. xx. n. 45. College of St. Hugh. 649 Constable, and his wife, &c., and many others whom he knew not.” Mr. G. Young of Kingerby, in an interesting MS. account of the Missions of Lincolnshire,” dated 1840, “prepared,” to use his own words, “with much care and labour,” relates the following case of two old French priests who escaped to England at the first French Revolution. As we shall not have occasion to revert to Brigg, we give it here. “From 1770, to the breaking out of the French Revolution in 1789, the Reverend R. Newton (alias Fawcett) said Mass at Brigg on the fourth Sunday of each month at the house of a Mr. Bernard in Bigley Street, until a French emigrant priest of the name of Fromantine came, which I think would be about 1794. He died in Brigg about 1803. The Rev. Mr. Saunderson succeeded, but was not long here. The Rev. Peter Moulin, a French emigrant priest, came in March, 1815. Mr. Musgrave, of Brigg, gave land and built a house for him and his brother Pére James T. Moulin; these two good priests came I think from a Derbyshire mission here. They themselves with their own hands built the chapel. Pére J. T. Moulin died at Brigg in 1822. The other brother continued until his death in 1836. Many anecdotes were told me by the last named brother ; one was that on the breaking out of the French Revolution, he and his brother escaped from prison by plying the gaoler well with drink at a supper they invited him to (for being of a very respectable family they had consideration shown them in their confine- ment). When the gaoler and his attendants were asleep from the effects of the drink, they let themselves out of the prison, returning the keys by placing them under the door. His brother suffered so much from gout that he was obliged to carry him ; they generally concealed themselves in the woods by day, travelling by starlight during the night. The first day, they rested beneath the arches of a bridge among the rushes and in the water, and heard their pursuers conversing about them whilst crossing the bridge. After some days they reached the sea-side, and were fortunate in passing safely to England. Pére Thomas Moulin often told me that before they were taken to prison they buried the family plate, and although so many years had elapsed, he still so well remem- bered the spot that he could go and place his foot upon it. I frequently suggested his returning to take it up again as it ” This MS. is preserved in the Archives of the English Province. 650 College of St. Hugh. might be useful to him in his old age, for his pecuniary circumstances were by no means good ; but he always replied that the horrors of the French Revolution had given him such a dread of his country that he never could be induced to return again.” º CLAXBY, near Lincoln, was in the olden times served by Father John Pansford. The following short eulogy of him is taken from the summary of the dead of the Province, 1668. He was a native of Hampshire; born about 1590; entered the Society 1620. He was a very holy man, and on account of his many and great virtues, beloved and venerated by all his brethren. He was remarkable for his candour of soul, an agreeable gravity of manners, and continued mortification of his senses. He possessed a great esteem for religious poverty, making much of the least thing, and with difficulty allowed himself the use of the money which his Superior deemed to be necessary for him. He was accustomed in all things to regard only what would be most pleasing to God and useful to his neighbour. To his extreme old age he was a most active and meritorious missioner; at the same time thinking most humbly of himself. He would often congratulate himself upon his being, as he said, unfit for any office of superiority. He was once captured by the Protestant priest-hunters, and endured with great courage an imprisonment in a London gaol. He would without doubt have been eventually crowned with martyrdom at Tyburn, but for the urgent intercession of Queen Mary Medina of |France, which was so far successful that his capital sentence was respited, and exchanged for banishment from his native land. In his conversations he possessed the happy art of prudently introducing spiritual Subjects, and of recalling that of others to some subject of piety. He was a most strict economizer of time, often complaining of its shortness, and that he could never find sufficient leisure to devote to God and himself. He spent the last six years of his life in preparation for death, dividing his time between prayer and Spiritual reading. At length, worn out by age and infirmity, he died in great repute for Sanctity, as became a genuine Son of St. Ignatius, and worthy of the annals of our Society. He died the 9th of November, 1668, aged seventy-eight: Dr. Oliver says eighty. College of St. Æugh. 65 I KINGERBY HALL, the seat of the ancient Catholic family of Young, was connected with the English Province of the Society of Jesus from the earliest times. Mr. G. Young, in his MS. before referred to, says: “The early history of this very ancient mission is difficult to trace. There was a chapel in the old hall, and, as many old persons tell me, there were hiding-places which were used in the troublesome times. Many think it was a very early mission of the Jesuits. The old hall was taken down by my father, who built the present Kingerby House on its site in 1803. The good old Catholic family of the Knights, of Smasford, in this county, took a lease of the old hall in T 702. These good people doubtless had a priest residing there, but the first that I am able to trace here was chaplain to Mrs. Knight, mother of the Rev. Richard Knight, many years a Jesuit missioner at Lincoln, and who died there suddenly in 1793.” In a letter of Mr. Thomas Arthur Young to the late Rev. Randal Lythgoe, Provincial, dated 6th May, 1854, he says: “In 1719 died John Young, of West Rasen, Papist, who married a Vavasour, daughter of Dr. Vavasour, and brother of the baronet.