f VINilOjiiv. t[ ( » SANTA BARBARA => INVS « # o JO iav9 viNVS fU AOVJMII 3H1 " \ tfiNdOinv:^ io / B 3f[ AilSlOAlNf au( Ksrrv o \ J3 9»va viNVS e ^ 1 "'■•f'^ i( I- / / / / :rfe iV- MNf. "i-M '^ C z \ ■3 0» CAiJft- » THE UNT/ERSr olTf Jf-i lUMUail DUt o THE GUNPOWDER PLOT AND LOED MOUNTEAGLE'S LETTER; :being a proof, avfth moral certitude, of the authorship of the document: TOGETHEll AVITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE THIRTEEN GUNPOW])ER CONSPIRATORS, INCLUDING GUY FAWKES. BY HENliY HAWKES SPINK, Jux (A Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England). LONDON: .^IMPKIN, MARSHALL, HA^LILTON, KENT & CO., LTD. YOKK: JOHN SAMPSON. 1902. \AU ri(]hts reserved.'] " \'rri/(is /I'ffij'oris fi[i(t. Truth is tlie tluugiitor of Time, ospociallx- in this case, wherein, ))y timely ami often examinations, matters of i^i'eatest moment liave l)cen found out." — Sni Edwaiu; Coke (the AttuDieij-iicncral irJio /trosrcutcd tlic ciglit surviving cottsjiirators). " Suifer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty wliicli History has the power to inflict on AVi'ong/ "-- Loi; i • A ctox. "History, it is said, revises the verdicts of con- temporaries, and constitutes an Appeal Court nearest to the orde.al of heaven." — Dr. James Mahtineau. LIBRARY -TN A UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNU 3^: S (o ^ X SANTA BARBARA TO THE EIGHT HONOURABLE CHAllLES LIN])LEY SECOND VISCOUNT HALIFAX OF HICKLETON AND GAllEOWBY IN THE COUNTY OF YOEK |). 04-95. Dated 30th Novemher, 1^40. PEEFACE. The writer of the following work desires respectfully to put forward a modest contribution to the solution of one of the greatest problems known to Histor}'. The problem referred to arises out of that stupendous and far-reaching movement against the Government of King James I. known as the Gunpowder Treason Plot. This enterprise of cold-blooded, though grievously provoked, massacre was, of a truth, " barbarous and savage beyond the examples of all former ages." But because the movement had a profoundly- — in the Aristotelian sense — political ciuisa cmisaits, therefore it is of perennial interest to governors and governed. The cmfsff cansau.^, or originating cause, of the Gunpowder Treason Plot, in its ultimate analysis, will be found to involve that problem of problems for Princes, Statesmen, and Peoples all the world over:— How to^ tdlow freedom of human action, and yet faithfully to- maintain Absolute Truth concerning the Infinite and th& Eternal — or that which is believed to be Absolute Truth. To the intent that the mind of the reader may ever and anon find relief from the stress and strain occasioned by the dry discussion of Evidence and the severe reasonin (T XIV from necessary or probable philosophical assumptions, the writer has designedly interspersed, l)oth in the Text and in the Notes, matter of a Biographical and Topographical nature, especially such as hath relation to the author's lionoured native County — Yorkshire — and his beloved native City — York. The writer has thought out his thesis and has treated the same without fear or favour — limited and conditioned only l)y a regard for what he knew or supposed, and therefore believed, to be the truth governing the subject- matter under consideration. Nobody can say more, not even the most advanced or emancipated thinker living.^ If it be demanded of the author why a member of the lower branch of the legal profession hath essayed the unveiling of a mystery that has baffled the learning and ingenuity of men from the daj^s of King James I. — the British Solomon — down to the days of Dr. Samuel Piawson Gardiner, the renowned historian of tlie early English Stuarts, the author's answer and plea must be — for it can only be — that by the decrees of Fate, liis eyes first saw the light of the sun in a County whose history is an epitonie of the history of the English people ; and in a City which is an England in miniature. In conclusion, the writer would be tain to be pardoned in saying that he has not had the advantage ' Cf., " The Ethic of Free-thought" by Professor Karl Pearson. (Adam and Charles Black, 190J.) XV of frequenting any British or Foreign University, or other seat of learning-^all the education that he can make his humble boast of having been received in Yorkshire Protestant Schools. The writer's guide, during the past eighteen months, wherein he hath " voyaged through strange seas of thought alone," ^ has been "the high white star of Truth. Theee he has gazed, and there aspired."- Saturda/j, 26tli October, 1001. 1 ViT AVordsworth. * Matthew Arnold. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO THE VISCOUNT HALIFAX.. vii PREFACE .. .. .. .. .. .. xiii PRELUDE . . . . . . . . . . . . XXXV Three movements against Government of James 1. in the year of the Gunpowder Treason Plot (1605) distinct though connected — (1) General wave of insurrectionary feeling on part of Papists by reason of penal laws of Queen Elizabeth — (2) Gunpowder Plot devised by Robert Catesby — (3) Rebellion in Midlands under leadership of Sir Everard Digby — Earl of Salisbury, his spies and decoys, may have fomented first movement but not others — Certainly not projectors of Gunpowder Plot — Traditional story accepted in main outlines. CHAPTER L . . . . . . . . . . , 1 Reasons given why subordinate conspirator, Francis Tresham, cannot have "discovered" Plot — True principles laid down to guide mind of Inquirer into 2'>^i'Sonnel of (1) Revealing Conspirator, (2) Penman of Letter, €HAPTER II. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 A "division of labour" in beneficent work of "discovering" Plot — Why? — Probabilities of case suggest at least three persons engaged in " swinging round on its axis diabolical Plot" — Whom Revealing conspirator would employ — Persons most likely. CHAPTER in. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6 Who was Lord Mounteagle ? — Ancestiy — Father : Lord Morley — Title, Mounteagle, derived through mother. Honourable Elizabeth Stanley, heiress of William Stanley third Lord ]\Iounteagle — Mother akin to Howards through Leybournes of Westmoreland. XVlll r.VGB ClIAPTEK IV. .. ^ hovd Mounteagle receive.s Letter liGtli OctuLier, IGUo, between " six and seven of the clock," at lloxton, near London- - Opened by Mounteagle — Eead by a member of his household, Thomas Ward — Full text of Letter given — 27tli October, Ward tells Thomas Winter, a conspirator, that Letter had been received by Mounteagle — Had been taken to Robert Cecil first Earl of Salisbury, Principal Secretai-y of State— 28th October, AVinter re])airs to White AVebbs by Enfield Chase, tea miles north of AVestuiiiister — Informs Catesby that "game was uj)" — Catesby says " would see further as yet" — Guy Fawkes sent from White AA^ebbs to vie\^ cellar under House of Lords — Finds all marks undisturbed — Thirty- six barrels of gunpowder, wood, aud coal all ready for fatal Fifth — Fawkes returns at night safely — Thomas Winter meets (or is met by) subordinate conspirator, Christopher AV^right — Fawkes cajitured early on Tuesday, Noveud^er 5th — Christoi)lier Wright announces to Thomas AVinter Fawkes' capture. cMpter y. . . 14 / In reign of (^ueeu Elizabeth and early part of .lames J., "the ' \ castellated castles, moated halls, and gabled manor-houses " of old England "the sheltering, romantic roof-trees of those who clung"' to the ancient Faith — Why? — Henry \'lll."s religious "change" and that of his progeny. King Edward \'l. and (^ueen Elizabeth, unlikely to be acceptable "all on a sudden'" to bulk of English people — Why? — Penal Jjegislation against Papists on part of Government — Jesuits in England, 1580 — Campion and Parsons— Three Classes of English .lesuits — Mystics, or I'oliticians — Mystics an(/ Politicians — The thirteen Gun- powder plotters well-disposed towards Jesuits— But plotters oidy Politicians. CHAPTEK \1. .. .. lf> Sir William Catesby (father of the arch-conspirator fJobert Catesby) and Sir Thomas Tresham (father of Francis Tresham), fine old English gentlemen — Types of best class of Elizabethan Catholic gentry — Poth jiersecuted by XIX TAGF. Government — Sir Tiiouia.s Treshani for nmre than twenty years pays for Fines equal in our money to <£2,0;:^0 a year, as a "popish recusant" — Sir Thomas suffers imprisonment for at least twenty-one years after being Star-Chambered — Such transactions account for phenomenon of Grun powder Treason Phit. CHAPTER A'll. .. .. .. .. .. 21 All thirteen plotters " gentlemen of name and blood "' (save Thomas Bates, a respectable serving-man of Catesby) — Names of plotters as follow: — Eobert Catesby (Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire) — Thomas Winter (lluddiiigton, near Droitwicb, Worcestershire) — T'homas Percy (Beverley, E.E,. Yorkshire) — John AV right ( Plowland, Holderness, E.R. Yorkshire) — Guy (or (Juido) i'awkes (Tork) — Robert Keyes (Drayton, Northamptonshire) — Chi'istopher AVright (Plowland, Holderness, E.lf. Yorkshire) — Robert "Winter, (Huddington, iiear Droitwich, Worcestershire) — Ambrose Rookwood (Coldhara, Stanningfield, Suffolk) — John Grant (Norbrook, AVarwicivshire) — Sir Everard Digby (Gothurst, near Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire) — Francis Tresham (Eushton, Northamptonshire) — Four out of conspirators natives of Yorkshire : Thomas Percy, John A\'^right, Christopher AVriglit, and (xuy (or Guido) Fawkes — Five others indirectly connected with it : Thomas AVinter, Robert AVinter, John Grant, Robert Keyes, and Ambrose Rookwo(xl — -Thomas AVinter and Robert AVinter, grandsons of distinguislied Knight, Sir AVilliam Ingleby, of Ripley Castle, neai- Kiiaresbrough and Bilton-cum-Harrogate, Nidderdale, Yorkshire — John Grant's wife, Dorothy Grant, a grand-daughter of said Knight — Robert Keyes, a grandson of Key (or Kay), Esquire, of Woodsome, Almondbury, near lluddersfiekl. CHAPTER A^III. (same continued) . . . . . . . . 26 CHAPTER IX. . . . . . . . . . . 32 Jesuit Father Edward Oklcorne a native of York — Oswald Tesimond most probably a native of York likewise — Before going to Rheims and Rome Oldcorne studied medicine. XX PAGE CHAP PER X. .. .. .. .. .. .. 35 L'luiher analysis ot" ])roblein as to wliat conspirator would be likely to "discover" Plot — A subordinate plotter — Introduced late into Plot— Oiu' with good moral training at home in childhood — One with trustworthy friend to act as Penman of warning Letter — One with trustworthy friend who could act as G-o-between with Government — Christopher Wright, Edward Oldcorue, Thomas Ward. CilAPTBR XL . . . . . . . . . . 37 Fawkes, in Confession, dated 17th November, 1605, says mine from Percy's house, adjoining Parliament House, begun 11th December, 1604, by five principal conspirators — Christopher AV^right sworn in to help in mining work "soon after" — Text of conspirators' secret oath. ClLiPTER XII. .. .. .. .. 4a Christopher Wright's family further described— Father : Robert Wright, Esquire, of Plowland, llolderness — Mother: Ursula Rudston, of Rudstons, Lords of Hayton, near Pocklington— Mother akin to Mallories, of Studley Royal, near Ripon — Wrights akin to Wards, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, near Ripon, likewise — Christopher Wright's wife, iNIargaret Wright, possibly nee Margaret Ward, of the Wards, of Muhvitli. • CHAPTER XIII. . . . . > . . . . . . 45 Edward Oldcorne described — A native of 8t. Sampson's Parish, •York — A student of medicine — Goes to Rheitns and Rome for higher studies — Ordained Priest — Joins Society of Jesus — In 1588 lands in England — Stationed by Father Henry Garnet, chief of Jesuits in England, at Hindlip Hall, four miles from Worcester — Hindlip Hall home of Thomas Abington, Esquire, and tlie Honourable Mary (Parker) Abington, daughter of the Lord Morley and sister to the Lord Mounteagle — Oldcorne's extraordinary^ influence in Worcestershire — Styled "the Apostle of Worcestershire" — A man of iiieiilal (■(juipoise. CHAPTER XLV. .. .. .. .. .. 48 "The Letter" critically examined. XXI PAGE CHAPTER XV. . . . . " . . . . . . 54 Further critical examination of " the Letter.'' CHAPTER XVI. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Mounteagle " knew there was a Letter to come to him before it came " — Who was his " Secretary," Thomas AVard ? — • Almost certainly brother-in-law to Christopher Wright — Proofs of this assertion — Entry of marriage in St. Michael- le-Belf rey's Church, York, of a " Thomas Warde of Mulwaith, in the p'ishe of Rippon, and M'rgery Slater, 29th May, 1579''— Entry of burial of " JSIarjory wife of Thomas Warde of Mulwith," in Register at Ripon Minster, about eleven years after, 20th May, 1590. CHAPTER XVII. . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Entry of christening of Edward, son of Christopher Wright, of Bondgate, Ripon, in Ripon Minster Registers, 6th October, 1589 — Of Eliza, daughter of Christopher Wright, of Newbie, 23rd July, 1594 — Of Francis, son of Christopher Wright, of Newbie, 12th July, 1596— Of Marmaduke, son of Christopher Wright, of Skelton, 3rd February, 1601 — Thomas Warde, of "Mulwaith," in 1579 — Thomas Warde, of "Mulwith," in 1590 — Inference of propinquity between Christopher AVright and Thomas Warde, at least between years 1589 and 1590 inclusive — Thomas Warde probably in diplomatic service of Queen EHzabeth, under Sir Francis Walsingham — Probably sent on mission to Low Countries in 1585. CHAPTER XVIII. . . . . . . . . . . 6 Proof that William AVard, a son of Marmaduke Ward, of Newby, had an uncle who lived at Court — Inference that this was Thomas Ward, member of household of Lord Mounteagle. *rt' r> CHAPTER XIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . as Inference drawn that Christopher Wright, Thomas Warde, and Lord Mounteagle were personally acquainted. XXll PAGE CIIAPTEE XX. .. .. .. .. . . 70 ^larinaduke AN'ard at Lapwortli, in AVai-wickshire — Arrested by Government — Released— Inference that lu; had a power- ful friend at Court. CHAPTER XXL . . . . 74 Suggested })i*oof of how MoTinteagle cauie to be associated with Thomas Ward-XBiographical and Topographical evidence adduced in support. \ e u CHAPTER XXn. (same conliuuedj .. .. .. .. 76 CHAPTER XXii I. (same further continued) .. .. .. 81 CHAPTER XXIV. .. .. .. .. .. 85 Letter conveyed to Hoxton on Saturday evening, 26th October, 1605, between six and seven of the clock, in pursuance of pre-arrangement — Suggested that pre-arrangement was made by Thomas AVard. CHAPTER XXV. . . . . . . . . . . 87 Thomas Ward sees Thomas Winter, one of the chief con- spirators — Suggested inference that Christopher AVright had bidden Thomas AVard so to do — In order to compass flight of rest of conspirators. CHAPTER XX VL . . . . . . . . . . 90 Thomas Winter interviews Francis Tresham, one of subordinate conspirators, on Saturday night, 2nd November, one week after delivery of Letter to Lord Mounteagle. CHAPTER XX VII. ... .. .. .. 92 Tresham tells Winter that Government knew of existence of tlie mine — How had Government such knowledge? — Suggested concatenation of evidence that Christopher Wright toUl fact to Thomas Ward (or AV^arde) ; Ward to Lord ."Mounteagle; Mounteagle to Francis Tresham ; Tresham to Thomas Winter. XXlll PACiB CHAPTER XXVJH. .. .. .. ... .. 94 Earl of Suffolk (Lord Chamberlain) accompanied by Lord Mounteagle visits cellar under House of Lords, where thirty-six barrels of gunpowder are stored — They light upon Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. CHAPTER XXIX. . . . . . . . . . . 90 Quotation from " A'/nr/'s Boole'' — Version of Gunpowder Plot put forth by "'lawful authority'" — Showing procedure of Earl of Suffolk and Lord Mounteagle on search of cellar under House of Lords, Monday, ith November — Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder stored ready for firing by Fawkes on fatal Fifth. CHAPTER XXX. . . . . . . . . . . 99 Quotation from the " Hatfield JISS.,'' giving account of meeting at Fremland, Essex, in July, IGOo^Present thereat (amongst others) Lord Mounteagle, his brother-in-law Francis Tresham, and Father Henry Garnet, then Superior of English Jesuits — Account of Sir Edmund Baynham — Despatched in September on double mission to Pope of Rome — Baynham described — A Gloucestershire Koman Catholic gentleman — Belike of the swashbuckler type. 'CILIPTER XXXI. . . . . . . . . . . 1(12 Christopher Wright. •CHAPTER XXXI 1. .. .. .. .. .. 104 Marmaduke Ward, of Xewbie (or Xewby), near Ripon, comes up to Lapworth, in AVarwickshire — Lapwortb, the birth- place of arch-conspirator Robert Catesby — One of the large Catesby Warwickshire possessions — In May, 1605, Lapworth let by Catesby to John Wright — Marmaduke AVard, brother-in-law to John AVright and Christopher AVright, arrives at Lapworth about 24th October, 1605 — Suggestion that Marmaduke AVard was sent for by Thomas AVard — In order, haply, to prevail upon brothers AVright to abandon scheme of insurrectionary stir in Alidlands. XXIV * PAGE CHAPTEK XXXIII. . . . . 107 AVhat objections against hypothesis that Christopher "Wright was Revealing conspirator? — What objections against hypo- thesis that Father Edward Oldcorne was Penman of Letter? — Evidence of one William Handy, serving-man to Sir Everard Digby, Knt,, quoted, weighed, and disposed of. CHAPTER XXXI V. . . . . . . . . . . 110 Evidence of a certain Dr. AVilliams, of reign of Charles 11., author of pamphlet purporting to be History of the Gun- powder Treason Plot, quoted. CHAPTER XXXV. . . . . . . . . . . 112 Probable untrustworthiness of Dr. Williams' reported statement manifested by convincing argument — Singular story that Letter was penned by the Honourable Anne Yaux, one of the daughters of William Lord Vaux of Harrowden — Story told, examined, and disposed of. CHAPTER XXXVI. . . . . . . . . . . 11& Dr. Williams" reported statement a faint adumbration of truth — Why ? — Because Williams" report tends to corroborate evidence that Letter emanated from Hindlip Hall — Suggestion made as to whence and how Williams' report had its origin — The Lady of Hindlip may have guessed truth, through her womanly ])erspicacity. CHAPTER XXXVII. .. .. .. .. .. 120> Evidence, deductions, and suggestions finally considered tending to show that Christopher Wright after delivery of Letter exhibited consciousness of having revealed Plot. CHAPTER XXXVlll. . . . . . . . . . . 124 Old Dutcii print, published immediately after detection of Plot (reprinted in '^'' Connoisseur" for November, 1901), shows Christopher Wright in act of engaging in earnest dis- course with arch-conspirator Robert Catesby — Slightly tends to confirin tradition that (1) Christopher AVright first XXV PAGK' ascertained that Plot was discovered, and that (2) Christopher Wright counselled that '• each conspirator should betake hiuiself to flight in a different direction from any of his companions." CHAPTEK XXXIX. . . . . . . . . . . 12G Evidence of William Kyddall — Kyddall accompanies Christopher Wright from Lapworth (twenty miles from Hindlip Hall) to London, on Monday, 28th October — Arrive in London, on Wednesday, 30th — Evidence of Mistress Dorathie Eobinson, Christopher Wright's London landlady, as to padlocked hampers, evidently containing fresh gunpowder. CHAPTER XL. . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Conspirators are "shriven" and "houselled" at Haddington by Jesuit Father Nicholas Hart — Ambrose Eookwood — Eookwood "absolved" by the Jesuit priest "without remark " — Eeason why suggested. CHAPTER XLI. (same continued) . . . . . . . . 134 CHAPTER XLIL . . . . . . . . . . 136 Robert Cecil first Earl of Salisbury, Principal Secretary of State, instructs Sir Edward Coke, Attorney-General, to disclaim that any of these ivrote Letter — Reason why suggested. CHAPTER XLIII. . . . . . . . . . . 140 Archbishop Usher reported divers times to have said " that • if Papists knew what he knew, the blame of the Gun- powder Treason would not lie on them" — Suggested explanation of the oracular words — Second Earl of Salisbury reported to have confessed that the Gunpowder Plot was "his father's contrivance" — Suggested explanation of this strange report. CHAPTER XLIV. . . . . . . . . . . 144 Critical examination of the Letter renewed — Writer must have regarded Plot as a scheme defecated of criminous quality— Reason why. XXVI PAGE ClIAPTEli XLV. .. .. .. 148 Coughton Hall (now Cuuylituu I'ourt), in Warwickshire, ancestral home of grand okl English Jvoman Catholic family of Tlirockmorton — Father llemy Garnet, .Superior of English Jesuits, harboured here from 20th October. ]|30o, to 16th December, 1605~Fatlier Oswald Tesiniond at Coughton on Wednesday, Gth November — Bates sent with letters from Catesby and Sir Everard Digby to Father (larnet and Lady Digby — Bates despatched from Xorbrook, in Warwickshire — Arrives at Coughton — Fathers Garnet and Tesimond have conference for half-an-hour — Garnet gives leave to Tesimond to proceed to Haddington, in AV^orcestershire — Whither conspirators and rebels were come, early on AV'ednesday, Gth November — Tesimond arrives at lluddington — Psycho-electrical will force of Catesby works on mind of Tesimond — Tesimond inspired with rebellious ardour against Government — Dashes on to llindlip, within five miles of Huddington. CHAPTER XLVL . . . . . . . . . 152 Tesimond arrives at Hindlip — Urges the Master of Hindlip and Father Oldcorne to join rebels — Master of Hindlip and Father Oldcorne decline — Anger kindled in breast of Tesimond — Bides off towards Lancashire in hope of I'ousing to arms dwellers in that Catholic county. CHAPTER XLYT I. . . . . . . . . 154 Who and wliat was F''ather Henry Garnet? — A native of Nottingham (1555) — A scholar of Winchester School — Joins Jesuit Novitiate in Rome (1575) — Problem of Garnet's moral and legal guilt (or otherwise) impartially discussed. CHAPTEli XLVIII. (same c(nitinued) .. .. .. 157 CHAPTER XLIX. .. .. .. .... 160 At the end of August, 1G05, Garnet leaves London for Gothurst — Famous pilgrimage to St. AVinifred's Well, Flintshire, N'orth Wales, about 5th September, made from Gothurst — Lady Digby, Ambrose Rookwood and his wife. XXVll PAGE the Honourable Anne Vaux, and upwards of tliirty others, join the pilgrim-band — Father Garnet and Father Percy, chaplain to Sir Fverard Digby, lead the cavalcade — Away about a fortnight. •ClIAPTEE L. .. .. .. .. .. .. 165 Pilgrims return from 8t. Winifred's Well to Gothurst — A fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October, old style) — Father Garnet at Great Harrowden, Northamptonshire, — Ancestral home of Edward Lord Vaux of Harrowden. CJIAPTER LI. . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 4th October, 1605, Father Garnet at Great Harrowden — Pens a long letter to Father Parsons in Home. •CHAPTER LII. . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 21st October, Father Garnet at Gothurst (most probably) — Pens a short post scripium to letter of 4th October — Blots out three lines of letter — Assigns as cause therefor "for REASON OF A FRIEND's STAY IN THE WAY*' Who was this friend ? ■CHAPTER LTIL (Chapters XLY. and XLVI. \a ith more particularity) 1 72 Sir Everard Digby rents Coughton, near Alcester, Warwick- shire — Sir Everard to be in command of Midland Eisino' against Government — Many Catholic gentlemen from Mid- land counties expected to rebel by reason of galling anti- Catholic persecution — Sir Everard Digby, on Sunday, 3rd November, rides to Dunchurch, near Eugby, in AVarwick- shire — Robert AVinter, of Huddington, joined by Stephen Littleton, of Holbeach, Staffordshire, also by latter's cousin, Humphrey Littleton — Tuesday, November oth, Cousins Littleton, Sir Eobert Digby (Coleshill), younger Acton (Eibbesford), and many others, join " hunting match " on Dunsmore Heath — Some of these gentlemen with leader. Sir Everard Digby, await arrival of Catesby and the rest of conspirators in an Inn at Dunchurch — At six of the clock in evening of Tuesday, fatal Fifth, in wild headlong flight from London, Catesby, Percy, two AVrights, and Ambrose Eookwood rush into ancient mansion-house of XXYlll PAGE- Catesbies at Ashby St. Legers, Northamptonshire — Announce capture of Fawkes — Hold short council of war — Snatch up weapons of warfare — North-westwards that November niirht — Arrive at Uuuchurch inn — Di^bv told of capture of Fawkes — -Many Catholic gentlemen return to their homes — ^Plotters and rebel-allies plunge into the darkness — Make for "Shakespeare's country" — Arrive at AN^arwick by three of the clock on AVednesday morning — From stables near Warwick Castle take fresh horses, leaving their own steeds in exchange therefor — Dash on towards Juhn Grant's " moated grange," Norbrook, Snitter- lield (where Shakespeare's mother held property) — At Norbrook "take bite and sup'' — liest their fatigued limbs awhile — On saddle-back once more— This time bound for Iluddington, near Droitwich, AVorcestershire, tlie seat of Robert AA" inter — Arrive there probably about twelve o'clock noon of AV'ednesday (some authorities say two o'clock in the afternoon) — Tesiraond comes from Coughton to Huddington — Catesby hails Tesimond with joy — Tesimond proceeds to Hindlip Hall — On Thursday morning, at about three of the clock, all company at Huddington "assist"' at Mass offered by Father Nicholas Hart, a Jesuit from Great Harrowden — AVhole company "shriven and houselled" — Before daybreak all on march again north- westwards — Halt at A\^hevvell Grange, seat of the Lord AVindsor — There help themselves to large store of arms and armour — Plotters and rebels tlien numbered about sixty all told — Cross tiie Eiver Stour, in flood — A cart of gunpowder rendered "dank" in crossing — Proceed to ]Iolbeacli House, in Staffordshire — Mansion-house of Stephen littleton. Esquire, a Roman Catholic gentleman of ancient linease. o CHAPTER LIA'. . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 High Sheriffs of AA^arwickshire and Worcestershire with posse comitatvs in pursuit — Plotters and rebels arrive at Holbeach (near Stourbridge) at ten of the clock on Thursday night — Early Friday morning explosion of drying gunpowder at Holbeach Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant burnt — Catesby unnerved -Arch-conspirator and others betake themselves XXIX PAGE to prayers — '-Litanies and such like" — Make an hour's "meditation" — About eleven of the clock on Friday, 8th November, Sheriff of AVorcestershire and "hue and ci-y" surround llolbeach — Siege laid thereto — Thomas Winter disabled by an arrow from crossbow — Catesby and Percy, standing sword in hand, shot by one musket — Catesby expires— John Wright wounded unto death — Christopher Wright UKjrtally wounded — Percy grievously wounded — Dies a day or two afterwards — Ambrose Eookwood wounded— Sir Everard Digby apprehended — Eest taken prisoners, except Stephen Ijittleton and Eobert Winter, who esca]ie. CHAPTER LA^ . . . . . . . . • IBl Father Henry Garnet changes his mind — Does not go up to London— But from Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, goes down to Coughton, in AVarwickshire, on the 29th October —All Saints' Day (November 1st) at Coughton Hall (now Coughton Court) — Mass "offered" by Father Garnet. CHAPTEE LVI. .. .-. .. .. •• •• 185 Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach, and Eobert AVinter, the Master of Huddington, harboured at Eovvley Eegis, in Staffordshire, by a tenant of Humphrey Littleton, Esquire, of Hagley, AVorcestershire, a cousin to Stephen Littleton — Humphrey Littleton harbours the two fugitives from justice at Hagley House, home of his sister-in-law, Mrs. John Littleton — Both fugitives betrayed by man- cook at Hagley — Delivered over to the officers of the law and conveyed to the Tower of London. CHAPTER LVII. . . . . . . • • • • • • 188 Humphrey Littleton consults Father Edward Oldcorne, the Jesuit, respecting the moral rightness or wrongness of the Gunpowder Plot— Father Oldcorne's Eeply to Jvittleton ia extenso. CHAPTEE LA III. . . . . . . . . - • 190 Eeply analyzed — Divisible into two distinct parts — First part: gives an answer sounding in abstract truth alone, in other XXX r.VGK. words, leaves Littleton ia ahstraclo — Second part : disclaims knowledge ot" end plotters had in view and iiicans they had recourse to. CllAPTEE LIX. .. .. .. .. 193. Metaphysical Argument groiuided on Oldcorne's Jiei)ly to Humphrey Littleton — Argument seeks to demonstrate that from tenour and purport of Oldcorne's Kei)ly, the Jesuit nnist liave liad a special interior Iviiowledge of the Plot. CHAPTEU LX. (same continued) . . . . . . . . 195^ CHAPTER LXl. (same continued) . . . . . . . . 19S CHAPTER LX I [. (same continued) .. . .. .. 200- CHAPTER LXlll. (same continued).. .. .. .. 201 CHAPTER LXIV. (same continued) . . . . . . . . 204 CHAPTER LXV. (same continued) . . . . . 208 CHAPTER LXYI. (same continued) . . .. .. .. 210' CHAPTER LXVIL (same continued) . . . . . . 212 CHAPTER LXVTTl. (same continued) .. .. .. 215 CHAPTER LXIX. (same continued) . . . . . . 220- CHAPTER LXX. . . . . . . . . . . . . 222: Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne captured at Hindlip Hall the last week of January, I6O0-G — Conveyed to the 'lower of London -Father Oldcorne "racked five times, and once with the greatest severity for several hours" — On 71 h April, 1606, at Redhill, near Worcester, Fatlier Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, hanged, drawn, and quartered as a traitor — Brother Ral])li Asldey, his servant, hanged at the same time and phice. CHAPTER LXXl. .. .. .. .. 224 True inferences to be drawn from Father Oldcorue's "last dying speech and confession.'' XXXI PAGE. CHAPTEE LXXIL .. .. '221 Edward Oldcorne— lialph Ashley. CHAPTER LXXI 11. .. .. .. .. .. 1^29 Thomas AVard. EECAPITULATIOX OF PROOFS, ARGUiMENTS, AND COX- CLUSIOXS .. .. .. .. .. .. 233. SUPPLEMENTA. SUPPLEMEXTUM T. . . . . . . . . • • 239 (\nv Fawkes. SUPPLEMEXTUM 11. .. .. .. .. 260 Letter of Lord Bishop of ^Vorcester (Dr. Bilsoii), to Sir Ilobert Cecil, as to Diocese of Worcester. SUPPLEMEXTUM III. . . . . . . . . 264 Thomas Ward (or Warde). SUPPLEMEXTUM J A^ .. .. .. .. •• 271 Mulwith, near liipon. SUPPLEMEXTUM V. .. .. .. .. •• 279 Plowlaiul, Holder iiess. SUPPLEMEXTUM VI. . . . . . . . • 287 Equivocation. Letter of the liev. (ieorge Canning, S.J., Professor of Ethics, St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst. XXXll PAGE appexdicp:s. APPENDIX A . . 295 Circumstantial Evidence defined. (a) Evidence generally : (by Mr. Frank Pick, York). APPENDIX IJ . . . . . . 299 Discrepancy as to date when immaterial (per Lord Chief Justice Scroggs, temi>. Charles IT.). APPENDIX C . . . . . . . . 300 List of those apprehended for Plot in Warwickshire, 7 FINIS .. .. .. .. .. .. 411 EEEATA. The author rej^rets to liave to recjuest his indulgent readers to be kind euough to make tlie following corrections : — Page ly, line 14 from top. — Put ) after word "conspirators,"' )iot after word " TresTiam." Page 77, line 9 from top. — Read : and " great great grandfather of Philip Howard Earl of Arundel," instead of ^' r/reat-grandfather.'' Page 79, in note, line a from top. — liead : " ninth Earl of Carlisle," instead of " seventh Earl of Carlisle." Page 87, in note, line 8 from bottom. — Read : " Burns & Gates." Page 117, line 5 from top. — ^Read : "William Abington," instead of " Thomas Abington.'" Page 122, in note, line 2 from top. — Read: "Duke of Beaufort," instead of " Duke of St. Albans." Page 140, line 4 from top. — Read : " incarcerated," instead of " iiiccarerated." Page 285, in note, line 2 from top. — Read : " kinswoman," instead of " kinsman." Page 321, line 16 from top. — Read: "Deprave," instead of '■'■ depeave." PEELUDE. In order that the problem of the Gunpowder Plot may be understood, it is necessary for the reader to bear in mind that there were three movements — distinct though connected — against the Government on the part of the oppressed Koman Catholic recusants in the year 1()05. The first of these movements was a general wave of insurrectionary feeling, of which there is ■evidence in Yorkshire as far back as 159() ; in Lancashire about 1000 ; and in Herefordshire, at a later date, much more markedly. Then there was the Gunpowder Plot itself. And, lastly, there was the rebellion that was planned to take place in the Midlands, which, to a very limited extent, did take place, and in the course of which four of the conspirators were slain. That Salisbury's spies and decoys — wdio w-ere, like Walsingham's, usually not Protestants but " bad Catholics "- — had something to do with stirring up the general revolutionary feeling is more than probable ; but that either he or they planned, either jointly or severally, the particular enterprise known as the Gunpowder Treason Plot — which was as insane as it was infamous — I do not for a ]noment believe. All students of English History, however, are greatly indebted to the Kev. John Gerard, S.J., for his three XXXVl recent critical works on this subject ; but stiJl that the main outhnes of tlie Plot are as they liave come down to ns by tradition, to my mind, Dr. Samuel IJawson Gardiner abundantly provt^s in his book in reply to the liev. John Gerard. The names of the works to which 1 refer are : — " What was the Guiipoivdev Plot ! " the Eev. J. Gerard, S.J. (Osgood, Mcllvaine & Co.); '' Tiie Gunpoivihr IHot and Flatters'' (Harper Bros.); ''Thomas Winter's Con- fession (111(1 the Giiiqjowder Plot" (Harper Bros.); and " What Gunpowder Plot icds," S. 11. Gardiner, D.C.L., LL.D. (Longmans). The Articles in " TJte Dictioiiary of National Biographij " dealing with tlie chief actors in this notable traged}^ are all worthy of careful perusal. " The Historij of tlie Jesuits in England, 1580-1773;' by the Eev. Ethelred L. Taunton, with twelve illustra- tions (Methuen & Co., 1901), contanis a chapter on the Gunpowder Plot ; and the Plot is referred to in Major Hume's recent work, entitled, " Treason and Plot " (Nisbet, 1901). CHAPTEE I. One of the unsolved problems of English History is the question : " Who wrote the Letter to the Lord Mounteagle ? " surely, one of the most momentous documents ever penned by the hand of man, which discovered the Gunpowder Treason, and so saved a King of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland — to say nothing of France — his Boyal Consort, his Counsellors, and Senators, from a bloody, cruel, and untimely death. In every conspiracy there is a knave or a fool, and sometimes, happily, " a repentant sinner." Now it is well known that the contrivers of the Gun- powder Treason themselves suspected Francis Tresham — a subordinate conspirator and brother-in-law to Lord Mounteagle — and many historians have rashly jumped to the conclusion that, therefore, Tresham must have been the author. But, when charged at Barnet by Catesby and Thomas Winter, two of his infuriated fellow-plotters, with having sent the Letter, Tresham so stoutly and energetically denied the charge that his denial saved him from the point of their poniards. Moreover, the suspected man when a prisoner in the Tower of London, and even when in the act of throwing himself on the King's mercy, never gave the faintest hint that the Letter was attributable to him. But, on the contrary, actually stated first that he had intended to reveal the treason, and secondly that he had been guilf?/ of concealment. B '2 THE GUNPO^YDER PLOT. Now, as a rule, " all that a man bath will he give for his hfe." Therefore it is impossible, in the face of this direct testimony of Tresbam, to maintain that to him the discovery of the Plot is due : and the force of the argument grounded on Tresham's being the brother-in-law to Mounteagle, and that the accused man showed an evident desire that the Plot should be postponed, if not / . altogether abandoned, melts away like snow before the ' sun/^>^-)i To whatever decision the Historical Inquirer into this hitherto inscrutable mystery is destined to come after reviewing and weighing the Evidence now available — which to-da}^ is more abundant from a variety of accidental circumstances, than when Lingard and Mackintosh, and even Gardiner and Green, wrote their histories — it is manifest that the Inquirer's decision in the matter cannot be as certain as a mathematical conclusion. But, it may be morally certain, because of the many degrees of probability that the information now ready to our hand will inevitably give that are favourable to the conclusion which the following pages will seek, by the evidence of facts, to sustain. And, as the ancient historian tersely sa3's : '■'■ JJhi res adsunf, quid opus est verbis!^'' — "Where facts are at hand, what need is there for words ? " The Evidence to be relied on is mainly the evidence known as Circumstantial,-^ and consists of two classes of acts. One of these classes leads np to the performance of the transaction— namely, in the one case, the dictating of the Letter by the primary Author ; in the other case, the penning of the Document by the secondary Scribe. Whilst the other class of acts tends to ^ See Notes at End o£ Text, indicated by figures in ( ). ' As to the nature of Circumstantial Evidence — see Appendix. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 6 •demonstrate that the Author of the Letter and the Penman respectively were conscious, subsequent to the ■commission of the transaction — in the former case, of having incurred the responsihihty of being the originating Oause of the Document ; in the latter case, of being the Agent for its physical production. Before we begin to collect our Evidence, and, a fortiori, before we begin to consider the inferences from the same, we ought to bear in mind certain fixities of thought, or, in other words, certain self-evident funda- mentals which are grounded in logic and daily experience. These fixities of thought or self-evident fundamentals will be points from which the reason of the Historical Inquirer can take swing. And not only so ; but — like the cords of the rocket life-saving apparatus of the eager mariner — they will be lines of attachment and rules of thought, whereby first to secure to ourselves the .available Evidence ; and secondly, to prove to the intellect the truth of a theory wdiich, if allowed, shall redound, in respect of courage and integrity, to the praise rand honour of Man. CHAPTEE II. Now, to my mind, it is a proposition so plain as. not to require arguing, that there must have been at least two persons engaged in the two-fold transaction of dictating the Letter and of being the penman of tlie same. For although it is, of course, physically possible that the work may have been accomplished by one and the sanie person, 3"et that there was a division of lal)our in the two-fold transaction is infinitel}^ the more likely supposal : because of the terrible risk to the revealing conspirator of his handwriting being detected by the Government authorities, and, through them, by hi& co-partners in guilt, should he have rashly adventured to be his owji scribe ; and this though he feigned his penmanship never so cunningly. Now if such were the case, it follows that there must have been some second person — some entirely trustworthy friend— in the conspirator's confidence. Nay, if the exigencies of the nature and posture of affairs demanded it, a third person, or even a fourth, might have been also taken into confidence. But only if absolutely necessary. For the risk of detection would be proportioned to the numl)er of persons in the secret : — it being a rule of common prudence in such cases that confidences must not 1)0 unnecessarily multiplied. 'J'lierefore it follows that, supposing there was a second person in the confidence of the " discovering " or revealing conspirator to pen the Letter ; and supposing THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 5 there was a third person in the confidence of that -conspirator, with or without the knowledge and consent of the second person, to act as a go-betw^een, an '^ iiiterpres,''' between the conspirator and Lord Mounteagle, these two persons must have been very trustworthy persons indeed. Now a man trusts his fellow-man in proportion as he has had knowledge of him either directly or indirectly ; ■directly by personal contact, indirectly through the recommendation of some competent authority. Ex'perientia docet. Experience teaches. A man has knowledo'e of his fellow-man as the resultant of the •experience gained from relationship of some kind or another. And relationship is created by kinship, friendship, •or business — intending the word "business" to embrace activity resulting from thought, word, and deed extending to the widest range of human interests conceivable. Kelationship creates bonds, ties, obligations between the several persons united by it. Hence, the practical conclusion is to be drawn that if "the discovering" or disclosing Gunpow^der conspirator, with a view to revealing the intended massacre, had recourse to one or more confidants, they must have been one or more person or persons w4io were united to him by kinship, friendship, or business, in the sense predicated, possibly in all three, and that they must have been persons bound to him by bonds, which if " light as air were strong as iron." Let us now turn to the Evidence to-day available bearing upon the momentous document under considera- tion. We will begin by saying a few words respecting the Lord Mounteagle, whose name, at least, the Gun- powder Treason will have for ever enshrined in the remembrance of the British people. CHAPTER HI. - William Parker/''^ the son and heir of Lord Morley^ \vhose harony had been created b}^ King Edward I. in 1299,, was called to the House of Lords as the fourth Baron Mounteagle, in right of his mother the Honourable Elizabeth Stanley, the only child and heiress of the third Baron Mounteagle, whose wife was a Leybourne of Westmoreland. At the time of the Plot (1005) the fourth Lord Mounteagle was thirty years of age. His principal country residence appears to have been at Great Hallingbury, near Bishop Stortford, in the County of Essex. His chief town-house seems to have been in the Strand. He married before he was eighteen years of age, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham of Pushton, Northamptonshire, a high-minded, scholarly Poman Catholic gentleman of great wealth, who had been knighted at Kenihvorth by Queen Elizabeth in 1577. Mounteagle was connected through his mother alone, to say nothing of his father, with some of the noblest families in the land. Besides the then well-nigh ]inncely Lancashire House, the Stanleys Earls of ])erb3-, to whom he was related in both the ^^(aternal and inaternal lines, through his mother Elizabeth Stanley, Mounteagle was related, as cousin once removed, to those twain gracious, beautiful souls, Anne Dacres Countess of Arundel and Surrey, widow of the sainted Philip Howard p]arl of Arundel and Surrey, and to her sister the Lady Elizabeth Howard, wife of "Belted Will Howard " ^'^ of THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 7 Naworth Castle, the ancient home of the Lords Dacres of Gilsland, near Carlisle, commonly called the Lords Dacres of the North, in contradistinction to the Lords Dacres of the South, of Hurstmonceaux Castle in the County of Sussex. Mounteagle was, therefore, through his mother, a near kinsman to the remarkable Thomas Howard Earl of Arundel, who married Aletheia, the only child and heiresis of Gilbert, seventh Earl of Shrewsbury, and god-daughter of Queen Elizabeth. This Earl of Arundel eventually became the well- known patron of the fine arts. But in the year 1605 the young peer had not yet quite attained his majority. Mounteagle, again, through his mother's relationship with the gifted Thomas Howard Earl of Arundel just mentioned, would be also connected with a nobleman who at that epoch was counted a very model of "the pomp, pride, and circumstance of ancient nobility," with John Lord Lumley^'^^ of Lumley Castle in the County Palatine of Durham, whose wife was Jane, daughter of Henry Eitzalan Earl of Arundel, a nobleman "exceeding magnifical," who indeed in his day had even cherished aspirations to the hand of the last representative of the Koyal House of Tudor herself. Lord Mounteagle consorted much with English Roman Catholics, and, in some sense, prior to the year 1G05, was of that religion himself. He had been present with his wife's brother Francis Tresham a little after the Midsummer of 1605 at Eremland in Essex, on the occasion of the celebrated meeting when Father Henry Garnet, the head of the Jesuits in England, took occasion to have special w^arning speech with Catesb}' respecting a general question propounded by Catesby to Garnet about a month or six weeks previously (i.e., the beginning of Trinity Term, 8 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 1G05), and from the answer to whicli general question Catesb}^ slianiefully drew that particular conclusion which the promptings of his evil will desired, in order that the enormity he had purposed might be made acceptable to the w^avering conscience of any dubious fellow -plotter against whose resurgent sense of right and wrong he thought he might have to strive. Lord Mounteagle is a difficult man accurately to reckon up, either intellectually, morally, or religiously. For he seems in all three aspects to have been a slightly ambiguous person.^ Yet certainly he was no mere titled fool, with a head-piece like a windmill. Far from it : he was probal)]y a man of sufficient, though not, I think, of the very highest intelligence, good-natured, easy-going, and of very engaging manners.^ By liis contemporaries, it is evident that even prior to 1005 Mounteagle was made much of and greatly courted. But less, I opine, on account of the intellectual and moral (jualities wherewith he was endowed, than on account of the exalted station of his kith and kin and the general excellency and eminency of his own external graces and gifts of fortune. So much, then, for tlie present, concerning the now famous AVilliam Parker fourth Baron Mounteagle, whom Histor}'' has crowned with a wreath of immortals. ^ It is cui-ious ;iii(l nniiisiiiijj to licai' l.liat llu' following was the opinion of liobert Catesby concerning the peerage of his day: — "lleuiacle account of the nobility as of atheists, fools, and cowards; and that lusty liodies would be better for the coniiuonwealth than they." — See '■^ Kei/es' ExamiiHition" llecord Office. * A certain English periodical, a few years ago, spoke admiringly of Lord jNIounteagle's twentieth century connection, the present Duke of ])evon8hire, as being one's hedn-ulecd of the " you-be-dannied '" type o£ Englishman. Probably the same ])eriodical would have found, had it been in existence in the seventeenth century, a siniihir contentment in the contemplation of the fourth Loid Mounteagle. CHAPTER IV. On Saturday, the 26tli of October, ten days before the intended meeting of Parhament,^ Lord Mounteagie, we are told, unexpectedly and without any apparent reason or previous notice, directed a supper to be prepared at his mansion at Ploxton, where he had not been for more than a twelve-month before that date. It will be well, however, to relate the history of what occurred in the exact words provided for us in a w^ork published by King James's printer, and put forth as " the authorised version " of the facts that it recorded. The work bears the title — " A Discourse of the late intended Treason,'" anno 1605. '■'■ Tlie Discourse'' says: — " The Lord Mounteagie, sonne and heire to the Lord Morley, being in his own lodging ready to go to supper at seven of the clock at night one of his footmen whom he had sent of an errand over the streete was'"ine&\ by an unknown man of a reasonable tall persoilage^*'^ who ■delivered him a Letter charging him to put iVTii my Lord his Master's hands, which my Lord no sooner received but that having broken it up and perceiving the same to be of an unknown and somewhat unlegible hand, and without either date or subscription, did call ^ Parliament bad been prorogued from tbe 3rd of October to the otb of November. Lord Mounteagie was one of the Commissioners. The " Confession,'' by Thomas AVinter, which 1 regard as genuine, I have also drawn upon freely in my relation of facts. — See Appendix. 10 THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. one of his men unto him for helping him to road it. But no sooner did he conceive the strange contents, thereof, although he was some^Yllat perplexed what construction to malve of it yet did he as a most dutifull and lo3'all subject conclude not to conceal it, whatever might come of it. Whereupon notwith- standing the latenesse and darknesse of the night in that season of the j^ear, he presently repaired to his Majesties palace at AMiitehall and there delivered the same to the Earle of Salisbury his majesties principall secretarie." The Letter was as follows : — " My lord out of the lone i beare | yowe \ to- some of youere frends i haue a caer of youer preseruacion therfor i would aduyse yowe as yowe tender youer lyf to deu3'S some exscuse to shift of youer attendance at this parleament for god and man hath concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme and thinke not slightlye of this aduertisment but retj^ere youre self into youre contri wheare yowe maye expect the euent in safti for thow^ghe^'^ theare ])e no apparance of anni stir yet i saye they shall receyue a terrible l)lowe this parleament and yet the}^ shall not sei who hurts them this councel is ]iot to be contemned because it maye do yowe good and can do yowe no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as yow^e have burnt the letter and i hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it to whose holy proteccion i com end yowe." (Addressed on the back) to " the ryglit honcjrable the lord mouteagle." Tlie full name of the member of Lord ^Nfounteagle's- household who read the Letter to Lord Mounteagle, we learn, was Thomas A\';ii-(1.^^^ Ward was acquainted with Thomas Winter, one of the THE GUNPOWDEK PLOT. 11 principal Gunpowder plotters ; for Winter himself bad formerl}' been in Mounteagle's service, and at tbe time of tbe Plot was almost certainly on amicable terms with the young nobleman. On the 27th of October, the day following the delivery of the Letter, TJiomas Ward came to Tliomas Winter (being Sunday at night) and told him that a Letter had been given to Lord Mounteagle, which the latter presently had carried to Eobert Cecil Earl of Salisbury. — " Winter's Confession.''' Winter, thereupon, the next day, Monday, the 28tli October, went to a house called W^hite Webbs, not far from Lord Salisbury's mansion Theobalds. White Webbs was a lone and (then) half-timbered dwelling, " with many trap doors and passages," surrounded by w^oods, near Enfield Chase, ten miles north of W^estminster. At this secluded spot Thomas Winter had speech with Catesby, the arch-conspirator, "assuring him wdthal that the matter w^as disclosed and wishing him in anywise to forsake his country." — " Winter's Confession.'" Catesby told AVinter, " he would see further as yet and resolved to send Mr. Eawkes to try the uttermost protesting if the part belonged to himself he would try the same adventure." — " Wi7iter''s Confession." On Wednesday, the 30th October, from White Webbs, "Mr. Fawkes," as Thomas Winter styles him, went to the cellar under the House of Lords, where thirty-six barrels of powder, w^ood, and coal were stored in readiness for the bloody slaughter purposed for November the Fifth. Fawkes returned to Wliite Webbs at night, at which the conspirators "were very glad." Fawkes had found in the cellar his "private marks" all undisturbed. 12 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. '' The next day after the dehvery of the Letter," says Stowe (though as a fact it was probably five days after the dehvery of the iiioinentous document, namely, •on the following Thursday), tin's sclf-safne " Tliomas Wilder told Christopher Wriglit,'" — a subordinate con- spirator, — " that he (Winter) understood an obscure letter liad been delivered to Lord Mounteagle, who had conveyed it to Salisbury. "(*'> Hence, most 'prohahlij, either Thomas Winter went in search of Christopher WrifjJit to afford him this piece of information; or Wriglit went in search of Winter to obtain it. At about live o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, November the Fifth, about live hours after Fawkes' apprehension by Sir Thomas Knevet and his men,^^''^ the said Christopher Wright went to the chamber of the said Thomas Winter and told hini that a nol)leman (i.e., the Earl of Worcester, Master of the Horse) " had called (i.e., summoned) the Lord ^Mounteagle, saying, ' Else and •come along to Essex House,*"^ for I am going to call up my Lord of Northumberland,' saying withal, ' the matter is discovered.' " — " Winter s Confession.'' Of this conspirator, Christopher Wright, it is said,^^'^ that "he was the first to ascertain that the Plot was He had only this one surviving child, who is said to have married the only child of Thomas Percy. 24 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Catesby had the misfortune to lose his wife by death before the year 1G02, and at the time of the Plot his liome seems to have been with bis mother, the Dowager Lady Catesby, at As]il)y St. Legers in the County of Northampton, the family ancestral seat. For in 1G02 he had sold his residence, Chastleton, in Oxfordshire. Now, as liobert Catesby, it seems l\y many circum- stances, was the first inventor and chiefest furtherer of the Plot, it is woiih while thus lingering on a description of wliat manner of man he was. It, however, may be asked how came it to pass that this one person gained sucli prodigious ascendency over twelve other persons so as to make tbem, in the event, as mischievously, nay fatally, deluded as himself? The answer is manifold : for besides the wrongs whicli these ruthless plotters sought to avenge, tbey evidently came under a potent psychological spell when they came under the influence of this wayward, yet fascinating, son of the brilliant age of Elizabeth — an age in which men's intellectual and physical powers too often attained a complete mastery over their moral powers.^'"^ For a proof of Catesby's iujmense influence over others, it may be nientioned that Ambrose Pookwood, one of those whose blood afterwards stained the scaffold at the early age of twent}'-seven for his share in tlie wicked scheme, says of Catesby that "he (Pookwood) loved and respected him as his own life."^'-'^ Four things seem to have caused those who came in contact with liobert Catesby to have been carried captive at his will, if from the hrst they were at all well affected towards him — his personal appearance, his generosity, his zerJ, and his skill in the use of arms. We are told tliat Tesimond (alias Greenway), another contemporai'y of Catesby, says tliat " In's countenance THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 25 was exceedingly noble and expressive. That his con- versation and manners were peculiarly attractive and imposing, and that by the dignity of his character he exercised an irresistible influence over the minds of those who associated with him."^--^ His zeal was of that kind which is contagious and kindles responsive fire. As for his martial prowess, it was sufficiently attested by his behaviour at the time of the Essex rising, when Father Gerard, his contemporary, tells us that "Mr. Catesby did then show such valour and fought so long and stoutly as divers afterwards of those swordsmen did exceedingly esteem him and follow him in regard thereof." (''2 CHAPTEK Mil. Thomas Winter came of a Worcestershire family. His- father, George Winter (or Wintour), had married Jane Ingleby, the daughter of Sir Wilham Ingleby, a Yorkshire knight of historic name, whose ancestral seat was liipley Castle, near Xuaresbrough^-^^ in Xidderdale, one of the- most romantic valleys of Yorkshire. Jane Winter's brother, Francis Tngleby,^"^^ a barrister, and afterwards a Koman Catholic priest, was hanged, drawn and quartered at York, on the 2nd of June, 1586^ for exercising his priesthood in York and his native County. He was a man of rare parts, and the heroic stor}^ of his life and death must have often thrilled the hearts of his sister's children. Would that they had taken him as tlicir model. For of all those many Eoman Catholic Yorkshiremen^ who, of divers ranks and degrees, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, preferred "death"' to (what to them) was " dishonour," none has left nobler memories than this self-sacrificing, exalted soul.^"^^ ^ At least 49 pei'sons, priests and layuieu, suffered death in York alone for the Pope's religion, between the reigns of Henry Vlll. and Charles II. inclusive. The place of execution was usually the Tyburn, opposite Knavesmire, near Hob Moor Gate, in tlie middle of the Tadcaster High Jload. In the reign of Pliilip and jNIary no Protestant was burned to death in Yorkshire. Archbishop Heath, of York, like Bishop Tunstall, of Durham, and the great Catholic Jurist, Ediiunid Plowden, who, for conscience sake, declined the Chancellorship when oifered to him by Elizabeth, did not think they could "save alive" the soul of a -'lieretic"^ by roasting " dead " his body at tlie stake. And they were right. THE GUNPOWDEll PLOT. 27 Thomas Winter, tlie ill-fated nepliew of him jast mentioned, was a courageous man and an accomplished linguist. He had seen military service in Flanders, in behalf of the Estates-General against Spain, and in France, and possibly against the Turk. We are told hy a contemporary that " he was of such a wit and so fine a carriage, that he was of so pleasing conversation, desired much of the better sort, but an inseparable friend of Mr. Ilobert Gatesby. He was of mean stature, but strong and comely and very valiant, about thirty-three years old, or somewhat more. His means were not great, but he lived in good sort, and with the best."^-'^ He seems to have been un- married. Sir Everard Digby was a tall, handsome, singularly generous, charming young fellow, and like Ambrose Hookwood, previously mentioned, had won the loving- favour of all who knew him. Digby had two estates in the County of Kutlandshire (Tilton and Dry stoke), also property in the County of Leicestershire ; and through his amiable and beautiful young wife, Mary Mulsho, a wealthy heiress, he was the owner of Gothurst^ (now Gayhurst) in the parish of Tyringham, near Newport Pagnell, in the County of Buckinghamshire, still one of England's stately homes.*-^^ Francis Tresham was married to a Throckmorton, and was connected with many English families of historic name, high rank, and great fortune. ^ Gothurst (now Gayhurst), resembles in its style of architecture, The Treasurer's House, York, on tlie North side of the Minster, the town house of Frank Green, Esquire. AValter Carlile, Esquire, now resides at Gayhurst. 28 THE GUNrOWDER TLOT. He was a first cousin to llobert Catesby through his mother — a Throckmorton. Tresham and the Winters Ave re also akin. Francis Tresham, like his cousin, Eobert C'atesby, had been involved in the Essex I'isiug, and his father, Sir Thomas Tresham, had to pay a ransom of at least j£2,000 to effect his son's escape from arraignment and ■certain execution. Powerful interest had been exerted in the son's favour with Queen Elizabeth by Lady Catherine Howard, the daughter of Lord Thomas Howard, Lieutenant of the Towei', and afterwards Earl •of Suffolk.(2"> John Grant was a Warwickshire Squire, wlio had mari'ied Robert and Thomas AVinter's sister Dorothy. Grant's home was at Norbrook, near Snitterlield, a walled and moated mansion-house between the towns of AVarwick and Stratford-on-Avon.^^"^ Grant was a taciturn but accomplished man, who had been likewise fined for his share in the Essex rising. John Wright and Christopher W^right were younger sons of Robert Wright, Esquire, of Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, Welwick, Holderness, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. They were related to the Inglebies of Ripley, through the Alallories of Studley Royal near Ripon. Hence were they related to Thomas A\' inter, Robert AVinter, and Dorothy Grant. Robert Keyes, of Drayton in Northamptonshire, was the son of a Protestant clergyman and probably grandson of one of the Key or Kay family of Woodsome, Almondbury, near Hudderslield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Through his Roman Catholic mother, Keyes w^as related to Lady Ursula Babthorpe, tlie daughter of Sir AMlliam Tyrwhitt^"*^^ of Kettleby, near Jh'igg, Lincolnshire, iind wife of Sir AVilliam Babthorpe, of Babthorpe and THE GUXrOWDER PLOT. 29' Osgodby, near Selby, in the East Eicling of Yorkshire. Sir WiUiam Babthorpe was " the very soul of honour," one of the most vahant-hearted gentlemen in Yorkshire, and himself, likewise, related to the Mallories, the Inglebies, the AVrights, and the Winters. His sister was Lady Catherine Palmes, the wife of Sir George Palmes, of Naburn, near the City of York. Ambrose Pookwood, of Coldham Hall — an ivy-clad, mullion- windowed mansion still standing — in the parish of Stanningfield, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, was of an honourable and wealthy Suffolk family, who had suffered fines and penalties for the profession of their hereditary faith. His wife was a Tyrwhitt and sister to Lady Ursula Babthorpe. At the time of the Plot he was twenty-seven years of age."^ Of the engaging Ambrose Eookwood a contemporary says, "I knew him well and loved him tenderly. He was beloved by all who knew him. He left behind him his lady, who was a very beautiful person and of a high faniil}^, and two or three little children, all of whom — together with everything he had in this world — he cast aside to follow the fortunes of this rash and desperate conspiracy." ^^^^ Guy Fawkes was also a Yorkshireman, being born in the year 1570, in the City of York. His baptismal register, dated the 16tli day of April, 1570, is still to be seen in the Church of St. Michael-le- Belfrey, hard-by the glorious Minster. ^ Edward liookvvood, of Eiiston Hall, Suffolk, Mas cousin to Ambrose Kookwood. At Euston in 157S Qusen Elizabeth was sumptuously enter- tained by Edward llookwood. — See Hallam's •' Constitutional History,'' and Lodge's " in astrat ions'' 50 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Probably th;it one of four traditions is true ^Yhich says that the son of Edward Fawkes, Notary and Advocate of the Consistory Court of York, and Edith, his wife, was born in a house situated in High Petergate. In fact, in the angle formed by the street known as High Petergate and the ancient alley called Minster Gates, leading into the Minster Yard, opposite the South Trans(^pt of the ]\Iinster, and at the top of the niediieval street called Stonegate.^ Though the property Guy Fawkes inherited was small, his descent and upbringing had made him the equal and companion of the gentry of his native County. In the thirty-third year of Elizabeth (1592), in a legal document dealing with his property, Guy Fawkes is described as of Scotton, a picturesque village in the iincient Parish of Farnham, between Knaresbrough and Eipley, in Nidderdale. Fawkes was a tall athletic man, with brown hair and an auburn beard. He was modest, self-controlled, and very valiant. He left England for Flanders most likely in 1593 or 1594. At the time of the conspiracy he was about thirty-five years of age. He was unmarried, Fawkes was liiglil\' intelligent, direct of purpose, simple of heart, well-read, and, as a soldier of fortune in the Netherlands, not only " skilful in tlic wars," but, apart from his fanaticism, which seems to have grown by degrees into a positive monomania, possessed of many attractive, and even endearing, moral qualities. ' Tlio liouse I refer to is occupied by the Governors of St. Peter's .Schuul (where I'awkes was himself educated), by Mr. T. H. Barron, and Mr. Matkins. It is still jNIinster property. It is a brick Elizabethan house refaced. Fawkes' grandiuothrr, yivs. Ellen Fawkes, almost certainly lived in a house in High Petergate, on the opposite side of the road, probab'y. His father may have had a house also at Bishopthorpe. — See Supplement iim 1. \ THE GUNrOWDEK PLOT. 31 FoAvkes held a post of commancl in the Spanish Army when Spain took Calais in 1596, and gave promise of hecoming, like his friend and patron, Sir AVilliam Stanley, an ideal " happy warrior," and one of England's greatest generals.^ It is said by an old writer, "Winter and Fawxe are men of excellent good natural parts, very resolute and universally learned." ^'^^^ In the days of their joyous youth these two gifted men may have many a time and oft played and sported together in Nidderdale, with its purple moors, its rock-crowned fells, its leafy woods, its musical streams, its flowery ghylls, its winding river. Guy Fawkes was a son of destiny, a product of his environment, a creature of circumstances — always saving his free-will and moral responsibility. But, dying, he must have remembered his dear York and sweet Scotton. ^ It is interesting and instructive to compare the Forty Years' War between Spain and the Xetherlands with the present unhappy strife in South Africa between Britons and the descendants of those that repelled the arms of the once greatest soldiery in the world. The war between Spain and the Dutch was not a religious war at the connnencement of the struggle. It arose out of a chafing under the sovereignty of Spain, and a dispute about tenths. In fact, many Catholics fought ao-ainst Philip II. in this war at the beginning. I visited Scotton for the first time on the day set apart in York as a general holiday for the Eelief of Mafeking (19th May, 1000). (^HAPTEK TX. Let lis clocil witli the inferences from the Evidence^ and ascertain to what furtlier suggestions those inferences give rise. Now, among the first things that mnst strike the reader of the hst of actors in the Gunpowder traged}^ is the hirge number that were, directly or indirectly, connected with the far-stretching, prolific province of Yorkshire. Of the whole thirteen conspirators, four first drew the breath of life in that grandest and fairest of English Counties, namely : Thomas Percy, John A\'right, Christopher Wright, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. AYhile five of the other intending perpetrators of an action which, if consummated, would have indeed " damned theju to everlasting fame," indirectly had relations with it. Nay, more ; of the four members of the clerical pro- fession whom the Government sought to charge with complicity in this nefarious desiginnent, namely : Fathers Garnet, Tesimond, Gerard, and (subse(piently) Oldcorne — two out of the four, Oswald Tesimond and Edward Oldcorne, were likewise York'sliiremen.^ Edward Oldcorne was certainly a native of the City of York, and it is very likely indeed that Oswald Tesimond was a native also/*^*^ ^ The late Jiisliop Creij^liton, in liis line illustrated work entitled, " 7%<3 Sforif of some Enrjlliih Shires" (Keligious Tract Society), says: — " Yorkshire is tlie lar2;est of the English i«bires, and its size corresponds to its ancient greatness." THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 33 Moreover, Oswald Tesimoud, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Guy Fawkes were all educated at the Eoyal School of Philip and Mary in the Horse Fayre, at the left-hand side going down Gillygate, York, where Union Terrace is now situated, just outside Bootharn Bar, and not far from the King's Manor, where Henry Hastings Earl of Huntingdon, or his preceding or succeeding Lords President of the North, presided in State over the Council of the North and the Court of High Commission.'