* In the Will Office, Lincoln, I found the will of the said John Young, and to which is attached the signature of the Rev. Father Andrew Norris, 19 so that these parts have always been under the pastoral charge of the Jesuit Fathers. * And perhaps a sister of Father Walter Vavasour, S.J., who entered the Society in 1681, and for many years was missioner at Preston, where he died in 1740, aged 76. Father William Vavasour, probably of the same family, entered the Society in 1666. Retiring from England at the per- secutions of Oates' Plot, he died at Nieuport, 23rd April, 1683. No less than four of this ancient and staunch Catholic family, were alumni of the English College, Rome, viz.: I. James Vazasofty", born I561, admitted an alumnus at the age of twenty, Ioth November, I581, ordained priest I586, and was then sent to Rheims to complete his theology, and there died. 2. Thomas Vavasour, born 1558, admitted an alumnus 2nd November, I581. In 1587, he was sent to Apulia to collect alms for the support of the English College, Rheims, and was murdered by his guide near Bari. 3. Aſºnzºy Vazasoner, under the assumed name of Manners, was admitted a convictor among the alumni, 25th October, 1615. His age is not stated. He left the College for England on account of bad health, 12th July, 1620, leaving behind him an example of every virtue. 4. /o/,72 Vazasour, born 1628, admitted also a convictor among the alumni I5th November, 1649. He leſt the College for England in 1651. * Father Andrew Norris was missioner at Lincoln on the breaking out of the Revolution of 1688, and the destruction of the chapel, &c., there, an account of which will be given in the intended history of those times. Father Norris was Superior of this District in I701—1704. 652 College of St. Hugh. The death and burial of the father of the said John Young is recorded in the West Rasen register as follows: “A”fish zecusani, affidaviž made before ?/he magistrate.” Mr. Young considers that Kingerby was once “the chief station of the Society in the county, and perhaps in the kingdom.” - LINCOLN.—This ancient city was probably from the earliest times connected with the Society of Jesus. It stands upon the site of one of the towns or hill-forts of the ancient Britons, and under the Romans was an important colony called Lindum. In the reign of William the Conqueror it became a bishop's See, that of Dorchester, near Oxford, being then translated hither. In II 25, Lincoln was greatly damaged by an earth- quake. The cathedral was built by Remigius, Bishop of Lincoln, and completed on his death in Io92, by his suc- cessor, Robert Bloet. In Catholic times Lincoln had a goodly array of religious houses, for an account of which see Dug- dale’s Monasticon. Within its walls are buried the two Saints Hugh, the one, the great bishop of that name, the Other, the child who was crucified by some Jews. Two letters of the late Rev. Father James Laurenson, S.J., then missioner here, to Dr. Oliver, relative to the “little St. Hugh,” contain the following passages. The first is dated the 14th April, 1831 : “I have lately made the tour, at two or three different times, of ‘the pride and glory of Lincoln.” The more I see of it the more I find to admire. I think they do very little to keep this noble fabric in repair, considering the immense income. The east end is really a disgrace to them. Here lies the great St. Hugh, but not a vestige of his once magnificent shrine is now remaining. A plain marble slab marks the spot where repose the ashes of this great and holy prelate. “In passing by the shrine of the little St. Hugh," I was assured of a curious fact, and it is told by old Marshall who shows you round, and is fully confirmed by the Wilsons and others. Not many years since they had Occasion to repair the flags in the south aisle, where the mutilated shrine of the blessed little martyr stood. His remains were in a marble coffin, elevated above the pavement, and were removed into the adjoining sacristy. Curiosity prompted several to examine the contents. Among the rest were old Marshall and Dr. Beattie, now practising in the town. * Martyred August 27, 1255. College of St. Æugh. 653 Upon removing the marble top they found a lead coffin within, On opening which the body of the young Saint was, to their astonishment, discerned quite perfect, and undecayed. It was replaced immediately, and the coffin as it now is, removed to its former station; not however, before the Doctor took his fee, for he cut off one of the fingers, and still boasts of having this precious relic in his possession, and a lock of his beautiful auburn hair. The house where the dear little Saint was martyred has been rebuilt, or much repaired, but is never Occupied. I pass it almost every day, and generally beseech him, and the great and glorious bishop, to pray for their benighted countrymen and citizens. But so wedded do they seem to the things of this world, that were both saints to start from their tombs, to preach and testify the truth to their fellow- citizens, to me it seems none would verify more to the letter than they, the prophetic saying of our Saviour, “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.” Alas! poor Lincoln, religion, I assure you, is at very low ebb indeed here. . . .” The second letter is dated 31st August, 1831. “Since last I wrote to you I have seen Dr. Beattie, and he tells me that it was in 1791 that the body of little