- It is more than probable that Edward Oldcorne also quaffed his first draught of classical knowledge at the same "Pierian spring;" for we are told that his parents "in his young years kept him to school, so that he was a good grammar scholar when he first went over beyond the seas."(^''> Before going to Eheims and Eome Edward Oldcorne had studied medicine. Who among these unparalleled conspirators is then the most likely, either through fear or remorse or both feelings, to have first put into motion the stupendous machinery whereby the Gunpowder conspiracy was revealed ? Only ^ Lord Strafford, the representative of Charles I. in Ireland, was in after years Lord President of the North. In his day the Kings Manor was known as the Palace of the 8tuart Kings, for both James I. and Charles I. sojourned there. It is now used as a beneficent Institution for the Blind, as a memorial to that illustrious Torkshireman, William Wilberforce, M.P., the immortal slave emancipator. One of the rooms- in the old Palace is called the Earl of Huntingdon's room to this day. William AVilberforce's direct heir, William Basil Wilberforce^ Esquire, resides at Markington Hall, near Eipon. The Earl of Huntingdon was a scion of the House of Tork, and had Elizabeth become reconciled to the Church of Eome the Puritans would have probably rallied round Lord Huntingdon as their King. The Honourable Walter Hastings, the Earl's brother, was a Eoman Catholic They were, of course, akin to Queen Elizabeth, and were descended from. the " Blessed " Margaret Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury. D 34 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. an energy practically superhuman would be, or could be, sufficient for the accomplishment of such an end, as — • well-nigh at the eleventh hour — speedily to swing round on its axis a project so diabolical and prodigious as the Gunpowder Plot. For the passion — the concentrated, suppressed, yet volcanic passion — that had purposed so av^-ful a catastrophe was deep as hell and high as heaven. And well ]i light it be, regard being had to the indisputable facts of English Histor}^ from the yea.Y 1569 — the year of the Rising of the North, which was stamped out with such cruel severity — down to the year 1605. Truly, the measure of the Gunpowder conspirators' personal guilt was the measure of their representative wrongs. Yet this, in itself, for these wrong-doers was no ground of pardon or release : for, by a steadfast decree of the universe, " The guilty suffer." CHAPTER X. Now, according to the laws which govern human nature, a subordinate conspirator, introduced late into the conspiracy, whose early training was such as to lead him, on reflection, to regard as morally unlawful the taking of a secret oath, such as the Gunpowder con- spirators had taken : a conspirator in whose heart •emotions, not only of compassion hut also of compunction, were likely to be awakened by the remembrance of that training, as the day was about to dawn and as the hour was about to strike when would be consummated one of the bloodiest tragedies that had ever stained an evil world : a conspirator answering to this, I say, was the most likely to be the conspirator who revealed this purposed appalling massacre, the bare thought of which •causes strong men to shudder, even to this day. Still more likely would be a conspirator who, fulfilling the description just mentioned, adds to that the following, namely— that he possessed an entirely trust- worthy friend who would act as penman of any document he might wish to use as a means of commu- nicating a secret yet warning note to a representative of the intended victims. And yet still more likely would be a conspirator who, to the descriptions of the two preceding paragraphs, added a third, namely — that he possessed a second entirely trustworthy friend who would act as an •" inter pres " — a go-between — to drive home the full 3G THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. intended effect of the document penned by the hand' of the first ; and this with the express knowledge and consent of that first. Hence, such go-between would be the agent common to both the revealing conspirator and his scribe, and would be informed, directed and controlled by them. Eegard being had to the fixities of thought or self-evident fundamentals which in the introduction to this Inquiry were enunciated, these two friends, these two confidants must have been bound to the revealing conspirator by bonds, ties, obligations, " light," indeed, "as air, 3'et strong as iron," which were the outcome of kinship, friendsliip, or business (in a superlatively wide sense), possibly of all three. Now the inference that I draw, from a reviewing and weighing of the Evidence to-day available in relation to this matter, is this, that Christopher Wriglit was the conspirator who revealed the Plot, and that his worthy aiders and honourable abettors were, first, Tliomas Ward, the gentleman-servant (and almost certainly kinsman) of Lord Mounteagie himself, amicus secitndum carnem; and, secondly, Edivard Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit,, amicus seciinduin spiritum : — -friends according to tJie fiesh and to tJie spirit respectivehj. \ CHAPTER XI. Let us proceed to support these statements with Evidence and with Argument. (1) Now was Christopher Wright a subordinate conspirator, introduced late into the conspiracy ? It is plain that he was, from " Thomas Winter's Confession,'" where he says : " About Candlemas we brought over in a boat the powder which we had provided at Lambeth and layd it in Mr. Percy's house, because we were willing to have all our danger in one place. We wrought also another fortnight in the mine against the stone wall which was very hard to beat through, at which time we called in Kit Wright (sometime in February, 1605), and near to Easter as we wrought the third time, opportunity was given to hire the cellar in which we resolved to lay the powder and leave the mine." Again, in the published " Confession,''' of Guy Fawkes. (17th November, 1605), Fawkes says, that a practice "in general was first broken unto me against his majestic, for releife of the Catholique cause, and not invented or propounded by myself. And this was first propounded unto me about Easter last w^as twelve-month, ^^**^ beyond the seas, in the Low Countries of the Archdukes' obeyance by Thomas Wynter." Fawkes says, in his ^'■Confession'" further on : "Thomas Percy hired a bowse at Westminster neare adjoyning the Parlt. howse, and there wee beganne to make a myne about the XL of December, 1604. The 38 THE GUNrOWPEE TLOT. Fyve that entered into the woorck were Thomas Percj-e^ Piobert Catesb}', Thomas AVynter, John ^^'right, and myself, and soon after ^^'^ we tooke another nnto us^ Christopher Wright, having sworn him also, and taken the sacrament for secrecie."^"^^^ " Therefore Christopher AVright must have become a confederate about ten months after Fawkes himself and the other prime movers in the nefarions scheme, and ' his services were requisitioned — as the modern phrase goes — primarily for the purpose of adding to the amount of manual labour available for the digging of the mine^ which was afterwards abandoned for the cellar as the receptacle for the gunpowder that was to effect the- explosion purposed. (2) Now, was Christopher Wright a conspirator whose early training w^as such as to lead him, on reflection, to regard as morally unlawful the taking of a secret oath such as the Gunpowder conspirators had bound themselves by, and one in whose heart emotions, not only of compassion but also of compunction, were- likely to be awakened by the remembrance of that training as the day was about to dawn and the hour was. about to strike when the awful tragedy would be- consummated ? If a man's character may be presumptivel}" known by his friends, still more may it be presumptively known b}^ his progenitors ; and in the light of this principle I therefore answer the foregoing question emphatically in the afhrmative. But what w^as the form of the oath taken b}' all these conspirators save one, namely, Sir Everard Digl)}^ who was spccidllij " sworn in " on the hilt of a poniard?" It w^as this : — " You shall swear by the Blessed Trinity and by the Sacrament you now propose to receive^. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 39 never to disclose, directty or indirectly, by word or circumstance, the matter that shall be proposed to you, to keep secret nor desist from the execution thereof until the rest shall give you leave." This oath was administered to the conspirators by each other, in the most solemn manner — "kneeling down upon their knees wdth their hands laid upon a primer. "^^'■'^ Immediately after the oath had been taken,^*^^ we are told, Catesby explained to Percy, and Winter and John Wright to Fawkes, that the project intended w^as to blow up the Parliament House with gunpowder when the King went to the House of Lords.^"'^^ This would include the Queen, the Commons, Ambassadors, and spectators who would be present daring the King's Speech. From Fawkes' " Confession,'" already quoted, it would seem probable that all five prime conspirators imparted > their prodigious designment of sacrilegious, cold-blooded murder to the conspirator Christopher Wright. ^ CHAPTER XII. Who and what then, with more particularity, was Christopher Wright ? He was the third son of liohert Wright and Ursula his wife, who was the daughter of Nicholas Rudston, Esquire (of the Rudstons, Lords of Hayton,^ near Pocklington, in the East Riding of the County of York, since the reign of King John). Ursula Rudston's mother was Jane, the daughter of Sir Wilhani Mallory, of Studley Royal, near Ripon.^*-^ Christopher Wright was born about the year 1570, the year after the Rising of the North ^^'^^ under "the Blessed" Thomas Percy Earl of Northumberland, and Charles Neville Earl of Westmoreland, in which move- ment many of Christopher AVright's mother's relatives and connections (notably " old Richard Norton," his sons, and the Markenfields) were implicated. ^^*^ Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, in the Parish of Wei wick, in Holdeiiiess, was doul)tless where Christopher Wright first beheld the light of the sun, Plowland Hall, or Great Plowland as it is sometimes called, is situated on the left of, and a little distance from, the high-road, on slightly rising ground, between the ancient town of ' It is gi-atifying to the liistoric feeliiif; to know lliat the Manor of llayton is still owned by a member of this ancient family, the present possessor being T. AV. Calverley-Eudston, Esquire, J.P,, of .lllerthorpe JIall, P(Jcklington. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 41 Patrington and the pretty village of Welwick. When Bobert Wright and Ursula, his wife, and their sons, John and Christopher, and their daughters, Ursula and Martha, knew the place, now so historic, Plowland Hall was a fortified dwelling, surrounded by a deep moat and approached by a drawbridge, much after the fashion of Markenfield Hall, in the Parish of Eipon, the ancestral seat of the Markenfields, heroes of Flodden and kinsmen of the Wrights, Wards, Nortons, Mallories, and number- less others amongst the ancient and wealthy Yorkshire gentry. Christopher Wright and his elder l)rother John were educated, along with Guy Fawkes and Oswald Tesimond, at the Koyal Grammar School (as we have already stated) in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, in the City of York. Their master was the Eeverend John Pulleyn, who probably belonged to the ancient and honourable W^est Eiding family of the Pulleyns (or Pulleines), of Kilhnghall, near Bilton-cum-Harrogate, and of Scotton, in the Parish of Farnham, near Knaresbrough. The two Wrights' parents were stanch Eoman Catholics, and their mother had suffered imprisonment "for the Faith" in York for the "space of fourteen years together," during the time when Henry Hastings Earl of Huntingdon was Lord Piesident of the North, i.e., between the years 1572 and 1599. (Henry third Earl of Huntingdon was one of the few members of the ancient nobility who accepted whole-heartedly the Calvinistic Protestantism then gradually taking root in England.) One of Christopher Wright's sisters, Ursula, was married to Marmaduke Ward, Gentleman, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Eipon ; another, named Martha, was married to Thomas Percy, Gentleman, the Gunpowder conspirator. 42 THE GUNPOWDElt PLOT. It is said of John AYright, Christopher Wright's l)rother, and of his brotlier-in-law, Tliomas Percy, that they were formerly Protestant, and became Cathohc about the time of the rebelhon of tlie Earl of Essex. But it is certain John Wright and Thomas Percy^*'^^ must have been botli brought up Poman Catholics in the days of their childhood ; although they probably ceased to practise their duties as such until about the year 1000. For it is incredible that the son and son-in-law of Robert AVright and Ursula, his wife, should have been brought up as children and youths anything other than rigid Catholics,, whatever else for a season they might, in the days of their early manhood, have become, either from conscientious conviction or reckless negligence, whereof the latter alternative is doubtless the more probable. From the account of the Gunpowder conspirators given by Father John Gerard, the fViend of Sir Everard Digby, and, it is highly probable, the friend of the Wrights also, it would seem that Christopher Wright was a taller man than his brother John,^ fatter in the- ^ It is, however, possible that John A\ rit^ht may liave come under the influence of the Blessed William Hart (styled the Apostle of York and the second Caini)ion), a priest who suffered death at the York Tyburn iu loSJl Because Hart was indicted for (amongst otiier things) "reconciling" a " Mr. John AVright and one Cooling." — See Challoner's " Missionary Priests." If so, John Wright would tlien be about fourteen years of age.. It, however, may have been another John Wright; perhaps of Grantley and one of the brothers of Robert Wriglit, tlie father of John Wright, the conspirator. Cooling was ])robably lialph Cowling, of Yoi'k, a shoe- maker, the father oT Father liichard Cowling (certainly of York), a Jesuit and relative of the Harringtons, of Mount St. John, and, therefore, of Guy Fawkes. See Note 147, where will be found a letter under the hand of this Father Cowling (or Collinge) to a gentleman in Venice — possibly Father Parsons or someone else of authority among the Jesuits — respecting the Harringtons and Guy Fawkes. lialph Cowling, the father, died in York Castle a captive for his Faith, and was buried under the Castle- Wall — I think facing the Foss towards Fishergate. THE GUNPOWDER I'LOT. 4.^ face and of a lighter-coloured hair. "Yet," says Gerard^ "was he very like to the other in conditions and qualities, and hoth esteemed and tried to be as stout a man as England had, and withal a zealous Catholic and trusty and secret in any business as could be wished. "^*''^ Christopher ^Yright was married. His wife's nanie^ w^e know, was Margaret.^ ^^'^ I strongl}^ suspect that Mrs. Christopher Wright was a sister of both Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Kipon ; yet of this there is oul}^ perhaps, slight evidence, sO' that no positive argument can be grounded upon it, considered hij itself: though the evidence of Mistress Robinson, Christopher Wright's landlady in London, indirectly tends to confirm such a suspicion. — See Evidence of Dorathie Robinson, 'postea, where she says that AVright had " a brother " in London. When Gu}' Fawkes was examined in the Tower of London, in the forenoon of the Gth of November, he said, in answer to a question — " Y"ou would have me discover m}' friends ; the giving warning to one overthrew us all." Now, if Guy Fawkes eventually revealed the con- spiracy by reason of the agony caused b}^ the physical pains of the rack, when after the first racking he was told he " must come to it againe and againe, from daye to daye, till he should have delivered his whole knowledge," is it, I ask, a thing incredible that the son of a Yorkshire Catholic mother that had spent fourteen years of her life in " durance " for her profession of her forefathers' ancient Faith, should have revealed the conspiracy itself, by reason of the agony caused by the moral pains of a pricking conscience, goading him to madness for having committed in act (in the case of the unlawful oath), in desire (in ^ See '■'^ Life of Mary Ward," vol. i., p. 89. 44 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. the case of the intended murder) most horrible- crimes - <^ against the offended Majesty of Heaven?, y^JU'^. a I think not. O^^^lX " " '^ Therefore I conchide that it is antecedently probable > i that in the heart of Christopher Wright, emotions, not only I \ of compassion but also of compunction, /6'ere awakened by the remembrance of the early training he had received at his mother's knee : emotions which were potent enough, under the wisdom and skill of one whose special duty it was to ''work good unto all men," speedily to swing right round on its axis, though well-nigh at the eleventh hour, the diaholical designment known to History as the Ounpowder Treason Plot. Had Christopher Wright any entirety trustworthj' friend, one who not only would prove a healing minister to a mind diseased with the leprosy of crime, but also he an able and ready helper for giving effect to an all hut too late repentance ? Was there anyone to w4iom he could have recourse, who was at once wise of head, sj^mpathetic of heart, and skilful of hand ? There was. CHAPTER XIII. For at Hindlip Hall, near the City of Worcester^ there had dwelt for the past sixteen yenYS one who was not only the trusted spiritual guide of Thomas Abington, Esquire, and the Honourable Mar}^ (Parker), his wife, daughter of the Lord Morley and sister to the Lord Mounteagle, but who by reason of his remarkably zealous labours in that part of the country had come to be- accepted as a very Apostle of Worcestershire. This was Edward Oldcorne, a Priest and a Jesuit. He was the son of John Oldcorne, Tiler, a schismatic Catholic, of St. Sampson's Parish, in the City of York. His mother was Elizabeth Oldcorne, a rigid Catholic recusant, who had suffered imprisonment "for the Faith." He was born about the year 1560, and proceeded to the English College at Eome in 1582, aged twenty-one, for the higher studies. He was most probably at the Eoyal School in the Horse Fayre, in York, and he may have been there at the same time as Oswald Tesimond,^*^^ John Wright,^"'''^ Christopher "Wright, and Guy Fawkes, though about ten years the senior of the three latter. As already has been stated, before going beyond the seas he had studied medicine. He was a man remarkable alike for mental acumen, tranquillity of spirit, gentleness of nature, and strength of will. He was one of those Jesuits who, realising a higher unity, were at once Mystics a?id Politicians. His equipoise of mind shows him to have been a ver}- great man — indeed, on account of his- 46 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. combination of mental gilts and graces, T think the greatest, in reality, of all the early English Jesuits. For "he saw life steadily and saw it whole." ^ " All the chiefest gentlemen," says Father Gerard, Oldcorne's contemporary, " and best Catholics of the county where he remained and the counties adjoining depended upon his advice and counsel, and he was indefatigable in his journeys." ^'^"^ Again, a ]\IS. ^Memoir^^'^'^ .says, " so profuse was his liberality in aiding others that he supplied the necessities of life to very many Catholics. It was very evident his residence was well :selected in the midst of the Catholics of that district of the Society of Jesus, so great and so promiscuous was the concourse of people flocking thereto for his sermons, for his advice, and the sacraments." ^^^^ "' Now, Father Oldcorne w^as the spiritual adviser of Eobert Winter, another subordinate plotter, and also of Catesby, according to the statement of one Humphrey Littleton, who knew Oldcorne well. And as John Wright was a tenant of Catesby's Mansion House, at Lapworth, in Warwickshire, about twenty miles distant from Hindlip, Christopher Wright must have not only heard of Father Oldcorne's fame as a " counsellor of the •doubtful " and a " friend in need," but it is at least possible he may have been among those divers Catholics and Schismatics ^^^^ in the country thereabouts who flocked to him for conference and to have his exliortations.^'^^ ^ ^ Matthew Arnold. " See Supplemejitum II. •'' Evidence of the ])ractical side of Oldcorne's luind is furni-slied by the fact that we are told he often begged leave in Home of his superiors to visit the hospitals and serve in the kitchen. And when the English College was in low water, owing to the parents of the scholars not being able to pay for their sons tln-ough stress of the persecution, Oldcorne was sent to the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily to negotiate pecuniary assistance. His business embassy was eminently successful, and he brought back "a. good round sum" to the College. — See Gierard's " Xan-ative,'' p. 272. THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 47 Again, Christopher Wright appears to have been especially friendly with two other conspirators, namely, Thomas Winter and Ambrose Kookwood. And it is worthy of notice that Huddington Hall, in AVorcestershire, the seat of Robert Winter (of which place Thomas Winter is also described), and Clopton Hall, in Warwick- shire, near Stratford-on-Avon (whither Ambrose Rookwood removed soon after Michaelmas, 1605), were easily acces- sible to and from Hindlip Hall, where Father Oldcorne was,' in general, to be found when not engaged at some other missionary station, such as Worcester City or Grafton Manor, the seat of John Talbot, Esquire, then heir presumptive to the Earldom of Shrewsbury and father-in-law to Robert Winter, who had married Miss Gertrude Talbot.^ ^ The site of Shakespeare's new residence, which he built and called JVew Place, at Stratford-on-Avon, had belonged to the Clopton family, Cloptuii Bridge and Clopton Hall (or House) are still well known to all visitors to the shrine of Shakespeare. It is to be remembered that Clopton Hall, the property of Lord Carew, whither Ambrose Eookwood repaired for temporary residence soon after Michaelmas, 1605, was by road twenty-three miles from Hindlip Hall, where Father Oldcorne resided. .^.^^^ Ambrose llookwood and Christopher Wright were particular friends. A Eookwood was a man of very tender conscience, which, however, unhappily failed him at the most crucial moment of his life, namely, when he V consented to join in the Plot which proved his ruin. But indirectly he / probably unknowingly strengthened Christopher Wright's resolve to \ reverse the Plot, by revelation. The influence of "associating" (even if of not always "according") " minds" one upon the other is very subtle but very powerful. CHAPTEE XIY. Let lis now examine the Letter itself. The Urst thin^;' to be noted is that no reprint that I have seen of the famous Letter, whether in ancient or modern continuous delations of the Gunpowder Plot, is strictly correct. For they all omit the pronoun "yowe" after the words "my lord out of the loue i beare." This pronoun " yowe " is indeed crossed out in the original Letter with a blurred net-work of lines.^'"^"^^ But, this notwithstanding, it can be still detected in the original document, happily, even to this day, to be seen in the Eecord Oftice, London. Now the fact that this word " yowe " is crossed out in this mysterioas fashion, coupled with the fact that the words used at the end of the Letter are as follow : "and i hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good^^''^ use of it to whose holy proteccion i come]id yowe,'* jnakes it clear (to my mind) that an universal temporal salvation of the destined victims was intended by the revealing conspirator and by his penman, and not merely the particular salvation of the recipient of the Letter. Again, the meaning of the words "for the danger is passed as soon as j'owe have burnt the letter," is in one sense fairly clear. For as Wilson says, in liis ^^ Life of James 7." (1053), p. 80, "the writer's desire was to have the letter burned, and then the danger would be past both to the writer and the receiver, if he had grace to make use of the warning." ^"^"^ THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 49 This must be the, at least, odensihle meaning. For it is obvious that neither Wright nor Oldcorne {ex Injpotliesi) would, for different but most potent reasons, wish the penman of the Letter to be known to the then j)ublic, either Catholic or Protestant. Now it was in accordance with universal right reason and moral fitness that Father Oldcorne should — so far as was consistent with his being satisfied that warning of the Plot had been given through trustworthy channels to the King's principal Secretary of State— keep in the background and not himself in person adventure upon the theatre of action, even for the purpose of com- passing an object which he was bound by his vocation, alike in Justice and Charity, to compass. For by the Act 27 Elizabeth, he was " a traitor," being a Priest and remaining in England for more than forty days. While the fact that he was a Jesuit into the bargain would be, of course, counted an aggravation of his statutory offence. ^"'^^ Again, Father Oldcorne had to remember, besides- the ideal standard that his vocation imposed upon him, the practical standard which was the unwritten law that guided the conscience of the best of the average Catholics in that period of their intolerable sufferings.^ For it is a fact of human nature that every man seeks to instruct his conscience by some objective rule or ^ The Englisli papists groaned under the following persecution : — The poor were practically liable to be fined (and therefore sold up "stick and pin") one shilling every time they absented themselves from their parish church. The richer members of the community ^vere compelled to pay £20 per lunar month. 3Iany of the English nobility, gentry, and yeomanry \vei*e ruined by this; indeed the Catholics must have been very rich on the whole to hold out as long as they did. It was the Government authorities (Clerical and Lay) that did the persecuting ,:. E 50 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. standard of Truth and Plight ; hut tliat instincts and emotions oftentimes finally rule men rather than reason and argumentative proof. It Avas, furthermore, incumbent upon Oldcorne to recollect that more harm than good is frequently occa- sioned in this entangled world by an unseasonable, indiscriminate, "heroic" application of abstract principles (faultless in themselves) to the varied and perplexing circumstances of man's terrestrial life. To illustrate my propositions : It is worth while remembering that even so lofty a soul as Mrs. Ambrose Rookw^ood evidently regarded her husband, primarily, as a sufferer for conscience sake, and only secondarily, if at all, as a repentant sacrilegious traitor and murderer in desire, who was suffering condign punishment and paying the just penalty of his ruthless crimes. No doubt special allow^ances have to be made for this poor w^oman, inasmuch as her husband and children were all the world to her. But still the following recorded statement proves that the tendencij was for even the best of the average English Cntholics of that day, of whom Mrs. liookwood is a fair type and specimen, to centre their sympathies on the wrong-doers rather than on the wronged. Tliis was natural enough; for man's disposition is to be led by his unconscious instincts and emotional individual Protestants often sought to mitigate the miseries of their fellow- countrymen from whom they differed in religion. Being reconciled to the See of Eome was deatli, and to he a popish priest was hy the terrible Statute 27 Eliz. to be "a traitor" and to be liable to be hanged, cut ' Ward's family ^ Since the text was written. I have ioiiiul out that AVinefrid AVigniore, throui^h liei mother, was a cousin once removed to Elizabeth, ].,ady Mounteagle {hcg Treshani). — bee Notes 30 and 7G j^osfea. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 65 and the families of Monnteagle, Morley, Berkeley, and Vanx/"^' Again, Mary Ward was related to Mar}^ Poyntz (pronounced Poynes), a lady whose ancient family had come over with William the Conqueror/"'^^ Mary Poyntz, herself a lovely woman, was the daughter of Edward Poyntz, Esquire, of Iron Acton and Tobington Park, in the County of Gloucester/"''^ Sir Nicholas Poyntz, who was living in 1580, the fatlier of Edward Poyntz, had married Margaret Stanle}', the daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. This lady was the mother of Edward Poyntz, the father of Mar}' Poyntz, the relative of Mary Ward. Now I find (from Burke's '^Extinct Peerages'') that Henry Parker Lord Morley, the grandfather of W'illiam Parker fourth Lord Monnteagle, had married Elizabeth Stanley, daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. Hence the Poyntz and the Mounteagies were cousins. Again, the Wards were in some way or other related to the Poyntz family. Hence it follows that through the Poyntz the AYards were related in some sort with Lord MoUnteagle, by means of the Stanleys, Mounteagie's- father's ancestors and mother's ancestors,^"'^ . Eor it is obvious that families connected with or related to the same family are connected with or related to each other. Again, there was certainly a further marriage connection and a probably blood relationship between the Morleys, Mounteagies, and Wards through the great House of Neville. (We njay be sure that a young nobleman like the fourth Lord Monnteagle would be glad to recognise the AVards of Alulwith, Newby, and Givendale as " Cousins " if such were the fact, and to treat them in every respect as being on an equality with him.) F 66 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Therefore the combined Evidence so far gives lis this conchision : — That a Christopher AVrii(ht was the brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward, of ^Nluhvith, in the Parish of Eipon. That Marmaduke Ward was of the same place — Mulwith (or Mulwaith) — as a person named Thomas Warde, who was married in a chnrch in York in the year 1579, and whose wife died in the year 1590, and whose burial is recorded to this day at Eipon ]\rinster. That a Christopher Wright, most probably the brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward, and thus most probably the connection of Thomas Warde, was residing at Newby, near Mulwith,^"®^ in the Parish of Kipon, between the years 1594 and 159(3 inclusive, and in the neighbourhood of the City of Kipon, and within the boundary of its parish, from the year 1589 to 1601. That Marmaduke Ward's son, AYilliani, had an uncle who lived at Court. ^ That the Wardes were connected with and related to Lord ]\Iounteagle by connnon family ties.^"^^ ^ The fact that a Christopher AVright who lived at Newbie \\\ 1596, and at Skelton (Newbie itself is in the Parish of Skelton) in 1601, when he called one of his children " Marmaduke," raises a strong presumption, I maintain, that this Christopher "W^right was the brother-in-law of Marmaduke Ward. At this time there was also a Francis Wriiiht at Xewbie, and a John AV right at Grantley. They may have been the children of John and Christo])her Wriglit, the uncles of John and Cln-istopher AVright, tlie Gun- powder plotters. And, of course, it is 2>ossibh that the Christopher Wright who lived in Bondgate, Newbie, and Skelton between the years 1589 and 1601 niai/ have been a cousin or other J,-ins>nn)i of Curistoplier Wright the plotter, or even of different families altogether. ]3ut in the Kegister of AV^elwick Church are the following entries of Biu'ials : " 13 <')ct()ber 1G54 ffrauncis A\"right I'^squire and 2 May 1664 fFrauncis Wright Escjuire" (communicated by the iiev. D. Y. tStoddart, M.A., A^icar of THE GUNPOWDEPw PLOT. 67 Hence, from the foregoing evidence, tlie conclusions < a remarkable fact that !Sir Thomas lieueage (^uliosc name frequently occurs in tlie correspondence of Sir Francis Walsingliam with the Earl of Leicester when in 1 he Low Countries), married for his first wife Anne Poyntz, the eldest daughter of Sir Nicholas Poyntz and the Honourable Margaret Stanley, the daughter of Edward Stanley Earl of Derby. — See " I'isitatlon of Essex, 1012'' (llarleian Soc.) under "Poyntz." — Sir Thomas lleneage is described as Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Sir Thomas lleneage married for his second wife the Dowager Countess of Southampton, the mother of Shakespeare's friend and patron. Now this Earl of Scmthampton, like- the Ear! of Kutland, was an intimate friend of Lord ^Tounteagle. THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 75' England's " North Conntrie," — that hirth-place and home of so much that is most original and energetic in the English race. Eor this happily-circumstanced young peer was related douhly to the great Lancashire house of ]3erhy, heing, indeed, the heir and successor to the honours and estates of tlic Stanleys Lords Mounteagle,. of Hornhv Castle, near " time-honoured Lancaster." In fact, through his mother Elizabeth (Stanley) Lady Morley, William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle was the owner of Hornby Castle, situated in the Vale of the Lune, one of the grandest portions of North-east Lancashire. Again, through his grandmother Anne (Leybourne)' Lady Mounteagle, Lord Mounteagle was descended from two other families belonging to the ancient and wealthy Catholic gentry of the North, some of whom the Wards, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, in the Parish of Eipon, in the County of York, nnist have known personally, and certainly all of whom tlie}' must have greatly honoured. I refer to the Prestons, of Lev.ens and Preston Patrick,, in the County of Westmoreland, and of Eurness and Holker, in Lancashire, "North of the Sands," and to- the Leybournes (or Labourns), of Cunswick, Skelsmergh^ and Witherslack,' in the County of Westmoreland, and of Nateby-in-the-Eylde, in the west of the County of Lancaster.^*^''^^ ^ Tlie modern Witherslaek Hall, in Westmoi-eland, is the property of the present Earl of Derby. It is situated iu a lovely neighbourhood which instinctively recalls the words of the poet : " Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take, ' The winds of March with beauty." — Winters Tale. A\'^ithersl;ick is readied from Arnside, Silverdale, or Grange- over- Sands. The old AVitherslack Hall of the Levbournes is now a farm-house. ^' CHAPTEll XXII. Lastl}^ it should he remeinhered, in, ondeaynnriiig o trace out hy inevitahle inference) the nature of the tie or ties, manifestly very strong, that hound Mounteagle to Mannaduke Ward (and therefore to Thomas Ward), that the ancestors of hoth Mounteagle and the Wards had, in the year 1/513, fought together at the great hattlc of Flodden Field, in Northumherland, in which the Scots were led hy King James IV. of Scotland, who married Margaret Tudor, the daughter of King Henry VII. of England, and whom naught would content, like many a valiant Scot before and since, save *' a soldier's death or glory." In the memorable fight, the fifth son of Thomas Stanley first Earl of Derby, namely. Sir h.dward Stanley (whose mother was a Neville),^ turned the fortunes of the ^ The first Lord Mounteagles inollier was Lady Eleanor Neville, the sister of Richard Neville, so well known to history as "the King Maker." The Wards were related to tlie Nevilles in more than one way. — See " Li/e of Mar 11 Ward" vol. i., the earlier chapters. In Staindrop Parish Chnrch, three miles from Winston, Darlington, are still to be seen the nionunieiits of the great Ralph Neville and his two wives. This was the first Neville who bore the title Earl of AVestnioreland. There are also the inoiunneiits of ITenry Neville fifth Earl of Westtnorelaiid, and two out of his three wives. Uis son Charles was the last Neville wjio bore this title. — See Wordsworth's " Wliite Doe of Itjlstomr 1 visited Raby I'astle, J)in-hani. with its famous Hall and Minstrel^*' Gallery, on the Lst of July, 1901. Raby Castle is owned now by Henry De A'ere \'ane ninth Lord Barnard, who also owns Barnard Castle, overlooking the Tees, cilcbratcd by Sii- Walter Scott in •' llokeby." THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. < i day in favour of the English by attacking with his archers the rear of the Scottish centre — which centre, led by King James liimself in person, was assaulting, with some success, the English forces, whose vanguard was led by Lord Thomas Howard, in 1514 created the Earl of Surre}'. This Earl of Surre}' was afterwards the second Duke of Norfolk, of the Howard line of the Dukes of Norfolk, and great-grandfather of Philip Howard Earl of Arundel,, who died in the Tower of London in 1595. The Mowbrays had been the holders of the coveted title Duke of Norfolk ^ from the year 1396 down to 1475, when John de Mowbray Earl of Warren and Surrey,, the fourth of the Mowbray Dukes of Norfolk, died leaving no son but only a daughter, Anne, in her owii right Baroness Mowbray and Segrave, and also in her own right Countess of Norfolk. This lady was con- tracted in marriage to Kichard, afterwards created Duke of Norfolk, a son of King Edward IV., but they had no- issue. The second of the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, the hero of Elodden Field, was the father of Thomas third Duke of Norfolk, commonly called the " old Duke of Norfolk." ^ The first Earl of Norfolk was Thomas of Brotherton, a brother of Ivinjr Edward II. The date of this ancient Earldom was 1812. It fell into abeyance on the death of Eichard Duke of Norfolk and his wife Anne Lady Mowbray. Thomas Howard Earl of Arundel and Surrey (the half-cousin of Lord Mounteagle) was created Earl of Norfolk by a patent of King Charles I. (formerly Duke of York) in 1644. At the present date (25th June, 1001) the House of Lords has luider consideration a claim by Lord 3Iowbray Segrave and Stourton that he be declared senior co-heir to the Earldom of Norfolk created in 1312. (A case of great historic interest.) 78 THE GUNrOWDEB PLOT. He was that ])uke of Norfolk, under Henry \IIT., who opposed the insurgent Yorkshire and Lancashire "Pilgrims of Grace'' (1536) led hy the gallant llohert Aske/ of Aughton, on the hanks of the Yorkshire Derwent, when in the event Aske was hanged from one of the towers of the ancient (^ity of York — prohahly Chfford's Tower — and many of his followers tasted of Tndor vengeance. " The old Duke of Norfolk " was the father of that illustrious scion of the house of Howard who, under the name Eaid of Surrey, has left a deathless inemory alike as warrior, statesman, and poet. The Earl of Surrey's son was Thomas Howard fourth Duke of Norfolk, who is the connnon ancestor of the present Duke of Norfolk and the present Earl of Carlisle. The fourth Duke of Norfolk's head fell on the scaffold, l)y reason of the Duke's aspiring to the lioyal hand of Mary Queen of Scots.- ^ Kepresentatives of the family of Kobert Aske are still to be fuiuul at Bubwitii, near Aughton, and, I believe, at ]IulI. Aughton is reached from the station called High Field on the Selbv and Market Weighton line. Aughton Parish Church is a fine mediaeval structure. llard-by is Castle Hill, the site of the ancient castle of the Askes, showing also evident traces of two large moats which had surroinuh^d the fortified buildings on the hill which constituted the ,\i:gliton Hall of days gone by. '^Slingsby Castle, 28 miles north-east of York (now dismantled), is associated with the IMowbrays Dukes of Norfolk, they giving the Vale near the Ho\\a)'dian Hills and Eydale the title, A'ale of ]Mowbray. Wliile Sheriff JIutton Castle, ]0 miles north-east of York (rebuilt by the first Earl of "Westmoreland), is associated with the Howards Dukes of Norfolk; for the "old Duke " lived there for 10 years during the reign of Henry VIII. (The occupier of part of Sheriff Hutton Castle now (1901) is Joseph Suggitt, Esq., J. P.) THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 79 The then Lord Dacres of the North, " who dwelt on the Border " at Naworth Castle/ near Carlisle, was like- wise a sharer in the renowned laurels of Flodden Field. This before-mentioned Sir Edward Stanley, the fifth son of Thomas Stanley first Earl of Derby, w^as created by Henry VIII. Baron Mounteagle, and he was the great-great-grandfather of William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Tresham. The story of the battle of Flodden Field (^''> and its famous English archers must have been familiar to Mounteagle from his earliest years. And he, doubtless, would have learned from maternal lips that, in con- •sequence of his ancestor's prowess in that historic fight, his mother's family received from Henry YIII. the famous title whereby he himself had the good fortune to be known to his King and his fellow-subjects. I find from Baines' '■'■History of Lancasliire,'" vol. iv., €d. 1836, that Hornby Castle, in the Yale of the Lune, in the Parish of Melling, did not pass out of the family of the Lords Morley and Mounteagle until the reign of Charles 11. (1663), when it was sold to the Earl of Cardigan : that James I. confirmed to William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle certain ancient rights and privileges, such as court view of frankpledge, etc. : and that James stayed at the Castle in the year 1617, on his return from Scotland to London through Lancashire. ^ The Howards Dukes of Norfolk give their name to the Howardian Hills, through Lord AVilliam Howard, who married the Honourable Anne Dacres, of Xaworth Castle and Hinderskelfe Castle, now Castle Howard. Historic Naworth and that veritable palace of art, Castle Howard, belong to that cultivated nobleman, Charles James Howard seventh Earl of Carlisle, whose gifted wife, Rosalind Countess of Carlisle («ee Stanley of Alderley), is akin to the famous William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle. of the davs of James I. 80 THK GUNPOWDER PLOT. Bailies also says that Sir Edward Stanley lirst Lord Mouiiteagle (wlio married Anne Harrington, daughter of Sir John Hari-iiigtou) successfully petitioned Henr}^ VII. for the Hornby instates, in consequence of the attainder of James Harrington, apparently his wife's uncle. CHAPTEE XXIII. The first Lord Mounteagle left Hornby Castle to his son Thomas second Lord Mounteagle. William third Lord Mounteagle, the son and heir of Thomas the second Lord Mounteagle, died in 1584, and is buried in the Parish Church of St. Peter, Melling. Lady Mary Brandon,^ the eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was the first ^Yife of Thomas second Lord Mounteagle, whose second wife was Ellen Leybourne (/ice Preston), the mother of Anne, the wife of William third Lord Mounteagle, who died in 1584. Ellen Preston's father was Sir Thomas Preston ; her mother was a Thornborough, of Hampsfield Hall, Hamps- fell, in the Parish of Cartmel, North Lancashire. The Thornboroughs (or Thornburghs) had held some of the following manors from the time of Edward III. : — Hamps- field Hall, Whitwell, Winfell, Eellside, Skelsmergh, Patton, Dallam Tower, Methop, Ulva, and AVilson House, all either in North Lancashire or Westmoreland. In the parish church of Windermere, at Bowness,. near Lake Windermere, .there is a window containing, besides royal arms (possibly those of Henry Y.), the ^ Lady JNlary Brandon was tlie daughter of Charles Bi-andon Duke of Suffolk, who was married four times, one of his wives being a sister of Henry VIII. The Duke of Suffolk was grandfather of Lady Jane Dudley, commonly called Lady Jane Grey, one of the finest moral characters Protestantism has produced. — See Spelman's " Jfistoi'if of Sacrilege" (Masters, ed. LS53), p. 22S. G 82 THE GUNroWDEK PLOT. arms of Harrington, Leybourne, Fleming de liydal, Strickland, ^Middleton, and Eedmayne, most of which houses of gentry of "the North Countrie " were more or less allied to the fourth Lord ]\Iounteagle. Sir Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle was in possession of Hornby Castle and its l)road acres at the date of Flodden Field, lol3/ This is interestingly evidenced by the two following stanzas from the old '' Ballad of Flodden Field":— " ^Josl, lively lads in Lonsdalu bred, AVith weapons ot" unvvieldly weight ; All sucli as Tatham Fells had bred. Went under Stanley's streamers bright. From Silverdale to Kent Sand Side/*^") AVhose soil is sown with cockle shells : From C'artmel eke and Connyside, With fellows fierce from Furness Fells." Now, the fourth Lord Mounteagle would, almost certainly, know that among the many valiant knights that fought with his forbear, Sir Edward Stanley, was Sir Christopher Ward, who led the Yorkshire levies to the victorious field, and who came of the great family of Ward (or Warde), long famous in the annals of the West Eiding of Yorkshire about Guiseley, Esholt, and Eipon. ' III the battle of Flodden Field, which caused such lamentation, mourning, and woe in Edinburgh, several citizens ot York l)ehaved them- selves valiantly under Sir John Mounville. Among English lords in this fight were the Lords Howard (Ednnind .Howard), Stanley, Ogle, Clifford, Lumley, Latimer, Scroope (of Bolton), and Dacres ; among knights were Gascoyne, Pickering, Stapleton, Tilney, and Markenfield ; and among gentlemen were Dawney, Tempest, Dawbey, and Heron. — See Gent's "ii'/>o»," p. 143. Tt is said that the gallant Northumbrian Heron knew all the " sleiglits of war. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 83 For, as the grand old " Ballad of Flodden Field " again tells us, the English arms were reinforced '' With many a gentleman and squire, From Eippon, Eipley, and Jlydale, AVith them marched forth all Massamshire, With JVosteriield and Xetherdale." The honourable fact just mentioned concerning the valiant Yorkshire knight. Sir Christopher Ward, together with the fact of the relationship, whatever was its precise degree, between the families of Mounteagie and Ward, through the Nevilles and, almost certainly, other ancient houses besides, would tend to cement the bond of union betwixt William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle and his private secretary or gentleman-servant, wdio — as we have proved by evidence and inevitable inferences therefrom — it is all but absolutely certain must . have been Thomas Warde,^ of Mulwith, the brother of Marmaduke Ward, of Mulwitb, Newby, and Givendale/**^^ With the consequence that both Lord Mounteagle and his older — almost certainly diplomatist-trained — Elizabethan kinsman would share the lofty traditions, memories and ways of looking at things common to both, which would characterize an historic race that had ^ Sir Edward Hoby is the only contemporary, so far as 1 know, that has written in English the name of Lord Mounteagle's gentleman- servant as such who read the Letter on the 26th of October, 1605. Now, Hoby writes Ward without the final " e." If this be borne faithfully in mind there is no objection to my writing the name either "' Ward " or " Warde " indifferently. To write Thomas Warde as well as Thomas Ward helps the mind, I think, to realize the force of the evidence and arguments of this Inquiry ; hence my so doing. But, of course, I wish to make it clear that it is inference only, not direct proof, that supplies the missing link in identifying Thomas Ward. 84 THE GUN^o^vD^:ri plot. been of high " consideration " long before the sister- Kingdom of " bonnie Scotland" gave to her ancient foe a King from her romantic and fascinating but ill-fated Stnart line. CHAPTER XXIV. Having then thus established the point that if 'Christopher Wright and his conjectured Penman of the Letter wished to put themselves into communication with the King's Government, Christopher Wright himself had family connections in Mounteagle and Ward, who were pre-eminently well qualified — from their Janus-like respective aspects — for the performance of such a task, let us proceed with our Inquiry. For there is Evidence to lead to the following conclusions : — (1) That the revealing conspirator (whoever he was) had arranged beforehand that Mounteagle should be at Hoxton on the memorable Saturday evening, the '26th day of October, 1605, at about the hour of seven of the ■clock. Moreover, my strong opinion is that this arrange- ment was made through the suggestion of Thomas Ward, the diplomatic intermediary, with the express consent of Mounteagle himself. The suggestion, I think, may have been made by Thomas Ward at Bath,^ a town which Ward possibly ^ It is possible that Mounteagle and Catesby may have been together •at Bath between the 12th of October, 1605, and the 26th October. See a curious letter dated 12th October, but without date of tlie year, from Mounteagle to Catesby ('■'ArcJueolof/ia,'" vol. xxviii., p. 420), discovered by the late Mr. Bruce. There is a copy of this '■'■Archceolofjla" in the British Museum, which 1 saw in October, 1900. 8G THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. took on liis leaving Lapwortli, in Warwickshire, whither,. I surmise, he repaired some time l)etween the 11th of Octoher and the 2()tli of that month. (2) That Thomas Ward's was the guiding mind, the dominant force, or, to vary the metaphor, the central pivot upon wliich the successful a('C()iu})lisliment of the entire revelation turned, inasmuch as, I submit, that Ward luust have received from tlio conscience- stricken conspirator a complete disclosure of the whole- guilty secret, witli full power, moreover, to make known to Mounteagle so much of the particulars concerning the- enterprise as in the exercise of his (Ward's) uncontrolled diplomatic discretion it might be profitahle to be made known to Mounteagle, in order that the supreme end in view might be attained, namely, the entire spinning round on its axis of the prodigious, diabolical Plot. (3) That Thomas Ward (or Warde) was the diplomatic go-between, the trusty mentor, and the zealous prompter of his master throughout the whole of the very difficult,, delicate, and momentous part that Destiny, at this awful crisis in England's histor}^ called upon this young nobleman to play. If Ward (or Warde) were born about the l)eginning of Elizabeth's reign, in the year 1605 he would be well- nigh in the prime of life, namely, forty-six years of age ; whereas Mounteagle, we know, was just about thirty. Hence was ^^'arde, by his superior age and experience of men and things, well fitted to jilay " the guide, philo- sopher, and friend" to Mounteagle in the matter.^ ' jr Thomas AVardc were sent to the Low Countries, as I lliink it almost ccftaiii he was sent, although 1 cannot prove it, l)elik(' be may CHAPTER XXY. Now what is the Evidence to support tlie preceding paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) ? As to paragraph (1), the Evidence is direct. There was a tradition extant tJiat Mounteagle expected the Letter, told to a geutlemaii named Edmund CluircU his confident. — See Gardiner's " Gnnpoioder Plot,'' p. 10. have been one of those Elizabethan gentlemen Shakespeare luul in niintl when he wrote in tlie "Two (Jentlemen of Verona": " Yet hath Sir Proteus Made use and fair advantage of his days: His years but young, but his experience old : His head iinmellowed, but his judgment ripe; And, in a word (for far behind his worth Come all the praises that 1 now bestow) He is complete in feature and in mind, AVith all good grace, to grace a gentleman." It sheds some very faint corroborative light on the supposal that Thomas Ward was the '• Mr. AVarde " mentioned by Sir Francis AValsingham in the ''■Earl of Leicester's Correspondence'' (Cam. Soc), that Sir Thomas Heneage, a trusted diplomatist of Queen Elizabeth in the Low Countries, married Anne Poyntz, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Poyntz and Margaret Stanley, a daughter of Edward Stanley Earl of Derby, especially when it is recollected that the Poyntz and the Wards, of Mulwith, were related. — See '■'Life of Marii Ward'' (Brown & Oates, 2 vols.) Also a "Mr. AVade " mentioned by AV'alsingham to Leicester in a letter dated 3rd April, 1587, may have been really " Warde." — See AA^ right's "■Elizabethan Letters;' vol. ii., p. 33.5. Again, " The Calendar of State Papers,'' Domestic Series, 1581-90, gives, page 93, a Thomas Warde, as an examiner for the Privy Council, taking down evidence in the cause of Eobert Hungate and wife v. John Hoare and John Sliawc, in the vear 1583. 88 THE GUNPOWDEll PLOT. Moreover, the fact that the footman was in the street at ahoiit seven of the clock when the missive was given to him is stroiigli/ .W()()estire of tlie fact that lie had been nnrioitshi sent tliitlicr hij some one, so that tie might he readij at l-and to receice fJie document immediately on its arrivol. As to paragraphs ('2) and (3), tlie Evidence is indirect and inferential. It is this : — Thomas Ward was manifestly on excellent terms with Mounteagle on the one hand and with the conspirators on the other. For it is evident that no sooner had Mounteagle arrived l)ack from his errand of mercy on that dark night of Saturday, the 26th day of October, 1005, than he divulged to his servant almost all, if not quite all, that had passed at Whitehall during his never-to-be- forgotten interview with Salisburj-, the King's principal Secretary of State. ^ That Lord Mounteagle had imparted to Thomas Ward almost all, if not quite all, that had passed between Lord Salishury and himself on the delivery to the latter of the peerless document to my mind is clear from the fact that tlie faith ful Ward , tJtc very jie.rt day (St(nd(n/) repaired to Thomas Winter, one of the principal con- spirators, and told Winter that the Letter axis in the hands of Salisbury! — ^'■Winter's Confession.'" Assuming that Thomas Ward was a Ward of Mulwith, he would he a family connection of Thomas Winter as well as of Christopher Wright through Ursula Ward and Inglehies, of llipley, in Nidderdale. 'The (lavs of tlic wevk and the dates of 1 Ik^ iiioiitli riiii parallel for the years 1(505 and 1901. Thus both the 26ths of October are on a Saturday. What vas the condition of the moon on that memorable Saturdaij night ! THE GUNFOWDEK PLOT. 89 Now, what is proved by this very significant fact of Thomas WarcVs so unerringly darting off to Thomas Winter, one of the prime movers in this conspiracy of wholesale slaughter, when he (\Yard) had all the adult male inhabitants of London and Westminster to make his selection from ? Plainly this : that the revealing conspirator (who- ever he was) must have ^'primed'' Thomas Ward hij previously telling TJiomas Ward that Thomas Winter was one of tJie chief est of those involved in the conspiracij. Again ; as Winter had been formerly in Mounteagle's service (a circumstance doubtless well-knowm to the revealing conspirator), that revealing conspirator would naturally, nay inevitably, hid Ward put himself not only into speedy communication with Mounteagle, in order to reach Salisbury, the principal servant of the King, hut, this done, also into sjjeedy communication -with Thomas Winter, one of the chief promoters of the baleful enterprise, in order that by dint of Winter's powerful influence the general body of the latter' s co-conspirators might be warned, and not merely warned, but haply prevailed upon to take to tbeir heels in instant flight. Thus the great end aimed at by the curvilinear triangular movement — wherein (ex hypothesi) the Penman, Father Oldcorne, as well as the go-between, Thomas Ward, and the revealing Christopher Wright, was a party and responsible actor — would be, with clear-eyed, sure-footed, absolute certitude, secured and accomplished — nothing- being left to the perilous contingencies of purblind, stumbling, limited chance. V \ ^ ^'^ "^f f\ \ V CHAPTEii XXVJ. Now, I maiiitciin that there is Evidence, from a very unexpected quarter, that Thomas Ward had received from the reveahii,^- plotter a complete disclosure of every one of tlie juaterial facts and particulai's of the Plot, including- tlie existence of the mine, the hiring of the cellar, the storing therein of the gunpowder, and even the names of the conspirators. And that, iiioreover, Thomas Ward had received the fullest power " to discover" to his master, Lord Mounteagle, all that lind been told to him (Ward) by the revealing plotter, if, in the exercise of his (Ward's) uncontrolle d diplomatic dis- cretion, he deemed it necessary ni order to effect, prima r II ij, the temporal salvation of the King and his. Pfirliament, and, this done, in order to effect, sccondarUi/, the escape of the conspirators themselves. The Evidence to which T refei- is dediicihle from the testimony of none other than Francis Treshani, Evidence ^vliich he gave to Thomas A\'inter in Lincoln's Inn Walks on Saturday night, the 2nd day of November, just one week after the delivery of the Letter to Ijord j\Iounte:igle, and just one d;iy after the Lettt'r had been shown by Salisbury to the King.^--*^ Thomas Wintei', in his " Cniifrssion,''' writes thus : "On Saturday night i met ]\Ir. Ti'esham again in Lincoln's Inn ^\'■llks. wIhtc he told such speeches that my Lord of S;dishni-y should use to the King, as I gave it lost the second time, and repeated the same to Mr.. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 91 Ciitesb}', who hereupon was resolved to be gone, but stayed to have Mr. Percy come up whose consent lierein we wanted. On Sunday night came Mr. Percy and no 'nay,' but would abide the uttermost trial." ^*^"^ To what purport can these "speeches" have been, I should like to know, which so mightily wrought on the nerves of even the doughty Thomas Winter that they were potent enough to l)reak down and sweep away the barriers formed by the strong affection ^\'hich he naturally must have harboured for the pet scheme and the darling- project that had cost himself and his companions the expenditure of so nmch "slippery time,"^'^^' so much sweat of the brow, and so much treasure of the pocket ? Yea, indeed, to what purport can these "speeches" have been? CHAPTEK XXVir. In the King's Book, after describing Salisbnry's first visit to James in "the privie gallerie" of Whitehall Palace, it is stated that it was arranged that there shonld he another meeting on the following da}^, Saturday, the 2nd of November. The precise words of the lioyal Work are these : "It was agreed that he [i.e., Balisbnry] should the next day repair to his Highness ; which he did in the same privie gallerie, and renewed the memory thereof, the Lord 'Chamberlaine \i.e., Suffolk] being then present with the King. At what time it was determined that the said Lord Chaml)erlaine should, ;iccording to his custom and ■office, view all the Parliament Houses." This pre-arranged meeting with the King on the Saturday was duly held just one week after the delivery of the Letter, Salisbury and Suffolk the Lord Chamber- laine being present thereat ; and I suggest that, most probably, Mounteagie himself was, if not then actually within ear-shot, yet not afar off. Now it is evident from Lingard's " iJ/.s-Zo?-// " that Tresham had told Winter tliat the Government had already intelligence of the existence of "the mine."^^"-^ Tresham also told Winter that he (Tresham) knew not how the Government had obtained this knowledge (vol. ix., p. 72). The inevitable inference, therefore, that reason demands should be drawn from these statements of Tresham THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 93^- is that Mounteagle must have either sent for his brother- in-law, or gone himself to see him, and that Mounteagle then must have told the terrified Tresham that he (Mounteagle) knew for a fact that a mine had been digged,^ and that the same information probably that yeiy day (Saturda}') would ])e imparted to the King's Government likewise/''"^ | This explanation, moreover, stands unspeakably more to reason than the one which woodenly says that Tresham himself revealed the dread secret respecting the mine to Mounteagle, and that then, out of his own mouth, the unhapp}^ man hazarded self-condemnation in the presence of the astute Winter only one day after his (Tresham 's) life had been in the gravest possible jeopardy at Barnet, near White Webbs, from the poniards of the infuriated Catesby and Winter/''^^ y ^ I hold that the probabilities are that Christopher Wright told Thomas Ward of the existence of the mine : that Thomas Ward told Mounteagle: that Mounteagle told Tresham: and that Tresham told Winter. Thus would be the concatenation complete, naturally and easily,. M'ith no link missing. CHAPTER XXVIII. Again, on Mond'iy, the 4tli instant, Mounteagle offered to acconipany liis distant connection, the Earl of Suffolk, to make the search in the cellar. AVhyneard, keeper of the King's wardrohe, declared to the two noble searchers that Thomas Percy had hired the house and part of the cellar or vault under the same, and that "the wood and coale " therein were "the said gentleman's own provision." Mounteagle, on hearing Percy named, let drop — prohably in an unguarded moment — words to the effect that perhaps Thomas Percy liad sent the Letter. Now, guarded or unguarded, to my mind, the fact that Mounteagle, in any shape or form, mentioned Perc3''s name on that momentous occasion tends to show that Mounteagle knew all the material facts and particulars of the Plot, including even the names of the conspirators.^'^'^^ But Mounteagle, I hold, was resolved to do his duty to his King and his country on the one hand, and to his friends — his reprobate, insane, but (he full well knew) grievously provoked friends — on the other. He was determined, spurred on, I suggest, by Thomas Ward, to save the King and Parliament from bloody destruction by gunpowder on the one hand, and to save his own kith and kin and boon companions on the •other: of whose guilt, or otherwise, he did not constitute himself the judge, still less the executioner. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 95 To this end the young peer watched and measured the relative vahie and effect of every move on the part of the Government hke a vigilant commander, bent, indeed, on securing what he deemed to be the rights and interests of the wronged and the wrong-doers alike. And, most probably, being driven into a corner at the last and compelled so to do by the imperious exigencies of his jyrimanj and supreme dutij, namely, the saving of the King and Parliament from being rent and torn to pieces in a most hellish fashion, truly "barbarous and savage be^^ond the examples of former ages," Mount- eagle actually himself told- Salisbury to inform Sir Thomas Knevet and his band of armed men to keep a sharp look- out for a certain tall, soldierly figure, "booted and spurred," in the neighbourhood of the cellar, before the clock struck the hour of midnight of Monday, November the 4th. If this were so, it accounts for the efforts of Knevet, Doubleday, and others being so speedily crowned with success. Fawkes was probably taken into custod.ij in the court adjoining Percy's house and the House of Lords' cellar, and a few moments afterwards secured by being bound with such things in the nature of cords as Knevet and his men had with them. — See Gardiner's " Gunpoivder Flat;' pp. 132-13G. The dark lantern, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, was left burning in the cellar by Fawkes. CHAPTEK XXIX. Let me now make two quotHtions. One is tVoiii the Iving's Book, giving an account of the proeechn'c followed by the ]virl of Suffolk the Lord Cliambei lain, and the Lord Mounteagle, the champion, protector, and hero of the England of his day, in whose honour the " rare " Ben Jonson^'"'^ himself composed the epigram transcribed at the end of this Inquiry. The other quotation, collected from the relation of a certain interview between Catesby, Tresham, ]\Iount- eagle, and Eather Garnet, is one which plainly shows, that Mounteagle was closely associated with Catesby, not merely as a passive listener but as an active sympathiser^ as late as the month of July, 1005, in general treason- able internal projects, which indeed only just fell short of particular treasonable external acts. But this, of course, does not prove any complicity of Mounteagle in the particular designment known as the Gunpowder Treason Plot, of which diabolical scheme, I have no reasonable doubt, the happy, debonair, pleasure- loving, hut witlial shrewd and generous, young nobleman was perfectly innocent. These two quotations show, first, how zealously and faithfull}' Mounteagle of the Janus-face, looking both before and after — as henceiorward we must regard him — kept his hand on the pulse of the Government at the ]nost critical hcjur of his country's amials, with a view to doinu' wliat both he and his mentor deemed to be THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 97 justice in the rightful claims and demands, though diverse and conflicting, of each group of "clients." And, secondly, how wisely and prudently Christopher Wright and his counsellor or counsellors had acted in determining upon this favoured child of Fortune as their "vessel of election" for conveying that precious Instrument, which for all time is destined to he known as Lord Mounteagle's Letter, to the Earl of Salishury and, through him, to King James, his Privy Council and Government^ on that Saturday night, the 26th day of October, 1605. The King's Book says: "At what time hee [i.e., the Earl of Suffolk, ^'-^'^ the Lord Chamberlain] w^ent to the Parliament House accompanied with my Lord Mounteagie, being in zeale to the King's service, earnest and curious to see the event of that accident whereof he had the fortune to be the first discoverer : where having viewed all the lower roames he found in the vault under the upper House great store and provision of Billets, Faggots, and Coales ; and enquiring of Whyneard, keeper of the Wardrobe, to wdiat use hee had put those lower roumes and cellars ; he told them that Thomas Percy had hired both the house and part of the cellar or vault under the same, and that the wood and coale therein was the sayde gentleman's owne provision. Whereupon the Lord Chamberlaine casting his eye aside perceived a fellow standing in a corner there, calling himself the said Percyes man and keeper of that house for him, but indeed w^as Guido Fawkes the owner of that hand which should have acted that monstrous tragedie."