St. Hugh was exposed. He obtained a finger and a lock of the hair, which were plun- dered from him subsequently, and which he told me he greatly regretted. His account of the state of the body does not bear out old Marshall, for he says it was quite in a skeleton state, and that the skin which remained was quite dry and of a tan colour. The child could not have been more than seven or eight years old. He also adds, that the hands seem to have been mutilated, as if something had been driven through them, and the body is still, he says, in the same stone coffin, and replaced in the same spot as formerly, above ground.” Mr. Young, in his MS. says: “The Jesuits have never, ..even during the most troublesome times, been without a missioner at Lincoln. A college of theirs was established here, even in the days of persecution; as we find in ancient works of several of the Order who were arrested or imprisoned here.” We shall have to return to Lincoln in our continuation of the history of St. Dominic and St. Hugh, to give an account of its flourishing little college on the accession of James II. and of its destruction with the chapel, &c., by the rabble at the Revolution of 1688. ALPHABETICAL INDEX. ABERGAVENNY, Lord, grandson ..of 317. Agazzari, Fr. S.J. I62 note. Ainsworth, alias Skevington (priest) I4I. Alart (priest) 16O. Alabaster (priest) 138, 597. Alford, Michael, Fr. S.J., life of 299, Seq. . - Robert, Fr. S.J. 416. Allen, Card. 75 (his nieces I 17) I4 I, I 5 I Thote, 205, 22O, 22 I, 272, 588 note. family of, pedigree I32. Alman (priest) 243. Almond (priest, martyr) 504. Aloysius, St., College of (alias Lancashire District) Hist. I, Seq, - Ammyas (priest) I4I. Andrew, Wm., Esq. and his son, Introd. Inote p. xv. Apostles, Holy, the Coll. of, Hist. 393, Seq. * - Archer (priest) 597. Arden, Robert, Fr. S.J. 306. Arrowsmith, Edmund, Fr. S.J. (martyr) life of 24–74; arrested 34, 35 ; Con- duct in prison 37; trial 38, Seq.; Cruelty of judge 39, seq.; Con- demnation 42, 43; Suf- ferings in prison 43, seq.; execution 46, seq.; miracles and attesta- tions 61–72. Edmund, Dr. 27. Peter 26, 27. Robert 27. Thurstan 26, 135–138. Arundell, Charles, 220, 221. Lord, of Wardour 645. In Ote. . Thomas, Sir 24.I. Ashby, Richard, Fr. S.J. (see Thimelby.) Ashley, Sir Anthony 262 note. Askew (priest) I4I. Aspinall, Richd., Schoolm. I36– 138. Aston, Catherine (nun) 645 note. Hon. Herbert 645 note. Lord 233, 643 note. Mrs. Ann I 37. Atkinson, Mr. William 497. Atwood, John (a boy) Introd. note p. xv. BABBINGTON, Lady 432. Baccar, Mr. 22I. Bagshaw, Dr. 239, 244, 247. Bailey, Richard 251 (letter). Baker (priest) tried and acquit- ted 518. - Baldwin, Wm., Fr. S.J. I.42, 550. note. Bancroft (archpriest) 184, 277, 34O note. Barber, Rev. Francis 34 note, 46 note, 52 note. - Barkworth, Fr. O.S.B. 478. Barlow, Ambrose, Fr. O.S.B. 54,. 55. Alex, Esq. I37. Dean of Chester 36, Seq, R. (priest) 55. Barnes, John (priest) I32 note. Barret, lyr. I35. Barrow, condemned for pub. books 223. - Bartleet, Richard, Fr. 95. Bartlet (priest) Introd, notep. xiii. 656 A///abetica/ /ndex. Barton, Richd., S.J. 232. Thomas, S.J. 233. Bassett, Charles 587, 589 note. Philip 587 note. Bassett (or Baggot) 224. Robert, Sir 228. William 272. Bastard (or Bustard), Robert, Fr. S.J. 482 note. Bateman (priest) I4I. Bath, Mr. 29.I. Bavaria, Duke of 287. Beal, Barth. 228. Beattie, Dr., of Lincoln, 652,653. |Beaumont, Fr. Joseph 68; cured by Fr. Arrowsmith 69. Robert 419. Bedingfield, Mr. Anthony 453. Edward 232. Henry (alias Silisdon), Fr. S.J. 234, 290, 42 I. John 95. Thomas, Sir 453. Beesley (priest) I4 I, I42. Bell, James (priest, martyr) I35, I36, 138, I43. Thomas (apostate priest) 345, 348, Seq. Bellamy, Mr. I70. Bellarmine, Card., letter of 267; his works convert Fr. Edward Turner and his mother 309, note. Bennett, Sir John 29 I, 293. Bentley, Mr. 587 note. Edward 272. Bentney, Wm., Fr. S.J. 316. Bernard, Mr. 649. Berry, Francis, Fr. S.J., letter of 635. Bickley, Ralph, Fr. S.J. 95. |Birket (archpriest) 203, 204. Bishop, Dr. Wm. IO6 note, I32. Blackburn (priest) 586 note. Blackfan, alias Blackman, Fr. S.J., life of 625, seq. Blackwell, George (archpriest) I53 note, 275, 276, 285, 475, 5O2. Blainscough hall 75 and note. Bloomfield, John (a boy), Introd. note p. xv. Blount, Lady 68. Richard, Fr. S.J. (Pro- vincial) 1, 27 I, 394 ; letter 396, 42 I, 629, 630. Blundell, Francis, Fr. S.J. 69. Fr. James 482 note. Blyborough 617. Bolsack, Dr. 336, 344. Bosgrave, James IO6, I32 notes, I65, 327 note. Boston, 617. Boswell, John 626. Braddox, Essex 574, Séq. Bradley, Richd., Fr. S.J., life of, dies in prison I78. Bradshaw (? Barton), Robt., S.J. 482 note. Brereton, Mrs. I37. Brever (priest) 141. Brewster (priest) 576. Briant, Alex., Fr. S.J. (martyr) I60, 16I, I 70. Brigg (priest) I4I. (mission) 617. 648. Bristow (or Briscoe), Stanislaus (priest) I61, 169. Dr. I 57, I72. Britton, Dr. I4 I. Brooksbye, Edward, Esq., and Mrs. 31.5, 643 note. Brown, Thomas (priest) J 4 I. Mr. Anthony 43 I. Sir George 431. William, S.J. (Montague) life, with pedigree 428, seq. ; miraculous ap- pearance of, after death I 3O, 44 I. Bruce, Esq. 448. Buck (priest) I4I. Dr. 464, 465. Buckingham, Countess of, 264. Burge, John, Schoolm. I36, 138. Butler (priest) 141. Henry 230. Rev. Philip 68. CALVIN 336, seq. Campion, Fr. (martyr) 26 note, 28 note, I49 note, I 5 I note, I53, I 54 note, 165–170, 20I, 216, 237, 26I note, 289, 3I4, 324, 326, 327, 589 note, Canterbury, Archbishops of (Prot.) IOI, 223, 276, 282, 283, 285, 29I, 32O, 333, 465 seq., 628 seq. (letters of). Aſphabetica/ Index. 