^^^^ The Discourse then goes on to say that the Lord Chamberlain reported to the King in the " privie gallerie," in the presence of the Lord Treasurer, "the Lord Admirall," "the Earles of Worcester, Northampton, and Salisbury," what he had seen and observed, "noting Mounteagie had H 98 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. told liiiii, that he no sooner heard Thomas Percy ^ named to be possessonr of that house, but considering both his backwardnes in Eeh.i;ion and the old dearenesse in friendship between himself and the say'd Percy, hee did greatly suspect the matter, and that the Letter should come from him. The sayde Lord Chamberlaine also tolde, that he did not wonder a little at the extraordinarie great provision of wood and coale in that house, Avhere Thomas Percy had so seldome occasion to remaiue ; as likewise it gaue him in his minde that his man looked like a very tall and desperate fellow." ^^^^ ^ I think that Lord Mounteagle or Thomas "Ward (or both) must have given some member of the Privy Council a bint tliat a Christopher Wriglit was a probable consjiirator, for it is noticeable that on the 5th of November several persons testified as to Christopber AV right's recent whereabouts. AVard probably hoped that "Wright's name would be joined with Percy's in the Proclamation, and so haply warn the conspirators the better that the avenger of blood was behind. Or, tbe Government may have procured Christojiher Wright's name from some ))aper or papers found in Thomas Percy's London bouse, on the otb of November, the day of Fawkes' capture. At that time the Privy Council undertook all preliminary inquiries in regard to the crime of High Treason. It is different now ; at first tbe case mav be brought before an ordinary magistrate. v^ r CHAPTER Shortly after Midsummer (i.e., July), 1605, Father •Garnet was at the Jesuit house at Frernlaiid, in Essex. 'Catesby came there with I^ord Mounteagie and Tresham. At this meeting, in ansAver to a question, " Were Catholics able to make their part good by arms against the King? " — Mounteagle replied, "If ever they were, they are able now; " and then that young nobleman added this reason for his opinion, " The King is so odious to all sorts." At this interview Tresham said, "We must expect [i.e., wait for^ the end of Parliament, and see what laws are made against Catholics, and then seek for help of foreign princes." " Xo," said Garnet, " assure yourself they will do nothing." " What ! " said my Lord Mounteagle, " will not the Spaniard help us? It is a shame I " ^ Then said Father Garnet, "You see we must all have patience." ^^'^'^ It is also to be remembered that when Sir Edmund 3aynham, a Gloucestershire Catholic gentleman of good ^ If MoLinteagle was iu the company of Catesby at Fremland in the summer of 1605, these two may have been together at 13ath between the 12th October and the 26th. Catesby probably would endeavour to induce Lord Mounteagle to join Sir Everard Digby's rebellion, as he did induce Stephen Littleton and Humphrey Littleton. 100 THE GUNPOWDEE PLOT. family — but of whom AVinter said "he was not a man fit for the business at home," i.e., the purposed Gunpowder massacre — went to Flanders and Rome in the first week of September, 1G05, Mounteagle appears to have written certain letters of introduction or of general reconmienda- tion, in Baynham's behalf, to English Catholics residing^ in Flanders or in Rome. Jardine says that "it is not quite certain that Baynham was himself entrusted with the great secret of the Plot."^^"^^ I think that it is morally certain he was not. Sir Edmund Baynham^ was intended by the prime conspirators to l)e at Rome to justify (if lie could) to the Pope any action that the conspirators might have perpetrated on or after November the Fifth in behalf of their religion. But the prime conspirators were far too astute "to open their mouth" to let a chattering, hare-brained swashbuckler like Baynham " fill other people's " in every wine-shop en route for " the Eternal City." Guy Fawkes probably was authorised to impart and possibly actually did, under the oath, impart some know- ledge of the Plot to Captain Hugh Owen, a Welsh Roman Catholic soldier of fortune serving in Flanders under the Archdukes.^^*'-^ Owen's name figures in the Earl of Salisbury's instructions to Sir Edward Coke, the Attorney-General who prosecuted the surviving Gunpowder conspirators in the historic Westminster Hall. ^ l-'atlier Garnet was also employing Sir Eihnnnd Baynhau] as his di|)luma1ic intermediary with the Pope in order "to gain time," so that meanwhile the plotters might find space for repentance I Garnet was apparently one of those men who though possessed of a ])rofoiind knowledge of Man know little or nothing of men. Whereas Oldcorne seems to havt; had practical reason as well as theoretical wisdom. Oldcorne, T take it, had a good, strong, clear, practical head on his shoulders, whicJi included in its armoury vlll, in the sense of 2wwer, as well as intellect and heart, and " where there's a will there's a iva>j." THE GUNPOWDEK PLOT. 101 Moreover, I have thought that at least some of the powder must have been purchased in Flanders through the good offices of the said Captain Owen. The powder and the mining tools and implements appear to have been stored at first in the house at Lambeth and placed under the charge of Robert Keyes and, eventually, of Christopher Wright. The powder was, I take it, packed in bags, and the bags themselves packed in padlocked hampers. Afterwards, I conclude, the powder bags were deposited in the barrels, and the barrels themselves carried by two of the conspirators, with aid of brewers' slings, and deposited in the cellar, which apparently had at least two doors. CHAPTEK XXXI. Now, wlieii deep within the depths of the iuoral ])eing of Christopher Wri,^ht there first arose that tender day-spring-, a reahzation of guilt and shame : that crimsoned dawn, a sense of grief and sorrow for those two liigh (limes wherehy his wretched conscious-self had heen made darksome and deformed : acts, wondrous- in the telling, in that soul had been indeed wrought out ; regard being had to the overmastering power of Man's conditioned yet free will. Furthermore, the historical Inquirer cannot but seek, if possible, by the exercise of the philosophic faculty, tO' penetrate to what, on the human side, may have been the originating cause, the moving spring, of the limited yet responsible moral nature of a guilty creature, whose eyes for well-nigh three hundred years have been closed by a violent death ; of a guilty creature who, in the awful tragedy of his end, verified in himself, in the sight of all men, the sul)limel3' terrible words of the old Greek tragedy, '"The guilty suffer." For wrong-doing, by a steadfast law of the universal reason, "till time shall be no more," will ever entail temporal punishment; and, by nature, expiation and atonement must be wrought out in the criminal's own keen consciousness. Yet, by a compensating law of universal reason, as- inexorable as its fellow, according as Man does work out. that measure of punishment, expiating and atoning, which THE GUNPOWDEK PLOT. • 103 to him Destiii}' has allotted for his guerdon, in tliat proportion does his soul regain its forfeited harmoniousness and peace. Now the originating cause, the moving spring, in the case of the, I hold, contrite Christopher Wright was, on the human side, the flooding of his soul by memories pure and bright of days long, long ago. I need not labour this point ; but in a note I will relate certain facts concerning her to whom Christopher Wright owed the gifts of life and nurture, which will sufficiently tell what manner of woman that Elizabethan Yorkshire mother was, in respect of courage, humanity, and devotedness to her ideals. ^^'^"'^ I furthermore opine that, although it was the personal • dawning consciousness of Christopher Wright himself that primarihj prompted the happy step of recourse to Father Edward 01dcorne,^^°''' yet Christopher Wright, in my judgment, already had confided tbe just scruples of his conscience to the ear, not of a "superior" judicial Priest, but of an " equal " counselling Layman. That Layman, I hold, was Thomas W^ard, who, belike, heightened and strengthened his connection's laudable resolve. ('°'^ Now, if such were the case, I do not doubt that Father Oldcorne, that skilled, tried "minister of a mind diseased," the duties of whose vocation urged him, with persistent force, promiscuousl}' " to work good unto all men," voluntarily offered to pen the immortal Letter; 'provided lie luere released from the obligations of tliat solemn secrecy imposed hy ^^ tlie seal of the Confessional'': released hy the Penitent JtimseJf, in whom alone resided the prerogative of granting or witliliolding sucIl a release. CHAPTER XXXII. Again ; I think that probably Thomas Ward had cither at HindHp, Evesham or elsewhere at least one interview with the great Jesuit himself — " the gradely Jesuit," as the good, simple-hearted Lancashire Catholics would style him — in order that Father Oldcorne might receive from Ward in person satisfactory assurance that, with certainty, when the Letter had been prepared it would be delivered directly by Ward himself, or indirectly by him, through Mounteagie, to the Government authorities. Nay, to make assurance doubly sure, it is even possible that Father Oldcorne may have insisted on a second Letter being penned and sent to another nobleman at the Court, the Earl of Northumberland, a man of ancient lineage and great name, with whom Ward, through the Gascoignes, would be distantly connected/^"^^ It appears to me that the moral certitude is so strong that Thomas Ward was brother to ^larmaduke Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, that it seems practically almost the mere extravagance of caution to express a doubt of it.' ' It will be reiiKMiibered that we have evidence tliat William AVard, a sou of Mai'iiiadiike Ward, IkuI an uncle nstmoreland, was the man who accused Dr. William THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 105 Now, the suggestion that Thomas AVard was probably in the Midland counties of Warwickshire and Worcester- shire sometime about the 11th of October, 1G05/^"'^ is, I maintain, to some very slight extent supported by the fact that we know for certain that Marmaduke Ward came up from Yorkshire to Lapworth about thirteen days after- wards, and that he was bracketed with those who were said to have been at the houses of John AVright, Ambrose Rookwood, and John Grant at that time/ Now, if about the 11th of October Thomas Ward found at Lapworth, Clopton, and Norbrook every inchoate evidential sign of a heady, hopeless, armed rebellion, w^hat was there more natural than that he should have despatched some trusty horseman, fleet of foot, "from the heart of England" down into Yorkshire, bearing an urgent missive adjuring Marmaduke AYard, by the love that he bore to his kith and kin, to come up to Lapworth with all speed possible ? To the end that he mioht use his counsels and entreaties to induce his late wife's combative brother, John AVright,^^°^^ the close-natured Christopher AVright, the gallant Ambrose Rookwood, and the strong-walled John Grant, to abandon all designment of insurrectionary stirs. For Thomas AVard, from the experience of a man at Court aged forty-six, who knew from the daily observation Parry of a plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Now this Neville became a suitor for the liand of Mary Ward, though about double her age. Neville would be related to the Wards, and pei'haps knew Tliomas Ward when in 15S4 Parry was tried and executed. Parry had invited Neville to join in assassinating the Queen. I believe Parry to have been a great liar ; but all the same it is not absolutely certain that the wretch was not the victim of a state intrigue. If we could ascertain at Hatfield more ■about Thomas W^ird there might be a clue to the Parry mystery. ^ See the List of the names of conspirators, insurgents, and others arrested in the Midlands given in the Appendix. lOG THE GUNrOWDEK I'LOT. of his own senses, how firmly James's Executive was. certainly established, nmst have clearly perceived that at that time Catholic stirs against the Government could be fated to have only one unhappy issue and disgraceful termination, namely, the utter, bloody, irretrievable ruin of all that were so thrice wretchedly bewitched as to have become entangled in them.^ And this the rather, when it is remembered that the names of John and Christopher Wright were already inifavourably known to the Government ; since during Elizabeth's reign, in the year 1596, they, together with Catesby, Tresham, and others, had been put under arrest by the Crown authorities, who feared that on the death of Elizabeth these "young bloods" would, at what they deemed to be " the psychological moment " for the execution of their revolutionary designs, lead, sword in hand, the oppressed recusants m some wild, tierce dasli for liberty /^^'^^ ^ It is to be borne in mind that hereafter proof may be forth- coming that Christopher Wright married Margaret Ward, the sister of Marmaduive and Thomas AVard. 1 thinh that they had another sister named Ann Ward, who married a Mariiiaduke Swales. — (See Eipon Kegisters). There was an t>ld county family called Swales at Staveley Hall,, near Farnham and Scottoii. They were Roman Catholics. They are the same, T opine, as the Swales (or Swale) family, of South Stainley,. between Jiipley and llipon, whose descendants are of the ancient faith in Yorkshire to this day. The late Sir James Swale, Bart., of Kudfarlington, near Knaresbrough, I conclude, likewise belonged to the same race. I was introduced in the year 1898 to this fine specimen of an old Yorkshire Catholic by my friend, Charles Allanson, Esq., of JIarrogate — himself of an old A\'est Kiding family that " liad never lost the Faith." CHAPTEE XXXIII. We litive now considered the Evidence leading up to- the commission of the respective acts that this Inquiry, at an earher part, has attributed severahy to Christopher Wright and Father Oldcorne, who stand, as it were, at the angular points in the base of that triangular movement of revelation, at whose vertex is Thomas Ward (or Warde), the entirely trustworthy friend and diplomatic intermediary common to both the repentant conspirator- and the beneficent Priest of the Society of Jesus. But before proceeding with the Evidence and the deductions and suggestions therefrom, which tend to prove- that, suhsequciit to the dictating of the Letter by Christopher Wright and the penning of the same by Father Oldcorne, these two Yorksliiremen were conscious of having performed the several parts attributed unto- them, let us deal with certain objections that may be put forward as preliminar}^ objections fatal to the contentions of this Inquir3\ Now, there is an objection which, with a ijrimd facie plausibleness, may be advanced against the hypothesis, that Christopher AVright was the dictating, repentant, revealing conspirator, through whom primarily the Plot was frustrated and overthrown. And there is also a second objection that ma}' be urged against the hypothesis, with even still greater jyrimd facie plausibleness, that Father Edward Oldcorne,, 108 THE GUNrOWDKIl TLOT. Priest and Jesuit, was the ineritorious Penman of the ■dictated Letter. Each objection must l)e dealt with separately. Let us take the objection in the case of Christopher Wright first, and, having- laid that one, proceed to the objection in the case of Edward Oldcorne. Now, a certam William Handy, servant to Sir Everard Digby, on the 27th day of November, 1G05, before (among others) Sir Julius Caesar, Kt., Sir Francis Bacon, Kt.,*^^"^ and Sir George More, Kt., Higli Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, deposed (among other things) the following : — That early on Wednesday morning, the 0th of November, as the fugitives were proceeding from Norbrook to Alcester, he (Handy) heard the younger AV'right say, " That if they had had good luck they had made those in the Parliament House fly with their heels upward to the sky;" and that "he spake these words openly in the hearing of those which were with him, whicli were commonly ]\Ir. John Grrant, the younger Grant, and Ambrose Rookwood."^^^^^ Now, Christopher Wright maij have used these words in the early part of that November day, and every candid mind must allow^ that they are not the words that one would expect to find in a sincerely repentant criminal. But the philosopher knows that there is "a great deal of human nature in Man." While the experienced citizen of the world who knows men practically, as the philosopher knows Man theoretically, will not be literally amazed, or -even unduly startled, at finding these words recorded against Christopher Wright, even after {ex lujpothesi) he had become as one morally resurrected from the dead. For it is to be remembered that Christopher AVright was the brother of John Wright, and the brother-in-law of Thomas Percy, Thomas Percy having married ]\lartha THE GUNrOWDEK I'LOT. 109' Wright, of Plowland Hall. Now, concerning Jolin Wright and his brother-in-law, Thomas Perc}^, the following traits of character are chronicled by their contemporary, Father John Gerard/""-^ "It was noted in him [i.e., Thomas Percy] and in Mr. John W'right (whose sister he afterwards married) that if they had heard of any man in the country to be esteemed more valiant and resolute than others, one or the other of them would surely have picked some quarrel against him and fought with him to have made trial of his valour." On the march then, with such relatives as these close at hand, there is no antecedent improbability, but the contrary, in the supposal that Christopher Wright used these words by way of a feint, to the end that he might, peradventure, draw his companions away from those scaring suspicions, by the haunting fear of which Wright's self-consciousness would be sure to be continually visited. For " Conscience doth make cowards of us all." Truly, "The guilty suffer." And it was part of the awful temporal punishment wherewith severe, just Nemesis, the dread executioner of Destiny, visited this — I still hold, all outward shows to the contrary notwithstanding — repentant wrong-doer, that he should be fast bound to one of the spiked, lacerating wheels of a flying chariot that he desired, "to the finest fibre" of his tortured, writhing- being, to have no part nor lot in driving : fast bound, for the residue of that all too brief mortal career, which, on that chill November morning, w^as ra^^idly drawing to its shattered close. CHAPTEK XXXIV. What objection, then, can be brought against the hypothesis that Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesnit, cind native of the City of York, was the Penman of this most momentous })erhaps of all Letters ever writ by the hand of man ? It is this, that in a pamphlet by a certain Dr. Williams, published about the year 1080,^"''^^ purporting to be a History of the Powder Treason, with a parallel between the Gunpowder Treason and the Titus Gates' alleged Popish Plot of the reign of Charles II., there occurs the following statement : — "Mrs. Habington was sister to the Lord Mounteagle and so being solicitous for her brother, whom she had reason to believe would be at the parliament, >ihc irrit the (tfure^aUl letter to hint, to give him so much notice of the danger as might warn him to provide for his own Scifety, but not SO much (as she apprehended) as might discover it. From this relation betwixt the two families, it was that Mr. Habington alone of all the conspirators, after sentence, had his life given him. TJ/is (lecouiit Mr. Hahingtoii himself gare to a worth]] person still in being. '^ (The italics are mine.) Now, of course, if Mrs. Habington (or Abington), of Hindlip Hall, near Worcester, where Father Gldcorne was domesticated for sixteen years, actually wrote the Letter, then Father Gldcorne did not. There can be no two opinions about that, even with the most sceptical. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. ' 111 But did she? I submit that this testimony of Dr. Wilhams, •second/^^^^ third, or fourth hand possibly, is hopelessly inadequate for the establishing of any such conclusion. First, let it be noted that, although " the ^Yorthy person " to whom Mr. Abington is said to have imparted this tremendous secret — and apparently to none other human creature in the wide world beside — was living in the j^ear 1680 (or thereabouts), Jiis tlirice-important name is not divulcjed hy the learned autJioi\ neitJier is the faintest hint given as to luhere he may have resided. Accordingly, we cannot submit the now dead but once highly privileged gentleman to the salutary ordeal of cross-examination : a fact which is well-nigh fatal to his credibility for any serious student of true history ; with the further consequence that a grave suspicion is, by this very fact alone, at once cast upon the entire ■story. Secondly, Dr. Williams does not say that he (Williams) himself had this testimony direct from the unnamed and unidentified witness — " the worthy person still in being" in (or about) the year 1680. Therefore, this story may have been handed on by wagging, irresponsible, chattering tongues, whose name is legion. With the result that it gained, not lost, in the ■course of transmission to the mind of Dr. Williams, who has enshrined in the printed page, still to be viewed in the British Museum, the far-fetched tale for the benefit of succeeding ages. CHAPTER XXXV. Xow, if Dr. \\'illiaiiis solemnly had said that he knew Mrs. Abington personally, and that she (Mrs. Abington) had told him (Williams) with her own lips that, she had writ the Letter, t]i(> case would have been (i f/nod iraj/ towards being established : assuming the lady to have been intellectually and morally capable at the time when she made such statement, and Williams himself a man whose word could be relied on. Or, if Mr. AhiiKjton had told Willicuns that lie Inieuy his wife had writ the Letter because lie saiv luitli liis own eyes the lad// do it, then tlie case would have been also a good ivay towards being established. Or, if Mr. Ahinrjton had told Williams that he believed Ids wife Jiad writ the Letter because she Jiad told him (Abington) site had done so immediately after she alleged she had performed the meritorious deed, the case would have been some slight way towards being established. But when the onl}' shred or patch of evidence we have to support the stupendous article of belief that j\Irs. Abington accomplished the innnortal feat is an uncircuiiistantial, uncorroborated allegation by ])i-. AN'illiams that some 'person or another vnhnown (on the most favourable view) told Jiim (\\'illiams) that Mrs. Abington had writ the Ijctter merely because Iter Jiusband said so, then the case for Mrs. Abington's authorship of the document is in no way towards being established. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 113 And, therefore, the story falls to the ground. And, therefore, it should he, in reason, henceforward consigned to the limho of exploded myths and idle tales. It is true that Dr. Nash in his work on ^^'orcester- shire,^"-'^ written in the eighteenth century and published in 1780, declares that " Tradition in this county says that she [i.e., Mrs. Abington] was the person who wrote the Letter to her brother, which discovered the Gunpowder Plot." But then, obviously, this alleged tradition is absolutely worthless, unless it can be shown to have been a continuous tradition from the year 1605 down to the time when Nash was writing his " Histori/.'' For if the tradition sprang up at a later date, for the purposes of true history its value as a tradition is plainly nothing. The learned David Jardine— to whom all students of the Gunpowder Plot will be for ever indebted for his labours in this conspiracy of conspiracies — in his " Narvdtire,^' published in the year 1857, and to which reference has been already frequ^tly made in the course of this Inquiry, says,^^^*^^ ( " No contemporary writer ^[rikides to Mrs. Abington as^he author of the Letter." J Anti Jardine evidently does not think that the penmanship of the document can be brought home to this lady. Moreover, if Mrs. Abington had written the Letter of Letters, surely she would have, at least, shared her brother Lord Mounteagle's reward, which was X'700 a year for life, equal to nearly i;'7,000 a year in our money. For if 4*700 a year was the guerdon of liiin that merely delirerecl this Letter of Letters, what should have been the guerdon of Iter that actually penned the peerless- treasure ? 114 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. But the hypothesis that Mrs. Abiiigtoii penned the Letter of Letters has absohitely no foundation in con- temporary evidence. For there is not the faintest echo of an echo of testiiuony, nor the merest shadow of a shade of proof that either she <>r Mr. Abington had the remotest previous Ivnowledge of tlie Gunpowder Treason Plot. And the mere fact that Mr. Abington, although the harbourer of Fathers Garnet and Oldcorne, was spared from undergoing the extreme penalty of the law, in itself tends to disprove the allegation that either he or his wife had been in any way privy to the Plot. For no plotter's life was spared. j\rr. Abington became a celebrated antiquary, especially in regard to his own County of Worcestershire, within the confines of which he was ordered by the King to remain for the rest of his days. — See Jardine's ^^ Nairative,'' p. i>12.^ In these circumstances. Dr. Nash's alleged tradition cannot possibly outweigh the inferences that the facts known and inferred concerning the Plot all tend to establish. For these inferences, both in respect of what happened before and after the penning of the Letter, all go to show this : that the conjectures, surmises, and suggestions of this Essay are indeed probable to the degree of moral certitude. And I respectfully submit these same conjectures, surmises, and suggestions cannot be upset, still less broken, by knowledge commensurate with zeal. ' The splendid Elizabethan mansion known as llindlip Hall, four miles from Worcester, \vith a large and magnificent prospect of the surrounding countr\', was demolished (^arly in the nineteenth century. A picture of this inansion is in the Rev. Ethelred Taunton's book, " The Jesuits in EngJand^^ (Methuen it Co.). The present llindhp Hall is the seat of the Lord llindlip. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 115 Jardine mentions the singular hypothesis that this famous Letter was penned hy the Honourable Anne Vaux, at the dictation of the Honourable Mrs. Abington. Now, the Honourable Anne Vaux w^as one of the daughters of the Lord Vaux of Harrowden, in Northampton- shire, at whose house Father Henry Garnet (the chief of the Jesuits in England) lived for many years, from 158G, when Garnet returned to England from Rome. Anne Vaux and her sister, the Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, w^ere high-minded women who lived at White Webbs, Stoke Pogis,^ Wandsworth, and other places of Jesuit resort, rendering, along with Edward Brookesby,^ Esquire (the husband of Eleanor Brookesby), the members of the Jesuit Society in England signally devoted service. This was especially so in the case of the Honourable Anne Vaux, who spent and was herself spent in behalf of labours wherein the English Jesuits busied themselves for, as they thought, the greater glory of God and the greater good of man. Jardine, however, after comparing the Letter with many letters and papers at the then State Paper Office, which are undoubtedly in the Honourable Anne Vaux's handwriting, says, " I am quite unable to discover the alleged identity of the handwriting." ^^^^^ ^ The mansion-house at Stoke Pogis, where the Dowager Lady Vaux lived for a time along with Miss Anne Vaux, had been built by Elizabeth's favourite Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton. If this was the manor- house of Stoke Pogis. then Gray, the author of the immortal "Elegy in ii Country Churchyard," sojourned at the place. " Edward Brookesby was of Arundel House, Shouldby, Leicestershire. Prances Brookesby (his sister, probably, and one of Queen Anne's .Maids ■of Honour), became a devoted friend of Mary Ward. — See " Life of Manj Ward;' vol. ii., p. 23. CllAPTKU XXXVI. Now, re<({ird heiii^ Iim-I lo ilic r.id that tluTC is seldom smoke except ilieic he, at least, some litth' fire, tlie (jiiestioii arises: Is it possihlc to account, on rational grounds, for ;iiiy such statement of the Avortliy person still in hein<^^ in lf)SO as Dr. Williams credits him with :' (.Nash's evidence, in the ahsence of pioof of a caul iiiuiiiis tradition, is not one \vhit more worth}' of (re(h'iic(' ih.ni \)v. Williams' impalpahility.) It is [)ossible. h\)r, it is \V(dl within the hounds of rational pro- bahilit}' that what Air. Ahington said to some person or persons uidviiown (assuming that he ever siiid anything whatever) was not that his wife " had lorit the Letter^'" hut tJidi his w ife " Inicu^ or //loiifflil she Li/c/i', lolio luul irril /Iir LrKrrr The way in which to test the matter is this: Supposing, Inr the sake of argument, ihat my hypothesis he line, and thai h'athei- Oldcoi'nc did actually pen that J.ettei' which was the instrmnent, not only of the tempoi'al sahalion of M rs. Ahington's brother, the Loi'd Alouid.eagle, hut also of her hit her, the Lord Morlcy, logcther with many others of her kinsfolk, fiiends, and ac(|uaintance, as A\ell as of her lawful So\ereign and Ills lloyal Consort,. is it, or is tl nut, ■probable fliat Mrs. Abiiujton icould f/iirss, in some irii// or (mother, the iniyhtij secret ! it is probable. THE GUNi'OWDKK rj.OT. 117 For lei ii bo rciiieiiiljcrt'd wIkj uiul wliiit Mrs, Abiiigioii ^I'lio I r()iioni";il)Io Mary l^ai'kci", ilic (hm.L^liici' of l^jdwnfd Parker Lord Mo J'lc!y mul tlic I Ioiioiii-;d)I(3 l^jli/Ml)('ili Stanley, was tlic iiiotlici- of Gliomas Abingtoii, tin; well-know ii poet^"*^^ ()( tliat iiani(!, who was l)oi-ii, in fact, on or ahoni the ."Jtli of Novond)(3r, 1G05. 'I'licrcfore Mrs. Abin,gion was tlic nioilicr of a, son who was a, man of distin^^inslicd inf-cllcciiial parts. Moreover, seeiii;^' that nsiially it is fi'oni the mother that a soil's capabilities ai'e deri\-ed I'ather tliaii from the; father, it is more, i'ather than k^ss, likely that Mrs. Abiiif^'toii herself was a iiatnrally e]ear-minded, aeiite, ■discern in,L;' woman, gift(;d with that iiiarveJIous faculty which constitutes cleverness in a, woman sympatlietic, iumginative insight. Now if this were so, ^frs. Abington's iiativ(; perspi- •eacity would be snrely pote-nt enough to enable lier to form a, Judgment, at once penetrating and a/'Cin-ate, in refercMice to su(di a: thing as the penmanship of tin; great Letter — •a, doeument which liad coiik; lionie, as (;vents had proved, with such peculiar closeness to her own "business aiul hoson I. "("'•'> In these circumstances, may the Tjady of llindlip not, in after days, when the tragic scenes of those; fateful y(!a,rs 1005 and lOOfJ had l)ecorne a sad, pathetic memory mercdy, have recalled to mind certain spe(-ial aspects in tlie play of the countenance, in the tone; of the voice, aye, in the general mien of l^\ather l^]dward OldcoriH! that she had noted shortly from and after tlio Michaelmas of tiiat unhappy yoAiv 1005, hu'ining evidence whence she might draw her own shr(;wd, wise con- clusions ? May not this honourable woman — honoui'alde by nature as well as by name — have re(;ollected that she 118 THE GUNPOWDEE PLOT. . had then observed that the holy man sought more than hitherto had been his wont the retirement of his ''secret chamber?" That, at that period, he seemed more than ever absorbed, nay hidden, in thought? May she not have recalled that at that "last" Christ- mastide, too, he, who was by nature so severely yet sweetly just, and the humblest among men, had shown himself disposed to judge those wicked wrong-doers with a mildness and a leniency that assuredly, perforce, betokened — what ? I answer, a consciousness of some high prerogative, some kingly right, abiding in him, whereby he was luarranted in thus speaking. Again ; did he not flien, manifest a disposition, remarkable even in liim^ to act in diametrical oppo- sition to the ordinary way of men, which is so well expressed by tlie sarcastic, cynical, yet only too true- saying, that " the world is ready enough to laugh with a man, but it leaves him to weep alone." And this, when "a compassionate silence" (save in extraordinary circumstances) was the utmost that Justice and Charity alike would prompt even a Priest and a Jesuit (nay, even a Priest and a Jesuit of the type of Edward Oldcorne) to display towards the wretched, erring victims of that " 'nieluctahih fdiuni,''' that resistless decree of the Universe — " Tlie guilty suffer." Now, 1 submit, with sure confidence for an affirmative answer, to the judgment of my candid readers — of my candid readers that know something of luuiudi nature, its workings, its windings, and its wa3s — tbe question: AVhether or not it is not merely ])ossible, ])ut ])robable, tbat Mrs. Abington divined fJiaf atujirndoii^ secret , tbrougli and liy means of tbe subtle, yet all-potent, mental sijnrpatlnj, which must have subsisted betwixt herself and tbe disciplined, exalted, stately soul, who, as. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 119 a Priest — aye ! as a very Prophet — this high-horn lady, or at least her spouse, had "counted it all honour and all joy " to have harboured, as a beloved spiritual Father, "elect and precious," for no less than sixteen vears?^^-"^ CHAPTER XXXVII. Let us finally consider the Evidence and the deductions and suggestions therefrom which tend to prove that snhseqiient to the dictating of the Letter hy the contrite, repentant Christopher AVright, (tnd .sub- sequent to the penning of the Document hy the deserving, benelicent Edward Oldcorne, each of these two English- men, aye ! these two Yorkshiremen, /cere conscious of having performed the several functions that these pages have attributed unto them. Let us take, then, the case of Christopher Wright first. Xow, the Evidence that tends to show that Christopher Wright was conscious of having been the revealing plotter and dictating conspirator ^^'-'^ has been already mainly set forth, but let me recapitulate the same. It is as follows : — (1) That either Thomas Winter must have gone in search of (^hristopher Wright, or Christopher AVright nuist have gone in search of Thomas Winter, in order that it might be possible for Stowe to record on p. 880 of his " Chronicle " the following allegation of facts : — " T. Winter, the next day after the delivery of the Ijctter, told Christopher AA^right that he understood of an obscure letter delivered to the Lord Alounteagle, advising him not to appear at the Parliament House the first da}-, and tliat the Lord Alounteagle had no THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 121 sooner read it, but instantly carried it to the Earle •of Salisbury, which newes was presently made known unto the rest, who after divers conferences agreed to see further trial, but, howsoever, Percy resolved to stay the last houre."^^--> (2) Poulson says, in his account of the Wrights, of Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, in his " Histonj of Hold e mess,'' vol. ii., p. 57, that Christopher Wright ^' w^as the first who ascertained that the plot was discovered." (3) Christopher W^right was possibly being harboured by Thomas Ward in or near Lord Mounteagle's town- house in the Strand during a part of Monday night, the 4th of November, and during the early hours of Tuesday, the 5th. Or, if Christopher Wright were not being so harboured, then it is almost certain he nmst have been taking such brief repose as he did take at the inn known by the name of "the Mayden heade in St. G-yles."^ For there is evidence to prove that this conspirator's horse was being stabled at that hostelry in the afternoon of Monday, the 4th of November. This w^e know from the testimony of William Grantham, servant to Joseph Hewett, deposed to on the 5th of November, 1605,'- taken before Sir John Popham, the Lord Chief Justice of England. Moreover, the Lord Chief Justice Popham^ reported ^ The Strand is not far from the Church of St. Giles-in-the- Tields. Tliis well-known church has now two district churches, Christ Church, Endell Street, and Holy Trinity, Lincoln's Inn Pields. (Com- municated b}^ Mr, J. A. Nicholson, Solicitor, York.) In 1S91 the population •of St. Giles's Parish was 15,281. ^ See Appendix. ^ Of tlie Ijeyborne-Pophams, of Littlecote, Co. Wilts. 122 THE GUNPOWDER I'LOT. to Lord Salisbury on the 5th of November as follows : " Christopher Wright, as I thyiicke, lay this last night in St. Gyles.''— '' aunjiowder Plot Bool-;' Part I., No. 10. (4) Again; from the following passage in ^^ TJiomas Winter's Confession," it is evident that Christopher Wright, at a very early hoar in the morning of Tuesday, November 5th, must have been in very close proxi mi/// to Monut eagle's residence, in order to ascertain so accurately — either directl}', through the evidence of his own senses, or indirectlv, through the evidence of the senses of some other person (presumably of Thomas Ward) — what there took place a few houi's after Fawkes's midnight apprehension by Sir Thomas Knevet. Thomas Winter says : — " About five o'clock being Tuesday came the younger Wright to my chamber and told me that a nobleman^ called the Lord Mounteagle, saying, ' Rise and come along to Essex House, for I am going to call up my Lord of Northmnberland,' saying withal ' the matter is^ discovered.' "'Go back, Mr. Wright,' quoth 1, 'and h-arn what you can at Essex Gate.' " Shortly he returned and said, ' Surely all is lost,^^-'^^ for Leyton is got on horseback at Essex door, and as he parted, he asked if their Lordships would have any more with him, and ])eing answered. " No," he rode as fast up Fleet Street as he can ride.' " ' Go you then,' (pioth I, ' to Mr. Percy, for sure it is for him they seek, and l)id liim b(> gone : I will stay and see the uttermost.' " ^ It was l-Alward Somer.sct I'^arl of Worcestn-, ^lastci- of the Horse, 1 believe, an aiieestor, lineal or collateral, of the Duke (>f St. Albans. A\''orcester was a Catholic. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 12^ (5) Fiu'tliermore; Lathbiuy, writing in the year 1839/ asserts that Christopher Wright's advice was that each conspirator "should betake himself to flight in a different direction from any of his companions." ^^-^' ^ Latlibun's little book, published by Parker, is a very careful compilation (mc jucUce). It contains an extract from the Act of Parliament ordaining an Annual Thanksgiving for November 5th; also in the second Edition (1840) an excellent fac-simile of Lord Mounteagle's Letter. In Father Gerard's " What was the Gunpou'der Plot?" (1896), on p. 173, is a fac-simile of the signature of Edward Oldcorne both before and after torture.. CHAPTER XXXVIII. Now, as somewhat slightly coniirmiiig this statement of Lathbiiiy, is the fact that in an old print published soon after the discovery of tlie Plot, which shows the conspirators Catesby, Thomas Winter, Percy, John Wright, Eawkes, Eobert Winter, Bates, and Christopher Wright, Christopher Wright is represented as a tall man, in the high hat of the period, facing Catesby, and evidently •engaged in earnest discourse with the arch-conspirator, (yhristopher Wright to enforce his utterance is holding up the forefinger of his right hand. Catesby's right hand is raised in front of Christopher Wright, while Catesby's left hand rests on the hilt of the sword girded on his side.(i-^) (Of course the evidence in paragraphs (2) and (5) of the last chapter may have emanated from one and the same source ; but the great point is that it has emanated from someioliere.) In connection with Christ()})her Wright's propinquity to Thomas Ward possibly, and to Thomas Winter possibly likewise, on tlie Sunday innnediately previous to the '' fatal Fifth," the two following items of evidence are of ■consequence : — (1) In Jardine's '^ Narrative, '' p. 98, we are told: ^' On Sunday, the 3rd of November, the conspirators heard from the same individual who had first informed them of the Letter to Lord Mounteagle, that the Letter THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 125- bad been sbown to tbe King, wbo made great account of it, but enjoined tbe strictest secrecy." Tliis individual luas Thomas Ward. — (Jardine.) Now, we have seen already that Stowe's " Glironicle " records "tbe next day after tbe deb very of tbe Letter "^ tbere was a conjunction of tl^e planets — Tbonias AYinter and Cbristopber Wriglit. Tbis conjunction at or about tbis period I bold to be a very significant fact, tending to sliow tbat either tbe one or tbe otber must bave sougbt bis confederate out, as lias been remarked already. But from tbe following important Evidence of William Kyddall, servant to Robert TjTwbitt, Esquire,^ brotber of Mrs. Ambrose Rookwood, and kinsman of Robert Keyes, it is evident tbat it was pbysically impossible for Cbristopber Wrigbt to bave met Tboinas Winter on Sunday, tbe 27tli of October ; inasmucb as Cbristopber A^'rigbt was tben at Lapwortb, only twenty miles distant from Hindlip Hall.- Yet tbis does not disprove tbe material fact of tbe meeting itself, tbe date or circumstance of time not belonging to tbe essence of tbe assertion. (See Appendix.) ^ liobert T\r\vhitt and AVilliam Tyrwhitt and one of Thomas Winter's- uncles, David Ingleby, of Eipley (who married Lady Anne Neville, a daughter of Charles fifth Earl of Westmoreland), along with " Jesuits,"' were, about the year 1592, great frequenters of Twigmore, in Lincolnshire, twelve miles from Hull by water. John Wright afterwards lived at Twigmore. Pather Garnet is known lo have been at Twigmore. - Tor the information as lo the distances between Coughton and Hindlip : and IStratford-on-Avon and Hindlip; also between Lapwortb and Hindlip, 1 am indebted to Charles Avery, Esq., of Headless Cross, near Coughton ; the liev. Father Athertou, O.S.B., of Stratford-ou-Avon ; and George Davis, Esq., of York. rn AFTER XXXIX. Gunpowder Plot Books — Part I., Xo. 52. ■" The examinacon of William Kyddall of Elsaiii in the Countie of Lincolne s'vaut to Mr. Robert Tiirrett of Kettleh}'^ in the said Com. taken the viii"' daie of November 1605 before S'' Richard A'erney Knighte high Sherriff for the Com. of Warr. 8'' John fferrers & AVillm Combes Esrf Justices of peace there saith as followeth. "That he was intreated of Mr. -John Wrighte, who was dwellinge at Twigmore in the Countie of Lincohie, to bringe his daughf beinge eight or nine yere old to Lapworth to Nicholas Slyes" house where he hath harbored this half yere. He brought the child to Lapworth the xxiiii"' of October, and there was ]\lr. John AVrighte and his wife and Air. Christopher AVrighte and his wife, soe he continued at Lapworth from Wednesdaie to Alonday, from thence he goeth to London w*'' Air. Christopher AVrighte and came to London on AVednesdaie betwixt two X' three a Clocke to St. Giles to the signe of the Alaydenhead from whence Air. AVrighte wente into the Towne and he stayed at the J 1111, iippon ffrida}' one Richard Browne s'vant to Air. ' Kettleby is licit- lirigg, in Lincolnsbii'e. Twigmore, wliero John AV^ right had lived, is also near th(> same town. (Communicated by ]i. M. Dawson, Esq., of Beverley, a descendant of the Pendrells, of Boscobel.) '" Probably \icholas Sly and his house were uell-knovvii to Shake- speare. .John Wright appears to have gone to La])worth (which belonged to Catesby) about May, IGOo, AN'ho ]Mrs. John "Wright was I do not know. THE GUNPOWDEK TLOT. 127 Wrighte \Yeiite dowiie into Surrey, and on Ifriday at night Browne returned and he & Browne wente iippon Sattersdaie for the Child to a Towne he laioweth not about Croydon Race and bronghte it to the Maydenhead at St. Gyles to Mr. Wrighte the ffath'' who seeinge the ■child too little to be carried sent them backe w^'' it to the place whence thei fetched it on Sonday Morninge, and thei retorned Sondaie night to the Maydenhead and it was purposed by Mr. AVright to come awaie w"' this •examinate uppon Mondaie morninge but staied because Mr. Wrightes Clothes were not made till Tuesdaie morninge and then ]Mr. Wrighte sent this examinate and'^ William Ward vepJtew to Mr. Wrighte doivne to Lajowortli in Warwiclxsliire whither they were now goinge. He saith he lefte Mr. AYright at London and knoweth not the causes why he came not away w"' them he saith that Browne lyeth in Westminster neare Whitehall at one Bonkers house. Thei broughte in their Cloakbagge a suit of Cloathes for Mr. John Wright a Petronell and •a Rapier & dagger thinkinge to find him at Lapworth. " Richard Yerney.' " Jo : fferrers.^ " W. Combes. "(^■-•'^^ ((No endorsement). ^ AVilliam Ward, one of the sons of Marmaduke A\^ard, it will be remembered, had an xiude ivho lived at Court. This surely must have heen Thomas Ward. And I opine that the boy had been on a visit to this uncle : for at this time his father was at Lapworth, the house of John Wright. It is possible, however, that Christopher Wright- and Kyddall may have brought young Ward up to London from Lapworth : hut I do not think so, otherwise we should have been told the fact in Kyddall's evidence, most probably. (The italics are mine.) - Sir Eichard Verney, Knt., would be a friend, belike, of Sir Thomas Lucy, Knt., of Charlcote (a AVarwickshire Puritan gentleman). ^ Of the Ferrers, of Baddlesley Clinton (a very old Catholic family). ^ From whom Shakespeare bought land. To John Combes, brother to William, the poet bequeathed his sword by Will. 128 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Mistress Dorotliie liobinsoii, Wicldow, of Spur Alle}% on the 7t1i of November, 1G05, also deposed as follows : — CiuNrowDHi; Plot Books — Part I., No. 41. " Tile examiiiacoii of Dorathie Pobiiison^^-"^ widdow of iSpurr Alley. " Sliee sayetli that one ^Ir. Christopher Wright gent did lye in her house about a Moneth past for xviii*" dayes together and no more. And there did come to him one Mr. Winter w*"'' did continually frequent his Company and al)out a. moneth past the said Winter brought to her house two hampers^ locked w^'* two padlockes, and caused them to be placed in a little Closet at the end of Mr. AV'right's Chamber. But what was in the said hamps, was privately conveyed away by W^inter w*''out her knowledge, and the hamps was geven to her use. '' Shee sayeth that Mr. Wright could not chuse but know of the conveying of those thinges w*'' were in the hamper as well as Mr. AVinter. '' Shee sayeth that Mr. W^inter by report of his man, was a Worcestershire man, and his living Eight score pouudes l)y the yeare at the lest. " TJic said Mi\ Wright hatJi a hrotJicr in London,- whose servant canic to hi in in tJiis woman's honse, and the ' TIk'sc liaiiipers contaiuccl the fresh gunpowder, no doubt, mentioned by Thomas Winter in his '■'■Confession" written in the Tower. This sentence tends to confirm the genuineness of the Confession. - 117(0 ii'us litis hroUu'f ! I sn(/ Now, AYilliam Handy, the serving-man of Sir Everard Digby (of whom we have alread}' heard), further deposed as follows : ^'''^ "On Thursday morning, about three of the clock,, all the said company, as well servants as others, heard Mass, received the Sacrament, and were confessed, wdiicli THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 133 Mass was said by a priest named Harte, a little man whitely complexioned, and a little beard," Now, Ambrose Rookwood, on the 21st day of January, 1605-6, deposed ^^^^^ that he confessed to Hammond at Huddington, on Thursday, the 7th of November, that he was sorry he had not revealed the Plot, it seeminc so bloody, and that after his confession Hammond absolved liim without remark. The precise words of the ill-fated Rookwood hereon are these : — Gunpowder Plot Books — No. 177. ■^' The voluntarie declaration of Ambrose Rokewood esquier. 21 Janu. 1605 [1606] , " I doe acknowledge that uppon thursday morninge beeing the 7th of November 1605 my selfe and all the other gentlemen (as I doe remember) did confesse o' sinnes to one Mr. Hamonde Preeste, at Mr. Robert AVintour his house, and amonges other my snmes I did acknowledge my error in concealing theire intended enterprise of ponder agaynste his Ma"*^ and the State, having a scruple in conscience, the facte seeminge to mee to bee too bluddye, hee for all in generall gave me absolution without any other circumstances beeing hastned by the multitude that were to come to him. " Ambrose Rookewoode. ■•' Ex'- p. Edw. Coke " W. Ward. {Endorsed) " . . pouder " xx"' of January 1605. " hamond " Declaration of Ambrose " Rookewoode of his own hand." CHAPTER XLI. Now, regard being had to the fact that this kneeling young Penitent was, with his own hps, avowing the connnission in desire and tJioiight of "murder most foul as at the best it is " ^ (and "we know that no nmrderer hath eternal life abiding in bim"-), by confessing to a fellow-creature a wilful and deliberate transgression against that " steadfast Moral Law which is not of to-day nor yesterday, but which lives for ever " -^ (to say nothing of his avowal of the commission in act and deed of the crime of sacrilege,* in taking a secret, unlawful oath contrary to the express prohibitions of a visible and audible Institution which that Priest and that Penitent ^ Sluikespeai-e. "^ St. John the Divine. ^ Sophocles. * Of course the Gunpowder Treason Plot was a " sacrilegious crime,"' because it souglit to compass the death of a king who \vas " one of tlie Loi'd's anointed,"' as icdl as because of the unlawful oath of secrecy, solemnly ratified by the reception of the Sacrament at the hands of some priest in a house behind St. Clement's Iini, " near tiie principal street in London called the Strand." — See "?7te Confessions of Thomas Winter and Gwj Fawhes." This house was probabl}' the London lodging of Father John Gerard, S.J. "W'inter and Fawkes said that the C(jnspirators received tiie Sacrament at the hands of Gerard. But " Gerard was not acquainted with their purpose,*' said Faw kes. Gerard denied having given the conspirators the Sacrament. — See Gardiner's " What G'unj^oivder Plot vas,"\). 14. One vested priest is very much like another, just as one soldier in uniform is very much like another. So Fawkes and AVinter may have been mistaken. Besides, they would not be likely to be minutely examining the features of a priest on such an occasion. THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 135 alike believed was of divine origin), I firmly, though with great and all-becoming deference, draw these con- clusions, namely, that one of tlie j^^otters had already poured into the bending ear of his breathless priestly hearer glad tidings to the effect that he (the revealing plotter, whoever he was) had given that one supreme external proof which heaven and earth had then left to him for showing the genuineness of his repentance in regard to his crimes, and the perfectness of his contrition on account of his transgressions, by taking premeditated, active, practical, vigorous steps for the utter frustrating and the complete overthrowing of the prodigious, diabolical Plot. Furthermore ; that it was because of the possession by Hammond of this happy intelligence, early on that Thursda}^ morning, before sunrise, that therefore, in the Tribunal of Penance, "he absolved" poor, miserable (yet contrite) Ambrose Rookwood " for all in general " — "without any other circumstances." That is, I take it, without reproaching or even chidins; him — in fact "without remark."^ ^Father Nicholas Hart (alias Hammond) appears to have been stationed with the Vauxes, of Great Harrowden, usually. Foley (iv., Index) thinks it probable that the Father Singleton, S.J. (alias Clifton), mentioned by Henry Hurlston, Esquire, or Huddlestone, of the Huddlestones, of Sawston Hall, near Cambridge ; Faringdon Hall, near Preston, in Lancashire ; and Millom, " North of the Sands," was in reality Father Nicholas Hart (alias Hammond). I do not think so. For, according to the Evidence of Henry Hurlston (Foley's " liecords,'' vol. iv., pp. 10, 11), who was at Great Harrowden, on Tuesday, November 5th, at five o'clock in the afternoon. Father Strange, S.J. (a cousin of Mr. Abington, of Hindlip), and this said Father Singleton, " by Thursday morning took their horses and intended to have ridden to Grote." They were apprehended at Kenilworth. This Father Singleton is a mysterious personage \\ hose "future" 1 should like to follow up. Was he the same as a certain "Dr. Singleton" who figures in the " Life of JJarij Ward," vol. i., p. 443? and was he of the Catholic Singletons, of Singleton, near Blackpool ? CHAPTER XLII. The other piece of Evidence that I wish to bring before my readers which tends to show that it was one of the coiisjnrators theinselves that revealed the Plot is this : — Jardine gives in his '■'■ Cri)}unal Trials''' ^^^^^ a certain Letter of Instructions to Sir Edward Coke/^^*^ the Attorney-General who conducted the prosecution of the surviving Gunpowder conspirators at Westminster Hall^^^^^ before a Special Commission for High Treason, on the 27th day of January, 1605-6. This very remarkable document is in the hand- writing of Kobcrt Cecil first Earl of Salisbury. It is as follows : — " These things I am commanded to renew unto ^^our memory. First, that you be sure to make it appear to the world that there was an employment of some persons to Spain for a practice of invasion, as soon as the Queen's breath was out of her body. The .reason is this for which the King doth urge it. He saith some ]iien there are that will give out, and do, that only despair of the King's courses on the Catholics and his severity, draw all these to such works of discontentment : where by you it will appear, that before his Majesty's face was ever seen, or that he had done anything in government, the King of Spain was moved, though he refused it, saying, ' he rather expected to have peace,' etc. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 137 '' Next, f/ou viusf in any case, lulien you spealc of the Letter whicJi ivas tJie fir-st ground of discovery, ■absolutely disclaim that any of tJiese wrote it, tliough you leave the further judgment indefinite ivho else it ■should he. (The italics are mine.) " Ijastly, and yon must not omit, you must deliver, in commendation of my Lord ]\rounteagle, words to sliow how sincerely he dealt, and how fortunately it proved that he was the instrument of so great a hlessmg as this was. To be short, sir, you €an remember how well the King in his Book did ■censure^ his lordship's part in it, from which sense you are not to vary, but obiter (as you know best how), to give some good echo of that particular action in that day of public trial of these men ; because it is so lewdly given out that he was once of this plot of powder, and afterwards betrayed it all to me. " This is but ex ahundanti, that I do trouble you ; but as they come to my head or knowledge, or that I am directed, I am not scrupulous to send to you. " You must remember to lay Owen as foul in this as you can." Now, strangely enough, in the day of public trial of these men, the learned Attorney-General forgot in one particular the aforesaid clear and express Injunctions of his Majesty's principal Secretary of State. For, if he be correctly reported. Sir Edward Coke then said :_(i^^«> " The last consideration is concerning the admirable discovery of this treason, which was by one of tJiem- ^ The word " censure " here means, formed an opinion of his lordship's part. From Lat. censeo, I think. 138 THE GI'NPOWDER PLOT. selves^ who liad tal-eii tJic o((th and sacrament, as liatli been said, against Jiis own u:ill ; tlie means was by a dark and donbtfnl letter sent to my Lord Mountcayle.'" ^ (The italics arc mine.) Now, regard being had (1) to what SaHsbury bade Coke not say ; and (2) to what Coke as a matter of fact did say, I infer, first, that it teas one of the conspirators wiio revealed the Plot ; becanse of jnst scruples that his conscience had, well-nigh at the eleventh hour, awakened in his breast : that, secondly, not only so, but that the Grovermnent, through Salisbury, Sufft)lk, Coke, and probably Bacon, strongly suspected as much : that, thirdly, this was the explanation not only of their comparatively mild treatment of the Gunpowder conspirators theraselves,^^^"^ but also, I hold, of the subsequent com-paratively mild treatment of the recusants generally throughout the country/^^*^^ For had the Government stripped all English Papists of their lands and goods and driven them into the sea. Humanity scarcely could have complained of injustice or harshness, regard being had to the devilish wholesale cruelty of the Gunpowder Plot. Contrariwise, the entire action of the Government resembles the action of a man in whose hand the stick has broken whilst he is in the act of administering upon a wrong-doer richly deserved chastisement. For, indisputabl}^, the Government abstained from following after, and from reaping tlie full measure of, their victory (to have recourse to a more dignified figure of speech) either on grounds of principle, policy — or both. Moreover, none of the estates of the plotters were ' '• Trutli will out :" THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 139 forfeited. And this, regard being liad to the fact that the plotters were "moral monsters," and to the well- known impecuniosity of the tricky James and his northern satellites, is itself a circmnstance pregnant with the greatest possible suspicion that there was some great myster}^ in the background.^ — See Lathbury's "' Guij Fawhes,'" pp. 7G, 77, first Edition. For, even if deeds of marriage settlement intervened to protect the plotters' estates, an Act of Parliament surely could have swept them away like the veriest cobwebs. For Sir Edward Coke himself might have told the King and Priv}^ Council that " an Act of Parliament could do anything, short of turning a man into a woman," if the King and Council had needed enlightening on the point. CHAPTEli XLIII. Again : the primary instinct of self-preservation alone would have assuredly impelled the bravest of the brave amongst the nine malefactors, including Tresham, who were inccarerated in the Tower of London, either to seek to save his life when awaiting his trial in West- minster Hall, or, at any rate, when expecting the scaffold, the ripping knife, the embowelling fork, and the quartering block, in St. Paul's Churchyard or in the old Palace Yard, Westmmster, to seek to save his life, hij (livulgimj tlie nniglity secret respecting his responsihilitg for tlie Letter of Letters, had anyone of them in point of fact peiinecl ■the clocumcnt. For " shin for shii? all that a man hath will he give for his life'' Hence, from the silence of one and all of the :Survivors — a silence as unbroken as that of the grave — we can, it stands to reason, draw but this one conclusion, namely, that the nine surviving Gunpowder conspirators were stayed and restrained by the omnipotence of the impossible from declaring that anyone of them had saved his King and Parliament. Hence, by consequence, the revealing conspirator must he found amongst that small hand of four ii-ho survived not to tell the tale. Therefore is our Inquiry reduced to within a narrow compass, a fact which simplifies our task unspeakably. If it be objected that "a })()int of lionour " may have stayed and restrained one of the ninc3 conspirators THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 141: from '■' (liscoveriDg " or revealing his sliare in the Liadable deed, it is demonstrable that it would be a false^ not a true^ sense of duty that prompted such an unrighteous- step. For the revealing plotter, whoever he was, had duties to his kinsfolk as well as to himself, and, indeed,, to his Country, to Humanity at large, and also to his. Church, which oiight^ in justice, to have actuated — and it is reasonable to believe would have assuredly actuated — a disclosure of the truth respecting the facts of the revelation. But I hold that the nine conspirators told nothing as to the origin of this Letter of Letters, because they Jiad 7ione of them anything to tell. Moreover, I suggest that what Archbishop Usher ^^''^^ ^ meant when he is reported to have divers times said, " that if Papists knew what he knew^, the blame of the Gunpowder Treason would not lie on them,"^^^'^^^ was this : — Tliat it was " tlie Papist Doctrine " of the non-hinding force of a secret, unlawful oath tliat (Deo juvante) had been 'primarily tlie joint -efficient cause of the spinning ^ Protestant Archbishop of Armagh. ^ tSuoh a secret as the answer to the problem " Who revealed the- Gunpowder Plot ? " was a positive burden for Humanity, whereof it should have been, in justice, relieved. Por it tends to demonstrate the existence of a ]"ealm of actualities having relations to man, but the workings of the causes, processes, and consequences of which realm are invisible to mortal sight ; in other words, of the contact and intersection of two circles or spheres, whereof one is bounded by the finite, the other by the infinite. Now, in the case of strong-niinded and intelligent Catholics, the weight of this fact would have almost inevitably impelled to an avowal of the fact of revelation had not the omnipotence of the impossible stayed and restrained. Hence, the absence of avowal demonstrates, with moral certitude, the absence of ability to avow. And this latter, with moral certitude,, proves my point, namely, that one of the four slain divulged the Plot. 142 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. right round on its axis of the hell-begotten Gunpowder Plot. It is plain that King James's Government^ were mysterionsly stayed and restrained in their legislative and administrative action after the discovery of the diaholically atrocious Gunpowder Treason Plot. And illogical and inconstant as many English rulers too often have heen throughout England's long and, by good fortune, glorious History, this extraordinary illogical- ness and inconstancy of the Government of King James I. betokens to him that can read betwixt the lines, and who '• knows what things belong to what things " — betokens Evidence of wliat ? Unhesitatingly I answer : Of that GovernmenVs not daring, for verg decencg's sahe, to jjroceed to extremities. Now, by reason of the primal instincts of human nature, this consciousness would be sure to be generated by, and would be certain to operate upon, any and every civilized, even though heathen, government with staying and restraining force. Now, the Government of James I. was a civilized government, and it was not a heathen government. Moreover, it certainly was a Government composed of hunum l)eings, who, after all, were the persecuted Papists' fellow-creatures. Therefore, I suggest that this manifest hesitancy to proceed to extremities sprang from, and indeed itself ^ It is the duty of every Government to see that it is true, just, and strong. (Jovernments should confine their efforts to tlie cahu and faithful attainment of these three ideals. Then they win respect and conlidence, even from those who fear them but do not love. James and the first Earl of Salisbury, and that type of princes and statesmen, oscillate betwixt tli(! two extremes, injustice and hysterical generosity, which is a sure sign of a lack of consciousness of absolute Irutli, justice, and strength. THE GUNrOWDEK PLOT. 143 ■demonstrates, this fact, namely, that the then British •Government reahzed that it was an essentially Pojnsh Doctrine of Moi'als ivliicli had been the j^riviary motive poiver for securing their temjjoral salvation. That doctrine being, indeed, none other than the hated and dreaded " PojnsJi Doctrine " of the " non-binding force " upon the Popish Conscience of a secret, morally unlaivful oath tvhich thereby, ipso facto, '■'' tlie Papal Church'''' prohibited and condemned. Hence, that was, I once more suggest, what Arch- bishop Usher referred to, m his oracular words, which have become historic, but which have been hitherto deemed to constitute an insoluble riddle. For certainly behind those oracular words lay some great State mystery. The same fact possibly accounts for the traditional tale that the second Earl of Salisbury confessed that the Plot was "his father's contrivance." — See Gerard's ^'■What was the Gunpoivder Plot 'I " p. 160. For the Plot was " his father's contrivance," con- sidered as to its broad ultimate effects on the course of English History, in that the Plot was made a seasonable handle of for the destruction of English Popery. And a valuable and successful handle it proved too, as mankind knows very well to-day. Though " what's bred in the bone" is apt, in this world, "to come out in the flesh." Therefore, the British statesman or philosopher needs not be unduly alarmed if and when, from time to time, he discerns about him incipient signs, among certain members of the English race, of that " staggering back to Popery," whereof Ralph Waldo Emerson once sagely spoke. " 'Tis a strange world, my masters I And the ivhirligig of Time brings round strange revenges 1 " 4 ^^ i CHAPTEE XLIY. AYe come now to the last portion of this Inquiry — to the last portion, indeed, but not to the least. For we have now to consider what Evidence there is tendin<;" to prove that suhseqnent to the penning of the Letter by Father Edward Oldcorne, he was conscious of having performed the meritorious deed that, I maintain, tlie Evid(Mic(\ deductions, and suggestions therefrom all converge to one supreme end to establish, namely, that it is morally (not mathematically) certain that his hand, and his hand alone, actually penned that immortal Letter, whose praises shall be celebrated till the end of time. Before considering this Evidence let me, however, remind my readers that there is (1) }iot only a general simihirltij in the handwriting of the Letter and Father Oldcorne's undoubted handiwork — the Declaration of the 12th day of ^larcb, 1605-6 — a general similarity in point of the si/e of the letters and of that indescribable something called style,^'"^ hut (2) a j)CL^'ticul(ir similarity ill i\\v roriiiation of the letters in the case of these following, namel}', the small c/s, 1/s, i/s, b/s, w/s, r/s, long s/s (as initials), short s/s (as terminals), while the m/s and n/s are not inconsistent.^ ^ IJriiihaiii iiptly terms tlu' comparison of Document with Document, " Circumstantial real Evidence." — See Best's " Princl/iles of the Law of Evidence,'' and Wills on " Circumstantial Evidence.'' !See Miss Walford's J..etter (.\|>|>('in!i\). THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 145 Moreover, there is/ (3) this fact to be remembered, that in both the Lettei^~llnd in the said Declaration, the name "God" is written with a small " ff," thus: " "od." It is true that, of course, not only did this way of writing the name of the Supreme Being then denote no irreverence, but it was commonly so written by English- men in the year 1605. Still, it was certainly not hij tliem unicersalhj so luritten. For in the fac-simile of " Thomas Winter's Confession'' the word "God" occurs more than once written with a handsomely made capital G,^^^-^ to mention none other cases. There is to be also remembered (4) the user of the expressions " as yowe tender youer lyf," and " deuys some exscuse to shift of^^*^^ youer attendance at this parleament for god and man hathe concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme." For these expressions are eminently expressions that would be employed by a man born in Yorkshire in the sixteenth century. Again ; there is to be noted (5) the expressions as " yowe tender youer lyf," and " god and man hathe concurred." Inasmuch as I maintain that as " yowe tender youer lyf" was just the kind of expression that would be used by a man who had had an early training in the medical art, as was the case with Edward Oldcorne. For " Man to preserve is pleasure suiting man, and by no art is favour better sought." And a deep rooted belief in the powers of Nature and in the sacredness of the life of man are the two brightest jewels in the true physician's crown. Once more; (6) the expression "god and man hathe concurred " is pre-eminently the mode of clothing in K 14G THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. language one wa}', wherein a rigid Eonian Catholic of that time would mentally contemplate — not, indeed,, the interior quality of the mental phenomena known as. the Gunpowder Plot, in which " the devil " alone could " concur," but the simple exterior designment of the same, provided he Imew for certain that it could be considered as a clear transparency only — as a defecated cluster of purely intellectual acts.^ Furthermore, in reflecting on these preliminaries to> the general discussion of the Evidence tending to prove- a consciousness on Edward Oldcorne's part, .siihseqiient to the penning of the Letter, of being responsible for the commission of the everlastingly meritorious feat, let it be diligently noted that the Letter ends with these words : " the dangere is passed as soon as yowe liave burnt the letter and i liope god ivill give yoive the grace to inah good, use of it to whose holy protcccion i coviend yowey (The- italics are mine.) ^ It is manifest that if, xn intent, Oldcoriie by bis own Letter batl destroyed the Plot, be, of all other people in the world, would have the joreror/ative of regarding the Plot as a clear transparency ; while of the Plot as a ti'ansparency, he would feel a freedom to write " god and man bathe concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme." If the Writer bad not the ])rerogative of regarding the Plot as a clear trans])arency then these results follow — that he regarded Hiin (Wbose Eyes are too pure even to behold iniquity) as concurrim/ in the designment of a most bellisli crime, nay, of participating in such designment; for he coujtJes God with man. iS'ow the Letter is evidently the work of a Catholic. But no Catholic would regard God as the author of a crime. Therefore the Gunpowder Plot to tlie Writer of tlie Letter can have been regarded as no crime. But it was obviously a crime, v.nless and until it had been defecated of criminous quality, and so rendered a clear transparency. Now, as the AVriter obviously did not regard it as a crime, therefore he must have regarded it as defecated, by some means or another; in other words, as a clear transparency. And this, 1 maintain, jjroves that the Writer bad a special interior knowledge of the Plot "behind the scenes,"' that is, deep down within the depths of his conscious being. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 147 Now, I opine that what the Writer intended to Jn'nt at was a suggestion to the recipient of the Letter to destroy the document. Not, however, that as a fact, I think, he really wished it to he destroyed/^^*^ Because it is highly prohable that (apart from other reasons) the Writer nmst have wished it to be conveyed to the King, else why should he have said, "i hope god will give you the grace to mak good use of it " ? And why should the King himself in his book have omitted the insertion of this little, but here virtuall}' all-important, adjective ? ^'^"^ Besides, the Writer cannot have seriously wished for the destruction of the document. For in that case he would not have made use of such a masterpiece of vague phraseology as "the dangere is passed as soon as yowe have burnt the letter. "-^**'^ But, on the contrary, he would have plainly adjured the receiver of the missive, for the love of God and man, to commit it as soon as read to the devouring flames ! Lastly should be noted the commendatory words wherewith the document closes. These words (or those akin to them), though in use among Protestants as well as Catholics in the year 1605, were specially employed by Catholics, and particularly by Jesuits or persons who were " Jesuitized " or " Jesuitically affected. "^^^'^ CHAPTER XLV. Having dealt with the preliminar// Evidence, we now come to the discussion of the imdn. Evidence which tends to show that suhsequeiit to the penning of the Tjetter Father Edward Oldcorne, Priest and Jesuit, performed acts or spoke words which clearly betoken a consciousness on his part of being the responsible person who penned the document. That this may be done the more thoroughly, it will be necessary to ask my readers to engage with me in a metaphysical discussion. But, before attempting such a discussion, which indeed is the crux of this historical and philosophical work, we will retrace our steps somewhat, in the order of time, to the end that we may, amongst other things, haply refresh and recreate the mind a little preparatory to entering upon our severer labours. Now, on Wednesday, November the (ith, Father Oswald Tesimond went from Coughton, near Redditch, in Warwickshire, the house of Thomas Throckmorton, Esquire, to Huddington, in Worcestershire, the seat of Robert Winter, wlio had married Miss Gertrude Talbot, of Grafton. The Talbots, like the Throckmortons, were a people wlio liappily managed to reconcile rigid adlierence to the ancient Faith with stanch loyalty to their lawful Sovereign.^ ' 1 believe tluit tlie grand oltl Catholic iaiiiily of Tiiiockmorton still own Coughton ITall, wliich is twelve miles from lliiidlip. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 149 Tesiiiiond, leaving behind liiin his Superior Garnet at Conghton, went, it is said, to assist the unhappy traitors with the Sacraments of their Church. But, I imagine, he found most of his hoped-for penitents, at least externally, in anything except a penitential frame of mind. This was the last occasion when Tesimond's eyes gazed upon his old York school-fellows of happier, hj^gone days — the brothers John and Christopher Wright.^^*^^ Now, to Father Tesimond, as well as to Father Oldcorne, Hindlip HalP and Huddington- (in Worcester- shire), Coughton,^ Lapworth,* Clopton,'*^ and Korbrook*' (in Warwickshire), ^^'^ must have been thoroughly well known; for at Hindlip Hall for eight years Tesimond likewise had been formerly domesticated. On Wednesday, the 6th November, Fathers Garnet and Tesimond were at Coughton. Catesby, along w^th Percy, John AYright, Christopher Wright, Sir Everard Digby, Ambrose Kookwood, and others, was at Huddington. Catesby and Digby had sent a letter to Garnet. Bates was the messenger, and was come from Norbrook, the house of John Grant, where the plotters rested in their wild, north-westward flight from Ashby St. Legers. For to Ashby the fugitives had posted headlong from London town on Tuesday, the "fatal Fifth." ('^MVhere resided either temporarily or permanently: — ^ Thomas Abington. ^ Eobert Winter and Thomas Winter. ^ Thomas Throckmorton. * John Wright and Christopher Wright, ^Ambrose Eookwood. " John Grant. Dr. Gardiner's " Ilistori/ of James I." (Longmans) contains a map showing the relative positions of these places. 150 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Catesby and Bigby urged Garnet to make for Wales.^ After balf-an-hour's earnest discourse together, Father Garnet gave leave to Tesimond to proceed to Huddington to administer to the wretched fugitives the I'ites — the last rites — of the Church they had so disgraced and wronged. Garnet remained at Coughton. Tesimond tarried at Huddington about two hours. Tesimond arrived at Hindlip from Huddington in a state of the greatest excitement possible. He showed himself on reaching Hindlip to be a choleric man, while Father Oldcorne — who seems to have kept perfectly calm and cool throughout the whole of the momentous con- ference — Tesimond himself denounced, if he did not reproach, as being phlegmatic. Tesimond, evidently, had been commissioned by Catesby," at Huddington, to incite Mr. Abington, his household, and retainers, including (I take it, if possible) Oldcorne himself, to join the insurgents at Huddington, ^ Ciitesby had great influence over Tesimond, and it was Tesimond whom Catesby first informed of the Gunpowder Plot, in the Tribunal of Penance. Tesimond had a sharp and nimble, but probably not very powerful, mind. Catesby gave Tesimond permission to consult Father Henry Garnet as to the ethics of the Plot. Moreover, Catesby gave the Jesuits permission to disclose the particular knowledge of the Plot they had received, provided they thought it right to do so. This is how we come to know what passed between Catesby and Tesimojid, and then between Tesimond and Garnet. Tesimond had received from Catesby about the 24th July, 1605, in the Confessional, a particular knowledge of the Plot, in the sense that he was told there was projectetl an explosion by gunpowder, with the object of destroying the King and Parliament ; but all particulars respecting final plans he did not know till a fortnight before the lltli of October, 1 think. ^ Tesimond, in my opinion, was completely over-mastered by the more potent will of his penitent (?) Catesby. Cf.^ The case of Hugh Latimer and Thomas Bilney ; Bilney made a Protestant of Latimer, who was Rilney's confessor. These afford striking examples of the power of psycho-electrical will force. THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 151 Holbeach, AVales, and wherever else they might unfurl the banner of " the holy war," or, in other words, the armed rebellion against King James, his Privy Council, and Government. Tesimond's mission, however, to Hindlip, proving fruitless, he thereupon rode towards Lancashire, in the hope of rousing Lancashire Catholics to arms, as one man, in behalf of those altars and homes they loved jnore than life. CHAPTER XLVI. Now, in this calm and dignified demeanour of Oldcorne, at Hindlip, which evidently so annoyed, nay, exasperated — because it arrested and thwarted — his younger brother Jesuit (both of whom, almost certainly, had known each other in York from boyhood), the discerning reader, I submit, ought in reason to draw this conclusion, namely, that Edward Oldcorne was tranquil and imperturbable because, in regard to the whole of the unhappy business, that so possessed and engrossed the being of Oswald Tesimbnd, Edward Oldcorne's was a onens conscia recti — a mind conscious of rectitude — aje, a mind conscious of superabounding merit and virtue. So important evidentially do I think the diverse demeanour ^^^^^ of Tesimond and Oldcorne on this occasion, that I will transcribe from Jardine's " Criminal Trials ''^^'"^^ Oldcorne's testimony of what took place at Hindlip Hall at this interview : — ^^''^^ " Oldcorne confesseth that upon Wednesday, being the Gth of November, about two of the clock in the after- noon, there came Tesimond (Greenway) from Huddington, from Mr. Jlobert Winter's to Hindlip, and told Mr. Abington and him ' that he brought them the worst news that ever they heard,' and said ' that they were all undone.' And they demanding the cause, he said that there were certain gentlemen that meant to have blown up the Parliament House, and that their plot was- THE GUNPOWDEll PLOT. 153. discovered a day or two before ; and iio\\' they were- gathered together some forty horse at Mr. Winter's house, naming Catesby, Percy, Digby, and others ; and told them. ' their throats wonld be cut unless they presently went to join with them.' And Mr. Abington said, ' Alas 1. I am sorry.' And this examinate and he answered him that they would never join with him in that matter, and charged all his house to that purpose not to go with them. He coufesseth that upon the former speeches made by this examinate and Mr. Abington to Tesimond, alias Greenway, the Jesuit, Tesimond said in some heat ' tJms we inaji see a difference between a flemmatihe [2:)]degmatic] and a choleric person ! ' and said he would cfo to others, and specially into Lancashire, for the same purpose as he came to Hindlip to Mr. Abington:' ^''^^^'''^ (The itaHc& are mine.) CHAPTER XLVII. Father Henry Garnet, the chief of the Enghsh Jesuits, left London at the end of August, 1G05,^^^^^ and proceeded towards Gothurst (now Gayhurst), in tlie Parish of Tyringhani, three miles from Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.^ Now% who was Henry Garnet, wliom the Attorney- General, Sir Edward Coke, described in Westminster Hall as " a man— grave, discreet, wise, learned, and of excellent ornament, both of nature and art;" but aromid wdiose name so fierce a controversy had raged for well- nigh 300 years ? He was born in 1555, and brought up a Protestant of the Established Church; his father being Mr. Briant Garnet, the head master of the Free School, at Nottingham ; his mother's name was Alice Jay. Henry Garnet was a scholar of Winchester School, and the intention was to send him to New College, Oxford. However, he resolved to become reconciled to the Pope's religion, and in 1575 joined the Jesuit Novitiate in Pome, ^ The seat of AV'alter Carlile, Esquire, as has been already nientionetl. I have to thank this p;entleman for his courteotisness in informing me that (iayhurst (formerly Gothurst) is three miles from Newport Pagnell. An excellent picture, together with descriptive account, of Gayhurst, is gi|eu in the " Life of Sir Everard Diglnj,'' by one of that knight's descendants. Gothurst contained a remarkable hiding-place, which was probably constructed by Nicholas Owen, the lay-brother of Father Garnet. According to Father Gerard, the friend of Digby, Gothurst was ten miles from Great Harrowden, the seat of the young Lord "N'aux. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 155 where the great Cardinal Bellarmine w^as one of his tutors. Now, to the end that the claims of Truth and •Justice, strict, severe, and impartial, may be met in relation to this celebrated English Jesuit, it will be necessary to repeat that as far back as about th-e beginning of Trinity Term {i.p.., the 9th June, 1605), Catesby, in Thames Street, London — outside tJie Confessional — had propounded to Garnet a question, wJiich ought to have jnct the Jesuit expressly upon inquivij. For that question was, in case it were lawful to kill a person or persons, whether it were necessary to regard the innocents w^hicli were present, lest they also should perish withal. And this the rather, when Catesby on that very ■occasion "made solemn protestation that he would never be known to have asked me [i.e., Garnet] any such ■question as long as he lived." — See "Hatfield MS.," printed in " Historical Beview,'' for July, 1888, and largely quoted in the Eev. J. Gerard's articles on Garnet, in ''Month'' for June and July, 1901. On the . 24th of July, 1605, Garnet had sent a remarkable letter to Eome, addressed to Father Aquaviva, the General of the Jesuits. — See " Father Gerard's Narrative," pp. 76, 77, in " Condition of Catholics under James J.," edited by Eev. John Morris, S.J. (Longmans, 1872). In this letter, which of course was in Latin, Garnet says — amongst other things betokening an apprehension of a general insurrectionary feeling among Catholics up and down the country in consequence of the terrible persecution which had re-commenced as soon as James I. had safely concluded his much-desired peace with Spain — " the danger is lest secretly some Treason or violence he shown to tJie King, and so all Catholics may he comj^elled. to tahe arms.'' 156 THE GUXrOWDEPv PLOT. Garnet then proceeds: " WJirrrfore, in my judg merit,, tivo thiiKjs arc iwcessarf/, firsf, Ihdt His Holiness should prescribe lohat in any case is fo be done; and then, that he sJiould forbid, any force of arms by the Catholics under Censures, (did by Brief , publicly 2'i'onLuhjated ; an occasion for which can be tahen from tlie disturbance lately raised in Wales, whicli has at length, come to notldng. It ^remains tluit as all things are daily becoming worse, we should beseech His Holiness soon to give a necessary remedy foi- these great dangers, and we ask his blessing and that of your Paternity." (The italics are mine.) Now, by the word "censures" here, I presume. Garnet meant excommunication, that is, a cutting off from the visible fellowship of Catholics and (what would frighten every Catholic, whether his faith worked by love or fear, that is, whether it were a rational form of religion or a mere abject superstition) a deprivation of the Sacraments of his exacting Church, which are, according to Home's tenets, the special means devised by the Founder of Christianit}^ whereby Man is united to " the Unseen Perfectness." CHAPTER XLYIir. When Garnet penned this letter to the General of the Jesuits in Rome, he had, outside the Confessional, a general knowledge of the Gunpowder project from Robert Catesby. Thus much is clear. That is to say, Garnet had a great suspicion, tantamount to a general knowledge, that Catesby had in his head some bloody and desperate enterprise of massacre, the object whereof was to destroy at one fell blow James I. and his Protestant Government. — See Gerard's " Narrative,'" p. 78. Garnet most j^rohabl// in the Confessional even did not at first liiow all particulars. That is to say, he did not know that it was intended to put thirty-six barrels of gunpowder in a cellar under the House of Lords — consignments of ex- plosives which it was further intended were to be ignited, wdien Parliament met, by Guy Fawkes, booted and spurred, by means of a slow-burning match, which would give him one rpiarter-of-an-hour's grace to effect his 'escape to a ship in the Thames bound for Elanders : mid that the young Princess Elizabeth was to be seized at the house of the Lord Harrington, in Warwickshire, and proclaimed Queen after her parents and two brothers, Henry Prince of Wales and Charles Duke of York, had been torn and rent into ten thousand fragments. 158 THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. ]>ut this able, learned, swcot-tempered, yet weak- willed, iniiiiiHf^inative, irresolute man Icnciv enough outside- the Confessional — which is the point we have to deal with here — to render himself lial)le to have been sent to the galleys by the Pope, if His Holiness could have laid hold of liim, when, notwithstanding this atrocious, knowledge, he actually refused to give ear to the arch- conspii'iitor, even altlKnigh Catesby, on Father Gerard's, own admission, " offered sometimes to tell him TGarnet] that they 'Catesl)y and liis friends] would not endure to be so long so nuich abused, but would take some course- to right themselves, if others would not respect them or could not relieve them." — Gerard's ^^ Narrative,'" p. 78. Truly " Evil is wrought by want of thought as well as by want of heart." The fact that Garnet knew violence was likely tO' be shown to his lawful Sovereign, coupled with the fact that Garnet niigJit Jiave learned all the j^articulars about that purposed violence h:id he not, through a, negligence- which can be only characterized as grossly criminal, passively omitted, if indeed he had not actively declined, to obtain those particulars from the lips of the arch-' conspirator himself — such facts make the case np to the fMtli of July, 1603, absolutely fatal against Garnet. And such facts can lead the unbiased mind of the philosophical historian (who does not care a pin about all the ecclesiastical spite, on either one side or the other, that ever was oi- ever shall be), can lead to one inevitable conclusion only : that Henry Garnet was justly condemned to death by an earthly tribunal for misprision, that is, for concealment, of High Treason against the Socereign power (f Ins Country. Although, being a priest, he ought to- have been- ecclesi-astically ^^ degraded"" first, according to the provisions of the Canon law, and then handed THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 159" over to the secular arm for condign punishment, according to the law of the outrasjed State. For, " Jr/ cerium est quod certum reddi 'potest,'' that is, certain knowledge which can be reduced to a certainty. Again, the damning evidence against Garnet is clenched by a letter that he sent to Rome, dated 28th August, wherein, amongst other things, he said : " And for anything we can see. Catholics are quiet, and likely to continue their old patience, and to trust to the King or his son for to remedy all in time." — Gerard's '' Narratire;' pp. 78, 79. Now Garnet^ was a man of most acute mind and very clear-sighted ; but he was intellectually unimaginative as well as morally weak-willed. And such a man is. never a far-sighted man. But as Garnet's moral character w^as almost certainly good on the whole, the conclusion that Justice- suggests in reference to this letter of the 28th August especially is that, through intense grief and anguish of mind. Garnet had lost his head, and was not wholly responsible for either his words or actions.' ^ Garnet \A'as a profound mathematician and accomplished linguist,, amongst other acquirements. ^ After Father Tesimond had told Garnet (with Catesby's leave) of tlie Plot, thereby bringing the matter a.s a natural secret indirectly under the seal of the Confessional, Garnet could not sleep at nights. Now, sleep- lessness, con^bined with carking care and keen distress of heart, would inevitably tend to unbalance even the very strongest of human minds^ at least, temporarily. Tesimond told Garnet generally of Catesby's- diabolical plan '"a little before" St. James'-tide {i.e., the 2oth of July, 1605), at Fremland, in Essex, but by way of confession. The Government,, however, it seems to me, from the report of the trial in Jardine's " Criminal Trials'' and from Lingard, condemned Garnet not because he did not reveal particular Icnoidedge he had received in the Confessional from Tesimond, but because he did not reveal general knowledge he had from Catesby outside the CHAPTER XLIX. At the beginning of the month of September, 1005, Father Garnet was at Gothnrst/ three miles from Ne^Yport Pagnell, in the County of Buckinghamshire, Confess io I) al. Tliis, iii fairness to James 1., Salisbury, ami the King's ■Council, should be faithfullv borne in mind. Moreover, according to one school of Catholic moralists, in either case the Government ought to have been conununicated with if (larnet could have done so without risk of divulging 'I'esimond's name. Indeed, Garnet himself took this view — the view which most princes and statesmen will prefer, I should fancy. Garnet, however, had not the machinery ready to his hand to carry hoik views into practical effect. Therefore Garnet, to my mind, was eminentli/ justified in not dividginr/ the jmrticidar knowledije he had from Tesimond bit waif of confession. For according to the teaching of Thomas Aqnlnas, the Christian Aristotle, a natural secret mag he indirectly protected bv the seal of the Confessional if the priest j^romises so to protect it. I conclude, however, that (1) according to tlie dictates of right reason the promise may be either implied or expressed, and {'2) thnt in the case of overwhelming necessity the promise may be broken, as in the case of High Treason, if the priest can avoid, ivith absolute certitude, exposing the name of the depositor of the wicked secret. It was because Garnet could not avoid ■exposing Tesimond's name ^practically that he was justified in not acting upon his own abstract principles in relation to the knowledge he had from Tesimond by way of confession. ^ (Tothurst (now Gayhurst) is twelve miles from Xoi'tlianiptoii and from ten to fifteen miles from Great Harrowden. Weston Underwood and Olney, innnortalized by AVilliam Cowper, are not far from lH)th jjlaees. The poet woidd be distantly related to young Lord Yaux of Jlarrowden, through the Donnes, who, like Lord Vaux, through the Ropers, were descended from Sir Thomas More. To Walter Carlile, Esquire, who now resides at Gayhurst, which was the ancient name of the Estate (Gothurst, however, being its name in Sir Everard Digby's day), I am indebted for the information as to the distance of Gayhurst from Northam])ton. Cowper was, it will be recollected, the intimate friend of the Tlu-ockmortous of his dnv. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 1(U and about the 5th of September froui this still staiuling stately English home there proceeded the nucleus of a pilgrim-band bent for the famous well of St. ^Yinifred, the British Saint, situated at Holywell, in North Wales. Sir Everard Bigby, the Master of Gothurst, was not of the company, as he was engaged in negotiating a match between the young Lord Vaux of Harrowden, then a youth of about fourteen years of age, .with one of the daughters of .the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Suffolk. But Lady Digby formed one of the band, as did the uncle of Lord Yaux, Edward Brookesby, Esquire, of Arundell House, Shouldby, Leicestershire, and his wife the Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, together with her sister the Honourable Anne Yaux. At least two Jesuits formed part of the cavalcade, Father Henry Garnet and Father John Percy, the chaplain to Sir Everard Digby. Father John Gerard, who had "reconciled to the ■Church," as the phrase went, both Sir Everaixl and Jjady Bigby and was their intimate and honoured friend, as well as the friend of the Dowager Lady Yaux of Harrowden and her family, did not join the pilgrimage. Father Gerard was most probably in Yorkshire at this tinje. For there is interesting evidence tending to prove that about the 25th of August, 1605, this Lancashire Jesuit was being harboured as the guest of Sir John and Lady Yorke, at Gowthwaite (or Goulthwaite) Hall, near Pateley Bridge, in Nidderdale.^ The following abstracts from the Evidence of two of Sir Everard Digby's serving-men, who accompanied ^ See " The Condition of Catholics under James /." Edited by John Morris, S.J. (Longmans, 1S72), p. 257. 102 THE GUNI'OWDEE PLOT. their devout, charming 3'oiiiig mistress on this now famous pilgrimage, will give the best account of ^vhat took place on this occasion.^ 'i'liey ^I'c as follow: — Gunpowder Plot Books — No. 153. [Abstract.] ii. Dec. 1605 [In Cal. 11 Dec. 1605.1 " Th'examination of James Garvey serv* to S' Everard Digby 7^ y^ tIv 'p" ^f *|v " Saietli about Bartholmew tide last his ladie roade to St. Wenefred's Well from Gotehurst : first daie to Deyntrie : ' 2 to Grantz : " 3 to AVinters : ■* 4 to Mr. Lacon's : ^ 5 to Shrewsberie : 6 to holte : ^' 7 to the well : they staled at the well but one night : and retorned the ^ St. Winifred's A^ell is at Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, and is sacred to 8t. Winifred of AVales, an early Britisli Virgin and Martyr. Her " Life " will be found in Butler's " Lires of the Saints,'' under date November 3rd, ber Feast Day. The waters of tbe Well are of healing quality, very copious and icj' cold. There is an elegant mediaeval stone Chapel built over the Well. (I visited this ancient shrine of a British Maiden — who still rules human hearts — in September, 1897, on my return from Ebbsfleet, where the thirteenth Centenary Commemorations had been held in honour of the spiritual grandsire aiul sire of the English race, the Italian Pope Gregory the Great and the Italian Beiiedicl ine Monk xViigustine.) ^ Daventry, Xortbamptonshire. ' .lohn Grant's, at Norbroolv, Snitterfield, Warwickshire. ' Haddington Hall, near Droitwich, Worcestershire. ^ Most probably at Kinlet Hall, about five miles from Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire. Holt, in Denbighshire. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 163 first day 2 to holt 2 to Mr. Banester's at Wen^ 2 to Mr. Lacon's agaiiie and so retorned to Gotehurst. " Saietli ther were in that jorney the ladie Digby, Mrs. Yaux,'- Mr. Brookysby and his wief Mr. Darcy^ one Thomas Digby ^ a tall gentleman : one fisher -' a little man : S'' frauncis Lacon and his daughter and two or 3 gentlemen more went w^ith them from Mr. Lacon's to the well, &c., &c. (Endorsed) "11 Dec. 1605. " The Exam" of James Garvie srv* to S'" Everard Digby." Gunpowder Plot Books — No. 121. [Abstract.] Th'examination of A\ illiam Handy servaunte to S'" li r Everard Digby taken the xxvij*'' of November 1605 * [Par. 41 — " Saith that he haith bin at many masses since Easter last sometimes at the howse of the said Digby sometimes at the howse of the L : Yanx sometimes at the howse of Mr. Throgmorton at the howse of Mr. Graunt at the house of Mr. Winter and at the house of Mr. Lacon in Shropshire aud at Shrosbury in an Inn and at a Castle in the Holte in Denbeghe or Flintshire, and at St. Y'ynyfride's AYell in an Inn, from whence ^ Weil), tShropsbire. " Miss Anne A'aux. ^ •' An alias of Father Garnet: Farmer was another of Garnet's aliases. ■* An uncle of Sir Everard, belike. " An alias of Father Percy, afterwards famous for his historic controversy with Archbishop Laud. 164 THE GUNPOWDEIl PLOT. the gentlewomen went barefoote to the said well and in their retoiirne from the said well at one Farmer's howse about 7 miles from Shrosbnry, and from thence to Mr. Lacon's where they had masse whereat S'" Franncis Lacon was from thence to ^Iv. Robert Winter's and from thence to Mr. Graunte's from thence to Deyntree and from thence to S'' Everard Digby at all wliich places they had masse. ^ * * * * * * (Endorsed) "27 Nov. 1605. " Th'examination of Wni. Handy serv* to S'" Everard Digby." ' The reason why llie Ex.'uuiner wlio took down t]ie Evidence was particular to inquire about Masses was that f(jr a ])riest to say (or oifer) Mass was to be liable to a penalty of I'OO marks (a mark being 13s. 4d.) and imprisonment for life; while for a hiy person to hear (or assist at oifering) Mass was to be liable to a penalty of ]00 marks and im|)risonm('nt for life. To harbour a priest was felony and the penalty was lianging, but without the cutting down alive, drawing and (juaitering. This last was the portion of the priests who, by i-einaining in England 40 days, wei'e held ipso facto guilty of Jligh Treason without proof of the exercise of priestiy functions. This last penalty, of course, rendered un- necessary the having recourse to tlie penalty of 1*()0 marks fine and imprisonment fur life, since the greater included the less. CHAPTEE L. The pilgi'im-band numbered about thirty souls, and included Ambrose Eookwood and his wife in addition to those before mentioned. Ambrose Rookwood appears to have been sworn in as a conspirator by Catesby and others in London about ten weeks before the 2nd day of December, 1605, so that I conclude this must have been very soon after his return from Flintshire. Sir Everard Digby was also made a confederate by Catesby alone about this time, and in the "Lz/c" of that well-favoured but misguided knight there is an admirably- WTitten account of the unhappy enrolment of the ill-fated young father of the famous cavalier and diplomatist, Sir Kenelm Digby. It would seem that Father Garnet proceeded to Gothurst with the pilgrims on their return. But he must have shortly afterwards retraced his steps to Great Harrowden. For a fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October, old style) the chief of the English Jesuits was being- harboured at Great Harrowden, the house of the Dowager Lady Yaux and the young Lord Yaux. Great Harrowden Hall appears to have been rebuilt by the guardians of the youthful baron a little before the year 1G05. For in '' Tlie Condition of CatJiolics iiucler James /.," being largely the life of Father John Gerard, there is (p. 147) the following statement : " Our hostess set about fitting up her own present residence^ ICG THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. for that same purpose, and built us separate quarters close to the old (Miapel . . . Here she built a little wing of three stories for Father Percy and me. The place was exceedingly convenient, and so free from observation that from our rooms we could step out into the private garden, and thence through spacious walks into the fields, where we could mount our horses and ride whither we would." On p. 175 Father Gerard says : " Our vestments and altar furniture were both plentiful and costly . . . some were embroidered with gold and pearls and figured by well-skilled hands. We had six massive silver candlesticks on the altar, besides those at the sides for the Elevation ; the cruets were of silver also, as were the basin for the lavabo, the bell, and the thurible. There were, moreover, lamps hanging from silver chains, and a silver crucifix on the altar. For greater Festivals, however, I had a crucifix of gold, a foot in height." The Hall at Great Harrowden contained hiding- places for the priests, probably contrived by Brother Nicholas Owen, the servant of Father Garnet. The priests that resided at Great Harrowden were at that time mainly Jesuits. And besides Father Gerard himself. Fathers Strange, Nicholas Hart, and Eoger Lee were there oftentimes to be found. ^ ' The present Lord Yaux of Harrowden, in the coLirse of a most courteous reply to various Iiistorical questions the writer ventured to propound to liini, says, in a letter dated 15th November, 1901, that hi.s residence, Harrowden Hall, was erected in the year 1719. It will, there- fore, not be the self-same mansion as that wherein fathers Garnet, Gerard, Eisher, lloger Lee, etc., weie wont to be harboured by his Lordship's distinguished ancestors. None of the grand old English Catholic families, those " lionourable peo|)le,'' if such were ever known to mortal, have a better right than the CHAPTEE LI. On the 4th of October, Father Garnet wrote a long letter to Father Parsons in Ptome, who was then virtually the rnler of the Catholics of England, though that sturdy Yorkshireman, Father John Mush,^ among secular priests, together with many others, resented being dictated to by Father Parsons, certainly a man of great genius, but indulging too much the mere "wire-puller" instinct and propensity to be reckoned a prince among ecclesiastical statesmen. This letter of Father Garnet's, to which reference has been just made, is a remarkable production. It begins as follows : — Lordri Vaux of llarrowdeii, to take as their motto those fine wcn-ds ot" ■Gierald JNlassey : — " ' They wrought in Faith ; ' and not ' They wrought in Doubt : ' — Is the proud epitaph tliat we inscribe Above our glorious dead." The name " Yaux of llarrowden " is still to be found in the bead- roll of English Roman Catholic Peers. And, along with such historic names as Norfolk, Mowbray and Stourton, Petre, Arundell of AVardour, Stafford, Clifford of Chudleigh, and Heri'ies, the name "Yaux of Harrowden" was appended to " the Eoman Catholic Peers' Protest," dated from the House of Lords, 14th February, 1901, addressed to the Earl of Halsbury, I>ord High Chancellor of England, anent " the Declaration against Popery," that Our Most Gracious King Edward YII. was compelled, by Act of Parliament, to utter on the occasion of meeting His Majesty's first Parliament. ^ Mush may have been of the Mushes, of Knaresbrough, stanch ■Catholics, but in humble circumstances. — See Peacock's '■'List.'" 168 THE GUNrOWDER TLOT. " My very loviiif^- Sir, " This I write from the elder Nichohis^ his residence where I find my hostess with all her posterity very well ; and we are to go within few days nearer London." The letter then says : — " The judges now openly protest that the King will have blood and hath taken blood in Yorkslnre."" There were four paragraphs at the end of the letter. Now, a short but separate paragraph of three lines. is carefully obliterated between the first and the third of these paragraphs. The third paragraph ends thus : — " I cease 4th Octohris.'" The fourth paragraph then continues : — " My hostesses hoth and their children salute you. Sir Thonuis Tresham is dead."^ Heje ends the body of the letter. ^ Father Nicholas Hart, S.J., as distinguished from Brother Nicholas Owen, 8. J. '■'The "Venerable" Thomas Welbourn and John Fulthering suffered at York on tlie 1st August, 1605; and AVilliam Brown at Kipon on the 5th September. — See Challoner's " Missionary Priestn." Ed. by T. G. Law (Jack, Edinburgh). * The hostesses would bo those vahant women, Elizabeth Dowager Lady Vaux of Harrowden {nee Roper), llie Honourable Eleanor Brookesby, and the Honourable Anne Yaux. William ],ord Vaux oi' Harrowden, who harboured Father Parsons in 1580-81, had married for his second wife a sister of Sir Thomas Tresham. This Jjord Vaux's eldest sou Ambrose, a ])riest, resigned his title in favour of his lialf-hi-other the Honourublr George A'aux, afterwards Lord Vaux of Harrowden. The first wife (jf William Lord Vaux was Elizabeth Beaumont, of Gracedieu, Leicestershire. She was the mother of Ambi-ose, Elizabeth, and Anne Vaux. 1 at her Garnet for many years lived at Harrowden, from 1586 as the guest of William Lord A^aux, whose son, George Lord A'aux , of Harrowden. married l^lizabeth Boper, daughter of the lirst Lord Teynham. This lady wa-; the the above-named Dowtiger Lady A'aux of Harrowden, mother of Edwiud Lord A'aux of Harrowden, who becamt^ as "noble a confessor \^n- the I'ailii'' as were his numerous other relatives. (The ])resent Loid \'aux of Harrowden, whose family name is Mostyn, is descended from the above-mentioned Lords A'aux, through the female line.) CHAPTEH LTI. After tlie body of the letter tliere is a post scriptum. Now, tliere are nine words in the post script um that suffice to clench the argument of this book. And why ? Because, I respectfully submit, those nine words show that between the 4th day of October, 1G05, and the 21st day of October, Garnet had received from somewhere intelligence to tJie effect that machinery ivas being put into motion ivhereby tJie Plot would be squashed. For the post scriptuni to this letter of Father Cxarneb is as follows : — ''21" Octobris. " This letter being returned unto me again, for EEASON of a FEIENd's STAY IN THE WAY, I blottcd OUt some words, purposing to write the same by the next opportunity, as I will do apart. " I have a letter from Field, the Journeyman in Ireland, who telleth me that of late, there was a very severe proclamation against all ecclesiastical persons, and a general command for going to the churches, w?th a solemn protestation that the King never promised nor meant to give toleration. "I pray you speak to Claude, and to grant them, or obtain for them all the faculties we have here ; for so he earnestly desireth, and is scrupulous. I gave unto two of them, that passed by me, all we have ; and I think it sufficient in law ; for being here, they 170 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. f were my subjects, and we have our faculties also for Ireland, for tlio most part. I pray you procure them a general grant for their comfort." The letter and the post ficrlpluni are alike unsigned. The letter and the post scriptum are still in existence, and, I believe, are preserved in London in tlie archives of the lioman (.'atliohc Archbishop of Westminster. I am indebted for my copy to the work entitled, ^^A True Account of the Gunpuirder Plot,'" by ^'Vindicator" (Dolman), 1851 — taken from Tierney's Edition of ''BodcVs Church Historijr The Claude referred to in the post scriptum is Father Claude Aquaviva, the then General of the Jesuits, who lived in Kome. (Irish Catholics will not fail to notice the interest this afflicted, much-tried Englishman took in tiieir case on the 21st October, 1605.) Father Gerard says in his '■^Narrative of the Plot,'" p. 269 : "Father Oldcorne his indictment was so framed that one might see they much desired to have withdrawn him within the conjpass of some participation in tliis late Treason ; to which effect tliey first did seem to suppose it as likciy that he should send letters up and down to prepare men's minds for the insurrection." Again ; respecting llalpli Ashley, the Jesuit lay- brother and servant of Father Oldcorne, Gerard says, on p. 271: " Ealpli was also indicted and condennied upon supposition that lie had carried letters to and fro about this conspiracy." Now, Duj deliberate conjectures are these : TJiat Edward Oldcorne had indeed sent ^'■Letters " whicli liix servant Palph Ashley had carried. couceruiiKj " this conspiracjj.'''' That one of tliose Letters was sent and, carried to Henry THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 171 Garnet. And anotlter to William, ParJccr fourth Lord Mount eagle. On the 12th of March, 1605-6, Father Garnet, when a prisoner in the Towner of London, before the Lord Chief Justice Popliani, Sir Edward Coke, Sir Wilham Waade (Lieutenant of tiie Tower), and John Corbett, " confessed that Father Parsons wrote to hitn certain letters last summer [i.e., 1605J wJiich lie received about Michaelmas ■last, wherein he requested this examinat to advertise him what plotts the Catholiques of England had then in hand; wlicreunto for that this examijiat ujas on his journey he made no answere.'" Yea, indeed, this was a part of the trutli, no doubt. But the remainder of the trutli, I suggest, was that the Plot of Plots Garnet Jiad learned, a few dags after the aforesaid Michaelmas, luas being assuredly squashed by Edward Old come. Poor Henry Garnet, a sorry, pathetic figure in the history of his Country, surely. Yet, because niucli was lost, he knew that it did not therefore follow that all was lost. For this gifted, distraught, erring man still held " something sacred, something undefiled, some pledge and keepsake of his better nature." That something ivas Jiis point of honour as a Priest of tlie Catholic Church.^ ^ How niauy a gallant soldier and sailor in our own day, young and old, has been sustained in life and death by the consoling infnite tliouglit of fdeliti/ to the commands of a laivfid suj^ertor ; by the comforting transcendental thowjht of diitij done! Cf., Frederic Denison Maurice's fine passage on the inspiring and ennobling idea of Duty, in his " Lectures on the Epistles of St. John (Macinillan) ; also Wordsu orth's magnificent "Ode to Duty." CHAPTER LIU. Sir I^vc'r;u-(1 Dii^by liad rented Couf^litoii, near Alcestei\ in Warwickshire, from Tlionias Throckmorton, Esquire, as a base for the warhkc operations, which were to be conducted in the Midhmds as soon as inteUigence had arrived from London tliat the King, Lords Spiritual and Temporal, together with the Gentlemen of the House of Conjmons,. "were now no more." On Sunday, the 3rd of November, the young knight rode from Cougliton to J)uuchureh, near Kughy. Eobert Winter the same day left Huddington and, sleeping (mi the Sunday niglit at Grafton, at the house of his father-in-hiw, John Talbot, Esquire, rode on to Coventry, in company with the younger Acton, of liibbesford, and attended by several servants. At Coventry, Robert Winter was joined by Stephen Littleton, of Holl)each House, in Staffordshire, just over the borders of Worcestershire; and also by his cousin, Humphrey Littleton, brother to the then late John Littleton,' of Hagley House, Worcestershire, who had been engaged in the Essex rising. On tlie following Tuesday, November the 5ih, the whole party proceeded towards ])unchin(h, the armed cavalcade continuahy increasing in nuin])ers. ' All llir Littletons were descended from tlie great Judge Littleton, author of " LUthtnu on Tennrcs." The present Lord Lyttelttni belongs to llie same iaiuilv. THE GL'XrOWDER TLOT. 173 The plan was, that at Duusmore Heath, under a ieigned hunting or coursing match, there should be a gathering of the Midland Catholic clans, then very numerous and powerful. Dunsmore Heath, in fact, was to be the rendezvous of the insurgents. Eobert AVinter left the cousins Littleton at " the town's end" of Dunchurch, and rode on to Ashbv St. Legers, the ancestral seat of the Catesbies, where, indeed, the Dowager Lady Catesby was then residing. Here liobert Winter hoped to meet Catesby, with whom, after the latter had reported progress with reference to things done in London on that Tuesday morning. Winter purposed to gallop off to the rendezvous at Dunsmore Heath. Ambrose Rookwood was one of tlie latest to leave for the provinces. He owned many fine horses ; and he had placed relays of horses all the way from London to Dunchurch. Rookwood rode one horse at the rate of fifteen niiles an hour. Riding for dear life, he overtook Catesby, Percy, and the two Wrights, near Brickhill. Percy and John Wright cast off their cloaks and threw uhem into the hedge to ride the more swiftly. ^^'''^ About six o'clock in the evening of Tuesday, jnst as Lady Catesb}^, Robert AYinter, and some others were about to sit down to supper in the old mansion-house, there fell upon their ears a mingled din, occasioned by horses' feet and men's excited voices. Soon in rushed, with scared faces and travel-stained garb, grievously fatigued and intensely agitated, the son of the house (Robert Catesby), Thomas Percy, John Wright, Christopher AY right, and Ambrose Rookwood. Their announcement was the capture of Guy Fawkes ■early that Tuesday morning. 174 THE GUNPOWDER I'LOT. After holding a sliort council of w;ir, the whole hand of conspirators, snatching np nil the weapons of warfare- they could lay their hands on, took horse again and rode off to J)unchnrch. Sir Everard Dighy, his uncle (Sir Kobert Dighy, of Coleshill), Stephen Littleton, Humphrey Littleton, and many others were awaiting their arrival at Dunchurcli, in an inn. The six fugitive conspirators, all hespattered with the mire of November high roads, with dejected looks and jaded aspect, arrived in due time to tell their tale. Soon Sir Robert Digby departed with one of his sons, then Humphrey Littleton, and speedily many others of the hunting party. It was determined b\' the ringleaders to make for Wales ; for the Catholics of the Principality were then veiy strong,^ and the Counties of Warwick, Worcester, and Stafford were to be traversed, from all of which valuable reinforcements were expected. About ten o'clock on Tuesday night the full Mt is a curious I'uct tl;at in the reign of Elizabeth, Father Weston, S.J., specially spoke of Wales, along with the counties bordering on Scotland, as being firm in its attachment to the Church of Eome. it was the laclc of a AVelsh College in Kome which, causing the supply of jiriests to fail, gradually caused the interesting Cymric people to lose the Faith wliicli they of all the inhabitants of the British Isles were the first to embrace. It is to be remembered, however, that tliere lias always been a remnant in a few of the valleys of Wales faitliful to the See of Home: and Dr. Owen Lewis, tlie Bishop of Cassano, a W'elsiunan, aided Cardinal Allen to found Douay College, in 1 .068. Several of the Martyrs of the sixteenth aiul seventeenth centuries, too, were Welsh. At the English College at Kome the AVelsh and tlie English students- had violent and. to read of, amusing quarrels. Evidently the Welsh students looked down upon tlu-ii- Anglo-Saxon compeers as belonging a comparatively inferior race. THE GUNroWDEE PLOT. 175- coiiipan}', now about thirty strong, set out for Norbrook/ the house of John Grant. Thence, it will be recollected, Bates was sent with a note from Catesby and Sir Everard Digby to Father Garnet, at Coughton, urging Garnet to join the rebels in Wales. Lady Digb}^ had also a letter from her husband, but the poor young wife, we are told, could, alas ! do naught- but cry. After a halt of about two hours for refreshments- and the procuring of more arms, the insurgents once more slipped their feet into the stirrups, and on they rode for Huddington, near Droitwich, where they arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon of AYednesday, the 6th. Sentinels were posted at the passage of every way at Huddington, possibly by the order of John Winter, half-brother to Eobert and Thomas W^inter. Here they were joined by Thomas Winter, who had come down from London with the latest new^s ; also by the Jesuit, Father Tesimond, whom Catesby hailed with joy- They rested for a good few hours at Huddington; and, as we have seen already, at about three o'clock in the morning of Thursday all the gentlemen assisted at Father Nicholas Hart's Mass, went to Con- fession, and received, at the Jesuit's hands, what most of them from their childhood had been taught to believe was " tlie Bread of Angels," and " the Food of Immortality."" ' At Warwick, en route for Xorbrook, they took some horses out of a stable near the Castle, and left their own steeds in exchange therefor. They arrived at Warwick at about three o'clock on Wednesday morning. - Certainly Man's nature needs these things ; but the question is :. Can it get them? "Aye, thei-e's the rub." 17G THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. Before daybreak of Thursday the fugitives were on tlie march north-westward again. For " there is no rest for the wicked." . The rebels made for Whewell Grange, the seat of the Lord Windsor, one of the numerous Worcestershire Catholic families. At Whewell Grange the traitors helped themselves to a large store of arms and armour. Then they sped on towards Ho] beach House, near Stourbridge, in Staffordshire. Their number was then about sixty all told, although earlier in the march it had increased to about a hundred. In two days they had traversed about sixty miles, " over bad and broken roads, in rainy and inclement weather." To the dire disappointment of Catcsby, Sir Everard Digby, and the rest, John Talbot, of Grafton, drove Thomas Winter and Stephen Ijittleton from his door when they sought his aid for the rebellion. And Sir Everard was constrained to avow that of the wealthy Catholic gentry '' not one man came to take our part thougli we had expected so n)an3\"'- ^ See Janline's '■■ Xarmtive,'' p. Ill', to which I ;iiii indebted for tliis ;i(>c(junt ; also Haiidy's evidence, Jardine'.s "Criminal Trials" vol. ii., pp. 165, 106. Jardine's '■' yarradve" p. 112. Ilolbeach House is no longer standing. CHAPTER LIV. The High Sherifi's of Wanvickshire and Worcester- shire, with their posse comitatus, were in pursuit of the fugitives, who arrived at Holheach House at ten of the clock on Thursday night. At Holheach they prepared to make their last stand. And alack ! never more were the brothers John and Christopher AVright destined to behold Lapworth, Twig- more, Ripon, Skelton, Newby, Mulwith, York, or Plowland,^ nor any of those scenes around which must have clung so many endearing associations and sacred memories/^''^^ Early in the morning of Friday some of the company went out to descry wdiether or not reinforcements were in sight. Others began to prepare their shot and powder. Catesby, Rookwood, and Grant were severel}" burnt in the face, especially the two latter, with some damp or dank ^ For an account of recent visits to Mulwith and Plowland, see Supplementum IV. and Supplementuin V. To the generosity of my friend, Miss Burnham, the hidy of Plowland, uiy readers owe the view of the present Plowland House, which forms the Frontispiece to this Book. The old Hall occupied the site of the present dwelling, and faced the river llumber towards the south. The gahled buildings in the rear are ancient, and behind theiu are a few mossy Gothic stones, evidently belonging to the old chapel. Behind tbe ancient buildings is a willow-fringed remnant of the old moat. George Burnham, Esq., brother to Miss Burnham, is the owner of this historic spot. Edward Wright Burnham, Esq., of Skeffling, Holderness, is their brother. The names Edward Wright suggest descent from Edward Wright, the son of Christopher Wright, the revealing consiiirator. M 178 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. gunpowder which they were drying- on ii phitter before the kitchen fire, and into wliich a hot cinder felL Tliis incident seems to have thoroughly unnerved Catesby and all his wicked confederates. They saw in the fact a stroke of poetic justice — nay, the flaming, avenging sword of Heaven. Thomas Winter was told by Catesby and the rest, m reply to his question, " AYe mean here to die." AYinter thereupon I'eplied, " 1 will take such part as you do." " Then they all fell earnestly to their prayers," says Gerard, "the litanies and such like." They also "spent an hour in meditation." About eleven o'clock in the forenoon of that black Friday, November the 8th, 1G05, the High Sheriff of AVorcestershire arrived with the whole power and force of the count}^, and beset the house. Thomas Winter, going into the court-yard, was shot in the shoulder with an arrow from a cross-bow, and lost the use of his right arm. John Wright was shot dead. C'hi-istopher AVright was mortally w^ounded. Ambrose Eookwood was wounded in four or five places. John Grant was likewise disabled. Catesby and Thomas Percy, each sword in liand^ r of Christ,"' and whom millions liold to be likewise " the Refuge of sinners," is start lingly true to human nature. But — "Close up his eyes, and let us all to meditation." l''(u- " //; h/ sua voloiiiade e. vostra pace'' — "Only in the AV'ill of God is man's peace." And the essence of that Will is the Everlastinjr ]Moral Law. CHAPTEE LY. Father Garnet did not go nearer London than Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, hetvveen ten and fifteen miles distant from Great Harrowden. We know tiiat he was at Gothurst when Cateshy was there, on Tuesday, the 22nd of October, one day after the date of the post script nm, mentioned in the last chapter. Probabl}^ the post scrlptunt of the 21st October was written at Gothurst and not at Great Harrowden, though the letter itself of the 4th October undoubtedly was penned at Harrowden, between ten and fifteen miles distant from Gothurst, as just remarked. The Honourable Anne Vaux, whose maternal grand- father was Sir Thomas Beaumont, Master of the Kolls, was a level-headed woman of acute mental perceptions as well as of great moral ardour and intense spiritual exaltation.^ Miss Yaux was allied to both Catesby and Tresham, and their words, and still more their doings, during the few months then last past, had been not unnoticed by her. She evidently had that strange premonitory fore- boding, that curious sense of swift approaching doom, which have marked all tragedies written or unwritten since the world began. Moreover, the large number of cavalry horses in the stables of Norbrook and Huddington (those places being her ^ The psycliologist will have observed tliat these qualities are not .seldom combined in a etMtaiu order of minds. Cf., Shakespeare's '-great wits to madness aie near allied'" — some thinkers will be inclined to sav. 182 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. fellow-pilgrims' and her own places of sojourning when en route for Holywell) had alarmed Anne Vaux's imagination. And in reply to the lady's anxious inquiries she had been told by her iniquitous, head-strong connections — Catesby and the rest — that the horses were wanted for the troop of horse whereof Catesby was to be in charge, with King James's permission, in aid of the cause of the Spanish Archdukes in the Low Countries, then still in rebellion against the Spanish sovereignty. Again ; at either Harrowden or Gothurst, Miss Yaux sought out her father's friend, and her own honoured and beloved spiritual counsellor, the chief of the English Jesuits, and told him that she feared that some trouble or disorder was a-brewing ; and, moreover, that some of the gentlewomen, namely, the wives of the conspirators, ^'had demanded of her where they should bestow them- selves until the burst was past in the beginning of the Parliament." Garnet, in reply, asked his inquirer who told her this; but she said "she durst not tell who told her so; she was [choked] with sorrow." ^ At Coughton, Father Garnet said Mass on the 1st of November, All Saints' Day. There "assisted" at this Mass the Lady Digby,' Mr. and Mrs. Brookesby, Miss Anne Yaux, and almost the w^hole of Sir Everard Digby's Gothurst household. ^Garnet's examination of the 12th ]\Iarcli. Foley's ^^ Jiecords,'' vol. i\'., p. 157. ^ Latly Digby had l)ei']i bi'ouglit up a strong Protestant, and, like most converts in tlie sixteenth and seventeentli centuries to the Churcli of Eome from Calvinistic Puritanism, she became an ardent devotee of the .lesuits. (The point of contact was probably a common interest in the ])roblems of the mystical life, and a tendency towards a grave, sober, strict regularity of *' daily walk and conversation."') Greorge Gilbert, a gentleman of high Suirolk THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 183 At Gothurst, however, was Sir Everard himself, busy makinf^ his final preparations for the war he w^as about to levy upon his King. We find Sir Everard there also on November 2nd, All Souls' Day, the last he and his ill-fated comrades w^ere destined to keep on earth. — See Gerard's ''Narrative.'" On All Saints' Day, Father Garnet appears to have offered some prayers, or otherwise advised the ottering of the same, which had a certain reference to the King, the Parliament, and the hoped-for triumph of his Church over her enemies, especially over those then molesting the faithful English remnant of "the elect." He also appears, according to his own admission, to have spoken a sermon which might be easily construed as bearing- family and great wealth, was likewise a convert from Calvinism, tlirough the instrumentalitj of the Jesuit Fathers, Darbyshire and Parsons, Gilbert, as a young man, chiily "waited upon the ministry" of the once celebrated Puritan Divine, Bering, tlie friend of Thomas Cartwright. George Gilbert died in Rome in 1583, holding in his hand a crucifix made in prison by "the Blessed" Alexander Briant, a martyr friend of "the ]31essed "" Edmund Campion. Of Briant it is said he was " of a very sweet grace in preaching," .and that he was " replenished with spiritual sweetness "' when suffering the tortures of the rack. George Gilbert mainly defrayed the cost of painting on the walls of the Church of the English College at Rome certain ])ictures of some of " the English Martyrs," although " old Eichard Norton," of Norton Conyers, near iiipon, and some others who as exiles had " with strangers made their home," likewise subscribed to the expense of the pious and artistic work. I saw, on the 18th October, 1900, through the kind courtesy of the Eight Reverend Monsignor Giles, D.D., Rector of the English College, copies of these remarkable pictures, copies which are painted on the walls of tliat very College where Father Oldcorne himself had been educated. The original pictures on tlie walls of the CImrch are no longer in existence. The copies, however, even in our own day, have played an important part in "the beatification" of those of the English Mai'tyrs already beatified, including "the Blessed" Thom.as Percy Earl of Northumberland, who suffered death at York in 1572. — See the •'Acts of ■the English Marfijrs," by the Rev. J. li. Pollen, S.J. (Burns & Oates). 184 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. some allusion to the then wretched condition of the unhappy English Catholics.^ Now, I infer that all this tends to demonstrate that Father Henry Garnet felt that a great hurden or load liad heen lifted from his heart in regard to the aforetime perilous, but then practically abortive, Gunpowder Treason Plot. Therefore he must have known, from some source or another, that the Plot would be squashed before Tuesday, November the 5th, had dawned upon a "fallen world," and all danger from tbe Plot finally swept away. Again, in tlie Mass for All Saints' Day there is a hymn, one verse of which is : " Take awa}' the faithless people from the boundaries of the faithful, that we may joyfully give due praises to Christ." Cardinal Allen had induced the Pope " to indulge "" the recital of these words by Catholics for the harmless- " intention " of the "Conversion of England." Garnet, at Coughton, appears to have urged the- recital of the same words for "the intention" of the- "confounding" of the anti-popish "politics," and the- "frustration" of the "knavish tricks" of James at the forthcoming Parliament. If Garnet did so, then he must have known that James and his Farliameiit would be in existence to work mischief ! And tJiis once more 2'>^'0ves tJint I/e liuew the Plot would he squasJied and finally s/rejd away. ^ bet' Letter to Miss Anne A'aux, duted 2iid March, 1605-6, quoted in i'oley, vol. iv., }). 81, where Q-arnet says: '• There is a muttering here of a sermon which either I oi' ]Mr. Hall [an alias of Father Oldcorne] made. I fear mine, at Coughton. Mr. Hall hath no great matter, but only about Mr. Abington, though Mi-. Attourney saith he hath more." CHAPTER LVI. Soon after Catesby, llookwood, and Grant had been injured by the exploded gunpowder at Holbeach House- (as has been akeady mentioned in Chapter LIV.), Robert Winter, the Master of Haddington, deeming discretion the better part of valour, quitted the ill-fated mansion of Stephen Littleton. Now, it so fell out that Robert Winter met with Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach, in a wood about a mile from Holbeach. And for no less than two months these two high-born gentlemen were wandering disguised up and down the country. Having plenty of money with them, the fugitives bribed a farmer near Rowley Regis, in Staffordshire, a tenant of Humphrey Littleton, cousin to Stephen Littleton, to grant them harbourage. On New Year's Day the rebels came very earlj'^ in the morning to the house of one Perkes, in Hagle3^ After an extraordinar}' adventure there (an account of which may be read in Jardine's " Criminal Trials,'" voL ii., pp. 90-93), at about eleven of the clock one night, Humphrey Littleton conveyed the two hunted delinquents to Hagley House, in Worcestershire, the mansion wherein dwelt his widowed sister-in-law, Mrs. John Littleton,^^''*^^ a Protestant lady, to whose children the place apparently belonged. Mrs. Littleton was herself either in, or on the way to. 18G THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. London at this time, so the two traitors were harboured without the hidy's knowledge or consent. B}^ the treachery, however, of the man cook at Hagiey, or rather, in justice it should be said, by his ■diligent zeal in the service of his sovereign lord the King, Stephen Littleton and liobert Winter were captured by the lawful authorities, and forthwith conveyed to the Tower of London. Now, some time during these two months of the wanderings of these two gentlemen, with whose efforts to elude the vigilance of the law of the land Humphrey Littleton had connived, this same Humphrey Littleton repaired to Father Edward Oldcorne, probably at Hindlip, in order to be resolved in respect of certain doubts which he (Humphrey Littleton) said had entered into his mind as to whether or not the Gunpowder Treason Plot were or were not morally lawful. Now, although an English Roman Catholic gentle- man, it is certain that Humphrey Littleton, like a great many more of his co-religionists before and since, was by no means perfect. Inasmuch as, first, we hear tell of " a love-begot " boy of his (if Virtue's pure ears can pardon the phrase), who was to become a page of Robert Catesby, in the event of Catesby's going in command of that coinpany of horse to Flanders to light, witli James's permission, in behalf of the Spanish Archdukes, whereof we have already heard. And, secondly, Humphrey Littleton was plainly deemed by the astute Edward Oldcorne to be what we should nowadays style " a dangerous fellow," who was capable, from various motives, of propounding a question of that sort in order to entrap. That is to say, in order wantonly to cause mischief, wliatever iiiight be the tenour or purport of Oldcorne's answer — mischief among either Catholics or Protestants.(^^»> THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 187 We will, however, let Father Oldcorne tell his own tale as to what took place on the occasion of this momentous visit to him by Humphrey Littleton. For the great casuist's own words are contained in Piis holograph Declaration of the 12th day of March, 1605-6, written by him when a prisoner in the Tower, and which I beheld in the Record Office, London, on the 5th of October, 1900.(''°> CHArTEit LYIL Ctlnpowdkh Plot Books — Vol. II., No. 202. " The Yoluntario declRration of ]^]d\vard Oldcorne alias Hull .]('suite 12 Mar. 1()()5 'i.e., IGOo-O] . A. " Ml'. Uiiiiifrey Litleton^ telling ]Jie that after Mr. Catesbie saw liiui self and others of his Companie burnt w"' powder, and the rest of the conipnie readie to Hy from him, that then he began to thinke he had offended god in this {letion, seeing soe bad effects follow of the same. B. " I answeared him that an act is not to be condemd or justified upon the good or bad euent that follow*" it but upon the ende or object, and the meanes that is used for effecting the same and brought him an example out of the booke of Judges ^vher the 11 tribs of Israel weare coniannded by god to make warrs upon the trib of ]]enjamin ; and yett the tribe of Benjamin did botli ill the first and secound battaile overthrow the other 1 1 tribs. Tlic like said \ wee read of Lewis King of IVaiicc who went to light against the Turks and to ]-ecouei' i\\v. hoolye Land, but ther he loost the most of his ariiiic, and him self dyed ther of the j^lague the like wee may say when the xtianes defended ' I do not lj at all times and in all places must prevail. For all nun are subject 218 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. integral or j^artial, was irrevocably held in trust by Edward Oldcorne, not for Humphrey Ijittleton, or the like of hiin, but for Christopher AVright and men that were true of heart. Tliis was an obligation that flowed from the truth expressed by the luminous maxim, " Qui prior est tempore potior est jure.'' " He who is first in time is the stronger in point of right." to the one Moral Law of liight lieason, and nowhere will you find men without souls, notwithstanding that certain nieinhers of the English middle classes sometimes seem to labour under a delusion to the conti'ary. Equivocation cannot be had recourse to in matters of Contract, nor for pecuniary gain, nor sordid profit. Kemember thit, O all ye worshippers of Mammon I Eor, "a more glorious doctrine for knaves and a more disastrous doctrine for honest men," it would be difficult, if not impossible, to conceive of than equivocation, if it were not held strictly and severely in check and under control by the dictates of Intellectual lieason and xMoral Justice. Now, this highly scientific liberty, "equivocation," is never morally lawful to the witnesses in a Court of Justice, where the judge has jurisdiction to try the parties and tlie cause, whether those witnesses be the parties themselves to the cause, or strangers "subpoenaed" to give testimony therein. Sucli persons would be justly punishable for perjury who professed that, when beai-ing insufficient or inadequate witness in a Court of Justice by not telling "the whole"' truth, j^ they were merely "equivocating." Nor can equivocation be had recourse to for working hurt or injury to a fellow-creature, whether bond or free, white, black, or coppei'-coloured, contrary to tlie primary obliga- tions of Justice, which bid man render unto all men their due. Nor with reference to Divine Truth can equivocation be used. (Hence the piteous -iibsurdity of the Koyal Declaration against Popery.) Ey the mild and merciful Law of England, a criminally-accused person may equivocate, on the same moral principles as justify strategy in warfare, until his guilt has been brought home to him by sufficient proofs. tSuch a person equivocates by pleading " not i'ior est tempore potior est jure.