657 Cardenas de Dom (Fr. Ambas.) house attacked 5 I 3, 53O. Carey, George 306. Gregory, Sir I63. Michael, S.J. 307. Mrs. 426. Carnaby, Launcelot, Esq. 648. Cartwright, Humphrey (Schol.) I36, 138. - Carvajal, Doña Louisa de 236, 418, 502, 628. Catholics, sufferings of 7, 8. Catillo, Fr. S.J. 277. Cattrell (priest) I4I. Cedder, William (priest) I32 In Ote. - Chad St., College of, History of I93, seq. Relics of at Swinnerton 23.I. Chalcedon, Bishop of 203, 204, 217, 262, 299. Challoner, Ellen I36, I 38. Chamberlain, Dr. 469. Châpman Rook 576. Charke, Mr. 324, 335, Seq. Charnock (priest) 503. Cheney, Rev. Mr. 517, 518. Cheseldine of Brandon 308 note. Chester, Bishop of 30, 32, 33, 39–44, 77, II 7–I 32, I35, 137, I58 letter. alias Barlow (priest) 586 In Ote. Cipher alphabet, 394, 395 note. Clare, John, Fr. S.J. (see Warner, Sir John). Clark, John, Fr. S.J. 55 I note. Thomas, Fr. S.J. 645 note. William, a lawyer, recu- Sant 575. Clarkson (priest) I4I. Clerkenwell, Jesuit College at seized 30 note, 419. Clifford, Lord of Ugbrooks 645 In Ote. Clifton, alias Norris, Fr. 3, 9; Introd. Inote p. xi. Clifton, Cuthbert, Sir 9 note; Introd. Inote p. xi. francis, Esq. Introd. note p. xii. John, Esq. Introd, note p. X11. Laurence, Esq. Introd. note p. xii. QQ Clitherow (priest) 586 note. Cloudesley 222. Cobham, Lord I 5 I, I 52, I 54. Cocks, Mr. 587 note. Coffin, Edward, Fr. S.J. 606. Coke, Edward, Sir 25 I note. Colleton (priest) 132 note. Collingwood, Fr. S.J. 233. Compton, Lord 587 note. Coniers, Father Thomas, S.J. 68, 69, I40. - Samuel (priest) 132 note. Conquest, Benedict, Esq. 645 In Ote. Mary 645 note. Richard, Esq. 645 note. Constable, Mr. 648. Sir Henry 272. Sir Philip 648. Conway, Bridget, cured by Fr. Arrowsmith 69. Cook (priest) 586 note. Richard 226. Cooper, Fr. 242. (priest) Intr. note p. xiii. Copley, Mr. 202. William 22 I. Corby, Ralph, Fr. (martyr) S.J. 548 note. - Cornforth, alias Bilton, Fr. S.J. Introd. Inote p. xiii. Cottam, Thomas, Fr. S.J. (mar- tyr), Life of I45—177 ; early life, I45; letter of, I46; ad- mitted to Socicty I48, I49; Seized and escapes, I49–152; surrenders himself I 52—I 56; tortured, &c., tried and con- demned, I 56–17O ; executed, 170–176. Cotton, Francis, S.J. (Neville) 232. - - Mr. 264. Courtney,ThoS., Fr. S.J. I.Q9,213. Coventry, Bishop of, Letter I 59. Cowell, Dr. 337, seq. Cowley, Fr. 142. - Creitchton, Fr. S.J. 219. Cressy Serenus, O.S.B. 3O4, 305. Cresswell, Joseph, Fr. S.J. 226, 236, 24I, 242, 630, 632. Croft, Herbert, Bishop of Here- ford (apostate) 300, 30I In Ote. Sir Herbert (knight) 3or In Ote. 658 A/p/abetical Zndex. Cromwell, William I 17. Culpage (priest) I36, I37. Curry, John, Fr. S.J. 404,431,640. Curtis (priest) I41. Curzon family 264. DADE, Fr. O.P. 521, 522. Darbyshire, Fr. S.J. 200 note,6Io. Darcy, Mr., Letter of 425; Introd. note, p. xvi. - Dawson (priest) I41. - Edward, Fr. 482 note. Dean, William (priest) 132 note. Derby, Earl of I I7—I21, 127, I28, 135, I44. James, 7th Earl of, con- version of, execution, &c. 9 seq. ; correction and observation upon, See Intr. note p. xi. Seq. Dewhurst, Mrs. Elizabeth 136, I38. • Digby, Sir Everard 197, 267. Dippers, Sect of 564. Dodd, Rev. Charles, death of, and dying Statement 58. Dolbin, Dr., Dean of West- minster 466, 467. Dolman (priest) 432. Dormer, Sir Robert 272, 431, 432. Douay College I4I. Dove, Sir Ralph, Introd. note, p. XV. Dowgell (priest) I4I. Downham, Dr. 348, seq. Dracott, Mr. 587 note. Driby 617. Drury, Henry, Esq., of Lozell, S.J. 587, 588, 590. Duckett, George, Fr. S.J., Letter of 437. Dudley, Prebendary 231. Dunstan 617. EAST, Edward, Esq. 199. Eccles, Henry, see Leech Hum- phrey. Eccleston, Dame 68. Thomas, Fr. S.J. 582. Edmund, Fr. O.S.B. 23. Egmond, Count, Duke of Guel- dres, Spanish Ambassador, house attacked 514, 548 note; Collects relics of English mar- tyrs. Elizabeth, Queen 225, 236, seq.; feigned plot to poison saddle. Elliott, George (traitor) 586 note. Ellis, William, S.J. (L.B.) I97. Ely, Dr., alias Havard I 50— I54. Bishop of 261 note, 291, 323. Emerson, Mr. 577. Ralph, S.J. (L.B.) 594. Englefield, or Ingleby, Francis, Mr. 205, 226. English College, Rome I4I. Province, S.J., created I623 ; its numbers I. Essex, Earl of 224, 225, 241 ; Squire's feigned plot against 236, seq. Evans (priest) I4I. Everard, Henry, Esq. 399. Thomas, Fr. S.J., Life of 399–409,649. Exeter (Cecil) Earl of 476, 479, 481, 494, 495, 497, 498, 5O1, 5O3. . FABER, de Fabri, S.J. I.48. Fairclough, Alex. Fr. S.J. 95, 29I. Fairfax, Sir Thos. 560, 561. Falconer, John, Fr. S.J. 95, 303. Falkland, Lady 408. Faller (priest) 14:1. Faunt, Ambrose 289. Anthony 288. Arthur L., Fr. S.J. notice of 286, seq. George 288. William 286, 289. Feria, Duke of 201—3, 206, 216, 227. Field, Dr. Martin 171, 172. Filby, Wm. (priest, martyr) 170. Filcock, Fr. S.J., (martyr) 478. Finch, John (martyr) I36, 138, 143, I44. Finjean 587 note. Fisher, Fr. S.J., 264. Fitzherbert, Sir Anthony IQ8, 199 In Ote. Edward 217. John 224, 229, 230, 587 In Ote. Nicholas 229, 230. Richard 587 note. Robert S.J. (Schol.) 230. Thomas Sir 587 note. Alphabetical Index. 659 Thomas Fr. S.J. Life of with pedigree, I98 seq. Rector of Engl. Coll. Rome 207 ; personal narrative 207–13 ; his writings 228, 229, 272 ; Introduct. note p. xiv. Fitzjames (priest) I4I. Flack, Fr. S.J. I.42. Fletcher, Mary, cured by Fr. Arrowsmith 64—69. Flint, Thomas, Fr., S.J. Life of 4O9 seq., 482 note. Floyd, Henry, Fr. S.J. 235, 264, 626. John, Fr. S.J.. I 85 note, 482 note. Foljambes, Lady 587 note. Forster, Anne (abbess) 456. Christopher, Esq. 445. Henry of Copdoke, S.J. (lay-brother) 426 ; Life of 444–56, with pedi- gree ; his daughters (nuns) 454; Introduct. note, p. xvi. Michael, Fr. S.J. 453, 455. John, O.S.B. 453, 454. joseph, Fr. S.J., writes his father's hist. 454, 455. Thomas, Fr., S.J., dies in Lincoln prison, 642, 643. Fortescue, Adrian, Fr., S.J. 637. Fossiter, Mr., Son of 317, seized at School. Foster, Francis, Fr. S.J., Provl. 232, 233, 506 seq. Frank, John, traitor 576. Freeman, merchant, conveyer of priests, I42. Fromantine (priest) 649. Fulwood, Richard, S.J. brother) 574, 576, 606. (lay- GAGES of Hengrave Hall, 275 Col. Sir Henry, Bart., 5 IO seq., 52O Seq. Rev. Geo. 52O seq. Thomas (apostate) 52O Seq. William, Fr. S.J. 52O. Gamadge, M.A. (priest) I4I. Garlick, Nicholas (martyr) 229. Garnett, Anthony 432. Henry, Fr. S.J. (martyr) I79, 25I, 272, 315, 476, 48O, 481, 503, 522, 525, 574, 576, 648. Richard, Mr. 476–8. Thomas, Fr. S.J. (martyr) Life and martydom of 475—505. George, Mrs. 587 note. Gerard, John, Fr. S.J. I79, 217 218, 22 I, 266, 269, 400, 4OI, 418, 419, 439, 440, 480, 488, 574, 576, 577, 579, 580, 590, 592, 636. Margery 26. Nicholas 26. Sir Thomas, 26, 587 note. Gifford, Gilbert 221. Gilbert, Geo. S.J. 289. Glasgow, Bishop of 22 I. Glaslyer (priest) 586 note. Goldwell, Geo. (priest) 587 note. Gondomar, Count, (Sp. Ambass.) 95. Goodman, Mr. 223. Goodwin, Lady 587 note. Sir John, Son of 587 note. GOSS, Bp. Introd. note p. xi. Gray (priest) 272, confession of 43O Seq. Green (priest) Intr, note p. xiii. Greenway, Anth. 7, Fr. (Tilney) S.J., Life and narrative 4 II seq. Grey, Gilbert, Fr. S.J.(see Talbot). Griffin (sen. and jun. priests) I4I. Grose, John (Felton) Fr. S.J. (martyr in prison) 404, 637 seq. (life of) 642. Gryvell, Mr. 589 note. Gueldres, Duke of (see Egmond, Count). Gurgune, John 577. Gwyn (priest) I4I. HADDOCK, Dr. I4I, 225. Haddon House 589 note. Halfcote, Stafford. 22. Hall, Dr. Richard I35, 162 note. Hammond, Dr. I63. Hance (priest) 590. Hankes, Christ. (priest) I36, I37. Hanmer, Fr. S.J. 460. Miss 459. Mr. 324 Seq. Sir John 467. 66O A//abetica/ /naea. Hanmer, Sir Thomas 471, 473. Harcourt, Robert 228. Hare, Mr. Michael 483 note. Harmon, Sir William 228. Harris (priest) 14I, 272, 432. Harrison, Fr. 225. Hart, John, Fr. S.J., IO6 note, I32 note, I5o, I 5 I note, I 53 note, 326, 327 note. William 33, 35, 53. Hartley, Wm. IO6 note, 132 note. Hassell (priest) I4I. Hassold (priest) I4I. Hathersall, George II.7. Havard (see Ely, Dr.) Mr., of Hurlston II 7. Hawarden’s cure by Fr. Arrow- Smith 61–64. Hawkins, Fr. Henry 95. Hayter (priest) 586 note. Healey, John, confession of 648. Heburn (priest) 503. Herst, Richard (martyr) 35, 36, 54. Heyton, Mr. Humphrey 589 note. Heywood, Jasper Fr., S.J. Ioë, IO9, I 3 I, I 32, 327 note, 594. Hickman (priest) I4I. Higgons, Theop. (apostate) 185. Hodsheds, Mr. Henry 231. Holder (bookseller) 589 note. Holland, George (alias Holt, Guy) 419. Mr. Robert I.36, I37. Thomas, Fr. S.J. (martyr) 548 mote. Holt, Wm. Fr. S.J. Ig4, 222, 224, 25I, 295, 349, 486. Holtby, Rich. Fr. S.J. 222, 277, 490, 630, 63.I. Hopkins, Mr. 22O. Hopton, Sir Owen, Lieut. of Tower, 163, I64. Hoskins, Anthony, Fr. S.J. 4OI. Houghton, Thomas (priest) I36, I38. Hudd, John Fr. S.J. 638, 640- 642 life, dies in Lincoln prison. Huddleston, Sir Edmund, 457. Hudlston (priest) II.4. Hudson (priest) 586, 587 note. Hughes (priest) I4I. Hull, Castle of, Catholics in I61, 162. Hulme, Mr. Robert I37. Hunt, Thos. Fr. S.J. Life of 294 Seq. Hugh, St. the great, of Lincoln 652. St. the little, of Lincoln, his coffin opened, &c. 652, 653. Hutton, Dr. (Oxford) 183. Richard (priest) I35, 136, 38, I43. Hyde Park, origin of name, 543. In Ote. - Hyneacre, Mr. 29O. IGNATIUS, St., College of I ; mi- racles by use of blessed water and pictures of 6 note, I7, 20 —2. Immaculate Conception, College of, history 271, Seq.; places served, conversions, Schools seized upon, &c. Ingatestone Hall 393, and see Thorndon Hall. Irnham 617. JACKSON, Dr. I4I. (priest) 587 note. Richard (priest) 574. Jarvis (priest) I4I. Jenison, Thos., Fr. S.J. 644. Jenkins, Judge 561. Jennings, Mrs., recusant 576. T Jerningham, Sir —, reconciled to Church 571. Jessopp, Dr. (Norwich) 26I note, 265, 269, 27O. Jewell, Mr. 370—2. Johnson (priest) 141. * Rev. Mr., tortured in Tower I60, I6I, I65, 272. Jones, Robert, Fr. S.J. 630, 63.I. a/ias Buckley, O.S.F. (martyr) 578. KELLISON, Dr. 29, 33. Kerman 617. Keynes, John, Fr. S.J Introd. note, p. ix. King (priest) I4I. Dr., V. C. Oxon. I83. Adam (spy) 235. Kingerby Hall 617, 649, 65 I. Kirby, Rev. Luke (martyr) I60, I65, I7O. Aſphaćetica/ Zndex. 66 I Knight, family of Snasford 651. Richard, Fr. S.J. 651. - Mrs. 651. Kyerton (priest). I4I. LACEY, Fr. Wm. I 83. Laithwaite, Thos., Fr. S.J. 482 In Ote. Lancashire District, S.J. (vide College of St. Aloysius.) Langford, Mr. 272. LaSnet, John, S.J. 266. Latham, Edward, Fr. S.J. 522, 525, 544. Thomas 419. Laton, or Laughton, Gilbert 272. Laud, Archbishop 317 note. Laurenson, James, Fr. S.J., let- ters of 652, 653. Lea, Sir Thomas 272. Leach, Humphrey, Fr. S.J., alias Eccles, life of, conversion, ex- pulsion from Oxford, &c. 181 —9. Lee, Rev. John (priest) 36. a/Zas Cooper (priest) 586 In Ote. Legge, Dr. I4I. Leicester, Earl of 265. Leigh, Mr. John I37. Lemos, Countess of 227. Letoige, Capt. 307. Leukner, Thos., Fr. S.J. 636,637. Levison, Mr. John 232. Mr., School S.J. at his house seized, wide also Intr. note, p. xiv., xv. Lincoln 617, 652. Line, Mrs. Ann (martyr) 478. Little Paunton 617. Littleton, Mr. 587 note. Locknell, John, Esq. I36, I37. London, Richard, Bishop of, letter I 38, I39. Longford, Mr. 587 note. Loughe, Wm., Esq. I36, I37. John I 36. Lovedus, Mr. 587 note. Lovell, Troillus 228. Lowe, John (priest) I38. Lucas, Sir John 426. Ludlam, Robert (martyr) 229. Lumley, Mr. 3 II note, 317. Luther, 328, 329, 333, 334, seq. Lutterell, Sir Andrew, 644 note. Lythgoe, Rand., Fr. S.J. 651. MALLETT, (priest) I4I. Mann, John (Merton Coll.) 286. Market Rasen 617. Markham, Sir Griffin 634. Marsh, Mrs. Catherine I36, 138. Martin, Sir