^' He who is first in time is the stronger in point of riglit." Again ; " There is on earth a yet auguster thing, veiled though it be, than Parliament or King." And that is the Human Conscience, instructed l)v Truth and Justice. Her rights are invincible and eternally sacred. Gerard continues, after Father Oldcorne " followed llalpli, his faithful follower and companion of his labours, who showed at his death great devotion and fervour, as may THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 225 "be guessed by this one action of his ; for wliilst Ffitlier Oldcorne stood upon the ladder and was preparing him- self to die, Ralph, standing by the ladder, suddenly stepped forward, and takes hold of the good Father's feet, embracing and kissing them with great devotion, and said, ' What a happy man am I, to follow here the steps of my sweet Father ! ' And when his own turn came, he also first commended himself by earnest prayers unto God, then told the people that he died for religion and not for treason, whereof he had ' not had the least knowledge ; and as he had heard this good Father, before him, freely forgive liis persecutors and pray for the King and Country, so did he also . . .' He showed, at his death, great resolution joined with great devotion, and so resigning his soul into the hands of Ood, was turned off the ladder and changed this life for .a better."— See Gerard's ''Narrative^' pp. 27, o27G.(^''^> Furthermore, Father Gerard says, on p. 209 of his ■" Narrative,'''' as we have seen already, that '' Father Ouldcorne his indictment was so framed that one nn"ght see they mucli desired to have drawn him within the compass of some participation of this late treason ; to which effect they first did seem to suppose it as likely that he should send letters up and down to prepare men's minds for the insurrection . . . Also they accused him of a sermon made in Christmas, wherein he should seem to excuse the conspirators, or to extenuate their fact, and, withal that speaking with Humphrey Littleton in private about the same matter, he should advise him not to judge of the cause, or to condemn the gentlemen by the event." Although Father Oldcorne was found guilty and sentenced to death, it is not clearly shewn, from Gerard's Helation, or that of anybody else, what offences w^ere 22G THE GUNrOWDEE PLOT. proved against liiiii. Probabl}', reliance was mainly placed (1) on the fact of his being a notorious Priest and Jesuit, reconciling as many of the King's subjects to the See of Eome as possible ; (2) on his providing^ through the Jesuit, Father Jones, a place of refuge for liobert Winter and Stephen Littleton, two of the fugitives from Justice ; and (3) on his aiding and abetting the concealment of his Superior, Father Garnet,. a proclaimed traitor, at Hindlip/ ^ The reason vvliy Humphrey Littleton, at his execution, begged pardon of Mr. Abington, as well as of Father Oldcorne (see ante p. 214), was that Humphrey Littleton, when in Worcester Gaol, had reported to- tlie Government, in tlie liope of getting a res])ite, that the Jesuits, Garnet and Oldcorne, were being concealed at llindlip. Father Garnet left Coughton for Hindlip, accompanied by the Honourable Anne Vaux, on tlie 16th December, 1605, and lay concealed there until the last week of January, 1605-6, when Garnet and Oldcorne,. togetlier with the lay-bi'others, Nicholas Owen and lialph Ashley, were captured at Hindlip, by Sir Henry Broudey, of Holt Castle, a Worcester- shire magistrate, in pursuance of elaborate instructions from Lord Salisbury himself. The cai)tives were all four solenmly conveyed to tlie Tower of liOiidon. Miss Vaux was herself afterwards locked up in the Tower, but finally released. 'I'his unconquerable lady seems to have " come to lier grave in a full age, like as a sliock of corn cometh in in its season.'' For, as late as the year 1635, we find lier name being rejjorted to the I'rivy Council of Charles J., for helping certain Jesuits to carry on a sciiool for the education of the sons of the English Catholic nobility and gentry, at her mansion, Stanley Grange, about six miKs from Derby. CHAPTER LXXII. Edward Oldcorne might have, perchance, saved his life had he told his lawful Sovereign that he had heen (Deo juvante) a joint efficient cause of that Sovereign's temporal salvation and the temporal salvation of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, Commons of England, Ambassadors, and Heaven only knows whom, and how many else beside. For King James, with all his faults, was averse from shedding tlie blood even of popish Priests and Jesuits. But Oldcorne did not do so. And I hold that he had two all-sufficient reasons for not so acting. Eirst, he may have thought there was a serious danger of his entangling Thomas Ward, in some w^ay or another, as an accessory, at least, after the fact, in the meshes of the Law of that unscrupulous time : the time, be it remembered, of the Star Chamber and the Court of High Commission. And, secondly, although this great Priest and Jesuit, hij virtue and as a result of the releasing act of his Penitent, Christopher Wright, had come, ■practically, to receive a hiowleclge of the tremendous secret as a, Friend and as a Man, and not as a Priest, yet, because that Man and that Friend was a Priest; and because it was impossible for that Priest in practice, and in the eyes of men, to bisect himself, and make clear and manifest the different sides and aspects in which he had — subsequent to the Penitent's release from the seal of the 228 THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. Confessional, ^i(j ilium amfessionis — thought and acted in relation to the revealing plotter, therefore did Oldcorne, I opine, deliberately — because, according to his own principles, he was predominantly " a Priest," and that ''for ever" — therefore did he deliberately choose the more excellent Avay, aye ! in the chamber of torture and upon the scaffold of death, the way of perfect self-sacrifice for the good of others. For, by a Yorkshire Catholic mother, dwelling in a grey northern city — and who in January, 1598, is described as "old and lame"^ — Edward Oldcorne had been tauglit long years ago " to adjust liis compass at the ^7ross."^"'^^^"^^ Brother Ralph Ashley, too, possibly might have saved his life, had he disclosed that, whatever other letter or letters he had carried to and fro, he had carried that great Letter, that Letter of Letters, wdiich had proved the sheet- anchor, the lever, of his Country's temporal salvation through the temporal salvation of its hereditary and elected rulers. But Brother Ralph Ashley knew he had a duty to perform of strict fidelity to his master, a duty which, though unknown to man, would not escape the Eye of Him to advance Whose greater glory this humble Jesuit lay- brother was solemnly pledged. Eather Gerard says, as we have already seen, in his ^^ Narrative,'' that Ralph Ashley "was divers times put upon the torture but he revealed nothing." Gerard furthermore says that Ralph Asldey " was indicted and condennied upon supposition that he Imd carried letters to and fro about this conspiracy." "But," says Gerard, " they neither did nor could allege any instance or proof against him." — See ''Narrative,'' p. 271. ^ Foley's " liecurds," vul. iv., p. 204. CHAPTER LXXIII. A few final words as to Thomas Ward (or Warde), who was, I hold, no less than Edward Oldcorne and his Penitent, the joint arbiter of destinies and the controller of fates. Indeed, as previously stated in an earlier portion of this Inquir}^, my own opinion is that Christopher Wright probably unlocked his burthened heart to his con- nection, Thomas Ward, of whose constancy in friendship he would be, by long years of experience, well assured, at a time anterior to that at which he unbosomed himself to the holy Jesuit Priest, that skilled, wise, loving minister of a mind diseased. While Ward, on his part, readily and willingly, though at the imminent risk of being himself charged as a knowing accomplice and accessory to the Plot, under- took the diplomatic engineering of the whole movement, whereby the Plot was so effectually and speedily spun round on its axis, even if well-nigh at the eleventh hour. In bidding farewell, a long farewell, to Thomas Ward, the following extracts from a letter of Sir Edward jjoby(^"9> to Sir Thomas Edmunds, Ambassador at Brussels, are important, although some of the passages have already appeared in the earlier part of this Inquiry : — " Such as are apt to interpret all things to the worst, will not believe other but that Lord Mounteagle might in a policy cause this letter to be sent, fearing '230 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. the discovery already of the letter ; the rather that one Thomas Ward, a principal man about him, is suspected to be accessory to the treason. Others otherwise . . . some say that Fawkes (alias Johnson) was servant to one Thomas Percy ; others that he is a Jesuit and had a shirt of hair next his skin. "Early on the Monday [vere Tuesday] morning, the Earl of Worcester was sent to Essex House to signify the matter to the Earl of Northumberland, whom he found asleep in his bed, and hath done since his best endeavour for his apprehension . . . Some say that Xorthumberland received the like letter that Mounteagle did, and concealed it . . . " Tyrwhyt is come to London ; Tresham sheweth himself; and Ward ivalheth uj) and doivu.'" '-^^'^^ (The italics are mine.) Surely, the twain facts that Thomas Ward " walked np and down," and that his brother, Marmaduke, was also at large, with the latter's eldest daughter, Mary, lodging in Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn (although w^e have seen the Master of Newby apprehended in Warwickshire, in the very heart and centre of the conspirators), tend to demonstrate that the King, his Privy Council, and Govei'nment ivere very much obligated to the gentleman- servant and, alniost certainly, distant kinsman of William Parker fourtJi Lord Mounteagle, and that they kneiu it} ^ Is it possible that some time after the Plot, Thomas "Ward retired into his native Yorkshire, and became the officer or agent for Lord William Howard's and his wife's Jlinderskelfe and other Yorksliire, 13urham, and AV^estnioreland estates? 1 think it is possible; for I find the name " Thomas Warde " from time to time in the '•'■Household Boolcs of Lord William lloward" (Surtees Soc). See Supplementum III. I am inclined to think that the reason I'ather Richard Holtby, the distinguished Yorkshire Jesuit, who was socius, or secretary, to Father Henry (larnet, and subsequently Superior THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 231 From a grateful King and Country, Lord Mounteagie received, as we have already learned, a payment of ^700 a year, equal to nearly =£7,000 a year in our money. ^ But Ben Jonson, the rare Ben Jonson, the friend of Shakespeare, of Donne,' and other wats of the once •of the Jesuits iu England, was never laid hold of by the Government, was that Holtby had two powerful friends at Court in Lord William Howard, of Navvorth and Hinderskelfe Castles, and in Thomas Warde (or Ward). Father IToltby was born at Eryton Hall, in the Parish of Hoviugham, between Hovingham and Malton. Xow, Eryton is less than a mile from Slingsby, where I suspect Thomas Warde (or Ward) ;^nally settled down, and both are only a few miles distant fx'om Hinderskelfe Castle, now Castle Howard. Eryton Old Hall is at present, I believe, occupied by Mr. Leaf, and is the property of Charles James Howard ninth Earl of Carlisle, the descendant of Lord William Howard. The late Captain Ward, E.N., of Slingsby Hall, I surmise, was a descendant, lineal or collateral, of Thomas AVard, of the days of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. '& ^ Lord Mounteagle's reward was ^500 per annum for life, and =£200 per annum to him and his heirs for ever in fee farm rents. Salisbury declared that Mounteagle's Letter was "the tirst and only means" tlie Government had to discover that " most wicked and barbarous Plot." Personally, I am bound to sav 1 believe him. The title Lord Morley and Mounteagie is now in abeyance (see Burke's ^'•Extinct Peerages"); but let us hope that we may see it revived. An heir must be in existence, one would imagine; for the peerages Morley and Mounteagie would be granted by the Crown for ever, I presume. There is at the present date -a Lord Monteagle, whose title is of a more recent creation. ^ John Donne the celebrated metaphysical poet, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's, and author of the once well-known '■^ Pseudo-Martijr,'" which Donne wrote at the request of King James himself. Eor one of Donne's • ancestors and descendants, see ante p. 160. Henry Donne (or Dunne), a barrister, was brother to John Donne. He was, I believe, implicated in the Babington conspiracy along with Edward Abington, brother to Thomas Abington, and about ten other young papist gentlemen, some of very high birth, great wealth, and brilliant prospects. At the chambers of Henry Donne, in Thavies Inn, Holborn, London, "the Venerable" William Harrington, of Mount St. John, near Thirsk, was captured. Harrington fled to the College at Eheiuis 232 THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. far-famed Merjiiaid Tavern, Bread Street, Loudon, deemed the temporal saviour of his Country to be still in- sufficiently requited. So the Poet, invoking his Muse, penned, in the young peer's honour, the following stately epigram : — "To AViLLIAM LOEI) MOUNTEAGLE. " Lo, what iny country should have done (have raised An obeli.sk, or column to thy name; Or if she would but modestly have jn-aised Thy fact, in brass or marble writ the same). T, that am glad of thy great chance, here do I And proud, my work shall out-last common deeds. Durst think it great, and worthy wonder too. But thine ; for ■which 1 do't, so much exceeds I iMy country's parents I have many known ; But saver of my country, thee alone." to study for the priesthood, in consequence of the impression made u])on him by Campion, who was harboured, in the spring of 1581, for ten days at Mount tit. John; Campion there wrote his famous ''Decern Jiationes." Harrington was executed at the London Tyburn, for his priesthood, in 1594. He is said to have struggled with the hangman when the latter began to quarter him alive. Harrington is mentioned in Archbishop Ilarsnett's " Popish Imponhires," a book known to Shakespeare. Harrington was a second cousin to Cniy Fawkes, through Guy's paternal grandmother,. I'illen Harrington, of Y(irk. KECAPITULATION OF PEOOFS, AKGUMENT, AND CONCLUSIONS. (1) The revealing plotter cannot have been Tresham or any one of the other eight who were condemned to death in Westminster Hall ; otherwise he would have 2?Ieaded such fact. (2) The revealing plotter must have been amongst those who survived not to tell the. tale : that is, either Catesby, Percy, John Wright, or Christopher Wright. (3) Christopher Wright, a subordinate conspirator introduced late in the conspiracy, was the revealing conspirator. (4) Father Edward Oldcorne, S.J., was the Penman of the Letter. (5) Thomas Ward was the diplomatic Go-between common to both. All these three were YorJcsJiiremen. (6) Pvalph Ashley w^as the messenger who conveyed the Letter to Lord Mounteagle's page, who was already in the street when the Letter-carrier arrived. Ferhaps a Yorkshireman. (7) Mounteagie knew a letter was coming. Known to Edmund Church, Esq., his confidant. (8) Thomas Ward, on Sunday, the 27th October (the day after the delivery), told Thomas AVinter, one of the principal plotters, that Salisbury had received the document ; and on Sunday, the 3rd November, that Salisbury had shown it to the King. 234 THE GUNrOWDER TLOT. (9) Christopher Wright, who was at Lapwortli when the Letter was dehvered, and within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne, saw Thomas AVinter some httle time subsequent to the deHvery of the Letter. (10) Christopher Wright is said to have been the first who ascertained that the Plot was discovered. (11) Christopher Wright is said to have counselled flight in different directions. (12) Christopher Wright announced to Thomas Winter, very early on Tuesday, the 5th of November, the capture of Fawkes that morning. (13) Father Oldcorne's handwriting to-day resembles that of the Letter ; by comparison of documents, certainly one of which is in Oldcorne's handwriting. (14) Oldcorne was accused by the Government of sending "letters up and down to prepare men's minds for the insurrection." (15) Brother Ashley, his servant, was accused of carrying "letters to and fro about this conspirac3^" (l(j) Father Henry Garnet, Oldcorne's Superior, mysteriously changed his purpose expressed on the 4th October, of returning to London ; and on the 29th October went from Gothurst to Coughton, in Warwickshire. (I think Garnet's main reason for going to Coughton was in order to meet Catesby, and endeavour to induce him to discard Percy's counsel and to seek refuge in flight.) (17) Father Oldcorne evaded giving a direct answer as to the Plot, when questioned by Littletcm, after November 5tli. (18) Plence, the facts hotli before and after the delivery of the Letter are consistent with, and indeed converge towards, the hypothesis sought by this Inquiry to be proved. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 235 (19) The circumstance that Christopher Wright •displayed a strangely marked disposition to "hang ahout" the prime conspirator, Thomas Winter, aftei' the sending of the Letter, is a suspicious fact, strongly indicative of a consciousness on Christopher Wright's part of a special responsibility in connection with the revelation of the Plot ; as showing anxiety for personal knowledge that the train of revelation lighted by himself had, so to speak, taken fire. (20) Christopher Wright lived not to tell the tale. (21) Hence, the hypothesis is a theory established, with moral certitude, mainly by Circumstantial Evidence, which latter "mosaics" perfectly. (22) Finally, the crowning proof of the theory sought by this Book to be established is found in these nine words of the post script um of 21st October, 1605, to letter dated 4th October, 1605, under the hand of Father Garnet to Father Parsons, in Kome^: "This letter being returned unto me again, for reason of a • ^ This letter, 1 understand, is still extant, and is in the archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westniinster. I wonder whether by any of the rigorous tests of modern science these "blotted out" words can be discerned. Probably they have some reference to the Plot. The late Rev. John Morris, 8. .7., thought they had not. Put on tliis point I am obliged to differ, in toto, from that painstaking editor of much invaluable Elizabethan Catholic literature. See the learned Jesuit's remarks on this letter of the 4th October, 1605, in " The Condition of Catholics under James I." (Longmans), p. 228. Pather Morris contends that for Pather Garnet to have inserted a reference to the Gunpowder Plot " between two such subjects as the choice of Lay-brothers and his own want of money," would have been for Garnet to have exhibited a disposition " to be the most erratic of letter- writers."' But, surely, Father Morris's argument is feeble in the extreme when regard is had to the fact that poor Henry Garnet's mind, from the 25th July, 1605, when he Jirst heard from Tesimond, hif way of confession, the fjeneral particulars of the Plot, down to the 4th of October, 1605, was a 236 THE GUNPOWDEU I'LOT. fkiend's stay in the way, I blotted out bome words purposing to write tlie suiiie by tlie next opportunity, as I will do apurt : "— The word "stay" here being used to signify " check." Cy., Shakespeare's " King John," II., 2 :. and see Glossary to Globe Juiition (^racmillan). very weltering chaos of gi'ief, distress, and perplexity. And, tlierefore, the most ^latural thing in the world Mas for him to exhibit a trifle of eccentricity in the style of his epistolary correspondence, in such trying CH'cunistancGS, even with so acute and caustic a critic as Father Parsons. I have said that about the 25th July, 1605 (St. James"-tide), (Tarnet had, by wa}' of confession, the -iinond may have made a further communication to Garnet, possibly in conse([uence of Garnet's sending U)v 'resinioml (ifUr he (Garnet) had received '■' l/if friend's staij in iJie wai/.'' For the old tradition was that Guvnet first had particulars from Te^ilU()nd, l)y way of confession, about the 21st October. (See the earlier editions of Lingard's '^ Jlistor;/.") Hut, of course, this was an error by three montliK. Garnet first receiving at least general particulars from 'ri'siniond about t he 25th of July. (At some future date I may, per- haps, write an essay on " Garnet after the 2l.s'/ October, 1605,"' but at present I have not space to jmrsue this matti-r further.) SUPPLEMENTA. SUPPLEMENTA. supplementum i. Guy Fawkes. The forefathers of Guy Fawkes ahiiost certainly sprang from Nidderdale, in the West Biding of Yorkshire. See Foster's " YorlsJiire Families,'' under Hawkesworth, of Hawkesworth, and Fawkes, of Farnley. Guy's grandfather was AYilHam Fawkes, of York, w^ha married a York lady, Ellen Harrington/ William Fawkes became Registrar of the Exchequer- Court of the Archbishop of York, and died between the j^ears 1558-1565. William Fawkes had two sons and two daughters — Thomas Faw^kes, a merchant-stapler, and Edward Fawkes,. a Notary or Proctor of the Ecclesiastical Court, and afterwards an Advocate of the Consistory Court of the Archbishop of York. (Certainly it is a strange and bitter irony that an ancestry like this should have brought forth such a moral monster as poor Guy Fawkes afterwards became. But our guiding motto must be : " Speak of me as I am ; nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.") Edward Fawkes married a lady whose Christian name was Edith, but her surname is unknown. She w^as the ^ Ellen Harrington's father was Lord Mayor of York, in the reign of Henry YIIL, in the rear 1536. 240 THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. mother of fonv children — two sons and two daughters. Only one of her sons grew to man's estate, and tins was the hapless Guy. (Only four children are known of witli certainty; but (xuy possihhj i/ki// have liad another brother, wlio was a student at the Inns of Oourt, in November, 1005.) Now, the exact house where Edith Fawkes gave birth to her ill-fated boy is at present not known with certitude. There are four traditions respecting the place. Two traditions say the house was on the south side of High Petergate, York ; one tradition that it was on tlie north side, adjoining the alley called Minster Gates ; the fourth tradition that it was at Bishopthorpe. Personally, I am in favour of the ]\Iinster Gates' tradition. But the Bishopthorpe tradition is worthy of a respectful hearing. My friend, Mr. William Camidge, F.li.H.S. (than whom no man now living in York has a greater, if indeed as great, knowledge concerning the City's anti- quarian lore) tells me in a letter, dated the 5th of November, 1901, that in old Thomas Gent's '^ Bippon'' (1738) there is mention made of Bishopthorpe as being- Guy's birthplace. Cient says, " The house opposite the church^ is said to be the birthplace of Guy Faux." ^Ir. Camidge continues: "I found, a fev/ years ago, rooted in the minds of the oldest inhabitants of Bishop- thorpe, the positive assurance^ tliat Guy Fawkes was born at Bishopthorpe, and the site of the house was indicated by several persons. I found one of the descendants of the former owner of the house, who assured me tliat her father always held that (xuy Fawkes was born in the ' /.c, tlie old ]jislio|)thor[)e Clmri-li. The present Bishopthorpe ■Church is a handsome structure of recent date, at the entrance to the Tillage from Vork. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 241 house ; that my informant's great grandfather maintained the same ; and that for two or three generations they had shown the house as the place of Guy Fawkes' birth. The site of the house is now a pleasure-garden ; but a stone was put in the ground to mark the site." Now it is a remarkable fact that in almost all, if indeed not quite all, of those places where there has been a strong local tradition to the effect that the Gunpowder conspirators had some association with a particular spot, subsequent investigation has found the tradition to be well authenticated. (This was pointed out by David Jardine sixty years ago.) Yet the strongest argument against the Bishopthorpe tradition is that Guy's baptismal register is to-day found at the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, in the City of York. Now, in the time of Elizabeth, as Dr. Elze has pointed out in his "ivz/e of SJud-esjK'are,'''' a child W'Ould be haptized on tlie third da?/ after birth. Hence, on the whole, I cannot personally accept the Bishop- thorpe tradition as to the birthplace of Guy Fawkes. It is, however, more than possible that as a babe in arms Guy Fawkes may have lived at Bishopthorpe. For the Act of Uniformity, whereby the York Court of High Commission had been established, would bring nnich legal work to his father, Edward Fawkes ; and that the latter found it convenient to have a house in close proximity to his Grace the Lord Archbishop of York, a leading member of the High Commission, is one of the likeliest things in tlie world. In these circumstances, then, the present-day inhabitants of Bishopthorpe may still lay the flattering unction to their souls (if they wish so to do) that Guy Fawkes drank in his mother's milk in their picturesque Yorkshire village, on the banks of the noble Ouse. Q 242 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Mr. J. W. Knowles, of Stonegate, York, another gentleman well versed in York's antiquities, informed me in August, 1901, that a Mr. John Kobert AVatkinson, of Redeness Street, Layerthorpe, Y^ork, held a tradition that Guy Fawkes' birthplace was in the house adjoining the Minster Gates, Accordingly, some little time afterwards, I wrote tO' Mr. Watkinson, who at once kindly replied in a letter,, dated 22nd October, 1001, as follows :— " My reason for thinking that the house in High Petergate, at the corner of the Minster Gates, . . . is the house where Guy Fawkes was born, is this : " Some fifty 3'ears ago I was working at the same house when an old Minster mason, named Towiisend, told me it was the house where Guy Fawkes was born. Job Knowles, an old bell-ringer and watchman at the IMinster at the time Jonathan Martin set the Minster on fire, also told mo it was the same house. "It is an Elizabethan^ house, but it has been re-fronted, which you would see if you went inside and looked at the wainscotting and the carved mantel-piece." Edward Fawkes died, aged forty-six, when his son, Guy, was not quite eight years old. He was buried in the Minster on the 17th January, 1578-0. Ab(Mit twenty- seven years afterwards this Yorkshire citizen's thrice hapless child — by nature a tall, athletic man, but then^ ^ 111 :i subsequent letter, Mr. Watkinson, who is a Protestant, tells me tliat he is in the seventieth year of his age, aiul tliat he is descended collaterally iroin Thomas Watkinson, of Menthorpe, near Selby, the fatlun- of '-the A'enerable" liobert Watkinson, jjriest, who suffered martyrdom at the London Tyburn in 1GU2. two years before the Gun- ])()wder Plot was hatched. THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 243 b}- torture of the rack, so crippled " that he was scarce able to go up the ladder " — met on the shameful gallows- tree, and on the quartering block, in the Old Palace Yard, Westminster, over against the Parliament House, the terrible death of a condemned traitor. The whole world knows the reason why. Mistress Edith Fawkes, Guy's mother, was married a secoiid time to a gentleman named Dennis Bainbridge. He was connected with the John Pulleyn, Esq., of Scotton, near Knaresbrough, and the probabilities are that Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Bainbridge, and that lady's children by her first husband, namely Guy, Elizabeth and Ann Fawkes, all lived by the favour of the young squire, John Pulleyn, in patriarchal fashion, at Scotton Hall. The Pulleyns and the Bainbridges were Eoman Catholics, and their names (along with the names Walkingham, Knaresborough, and Bickerdyke) occur in Peacock's '^ List of Boman Catholics in Yorlsliire in 1604,'' under the title "Parish of Farnham." The name Percy, of Percy House, is not found in Peacock's "'List.'' [If the Bainbridges did not live at Scotton Hall, they may have lived at Percy House, hard-by the Hall. Percy House is now owned by Mr. Slater, of Farnham Hall, the property of the relatives of the late Charles Shann, Esquire, of Tadcaster.^ It is, therefore, easy to understand how it came to pass that the mind of young Guy Fawkes became im- pregnated with Roman Catholicism. For man is a creature of circumstances. Yorkshire abounded in Eoman Catholics in the time of Elizabeth (see the '^Hatfield MSS.'' and numerous other contemporary records). Such was especially the case with the district round about Knaresbrough and liipon. And recollecting that many Yorksbiremen had 244 THE GUNPOWDEK PLOT. siiifered a bloody death for their conscientious adlierence to their rehgion between the years 1582 and Easter, 1G04, wlien the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, one ceases to niarvel at such a psychological puzzle as even the mind of Guy Fawkes. — See Challoner's *' Missionanj Priests'" and Pollen's ^'' Acts of the EncjUsh Martyrs,'" already frequently referred to. [" The Venerable " martyrs, Pobert Bickerdyke, Peter Snow, Ralph Grimston, Francis Ingleby, and John Robinson (some priests, others laymen) came from Low Hall, Farnham ; "at or near Ripon ; " Nidd, near Scotton ; Ferensby and Ripley respectively. While the "Blessed" John Nelson came from Skelton, York, and the "Blessed" Richard Kirkeman from Addingham, near Ilkley (both priests). All these men suffered death for legal treason or felony based upon their religion between the years 1578 and 1604. And, therefore, according to the laws that govern human nature, such events were sure to tell an impressive tale to a man like Guy Fawkes. Princes and statesmen should avoid, as far as possible, inflicting punishments that impress the imagination. Moreover, an inferior but potent objection against all religious persecution is found in the wisdom enshrined in the exclamation of Horace, " imitators, a servile crowd!"] The following testimony of Father Oswald Tesimond, one of Guy Fawkes' old school-fellows, along with John Wright and Christopher Wright, at Old St. Peter's School, in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, York, where Union Terrace now stands, will be of interest. Fawkes was " a man of great piety, of exemplary temperance, of mild and cheerful demeanour, an enemy of broils and disputes, a faithful friend, and remarkable for his punctual attendance upon religious observances." THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 245 His society was "sought by all the most distinguished ill the Archdukes' camp for nobihty and virtue."- — Quoted by Jardine in his '■^Narrative,'" p. 38. • How sad to think that such a man should have so missed his way in the journey of life as to become so demoralized as to join in the Gunpowder Treason Plot ; nay, i)i intention, to be the most deadly agent in that Plot. What can have caused, in the final resort, such a missing of his way, and have wrought such dire demoralization ? Echo answers w^hat ? Yet nothing more clearly shows that Guy Fawkes deserved all the punishment he got than the fact that he returned to his post in the cellar, where the thirty- six barrels of gunpowder were, after no less than three distinct warnings that the Government had intelligence of the Plot. One warning w^as given him on Monday, the 28th October, at White Webbs, by Thomas Winter ; a second, on Sunday night, the 3rd November, by Thomas Winter, after the delivery of the Letter to the King ; and the third, on Monday, the 4th November, after the visit to the cellar of the Earl of Suffolk and Lord Mounteagle, of which visit Fawkes ' informed Thomas Percy. — See Lingard's ^'History.''' Copies of the three following Deeds given in Davies' " Faivheses, of YorJi,'' will be read with interest. One of the Deeds is an "Indenture of Lease;" the second, an "Indenture of Conveyance;" and the third, a "Deed Poll," whereby Dennis and Edith Bainbridge release all right to Dower in Guy Fawkes' real estate that he " heired " from his own father, Edward Fawkes; all the property was outside Bootham Bar, in the suburbs of York. In ^'TJie Connoisseur,'' for November, 1901, is given a fac-simile of the " Conveyance." Thomas Shepherd Noble, Esq., of Precentor's Court, York, one of York's 24G THE GUNPOWDEE PLOT. most respected citizens, saw these Deeds sixty years ago in York, he informed me on the oth of November, 1901 ; and Mr. Noble then told me he had no doubt that the fac-simile given in " T//e Connoisseur''' of the "Con- vej^ance" is a fac-simile of one of the documents he saw more titan Jialf a century (i(jo. The Pulleyns, Pulleines, Pulleins, or PuUens (for the family spelt their name in all four ways) bore for their Arms one and four azure, on a bend between six lozenges or, each charged with a scallop of the first, five scallops sable : two and three azure, a fess between three martlets. — See Flower's '■'Visitation of Yorkshire,'' Ed. by Norcliffe. Flower gives the Pulleyns, of Scotton, first, and then the Pulleyns, of Killinghall, near Harrogate. Walter Pulleyn, the step-grandfather of Guy Fawkes, is given as a Pulleyn, of Scotton. Walter Pulleyn married for his first wife Frances Slingsby, of Scriven ; for his second wife Frances Vavasour, of Weston, near Otiey. One branch of the Vavasours, of Weston, settled at Newton Hall, Pipley, which, embosomed in trees, can be seen to-day by all those who drive from Harrogate,^ through Killinghall and Pipley, on towards Eipon. Their son was William Pulleyn, who married Margaret Bellasis, of Henknoll ; and their son and heir was John Pulleyn, almost certainly the John Pulleyn, Esquire, of Scotton, given under the Parish of Farnham, in Peacock's " List of lloman Catholics in Yorhshire in lOO^." Flower's '' Pedigree " shows that the Pulleyns, of Scotton, had intermarried with the liuddes, of Killinghall ; ' How lovely is this drive from Harrogate to lli[)ou ou a bright, balmy .suinmer-morn ! How amiable the fair sights and sounds that greet from all sides the traveller's eye and ear I What historic memories well-up in the heart as Scotton Banks, on the right hand, and Eipley Valley, on the left, appear through charming sweet vistas never-to-be-forgotten I THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 247 the Roos, of Ingmanthorpe, near Wetherby ; the Tankards, ■of Boroughbridge ; the Swales, of Staveley; the Walworths, of Raventoftes, Bishop Thornton ; the Coghylls, of Knaresbrough ; and the Birnands, of Knaresbrough ; one ■SLiid all old Yorkshire Catholic- gentry. Flower also shows in his " Pedigree " of the Pulleyns, •of Killinghall, that James Palleyn, of Killinghall, married first Prances, daughter of Sir William Ingleby, of Ripley ; and secondly Frances Pulleyn, daughter of Walter Pulleyn, of Scotton. They must have been cousins in some degree. Among their numerous children were Joshua and AVilliam, both Roman Catholic priests. The ''Douay Begisters'' (David Nutt) show that Joshua Pulleyn was ordained priest in 1578. He returned to England on the 27th x\ugust of that year. He was •educated at Cardinal Allen's^ College in Douay. His brother, William Pulleyn, was ordained in 1583, at the same time as the future martyr, " the Venerable " Francis Ingleby, afterwards the friend of " the Venerable " Margaret Clitherow, of York, and for harbouring whom, along wdth her spiritual director, Father John Mush, belike of Knaresbrough, Margaret Clitherow was indicted in the Guildhall, York, at the Lent Assizes of 1586. In 1578 the College of Douay w^as transferred by ■Cardinal Allen to Rheims (or Reims), where it remained for twenty-one years, when it was transferred back to Douay. Fathers William Pulleyn and Francis Ingleby were educated at the College at Rheims (or Reims). — See " Order of Queen Elizabeth," dated last day of December, 1582, in Appendix iiostea where Reims is mentioned in ^ Cardinal Allen had been a lay canon ot' York Minster during the reign ■of Philip and Mary. He was a Lancashire man, being a native of Eossall, near Blackpool. 248 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. connection with the popish laissionaiy priests it was then sending forth into the City of York/ There is a tradition to tliis day at Cowthorpe (or Conlthorpe, as it is pronounced hy ancient inhabitants), near Wetherb}', that Guy Fawkes was wont to visit that old-world village (until recently so quaint from its thatched farm-houses and cottars' dwellings, and but little changed belike since the days of "Good Queen Bess"). This tradition is certainly probably authentic ; for a lioman Catholic family, named Walmsley, at that time lived at Cowthorpe Hall, a dignified "moated grange" between the Nidd and the historic " Cowthorpe Old Oak." Guy Fawkes, possibly, many a time and oft, may have stabled his horse at the old Hall when, after fording at Hunsingore the shallow Nidd, he traversed the pleasant fields betwixt Cowthorpe and Ingmanthorpe, near Wetherb}^, where dwelt the family of Eoos, who were, as above stated, allied by marriage to Guy's friends,, the Pulleyns, of Scotton. Lastly ; so intelligent a Yorkshire lad as was, beyond all doubt or cavil, the son of Edward Fawkes and Edith his wife — the lad whose manly but delicately-formed hand- writing may be seen to-day by all who have the privilege of obtaining a sight of the precious document fac-similed in a well-known monthly periodical for November, 1901^ — ^ Miss Catharine Pullein, of the Manor House, Tiotlierfielci, Sussex, courteously tells nie in a most interesting letter, under date 13th May, 1901, that from the iaq. post mortem tlie ahove-iiamed Walter Pulleyn died in 1580. That his son AVilliam, whose wife was a Bellasis, died before his father, so tluit in ir)SO .]o\i\\ Pulleyn (the one mentioned in Peacock's " List for 1604") was the young squire. In 1581 or 1582 John seems to have married, lie suffered from the infliction of fines for popish recusancy, and appears to liave left Scotton between 1604 and 1612. (Scotton Hall is to-day (1901), I believe, owned by the liev. Charles Slingsby Slingsby, M.A., of Scriven Hall, near Knaresbrough. The tenant is Mr, Tlirackray.) '■' " 2'he Connoisseur." THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 249 must have visited, I opine, Kibston Park, between Knaresbrougli, Hunsingore, and Cowthorpe (where had been in mediaeval times a celebrated Preceptory of the Knights Templars, the record of whose deeds against " the infidel Turk " may have fired Guy's imagination from his earliest years). Moreover, Richard Goodricke, Esquire, of Ribston, had married Clara Norton, one of chivalrous old Richard Norton's daughters, of Norton Conyers ; and this, to the popish youth, would be an additional attraction for going to view Ribston Hall, its chapel, park, and pale.^ The Goodrickes derived the Ribston Estate (which included the Manor of Hunsingore and the Lordship of Great Cattal) from Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle's great-great grandfather. The Goodrickes were akin to the Hawkes- worths, ' who again were akin to the Fawkeses, and likewise to the Wards (see ante). The Ribston branch of the Goodrickes died out earlv in the nineteenth century — -Sir Harry Goodricke being the last baronet. The ancient Ribston, Hunsingore, and Great Cattal demesne is now owned b}^ Major Dent, of Ribston Hall, near Knaresbrougli. Erom " Tlie Fawlies Family of York:' This Lidenture made the fourtenth daye of October in the yere of the reigne of our Sovereigne Ladye Elizabeth, by the Grace of God Queen of England Fraunce and Ireland, Defender of the Eaith, &g. the xxxiijrd, Betwene Guye Eauxe of Scotton in the County of Yorke gentilman ^ Eichard Norton fled to Cavers House, Hawick, in the Border Country of Scotland, and afterwards to Flanders, where he died. — See " Sir Ral])h Sadler s Papers^' Ed. by Sir Walter Scott. "250 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. of the one partye, and Christofer Lomleye of the cittie of Yorke taylor, of the other partye, Witnessethe that the said Guy Fauxe, for divers good cawses and consideracions him thereunto speciallye moveinge, hath demysed graunted and to farnie letten, and hy theis presentes doth deniyse graunt and to farnie lett, unto the sayd Christofer Londeye, one harne and one garth ■on the hackside of the said harn, with the appertenannces, •scytuate lyeinge and beinge in GiHigaite in the sul)urbes of the said cittie of Yorke, and three acres and half of one acre of arrable hinde, with the appertenaunces, in Clyfton in the said countie of Yorke, whereof halfe of one acre called a pitt lande, and one roode of lande lyinge at New^e-Close-gaite, are lyinge and beinge in the common field of Clyfton aforesaid towards Roclyffe, one half acre lyeth in the field called Mylnefeilde in Clyfton iifforesaid, one rood lyinge in the flatt or field called Layres, one half acre called Layres in the Fosse-feild, one half acre called Hungrine lande, one half acre beyond the newe wynde mylne, and one half acre at the More-brottes, all whiche are lyinge and beynge in the feildes of Clyfton afforesaid ; and also one acre of medowe lyinge and beynge in the ynges or medowe of Clyfton afforesaid, with all and singuler the appertenaunces in Clyfton aforesaid, nowe or laite in the tenure or occupacion of the saide Christofer or his assignes ; to have and to liolde the said barne, garth, three acres and half of one acre of arrable lande, and the sayd acre of medowe, and all othei- the premisses, with all and singuler the apper- tenaunces, in Crilligaite and Clyfton afforesaid, unto the sayd Christofer Lomlcy his executors and assignes, from the feast of St. Martj^ne the Bishop, comonlye called Martinmas daye, nexte ensewynge the daite hereof, for and dureinge the terme of twentye and one yeres from THE GUNPOWDEE PLOT. 251 thence nexte and ymediatlye ensewinge and followinge fullye to be complett fynished and ended, yeldinge and payinge therfore yerelye dureinge the said terme unto the said Guye Faiixe his heires or assignes, fortie and two shilhnges of lawfall Ynglish monie at the feastes of St. Martyne the Bishop in winter and Penteycost, or within ten dayes nexte after either of the sayd feastes, yf it be lawfully demannded, by even and eqaall porcions. And the said Christofer Lomley, for him his executors and assignes, doth by theis presentes covenaunte and graunte to and with the said Guye Fauxe, that he the said Christofer Lomley his executors and assignes, at his and their proper costes and chardges shall well and sufficyentlye repaire maintayne and uphould the said barne at all tymes dureinge the said terme in all necessarie reparacions, greate tymber onely excepted, whiche the said Guye Fauxe, for him his heires and assignes, doth by theis presentes covenaunt and graunte to and with the said Christofer Lomley his executors and assigns, to delyver upon the ground at all tymes as often as neede shall require dureinge the said terme. And the said Guye Fauxe, for himself his heires executors and assignes, doth by theis presentes covenant and grante to and with the sayd Christofer Lomley, his executors and assignes, that he, the sayd Christofer Lomley, his executors and assignes, shall or lawfully maye at all tyme and tymes, and from tyme to to tyme, dureynge the sayd terme of twentye and one yeres, peacablye occupie and quyetlie enjoye the said barne and all other the premisses and every parte and parcell thereof, with all and everie their appurtenaunces, without lett disturbance or interrupcion of any person or persons whatsoever. And that the sayd barne, and all other the premisses, with the appurtenaunces, at the daye of the daite hereof are, and dureynge the sayd 252 THE GUXrOAVDER PLOT. term of twenty and one yeres shall and may continewe^ clere and clerelie dischardf^ed, or well and sufficyently saved harmeles, l)y the sayd Guye Fauxe his lieires and assignes, of and from all former leases, gramites, charges, incumbraunces, and demaundes whatsoever, the rentes by theis preseutes reserved, and the covenauntes in theis presentes expressed on the behalf of the said Cristofer Tjoiide}', to be observed and performed, onely excepted and foreprised. And the said Guye Fauxe and his heires all and singuler the premisses, with the appurtenances, before by theis presentes demysed to the sayd Cristofer Lomley his executors and assignes, dureigne the terme afforesayd, against all people rightfully claimynge shall warrante and defende by theis presentes. In witnes whereof, the partyes abovesaid to theis present Indentures have interchangeablie set to their handes and scales the daye and yere above written. GUYE FAWKES. L.S. Sealed and delivered in the presence of us — DIONIS BAYNEBRIGGE — JOHN JACIvSON — CHRISTOPHER HODGSON'S marke X This Indenture maide the firste dale of Auguste in the xxxiiijth yere of the reigne of our Soveraigne Ladie Elizabethe, by the grace of God Quewne of England Fraunce and Ireland, Defendour of the Faithe, t^'C. Betwene Guye Fawkes of the cittie of Yorke gentilman, of the one partye, and Anne Skipseye of Cliftone in the countie of A'orke, spinster, of the other partye AYitnessithe that the said Guy Fawkes, for and in consideration of the sum of xxix^' xiij"* iiij"* of good and lawfull English moneye to him, the said Guye Fawkes, well and trewlie THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 253 <30utentid and paid by the said Anno Skipseye, at and before the ensealinge of these presentes, whereof and wherewith the said Gnye knowlegith him self to be fuhe satisfied contentid and paid, and the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires executors administratores and assigneis, thereof to be falhe acquited and dischargdgid for ever by theis presentes, hatli geven granntid alhened bargained 'and sollde, and by these presentes dothe clerehe and absohitlye geve grannt alhen bargaine and sell unto the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires and assigneis, that his messuage tenement or farme-hollde, with the appur- tenaunces, and a garthe and a gardine belonginge to the same, lyeinge and beinge in Cliftone in the countie of York, and towe acres and an half of arrable lande Hinge in severall feilldes in Clifton aforesaid, half an acre of medowe grounde liinge in a closse callid Huntingtone buttes, within the townshipp and territories of Cliftone aforesaid, one acre of medowe lyinge in Lufton Car, thre inges endes, and towe croftes or lees of medowe in a crofte adjo3aiinge on the garth endes in Cliftone aforesaid, of the easte parte of the said messuage ; all which premissis are nowe in the tenure and occupation of the said Anne Skipsie ; and also one acre of arable land and medowe liinge in the towne-end felld of Clifton aforesaid, nowe or late in the occupation of Richard Dickinsone ; and all other his landes and tenementes in Clifton aforesaid, with all comons of pasture, more grownde, turffe graftes, and all and singuler the appurtenaunces to the same belonging or apperteyninge, in whose tenures or occupations soever they nowe be, excepte thre acres and an half of arable land with the appurtenaunces in Cliftone aforesaid, whereof half an acre callid a pitt land, and a roode of land liinge at Newe Close Gate, and being in the comon felld of 254 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT, Clifton aforesaid towardes Eoclif, one half acre lyenge in the felld callid Milne felld, one rood lying in the flatt calHd the Laires, and half acre callid Laires in Fosse tilde, one acre callid a luingrie land, one half acre- beyonde the newe windeniill, one acre of land at the More Brottes ; all which are lyinge and beinge in the- felldes of Cliftone aforesaid ; and also one acre of medow lyinge and beinge in the medowe or inges of Clifton, with theire appurtenainices to the same perteyninge or belonginge, by the said Guye Fawkes heretofore deniissid granntid and to ferme letten for diverse yeres yett to come and nnexpirid to one Cristofer Lunileye of the cittie of Yorke tailor, as shall appeare by one Indenture maid thereof betwene the said Guye Fawkes of the one partie, and the said Cristofer Lmnle^'e of the other partie, bearinge date the xiiijth dale of October in the xxxiijrd yere of the said our Soveraigne Ladie- the Quenes Majestic reigne more at lardge maie appeare ; together with all the deedes evidences writinges, and escriptes, towchinge and concerninge the premissis wdth the appertenannces, before by these presentes bargaind and solde by the said Guye Fawkes to the said Anne Skipsie, which the said Guye nowe hathe in custodie, or which any othere persone or persones have in their custodies to his use or by his delivorie, which the said Guye Fawkes maie lawfuUie come by withowte suite in lawe : To have and to holld the said messuage cotage or farme-holld, and all and singuler the premissis, with the appurtenaunces, by these presentes before bargaind and solid (except before exceptid), with all and singuler- the appurtenaunces to the same perteyninge and belonginge, in Cliftone, and the felldes of Cliftone aforesaid, together with all the said deedes, evidences,, writinges, and escriptes, towchinge and concerninge the- THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 255 same, as is said, to the said Amle Skipseye her heires and assigneis, to the sole and proper use and heho\Yfe of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis for ever. And the said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires execntores and administratores, doeth covenant and graunt by these presentes to and with the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires execntores administratores and assigneis, that he the said Gnye Fawkes, the daie of the makinge hereof, ys the verie and trewe owner of the said messuage tenement and farnie-hold, with all and singuler the landes, medowes, pastures, comon of pasture, turbaries, with the same pertenyinge or belonginge in Cliftone, and within the felldes and territories of Clifton aforesaid, with other the appurtenaunces whatsoever to the same perte3'ninge or belonginge before bargaind and sold, and that he is lawfullie seassid thereof in his demesne as of fee in fee simple, and hath full power and lawfuU authoritie to bargaine and sell the same unto the said Anne Skipeseye hir heires and assignes for ever. And also that the said messuage tenement or farme-holld, and other the premissis, with the appur- tenances, before bargaind and sold, the daie of the makinge hereof!, and at all tymes hereafter, and from t3^me to tyme, is and shall stand clerely acquittid and dischardgid, or otherwise savid harmeles, by the said Guye Fawkes, his heires, execntores or assignes, of and from all former bargaines, sailles, joyntores, doweres, thirde parties, feoffamentes, statutes-marchant and of the staple, recognizances, writinges of eligit, condempna- tions, judgmentes, executions, fines, forfaiturs, intrusions for allienations, rentes-chardges, rentes-seke, and all othere chardges and incumberances whatsoever thej^e be, the rentes and services hereafter to be dew^e to the cheife lord of the fee thereof one'ly exceptid. And also 256 TTIE GUNPOWDER PLOT. the s;ii(l Criiye Fawkes, for him his^ heires executores and assigiieis, clothe further covenant and graunt to and with the said Ainie Slupseye hir heires and assigneis, that Edeth the hxte wife of hklward Fawkes deceassid, mothere to the said Guye Fawkes, and now w^ife to Dionese ]^aynehridge gentillman, nor any other persone or persones whatsoever, which have, shall have, or shall dame any lawfull right or title in or to the preniissis or any parte thereof, shall at any tynie hereafter moleste, interrupt, or trowble, the said Anne Skipseye hir heires or assigneis, of for and concerninge the preniissis or any parte thereof, hut that the said Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis shall and niaie at all tyme peacablie and quietlie possess and enjoye the same and everie parte thereof, and that all and everie persone or persones whatsoever, which doe stand seazid of the preniissis or any parte thereof, shall at all tynies, and from tyme to tyme, within five yeres next ensuinge the date hereof, upon the reasonable requeste and desire of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires administratores or assigneis, make, knowledge, sealle, and deliver, unto the said Anne Skipseye hir heires executores and assigneis, all such further assurance and assurances whatsoever as shall be devisid or advisid by the learnid councell in the lawes of this realme, beinge of the councell of the said Anne Skipseye, whether the same shalbe by dede or dedes inrollid, with warrantie against all men, inrollment of these present Indentures, tine with like warrantie, recoverie with vocher or vochers single or doble, release with warrantie against all men, or otherwise or by soo nianye of them as shall be advisid or retjuirid l)y the said learnid councell of the said Anne, the cost and chardges whereof in lawe shalbe at thonelie cost and chardges of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires executores THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 257 or assigneis. In witness whereof, the parties abovesaid unto these present Indentures interchangable have sett there handes and seall the daie and yere abovesaid. GUYE FAWKES. L.S. Sealhd and delyverid in the presence of — GEOKGE HOBSON — WILLIAM MASKEWE — LANCELOT BELT — THOMAS HESLEBECKE — CHEYSTOFEE LUMLEYE — IHON LAMB niarke X — JOHN HAEEISON — JOHN CALY'LEY. Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit Dionisius Baynbrige de Scotton in comitatu Ebor' generosus et Edetha uxor ejus sahitem in Domino sempiternam. Noveritis nos prefatum Dionisium Baynbrige et Edetham remississe, relaxasse ac omnino de et pro nobis et heredibas nostris per presentes inperpetuum (juietum chimasse Anne Skipseye de Chftone in dicto comitatu Ebor' spynster in sua plena pacificaque possessione et seisina die confectionis presentium existenti heredibus et assignatis suis, totum jus, statum, tituhim, clameum, usum, interesse et demaunda nostra quecunque C[ue vel quas unquam habuimus, habemus, sen quovismodo infuturiim habere poterimus sen deberimus de et in uno cotagio sive teneniento cum una clausura vocata A Grisgarthe et duobus croftis vel selionibus cum suis pertinentiis in Chftone predicto in comitatu Ebor' predicto ac de et in una roda terras arrabilis jacentis in Favild-nooke in campis de Chftone, inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Leonarid AYeddell ex parte oriente, dimidia acra terr^ jacente in les Sokers inter terram nuper Eoberti Wright ex parte australi et terram Thome Hill ex parte boriali, una roda terr^^ jacente in Longwandilles inter terram Thome Hill ex parte boriali R 258 THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. et terrain nnper Eoberti Wright ex parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terra' jacente inter regias vias ibidem inter terram nuper Eoberti Wright ex ]3arte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terra^ jacente in lez shorte layeres inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte boriali et terram nuper Eogeri Browne ex parte australi, dimidia acra jacente in Huntington buttos inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Eoberti Walker ex parte orientali, una acra terra' jacente in Lupstone Carre in le Northfelld sive caiiipo juxta Eoclif inter terram nuper Eoberti Wright ex parte australi et le moore dike ex parte boriali, et tribus dimidiis acris prati jacentibus in line prati vocati ynge endes quarum una dimidia acra jacet inter pratum Edwardi Turner ex parte boriali et Thome Burtone ex parte australi, alia dimidia acra inde jacet ex parte australi Leonardi Weddell, et tertia dimidia acra inde jacet inter Thomam Hill ex parte boriali et Henricum Granger ex parte australi, cum omnibus et singulis suis pertinentiis in C'liftone et in campis de Cliftone predicto modo in tenura sive occupatione prefate Anne Skipseye, ac etiam de et in una acra terr?e et prati jacente in le Towne-cnd felld de Cliftone predicto modo vel ]uiper in occupatione Eicardi Dickensone, neciiou de et in onmibus aliis terris et tenementis in Clifton predicto (]ue nuper fuei'unt (luidonis Fawkes generosi (tribus acris et dimidia acra terras cum pertinentiis in campis de Cliftone ])redicto et una acra prati in prato vocato le ynges de Cliftone modo in tenura Cristoferi Lundeye, tantum modo exceptis per presentes), ita viz. quod nee nos prefati Dionisius Bainbrige et Edetha aut nostrum uterlibet nee heredes nostri nee aliqnis alius sive aliqui alii pro nobis sen nominibus nostris aut nomine nostrum alterius ali([U()d jus, statum, titulum, chuneum, usum^ THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 259 interesse vel demandum de et in predicto cotagio sive tenemento cum clausura predicta, et de predictis duobus croftis vel selionibus, ant de et in predictis premissis cum pertinentiis in Clifton et campis de Cliftone predicto ut prefertnr, sen de et in aliqna inde parte sive parcellis (exceptis prins exceptis) decetero exigere, petere, clamare vel vendicare, poterimus nee debemus in futm'o, sed ut ab omni actione, jure, titulis, clameo, usu, interesse, vel demando aliquid inde habendi sive petendi sum us penitus exclusi et quilibet nostrum sit inde penitus exclusus in perpetuum per presentes. Et nos vero prefati Dionisius Baynbrige et Edetha et baredes nostri predicta omnia premissa cum suis pertinentiis universis ut prefertur (exceptis prius exceptis) prefate Anne Skipseye heredibus et assignatis suis in forma predicta contra nos et lieredes nostros warrantizabimus et imperpetuum defendemus per presentes. In cujus rei testimonium nos prefati Dionisius Baynbrige et Edetha huic presenti scripto nostro sigilla nostra apposuimus. Datum xxi"'° die mensis Octobris, anno regni domine Elizabetbe Dei gratia Anglie, Frauncie, et Hibernie Regine, fidei defensoris &c. tricesimo quarto. DIONIS BAYNEBRIGGE (L.S.) — E.B. (L.S.) Seallid and delyverid in the presence of — GUYE FAWKES — WILLIAM GEANGE — JAMES RYDING. 260 THE CxUNPOWDER PLOT. SUITLEMENTUM IT. Hatfield MSS.— Part VI. [Dr. Bilson] Bishop of Worcester to Sir Robert Cecil. 1590, July 17. I have viewed the state of Worcester diocese, and find it, as may somewhat appear by the particulars here enclosed, for the quantity, as dangerous as any place that I know. In that small circuit there are nine score ^ recusants of note, besides retainers, wanderers, and secret lurkers, dispersed in forty several parishes, and six score and ten households, whereof about forty are families of gentlemen, that themselves or their wives refrain the church, and many of them not only of good wealth, but of great alliance, as the Windsors, Talbots, Throgmortens, Abingtons, and others, and in either respect, if they may have their forth, able to prevail much with the simpler sort. Besides, Warwick"' and the parts thereabout are freighted with a number of men precisely conceited against her Majesty's government ecclesiastical, and they trouble the people as much with their curiosity as the other with their obstinacy. How weak ordinary authority is to do any good on ^ This letter will be read with interest, as affording independent testimony to the strength of Popery in tlie County of Worcester during the period of Father Oldcornes labours. * Tliis is interesting as showing that in the native county of Shakespeare, Puritanism was gaining strength in l.')96, probably through the influence of the Eai-1 of Leicester, Sir Thomas Lucy (of Cliarlcote), and Sir Fulke Grevyll, as well as others. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 261 eitlier sort long experience hath taught me, excom- munication being the only bridle the law yieldeth to a bishop, and either side utterly despising that course of correction, as men that gladly, and of their own accord, refuse the communion of the church, both in sacraments and prayers. In respect therefore of the number and danger of those divers humours both denying obedience to her Majesty's proceedings, if it please her Highness to trust me and others in that shire with the commission ecclesiastical,^ as in other places of like importance is used, I will do m}' endeavour to serve God and her Majesty in that diocese to the uttermost of my power. First, by viewing their qaalities, retinues, abilities, and dispositions ; next, b}^ drawing them to private and often conference, lest ignorance make them perversely devout ; thirdly, by restraining them from receiving, succouring, or maintaining any wanderers or servitors that feed their humours ; and, lastly, by certifying what effects or defects I find to be the cause of so many revolting. Her Majesty hath trusted me fifteen years since to be of the quorum on the commission ecclesiastical in Hampshire, and therefore age and experience growing, as also my care and charge increasing, I hope I shall not need to produce any farther motives to induce her Majesty's favour therein, but the profession of my duty and promise of my best service with all diligence and discretion, which I hope shall turn to her content and good of her people. With which my most humble petition, if it i)lease you to acquaint her Majesty, I will render you all due- ^ Under the provisions of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity. 2G2 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. tlianks, and make what speed I may towards the place where I long to be and wish to labour to the pleasure of Almighty God and good liking of her Majesty. London 17 July 1596. Signed Encloses : — The names and qualities of the wealthier sort of liecusants in Worcester diocese : — The Lady Windsor, wdth her retinue. M^ Talbot. Thomas Abington Esq. and Dorothy, his sister. Thomas Throgmorton, Esq. John Wheeler gent, and Elizabeth his wife. Thomas Bluntt gent, and Bridgett, his wife. John Smyth gent. Thomas Greene, gent. Hugh Ligon gent., and Barbara, his wife. Michael Folliatt, gent., and Margaret, his wife. William Coles gent., and Marie, his wife. M'- Bluntt, gent, of Hallow. Hugh Day gent, and Margaret, his wife. Lygon Barton, gent. John Taylor, gent., and Ann, his wife. John Midlemore, gent., Hugh Throgmorton gent. Humphrey Packington, gent. John Woolmer gent, of Inkbarrow. Row^se Woolmer, gent. John Woolmer gent, of Kingston. M'" Busshop gent, of Oldbarrow. [Total] —23. The names of the gentlewomen that refuse the church, though their husbands do not. Margaret, wife of Roger Pen gent. Jane wife of John Midlemore. THE GUNPOWDEK PLOT. 263 Alice wife of John Hornyhold gent. Margaret wife of William Rigby gent. Mary wife of Thomas Sheldon gent. Dorothy wife of Thomas Rauckford gent. Ann wife of William Fox gent. Joan, wife of Thomas Barber gent. Prudence wife of Thomas Oldnall gent. Frances wdfe of John Jeffreys gent. Elizabeth wife of Thomas Randall gent. Mary wdfe of William Woolmer gent. Elizabeth Ferreys widow. Jane Sheldon widow. Katherine Sparks of Hinlipp. Dorothy Woolmer. Jane Mary Eleanor daughters of Anthony Woolmer gent. Of the meaner sort : — Fourscore and ten several households where the man or wife or both are recusants, besides children and servants. 264 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. Supplement UM ITT. Thomas AVakd. It is probable that dib'gent search among the Cecil and Walsingham papers will shed more light on Thomas Ward (or A^'arde) than I have been able hitherto to gam. The probabilities are, as has been already indicated, that Thomas Ward was a 3'onnger son of Marmaduke W^ard, of Newb}', and Susannay, his wife. That Marmaduke A^'ard's elder son was Marmaduke Ward (who married Ursula Wright, and afterwards, in all likelihood, Elizabeth Sympson), the father of that extraordinary woman, Mary Ward. I opine that Thomas Ward attached himself to the Court party of Queen Elizabeth, through the Council of the North, established by Henry YIII. after the defeat of the first Pilgrimage of Grace (153C). Thomas Ward was just the sort of man {me judice) that Queen Elizabeth would affect. Moreover, I find that a Captain John AVard was on the side of the Crown on the occasion of the second Pilgrimage of Grace, connuonly culled the liising of the North, or the Earls' Eebelhon (1569). Therefore, through the influence of a man like Sir llalph Sadler, who was a distinguished Privy Councillor of the Queen in the northern parts, a Yorkshire gentle- man, such as a Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, would have no difficulty in obtaining an entree at Elizabeth's Couit, who, as is well-known, was, from a certain English conservative instinct probably, favourably THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 265 inclined to those Catholics ^Yhose leaning was towards the easy side of things.^ Now, if Thomas Ward hecame a memher of Elizabeth's diplomatic service nnder Sir Francis Walsingham, the inevitable question arises : Can Thomas Ward (or Warde) have always maintained a conscience void of offence, or did he sometimes stoop to compliances which were unworthy of his principles and name ? At present I cannot any, yet I am constrained to allow that the following t\Yo pieces of evidence afford curious reading and suggest many possibilities : — Hatfield MSS.— Part VI., p. 96. Thomas Morgan to Mary Queen of Scots. Mar. 30. Informs her of his apprehension at ^ ' ' Ap. 9. the request of the Earl of Derby. Mr. Ward's negotiation to procure his being delivered up into England. Eequires her support. Lord Paget's money taken in his (Morgan's) lodging. Efforts of Charles Paget and Thomas Throgmorton in his behalf. [It is to be recollected that this said Thomas Morgan w^as a Catholic of a sort, who had been in the service of Archbishop Young, of York. Hence, a Ward, of Eipon and Y^ork, was the very man the subtle Walsingham would 1 Q, See ''Sir Ralph Sadler's Papers," Ed. by Sir Walter Scott. It is observable that altliouo-h the Xortoiis aiul the Markenfields were for the Earls, yet members o£ the following Torkshire Catholic Families (many of them kinsmen of the Wards) were for the Queen, who Mas not then excom- municated : — The Eures, the Mallories, the Inglebies, the Constables, the Tempests, tlie Fairfaxes, the Cholmeleys, the EUerkers, and the AVilstroppes. For these Families and their alliances see the " Visitations of YorTcshire" by Glover, Ed. by Foster; and by Flower, Ed. by Norcliffe. Also ''Dugdale" (Surtees). 266 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. employ to negotiate a delicate matter requiring an accurate knowledge of Morgan's intellectual and moral characteristics ; for AVard most likely bad known Morgan at York.] Thirteen years later we find the name "Ward" again in the ''Hatfield MSS:' Hatfield MSS.— Part YIII., p. 295. 