Roger 426. Mason, Mr. 445; his daughters 8 - Massie, Esq. (of Hooton) I 82. Anne I37. Masten Chaplain, Newgate 498. Matthews, Sir Toby 276, 281. Archbishop 350. Maxfield, Humphrey, ..student I3O, I 3 I. * Mayler (priest) Intr. note, p. xiii. Mercurian, Fr. Gen., letter of 6Io. Metcalfe, Rev. Thomas 59, 61 In Ote. Mettam, Edward (priest) I 53 In Ote. Lady 609. Sir Thomas 609. Thomas, Fr. S.J. (martyr in prison) life of 608, Seq. Milford, Mr. 587 note. Modus vivendi hominum S.J., I6I6 3. Montague, Lord and Lady, 272, 587 note. Dr. 333, 334, 336, 337, 339. Henry, Attorney-General 491–6. Lord, of Cowdray (pedi- gree) 428 seq. Moodie, Ann 137. Moore, Edward 590 note. Mr. 587 note, 589, 590. Mora, Christovalde 242, 252. More, Edward 419. Henry, Fr. S.J. 303, 397; letter to 4 Io; life of 416–27; letters of 422, Seq.; letters to 470, seq. Sir Thomas 417. Thomas, Fr. S.J. 417. Morgan, Thomas 220, 22 I. William, Fr. S.J. 301. Mornay du Plessis 626. Morphy, Cornelius, Fr. S.J. 24, o 25. Morren, or Murren, John (priest) I35, 136. 662 A//ačetical /ndex. Morris (priest) I4I. Morse, Henry, Fr. S.J. (martyr) 548 note. . . Morton, Dr., Bishop of Durham I86 note, 276, 282, 283. Morton (priest) 141. Moulin, James T. (priest) 649. Peter (priest) 649. Mullen, John, Br. S.J. (narrative of Bridget Conway's cure by Fr. Arrowsmith) 69. Mumford, Jas., Fr. S.J., life of 457–9. Munday, William 250; Squiers’ plot 236 seq. Musgrave, Mr. 649. NAPPER, Mrs. 587 note. Nelson 222. Fr. S.J. 306. Neville, Lady 307. of Holt 315. Nicolas (priest) 648. Newman, Edward, Esq., Introd. Inote, p. xv. Newton, Rev. Richard, a/Zas Fawcett 649. Norris, Andrew Fr. S.J. 651. Cuthbert (vide Clifton). Richard (priest) I32 note. (priest) 586 note. Silvester, Fr. S.J. 482 In Ote. Northumberland, Earl of 609. Nutter, Robert (priest) IO6 note, I32 note. OLDCORNE, Fr. Edward (martyr) 222. Orton, Mr. Henry I 32 note, 165. Oscliffe (priest) seized I44. Owen, Hugh 220, 222, 224, 225, 227. Nicholas, Br. S.J. (martyr) 574, 577. Thomas, Fr. S.J. Igg, 205, - 419, 439, 440. Ozither, Sir 426. PAGET, Charles 220, 221, 227. Lord 220. Palmer, Ferdinand, Fr. S.J. 3, I8, 19. Sir Thomas, conversion of 256 note. Parkinson, Dr. I4I. Parkinson Mr. (priest) I41. Parr, Edward 419 note. (priest) Intr. note, p. xiii. Parsons, Robert, Fr. S.J. 77, IO7 note, III; Wm. Worthing- ton’s letter to II2; IS3, I39, I4 I, I 5 I Inote, I 53, I 54 note, I58, 165, I66, 168, 17O note, 181, 20I, 2O5, 216, 220, 22 I, 222, 225–7, 229, 272, 276, 289, 290, 319, 326, 333, 381, 478, 589 note, 626, 630, In- trod. Inote, p. xiii. Pascal, Mr. and Mrs. 587 In Ote. Pawlett, Lady 587 note. - Payne (priest) 586 note, 589 In Ote. Peake (priest) I41. Peckham, Edmund 587 note. George 587 note. Pelham, Fr. S.J. 630. Pembroke, Lady 587 note. Penalty, Fr. S.J. 258. Penkeville, John, statement of to Cecil, 257. Pennington, John 419 note. Percival (priest) 141. Percy, John Fr. S.J. 633. Lady Mary 576. Perkins, Sir Christ. 340 note, 34I, 365. - Persal, John 256. Persall (Peshall) Sir John, Intro. Inote p. xv. Petre, Belhouse (or Stanfield Rivers), Fidlers, and Cranham branches of, with Pedigree 585. Charles Fr. S.J. 586. Francis (bishop) 68, 69. John Esq. (S.J. lay-bro- ther) 585. John, Fr. S.J. 585. Hady, Sen. 425, 427, 587, 588 note. Lady, the younger 587 In Ote. Lord Robert 416, 421, Introd. note, p. xvi. Lord Robert Edward 583. Lord William (founds Coll. of Holy Apostles) his letters, &c. 398; his death, &c. 42 I ; Introd. Inote, p. xvi. A/?habetical Zndex. 663 Lord William Francis Henry 583. - Richard, Fr. S.J. 586. I. Robert, Fr. S.J. 585. 2. Robert, Fr. S.J. 586. 3. Robert, Fr. S.J. 586, Introd. note, p. xvi. Sir Edw. Fr. S.J. 586. Sir John 587, 588 note. Sir William 587, 588 note. The Lords 393—395, 397, Seq. 416. Thomas, Fr. S.J. 585. Phelippes (decipherer) 22 I seq. Physter (priest) 586 note. Pineda, Fr. S.J. 257. Pitts, Arthur (priest) 132 note. (priest) I4I, 586 note. Plowden, Edmund, Esq. 168. Pole, Cardinal 289, 429. German 290, 29I. Gervase, Fr. S.J., Life of 289 seq., exam. 292, 293. Henry (priest) 298. John, Fr. S.J. 291, 316. rººm. Lord Chief Justice I42, I68 Potts, John (Oxon.) 286. Mr. (priest) I4I. Robert (priest) 141. Pounde, Mr. Henry 608. Thomas, S.J. I.45, I48 note, I52 note, 593 seq., (addenda to his life); letter of 601, 612, 613. Poulton, Thomas, S.J. 419 note. Powtrell, Mr. 587 note. Poyntz, Wm. Step. Esq. 430. Pugh (priest) 503. Purchwell (priest) I41. Purfrey, Michael 288. RAIGHLEY, Lady 332. Raines, Canon, Intr, note, p. xi. Seq. \\ Ravis, Dr. (bishop) 185 mote, 483 seq., 496. Reaper, Mr. 272. Reasby, 617. Recusants in Lancashire, Wales, and England 34 note, I4O. Richardson, L. (priest, martyr) I70 seq. Ridcall, Mr. 272. Rigby, Mrs. I37. Rigmarden, John (gaoler, Lan- caster) 59, 60. Rishton, Edw. (priest) IO6 note, I32 note, I 50, I 53 note ; letter from Tower I60, 165. Roberts, Fr. I42. Robinson, spy (see Sterrell). Rogers, Gerard, Br. S.J., Life of 44 I. Mr. Thomas 371. Mr. William 587 note. (spy) Letter of 220. Rolfe, Mr. 346 seq. * Rolles, Lord Chief Justice 520 SCCſ. Rºton, 587, 589 notes. Rookwood, Miss Eliz. 445. Thomas (see Garnett, Thomas). Roper, Thomas 589 note. Ross, Bishop of 220. Rouse, Anthony (apostate) 483, 496. . Rousham, Stephen (martyr) 6O1. Rydgeley, Sir Robt. 574. SADLER (priest) I4I. Salisbury, Earl of 228, 267, 277. Countess of 429. Sancroft, Dr. 466. Sankey, Francis, Fr. S.J. 4II, 569. Mr. II6–18. Mrs. I37. Saunders, Dr. I 57, I 58, 172. Saunderson, Rev. Mr. 649. Sawyer, Thomas (see Garnett, Thomas). “Scavenger's daughter” I 59. Scots, Mary Queen of 206, 216. King of 223, 225, 243. Scott (priest) 586 note. Ralph (priest) I36, I37. Scudamore (a/ias Wiseman) 576, 577. Sedgwick, Mrs. Lucy I36, 138. Seminaries abroad I40. Seville English College 77 note, I4.I. Sharp, James, Fr. S.J. life, 617 SCCI. shºrd, Arthur 22I. Shelford House, 306. Sheppard (alias Chapman, priest) 586 note. Sherwin, Ralph (priest and martyr) I60, 165, I70, 326. 664 Aſphaćetical Index. Shert (priest) 586 note. Shirley, Mr. 587 note. Shrewsbury, Earl of 224, 229. Countess of 224. Silisdon, Henry S.J. (see Beding- field) Skelton, Mrs. Frances 469. Skeventon (priest) see Ainsworth. Skinner (priest) tortured 16O. Slack, Richard (priest) 132. Sledd (traitor) I49 seq. Smartford (priest) I4I. Smith, Mr. 587 note. Nicholas, Fr. S.J. 291. Smith, Wm. (priest) 132 note, 586 Inote. Wm. (spy) Letter to Cecil 226. Smythe (priest) 225. Snowden, John (spy) 22I. Southwell, Rob. Fr. S.J. (martyr) 4.17, 566 miracles by. Southworth, Sir John I36, 137. (priest) martyr 47, 54, 59, 73. Spencer, John, Fr. S.J. Life of I94. Spinkhill Mission 316. Squire's feigned plot 228 seq. St. Dominic (see College of St. Hugh). sº Hugh, College of, Hist. &c. I7. St. Main Hy. (see Sterrell). St. Omer's College I4I. St. Paul’s Cross 283. St. Winefrid's Well, Pilgrimage to 408. Stafford, 196. Sir Edward 272. Standen, Sir Anthony (letter) 227. Stanford, Wm. Esq. and John, his Son, Intr. note, p. xv. Stanhope, Daniel 419 note. Stanhopes, The 224. Stanley Grange and School, S.J. 326. - Stanley, John 24I, 242. Sir Wm. 226, 248, 25I. Stanney, Thomas, Fr. S.J. 482 In Ote. * Stephens (priest) 225. Stephenson, Thos. Fr. S.J. I32, In Ote. Sterrell (spy) 221, 222, 224. Stevens, Thos. Fr. S.J. 595, 606. Story, Dr. (martyr) 17O note. Strange, Fr. S.J. 232, 476. Studyes, Sir Henry 426. Supremacy, Oaths of 81. Sutcliffe, Dr. 372. Suttons (priests 3) 586 note. Sweet (priest) I4I. - John, Fr. S.J. 225. Sweetnam, John, Fr. 95. Swinbourne, Simon, Fr. S.J. 409. Swinnerton. I28. Talbot,Adrian, S.J.,see Fortescue Gilbert (Earl Shrewsbury) Fr. S.J. 582. Mr. 587, 588 note. Thomas, Fr. S.J. 418, 440, 482, 504, letter of Talman, see More, Fr. Henry. Tancred, Charles, Fr. S.J. 242. Tarleton, Mrs. I37. Tempest, Dr. I4I. Mr. (priest) I4I, 22.I. Nicholas, Fr. S.J. 3. Rev. Edmund 368 note. Thimelly, Family of 643 note. Richard, Fr. S.J., alias Ashby 643. Thirkell (priest) 586 note. Thirlby, see Ely, Bishop of Thompson, Christopher (priest) I32 note, 586, 589 note. Thorndike, Dr. 464. Thorndon Hall, Royal visit to, &c. 582. Thornton, see Blackfan. Throgmorton, Thomas 22O, 230. Thursby (priest) I4I. Tildesley, Ann (Lady Clifton) 9 note ; Introduct. note, p. xi. Sir Thomas, Introd. note, p. Xl. Tixall Hall 233. Todd (priest) 586 note. Topcliff (priest hunter) I30, 131 Inote, I72, I 73, 224 ; extract from letter of 271, 430 ; Introd. Inote p. xiv. Townley, John, Esq. I36, I37. Trafford, Sir Edmund I35. Travers, Fr. S.J. 460–463, 469, 47O. Mr. Mattw. I36, I37. Tresham, Sir Thomas 223. Trevan, Mr. 587 note. A///abetical /ndex. 665. Treville, Mr. and Mrs. 587 note. Trevor (priest) I4I. Triessemius, Wm. (publisher) 458. - Turner, Anthony, Fr. S.J. (mar- tyr) 308 note. - Edward, Fr. S.J. (con- fessor) 308 note. Mrs. (their mother) 308 In Ote. John 232. Tyburn gallows I7O. Tyrrell (priest) I4I. Anthony, S.J. 232. UMPTON (priest) 141. Underhill, see Poulton, Thomas. Upton (priest) 250. VALLADOLID, English College 78 note, I4I. Vaux family 265. Ann Hon. 315–317, 643 In Ote. Lord 315, 316. Vavasour, Dr. 65 I. Henry 651 note. James 65 I note. John 65 I note. Richard 232. Thomas 65 I note. Verstegan, Mr. Richard 257. Vincent, Judas 289. Vivendimodus hom. S.J. (1616)3. WADE, Sir Wm. (Gov. of Tower) 277, 476, 488, 489, 496. or Ward (priest) 586 note. Wadham College 398 note. Wadsworth, James 216. Wallis, Francis, Fr. S.J. 95. Walpole Family S.J. Pedigree 235. - Calibut Wm., Esq. 235 In Ote. - Christopher, Fr. S.J. 235 Inote, 269. Edward, Fr. S.J., Life of 235 note, 258--265. Henry, Fr. S.J. (martyr) 258, 259,265, 269, 576, 590. John, Esq. 258. Michael, Fr. SJ. 262, 265, 266, 269 ; letters of 5OO seq. Richard, Fr. S.J. 225, 228, Life of 235–258 ;. Squires' sham plot to. poison Queen 236 seq. William, Esq. 261 note. Walsingham, Edward, Esq. 318. Sir Francis 318. Francis, Fr. S.J. 299, 306,. . Life of 318–389; Epist. to James I. .32O ; me-- morial to 33 I ; confer- ences with Archbp. of Canterbury and others 333 seq.; ditto with Dr. Downham 350 seq. ; final conversion 373 seq.; letter to his uncle, 379 ; enters English College, Rome 381,382; and returns to England; writings of 383 seq. Humphrey, Alderman 323; letter to 379. Ward, George, Fr. S.J. 303. Warmington, Wm. (priest) I32. Inote, 503. Warner, Dr. Edward 469 seq. Francis, Esq. 459, 460, 468, 469, 47 I, 472 death of Lady (Sister Clare of Jesus) 459 seq. Mr. Edmund 473. Miss Elizabeth (mun).459, 463,469. Sir John (bart.), (Fr. John Clare, S.J.) Life of 459 –474. Susanand Catherine, their daughters 469, 472. Waterworth, Wm., Fr. S.J. 301. Watham, Schoolm, 587 note. Watson, Dr., Catholic Bishop of Lincoln I62. Weedon, Edmund 419 note. Westmoreland, Earl of 588 note. Weston, Dr. Thomas 419 note. . a/zas Edmonds, Fr. S.J. I80, 593, 594, 597, 605, 606, 612, 613, 633. Wharton, Lady 587 note. White, Andrew, Fr. S.J., 482 Whitlock, Sir James (judge) 38, 6 40. Whittall, Mr. 587 note. “Widow’s mite, the ” 43 note. 666 A/phaëetical Zndex. Wilkinson, Henry, Fr. S.J. 306, 3O9. * Thomas 232. Williamson, Thomas (priest) I35, 136, 138, 43. Willis, Ralph 576. Wilmar, Sir Wm. Introd. note, p. xv. Wilson (martyr, priest) I4I. William (priest) 136, 137. Winchester, Marquis of 5 II, 515, 516, 524, 527. e Windsor, Lord 272. Wisbeach Castle and Catholic prisoners I62, 575, 592, 609, 612, 613. - Wiseman, Mr. 226. Of Braddox, and family, S.J., &c. 574, seq. Wolverhampton 234. Woodhouse, Mr. and Mrs. 