1598 Aug. 4. Steven Eodwey to secretary Cecil for permission to go to Italy to go over to accompany M'" Paget into Italy. " The disgrace with your Honour I suspect to proceed, either of Lord Cobham's disfavour at another man's suit, which I have not deserved ; or by the suggestion of W((rd M"" Paget's, solicitor, because I refused to carry his^ letters that was so lately "jested" with high treason, and might father all the faults I am charged with." [Who or wliat Mr. Steven Eodwey w^as, one can only surmise. Possibly he was a spy, who had been doing- more business on his own account than on account of his master. Hence, his disgrace with " his Honour." Charles Paget, a younger brother of Lord Paget, and his friend, Thomas AEorgan, figure in all histories of Mary Queen of Scots; also in ''Cardinal Allen's Memorials,'' Ed. by the late Dr. Knox (Nutt), there are some interesting particulars about these two men, Charles Paget and Thomas ^Morgan. They were hostile to Father Parsons and Parsons' Spanish faction among the English papists.] ' ^Vhose letters ? Pdget's or Ward's ? THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 267 But here, for the present, we luust take our leave -of Thomas Ward, excepting to say that it is possible that he may be the same as the Thomas Ward (or Warde) who is mentioned several times in the ^^House- hold Books of Lord William Howard,'' as his agent for the Howard-Dacre, Yorkshire, Durham, and Westmoreland •estates.^ — See Note to p. 231 ante. The Right Honourable Charles James Howard ninth Earl of Carlisle, in the course of two most gracious replies to letters of mine, informs me that, although he has caused search to be made at Naworth and Castle Howard, he has not been able to find any particulars concerning Thomas Ward (or Warde) beyond what are mentioned in the " Houseliold Bouls of Lord William Howard^ " (Siirtees Soc.) ; and that probably, owing to the fire at Hinderskelfe Castle, after the time of Thomas Ward, letters or papers containing possible reference to him may have been destroyed. Lastly ; I beg to bring before my readers the following document from the Record Office, wdiich makes mention of the name Ward ; but whether or not that of Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Eipon, I cannot say: — ^ The Rev. A. tS. Brooke, M.A., the Rector of Slingsby, informs me that his parish registers begin only in 1687. The late Captain Ward, R.N., of Slingsby Hall, who lies in Slingsby Churchj^arcl, perhaps may have had some family tradition bearing on the point. It is certainly remarkable that there should have been A\"ards, Rectors of Slingsby, from the time of James I., and long afterwards. It suggests that Thomas AVard, the agent of Lord William Howard, may have either married again after 1590, and had a family : or else that some of the Wards, of Durham, or others that had conformed to the Established Church received this ecclesiastical preferment at the instance of Thomas AVard. Valentine Kitchingman, Esquire, the grandson of Captain Ward, and owner of Slingsby Hall, has, however, no such tradition. (1 am told through the Rector of Slingsby, September, 1901.) 2C8 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. State Papeus Domestic — Eliz., Yol. ccxxxviii., 12G T. A.]). 1591. Obiections against one Fletcher vicar of Clarkenwell for the perniission of these maters followinge Fyrst at conveniente tymes of receivinge the holye cunnnunion at which time he is to give warninge to all his parishioners for his privat comoditye he excepteth sunie particuler persones whose names are under written and of them taketli money. ]\r ^^'ardes^ Two daughters. M' Gerrat his wiffe a watinge mayde called M"'' Marye and a man called Anthenie recevinge of him for theire absence divers somes of money and in my know- ledge at Easter was Twoo yeares the some of xx'' in goulde. M'" Saunders ?ind his Two Sonnes certen unknowne money. Besides M''" Gerrat being delivered of a doughter ahoute Twoe yeares since he did forbeare to cristen yt heinge bribed with a peece of money ye Chillde being Cristned in the house, by a priest and she churched by th' afforsaide preist being knowne to this Fletcher. ****** Korris and Watson persevantes have been divers times latly in ye closse and Norris hath receved in ye ^ What Mr. Warde can this have been ? Not Thomas AVai'd (or A\^arde), oF Mulwith, 1 think. For the presumption is that he liad no eliiklren, for none are registered at liipon 31inster ; and Thomas Ward was more likely to have his children christened by a Protestant minister than was his brother, Marmaduke ; for the former evidently associated with Protestants nuich more than the latter. Moreovei', in 1591 any daughters that Tliomas Warde had can have been only about nine or ten years of age. J I is wife died the previous year, 1590. (Still it may have been.) THE GUKrOWDEE PLOT. 2G9 way of borrowinge of same V^ of others more. But Watson by vertue of a coiuission from my L. of Cant, hath hitly serched Gerates house and M'" Wardes where he found nothinge at all they being partly privie before of his cominge. But in M'' Wardes house theire did latly remayne hidden under ye higest place of ye . stares \Yithin a nayled boarde divers bookes jiot specified] pictures and other folishe serimonyes. Orders amungst ye papistes for ye releyse aswell of prisoners as of ye porer sorte at libertye. Yt is an order anmngst ye papistes for ye releyse of prisoners aswell Jesuytes as Laymen that there be a .generall colleccion which beginneth at ye L. Mountegue and so by degree to ye meaner sorte for ye maytenance of three prisones in London, viz. the Klinke, the Marshallseas and Newgate which cesseth not tyll ye some of a hundred and ffyftye poundes be gathered quarterly which somme is sente by some trustye messinger to London where yt is comitted to dyvers mens handes apoynted by the cheyfe and from them to ye foresayde prysones. Yt is further ordered for ye porer sorte of them beinge at libertie to have theire dyett at several houses kepinge certen dayes for tbeyre repayre to evereye house with certen money allowed to everye one at ye wekes end And yf any recusante dye a piece of money is bequeathed to ye porest sorte to saye dirge for theire sowles for a xii moneth to be payde weklye both to men and women tyll this money be spente And thus they lyve untyll ye lyke comoditye fall agayne. per me Robartum Weston. (Endorsed) 20 April. Robert Weston. 270 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. [On p. 70 of Text, in Note 1 at foot of page, it is- stated that tlie first Lord Mounteagle's mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, sister to Eichard Neville, the King- maker. But I find that, under " Stanley," in Flower's. " Visitation of Yorl-sliire,'' Ed. hy Norcliffe (Harleian Soc), tlie great (jraudfatlier of Edward Stanley first Lord Mount- eagle, namely, Thomas Lord Stanley, is said to have married Eleanor, daughter to liichard Nevell Earl of Salisbury. Their son is given as George Lord Stanley ; his son as Thomas Stanley first Earl of ])erby ; and his son as Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Lady Grey, daughter of Sir Thomas Yaughau, and whose son was Thomas second Lord Mounteagle. But the ^^ National Dictionarij of Biography'' (under " Stanle}- Earl of Derby") says that Eleanor Countess of Derby {nee Neville) was the daughter of Warwick, the King-maker. So the "learned" must be left to determine the truth upon the point. Again ; on p. 160 of Text, in Note at foot of page,. I have stated that the young Lord Yaux of HarrowdeiL was a descendant of Sir Thomas More. But I find that that strong-minded lady his mother, Elizabeth Dowager Lady Yaux of Harrowden, was onlg distantly connected with Sir Thomas More. For she was descended from Christoplier lioper, a younger brother of William Rop(>r, wlio married Margaret More. Hence, Christopher Roper is the ancestor of the Lords Teynham, of Kent, who, I believe, conformed to the- Established Church after " 1715," as did many old English papist families.] THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 271 SUPPLEMENTUM lY. An Account of a Yisit to Givendale, Newby, and- MULWITH, anciently IN THE ChAPELRY OF SkELTON, IN THE Parish of Eipon, in the West Riding of the County of York. On Sunday, the 22ncl day of April, 1901, it fell out that the writer found himself sojourning in the good City of Ripon ; a city which a few years ago, calling its friends and neighbours together, kept, amid high festival, the one thousandth anniversary of its own foundation : at Ripon, around the time-honoured towers of whose hallowed Minster abidingly cling memories, strong and gracious, of canonized Saints and beloved Apostles.^ " Hail, smiling morn I " I exclaimed, on seeing at an early hour the bright sunshine stream through my chamber windows. On this day of rest and gladness will I hie me to the sites of the ancient roof-trees of those whose graves, parted by long distances of space and time, are known to-day, for tbe most part, no longer ta Man, but to Nature merely. Not to you and to me, gentle reader, are those graves to-day known (save with one exception), but to the verdant grass, the crimson-tipped daisy, tbe golden celandine, who are pre-eminentlj^ faithful watchers by the ^ St. AVilfrid, Archbishop of Tork and Apostle of Sussex (634-709) and his friend St. Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht and Apostle of Holland. '272 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. dead. For steadfastly will tlieij remain watching until the daybreak of an endless day.^ Having duly paid my orisons to heaven in the ancient manner, and having broken my fast with such fare as my place of sojourning bestowed, I set out upon my quest. I set forth alone, yet' not alone ; for mine was the companionship of lively historical ideas. But as soon as I had journeyed about one mile to the south-east of liipon, 1 perforce came to a halt. For my footsteps, on a sudden, had been arrested by the ear being struck with that most musical of natural sounds — the sound of living, gurgling, murmuring waters. I hearkened again, being infinitely pleasured by such natural music. And, mending my pace somewhat, soon found myself at Bridge Hewick, looking down from the parapet of the old grey bridge upon the rushing, boulder-broken, glancing waters of the lire, which, after gladdening fruitful Wensleydale, flows through Eipon ; and after skirting Givendale and Newby, and laving ^ 'J'bis exception is the grave of Mary Ward, the (Uiughter, it will be remembered, of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula Wright, and, consec|U(>ntl}", the niece of Christopher AV^right and, I innintain, of Thomas Ward, the guide, philosopher, and friend of Loi-d Mouiiteagle. Mary Ward died at the old Manor House, lleworth, on the 2(»th .lanuaiy, 1 G4o-46, and is liuried at Osbaldwick, near York, where a stone, bearing a simple but touching inscription, is still to be seen by an increasing nun)ber of her admirers, Protestant ;ind Catholic, the former of whom have ever styled her "that good lady, Mary Ward." The inscription on the gravestone bears out this view of this great-hearted, truly human, English gentlewoman. It runs thus: "To love the pof)re, persever in the same and live, dy, and rise witii them was all the ayme of Mary Ward, who, having lived GO years and S days, dyed the !20 of Jan.. 1645," That gravestone might also fittingly bear a second inscription, consisting of those triumphant words of victory over death: "Credo; Spero ; Amo" ("I believe: 1 liope; I love"). The Kev. ¥. Umpleby, the Vicar of Osbaldwick, and his churchwardens guard the gravestone of 3Iary Ward with the most commendable care. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 273 " tlie green fields of England," in front of Mulwitli, hurries on towards Boroughbridge ; thence to Myton, where, by the junction of the Ure and Swale, the Ouse^ is formed, that majestic Hood, which, with broad swelling tide, flows past the towers of York, the far-famed Imperial City, whose only peer in the western world is Rome. I say I set out upon my quest for Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith alone, yet not alone ; because I had the companionship of lively historical ideas. Thus much is true. And more : for romantic fancy ■conjured up visions before my mental gaze during that sunny Rest-Day morning, " When all the secret of the spring Moved in the chambers of tlie blood,"'* as I traversed those fair budding country -lanes, "made vocal by the song " of a thousand warbling birds, and paradisaical " With violets dim, But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes Or Cytherea's breath ; pale primroses That die unmarried, ere they can behold Bright Phoebus in his strength."'"^ ^ The winding Xidd, known to St. Wilfrid and dear to St. Robert, " pours itself into the Ouse at Nun Monkton, a few miles above York, and not far from historic Marston Moor. "^ Tennyson's " In Memoriam."' ^ Shakespeare's " Winter's Tale." — Shakespeare may have possibly 'known, or at least heard of, Father John Grerard, S.J., the life-long friend of Mary Ward, and the first " to English " Lorenzo Scupoli's " Spiritual Combat.'' Any educated Buddhist or Mohammedan British subject who wishes to understand the genius of Christianity should care- fully study the " Spiritual Combat." It will repay his pains. Francis Arden, who was in the Tower of London, escaped from that pi'ison along with Gerard during the night of 8tli October, 1597. Francis Arden was probably a relative of Edward Arden, who was ■executed as a traitor on the 23rd December, 1583, in connection with 274 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. Yea, before 1113' mind's eye I seemed to behold, ever and anon, riding towards and passing me on horseback, to and fro, from east to w^est, and from west to east, the shadowy yet tall stately forms of Elizabethan gentlemen, in feathered hat, girded sword, and Papon spurs ; aye,, and of Elizabethan gentlewomen likewise, in hooded cloak, white ruff, and pleated gown. Sometmies the groups, methought, were accompanied by one showing a graver mien and more reverend aspect than the gentlefolk among whom he rode, although apparelled and e(j nipped externally as the}'. The breviary,, crucifix, and large jet rosary-beads which, in my phantasy,, la}^ concealed within the last-naraed's breast, would betoken that he was a priest of the ancient faith of the English people, although at that period one of such a vocation was, by law, counted a traitor to his sovereign. But ni}^ day-dreams vanished : from a vivid realization of a near approach to Givendale, which was announced by a new guide-post visible to the eye of flesh. A few paces further of walking, under the boughs of noble interlacing trees, brought me by tlie gate leading to the dwelling-house to-day known as Givendale — that tlie mysterious Somei'ville-Arden-liall conspiracy against the life of Queen Elizabeth. The Shakespeares were justly proud of their connection with the Ardens, a fact which is evidenced by the well-known application of John Shakespeare (the poet's father) to the College of Heralds for the grant of a coat-of-arms that impaled and quartered the arms of the Ardens, of AVihncote, his wife's family. I cannot doubt that the Ardens, of AVihncote, AVarwickshire, were of tlie same clan as the Ardens, of Park .Hall, Warwickshire, to which family Edward Arden belonged, who was executed in 1583. To disallow the relationship of the Ardens, of Ayilmcote, with the Ardens, of Park Hall (both in AVarwickshire), simply because the former were less liberally endowed with worldly goods in the reign of Elizabeth than the latter, proves to demonstration that such disallowers, merely on such ground, have something yet to learn respecting: llie England of "Good (^ueen Bess" — and of every other England too. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 275 historic name. Tlie old liall occupied a site most probably a little to the north of the present Givendale, and was surrounded by a moat. Leland, writing,' in the reign of Henry YIII., describes it as "a fair manor place of stone." Lovely views does Givendale command of the valley of the Ure/ looking westward towards the sister valle3^s of the Xidd and AYharfe and Aire. A kind wayfarer, whom I chanced to meet near Givendale, pointed out to me tbe way to Skelton, Newb}', and Mulwith. I had to retrace from Givendale my steps for Skelton ; but I soon found from a second friendly guide-post that my good friend of a few moments before had directed my eager steps aright. The faitbful following towards the south-east of the high road, running parallel with the woods of Xewby on my right, brought me in due course to Skelton, a large limestone village, characteristic of that part of the AYest Hiding of Yorkshire. I walked down the town street of Skelton and found that the Park-gates of Xewby entered from the village. I passed, on my left, the little chapel of Skelton, standing in its grave-yard, which, rebuilt in 1812, had taken the place of the chapel where once or twice a ^ Givendale, in the time of Sir Simon Ward, who lived in the reign of Edward II., was evidently the Wards' principal seat near Ilipon ; for Sir Simon Ward is described as oE " Givendale and Esholt." Esholt is in the Parisli of Otley. The arms of the Wards were azure, a cross patonce, or. Sir Simon Ward's daughter, Beatrice, was married to Walter de Hawkesworth, and, through her, the Hawkesworth estate, in the Parish of Otley, between Wharfedale and Airedale, came into the ancient family of Hawkesworth (see Text ante). To-day, the well-known Fawkes family, of Farnley (the friends of the artist, Turner, and of his great interpreter, Ruskin), own Hawkesworth Hall, a fine, ivy-clad, antique mansion looking towards Airedale. Campion was probably harboured here in the spring of 1581, and possibly also by the Hawkeswortlis, of Mitton, near Clitheroe. 27G THE GUNPOWDEll TLOT. year, '' after long iiiiprisonnient," it is probable that Marmaduke Ward — though not Ehzabeth, his wife, nor Mar}^, nor any of his other children — " against his conscience " went to hoar read the Book of Common Prayer, in order to avoid the terrible penalty of having " to pay the statute," that is, to pay .£'20 per hmar month by way of fine for "popish recusancy."' The Newby Hall of to-day, the seat of 11. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire, is a grand structure, having been designed l)y Sir Christopher Wren about the year 1705. In the Park is the beautiful Memorial (Uiurch, built by the late Lady Mary Vyner, in memory of her son, Frederick George Vyner, who was slain by Greek brigands in the year 1870.- ^ This would be about £160 in our money. 'J'birteen of these payments in one j^ear would amount to about £2,080. Tather Eichard lloltby, S.J., was a friend of the Wards, and the priest who decided jNJary Ward's " vocation " in Baldwin's Gardens, Holborn, Jiondon, after Marmaduke Ward had been released from bis brief captivity in AVarwickshire. (8ee " Life of Mary Ward" vol. i., p. S9.) Iloltby speaks of JNIary as "my daughter Warde."' Now, father Jloltby, of IVyton, near Ilovingham, has recorded that "after long imprisonment Mr. Blenkinsopp [of Helbeck, A\'estmoreland, ]io doubt], Mr. Warde, Mr. TroUope [of Tbornley, in the County of Durham, no doubt], and Mrs. Cholmondeley [probably of Biandsby, near Easingwold], and more'"' were "overthrown," which clearly means became (temporarily at least) " Schismatic Catholics," by consenting to attend " the Protestant church." (See Morris's '' TroidAes," third series, p. 76.) This would be in the years 1593-94-95, or previously . Peacock's " List " for 1604, under " Eipon," gives " Elizabeth wief of Marmaduke Ward," h>it ominousltj no Marmaduke Ward. Therefore, like liis relative Sir William Wicmore, Marmaduke AV^ard, it is almost certain, for a time frequented his parish church (contrary to wliat he deemed '• the highest and best '') perliaps once or twice a year. Poor fellow 1 he was, however, very strict in not allowing his children to do the like. (See " Life of Mary Ward,'' vol. i., pp. 30, 31.) ^The late Dr. Stanley delivered, in A\'estminster Abbey, one of his beautiful and pathetic "Laments," after the sorrowful tidings reached England that this fine voung Englishman, by a deed of violence, had passed into the world of tlie "Unseen Perfectness." THK GUNPOWDER PLOT. 277 One mile from Newby is Mulwitli/ It is reached by what evidently has been an avenue in days of yore, connecting the two manor-houses. The old hall of Mulwith was most probably a castellated mansion, quadrangular in shape, with a Gothic chapel, gateway, drawbridge, and moat, pretty much like Markenfield Hall, near Kipon, at the present day. There was a fire at Mulwith in the year 1593, w^e know from the " Life of Mar// Ward.'' And it may be, that the hall was then razed to the ground and never afterwards rebuilt."^ To-day Mulwith is a pleasant farmstead, built of brick with slated roof. It is a two-storied, six-window^ed dwelling, with homestead, gardens, and orchards all adjoining.^ ^ 11. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire (brother-in-law to the Most Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.Gr., of Studley Eoyal, Lord Lieutenant of the North Eiding of Yorkshire), to-day owns Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith. They are within about five miles of Eipon, and can be also reached from Borouglibridge. * Mary Ward was born at Mulwith, in 1585 (see ante, p. 59). Amons: her devoted scholars, who crossed the seas either with her or ta her, were Susanna Rookwood, Helena Catesby, and Elizabeth Keyes, each respectively related, closely related, to the conspirators bearing those names. — See " Life of Mar;/ Wanl,'' vols. i. and ii. '^ My friend Mr. Eenfric Gates, of Maidenhead, Berks., kindly made me, when in Harrogate (in May, 1901), a sketch of Mulwith, which I value highly. Since then a relative of his has bestowed upon me a portrait of Mary Ward herself. So I am fortunate indeed. In the " Lfe of Mary Ward" by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Gates), the lady who so generously gifted me with a picture I can scarcely prize enough, there is a copy from the first of that remarkable series of paintings known as the Painted Life of Mary Ward, which represents Mary (then a little maiden betwixt two and three years old) toddling across the room, attired, as to her head, in a tiny close-fitting cap. This picture bears the following note in ancient German : — " ' Jesus ' was the first word of the infant, Mary, after which she did not speak for many months." Another of 278 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. In front of Mulwith still flows, as in the ancient' (lays, the historic waters of the Ure.^ On almost every side the eye is gladdened with woodland patches embroidering the horizon with that "sylvan scenery which never palls. "^ Hence, at last I was come to my journey's end. For I had reached Mulwith, or Mulwaith, in the Parish of Eipon, whereof " Thomas Warde " is described, ^vho married M'gery Slater, in the Church of St. Michael- le-Belfrey, York, on the 29th day of May, 1579. ]\rrs. John Hardcastle and her son most kindly con- ducted me round the place once more ; for 1 had visited Mulwith about ten years previously, with my sister, then approaching it from the east. And on that Sunday evening (April 22nd, 1901), an evening calm and bright, to the sound of sweet church bells, again I satisfied historic feeling by the recollection of the Past ; the sense whereof bore down upon me with a force too strong for words, "too deep," too higli, "for tears." '^ M((/i/j loaters cannot quencli Love; neither can the floods droiun it.'' the famous pictures in the Painted Life is one representing ^lary, at the age of thirteen, making her first Communion, at Harewell Hall, Dacre, Nidder- dale. (I visited Harewell Hall, which is still owned by the Inglebies, of Eipley, as in the days of Mary Ward, on AVednesday, the 10th April, 1901, being courteously shown round the Hall by Miss Simpson, the tenant. The Eiver Nidd flows at the" foot of this ancient, picturesque dwelling.) ^ Near Newby, in February, 1869, Sir Charles Slingsby, Bart., of Scriven, when a-hunting was, with some other gentlemen, drowned in the act of crossing in a boat the Eiver Ure, then swollen high through February floods. The event cast a profound gloom over Yorkshire for many ;i long day, (The writer was eight years of age when this melancholy catastrophe took ])lace, and well does be remember the grief depicted on the faces of the good citizens of York on the morrow of that sad disaster.) ^ Lord Beaconsfield. THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 279 supplementum v. An Account of a Visit to Great Plowland (anciently Plewland), in the Parish of Welwick, Holderness, IN the East Kiding of the County of York. On Monday, the 6th day of May, 1901, the writer had the happmess of accornpHshing a purpose he had long had in mind, namely, that of paying a visit to Oreat Plowhmd (anciently Plewland), in the Parish of Welwick, Holderness, the birthplace of John and Christopher Wright, and also of their sister, Martha Wright, who was married to Thomas Percy, of Beverley. These three East Kiding Yorkshiremen have indeed writ large their names in the Book of Fate. For, as the preceding pages have shown, they were among that woeful band of thirteen who were involved, to their just undoing, in the rash and desperate enterprise, known as the Gunpowder Treason Plot, of the year 1005, the second year of the reign of James L, King of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and progenitor and prede- cessor of our own Most Gracious King Edward VIL Long may he reign, a crowned and sceptred Imperial Monarch : and in Justice may his house be established for ever !^ ^ How full ot" happy augury for the future of our Empii'e was tlie £ne speech of His Koyal Highness the Prince of Wales, delivered in the Guildhall, London, the 5th December, 1901, shortly following on the Prince's and His Princess's return to Old England's sliores, after their historic sojourning, during the year 1001, in His Majesty's loyal Dominions beyond the seas. 280 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. The writer arrived at the town of Patrington (the post-town of Plowland) somewliat late in the afternoon. He had not been before ; but he well knew that Patrington is famous, far and near, for its stately and exquisitely-beautiful church, so aptly styled "the Queen of Holderness," the church of Hedon being " the King." After viewing the general features of the little town of Patrington, which, nia3^be, is but slightly changed since its main street was trodden by English men and English women of "the spacious days of Good Queen Bess," I (to have recourse to the first person singular, if the liberty may be pardoned) went in search of some ancient hostelry such as wherein " Jack Wright, Kit Wright, and Tom Percy," then in the hey-day of their youthful strength and vigour, quaffed the foaming tankard of the nut-brown ale, or • called for their pint of sack, when William Shakespeare^ was the Sir Henry Irving of his day, and was writing his immortal dramas for all Nations and all Time. Such a house of entertainment "for man and beast" I found in the inn bearing the time-honoured and sportsmanlike sign of the "Dog and Duck." On entering the portals of this ancient hostelry the historic imagination enabled me to conjure up the sight of some of the gentlemen who, three hundred years ago, must have formed the company who assembled at the "Dog and Duck;" to discuss, maybe, a threatened Spanish invasion of England's inviolate shores; "a progress" of the great Tudor Queen; or the action of her Privy Counsellors, Lord Burleigh, Sir Francis ^ The common consent of mankind ranks Shakespeare, along with Homer and Dante, a« one of the world's three Poet-Kings. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 281 Walsingham, the Earl of Leicester, Sir Kobert Cecil, Sir Walter Ealeigh, and the ill-fated Eobert Devereux Earl of Essex ; or, belike, to sound the praises of that model of chivalry, Sir Philip Sidney, the General Gordon, Lord Bowen, and Matthew Arnold of his day, and the darling of his countrymen for ever. If I had to content myself wdth the historic imagination alone for the sight of John Wright, one of the most expert swordsmen of his time ; of Christopher Wright, wdio was a taller man than his brother, of a closer and more peaceable disposition ; and of Thomas Percy, their brother-in-law, who was agent for his cousin, the great head of the House of Percy ; and also for the vision of all those high-born, courageous, but self-willed, wayward Yorkshire Elizabethan gentlemen, in their tall hat, graceful cloak,^ and short sword girded on their side, with their tinkling falcons on their wrist, with their cross-bows and their dogs : if I had to be content with imagination alone for all this, on that Monday, the Cth day of May, 1901, I had the sight and vision in the solid reality of flesh and blood of "mine host" of the "Dog and Duck," who bade me welcome in right cheery tones ; and, in answer to my question, told me he well knew Great Plowland, in the Parish of Welwick (being a native of those parts), and ever since he was a boy he had heard tell that some of the Gunpowder plotters had been at Plowland." ^ The cloak was then one of the outward tokens of a gentleman. ^ It is impossible to understand Shakespeare's characters aright except one has first made a close study of such typical Elizabethan gentlemen as the Gunpowder plotters and their friends, and of the Elizabethan Catholic gentry in general. Hence the wide value of the labours of such men as Simpson, Morris, Pollen, Knox, and Law. 282 THE GUNPOAVDEll PLOT. Soon was the compact made tliat that very evening, ere darkness came on, "mine host" should chive n\e to the site of where John Wright and Christopher Wright first heheld the hght of the sun. (lu view of the fact that the circumstantial evidence to-day avaihd)Ie tends to prove that Clii'istoplier Wright was the repentant conspirator who revealed the Plot and so saved King- James I., liis Queen, and Parliament from destruction by exploded gunpowder, it may be easily conceived that I felt great eagerness to gaze on Plowland with as little ■delay as possible.) A short drive brought my driver and myself within sight of the tall ''rooky" trees, the blossoming orchard, the ancient gabled buildings in the background, and the handsome two-storied red-brick dwelling, all standing!', on slightly rising ground, within less than a quarter of a mile from the king's highway, which to-day are known as Great Plowland, in the Parish of Welwick, Holderness, in the East Riding of the County of York. This, then, was the fair English landscape whereon the eyes of Christopher Wright had rested in those momentous years, from 1570 to 15(S0, when "the child is father of the man ! " I exclaimed in spirit. As we were entering through the gates of Plowland I made enquiry as to the name of the owner of this historic spot. I was informed that the gentleman to whom the ancestral seat of the Wrights, of Plowland, belonged resided on his own domain. On reaching Plowland Hall (now Plowland House), Mr. George Burnhau], of Plowland House, came forward, iind, with frank, pleasant courtesy, never to be forgotten, assured me that J was at liberty to see the place where the two Gunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher Wright, had lived when boys. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 283 I alighted from my vehicle, and heing joined hy ]\Iiss Burnham, sister to Mr. Barnham, the owner of the •estate, we all three examined the evident traces of the moat, the remains of what must have heen the old 'Gothic chapel, and certain ancient buildings and doors in the rear, which were left intact when old Plowland Hall was taken down, shortly after the middle of the nineteenth century, to make way for the present Plowland House. — See Frontispiece to this Book for picture of Plowland House. [The Burnhams, of Plowland, are the grandchildren of the late Eichard Wright, Esq., of Knaith, near •Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. One of that gentleman's •descendants is Bohert Wright Burnham, the eldest brother to the present owner of Plowland and his sister. The name Ilichard AYright is found in the Register of ■Christenings at Ripon Minster, under date 29th March, 1599, as the son of one Joliii AYright, of Sl-elton.] After taking leave of my kind friends, the "guardians" of Great Plowland, Mr. Robert Medforth, of the "Dog and Duck" hostelry, at Patrington, drove me to AA^elwick. A short survey of this characteristically East Riding- Yorkshire village and its grey old Gothic church in its grave-yard, where John and Christopher A^'right were ■christened, no doubt, brought the historical travels and explorations of Alonday, Alay Gth, 1901, to a delightful and profitable close. "Farewell, Plowland," I interiorly exclaimed, when I turned myself in my conveyance, for the last time, to take the one last, lingering look, "Farewell, Plowland, once the home not only of those who ' knowing the better chose the worse,' and who, therefore, verified in themselves that law of Retribution, that eternal law of Justice, ' the G-iiilty suffer,'' hut also once the home of some of the 284 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. supremely excellent of the earth. Farewell, Plowland,. w'here Mar}^ Ward, that beautiful soul, resided with Ursula Wright, her sainted grandmother, the wife of Robert Wright, the mother of Christopher Wright : where Mary Ward resided, during the five years, 1589 to 1594, before returning to her father's house at Muhvith, in the Parish of Ripon, on the banks of the sylvan Ure." The Estate of Plowland came into the Wright family in the reign of Henry YIIL, owing to John Weight, Esquire (a man of Kent), having married Alice Ryther, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Sir John Ryther, of Ryther, on the banks of the "lordly Wharfe," between York and Selby. John Wright's son, Robert, succeeded as the owner of Plowland (or Plewland). liobert Wright married for his second wife Ursula Rudston, whose family had been lords of Hayton, near Pocklington, from the days of King John. Ursula Wright was akin to the Mallory (or Mallorie) family, of Studley Royal, Ripon, and so a cousin in some degree to most of the grand old Yorkshire gentry, such as the Ingleby family, of Ripley Castle and of Harewell Hall, Dacre, near Brimham Rocks, in Nidder- dale, and the Markenfields, of Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, to mention none others beside.^ - ^ * (This is shown by the Ripon Registers.) ^ Tlie Most Honourable the Marquis of Eipon, K.G., Viceroy of India (1880-S.5), and the Most Honourable the Marchioness of llipon, C.L, ure akin to .John Wriglit ami Christopher AV^right, through tlie Mallories of Studley lloyal. '^ The Eight Honourable the Lord Grantley, of Markenfield Hall, is akin to the AVrights, through his ancestor, Francis Norton, the eldest son of brave old Eichard Norton ; the Mallories ; the Inglebies ; and many others. ^ Sir Heiuy Day Ingilby, Bart., of Eipley Castle, is likewise akin to the Wrights, the Winters, and indeed to almost all the other ill-fated THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. • 285 Eobert Wright (the second Wright who owned Plowland) had been married before his marriage to Ursula Eudston. His first wife's name was Anne Grimstone. She was a daughter of Thomas Grimstone, Esquire, of Grimstone Garth. Eobert Wright and Anne Grimstone had one son who " heired " Plowland. His name was William Wright. He married Ann Thornton, of East Newton, in Eydale, a lady who was related to many old Eydale and Vale of Mowbray families in the North Eiding of Yorkshire. The names of William Wright and Ann, his wife (born Thornton), are still recorded on a brass in the north aisle of Welwick Church.^ William Wright was half-brother to Ursula Ward, the wife of Marmaduke AVard, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, near Eipon, the parents of the great Mary Ward, the friend of popes, emperors, kings, nobles, statesmen, warriors, and indeed of the most distinguished personages of Europe during the reigns of James I. and plotters. 1 may mention also that Sir Henry is likewise related to the exalted Mary Ward, who (as was the case with her great kinsman and friend. Lady Grace Babthorpe) lived at "lovely Eipley" in her childhood, with the Inglebies of that day, on more than one occasion, as we find recorded in Mary's " Life:' * At Grantley a John Wright resided in the time of Elizabeth. He was probably brother to Eobert Wright, the father of John and Christopher AYright. Grantley Hall nestles in a leafy hollow of surpassing beauty. The swift, gentle, little Eiver Skell flows past the Hall on towards St. Mary's Abbey, Fountains. Grantley Hall is now owned by Sir Christopher Furness, M.P. It was formerly one of the estates of the Lords Grantley. ^ Mass was said at Xess Hall, near Hovingham, not far from East * Newton, during the early part of the nineteenth century. / tJunh that this was owing to the old Catholic family of Crathorne owning Xess Hall at this time. The Crathornes intermarried with the Wrights, of Plowland, in the days of James I. or Charles I., and I suspect that Ness Hall had been brought into the Crathorne family, through the Wrights, from the Thorntons, The Crathornes came from Crathorne, near Stokesley, in Cleveland. The Thorntons conformed to the Jlstablished Church. 28G THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. Charles I. ^Villi{lln Wright (or AViyght, as the name is- spelt on the hrass in Welwick Church) was also half- brother to the two (lunpowder conspirators, John and Christopher AViigiit, who were slain at llolbeach House, Staffordshire, a few days after the capture of Guy Fawkes by Sir Thomas Ivnevet, early in the morning of November 5th, 1605. The late liev. John Stephens, Eector of Holgate,. York, and formerly Yicar of Sunk Island, Holderness,. told me, in September, 1900, that Guy Fawkes is said to have slept at Plowland Hall, on Fawkes' departure for London for the last time, a tradition which is very likely to be authentic. For, as will be remembered, tlie Wrights, Fawkes, and Tesimond were old school-fellows at St. Peter's School, in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, York,^ which had been re-founded by Philip and Mary, who likewise founded the present Grammar School at Papon. ^ Jolin AVn'glit. Christopher Wriglit, Guy Fawkes. and Oswald Tesimond must have many a time and oft passed througii Bootham Bar,. leading towards CHfton, Skelton, and Easingwold, along the great Xorth Road. And hesides the King's Manor t(j the left of Bootham Bar, Queen Margaret's Gateway, named after Queen Margaret (grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots), must have heen to them all a thrice-familiar object. Queen Margaret, it will he reiiiemhercMl, was wife to King James }Y. of Scotland, who fell at Flodden Field in 151;}, fighting against the foi-ces of the brother of the Scots' Queen, King Henry VTJl. In ir)l(), lleiu-y Vlll. invited his widowed sister to London, "and good Qu('(Mi Katerine sent her own white palfrey" for her poor sister-in- law's " use.'' On this memorable occasion the bereaved daughter of Kinjr Henry VTT.. througii whom His iMost (iracious JNIajesty King Edward VIL, in part at least, traces his august Title to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was kindly welcomed by the worthy citizens of the- noithern capital. — See J)i-. Haine's " Tori"' (Longmans), p. 98. In the month of July, H)00, at the Treasurer's Jlouse, on the north side of the Minster, our Most Gracious Sovereign and His Beloved Consort (then the Prince and Princess of AVales). together with the present Princ(' and Princess of Wales (then the Duke and Duchess of York), graciously sojourned for a luief season: an event memorable and historic even in the ])r()ud annals of the second city of the IJritish Empire. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 28T SuppLEMEXTu:\r YI. St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst, Blackburn, 5th October, 1901. Yoii are quite correct in sajdng that the doctrine of Equivocation is the justification of stratagems in war, and of a great many other recognised modes of conduct. But I despair of its ever finding acceptance in the minds of most Englishmen : since they will not take the trouble of understanding it ; while, at the same time, they have not the slightest scruple in misrepresenting it. It is, of course (like most principles, wdiether of art, or of science, or of philosophy), not a truth immediately to be grasped by the average intellect, and, therefore, liable to much misapplication. Even the best-trained thinkers may frequently differ as to its comprehension of this or that particular concrete case. Given the tendency of human nature, English or foreign, to shield itself from unpleasant consequences at the expense of truth, it is unsafe to supply the public with a general principle, which, precisely on account of its universality, might be made to cover with some show of reason, many an unwarrantable jeu de mots. There are many exceedingly useful drugs which it would be unwise to throw into the open market. Hence, I quite recognise the partial validity of the objection to the doctrine in question. But since the doctrine is so often thrust in the public face, it is as well it should appear in its true colours. This leads me to a point which I think ought to be insisted upon, namely, that those features, which are 288 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. most objectionable to Englishmen in the scholastic doctrine were devised by their authors with the intention of limiting the realm of Equivocation and of safeguarding the truth more closely. All rational men are agreed that there arc circum- stances in which words must be used that are jirimd facie contrary to truth — in war, in diplomacy, in the custody of certain professional secrets. In such instances the non-Catholic rule seems to be : Tell a lie, and have done with it. The basis of such a principle is Utilitarian Morality, ^Yhich estimates Eight and Wrong merely by the consequences of an action. The peripatetic philo- sopher, on the other hand, Avho maintains the intrinsic moral character of certain actions, and who holds morclicus to the love of truth for its own sake, is not content to rest in a lie, however excusable, but endeavours, for the honour of humanity, to demonstrate that such apparent deviations from truth are not such in reality. For he perceives in them two meanings — whence the name Eqiiicocation — one of which may be true, while the other is false. The speaker utters the words in their true meaning, and that the hearer should construe them in the other sense is the latter's own affiiir. ^^ Not at home'''' may mean '■''out of the house'' or "not inclined to receive visitors.'" It is the visitor's own fault if he attaches the first meaning to the pln-ase rather than the second, or rice verm. No sensible man would consider a prisoner to be "lying" in liis plea of "-Not Guilty,''' because a certain juryman, in his ignorant simplicity, should carry off the impression of the prisoner's absolute, and not merely of his leyal, innocence. Yet the plea may mean either both •cjr only the latter. Simi];n-ly, ;ni iiiijicrtinont ferretter-out of an important THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 28D secret needs blame none but himself if lie conceives the ans^Yer " iVo " to intimate anything else than that he should mind his own l)usiness. As to such facts there is, 1 should say, an over- whelming agreement of opinion. That they differ from what we all recognise as a sheer " lie " is pretty evident. It is, therefore, convenient and scientific to label them with some other name, and the Scholastic hit npon the not inapt one of Equivocation. The malice of lying consists, according to Utilitarian Philosophy, in the destrnction of that mutnal confidence which is so absolutely necessary for tlie proper main- 1;enance and development of civilized life. But the Scholastic, while fnlly admitting this ground, looks for a still deeper root, and finds it in the very fact of the •discrepancy between the speaker's internal thought and its outward expression. The difference between the two positions may be more clearly apprehended in the following fornuila : — The first would define a lie as '^' sj^eaJiing with, intent to deceive;'' wdiereas the second •defines it " spealducj cojitrar/j to one's tliouglit " (locidio contra meniem), even where there is no hope (and there- fore no intent) of actual deception. The latter is clearly the stricter view, yet very closely allied with, and .supplementing, the former. For we ]nay perhaps say with Cardinal de Lugo — and a la Kant — that the malice •of the discrepancy mentioned above lies in the self- -contradiction wdiich results in the liar, between his inborn desire for the trust of his fellow-inen and his •conviction that he has rendered himself unworthy of it — that he has, in other words, degraded his nature. Now, where there do not exist relations of nnitual •confidence, such malice cannot exist. An enemy, a burglar, a lunatic, an impudent questioner, etc., are, in 290 THE GUNrOWDER I'LOT. their d'lstinguisliing character, beyond the pale of mutual confidence— ^.t'., when acting professionally as enemies, burglars, etc. In regard to such outlaws from society, some moralists would accordingly maintain that the duty of veracity is non-existent, and that here we may "answer a fool according to his foil}'." If a burghir asks where is your plate, you may reply at random " In the Bniil-,'' or " At Timhuctoo,'" or " 1 havo/'t any.'' If a lunatic declares himself Emperor of China, you maj^ humour him, and give him anij information you may imagine about his dominions, etc. Such is the teaching of, v. (jr., Professor Paulsen, of Berlin, in his " System of Ethics,'' in which he is at one with Scholasticism, though, I daresay, we should not follow him in all his applications of the principle. He prefers to call such instances " necessary lies," whereas we should say they were not lies at all, because the,y would not be rightly considered to imply speaJany strictly understood, that is, the communication of one's mind to another. There is no real speech where there are no relations of mutual confidence. Practically, however, it is so far a question of name rather than of reality, of theory rather than of fact. The doctrine of Mental lieservation seems to me to differ from that of Equivocation only in this, that Equivocation implies the use of words which have a two- fold meaning in themselves, apart from special circum- stances, and are therefore logical equivoques. Thus to the question : " WJiat do j^eople think of me ! " one might diplomatically reply : " Oh ! tlicy thi)ih a great deal!" which leaves it undetenuined whether the thinking- be of a favourable or unfavourable character. But more commonly words, apart from special cir- cumstances, have one definite meaning, e.gr., " Yes " or THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 291 *' No.'' AVben Sir Walter Scott, denied, as he himself tells us, the authorship of " Wacerley " with a plain simple "A^o," he was guilty of no logical Equivocation: but the circumstance that it was generally known that the author intended to preserve anonymity gave his answer the signification, ^^ Mind your own business.'" This is what I should call a nwral equivoque. The Scholastics call it broad mental reservation (restrictio late vicntalis). The origin of this terminology seems to me to lie in a bit of purism. Some moralists were not content with merely moral equivoques : they appear to insist on the junction with them of logical Equivocation ; and so the}^ would have directed the equivocator to restrict (and so double) the meaning of a word in his own mind. Thus to Sir Walter they would have said : " Don't say ' No ' simply, but add in your own head, ' as far as tlie j^ibHo is concerned,' " or something similar. When this addition could not be conjectured by the hearer, it received the name of ^)»re mental reservation (restrictio j^ure [or stricte] mentalis) : as when one might say " John is not liere " (meaning in his mind " not on the exact spot where the speaker stood "), though John w^as a yard off all the time. Such a position has not found favour in the body of Catholic moralists. They regard it as not only a useless proceeding, but as one which, although intended out of respect for truth, is liable, from its purely subjective character, to easy abuse. But when objective circumstances (as in the case of Sir Walter) enable the hearer to guess at the double meaning and to suspend his judgment, then we have a case of broad mental reservation : for it is writ large in social convention that, where a momentous secret exists, a negative answer carries with it the limitation (restriction, reservation), " secrets apart." 29'2 THE GUNrOWDER TLOT. I trust I have made it sutiticieiitly clear that the doctrine of Equivocation, properly understood, has ])een devised in the interests of Veracity. That we may find in some writers, whether St. Alphonsus de Liguori or Pro- fessor Paulsen, particular api)]i('ations in wliich we do not <-oncur, surely does not affect tlie validity of the principle. 1 may add that (ill Catholic theolof^ians with whom T am acquainted limit its use Ijy recjuiring many external ('onditions : v.gr., that the secret to be preserved should be of importance ; that the questioner should have no right to its knowledge, etc. In one word, that the possible damage to nnitual confidence resulting from the hearer's self-deception should be less than that which would certainly accrue from the revelation of a legitimate secret. No one feels more keenly than we do that to have resort to Equivocation is an evil rendered tolerable only in presence of a greater evil of the same nature ; and 1 venture to say, from an intimate knowledge of my brother *' religious," that no one is less likely to recur to it, where only his own skin is concerned, than a Jesuit. Believe me, Yours very sincerely, George Canning, S.J / ^ The above lucid exphiuatiou of the iiiuch and {me jiuiice) stupidly maligned doctrine of Equivocation will place readers of this work, as well as the writer, under an obligation of gratitude to the Rev. George Canning, who is tlic Professor of Etliics at St. 3[ary''s ]Iall, Stonyhurst, so I am informed by the Rev. Bernard Boedder, S..J., Professor of iS'atui'al Tbetjlogy, at that seat of learning, whom T have had the honour of meeting in York on more than one occasion. '• Wisdom builds ber house for all weathers.' But England, relying too much on a long course of pi'osperity ill hiM- ruling classes, and in tiie protected classes immediately beneatli her ruling classes, has neglected the Truth and Justice contained in this eminently rational doctrine of E(]uivocatinn. The democracy must, and will, however, insist on amiable, self-contenting, self-pleasing delusions being speedily swept away. Reason and self-interest alike will compel and compass this. The question of Equivocation is not a question of Protestant versux Catholic, but of AVise Noddle verfum Foolish Noddle. This is a distinct gain. APPENDICES APPENDICES. Appendix A. ClKCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE DEFINED AND DESCRIBED. Circumstantial Evidence is indirect, as distinct from •direct evidence. It is likewise mediate, as distinct from immediate. Direct evidence is testimony that is a statement of what the witness himself has seen, heard, or perceived by the evidence of any one of his own five senses,^ which testimony is directly given by a witness, to lead to the facts in issue, that is, the facts required to be proved in order to make out or to constitute the criminal case, •or the civil cause of action, sought to be established, according to some rule of Law\ Indirect or mediate evidence is inferred from a relatively minor fact or relatively minor facts already directly proved. This inference is drawn by a valid process of reasoning from a relatively minor fact or minor facts already directly deposed to by a witness, who may be a party interested in the case or cause, or a stranger-witness, either friendly •or hostile. Hence, Circumstantial Evidence is speciallij inferential and cumulative in its nature. It denotes the resultant of a method of knowledge, which has carried the Inquirer forward by successive stages of advancement. ^ By sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch. 21)0 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. It implies the inferring) of the unknown from the known ; but from a known whicli has been itself transnuited from the unknown, at some point of time anterior to the making of the successive stage of advance- ment in the knowledge of the facts sought to be. proved, and vindicated by some rule of Law. The following interesting account of Evidence- generally is from the pen of Mr. Frank Pick, of Burton Lodge, York, a student of the Law : — ]M'idence is the collective term used to denote the facts whereby some proposition, statement, or conclusion is sought to be established or confirmed. AVhile, as thus defined, the term Evidence primarily denotes the actual Iniown facts themselves which form the l)asis or point of departure, it connotes also a method or process in the development of those known facts to a resultant fact or opinion : and the resultant fact or- opinion so obtained. The former is often styled Testimony. This will be illustrated in Circumstantial Evidence,, and in what is commonly styled " Expert Evidence,"" though l)etter, " Evidence of Opinion," where a person from a consideration of certain facts not necessarily expressed (being likewise one specially competent to form an opinion where such certain facts are involved) gives an opinion which may be used as, and for similar purposes-, with, evidence as above defined. The value of evidence, i.e., the completeness and' efficiency with which it serves these ends, varies with, and the weight accorded to it in judgment is determined from, a review of the character or quality of the source whence these facts ])roceed ; and the nature or proximit}' of the relation which they bear to the proposition, statement,, or conclusion to be supported. THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 297' As regards the character or quality of its source, evidence is distinguished into primaiy and secondary. Primary Evidence is the witness or testimony of personal experience, whether shown in the spoken or, written word or by conduct. Or it may be described as,, on its positive side, the avowal or confession of fact of a person present knowingly, at the manifestation, in consciousness of the phenomenon to which the fact, corresponds : on its negative side, as the denial or negation of fact similarly conditioned. Secondary Evidence comprises all the manifold degrees of nearness or remoteness to primary evidence.. As all degrees are here included, it is sometimes said that there are no degrees of secondary evidence. This must not be misunderstood to mean that all secondary evidence is entitled to be received as of the ^ame degree of credibility. For a further, and in some respects parallel, distinction to that lastly taken, arises as. the speech is or is not deliberate, the writing authen- ticated, the conduct reasoned. And in every case partiality, bias, and prejudice are grounds not to be neglected in the ascertainment of accuracy and trust- worthiness. So far as regards the nature or proximity of the relation, evidence is either direct and immediate, or indirect and mediate, called circumstantial ; as concerned rather with the surrounding circumstances leading to the proof of the presumed truth of a fact than with the fact itself. Direct Evidence comprises those facts from which, if proved, the truth of the proposition, statement, or conclusion necessarily follows. Circumstantial Evidence comprises those facts from which again may be inferred facts, whence the truth of the proposition, statement, or conclusion must necessaril}^ follow. 298 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. This inferential method is especially involved in Circumstantial Evidence. In all evidence there is a presumption open more or less to rehuttal, and evidence on this account is qualified as, ai., i^rhnu facte, conclusive. In Direct Evidence there is the presunjption of the truth of the proposition, statement, or conclusion from the proven facts. In Circumstantial Evidence tlu^'e is first an inference of dir<'ctly connected facts, otherwise unknown or unevidenced from remotely connected facts, known or given in evidence; then there is further a presumption of the truth of the proposition, statement, or conclusion from these mediately t^stablished facts. THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 299 Appendix B. DiSCEEPANCY AS TO DaTE WHEN NOT ]\IaTERIAL TO IsSUE, NO Disproof of Truth of the rest of the Assertion. The above doctrine of the law of Evidence appHes, of course, to whatever may be the nature or purpose of the Inquiry, whether conducted in a Court of Law, in the hbrarj^ of the historical scholar, or elsewhere. The principle was soundly stated at the trial of " the Venerable " Martyrs, Fathers Whitbread, Harcourt, Fenwick, Gavan, and Turner, at the Old Bailey, by Sir William Scroggs, Knt., the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, on the occasion of the Popish Plot Trials, in the year 1679. "If it should be a mistal-e only in j^oint of time, it 'destroys not the evidence, unless you tliinh it necessary to the substance of tJie tiling. " If you charge one in the month of August to have done such a fact, if he deny that he was in that place at that time, and proves it by witnesses, it may go to invalidate . the credibility of the man's testimony, hut it does not invalidate the ti'utJi of the tiling itself, which may be true in substance, though the circumstance of time differ ; and the question is, ivhether the thing he true ! " Quoted in Morris's " Troubles : The Southcote Family,'' first series, p. 378 (Burns & Gates). (The italics are mine.) 300 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. Appendix C. Part I. British Museum— Add. MS. 5847, Fo. 322. List of siicli (Is ircre api>re]ieii(led for tJie (run-Powder Plot. TJie names of such as ii-erc t(il:en in Wanvicle and Worcestershire, <('■ brought to Jjondon. S"" Everard J)igby, 1\ night Rol)^ Winter John Winter John Grant Tho: Percy Tho: Winter Kob* Acton Henry Morgan Christopher Litleton Lodwicke Grant, who was taken the 9 of Noreinh r & confessed there was lodged in Holhage House to the- number of 60 Persons. Tho: Grant Will"' Cooke Bob' Higgins Christopher Wright Rob' iiookwood M"" Henry Hiirleston, Sonne t^' Heire of Sir duhrard HurJestd/i ' ' sir Henry 1 1 lultllcstoii, as hv afterwards beeaiiu', the sou and liiir to Sir Edniuiid I liiddleston, of Sawston Ihill, Cambridge, not Edward as in Text. Sir Henry Huddleston married the Honourable Dorothy DoriiK'i'. lie was reconciled to the C'liureli of liome by Father tierard, S.J. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 301 Tlio : Andertoii ^ John Clifton- Mathv Batty, late Servant to the Loyd Monteagle Wilhn Thornberry ) ., . . t r [Servants to Mf Hurleston Servants to S'' Everard Dighy Henry Sergeant Stephne Bonne Kichard Daye AYillm Eadale James Garvey Rob* Abram Eob'' Osborne Christopher Archer Ambrose Fuller Willm Howson Francis Grant Richard AYestberry Tho : Richardson Edward Bickerstaffe Will Snow John Facklins Francis Prior Tho : Darler, Servant to M'' UoU Moiisoii Reginald Miles, Servant to Sir Willm Engleston Tho : Rookwood, of Chtxton, in Warwiclsltire Richard Yorke Marmadiike Ward , Rob* Key J Grant & M'' Jiool- woods Rob* Townsend, of St. Edmund Berry The Lord Mountacute ^ mu T ^ -\T ^ I Are all comitted to The Lord Mordant M' Francis iressam J ] Suspected Persons usually - sortin,i>' to M'' Winter^ re- the 1 'p This was leather Thomas Strange, S.J., a cousin to Thomas Abington, -of Hiudlip. ^ This was Father Singleton. 302 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. The Eaiie of North : is in the Custody still of the Lord Arclihislioj) of Canterhnry. This was Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland^. W.C. Gentlcivomen M}' Lady Mordant M"-^ Dorothy Grant M"^ Helyn Cooke M'*'* Mary ^forgayne ]\/[r!s p^YiWQ Higgins M"^ Martha Percy M"'* Dorothy Wright M"^ Margaret Wright M"' liookwood See Mr. Dod's ''■History of Catliolick Church, '' vol.. ii., p. 331, "W.C. [N.B. — This MS. consists of extracts from the Collections of the Eev. Mr. liand, liector of Leverington and Newton, in the Isle of Ely.] Paht IL Gunpowder Plot Books — Part I., No. 1-2. [Frequenters of Clopton (or Clapton), Stratford-on-Avon.] Ther hath hine at Clapton^ w*'' M'' Anihrous Kucwod Mr. Jhon Grant ther is with in*^^ Pucwood I\P^ Ceo (?) m"'' inunson and others and to of his britherin ' Clopton IJall, Stratford-uii-Avon, \v;is likewise styled Clapton Hall. Lady Carew, afterwards ilic Countess of Totncs, was (with her sister, Anne Clapton, the wife of Cuthbert Clapton, Esquire, of ."Sledwick, County Dui'hani) the co-heiress of the Claptons (or Cloptons), of Warwickshire. Lady Carew was a Protestant, l)ut her sister and brolhcr-in-Iaw were Catholics. A son of the Catholic Cloptons (or Claptons) was made the '" heir " of the Countess of Totnes. — See Foley's '■'■ Records, '' vol. vi., pp. .'i2G, Wll . THE GlNrOWDER PLOT. 303' in' Wiiitor 111" Bosse 111' Townesend 111' Ceo (?) Av*'' on ni' Tiiomas a Cynesmaii of M'' Eucwoode ni'" liyglit AUso inye pepeoll hath seene ther Se'' Edward bushell m"" liobeart Catesbee with diners others which I can not nam unto yonei- honer. (Endorsed) Clopton. 304 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Appendix D. Gunpowder Plot Books — Part L, No. 25. The Examination of Kichard Browne taken the 5^'' of Novemb'- 1605. This Exaniinat sayith that xpofer AVright cam to 'S* Gihs in the ffeikl to the ^Taydenhead there vpon Weddnesday Liste & sent Wilt Kiddk' (that cam vp w"' him as his man) to Westm the same night for this Examinat to come & speek w*'' him, which this Examinat ■did com thither vpon Thnrsday morning, when Wrights re(iuest was to him to fetch his child which he had at mu'ss some 13 myles off. And Kiddle & this Examinat went vpon ffriday brought the child vpon Satterday to 8t. Giles & carryed it away agen vpon Sonday which night this Examinat returned back to Westm and lay there at his owne lodging, the next morning being monday this Examinat went to S* Gyles to speak w'' M'' Wright only vpon Kiddle's intreaty c^ not fynding IVP Wright there he retorned towards Eondon & niett ^f Wright ill S' Clem^ ffeilds, at which tyme Wright sent this Examinat to S'" ffrancis Planners w"' a message concerninge a kinsman of 'SV' Wrights that serveth ^1' Manners after which tyme this Examinat did not see the sayd Wright. This Examinat sayetli that he saw the sayd Wright onely 4 tyiiies since Wright last coming U) London, viz., vpon IMiiirsday moniing when h(^ came first vnto him upon Satterday night when he l^roiiglit liis child, vpon Sonday morning when he can'}-ed the child away, and THE GUNPOWDEE TLOT. 305 vpon nionday at noone when he mett of the back syd of S^ Clem'' mark X Bichard Browne (Endorsed) Examination of Kichard Browne 6 Nov. 1605 Concerning Wright. u 306 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Appendix E. Gunpowder Plot Books — Part L, Xo. 15. Tlie Examynacon of Willum Grantham servaunt to Josephe Hewett taken before S' John Pophani Knighte L: Cheife Justyce of England the 5 of November 1005. He sayeth that yesterdaye aboute three of the Clocke in the afternoone one m' wryght was at this Ex masters howse And there boughte three beaver hatts. and payde xj^^ for them This Ex went w-*" the sayde wr3-ght and caryed the hatts to wrighte lodgyng at the ]\Iayden heade in S* Gyles where m' wryght & this Ex went into the howse And then wr^^ght went to the Stable and dyd aske yf his man were come the hosteler sayde that he came longe synce, then wryght dyd aske for his horse whether he were I'eadye or no and the hosteler sayde he was Then the sayde wryght went into his Chamber and wryghte man dyd will this Ex to go in And the sayde wryghte man went downe the Stayres And this Ex went into M' Wryghte Chamber and delyvered the hatts to him And wryght dyd looke uppon the hatts and gave this Ex vj'^ for his paynes and then he depted. William Granntham. (Endorsed) 5 November 1605. William Grantham Ex.. ' UumistakaLly i:il (E.M.AV.). THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 307 Appendix F. State Papees Domestic — Jas. I., Yol. xvi., No. 11. The Examon of Eobert Eookes taken the 5^^ of November 1605. He saieth tliat his Master M'' Ambrose Eookewood whoe dwelleth at Coklhame Halle in Suff came from thence uppon Wensday last and noe more w^'' him but this exaite and Thomas Symons another of his servaunte. He saieth his Master hath layen en sithence Thursday last at one Mores howse w^^'out Temple Barre and thear lay w'^ him the last night and the night before a talle gent having a reddish beard. ^ He saieth his Masters horsses stood in drewery Lane at the grey hound. He saieth his Master & the other gent went forth this morning about 8 of the clock and his Master stayed not forth above an hower before he came in againe and then going in & out some time about x of the clock went alone to his horsse to ryde away in to Suff. and willed this exaite and his fellowe to come after him to niorowe. He saieth his M^"* as he hath hard lyeth in Warwick shere whear he knoweth not for he hath not benn w*'' his M'' that no we is aboue a senight. (Endorsed) 5" Xo. 1605. The Ex of Eobte Eokes M^" Eookwoode boy. ^ This was Keves. — See " Elizabeth Mora's Evidence." 308 THE GUNPOWDEK PLOT. Appendix G. State Papees Domestic — Jas. T., Vol. xvi., Xo. 16. The cleclarn of John Cradock cutler the vj*'' of November 1005. He sayeth that W Eockwood whos father niarryed jNP Tirwhyte mother about the Begynyug of the last Som vacac dyd bespeke the putting of a Spanyshe Blade off hys into a Sword hilte and appoynted the hylth to have the Story of the passj'on of Christ Richly Ingraved, and no^Y w^'^n these Syxe dayes cawsed that hylth being enamlled and Eychly sett forth to be taken of and the handle to be new wrought of clere gold and the former liylth w''' hys story to be putt on agayne and delyvered yt unto m'' Bockewood upon Monday last at xj of the Clocke at nyght at his Chamber at m'" Mores and m' Wynter a pp Geiityhnan of about xxx yeares or vpward who lyetli at the Syng of the Docke an Drake beyond putrycke in the Strand and ys a great Companyon w^'' m' Catesby m'' Tyrwhyt and m' Eockwood hadd a Sword w*'' the l5'ke Story and was delyvered h3an on Sunday last at nyght but not so Eychly sett forth as the form for \\''^ he payed in all xij^ x"* pt about a quarter of a yeare past at the bespeken thereof and the Best on Sonday last and this term an other Gentylman of that Cupany being a IMacke man of about xl yeares old bespake a lyke Sword for the story & shuld pay vij'' for yt gave h}in x' in Ernest he ys yet out of Towne and the Sword remayneth w"' thys Exam THE GUNPOWDEE TLOT. 309 Christopher AVryght was often w*'' thvs M' Eockwood at thj's Exam shoppe and he hadd the said Wiyghte jugmet for the worcke and Syse of the Blade. Jo Cradock Ex p J. Popham (Endorsed) Cradocke. 