250. - Woods, Thomas (priest) 136– I38. l Wootton, Hon. Pickering, his conversion and death 253–256. Sir Henry 228, 253. The Lord 253, Worcester, Bishop of 223. Worsley, Mr. Ralph I36, 137. Worthington family 75 (Pedi- gree I33), 189, Introd. note p. X111. Agnes II 3, 134. Conflict of four boys Worthingtons (John, Richard, Robert, Thos.) II.6—132. James 134. - John, Fr. S.J., Founder of Lancashire district 2; Life of 75–94; his nar- rative 8 I–94; addenda I33, I34, I89. Lawrence 75; Life of 95 —IO3; letter of 96— IOO, I34. Inote. Peter I34. Thomas, DD. S.J. 75 ; Life of IO4—I IO, II6, II7, I3O, I 3 I, I32 notes, I34, I4O, 203, 204. William, Fr. S.J., miracu-, lous cure of &c. III— II 5. Wright, Dr. I35. Mr. (priest) I4I. Thomas (priest) 278. William, Fr. S.J. 272 ; Life of 275—286, 581. Wyndems (priest) I41. XAVIER, Francis. St., Coll. of I ; seizure of residence at Combe 30O. YATES, Mr. 587 note. alias Boulton (priest) Introd. note p. xiii. Yelverton, Sir Henry (judge) 35, 38–40, 42, 43, 46; death of 54. York, William, Fr. S.J. 95. Young, G., Esq. 649, 65 I, 652, 65.3 53. John, Esq. 65.I. Family of 65I. Thomas, A., Esq. 65 I. Younge (priest) I4I. Francis, Fr. S.J., 95 ; short life of IOO, IOI ; letter of IO2, IO3, 256; Introd. Inote p. xiii. Rev. Dr. I62. ZUEDA, Countess de 417. Also, by the same Author, with Illustrations, &c., crown 8vo, price 5s., Historic Facts illustrative of the Zabours and Sufferings of the Anglish Mission and Province of the Society of }esus. Vol. I. SERIES I. - With Lives of Brother Thomas Pounde (olim of Belmont, Esquire), Con- fessor; Brother George Gilbert (olim of Suffolk, Esquire), Confessor and Exile; Rather Thomas Darbyshire, Exile. *ms NOTICES OF THE PRESS. . . . Another instance of that remarkable activity and industry Which for some time past has enabled the Fathers S.J., in spite of other heavy duties, to enrich our Catholic literature. . . . It cannot fail to be gladly welcomed by Catholics, relating as it does, in a simple and pleasing manner, some of those tales of suffering of our forefathers during the cruel reign of Elizabeth. It increases in value, as it is the first of an intended series of similar publica- tions; . . . which must necessarily possess both great interest, as also histori- cal value.— Westmezzsáer Gazette. In these days of misrepresention, . . . this work is of an importance that can hardly be exaggerated, and the thanks of the whole community are due to the Jesuit Fathers for its timely production. . . . Its great value is that it is mainly compiled from the State Papers, P.R.O., which renders the historical facts undeniable. . . . The work should be largely encouraged. . . . The life of Thomas Pounde reads like a romance, only that it is one of struggles, sufferings, and tortures for the service of God.—Catholic Times. . . . Throws light upon the period of the Elizabethan persecution of Catholics, especially of the Jesuits, in their share of that heroic struggle. . . . Let us hope that the promise of a continuation of the series will be speedily ſulfilled.—AVezo York Catholic World. . . We like the book very much which pourtrays so vividly what English Catholics had to suffer under Queen Elizabeth, and how nobly they upheld the cause of the Church.-Brozonsozz's Review. & Contains interesting letters from Fathers Campion and Persons and Cardinal Allen. . . . It also strikingly exhibits the Supernatural fervour and indomitable courage which animated the martyrs and confessors, to whom Catholics are indebted for the preservation of their Faith in England.—Dublin. Review. * The opening of the archives enables the historian to work at first hand. . . . The Author has not been slow to avail himself of this opportunity afforded for rescuing from oblivion the heroic deeds, sacrifices, and sufferings of the first F.F. and Founder of the English Mission and Province, S gº tº The following out of his plan will supply a want that has long been felt of a trustworthy, readable history of the rise and fortunes of the English Province. The Series comes most opportunely at a time when Catholic piety is claiming the honour of our altars for those who, in dark and evil days, loved not their lives even unto death, chains, and the spoiling of their goods.--Month. The Zife of the Blessed Alphonsus Rodriguez, LAY-BROTHER OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. With Engraved Portrait. One vol., Crown 8vo., price Five Shillings. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. Written with much simplicity and unction.—Month. We heartily thank the Lay-brother Author for this beautiful Life. e Another point we wish to press upon our readers in connection with this Life is the Saint's devotion to the Blessed Mother of God, which was very remarkable ; we rejoice to think that this work may be one of the means of sowing in this cold land of ours, a few at least of the seeds of devotion to our Lady, &c.—Dublin Å’eview. . . . It is impossible within the limits of a review to do more than point to some of the most remarkable features in this admirable Life. . . . But we may well assure all readers, whether lay or clerical, that they have in this volume a mine of spiritual instruction.—Tablet. . . . A great portion of it is very beautiful and edifying. . . . The words and works of the holy man are evidences of his faith, devotion, and charity.—Church Herald. . . . Contains much that is capable of nourishing pious sentiments in the hearts of Catholics of all classes.—The Wation. * º: §§§º § § THE UNIVERSITY OF GRADUATE LIBRARY DATE DUE &- : i. s . º : º-rj. s 2-rº-º-º: Tºº-º-º- J. F.T. . . . . . . ******* - . * - º “jºy: , ; 2. J’. ‘’ i. * . . . .” .../", , , º ºr "º, * -º , º sº sº - ,” -