310 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. Appendix H. Gunpowder Plot Books — Part L, No. 10. I have sent vnto yo'" L. lierin Inclosed tlie Copye oif the decdarac off Mr Tatnall, off two that passed the fylde thys mornyg wherof some Snspycyon may he gathered off confederacy he observed them so as he hopeth he may mete w''' them and therfore I have gevin hym a warrant to attach them a lyke note yo'" L shall receave herin off' an expectacn that ^V^ Yaiix hadd off some thyng to be done and I know yt by such a means as I assured my selff the matter is trewe and both Gerrard and Walley the Jesuyte make that the chef est place of their accesse and therfore lyke she may knowe Some what both M"' Wenman hym selff & the lady Tasbard do knowe of this wdierfore howe farre forth thys shalbe fytt to be dealt in I humbly leave to yo'' L consyderacn Chrystoffer Wright and M"" Ambrose Kokewood were both together yesternyght at x of the Clocke and vpon ffryday last at nyght they were together at M'' Pokwoode lodgyng and this forenoon Pokwood Rode away into Suffolke about xj of the clocke alone leavyng ])oth hys men behynd hym one Keyes a Gentylma that lay these two last nyghte w*'' 111'' Poke wood and gave hym hys lodgyng went away also about eight off the clocke for w*"'' Keyes I have layed weyet This Pokwood ys of Coldham hall in Saffoke one of the most dangerous houses in Suffolke he marryed m'' Tyrwhytte Syster & she ys now in Warwykshere Chrystoffer Wright as I thyncke lay this last nyght in St. Gyles and yf he be gone yt ys Lyke he ys gone into Warwykesher where I hyer John Wryght THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 311 Brother unto Chrystoffer ys marryed ther were thre hatts bought yesterday in the afternoone by Chrystoffer Wryght the ar for his Brother and two others for two Gentylwomen they cost xj^ and after that about ix of the Clocke at nyght Chrystoffer Wryght cam again to that haverdasshers and Boughte two hatts more for two Servante unto a Gentyhnan that was w*'' hym he thyncks that Gentyhnan was called Wynter but I dowbt that nums name ys mystaken Ther cam a yong Gentyhnan w*'' this wryght w"'in these fewe dayes that gave to Cutler here by xix^ xv"* for a Sword whom I am in some hoep to dyscover by the Sword and other cyrcumstance and even so I humbly take my leave of yo'' L at Serienty Inn the v^'' •of november 1605. yo'' L very humbly Jo Popham.^ (P.S.) I have this mornyg the vi*''' noveber dyscovered where Wynter lis] w"' the matter w'hich I have delyverd to m'' Att'ney wherof happely yo'' L may make good vse I wyll see yf I can mete w^^' m' Wynter Walley the jesuyt and Strang as I am Informed are now^ at ffrance Brownes poke about Surrey as I take yt and Sundry letters lately sent over are yet Remaynyng at fortescues house by the Wadropp but yt wylbe hard to fynd any thyng in that house. (Endorsed) 5 Novemb'' L Ch. Justice ■(Addressed) To the Ryght honorable and my very good L the Earle of Sarysbury. (Declaration enclosed — short.) ^ The Lord Chief Justice of EngLand. 312 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Appendix I. Gunpowder Plot Books — Part L, Xo. 75. 0' Immble diityes remembred. We have this day apprehended & dehwed to his ^Ta*- messenger Berrye the bodie of M'"' Graunt, from whom we gathered that Percy es wief was not farre of, whervppon wee made search in the most lykely place and have even sinca night apprehended her in the house of M'' John Wright, and have thought fitt to take this opportunitie to send vpp to yo'' honors w^'' the said M"^ Graunt aswell the said M''^' Percye as alsoe the wives of other the principall offenders in this last insurrection as appeth by the Kallender heerinclosed by whos exaiacons we thinke some necessary matters wilbe knowne. ]\P" Sherief taketh care & charge of these woomens. children vntill yo*" honors pleasures be further knowne. ffrom Warr this xij"' of November 1G05 yo"" honors most humbly at comaund- ment in all service. Richard Verney Jo : Iferrers W'" Combe Bar : Hales (Endorsed) 12 9bre 1G05 S'' Rych : A'erney and other Justices to me (Addressed) To the right honorable my especyall good Lord the Earle of Salisbur)- iSc the rest of his Ala^- most honorable privie Counsayle w*'' all speed. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 313 Appendix J. Gunpowder Plot Books — Part 11. , No. 130. This Last Yacatio Guy faux als Jbonson did liier a l)arke of Barkin the owners name Called paris w^ierein was Caried over to Gravelinge a ma^ supposed of great import he went disguised and wold not suffer an}' one ma to goe w"' him but this Yaux- nor to returne w"' him This paris did Attend for him back at Gravelyng^ sixe weekes yf Cause quier there are severall proffs of this matter. (Endorsed) Concerninge one Paris that caried faukes to Gravely ng and others. ^ Contraction for " man."' '•^ I.e., Paux. ■'' Gravelvng would be Gravelines in Trance. Most probably " tbe man supposed of great import,'' who " went disguised," accompanied bj Pawkes, was one of the principal conspirators, perhaps Thomas AVinter or John Wright. 1 suspect their errand was to buy fresh gunpowder through Captain Hugh Owen. Notice " Vacation," 1605. 314 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Appendix K. 45, Bernard St., Kussell Square, London, W.(\, 30th October, 1901. Dear Sir, The Gunpowder Plot and Lord ^Mounteagle's J^etter. I well remember accompanying you to the Eecord Office, Chancery Lane, London, W.C, on Friday, the oth of October, 1900, when we saw the original Letter to Lord Mounteagle and the Declaration of Edward Oldcorne of the 12th ^larch, 1605-6. x\s soon as I began to compare the two documents I noticed a general similarity in the handwritings ; althougli the handwriting of the Letter to Lord Mounteagle was evidently intended to be disguised. The letters were not uniform in their slant, and seemed, as it were, to be '' staggering about." There was also, certainly, a particular similarity in the case of certain of the letters. 1 have for the last seventeen years had great experience in transcribing documents of the period of Queen Elizabeth and James I. ; and, in my opinioii, it is at least probable that the Letter to Lord ^Nfoiniteagle and the Declaration of the l"2th March, 1605-6, signed by Edward Oldcorne, were by one and the same hand. Yours truly, Emma M. Walford. To H. PL Spink, Jun., Esq., 'Solicitor, York. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 315 Appendix L. Having recently learnt that Professor AYindle, M.D., P.R.S., Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Birmingham, had written two hooks des- criptive of the Midland Counties, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, with part of Herefordshire, " SJiaJcesjjeare' s Country,'" and '^ The Malvern Country'" (Methuen & Co.), I ventured to write to him respecting the roads from Lapvvorth to Hindlip (traversed on horseback, I con- jecture, by Christopher Wright, about the 11th October, 1605) ; and from Hindlip to Gothurst, three miles from Newport Pagnell (traversed on horseback, I conjecture, by Ralph Ashley, between the 11th October and the "2 1st of October) ; and from Coughton to Huddington, and thence to Hindlip (traversed on horseback, as we know with certitude, by Father Oswald Tesimond, on Wednesday, the 6th November, 1605). I append Dr. Windle's most kind and courteous reply for the benefit of my readers. I may say that his opinion is largely corroborative of former opinions as to distances given to me independently by the Rev. Fr. Kiernan, 8. J., of Worcester; and the Rev. Fr. Cardwell, O.S.B., of Coughton; as well as of those given by the gentlemen whose names occur in the Notes to the Text — the Rev. Fr. Atherton, O.S.B., of Stratford-on-Avon ; Charles Avery, Esq., of Headless Cross; and George Davis, Esq., of York. (I understand that Mr. Avery wrote to the Vicar of Coughton, the parish wherein Coughton Hall, or Coughton Court, is situated, respecting my inquiry. I desire, therefore, to express my thanks to that reverend gentleman, as well as to the reverend the 310 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. Vicar of Great Harrowtlen, Nortliaiiiptonshire, for certain information which tlie latter hkewise most readily vouchsafed to me a few months ago.) " The University, " ]>irminghani, "i)ec. 22, 1901. ''My dear Sir, *' With respect to the distances which you wish t(y know, I have taken them out as well as I can, and I think they will be exact enough ; bat, of course, I have had to work from modern maps, and I eannot be certain that all the roads now in existence were there in the time of James I. You will observe that most of our great roads, near the parts 3'ou mention, run approximately North and South, so that you want cross-roads. " I expect from what I hear of that part of the county that the roads I have taken are fairly old, or at least represent bridle tracks. I think they may fairly be taken as representing the way by which a horseman would travel. With this preface I now give the figures : — "1. Lapwortli to Hindlip — as the crow flies, nine- teen — ^■ia Tutnal and Bromsgro\'e I make it twenty- two miles, and 1 think this is the most likely route. There were Catholic houses at both Tutnal and Bromsgrove. " 2. Coughton to Hindlip — twelve as the crow Hies — about fourteen I in;dve it by road— but I am not sure that the first piece I have used is an old road. But fifteen miles would do it, if the more devious path had to bL' taken. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 317 (( 3. Hnddington is four from Hindlip as the crow ilies ; goiog by road hy Oddingley I should make it five. "4. By the route I should go, if I were cycling, I should take • Worcester to 8tratford-oii-Avon Stratford-on-Avon to Warwick Warwick to Daventrv Daventry to Northampton Northampton to Newport Pagnell - " It would be about the same distance from HindHp ; for from that place you can get into the Worcester and Stratford- on- Avon road by a bye-road. " I hope this information may be of service to you, and if I can help you any further, pray apply to me. 23 miles. 8 If 19 5) 12 1 1 12 n 74 miles. "• I am, "Yours very truly, "Bertram C. A. Windle." 318 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. a Appendix M. Since heuring frujii Professor Wiiidle, M.D., of Biriiiinghaiii, I have received tlie following letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Carniicliael, the Chief Constable of Worcestershire, which my readers will be glad to see, I am sure. The difference in Professor Windle's statement of distances and that of Colonel Carmichael is probably to be accounted for b}' the turns in the road, as well as other differences in the basis of calculation. *' County Chief Constable's Office, "■ Worcester, " •27th December, 1901. Sir, " Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter. "i\dverting to your letter of the 14th inst., 7-e the above, 1 am forwarding yon, as under, the required distances (by road), which are as accurate as I can i^ossibly ascertain, viz. : — Hindlip distant from Huddington, near Lroitwich - - - 3^ miles. Do. from Coughton, near Alcester, Warwickshire - - - - 17^ Do. from I^apworth, Warwickshire 30 Worcester from Northampton - 64 ''Yours faithfully, " George Carmichael, " Lieut. -Col., and Chief Constable of Worcestershire. " H. H. Spink, Jun., Esq., Solicitor, "Coney Street, York." n n THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 319 Appendix N. Extract from York Corporation House Book — Yol. xxviii., f. 82. 4 Jany vicesimo qiiinto Elizth. Assembled in the Coiinsell Chamber upon Oiisebridg the day and year abovesaid ^Yhen and where the Queen's Maties Comission to my Lord Maior and Aldermen directed was openly redd to these present the teno' wlierof hereafter enseweth word by word : — By the Queene Eight trustie and welbeloved we greet you well wheras the great care and zeale we have had ever since our first coming to the crowne for the planting and establishing of God's holie Word & trew religon w'4n this o'" Kealme and other our dominions haith beii notoriouslie knowen unto all o'' Subjects aswell by sundry lawes & ordinajices maid and published for the true serving of god and adminstracon of the Sacraments iVs- by divers Commissions and other directions gyven out from us for that purpose to th'end that therby our Subjects being trayned up in the feare and true knowledge of god might the better learne ther dutie and obedience towards us ; and yet neverthelesse sondry lewde and evill affected psons to our present estate by nature o'' Subjects- borne, but by disloyaltie yelding ther obedience to other forraine potentats have of lait yeares entred into certayne societies in the partyes beyond the Seas, as in the Cyttie of Reimes and other places carreyinge the names of Seinynaries & Jesuits where being trayned upp and as it were full fraught with all erronious and detestable 320 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. doctrine they have and do dailie repare over disguised and in most secreet manner into this o*" Reahne and ■especiallie into this o'" County of the Cyttie of Yorke where they are in sondry places well entertained and harbored, by meanes whereof they have not onelie malitiously gone about to seduce and pervert the simple sort of uur good subjects in njatters of religion but also have practised most uimaturailie trayterousl3'e to wthdraw them frome their naturall dewtics and allegiance towards us Sowing even according to the name they have receved abroad the vere sede of all sedicon and conspiracye amongst o'" people. And all be it we conceved that ther Rebellious harts and practises being thoroughlie dis- covered as well by the lait trjiyterous attempts of some of them in o*" Realme of Irland as by the treasonable actions of others w^^'in this our Realme And tlier obstinate and sedicious manner of dyeing when being justlie condempned by our lawes they have suffered death for the same A^ow wold most carefullie and diligentlie have loked into the seeking owt and apphending of such wicked psons, being a matter of so great consequence to our service and tending princepallie to the publique quiet of o' wholl State and to the p'ticuler saftie of every of our good subjects : and the rather for that our pleasure on that behalf liaith often and sundry wayes ben signified unto yow And for the execucion wherof yow have not wanted sufticient authoritie. ^'et notwithstanding, smale care or none at all haith ben had to annswere o'' expectacou and trust reposed in yow so as we might juslie be drawen to thinke hardlie of yow^ if we were not pswaded that yow have rather neglected >(/ duties for f5ome other respect than for want of good affection to our service. We have thought good therfor oftsons to renew unto yow the remembi-auce of yo'' duties, and do THE GUNrOWDER TLOT. 321 hereby straightlie charge and command yow and ev'ye of yow to have a greater care & moare continewall •circumspection on that behalf and b}^ all the good and discreet meanes yow may to make diligent enquirie and searche w"'in yo'' severall wardes and devisions for all manner of popish preasts, Jesuits Semynaries and such like psons as yow shall have vehement cause to suspect t(^. be malitious and obstinate mistakers of the religeon by us established and of our present estate and the same to apprehend and send under safe custodie unto our right trustie and welbeloved cosine E. of Huntington President of our Counsell in these partes and in his absence to our Counsell here. And further we will yow to have a :speciall regard that such persons as shall ether willinghe absent themselves from the church or shall any way ■depeave the order of comen praer & of the holie sacra- ments now established w^'^in this realme or shall malitiously abuse the ministers of the same or shall by anie other meanes show themselves obstinate & contemptous in matters concerning religeon may be throughlie p'ceded w*'' according to o'" Lawes wherein o*" meaning is that yow should especiallie deale with principall persons who (we assure our selves) do by ther evill example drawe and encouradg the Inferior sort to continew in ther blindnes and disobedience and so requiring yow to procede and continew in the execution hereof in such diligent manner as we may have cause to think yow desier thereby to repare the falts of your former negligence and to dischardge yourselves in your duties according to our •expectacon and the trust w^e comitt to yow We recomend the due accomplishment of all the p'misses unto your discreet and diligent proceding herein. Whereof yow may not fayle as yow tender o"" favo"". Geven under o*" 322 THE GUNrOWDEE TLOT. Signet at o"" Cyttie of Yorke the hist of December 1582 the 25^'' yeare of o'' reigne. And by hir Counsell. (Addressed to) To our right triistie and welbeloved the Maio"" of our Cittie of Yorke and to the Aldermen his bretheren. (On the back.) M'' Harbart W Eobinson Maister ]\Ialtby M'' Appleyard M"^ Trew & M'' May, Aldermen, are appoynted by these presents to view the Chambers upon Ousebridge & IMonckbarr tomorrow at after none & to see whether of the same be most mete for the pson for Churche persons as will fullie resist to come to Church to the mtent the same ma}- be forthwith repared for that purpose.^ ^ Leave was given me to print tlie aforesaid Order of Queen Elizabeth in Council by tlie autlioi-ities of the York Corporation, on the 3rd day of June, 1901; the Lord Mayor for that year being Alderman the Kight Honourable E. "W. Purnell ; and John Close, Esquire, J. P., tSheriff ; J. G. Butcher, Esquire, K.C. and George Denison Faber, Esquire, Kepresentatives ill Parliament — the first Parliament of Ilis Most Gracious Majesty King Edward Yll. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 323 Note as to authenticit/j of " Thomas Whiter s Confession,'''' < at Hatfield. AVhilst greatly adiuiring the erudition and dialectical skill displayed by the Eev. John Gerard, S.J., in his recent Gunpowder Treason "Works, mentioned in the Prelude to this Book, I am of opinion that the Confession attributed to the conspirator, Thomas Winter, is authentic. The internal evidence for the genuineness of this document is too strong {me judice) to be upset. It is true that the change in the form of signature is undoubtedly a suspicious circumstance ; but such change was probably due to a desire, on the prisoner's part, to let "« (jreat gulf he fixed" between '■'■ Thos. Wintour," the free-born gentleman, and " Thomas Winter," the Inchoately attainted traitor. Moreover, the name Winter, or Wynter, ivas, at that time, certainly spelt with the "er" as well as with the '■'■ our," just as the name "Ward"' was spelt either with the final " e "' or without the same. For instance, in Flower's " Visitation of Torlshire," Edited by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc, London), Jane Ingleby is stated to be the " Wyfl: to George Wynter son and heyr of llobcrt Winter of Cawdwell in Worceshyre." One would like to see from the pen of the Eev. John Gerard a translation of Father Oswald Tesimond's Italian Narrative, known as " Greemuay's Ilanusmjjf.'" Tesimond, it is almost certain, knew the bulk of the plotters more intimately than did the seventeenth century Father Gerard. Therefore, Tesimond's Narrative, ^>ro tanto, must surpass in value even the work of the Father Gerard of three hiuidred years ago. NOTES. NOTES. 1. — The following quotation is from the " Calendar of State Papers Domestic, 1603-1610;' p. 254 :— " Xqv. 13 (1G05) Declaration of Fras. Tresham — Cat^'sby revealed the Plot to him on October 14th : he opposed it : urged at least its postponement, and offered him money to leave the kingdom with his companions : thought they were gone, and intended to reveal the Treason ; has been guilty of concealment, but, as he had no hand in the Plot, he throws himself on the King's mercy."' Now surely it stands to reason that if Tresham had penned the Letter — Litterce Felicissimce — he would have never addressed his Sovereign thus. lie would have triumphantly gloried in the effort of his pen, and "worked" (as the phrase goes) "his beneficent action for all that it was worth." Tresham was held back hij the omnipotence of the impossible ; anybody can see that who reads his evidence. Besides Mounteagle, Tresham (who died of a painful disease, strangurion, in the Tower 23rd December, 1605) probably would have had a powerful (if bribed) friend in the Earl of Suffolk. Hence his friends saying that had he lived tliey feared not the course of Justice. The Earl of Suffolk was a son of Thomas fourth Duke of !Xorfolk, by his second wife, Margaret Audley, the heiress of Sir Thomas Audley, of A\^alden, Essex. The Duke was beheaded in 1572 for aspiring to the hand of James the First's mother, Mary Queen of Scots. It is to James's credit that he seems to have treated the Howard family, in its various branches, with marked -consideration, after ascending the English Throne. Thomas fourth Duke of Norfolk's first wife was the heiress of the then last Earl of Arundel, Lady Mary Eitzalan. She left one son, Philip, who became the well- known Philip Howard Earl of Arundel and Surrey. 2. — In 1568 a Commission was appointed which sat at York to hear the •causes of the differences which had arisen between the Scottish Queen and her subjects. Thomas fourth Duke of Norfolk presided over this Commission, -and the late lamented Bishop Creighton, in his fascinating biography of 328 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Queen Elizabeth, thinks that tlie proposal that Mary Stuart should be- inarrifnl to Norfolk came from the Scottish side at York ou this occasion. Whatever may be tlie true histoiy and character of Mary Queen of Scots^ in clearness of mind she excelled her lioyal cousin of England, that wonderful child of the lleuaissance, poor, pathetic, lonely, yet marvellous, " Bess," who for 342 years, even from the grave, has ruled one aspect of English ecclesiastical life.* Moreover, I am of opinion tliat the Scots' Queen showed a singular tolerance of spirit towards the liolders of theological opinions the contradictory of her own, whilst at the same time continuing constantly established in her own tenure of Mhat she believed to be the Truth i indeed a tolerance of spirit, combined with a personal steadfastness, reached onl}' by the very choicest spirits of that or any succeeding age. Tolerance is not a simple but a compound product ; and its attainment is especially difficult to women by reason of the essential intensity of their nature. Tolerance is a habit born of a consciousness of intellectual strength and moral power. It is a manifestation of that princely gift and grace which " becomes a monarch better than his crown." It ought to be the birthright and peculiar characteristic of all tliat know (and therefore believe) they have a living possession of the Absolute and Everlasting Trutli. In the interests of our common Humanity, all who think that their strength is as the "strength of ten," because their "faith" (whatever n)ay be the case with their " works ") is " pure," should seek to place on an intellectual foundation, sure and steadfast, the principle, the grand principle, considered in so manv of its concrete results, of religious toleration : a principle which England has exhibited in its practical working to the world : but rath(>r as the conclusion of the unconscious logic of events than the conscious logic of the mind of man. Now this latter kind of logic alone, because it is idealistic, can give permanency ; the former kind, being primarily materialistic, will inevitably sooner or later go " the way of all flesh;" and we know what that is. The ideas of Truth and llight imply a oneness or uniti/. Now unity is the o[)posite of multiplicity, and, therefore, the contrary of division and distinction. One must rule men by virtue of the prerogatives of Truth and ]iighl when these are ascertained. The problem at the root of the terrible conflict on the veldt of South Afiica since llth October, 1899, to the ])resent tiuu', 126th October, li'Ul, involves this question of the unity that is implied in I lie ideas of Truth and Kiglit. For those ideas are the 1 See "Life of Manj Queen of Scots," by Samuel Cowan (Sampson, Low, 1901) ;. also " The Mystery of ]\Iary Stuart," by Andrew Lang (Lougmaus, lUOl). THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 329' originating causes, the moving springs, the ultimate justification, and tlie final vindication of all true and just claims to paramountcy and sovereignty everywhere. But who is to determine which side has Truth and liio-ht and, therefore, the true and the just claim to paramountcy and sovereignty in South Africa ? Surely the answer is that people who have shown that they can rule Humanity hecause first they have themselves obeyed princely ideals of the Good, the Beautiful, and tiie True. Nothing short of this can satisfv the universal conscience of mankind. A\^hat have our men of light and leading been about tliat they have not explained clearly and straight from the shoulder these truths to the world long, long ago? Had they done so, how much innocent blood might have been never spilt ! How many bitter tears might have been never shed I 3. — Lord Mounteagle had been a party to the sending of Thomas AV^inter and i'ather Oswald Tesimond into Spain in 1601 to negotiate with King Philip 111. of Spain an invasion of England with an army on Elizabeth's death. In 1601 he seems to have been a prisoner in the house of Mr. Newport, of Bethnal Green. But in 1602 he was with Cateshy at White Webbs, by Enfield Chase, near London ; so he was then at liberty, (^n the accession of James I., Mounteagle — along with the Earl of Southampton (Shakespeare's patron and friend), and Francis and Lewis Tresham — held the Tower of London for the King, who seems to have welcomed Mounteagle at Court from the first. After James's accession Christopher AVright and Guy Fawkes were sent on a mission to Spain to urge upon the Spanish King to invade the realm. This mission seems to have been a continuation of the mission in 1601 of Winter and Tesimond. Mounteagle, however, took no ])art or lot in despatching the second mission. (It is impoi'tant to notice the fact that as far back as 1601 and 1603 Thomas Winter and Tesimond, Christopher Wright and Fawkes,. were co-workers in revolutionary designs against the Government of the day.) Mounteagle's father, Lord JMorley, was living in 1 605. He did not die till 1618, when his son and heir succeeded him as eleventh Baron Morley. Mounteagle was called to the House of Lords in the autumn of 1605, under the title of Baron Mounteagle, in right of his mother. " JMounteagle,"' says Father Oswald Tesimond, alias Greenwa}', " was either actually a Catholic in opinion and in the interior of his heart, or was very well disposed towards the Catholics, being a friend of several of the conspirators and related to some of them." After the Plot, Mounteagle evidently left 330 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. the religion of his ancestors, thougli hi.s wife {nee Treshain) continued ■constant herein, and hrought up her children Catholics: but Mounteagle " died a Catholic." Jardine thinlis that ^lountcagle held some ceremonial office at Court, probably in the Household of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of James I., who was at heart a Eoman Catholic, though most probably never received into that Church. — See '■'■ Carmel in England" (Burns & Gates, 1899), p, 30. We hear of Mounteagle about ten days before the 5th Xovember, 1605, calling at the Palace at Kichinond to kiss the Prince's hands {i.e., Henry Prince of Wales). Thomas Winter told Catesby that iMounteagle, at that time, gathered from what he heard at the lloyal Household that the Prince would not be present at the opening of Parliament. Somerset House was Queen Anne's Palace. It would be the centre for all the most brilliant wits, ambassadors, and diplomatists of the day. 4. —The Earl of Arundel and Lord William Howard were half-brothers. (Lord William Howard was "the Belted AVill Howard," renowned in Border story as the scourge of the lawless moss-trooper. For a description of this remarkable man see Sir Walter Scott's " Lay of the Last Minstrel.") The half-brothers were both the s-ons of that unfortunate nobleman, Thomas fourth Duke of Norfolk, who in 1572 was beheaded for aspiring to the hand of Mary Queen of Scots. Lord Arundel died in the Tower of London in 1595, " a Martyr-in-will for the Ancient Paith." Though their father was a strong Protestant (btnng a pupil of John Fox, the author of Fox's " Booh of Martijrs '') both his sons, Philip and William, became strong lioman Catholics, as did his daughter, Mai-garet Lady Sackville. Philip Howard Earl of Arundel, losing his father when owly fifteen years old, was, at an early age, drawn within the vortex of the gaieties of the Court of his kinswoman Queen Elizabeth. However, in the year 15S1, wiiile still a mere courtier and votary of pleasure, it happened he was present, Ave are told, at "the disputation in the Tower of London in 15S1, concerning divers points of religion betwixt Fr. Edmond Campion of the Society of Jesus and some other Priests of the one i)art : Chai'ke, Fulk, AVhitaker, and some other Protestant Ministers of the other." AV^e are further told by his biographer, an unknown Jesuit writer of the seventeenth century, " By that lie saw and heard there, he easily perceived on which side the Truth and true Keligion was, tlio* at that time, nor untill a year or two after, he neither did nor intended to embrace and follow it : and after he did intend it a good while passed before he did execute it. For, as himself signify "d in a letter which he afterwards writ in tlie time of THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 331 bis imprisonment in the Tower to Fr. Southwell, he resolved to become Catholic long before he could, resolve to live as a Catholic, and thereupon he defer'd the former until he had an intent and resolute purpose to perform the latter. The which (being aided by a special grace of God) he made walking one day alone in the Gallery of his Castle at Arundel, where after a long and great conflict within himself, lifting up his eies and hands to Heaven, he firmly resolved to become a member of God's Church, ■and to frame his life accordingly." Sir Eobert Howard, in the reign of Henry VI., married the Lady Margaret Mowbray, daughter of Thomas De Mowbray Duke of Xorfolk, and grand-daughter, maternally, of Kichard Fitzalan Earl of Arundel C Laiv Times," 9th November, 1901). The motto of the Howards Dukes of Norfolk is, " Virtus sola invicta " — " Virtue alone unconquered." The motto of the Howards Earls of Carlisle is, " Volo seel non valeo '" — "I am willing, but I am not able." The Earl of Arundel was "reconciled" by Er. Wm. Weston, of the Society of Jesus, in 1584. In the next year he was imprisoned, and after an incarceration of ten years died in 1595. Fr. Eobert Southwell, the poet, wrote for the Earl's consolation, when the latter was in the Tower of London, that ravishing work, the " Epistle of Comfort." (The illustrious House of the Norfolk Howards has been indeed highlv favoured in being able to call "Friend" and "Father" two such exquisite geniuses as Robert Southwell and Frederic William Faber.) The two half-brothers, Philip and William, married two sisters, the daughters and co-heiresses of Thomas Lord Dacres of the North, " a person of great estate, power, and authority in those parts (as possessing no less than nine baronies) and one of the most ancient for nobility in the whole kingdom." These ladies were among the most amiable and delightful women of their time. From Philip Howard Earl of Arundel and Surrey and Anne Dacres is descended the present Duke of Norfolk ; and from his half-brother Lord William Howard and Elizabeth Dacres the present Earl of Carlisle : both of which Englishmen are indeed worthy of their "noble ancestors,"' and fulfil tlie great Florentine poet's ideal of "the truly noble," in that the}/ confer nobility upon their race. For further facts concerning those mentioned in this note — who so appeal to the historic imagination and so touch the historic sympathies — see the ^^ Lives of Philip Howard Earl of Arundel and Anne Dacres his tvife" (Hurst & Blackett), and the ^^ Household Boolcs of Lord William Howard" (Surtees Society). 332 THE GUNPOWDEH PLOT. 5. — Lord ^louiiteagle would be also akiti to Lord Lumley (wlio had estates at or about Pickering, 1 believe), through the great House of Xeville. Lord Luuiiey's portrait, from a painting in the possession of the Right Hon. the Earl of Scarbrough, Lord Lieutenant of the West E.idinjr of Yorkshire, is to be found in lildward Hailstone's " Yorkshire Worthies,'^ vol. i. Edwaril Hailstone, Esquire, of Walton I fall, AVakeh'eld, was a rich benefactor to the York Minster Library, and his nieinory shoukl l;e ever had in grateful remembrance by all who "love Yorkshire becausts they know her." — See Jackson's '■'^ Guide to YorksJiire' (Leeds). 6. — It slutuld i)e remembered that (i.) the page's evidence goes to show that the inau who delivered the Letter was a "tall man." (ii.) That the Letter was given in the street to the page who was already in the street when the " tall man " came u]) to him with the document. Hoxton is about four miles from W^hitehall. I opine that Mounteagle proceeded from Bath to Iloxton, and that the supper had been pre- arranged to take place at Hoxton on the evening of the 26tli of October, J60o, by Thomas Ward, the gentleman-servant of Lord Mounteagle, who indeed read the Jietter after Mounteagle had broken the seal and just glanced at its contents. Anybody gifted with ordinary common sense can see that this scene must have been all planned beforehand. 7. — The letters " wghe " are not, at this date (oth October, 1900), clearly discernible. 8. — See letter dated Xovember, 1605 — Sir Edward Hoby .to Sir Thomas Edmonds. Add. MSS. in Jjritish Museum, Xo. 4170, where name "Thomas A\^ard " is given. 9. — Stowe's '■^ Chroaide," continued by Howes, ]). SSO. Ed. 1631. Erom the evidence of AVilliain Kydall, it was physically impossible for Thomas Winter to confer with Christopher Wright, Wright being nearly 100 miles away from London." the next day after the delivery of the Letter." for the next day would be Sunday, October the 27th. AV^right reached Loudon in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 30th. See Appendix respecting discrepancy as to date not affecting allegation of fact when the former is not of the essence of the statement, per Lord Chief Justice Scroggs, temp. Charles 11. 10. — I'awkes was apprehended at " midnight without the House," according to " vl Discourse of this late intended Treason.'" Knevet having THE GUNrOWDER TLOT. 333 given notice that lie had secured Fawkes, thereupon Suffolk, Salisbury, and the Council went to the King's chamber at the Palace in Whitehall, and Fawkes was brought into the iioyal Presence. This was at about four o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, the 5th of November. Pawkes showed the calmest behaviour conceivable in the Koyal Presence. To those whom he regarded as being of authority he was respectful, yet very firm; but towards those whom he deemed as of no account, he was humorously scornful. The man's self control was astounding. He told his auditory that "a dangerous disease requires a desperate remedy I " (See " Kiiufis Book") Whitehall Palace liad been a Koyal Palace since the reign of Henry VIII.; it was burned down in the time of William and 3Iary. It was formerly what St. James's Palace is now in relation to royal functions. It was at St, James's Palace that His Most Oracious Majc^sty King Edward A' 11, deigned to receive the respectful address of condolence on the death of His late beloved Imperial Mother, and of loyal assurance of devoted attachment to His Throne and Person from Cardinal Vaughan. together with several Bishops, the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of Kipou, the Lord Mowbray and Stoui-ton, and the Lord Herries, including other peers and representatives of the English Koman Catholic laity. By a singular coincidence the day happened to be the 295th anniversary ■of the execution of Father Henry Garnet, S.J., in St. Paul's Churchyard, London (3rd May, 1606): a coincidence of happy augury, let us devoutly hope, that old things are about to pass away, and that all things are about to become new ! 11. — Essex House was between the Strand and the Eiver Thames, Somerset House was a favourite Palace of Queen Anne of Denmark, the Consort of James I, Here the Spanish Ambassador Extraordinary, Juan Fernandez de Velasco, Duke de Frias, and Constable of Castile, sojourned a fortnight, when in 1604 he came to ratify the treaty of peace between England and Spain. 12. — By Poulson in his " 1/isfori/ of Holdemess," Torks. (1841), vol. ii., pp. 5, 7, in an account of the Wright family, where there is a pedigree showing the names of Christopher Wright and his elder brother John. Poulson may have been recording a h)cal tradition, though he mentions no kind of authority. — See also Foster's Ed. of Glover's '■'• Visitation of Yoflsliire," also Norcliffe's YA. of Flower's "■Visitation of VorlsJiire" (Harleian Society). See Supplementum for account of my visit to Plowland (or Plevvland) Hall, in the Parish of Wei wick, llolderness, on the 6th of May, 1901. 334 THE GUNrOWDER TLOT. IL^— See " Ginj Faivles," by llev. Thomas Lathbury, M.\. (J. W. Parkeiv 1839), ]). 21. Lathbury does not ^we bis authority for this interesting statement respecting this conspirator, Christopher AVright. It is presumed, liowever, that he had some ground for tlie statement ; for it is antecedently improbable tliat his '• imagination '' sliould have provided so circumstantial an assertion. Then, whence did he derive it? Query: — Does Grcenway's Xarralive make any such statement?' Apparently Jardine h.ad a siglit of the whole of this invaluable MS., and possibly Lathbury (who appears to have been a clergyman of tlie Established Churcli) may have seen it likewise through Canon Tierney, the Editor of " DodcVs Cliurcli Ifistory.'' 14. — I am afraid that when the Acts of the High Commission Court that sat in the King's Manor, in York, under the Presidency of Queen Elizabeth's kinsman, the Earl of Huntingdon, come to be published, we .shall find that "the lads and lassies'* of Yorkshire and Lancashire especially were very " backward in coming forward "" to greet the rising of the Elizabethan ecclesiastical aurora which it was their special i)rivilege to behold. Mr. Tliomas (iraves Law knows about these invaluable historical documents, and I hope that he will undertake their editorship. He is just the man for this grand piece of work. To the people of "New England," as well as of " Old England," these records of the York Court of Higli Commission are of extraordinary interest, b(;cause they relate to "Puritan Sectaries" as well as to "Popish Recusants," Scrooby, so well known in the history of the Pilgrim Fathers, being in the Archdiocese of York. 15. — So that bad as tiiey were, they were not hoary-headed criminals, if we except Percy w ho seems to have been prematurely " grey." The name of Thomas Percy's mother appears under "Beverley" as "Elizabeth Percye the widowe of Edward Percye deceased," in Peacock's '■''List of lioman Catholics of Yorlsliire in 1604-' The Percy Arms are in AVclwick Chui'ch. (Communicated by Miss Burnhain, of Plowlaiid, AVdwick.) 16. — 1 have seen the statement in a letter of the Earl (who was one of the most scientific mm of his age) which he wrote after the discovery of the Plot. The letter is in Collins" " /Vm//r." The lui'l of Salisbury was Northumberland's enemy, as Northumberland was looked up to by the popish recusants as a sort of natural leader, though the Earl, on his own THE GUNrOWDER PLOT, 335- avowal, was no papist. Salisbury's natire perspicacity, however, told him that Northumberland, from every point of view, was alike to the Koyal House of Stuart and to the noble house of Salisbury dangerous. For had the- oppressed papists "thrown off"' the yoke of James in course of time, Salisbury's life would have been not worth the price of a farthing candle; and the philosophic, nonchalant Xorthumberland would have thought that the papists' support was well " worth a Mass," just as did King Harry of Xavarre, the father of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I., a few 3'ears previously. (An ancient portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria is in the possession of the Tork Merchant Adventurers, York.) Then again, Salisbury liad a personal grudge against the proud Percy. For the latter evidently in his heart scorned and rejected Salisbury, not only as a novus Jionio — a new man — but as belonging to that band of statesmen who had controlled Elizabeth's policy, and told her not what she ought to do, but what she could do ; and \\hom the great JN'orthern Earl would have been taught from his cradle to spurn at and despise, because they were nothing other than "a low bad lot," who "were for themselves;" very different indeed from the Earls of Essex, Walter and Robert, and such men as Sir Henry Sidney and his still greater son, Sir Philip Sidney, the darling of the England of his day. Percy indeed once declared that if Percy blood and Cecil blood were both poured into a bowl, the former would refuse to mix with the latter. So, human nature being what it is, no wonder the shrewd and able Salisbury had no love for the "high and mighty" Northumberland, and that caiye diem — seize your opportunity — was Salisbury's motto as soon as he got the chance. (I know of no stronger proof that, during the past 300 years, in spite of back-waters, the world Juts made true moral progress than the contrast presented by the present Prime Minister and the present First Lord of the Treasuiy and their ancestors of " Great Eliza's golden time" and the days of James Stuart.) 17. — Robert Catesby held his Chastleton estate in possession from his grandmother. He sold it to pay his ransom after the Essex rebellion. (Dr. Jessopp in Article on " Catesby," " National Dlctionart/ of Biography") Had Catesby an estate at Armcote, in Worcestershire, not far from Chipping Norton ? IS.— This Father Gerard of the seventeenth century was the second son of Sir Thomas Gerard, of Byrn, Lancashire. He was an acquaintance- of the Wards, of Mulwith, Xewby, and Givendale, most probabl}', for he was the early and life-long friend of Mary Ward. — Seethe '■'■ Life of Mary Ward,'' by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers (Burns & Gates). 336 THE GL'NPOWDER TLOT. 19. — Sir Thomas Leigh settled considerable property 1o the uses of the marriage, Jardine says that only Chastleton actually came into Catesby's possession. 20. — S. T. Coleridge, speaking of the age of Elizabeth, says that, not- withstanding its marvellous physical and intellectual prosperity, " it was an age when, for a time, the intelh^ct stood supei-ior to the moral sense." ''Lectures on Shakespeare;' Collier's Ed. (1856), p. 'M. 21.- What a lesson to us all, of every creed and ])hilosopliy, is the just, yet terrible fate of these personally charming men, " to hug the shore "' of plain Natural Ethics, of solid Moral \'irtue, which indeed is " fairer than the morning or the evening star."" The establishment of Ethical Societies by such men as the late Sir John Seeley and Professor Henry Sidgwick for the diffusion of true Moral Ideas is a fact pregnant wilh happy augury for the twentieth century. 22.— Jardine's "-Narrative;' pp. 31, 32. 23. — Gerard's ''Narrative;' p. 56. 24. — Knaresborough, Knaiesbrough or T\nai'esl)ui'^li, is thus pleasantly •celebrated in Drayton's '' Poly ol bio n"' : — " From Wheniside Hill not far outflows the nimble Nycle, Through Nythcrsidc, along as sweetly she doth glide Tow'rds Knaresburgh on her way Where that brave forest stands Entitled by the town'i who, with upreared hands. Makes signs to her of joy, and doth with garlands c-rowu The river passing by." 25. — "The A'enerable " Francis Lngleby's portrait is si ill to be seen at lli])l('y Castle, an ideal English home, hard-by the Minding Xidd. 26. — For tli(» facts of I'raMcis lngleby's life, see Challoner"s " Mifmioiiani Priests" edited by Tiuimas G. Law; and " .Irf.s of (he I'^njlish Martyrs" {Burns k Gates), by tlie Hnv. .1. H. VnWm, S.J. 1 The allusion is to the ancient Forest <>[ Knaresbrough belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster. (As to the extent and liistory of the I'^orest, see Graingc's •" Forest of Ktmresbrough.'') THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 337 27. — From Father Gerard's " Narrative of the Gunpoivler Plot,"' p. ."iO. 28. — See the adniirahlv written life of Sir Everard Digbv, under tlie title " The Life of a Gonsirirator" by " One of his descendants " (Ivegan Paul & Co., 1895). The learned descendant of Sir Everard Digby, how- ever, evidently knows very much more concerning his gallant ancestor than he knows about Guy Fawkes, who (excepting that "accident of an accident "' — fortune) was as honourable a character ns the high-minded spouse of Mary Mulsho himself — honourable, of course, I mean after their hind. — Jardine".s ''^Narrative of Gunpoivder Plot,'' p. 67. 29,- — Sir William Catesby and Sir Thomas Tresham were excellent types of the English gentry of their day. Eacli was " a fine old English gentleman, one of the olden time." They had both become " reconciled "' Eoman Catholics — along with so many of the nobility, gentry, and yeomanry in the Midlands — in 1580-81, through the famous missionary journey of the .Jesuit, Robert Parsons, probably foruiing with Edmund Campion two of the most powerful extempore preachers that ever gave utterance to the English tongue. We may readily picture to ourselves " the coining of age " of the son and heir of each of these gallant knights and stately dames. And we may easily conceive of the briglit hopes that either of the gentlewomen (especially the two sisters), in their close-fitting caps, laced ruffs, and gouns falling in pleated folds, must have cherished in their maternal hearts for an honourable career for the child — the treasured child — of their bosom. Alas I through the evil will of man, for the pathetic vanity of human wishes. 30. — Jardine, in his '■^Narrative," p. 51, says that John Grant's ancestors are described in several pedigrees as of Saltmarsh, in Worcester- shire, and of Snitterfield, in Warwickshire ; that Xorbrook adjoined Snitterfield, though it is not now considered locally situate therein. Students of Shakespeare will be interested to learn that in the Parish of Snitterfield, near Grant's ancestral home, the poet's mother, Mary Arden — herself connected with the Throckmortoji family — owned ])roperty. Moreover, through his mother, Shakespeare was distantly connected with several of the plotters. For Catesbj' and Tresham, as well as Lady Wigmore, of Lucton, Herefordshire, were all first cousins to Lady Mount- eagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham. Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (the father of Francis Throckmorton, who was executed in W 338 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. tlio reign of Elizabeth) liaviu};; three daughtei's whom he married to ISir AVilliaui Catesln , Sir Thomas Tresham, and Sir William Wigmore. — See Jardine's " Xanuilivt' of the Gunpowder Plot" p. 11 ; also Foley's '^^ Records of the Jesuits in EiKjIand" (Earns it Oates), vol. iv., p. '290. Probably Shakespeare knew Grant personally, and not only Grant, but Catesby, Percy, the Winters (Eobert and Thomas Winter were likewise akin to the Throckmortons), and Tresham. That the bard of Avon knew Lord Mtiiinteagle, the associate of his friend and patron the Earl of Southampton, is even still more probable. llow is it that Shakespeare never in his writings sought to make political capital (as the sinister ])hrase goes) out of the Gunpowder Plot ? For several reasons : first, his iieart (if not his head) was with the ancient faith he had learned in the old Warwickshire home : secondly, his large humanity prompted him to sympathise with all that were oppressed. I hold that in this studied silence, this dignified reserve of Shakespeai*e, we may discern additional proof of the nobleness of the man, supposing that he knew ju'r^onally any of the plotters. He would not kick friends that were down, when those friends were even traitor^. He could not approve their action — far from it. He might have condemned with justice, and with the world's applause. Rut upon himself a self-denying ordinance he laid, temjitiiig as it must have been to hiui to perform the contrary,, especially when we recollect the course then followed by his brother-poet — Jonson. ]5ut Shakespeare would not ''take sword in hand"' with the pretence of restoring ''equality" between these wrong-doers and their country. He deemed that the ends of justice — exact, strict Justice — were met in ••the hauguian's bloody hands" — " Macbeth," 1606- — and that sufficed for him. Since writing the above note I find it stated in '-The JicUgton of Shales/tctxre" by Henry Sebastian Bowden (Burns i^- Oates, 1S99) — chiefly from the writings of that great Elizabethan scholar, the late Eichard Simpson — that "among the chief actors in the so-called Gunpowder Plot were Catesby ; the two Bates: John Grant, of ^Xorbrook, near Stratford: Thomas Winter. Grant's brother-in-law : all Shakespeare's friends and benefactors"' ip. lOih ; so that my conjecture is, belike, warranted that the poet knew Catesby, Winter, and Grant. Moreover, from the same work, it appears that Shakespeare, through the Ardens and Throckmortons, was connected by family marriages, not only with Catesby, the Winteis, and Tresham, but distantly with the E;irl of Southampton himself, who was a relative of Lord Mounteagle. Hence it is still more probable that Shakespeare knew Mounteagle personally. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 339 Again, Shakespeare probably was present as one of the King's players in 1604 at Somerset House, on the occasion of the Constable of Castile's visit. — See Sidney Lee's ^•Life of Shahcs2)eare" (Smith A: Elder), p. 233. — If this were so, then it is well-nigh certain tli:it the poet must have there beheld Mounteagle, who would be one of the Lords then present, most probably in attendance on the Queen Consort. The festivities in honour of the Spanish Ambassador Extraordinary wound up with a magnificent banquet at the Palace of Whitehall, when the Earl of Southampton "danced a correnta '' with the Queen. This was August 19th, 1604. — Cf. Churton CoUins's " Ephemera Crifica " (Constable) as to religion of Shakespeare. 31. — The name is also spelt Tirwhitt. Sir Eobert Tyrwhitt, Lady L'rsula Babthorpe's grandfather, had entertained Henry VIIL at the old Hall at Kettleby. A new Hall was built in the time of James I., but this was pulled down about 1691, 1 believe. The Tyrwhitts, of Jvettleby, were allied to such as the Tailboys, Boroughes, AVyuibishes, Monsons, Tournays, Thimbelbies, Thorolds, and other Liucolnshire houses. Thev were rigidlv Eouiau Catholic. The marriage between Sir William Babthorpe and L'rsula Tyrwhitt was one of those marriages "that are made in heaven." The lovely pathos of the lives of this ideal Yorkshire family is indescribable ; beginning with Sir William Babthorpe, who harboured Campion in loSl. It was continued through Sir Ealph Babthorpe, who married tliat " valiant woman'' (the only daughter and heiress of William Birnand, the Recorder of York), Grrace Birnand by name, of Brimham, Knaresbrough, and York. Lady Grace Babthorpe's active and contemplative life was one long singing of Gloria in excelsls. Sir AVilliam Babthorpe and Lady L'rsula his wife, like their noble parents, Sir Ealph Babthorpe and Lady Grace, "for conscience sake " became voluntarv exiles " and with strangers made their home." Sir William died a captain in the Spanish Army fighting against France. Lady Ursula, his wife, died of the plague at Bruges. They had many children, some of whom were remarkablv gifted. Marv Anna Barbara Babthorpe, the grand-daughter of Sir William Babthorpe, and great-great- grand-daughter of the Sir William Babthorpe who harboured Campion, was the ilother-General of the Xuus of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin, one of whose oldest convents, St. Mary's, is still situated near Micklegate Bar, York, on land given by Sir Thomas Gascoigne, Bart., of Barnbow Hall, near Aberford, in the time of James II. In Ireland the nuns of this order are styled the Loretto Xuns. The story of the Bahthorpes is a veritable English '• I'll Beclt d'line sceio'." — See " Life of Mary IVard." — The AVards — 340 THE GUN^O^YDER PLOT. like the Inglebies, of liiploy ; the Constables, of Everiiigliam ; ' the Dawiuiys, of Sessay ; and tlie Palmes, of ]Saburn — were related to this "family of saints." — See also "The Babthorpes, of Babthorpe" (one of whose ancestors carried the swoi-d before King Edward III. on entering Calais in 1347), in the late Eev. John Morris's " Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers,'^ first series (Burns & Oates). Tor "the Kayes,"' of Woodsonie, see Canon llulberl's ''Annals of Almondlmri/ " (Longmans). "The Venerable" Kichard Langley, of Owsthorpe and Grimthorpe, near Pocklington, in the East Hiding of Yorkshire, who suffered at the York Tyburn on the 1st December, 1586, for harbouring priests, was great- grandson of one of the Kayes, of Woodsome. (Communicated by Mr. Oswald C. B. Brown, Solicitor, of York.) 32. — '■'■ Greenway's J\IS.,'' quoted by Jardine, '^ Xarrath'e of the Gunpowder Plot;' p. 151. 33. — llawarde, " lieportes of Star Chamber." See ''■'The FaivJceses, of Tori-,'' by ilobert Davies, sometime Town Clerk of Y'ork (Nichols, AVestminster, 1850); and the ''Life of Guij Fawkes," by AVilliam Camidge (Burdekin, York). Davies was a learned York antiquary. William Harrington, the elder, first cousin to Edward Fawkes (Guy's father), and Thomas Grimstone, of Grimston, were both "bound over"' by the Privy Council, on the 6th of December, 1581, to appear before the Lord President of the North and tlie Justices of Assize at the next Assizes at York, for harbouring Edmund Campion.— See "Acts of Privy Council, 1581" (Eyre & Spottiswoode), p. 282. — What was the upshot I do not know. Their Indictments are probably still to be found at York Castle. And it is a great desideratum that the old York Castle Indictments should be catalogued, and a catalogue published. I believe such never has been done. 1 The Constables, of Everingham, are one of those old English lioniaii Catholic families who so appealed to the historic imagination and so touched the historic sympathies of the first Earl of Beaconsfield. The present Lord Lieutenant of the East Hiding of Yorkshire, Lord Harries, is the owner of this grand old home of the Constables, one of whom was executed for his share in the first Pilgrimage of Grace under llobert Aske, of Augliton on the Derwent, in the time of Henry VIII. (153G). The pilgrims captured York, Pontefract, and Hull, and laid siege to Skipton Castle. Aske was hanged as a traitor from one of the towers of York, cither Clilford's Tower or possibly the towur of All Saints' Church, The Pavement, York. After the move- ment had been quelled, Henry VIII. came with dread majesty to York and established the Council of the North. Lady Lumley, the wife of Sir John Luniley, of Luinley Castle, was burned alive at Smichtield. — See Burke's " Tudor Portraits.' THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 341 Since August, 1900, York Castle has been used as a Military Prison. All tlie old Indictments that are in existence, whether at York, Worcester, or other Assize towns, would be of interest and value re the Gunpowder Plot (/ the affair is to be t/iorotcjJtJi/ bottomed. The Yoi'k Quarter Sessions' Indictments appear to be irretrievably lost, which is a great pity, as many of those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries must have i-eferred to Popish recusants, and tbose of the seventeenth century probably to Puritan sectaries, and, later, to Quakers as well — the latter being punished under the Popish Acts of Supremacy and Allegiance. Indeed, the barrister, William Prynne (seventeenth century), a Calvinistic English Presbyterian, wrote a book to prove that Quakerism was only a sort of indirect and derivative Popery. The learned gentleman entitled his work : " Tfie Qual-ers unin/." 40. — It is also said that Catesby " peremptorily demanded of his ^associates a promise that they would not mention the project, even in Confession, lest their ghostly fathers should discountenance and hinder it." — See "■ lUie Month," No. 369, pp. 353, 4. — This would be to make assurance, doubly sure. But, happily, the " best laid schemes o' men gang aft agley."' " Eor there is on earth a yet auguster thing, veiled though it be, than Parliament or King" — the human conscience, which is "prophet in its informations, a monarch in its peremptoriness, a priest in its blessings and ■anathemas " (John Henry Newman). Also, " Conscience is the knowledge -with oneself of the better and the worse " (James Martineau). 41. — See Jardine's ^'Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot," p. 41. 42. — The Most Hon. the Marquess of Ripon, K.G., Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and the Marchioness of Ripon, C.L, of Studley Royal, near Ripon, are descended from this leile-hearted and •chivalrous Yorkshire race, in whom so many idealistic, stately souls, of a long buried Past, claim kindred. 344 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Of \\]iat manner of men these Mallories were, the puissant owners of Studley lioyal, is evident from \\hat we are told concerning that Sir "William ^lallory, " who was so zealous and constant a Catholic, that when lieresy first came into England, and Catholic service connnanded to be put down on such a day, he came to the church, and stood there at the door with his sword drawn to defend, that none should come in to abolish religion, saying that he would defend it with his life, and continued for some days keeping out the officers so long as he could possibly do it." — From the " Babthorpes, of Babtliorpe," Morris's " Troubles of our Catholic Fore- fathers," first series, ]). 227. — The Church referred to nuist have been the old Chapel at Aldfield, near Studley Royal. Aldfield was one of the Chapelries of the ancient Parish of Ripon. The old Chapel at Aldfield is now represented by tlie noble new Church which is seen in the distance, at the end of the long avenue, by all who have the rare happiness of visiting Studley Royal and the tall gre)^ ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary, Fountains, laved by the nuisical little River Shell. (Studley Church is twin-sister to Skelton Church, the Vyner Memorial in the Park of Newby. Skelton was likewise one of the old Ripon Chapelries.) This phrase "to abolish religion," I opine, refers to the time of Edward Yl., when the Mass was first put down, and a communion substituted therefor. — See Tennyson's " Mary Tudor" — There is a curious old traditional prophecy extant in Yorkshire, as well as other parts of England, that as the Mass was abolished in the reign of the Sixth Edward, so it will be restored in tiie reirrn of the Seventh I o 43. — The promoters of the Rising of the Xorth wished : — (T) To restore to her kingdom Mar}'' Queen of Scots, who simply fascinated Francis Norton, and every other imaginative, romantic, Yorkshire heart that she came in contact with. (2) To depose Elizabeth, whom they regarded as morally no true claimant for the throne, until dispensed from her illegitimacy by the Pope. (3) To place ^lary Stuart on the throne of England. (4) Above all, to restore " the ancient faith,"' wliieli they did in Durham, Slaindrop, Darlington, Richmond, Ripon, and some of the churches in Cleveland, for a very brief season. It is to be remembered that the Rising of the Xorlh in loGO was not joined in by all the Catholics of Yorkshire, nor by any of the Catholics of Lancashire. This latter fact, together with the influence of Cardinal Allen, of Rossall, partly accounts for the circumstance that Tiancashire (especially the neighbourhood of AYigan and Ashton-in-Maker- THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 345 field, and, above all, the Fylde, tliat region between Lancaster and Preston, whence "the great Allen" sprang) is "theEoraeof England*' to this day. It is said tlmt the Parish Church of Bisphain (near which the well-known sea-side resort, Blackpool, is situated) was the parish church where last the parochial Latin Mass was said publicly in Lancashire, the priest being Jerunie Allen, uncle to the Cardinal. In the white-washed yeoman dwellings ol' the Pykle have been reared many of the sturdiest and most solidly pious of the post-Reformation English Catholic Priests. William Allen's plain, honest, finely- touched spirit seems to have brooded over this fruitful, western, wind-swept land which is well worthy of exploration by all philosophic historians that visit Blackpool. Also, all who travel in Yorkshire, either by road or rail, from Knaresbrough and Harrogate to Eipon, and thence to Topcliffe, Thirsk, Darlington, Durham, and Alnwick, pass through a part of the North of England whose very air is laden with historic memories of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. And how often, when visiting Bishop Thornton (an idyUic hamlet betwixt Harrogate, Pateley Bridge, and Ripon, that is still a stronghold of " the ancient faith," which, as in a last Yorkshire retreat, has tJtei-e never died out), has the writer recalled the following lines from the old "Ballad of the Bising of the North": — " Lord Westmoreland his ancyent [i.e., ensign] raisde, The Dun Bull he rais'd on hye ; Three dogs with golden collars brave, Were there set out most royallye. Earl Percy there his ancyent spred, The half moon shinhig all so fair ; The Norton s ancyent had the Cross And the Five Wounds Our Lord did heare." Norton Conyers, in the Parish of AVath, near Eipon, was forfeited by the Nortons after the Eebellion of 1569. It is now, I believe, the property of Sir Eeginald Graham, Bart. If the Grantley estate belonged to the Nortons in 1569, it was not forfeited, or else it was recovered to the Norton family. Grantley, however, may have possibly belonged to the Markeufields, and, being forfeited by them, granted to Francis Norton, the eldest son of old Eichard Norton. — See " /SVr lialph Sadler s Papers^' Ed. by Sir Walter Scott. — The present Lord Grantley is descended from Thomas Norton, who was sixth in descent from old Eichard Norton, and fifth in descent from Francis, the eldest of the famous " eight good sons." The Grantley property belonged to Lord Grantley until it was recently disposed of to Sir Christopher Furness, M.P. Lord Grantley's ancestor, Sir Fletcher Norton, was created Lord Grantley and Baron Markenfield in 1782. Sir Fletcher 346 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Norton's mother was a Fletcher, of Little Strickland, in the County of Westmoreland. The present Sir Henry Fletcher, Bart., M.P., belongs to a branch of the Fletcher family, who originally came from Cockermouth, in Cumberland. There is a tradition that when Mary Queen of Scots had been defeated at the Battle of Langside, after her romantic escape from Lochleven Castle, Henry Fletcher, of Cockermoutli Hall, waited on the Scots' Queen when she first landed at Workington. JTenry Fletcher "entertained" the Queen at Cockermoutli Hall (17th May, 1;")68), "most magnificently, presenting her with robes of velvet." It is further said that when James I. came to the English Throne he treated Henry Fletcher's son, Thomas Fletcher, with great distinction, and offered to bestow upon him a knighthood. — See Nicholson & Burns' '■'■ Ilistonj of CumherJand and Westmoreland." As to the Xortons and Markenfields, see Wordsworth's " iVhite Doe of Ihjlstone" ; ''Memorials of the liehdlion of 15G9 " (1840) : Froude's ''History of England " ; " Memorials of Cardinal Allen " ^ (Ed. by Dr. Knox, published by Nutt, London); and J. S. Fletcher's "Picturesque YorTcsliire'' (Dent & Co.). In Hailstone's "Portraits of Yorlcsldre Worthies'' (two magnificent volumes published by Cundall & Fleming) are photographs of old llichard Norton and of his brother Thomas, and of the former's seventh son, Christopher. The pliotographs are taken from paintings in the possession of Lord Grantley, now, I believe, at Markenfield Hall. The same valuable work also contains a photograph of a portrait of "the Blessed" Thomas' Percy Earl of Northumberland, from a painting belonging to the Slingsbies, of Scriven. From the Ei|)on Minster Eegisters of Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, it is plain that, between the years 1589 and 1601, a •' Norton," described as " [lenerosus,'' lived at Savvle}^ close to Bishop Thornton and Grantley, near Kioon. 44. — In 1569 the Norton Con3'ers estate seems to have been vested in a Nicholas Norton, probably as a trustee. — See " Sir lialph Sadler's Papers" and see ante, Supplementum HI. 1 Cardinal Allen, though a Lancashireman by his father, was a Yorkshireman by his mother, who was Jane Lister, of the County of York. — See Fitzherbert's Life of Allen, in " Memorials of Cardinal Allen." — Lord Ribblesdale, of Gisburn Park, in the West Hiding of the County of York, is the representative of this ancient York- shire family of Lister. Lord ^lasham is a representative of a younger branch of the same family. By a remarkable coincidence, on the IGth day of October, 1900, there were presented to Pope Leo XIII., at Rome, on the occasion of the English Pilgrimage, the Rev. Philip Fletcher, M.A., and Lister Drummond, Esq., barrister-at-law, representatives respectively of the families of both Fletcher and Lister. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 347 The Winters were also related to the Markenfields, their aunt, Isabel Ingleby, having married Thomas Markenfield, of Markenfield. The AVrights and Winters were also, through the Inglebies, connected "with the Torkes, of Growthwaite, in Nidderdale, of which family, most probably, sprang Captain Eoland Torke (who introduced the use of the rapier into England — see Camden's " Elizabeth "), the friend of Sir Philip Sidney, in tlie Netherlands. — See Foster's Edition of " Glovers Visitation of Yorlshire" ; '^ 'The Earl of Leicester's Correspondence^' (Camden Soc.) ; also ■" Cardinal Allen's Defence of Sir William Stanley's Surrender of Deventer, 29th Januarif, 1586-87" (Chetham Soc). The Wards, of Mulwith, Xewby, and Givendale, were related to the jVortons, old Richard Norton's grandmother being Margaret, daughter of Eoger Ward, of Givendale. Richard Norton's mother was Ann, daughter and heiress of Miles Ratcliffe, of Rylstone. Through her came to the Nortons the Rylstone estates. Hence the title of the immortal poem of the Lake poet, Rylstone and Barden (or Norton) Tower are both near Skipton-in- Craven. Skipton Castle was the seat of the Cliffords Earls of Cumberland. The Craven estates of the Nortons, it is said, were granted by James I. to Francis Earl of Cumberland. (I visited Norton Tower in company with my friend, Mr. William AVhitwell, F.L.S., now of Balham, a gentleman of varied literary and scientific acquirements, in the year 1883. Norton Tower, built on Rylstone Fell, between the valleys which separate the Rivers Aire and Wharfe, commands a magnificent prospect " without bound, of plain and dell, dark moor and gleam of pool and stream." — See Dr. Whitaker's " Craven") 45. — That Thomas Percy (of the Percies, of Beverley, not of Scotton, I feel certain), the eldest of the conspirators, must have been a Roman Catholic as a young man is plain from the fact that Marmaduke Ward, brother-in-law to John Wright and Christopher Wright, had a designment " to match "' his gifted and beautiful eldest daughter, Mary,, with Thomas Percy who, hovA^ever, singularly enough married Martha AVright, Mary Ward's aunt. — See " Life of Mary Ward," by Mary Catherine Elizabeth Chambers (Burns & Gates, 1882), vol. i., pp. 12 and 13. — Percy, being agent for his kinsman, the Earl of Northumberland, would frequently reside at the Percy palace at Topcliffe, which was only distant twelve miles or so of pleasant riding across a breezy, charming country to Mulwith and Newby. Sampson Ingleby, uncle to the Winters, succeeded Thomas Percy as the Earl's agent in Yorkshire. Sampson Ingleby was a 348 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. verv trusty man. A photograph of a painting of him is in Hailstone's '' Yorkshire Worthies,'' tak(>n from a painting at Ripley Castle. Edmund Neville Earl of Westmoreland, de. jure, was afterwards one of the many unsuccessful suitors for the hand of Mary Ward. — See her '•'■Life" vol. i. — The Government would have liked to implicate Neville in the Gunpowder Plot, hut utterly failed to do so. He eventually hecame a Priest of the Society of Jesus. He petitioned James to I'estore to him the Neville estates, hut without avail; so that historic Middleham and Kirbymoorside (in Yorksliire), and Raby and Brancepeth (in Durham), finally passed from the once proud house of Neville, one of whom was the well-known Warwiclv, the King-maker, owing to the chivalrous, ill-fated Itising of 1.569. This Eisiug first broke out at Topcliffe, between ]{ipon and Thirsk, where the Earl of Northumberland was then sojourning at his palace, the site of wliich is pointed out to this day. Tojjcliffe is situated on the waters of the Eiver Swale, which (like the East liiding river, the Derwent) is sacred to St. Paulinus, the disciple of St. Augustine, the disciple of St. Gregory the Great, the most unselfish, disinterested friend the English and Yorkshire ])eople ever had. The first Pilgrimage of Grace, under liobert Aske, of Aughtou, broke out on the banks of the Derwent. Hence, each of " the holy rivers " of Yorkshire inspired a crusade — a thing worth memory. Mr. Thomas P. Cooper, of York (author of " I'or/.- .• the Uistonj of its Walls ami Castles"), kindly refers uie to '•'Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Jlennj VJIf., 1537,'' p. 87, for evidence tending to prove that llobert Aske was executed "on the lieiglit of the castle dungeon,'' where the High Sheriff of Yorkshire had jurisdiction, and 7iot the Sheriffs of the City of York. This would be Clifford's Tower, not The Pavement, where Aske is sometimes said to have met his fate. I think Mr. Cooper has, niost ])robably, settled the point by his discovery of this important letter of "the old Duke of Norfolk" to Thomas Cromwell. 46. — Father Gerard's "Narrative of Gunpowder Plot" in "■Conditions of CatJiulics under James /.,"' Edited by Father Morris, S.J. (Longmans, 1872). 47. — The "very imperfect proof" to which I refer is contained in a certain marriage entry in the Kegisters at Eipon Minster. Tlie date is "10th July, 1588'' (the year and month of the Spanish Armada), and seems to me to be as follows : " Xpofer AVayde et Margaret Wayrde."' Now, " Margaret *' was a family name of the Wardes, of Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith, and THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 349 the clergyman making the entry maij have written '• Wayde " instead of Wright. AV"e cannot tell. Therefore, alone, it is a mere scintilla of evidence to show that Christopher Wright married a Warde, of Mulwith. Further research among those of the Ward (or Warde) ])ap8rs that are yet extant may clear the question as to whom Christopher Wright married. The mysterious silence which broods over the life and career of Marmaduke Ward, subsequent to the year 16(J5, suggests to my mind many far-reaching supposals. Marmaduke AV'ard seems to have died before the year 1614, but the " burials " of the Ripon Eegisters are lost for this period apparently. 48. — Born 1563. Father Oswald Tesimond was for sis years at Hindlip Hall, along with Father Oldcorne. Ralph Ashley, a Jesuit lay-brother, was Oldcorne's servant. 49. — John Wright was born about 1568. Christopher Wright was born about 1570. Had they a brother Francis, living at Xewbie (or Newby), who had a son Robert ? — See Ripon Registers, which records the baptism of a Robert Wright, 25th March, 1601, the son of Francis Wright, of Newbie; also of a Francis Wright, son of Francis AV right, of Newby, under date 2nd February, 1592. The Welwick Church Registers for this period are lost apparently, though the burial is recorded, under date 13th October, 1654, of ffrauucis Wright, Esquire, and of another ffrauncis Wright, under date 2nd May, 1664, both at AVelwick. (Communicated to me by the Rev. D. V. Stoddart, M.A., Yicar of Welwick.) Probably the Francis AVrights, of Xewby (or Newbie), are those buried at Welwick, being father and son respectively. Certainly the coincidence is remarkable. — See ante. 50. — Foley's '^ llecords of the Enc/llsJi Province of the Society of Jesus,'' vol. iv., pp. 203-5 (Burns & Oates, 1878). 51. — Quoted in Foley's ''■Records,"' vol. iv., p. 213. 52. — It is noteworthy, as illustrative of Father Oldcorne's character, that Robert Winter says in his letter to the Lords Commissioners, 21st January, 1605-6: "After our departure from Holbeach, about some ten days, we [i.e., himself and Stephen Littleton, the Master of Holbeach] met Humphrey Littleton, cousin to Stephen Littleton, and we then entreated him to seek out one Mr. Hall [an abas of Oldcorne] for us. 350 THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. iiiid desire him to Lel[) us to some resting place." — See Jardine's " Criminal Trials, Gunpoivder Plot," vol. ii., p. 146. 53. — Schismatic Catholics were those Catholics that went to Mass in j)rivate liouses, and (hen, more or less, frequented their parish church afterwards to escape the fines. They were further divided into Communi- cants and .\i)n-C()nnnunicanls, Yeiy ofti-n the iiicn of a family were Catholics of this sort, and the woiueiikind strict Catholics. Indeed, it was mainly the women and the priests that have kept '"the Pope's religion "'^ alive iu Englanil ; although, of course, mani/ men of great mental and physical powers were pa[)isls of the most rigid class. The practice of " going to the Protestant cliurch,*" as Englisli liomau Catholics trrm the- practice to this day, was deliherately condemned hy the Council of Trent. The cause of the historic controversy between the Jesuits and the Secular Priests in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. lies in a nut-shelL It was this : tlio Jesuits, anrl especially their extraordinarily able leader,, Eatliei" Parsons, thouglit that the Secular Priests required watching. And so they did : and so do all other human creatures. 13ut the mistake that Parsons made was this : his prejudices and prepossessions blinded him to the fact that the proper watchers of Secular Priests are Bishops and the Pope, and not a society of Presbyters, however grave, however gifted, or however pious. 54. — " Collecti Cardivelli," Public Eccord (3ffice, Brussels Vita) Mart, p. 147. In Eoley's '■'■ llecords" vol. iv., there is a beautiful picture of Father Edward Oldcorne, S.J., now "the Venerable Edward Oldcorne," one of York's most remarkable sons. In the left-hand corner of the portrait is a representation of a portion of Old Ouse Bridge, witli St. William's Cliapel (at present the site of which is occupied by Messrs. Varvills' establishment). St. Sampson's Cliurch, the ancient church which gave the name of the [)arish where Oldcorne first saw the light of the sun, is still standing, it is near Holy Trinity, King's Court, or Christ's Parish, where " the Venerable," JMargaret Clitherow lived. Oldcorne must have known that great York citizen well. She was born in Davygate, and was the second wife of a butcher, }iamed John Clitherow, of the Parish of Christ, in the City of York. She was married in the Church of St. Martin, Coney Street, in 1571. She was one of Nature's gentlewomen, hy birth: and the Church of Bome, ever mindful of her own, declared in ISSG (just three hundretl vears after the martvr's death in the Tulbooth, on Old Ouse THE GUNPOWDEK PLOT. 351 Bridge) that Margaret Clitlierow, a shrewd, honest, devout York trades- woman, is one of the Church's " Venerable Servants of God,'' by grace. — See J. B. Milburn's Life of this extraordinary Elizabethan Torkshire- woinan, entitled, ''A Martyr of Old York" (Burns & Oates, London). 55. — This crossing-out of the word '• yowe " is noticed in Xash's '■'^ History' of Worcestershire." 56, — The word " good " 'is omitted in. the copy of the Letter given in the " AutJiorised Discourse,'" which is remarkable. I think it was done designedly, in order to minimize the merit of the revealing plotter. 57.- — King James's interpretation of these enigmatical words was- simply fantastical. It may be read in Gerard's "JVarrative," and in most contemporary relations of the Plot. 58. — I am of o])inion that one of Father Oldcorne's servants, E.alph> Ashley by name, a Jesuit lay-brother, was the person that actually con- veyed the Letter to the page who was in the street adjoining Lord Mounteagle's Hoxton residence, on the evening of Saturday, the 26th of October, 1605. My reason for being of the opinion that Ealph Ashley conveyed the Letter will be seen hereafter, in due course of this Inquiry. The page's evidence went to show that the deliverer of the Letter was a tall man, or a reasonably tall man. There is nothing inconsistent in this account of the height of the Letter-carrier with what we know of the size of xlshley, which is iiegative knowledge merely. I mean we are not told anywhere that he was of short stature, as we are told in the case (1) of the Jesuit lay-brother, Brother Ralph Emerson, a native of the County of Durham, and the servant of Edmund Campion — see Simpson's '■'■Life of C'cmijilon" — whom the genial orator playfully called "his little man'" — '' homulus''' ; and in tlie case (2) of the Jesuit lay-brother, Brother Nicholas Owen, the servant of Garnet, who was affectionately termed " little John '' by the Catholics in whose castles, manor-houses, and lialls, up and down tlie country, lie constructed most ingenious secret places for the hiding of pi-iests. Ealph Ashley had acted in some humble capacity at the English Catholic College of Yalladolid, wliicli had been founded in Spain from Eheims, through the generosity of noble-hearted Spanish Catholics, among whom was that majestic soul. Dona Luisa de Carvajal. — See her '■'■Life," by the late Lady Georgiana Fullerton (Burns & Oates). — See also 352 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. "■The Life of the Venerable John lioherts, O.S.H.,'' by tlie licv. Becle Camm, O.S.B. (Sands & Co.) — Father Ivoberts fouiuled the Benedictine College at Douay, still in existence. Cardinal Allen's secular priests' College is now used as a French Bari-acks. Ushaw College, Durham, and St. Edmund's College, Ware, are the lineal successors ot" Cardinal Allen's College at DouMV. (By the way, when are the letters of the late Dr. Lingard likely to be published ? Lingard, after Wiseman, was the greatest man Ushaw has produced, and his letters would be interesting reading; for Lingard must have known many of the most considerable personages of his day. Lingai'd died at Hornby, near Lancaster, not far from Hornby Castle, the seat of the once famous Lord jNIounteagle.) Brother Kajjhiiel (or Ralph) Ashley, \\ah; possibly akin to the Ashleys, of Goule Hall, in the Township of Cliffe, in the Parish of Hemingbrough, in the East Hiding of Yorkshire, or to the Ashleys, of Todwick, near Sheffield, in the south-east of Yorkshire. He came to England along with Father Oswald Tesimond, in 1597. — See ''Father Tesimond's landing in England,"' in Morris's " Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers,'^ first series (Burns & Oates). — If Ashley were a Yorkshireman, one can easily understand liis being the chosen companion of tlie two Y'orkshire Jesuits, Oldcorne and Tesimond. This Jesuit lay-brother was acquainted with London : and as. Qui facit per alium facit i)er se, it was pre-eminently likely that Oldcorne would employ his confidential servant to perform so weighty a mission as tlie one I have attributed luito him. Again, since " he who ads tlirough another acts through himself," it is unnecessary for me to treat at large in the Text concerning my supposal respecting the part that Brother Ealph Ashley played in the great drama of the Gunpowder Plot. Ashley being identified witli liis master, Father Oldcorne, shares, in his degree, his master's merits and praise. Professor J. A. Froude thought that Kal[)h AYaldo Emerson was of the same stock as Brotlier llalpli Emerson. It is quite possible. For after the Gunpowder Plot, 1 opine that the j^ounger Catholics in many cases became Puritans, and in some cases, later on, (Quakers. 59. — Xotwithstaiuling the endless chain of tlu^ causation of human acts and human events, man's strongest and clearest knowledge tells liiui that he is *• master of liis fate," n:iy, that "he is fated to be free,"' in- asraucli as at any moment man can ()[)en the flood-gates tl;at are betwixt hiui and an Infinite Ocean of Pure Unconditioned Freedom : THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 353 onn open those flood-gates, and in that Ocean can lave at will, \\n<\ so render himself a truly emancipated creature. The antinomies of Thought and Life do not destroy nor make void the Facts of Thought and Life. Antinomies surround man on every side, and one of the great ends of life is to know the same, and to act regardful of that knowledge. 60. — The copy in the " Authorised Discourse " gives " shift off," not "shift of" as in the original. Doubtless "shift off" was the expression intended. It is still occasionally used in the country districts about York. The word " tender," in the sense of " take care of " or " have a care of," is to-day quite common in that neighbourhood (1901). 61.—" Gunpoivder Plot Bools" vol. ii., p. 202. 62. — It is impossible to desci'ibe the emotions that welled up in the heart of the writer as he gazed on this small, faded, and fading document : emotions of awe and gratitude, blended A\ith veneration and reverence, for the maker of this lever — this sheet-anchor — of the temporal salvation of so many human creatures, who had been barbarously appointed to die by those that had forgotten what spirit they were of. The writer was favoured by the sight of the original Letter on Friday, the 5th day of October, 1900, at about half-past two o'clock in the after- noon. He desires to place on record his sense of obligation for the courteous civihty with which he was treated by the authorities at the Record Office, London, on this occasion. 6o. — Oldcorne, being a Jesuit, would from time to time go to AVhite Webbs, Morecrofts (near Uxbridge), Erith-on-the-Thames, Stoke Pogis, Thames Street (London), and other places of Jesuit resort where Mount- eagle and AVard had the entree. Again, he must have known well the Vaux family of Harrowden, and all the circle that Mounteagle and Ward would move in. Again, if Ward were married in York, in 1579, he may have met Oldcorne as a Catholic medical student of promise in the ancient city. Along with a dear brother, a young Yorkshireman, in London, I visited White Webbs,' by Enfield Chase, on Saturday, the 6th October, 1900. The old Iiouse known as Dr. llewick's House, where the conspirators met, is now no longer standing ; but the spacious park, with its umbrageous oak trees, meandering streams, tangled thickets, and pleasant X 354 THE GUXrOWDER PLOT. paths, is almost unchanged, I should fancy, since it was the rendezvous of the Gunpowder traitors, concerning whom the utmost one can say is that they were not for themselves; and that Nemesis in this life justly punished them, and drove them to make meet expiation and atonement, before the face of all men, for their infamous offences. Thereby Destiny enabled the men to restore equality between the .State they liad so wronged, in act and in desire, and themselves ; and a lKi|)py thing for the men, as well as for others, that Destiny did so enabh; them whilst there was yet time. (In October, 1900, 1 was informed that the present mansion, knowiii as White AVebbs, belongs to the Lady Meux.) 64.— Known b}" Edmund Church, Esq., his confidant. Qb. — See '• Life of Mary Ward,^' vol. i., p. 1. QQ. — Mrgery Slater most probably belonged to a Jiipon family, as I iind the same Christian name and surname among entries of the- "Christenings'" in the Ripon Minster Register, a few years after the year 1579. Possibly the child was a niece of "Mistress M'rgery Ward."' "Mistress AVarde" may have been a relative of Mr. Cotterell, as i find in the St. Michael-Ie-Belfrey Register the entry of the burial (15S3) of Anne who is described as " s' vaunt and cozine to Mr. Cotterell, being- about twenty-six years of age."' Now, Mr. Cotterell was probably Mr- James Cotterell, of the Parish of (Old) St. Wilfred, York, a demolished churcli, wliose site is to-day (1901) occupied by the ofiicial lodgings of the- King's Judges of Assize when on circuit. Eor the "subsidy" of 1581, a Mr. James Cotterell of that parish was assessed in " Lande " at £Q 13s. 4d. (among the highest of tlie York assessments). There was a Mr. Cotterell '■ :ni I']xaminer " for the Council of the Nortli in the time of Elizabeth, and I have no doubt that "Mistress Warde's *' late master was this very gentleman. Whetiier the young woman whom "Thomas AV'ard, of Mulwaith," made his wife (evidently direct from the house of her master), on the 29th day of May, 1579, was the equal by birth and by descent of her husband, \ do not know. Let lis hope, however, that alike in gifts of personal attructiveness ami graces of character slie was not unworthy of one who came from so truly " gentli' " a jjeople as the Wardes, of jMulwitli, (iivendale, and Newby. Jf M'gery Slater did hail from Ripon» this " faithfid following" of lier U) York, and from the house of her master, publicly making her, in the face of all tiie world, his " true and honourable wife, as dear to him as were the ruddy drops that THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 355 visited his own heart," bears early witness to an idealism of mind in this Torkshire gentleman that was thoroughly in keeping with the chivalrous race whence he sprang. I cannot give any personal description of Thomas Warde; but I can of Marmaduke AVarde, who was also of Mulwith, or Mulwaith, in the reiga of Queen Elizabeth, and from tJiis picture we may imagine that. 67. — Speaking of Marmaduke Warde (or Ward) — for the name was spelt either way — his kinswoman Winefrid Wigmore, a lady of high family from Herefordshire, in after years said: — "'His name is to this day famous in tliat country [i.e. Torkshire] for his exceeding c^juieliness of person, sweetness and beauty of face, agility and activeness, the knightly exercises in which he excelled, and above all for his constancy and courage in Catholic religion, admirable charity to the poor, so as in extreme dearth never was poor denied at his gate ; commonly sixty, eighty, and sometimes a hundred in a day, to whom he gave great alms : and yet is also famous his valour and fidelity to his friend, and myself have heard it spoken by several, but particularly and witli much feeling by Mr. William Mallery, the eldest and best of that name, who were near of kin to our ' Mother,' both by father and mother." The William Mallery, here spoken of, was one of " the Mallories," of Studley lioyal, near Eipon, the present seat of their descendants, the Most Hon. the Marquess and Marchioness of Eipon. The above quotation is taken from the " Life "' of Marmaduke Ward's eldest daughter, Mary, who was one of the Jnost beautiful and heroic women of her age. — See M. C E. Chambers' " Life of Mary Ward^' vol. i., p. 6 (Burns & Oates). — Mary Ward died at the Old Manor House, Heworth, near York, on the 20th January, 1645-6. She was related to Father Edward Thwing, of Heworth Hall, who suffered at Lancaster for his priesthood, 26th July, 1600. 1 think the Old Heworth Hall was built heliind the present Old Manor House, which seems to be an erection of about the end of the seventeenth century. The Thwing family, of Gate Helmsley, then owned Old Heworth Hall, where Father Antony Page was apprehended, who suffered at the York Tyburn in 1593 for the like offence, which, by statute, was high treason (27 Eliz.). Thomas Percy, John Wright, and Christopher Wright, as well as Guy Fawkes, may have often visited Old Heworth Hall. In fact there is still a tradition that the Gunpo\\der plotters "were at Old Heworth Hall"' (communicated to me in 1S90 by the owner, W. Surtees Hornby, Esq., J. P., of York), and also a tradition that Father Page was apprehended there. Mr. T. Atkinson, for the tenant, his brother-in-law, Mr. Moorfoot, showed the writer, on the 9th August, 3-3G THE GUNPOWDER TLOT, 1901, the outhouse or hay clianiber (of bri(!k and old timber) where this priest was taken on Candlemas Day morning in the year 1593. — See ]Morris's "Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers,'" third series, p. 139. — This holy martyr was a connection of the Bellamy family, of Uxendon, with whom the great and gifted Father Southwell was captured. Father Page was a native of Harrow -on-the-JIill. The last of the English martyrs was Father Thomas Thwing, of Heworth, who was executed at the York Tyburn, IHSO. His vestments belong to the Herbert family, of Gate llelmsley. I have seen them about three times at St. Mary's Convent, York, where they have been lent by the kindness of the owner. What a hallowed and affecting link witli the past are those beautiful, but fading, priestly garments. The following letter of Mr. Bannister Dent will be read with interest, as heli)ing the concatenation of the evidence. It is from a York solicitor who for many years \\as Guardian for the old Parish of St. Wilfred, in the City of York : — " York, "21st March, 1901. " Old Pauish of St. Wilfhed. '* In reply to your letter of to-day's date, the streets comprised in the above parish were Duncombe Place, Blake Street, Museum Street, Lendal Hill, and Lendal. 1 have mad(> enquiries, and am informed that St. Michael-le-Belfrey's Church would be the church at which a resident in this parish would be married." 68. — Margery Warde (born Slater) was probably the sister of one Hugo Slater, of Eipon, who, subsequently to 1579, had a daughter, ^Margery, and a son, Thomas. — See Eipon Kegisters. John Whitham, Esq., of the City of Eipon, has been so kind as to place at my disposal the Index, which is the result of his researches into the Eipon Eegisters. There seems to be no entry of the baptism of Mary (or Joan or Jane) Ward in 1585-86, nor of John AVard, William Ward, jior Teresa AVard. George AVarde's baptism is recorded: "18th May, 1595 [not 1594J, George AA'aryde filius .Al'maduci de ^lulwith." Then under date 3rd September, 1598, occurs, three years afterwards, this significant entry: "Thomas AVarde filius W rw^Auci de Nubie." This naming of his son "Thomas'' by Marmaduke Warde, I submit, almost suffices to clench the proof that Marmadidve and Thomas A\\arde were akin to eacli other as brothers. If proof be required that the name "AVard" was .spelt botli Ward and Warde, it is contained in the following entries in the liipon Minster THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 357 Registers of the baptism of Marmadiike AV^ard's daughters, Eliza and Barbara^: '-SO April 1591— Eliza, daughter of Marmaduke AV'arde of Mulwith : ■' " iM Xoveniber 1592 — Barbara, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Mulwith.'" The entries are in Latin. In some subsequent entries Marmaduke Warde is described as of Xewbie, e.g.: "5 Xov. 1594 — Ellyn, daughter of Marmaduke Warde of Newbie." 69. — Xewby was s|)elt " Xewbie " at that time. Newhy adpius the village of Skelton. Mulwith is about a mile from Newby. 70. — See vol. v., p. 681. 71. — Henry Parker Lord Morley, the grandfather of Mounteagle, married Lady Elizabeth Stanley, daughter of Edward Earl of Derby. He was one of the peers who recorded his vote against Elizabeth's Act of Uniformity, and became " an exile for the faith " in the Netherlands after the year 1569. His son, Edward Parker Lord Morley, Mounteagle's father, was born in 1555; he too lived abroad for some years, but eventually seems to have conformed wholly, or in part, to the established religion ; although his son, Lord Mounteagle, was, on the latter's own testimony, I)rought np a Koman Catholic, and, in fact, died in that belief. From an undated letter of Mounteagle, ably written, addressed to the King, and given in Gerard's " What was the Gunpowder Plot?" p. 256, it is evident that (after the Plot, most likely) Mounteagle intended to conform to the Establishment. The Morle}^ barony was created in 1299. — See Burke's " Extinct Peercu/es,'' and Horace Kound's " Studies in Peerage and Family History" p. 23 (Constable, Westminster, 1901). — From Camden's '• Britannia," the Morleys evidently owned, at various times, estates in the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, in addition to Essex, Lincolnshire, and Lancashire. That the conformity to the Established Church of Edward Parker Lord Morley (the father of William Parker Lord Mounteagle) was in part only is, to some extent, evidenced by the fact that Mr. Edward Teh^erton (one of the well-known Yelvertons, of Norfolk) is described at tb.e end of the reign of Elizabeth as "a Catholic, domiciled in the household of Lord Morley." — See Dr. Jessopp's " One Generation of a Norfolk House,'' being chiefly the biography of the celebrated Jesuit, Henry Walpole, who suffered 1 Eliza was probably Elizabeth Warde, and Ellyn — Teresa Warde. 358 THE GUXrOWDER PLOT. for Ins priesthood at the York Tyburn, 7th April, 159."), in the thirty-sixth year of his age. Koine, in 1S86, declared Henry Walpole to be "a Venerable Servant of God."' 72. — See vol. i., p. 244. 73. — See vol. i., p. 244. 74.— See vol. i., p. 2:jS. 75. — See vol. i., p. 237. 76. — EdvAard Poyntz, Esquire, was a relative, lineal or collateral, of the celebrated James Duke of Ormonde, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whose mother was a daughter of Sir John Poyntz. — See that valuable work, *' The CromivcUian Settlement of Ireland" p. 254, by John P. Prendergast (McGlashan & Gill, Dublin, 1875). I have found much information about the Poyntz family in the " Visitation of Essex " (Harleian Soc). I think that Edward Poyntz was uncle to the Viscountess Thurles. If so, he would be great-uncle to the Duke of Ormonde. From this it would follow that the Viscountess Thurles (who was a strict Roman Catholic) would be a first cousin to Mary Poyntz, the friend and companion, as well as relative, of Mary AVarde, the daughter of Marmaduke Warde, and niece of Thomas AVarde. — See " Life of Mary Ward" vol. i. AVinefrid Wigmore, already mentioned, was cousin, once removed, to Lady Mounteagle, who was a daughter of Sir Thomas Ti'esham, Sir William Wigmore, AVinefrid's father, having married her aunt, Anne Throckmorton, a daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. Lady Catesby was another daughter. — See Note 30 supra. 77. — As slightly supporting the contention that Lord Morley, the father of ]Mounteagle, was related to, or at least connected witii, the AVards, it is to be observed that John AVright, the elder brother by the wliole blood of Ursula AVard, at the time when the Plot was concocted, had his " permanent residence at Twigmore,"' in the Parish of Manton, near Brigg, in Lincolnshire. — Jardine's '■^Narrative" p. 32. — Now, in Foley's " Records" vol. i., p. 627, it is stated that Twigmore, or Twigmoor, and Holme " were ancient possessions of the Morley family." The brothers THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 35[^ -John and Christopher AVright were evidently called after two uncles who bore these two names respectively. — See Norcliffe's Ed. of Flower's " Visitation of YorlsJiire" (Harleian Soc). 78. ^To-day (April, 1901) Newby-cum-Mulwitli forms one township. 'Givendale is a township by itself. Along with Skelton they form a separate •ecclesiastical parish. Skelton Church, in Xewby Park, is one of the most beautiful in the county, having been erected by the late Lady Mary Vyner, of Xewby Hall. The Church is dedicated under the touching title of " Christ, the Consoler."' Formerly the Parish of Eipon included no less than thirty villages. At Skelton, Aldfield, Sawley, Bishop Thornton, Mouckton, and Winksley there were Chapels. Pateley Bridge also had a Chapel, but this was parochial. — See Gent's '■'■ Ripon." — ^At Sawley, I find from the Ripon Register of Baptisms, there was a William Norton living (described as '■' f/e^ierosns") in 1589. He would be the great-grandson of old Richard Norton, who by his first wife, Susanna, daughter of Neville Lord Latimer, ■had eleven sons and seven daughters. They were (according to an old writer), these Nortons, " a trybe of wicked people universally papists." It is reported to this day (Easter Day, 1901), at Bishop Thornton, by Mr. Henry Wheelhouse, of Markington, aged 84, that the Nortons, of Sawley, •continued constant in their adherence to the ancient faith till well on into the nineteenth century. Mr. "VVheelho use's recollection to this effect may be well founded ; because not only has there been a remnant of English Roman Catholics always in the adjoining hamlet of Bishop Thornton, but there was at Fountains, in 1725, a Father Englefield, S.J., stationed there — see Foley's '^^ liecords," vol. v., p. 722 — and if the Nortons, of Sawley (or some of them) remained Papists, one can understand how it might come to pass that there was a Jesuit Priest maintained at Fountains and a Secular Priest at Bishop Thornton, only a few miles oif. The Roman Catholic religion was also long maintained by the Messenger family, of Cayton Hall, ■South Stainley, and by the Trapps family, of Nydd Hall, both only within walking distance of Bishop Thornton : maintained until the nineteenth •century. I think the Messengers, too, owned Fountains in 1725. Viscount Mountgarret now owns Nydd Hall. His Lordship's family, the Butlers, are allied to the Lords Vaux of Harrowden. Mass also was said (before the present Roman Catholic Chapel was built at Bishop Thornton) at Raventoftes Hall, in the Ripon Chapelry of J3ishop Thornton, once the home of the stanch old C^atbolic family of 360 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. A\'al\voilli. Then Mass was said in the lop chamber, running the whole length of the priest's present house. Afterwards (about 1778) followed the present stone Chapel. Claro Lady IToward, of Glossop, built the Schools at Bishop Tliornton a few years ago, F. Keynard, Esquire, J. P., of ]I()b Green, Markington and Sunder- land wick, DrifTield, now owns Kaventoftes Hall, which has a splendid view towards Sawley, How Hill, and Ripon. It is rented by a lloman Catholic, named Mr. Y. Stubbs, who is akin to tlie Hawkesworths, the Shanns, the Darnbroughs, and other old Bishop Thornton and Ripon families. Peacock, in his " List,"' speaks of William Norton as a grandson of Richard Noi'ton, but, according to Burke's '■'Peerage," he must have been a great-grandson. The Nortons may have saved the Sawley estate from forfeiture, somehow or another, or perchance they bought it in afterwards from some Crown nominee. Francis Norton, the eldest son and heir of old Richard Norton, fled with his father to the continent. His son was Edmund, and his son was William Norton, of Sawley, whose descendant was the first Lord Grantley. Gabetis Norton, Esquire, owned Dole Bank, between Markington and Bisho|i 'I'hornton, where Miss Lascelles, Miss Butcher, and others of Mary AVard's followers, lived a semi-conventual life during the reign of Charles II,, previously to their taking up their abode near Micklegate Bar, Tork. — See '■'■AniHil.s of St. 3Iari/s Convent, Yorh," Edited by H. .T. Coleridge, S.J. (Burns & Gates). — Sir Thomas Gascoigne, of Barnbow, Aberford, was the benefactor of these ladies, both at Dole Bank and York ; Dole Bank probably at that time belonging to this "fine old English gentleman," who died a very aged man at the Benedictine Abbey of Lambspring, in Germany, a voluntary exile for his faith. Dole Bank came to Gabetis Norton, Esquire, ill the eighteenth century, from his sister, who was the wife of Colonel Thornton, of Thornville Royal (now Stourton Castle, iiear Knaresbrough, the seat of tlie Lord Mowbray and Stourton) and of Old Thornville, Little Cattal, now tlie property of William Macliin, Esq, (Derived from old title-deeds and writings in the possession of representatives of William Hawkes, yeoman, of Great Cattal.) Dole Bank, I believe, now belongs to Captain Greenwood, of Swarcliffe Hall, Birstwith, Nidderdale. During the early pail of tlie nineteenth century the Darnbroughs rented Dole Bank^ the present tenant being Mr, Atkinson. 70. -1 think that Thomas AVarde may have been born about the Jn'ginning of Elizabeth's reign; for if he were married in 1579, and was, say, twenty-one years of age at the time of his marriage, this would fix THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 361 his birth about tlie vear 1558. Early marriages were cliaracteristic of the period. Mounteagle, for example, was married before he was eighteen. The Kipoii liegisters begin in fairly regular course in 1587, though there are fragments from 1574, but not earlier. If Christopher AVright, the plotter, lived in Bondgate, llipon, and had a child born to him in 1589 (the year after the Spanish Armada), he must, like Mounteagle, have been married when about eighteen years of age. These instances should be carefully noted by students of Shakespeare, inasmuch as tliey rendtT the poet's marriage with Anne Hathaway in 1582, when he was little more than eighteen and a-lialf years old, less startling. — See Sidney Lee's " Life of Shal-espeare," p. 18 (Smith & Elder, 1898). I should like also to add that I think there is a great deal in Halliwell-Phillips' contention as to Shakespeare having made the " troth- plight." — Concerning the " troth-plight " see Lawrence Yaux's " Catechism," Edited by T. Gr. Law, with a valuable historical preface (Chetham Soc.).- — Shakespeare's "mentor" in the days of his youth was, most probably, some old Marian Priest, like Yaux, who was a former Warden of the Collegiate Church at Manchester, and with "the great Allen'" and men like Yivian Haydock — see Gillow's '■'Hai/docJc Pa pers'" (Burns & Oates) — retained Lancashire in its allegiance to Eome — so that " the jannock " Lancashire Catholics style their county, " God's County "' even unto this day. 80. — The strong and, witlnn due limits, admirable spirit of " clannish- ness" that still animates the natives of Yorkshire — a valiant, adventurous, jovial race, fresh from Dame Nature's hand — is evidenced by the fact that within a very recent date the Yorkshiremen who have gone up to the great metropolis, like many another before them, to seek their livelihood, and maybe their fortune, have formed an association of their own. This excellent institution for promoting good fellowship among those hailing from the county of broad acres has for Patron during the present year, 1901, the Duke of Cornwall and York (now H.E.H. The Prince of Wales, December, 1901), and that typical Yorkshireman, Yiscount Halifax, for President. The Earl of Crewe, Lord Grantley, Sir Albert K. Eollit, Knt., M.P., cum multis aliis, are members. May it flourish ad midtos annos ! 81. — In the Eecord Office, Chancery Lane, London. 82. — The Earl of Northumberland was fined by the Star Chamber i!30,00t>, ordered to forfeit all offices he held under the Crown, and to be imprisoned in the Tower for life. He paid £11,000 of the fine, and was. "302 THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. released in IHi'l. lie was the son of Henry Percy eiglitli Earl of XorthunilM'i-lancl, and nephew of "the Blessed" Thomas Percy seventh Earl of Northumberland, and of iMary Slingsby, the \\ife of Francis Slingsby, •of Scriven, near Knaresbrougli. Although the Earl of Xorthuinberland that was Star-Chambered was by his own declaration no papist, he was looked up t(j by the English Roman Catholics as their natural leader. His kinship with the conspirator, Thomas Percy, alone is usually thought to have involved the Earl in this trouble; but probably the inner circle of the Government knew more than they thought it policy to publish. ■"Simple truth," moreover, was not this Government's "utmost skill." Lord Montague compounded for a fine of £4,000. Guy Fawkes, for a time, was a member of this peer's household. — See " CaJendar of State .Papers, James /." Lord Stourton compounded for £1,000. Lord Mordaunt's fine was remitted after his death, which took place in 160S. Robert Keyes and his wife were members of this peer's household. — See " Calendar of State Papers, James I." These three noblemen were absent from Parliament on the 5th of November, no doubt having received a hint so to do from the conspirators. This fact of absence the Gov'ernment construed into a cliarge of Con- cealment of Treason and Contempt in not obeying the King's Summons to Parliament. — See Jardine's ^'Narrative" pp. 159-164. The Gascoignes, through whom the Earl of Northumberland and the Wardes were connected, belonged to the same family as the famous Chief Justice of Henry IV., who committed to prison Henry V., when "Harry Prince of Wales." — See Shakespeare's " King Henry IV."' and " King Henry Y." The Gascoignes were a celebrated Yorkshire family, their seats being Gawthorpe, Barnbow, and Parlington, in the West Riding. They were strongly attached to their hereditary faith, and suffered much for it, from the infliction of heavy fines. Like Lord William Howard, the Inglebies, of Lawkland, near Bentham, the Plumptons, of Plumpton, near Knaresbrough, and the Fairfaxes, of Gilling, near Amplefortli, the Gascoignes were gi-eatly attached to tlie ancient Benedictine Order, which took sucli remarkable root in England through St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine, and his forty missionaries, all of whom were Benedictines. — See Taunton's " 27ie EiKjllsli Blade Monies of St. Benedict " (Methuen & Co.) ; also Dr. Gasquet's standard work on '■■I'hujlish Monasteries" (John Hodges). It may be, perhaps, gratifying to tlie historic feeling of my readers to learu that the influence of these old Yorkshire Roman Catholic families, THE GUNPOWDEE PLOT. 363 the Gascoignes, the Inglebies, and the Plumptoiis, is still felt at Bentbam ;and in the old Benedictine Missions o£ Aberford, near Barnbow, and of Knaresbrongh, near picturesque Plunipton, notwithstanding that the places which once so well knew the Gascoignes and the Plumptons now know them no more. The present gallant Colonel Gascoigne, of Parlington, I believe, is not himself descended from the Roman Catholic Gascoignes in the direct male line of descent ; the Inglebies, of Lawkland, recently died out ; and the Plumptons to-day are not even represented in name. The stately Benedictine Abbey of St. Lawrence, Ampleforth, in the Yale of Mowbray, will long perpetuate the memory of the Fairfaxes, of Gilling ; H. C. Pairfax-Cholmeley, Esquire, J. P., of Brandsby Hall, now represents this ancient family. 83. — See " Condition of Catholics under James /.," by the Eev. John Morris, S.J., pp. 256, 257 (Longmans). The charge of complicity was based on an alleged reception of Father John Gerard, S.J. (the friend of Sir Everard Digby, and author of the contemporary Narrative of the Plot), by Sir John Torke at Gowthwaite Hall, after the Gunpowder Treason. Gerard left England in 1606, and there is no evidence wdiatever that he had anything to do with the Plot. I do not know, for certain, how Sir John Torke fared as to the upshot of his prosecution. But I strongly suspect that the tradition that obtains among the dalesmen of Nidderdale to the effect that the Torkes, of Gowthwaite (or Goulthwaite, as it is styled in the Valley), were once heavily fined by the Star Chamber for acting in the great Chamber of Gowthwaite a political play, wherein the Protestant actors were worsted by the Catholic actors, sprang from these proceedings against Sir John Yorke anent the Gunpowder Plot. For long years after the reign of James I., the Yorkes, like the Inglebies their relatives, were rigid Catholics. This ancient and honourable family of Yorke is still in existence, being represented by T. E. Yorke, Esquire, J.P., of Bewerley Hall, Pateley Bridge. The old home of the Yorkes, Gowthwaite Hall, where doubtless many priests were harboured " in the days of perse- cution," is about to be pulled do«n to make way for the Bradford Eeservoir. I visited, about 1890, the charming old Hall built of grey stone, with mullioned windows. A description of this historic memorial of the days of Queen Elizabeth and James I. is to be seen in " Nidderdale,'' by H. Speight, p. 468 (Elliot Stock) ; also in Fletcher's " Picturesque YorlcsMre "' (Dent & Co.), which latter work contains a picture of tlie place, a structure "rich with the spoils of time," but, alas! destined soon to be now no more." 364 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Eipley Castle IIil' home of the iiiglebies, at the entrance to jS'idderdale (truly the Switzerland of England), still rears its ancient towers, and still is the roof-tree of those who worthily hear an honoured historic name for ever "to historic meiuory dear." " From Eden Vale to the I'Ut'iHa of York,' by Edinund Bogg, contains sketches of lioth ]?i|)ley Castle and (Jowthwaite Hall. Lucas's '■'■ Nidderdale" (Elliot Stock) is also will worth consulting for its account of the dialect of this j)art of Y'orkshire which, like the West Hiding genei"all\', retains strong Cymric traces. There are also British characteristics in the build antl personal appearance of the people, as also in their marvellous gift of song. The Leeds ^Musical Festival and its Chorus, for exauiple, are- renowned throughout the whole nuisical world. 84. — It is, moreovei", possible that Mounteagle may have met bis- connection, and ])rohal)ly Idnsraan, Thomas W'arde, at White Webbs, abOut the year lOti:^. Mounteagle, at that time, like the Earl of Southampton and the Earl of l^utlaiid, was not allowed to attend Elizabeth's Court on account of his share in the Essex tumult. We was, in fact, then mixed u|> with thr schemes of Father Eobert Parsons' then-expiring Spanish faction amonu- the English Catholics. If a certain Thomas Grev, to whom Garnet at White Webbs showed the papal breves (which the latter burnt in 1603, on James I. being proclaimed King l)y applause), were the same person as Sir Thomas Gray, he would be, most probably, a relative of Thomas AVarde. For the Wardcs, of ^lulwith, certainly were related to a Sir Thomas Gray. — See ''Life of Manj Ward^' vol. i., p. 221, where it is said that, "through the Nevilles and Gascoignes," the Wards were related to the families of Sir Kaljih and Sir Thomas Gray.^ . 1 Were Sir Kiiljih and Sir Thomas Gray of the Grays (or Greys), of Chilliiigham, Northuiiiberlaiid ? It may be remarked that, about the year 1597-98, jMarmaduke Ward and his wife and some of his family went to live in Northum- bcrhmd, maybe at Ahiwick ; and as Thomas Percy was connected with Marmaduke Ward, it is at least possible that IMarmaduke Ward went himself into Scotland on the mission to Iving James VI. in the company of his brother-in-law, Thomas Percy. But the Wards may have gone to Chillingham about 1597-9, and not to Alnwick. Sir Thomas Gray, of Chillingham, married Lady Catherine Neville, one of the four daughters of Charles Neville sixth Earl of Westmoreland, whose wife was Lady .lane Howard, daughter of Henry Howard luul of Svu'rey. Lady Margaret Neville was married to Sir Nicholas I'udsey, of Bolton-in-Bowland, Yorkshire, I think. Ijady Anne Neville was married to David Ingleby, of llipley, a cousin of Marmaduke Ward and of Ursula Wright. Lady Margaret Neville conformed to the Establishment, but afterwards, 1 believe, tlie lady relapsed to popery. — See the " IJntton Corres- jiondence" ;Surtees Soc.^, and "Sir Itiilph Sadler's Papers," Edited by Sir Walter Scott. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 3G5 As to Father Garnet showing the breves to Thonias Grey, see Foley's ■*' Itecords," \o\. iv., p. ]o9, where it says: — Garnet " confesseth that in the 'Queen's lifetyine be received two Breet's (one was addressed by the Pope to the English clergy, the other to the laity) concerning the succession, and immediately upon the receipt thereof, be shewed them to Mr. Catesby and Thomas Winter, then being at AVhite Webbs; whereof they seemed to be very glad and showed it (sic) also unto Thomas Grey at Wiiitc A\^ebbs before one of bis journies into Scotland in the late Queen's tynie.'' It will be remembered that Thomas Percy, who married Martha Wright, Ursula Warde's sister, was one of those who waited upon James XL of Scotland before Elizabeth's death, in order to obtain from him a promise of toleration for the unhappy Catholics. James, the English Catholics declared, did then promise toleration, and they considered that they had been tricked by the "weasel Scot." Fonblanque, in his '■'■Annals of the House of Peroj" vol. ii., p. 254 (Clay & Sons), thinks that Percy was a man of action rather than of words* and that the reason he entered into the Plot was that he was stung by the reproaches of the disappointed 'Catholics, whom he had given to understand James intended to tolerate, and that his vanity (or rather, I should say, self-love) was likewise wounded at the recollection of the proved fruitlessness of his mission or missions into Scotland. I think this is a very likely explanation. For. according to " Winter's Confession " — see Gardiner's " Gunpowder Plot " (Longmans), and Gerard's three recent works (Osgood & Co. and Harper Bros.) — Thomas Percy seems to have shown a stu])endous determination " to see the Plot through,'' a fact which I have always been xevy much struck with. But if, in addition to other motives, Percy had the incentive of *' injured pride," we have an explanation of his extraordinarily ferocious anger and spirit of revenge. For well does the Latin poet of "the tale of Troy divine" insist a\ itb emphasis on the fact that it was "the despised beauty" — "■ spretcfrpie injuria forma)" — of Juno, the goddess, that spurred her to such deathless hatred against the ill-starred house of Priam. AVhat a knowledge of the springs of human acti.jn does not this portrav I So. — Tr.leresting evidence of the connection of Mounteagle with not ■only these great northern families of Preston and Leybourne (whose places that once so well knew them now know them no more), but also with the Lords Dacres of the Xortb and with the Earls of Arundel, is ■contained in Stockdale's book on the beautiful and historic Parish of ■Cartmel, on the west coast of Lancashire. " Xorth of the Sands." — See •■Stockdale's " Ann'des Caermoelenses,'' p. 410, a work, 1 believe, now out 306 THE GUNPOWDER I'LOT. oF print. — Stockdale says tliut in the old llolker Hall (which seems to- have heen built by George Preston, in the reign ot" James 1.), in the Parish of Cartmel, there was over the mantel-piece in the entrance-hall an elaborately ornamented oak-wood carving, on which were displayed, in alto-relievo, twelve coats-ot'-aniis, namely: — Those of (1) King James I.,. with the lioi; and unicorn as sujiporters. (2) The Preston family, younger branch ; from whom, through an heiress, the Dnkes of Devonshire to-day own the Ilolker estates. The younger branch of tlie Prestons, viz., those of Ilolker, were probably Schismatic Catholics, or "Church-papists,"' for some time, but gradually they conformed entirely to the Established Church. The elder branch of the Prestons, namely, the Prestons, of the- ^lanor Furness, were strict Koman Catholics. Margaret Preston was married to Sir Francis Howard, of Corby, third son of Lord William Howard, of Naworth. Tiie last of the Prestons, of the Manor, was Sir Thomas Preston, Bart., who, in 1674, became a Jesuit at the age of thirty-two. — See Foley's ^^ liecordu," vol. iv., p. 534, and vol. v., p. 358. — Sir- Thomas Preston, S.J., had been twice married, but had him surviving only two daughters, whom he amply jtrovided foi", and then gave his Furness estates to the Society he had joined. A subsequent Act of Parliament, however, defeated his intention almost entirely. (3) Arundel imj)aling Dacre ; Philip Howard Earl of Arundel having married Anne Dacre, or Dacres, daughter of Thomas Lord Dacres of the North. (4) Howard impaling Dacre; Jjord AV'illiaui Howard having married Elizabeth Dacre, or Dacres, sister to Anne Dacres Countess of Arundel and Surrey. Through Elizabeth Howard, the Earls of Carlisle have the Naworth Castle and llinderskelfe (or Castle Howard) estates. (5) Morley impaling Stanley; Edward Parker Lord Morley having married, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth Stanley, only daughter of Lord Mounteagle, of Hornby Castle, Lancashire (these were the ])arents of T>ord ^luunteagle, who married Elizabeth Tresham). (6) Dacre impaling Leybourne, of Cunswick,. near Kendal ; Thomas Lord Dacre having married Elizabeth Leybourne, daughter of Sir James Leybourne, of Cunswick. (7) Stanley impaling Leybourne ; AVilliam Stanley third Lord Mounteagle, of Hornby Castle, having married Anne Leybourne, sister to Elizabeth Lady Dacre. (8). Leybourne impaling Preston; Ellen (Stockdale by mistake says Eleanor), daughter of Sir Thomas Preston, of Westmoreland and Lancashire, having married Sir James Leyboui-ne, of Cunswick ; this lady afterwards married Thomas Stanley second Lord Mounteagle, the father of her son-in-law%. William Stanley third L(jrd Mounteagle, who married her daughter, Anne- Li'vlxinrne, and who was the grandfather of Lord Mounteagle, who THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 307 married Elizabeth Ti'eshani. (9) Cavendish impaling Keighley ; AVilliam Cavendish fiist Earl of Devonshire having married Anne Keighley, daughter of >Sir Henry Iveighlej, of Keighley, Torks. (10) Keighley impalhig Carus ; Henry Keighley, of Keighley, having married Mary Cams, daughter of Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale. (11 J Carus impaling Preston ; Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale, having married Catherine Preston, daughter of Sir Thomas Preston, about the reign of Philip and Mary. (12) Middleton impaling Carus: Edward Middleton, of Middleton Hall (who died in 1599), having married Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale.^ Fittingly does that great master of English, Erederic Harrison, quote approving!}-, in his charming book, " Annals of an Old Manor House" {i.e., Sutton Place, Guildford, the home of the Westons, and the dwelling, for a time, of the above-mentioned Anne Dacres Countess of Arundel and Surrey — that queenly Elizabethan woman), the words of a historian-friend of his : " Sink a shaft, as it were, in some chosen spot in the annals of England, and you will come upon much that is neveY found in the books of general histor}-." The late Robert Steggall, of Lewes, wrote a fine poem in blank verse on "the Venerable"' Philip Howard Earl of Arundel and Surrey, the husband of Anne Dacres. It appeared in " The Month " some years ago. 86. — The beautiful and pathetic " Lament," so well known to Scotsmen under the title of " The Flowers of the Forest," was penned to express- " the lamentation, mourning, and woe " that filled the historic land of "mountain and of flood,"' on the tidings reaching "brave, bonnie Scot- land" of the "woeful fight" of Flodden Field. At the funeral of that gallant soldier and fine Scotsman, the late General "NVauchope. of the Kegiment known as the Black AVatch, the pipers played this plaintive air, "The Flowers of the Forest." Who does not hope that those funereal 1 The arms of Lord Mounteagle were az., between two bars, sa., charged with three bezants, a lion passant, gu., in chief three bucks' heads caboshed of the second. The title Morley and Mounteagle is now in abeyance — see Burke's " Extinct Peerages"— since the year 1GS6, the reign of James II. The last Lord IMorley and IMounteagle died without issue. The issue of two aunts of the deceased baron were his representatives. One aunt was Katheriue, who married John Savage second Earl of Elvers, and had issue ; the other aunt was Elizabeth, who married Edward Crantield. The present Earl of Morley, Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords, though a Parker, is of the Parkers of Devonshire, a diiferent family from the Parkers of Essex. 3G8 THE GUXrOWDER PLOT. ■strains idhv be ])n»[)hetic that, through the i)o\ver of far-siglitcd wisdom, hiiiuan syinpatliy, and the healiii<^ hand of Time, there may be a reconc'iHation as real and deep and true betwixt Enghind's kinsman-foe of to-day and herself as there is betwixt liersolf and Iwv kinsman-foe of the year lol3 — the year of Flodden Field I See also Professor Aytoun's " Edhiburgh after Flodden," in his '' Lai/s of the Scottish Cavaliers "' (Routledge & Sons) ; also, of course, Sir Walter Scott's well-known " Marmion."' 87. — It should be remembered that Baines says that Nichols, in his *'■ Progresses of James /.," describes Hornby ("astle in Yorkshire, by mistake, for the one in Lancashire. The sunny, lialmy, health-gi\ing watering-place of Grange-over-Sands, built at i\w. foot of Tewbarrow, a pine-clad, hazel-loving fell, " by Kent sand-side," is in the ancient Parish of Cartmel ; and, in connection with the family of Lord Mounteagle, the following will l)e read with interest by those wlu) are privileged to know that golden land of tlie westering sun, tlie paradise of the weak of cliest. About three miles from the (Grange— so called because here was formerly a Grange, or House, for the storing of grain by the Friars, (jr black Canons, of the Augustinian Priory at Cartmel — is tlie square Peel Tower knowii as W'raysholme Tower. in the windows of t\w old tower were formerly arms and crests of the Harrington and Stanley families. A few miles to the west of Cartmel were Adlingham and Gleaston, ancient possessions of the Hai'ringtons, which likewise became a portion of the Mounteagles' Hornby Castle estates. All this ])ortion of the north of England abdunded in adherents of the ancient faith up to al)out tlie time of the Gunpowder Plot. The Duke of (Juise had planned that the Spanish Annada should disembark at tlie large and commodious port of the Pile of Fouldrey, in the Parish of l)a!ton-in-Furness, " North of the Sands."' This rock (jf the Pile of Fouldrey, from w hicli the port took its name, was not only near Adlingham and (ileaston, but also near the Manor Furness, tlie seat of the elder branch of tlu^ Prestons, fi-om wliom Mounteagle. on his mother's side, was descended.' ' William I'arkcr fourth Lord ^lounteagle's great-great-uncle, James Leybourne (or Labourn), of Cunswitk and Skclsmorgh, in the County of Westmoreland, was hanged, drawn, and quartered by Queen Klizabeth, in the year 1583. — See " Tlie Acts of the English Martyrs," by the Rev. J. H. Pollen, S.'j. (Burns & Gates).— James Leybourne is not reckoned " a Catholic martyr " by Cballoner, because he denied that Klizabeth was "his lawful Queen." There has been a doubt as to where THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 3G9 88. — The exact relationship of Marmaduke Ward and Thomas Warde to Sir Christopher Ward has been not yet traced out. Sir Christopher Ward was the last of the Wards in the direct line. He died in the year 3 521, but left no male heir. His eldest daughter, Anne, married Francis Xeville, of Thornton Bridge, in the Parish of Brafferton, near Borough- bridge ; his second daughter, Johanna, married Edward Musgrave, of AYestmoreiand ; and his third daughter, Margaret, married John Lawrence, of Bai'ley Court (probably near St, Dennis' Church), York. A grand- daughter married a Francis Neville, of Holt, in Leicestershire. — But see the " Plumpton Correspondence " (Camden Soc), 1 find that, along with Thomas Hallat, one Edmund Ward was Wakeman (or Mayor) of Eipon, in 1524, He is described as " Gentleman," He may have been the grandfather, or even possibly the father, of Marmaduke and Thomas Ward, — Concerning the Ward family down to Sir Christopher Ward, see Slater's " Giiiseleij ,'' Torks. (Hamilton Adams), and the " Life of Mary TFarcZ," vol. i., p. 102, — There is still to be found the name Edmund Ward at Thornton Bridge (June, 1901) ; possibly of the same family as the Wards of the sixteenth century ; for Christian names run in families for generations. It is, however, possible that the name of the father of Marmaduke and Thomas Ward may have been Marmaduke, For I find an entry in the Eipon Eegisters, under date the 16fch December, 1594, of the l^urial of " Susannay wife of Marmaduke Wayrde of Newby,"' (At least, so I read the entry,) When this Marmaduke died 1 do not know. Nor, indeed, have I been able to ascertain when Marmaduke, the father of Mary Ward, died. It is probable that Marmaduke Ward, the younger, sold the Newby estate prior to 1614. At what date the Mulwith and Givendale estates were sold, I cannot say. Possibly R, C, De Grey Vyner, Esquire, of Newby Hall, their present owner, may know. In vol. iii. of the '■'■Memorials of liipon'' (Surtees Soc.) occur the names of this gentleman suffered -'a traitor's death." Baines says that he was executed at Lancaster, that his head was exposed on ilanchester Church steeple, and that prior to his execution Leybourne was imprisoned in the Kew Fleet, ^Manchester. This is probably a correct statement of the case. Burke, however, in his " Tudor Portraits" (Hodges, London), says that Leybourne was executed at Preston. Though a minute point, it would be interesting to know whal; the truth of the matter is. There is a marble tablet on the north wall of the east end of the fine old Parish Church of Kendal, to the memory of John Leybourne, Esquire, the last of his race, and formerly owners of Cunswick, Skelsmergh, and Witherslack Halls. The tablet bears the arms of the Leybournes, and shows that the last male repre- sentative of this ancient Westmoreland family died on the 9th December, 1737, aged sixty-nine years, evidently reconciled to the faith of his ancestors. 370 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. Edmund AVard and Ealjili ^'ard, botli as paying dues for lands in Skelton (p. 333). Also the "Fabric Eoll for ].")42" (in tlio same work) lias the name Marmaduke AVard. This would be the liusband of Susannay, who died in 1594, ])robably. So that, most likely, Marmaduke and Susannay Ward were the parents of Maiunaduke Ward and Thomas Ward, if the latter were brothers, as it is practically certain tliey were. I am inclined, on the wjjole, to think that Juhnund Ward cannot have been the father to Marmaduke and Thomas Ward, though he may have been their grandfather. There is a curious reference to, most probably, this Edmund Ward, in the " Plumpton Correspondence" pp. 185, 186 (Camden Soc.) ; 1)ut it sheds no light on this question of the parentage of any of the Wards. Erom Slater's " I/isior)/ of Guiseley *' it is evident that a branch of the Wards settled at Scotton, near Knaresbrough. Miss Pullein, of Rotherfield Manor, Sussex, a relative of the PiiUeins, of Scotton, tells me that in tlie "Subsidy Eoll for 1379" the names occur: — "Johannes AVarde et ux ej. ijs. Tho. AA^'arde et ux ej. vjd .Toliaiines fil. Thomae AVai'de iiij d."' So that the names John and Thomas were evidently hereditary in the various branches of the AVardes, of Givendale and Esholt. (18th April, 1901.) 89. — From the '■'Authorised Discotwse," or '' Kiiufs Bool\'' we learn that the King returned from Eoyston on Tliursday, the 31st day of October; that on 'Friday, All Hallows" Day, Salisbury showed James the Letter in the "gallerie" of the palace at AVhitehali. On the following day,. Saturday, the 2nd of November, Salisbury and the Earl of Suli'olk, the Lord Chamberlain, saw the King in the same " gallerie,"' when it was arranged that the Chamberlain should view all the Parliament Houses both above and below. This "viewing" or "perusing'" of the vault or cellar under the House of Lords took place on the following Monday afternoon by Suifolk and jMounteagle, when they saw Fawkes, wlio styled himself " John Johnson,"' servant to Thomas Percy, m ho had hired the house adjoining the Parliament House and the aforesaid cellar also. Now, Mounteagle, almost certainly, nuist have known that there would be tliis second conference with the King on this Saturday, and from what Mounteagle (ex hypothesi) had said to Tresham about " the mine," Tresham would have concluded that what Mounteagle knew, Salisbury would be soon made to know, and, through Salisbury's speeches,, the King. My o]niii()n is that Mounteagle saw and spolce to Tresham between the conference of the King, Suffolk, and Salisbury (Mounteagle being made acquainted willi, by either Suffolk or Salisbury, if he were THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 371 not actually an auditor of, all that had passed), and the meeting with Winter in Lincoln's Inn Walks, on the night of that same Saturday, !N^ovember the 2nd. 90. — See " Winter's Confession," Gardiner, pp. 67 and 68. This meeting on the Saturday was behind St. Clement's. At this meeting Christopher Wright was present. Query — What did he say ? And in whose Declaration or Confession is it contained ? If in one of Fawkes", then wliich ? Possibly it may have been at this meeting that Christopher Wright recommended the conspirators to take flight in difPerent directions. It is observable that, so far as I am aware, Christopher Wright and John AVright do not appear to have expressed a wish that any particular nobleman should be warned, except Arundel. Whereas !Fawkes w ished jMontague ; Percy, Northumbei'land ; Keyes, Mordaunt ; Tresham was " exceeding earnest '' for Stourton and Mounteagle ; whilst all wished Lord Arundel to be advertised. Arundel was created Earl of Norfolk by Charles T. in 1644. (Since writing the above, I have ascertained that there is no report in any of Guy Pawkes' Confessions of tliis statement of Christopher Wright, nor in his written "Confessions" does Fawkes refer to his own mother.) 91. — "■Labile temjms" — the motto inscribed over the entrance of the fine old Elizabethan mansion-house situate at Heslington, near York, the seat of the Lord Deramore, formerly belonging to a member of the great Lancashire family of Hesketh, of Mains Hall, Poulton-in-the-Pylde, and Eufford. Edmund Neville, one of the suitors of Mary Ward, was brought up with the Heskeths, of Eufford. In 1581 the Mains Hall branch of the Heskeths harboured Campion. 92. — As a fact, the Government did not know of the mine, according to Dr. Gardiner, even on Thursday, the 7th of November, but certainly they did know, says Gardiner, by Saturday, the 9th. — See Gardiner's " Gunpowder Plot," p. 31. — Probably tlje entrance to the mine was sealed up. No useful jnirpose would be served by either Mounteagle or Ward telling the Government about the mine, which then was an "extinct volcano." 93. — The exact words of Lingard are these : — " Winter sought a second interview with Tresham at his house in Lincoln's Inn Walks, and 372 THE GUNPOWDEll PLOT. returucd to Catesby with the t'()lh)\ving iinswer : Tliat tlie existence of the mine had been coniiiuinicated to tlie Ministers. Tliis Tresbaui said be knew ; but by wliom the discovery had been made he knew not." Liiigard does not give his authority, but pi(il)ab]y he got the material for tliis important ]jassage from " Gi-eena(i>i'.s { rn-e Tcsimoiid's) MS." It IS an historical desideratum that this MS. shuuhl be jniblisbed. !MounteagIe, conceivably, may have falsely told Treshain that the Govern- ment already knew of the mine, in order to alarm him the more effectually; but, most probably, it was an inference that Tresham himself erroneously drew from Mounteagle's words, wliatever may have been their precise nature. jMounteagle possibly said something al)out '' the mine," and that the Parliament Houses wouhl bo with miiiutcness searched far and near. Tins would be quite sufficient to inflame the already heated imagination of Tresham, and \w would readily enough leap forth to the conclusion that the "mine'" must be for certain known to the Government. One can almost feel the heart-beats of tlie distraught Tresham as one reads the i-elation of his second interview with "Winter. 'J'ben from the pulsations of one human heart, O, l-lartb's governors and ye governed, learn all. For the study of true llistoiy is big with mighty lessons and "he that hath ears let him hear." Let him hear tliat Truth and Kight, although each is, in its essential nature, a simple unity, and therefore imperially exclusive in its claims, and therefore intolerant of plurality, of multiplicity, of diversity, yet that each of these high attributes of the eternal and the ideal is the mistress not only of man's god-like intellect, but also of bis heart and will. And tliese two faculties are likewise of divine original and have severally a voice which jerpetually bids man, poor wounded man, "be pitiful, be courteous" to his fellows. Yov human life at best is " hard," is " brief," and " piercing are its sorro\\s." 94. — The meeting between Catesby, Winter, and Tresham, at Barnet, on the road to White AVebbs, was on Friday, the 1st of Xovember, the day the Letter was shown to the King. 95. — Or, Mounteagle may have thought that, as it would be meritorious in Percy supposing lie had sent the Letter, he (Mounteagle) would expressly, in the hearing of Suffolk, give Percy the benefit of the doubt; since it might stand his old friend in good stead hereafter if I'ercy were involved in the meshes of the law for the part that, J hold, Mounteagle hif Christopher Wright throwjh Thomas Warde then Icnew for a fact, Percy, and indeed all hi"< confcdci-ates, had taken in the nefai-ious enterprise. Such a THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 373 train of thought may have flashed tlirough Mounteagle's brain well-nigh instantaneously: for what is quicker than thought? I suspect, moreover, that Mounteagle conjectured that the Letter was from one of AVarde's and his own connections ; for Percy, as well as the Wrights, would be a con- nection of Mounteagle, through the Stanleys, Percies, Gascoignes, Nortons, Nevilles, and, AVardes, who were all more or less allied by marriages entered into within the last few generations. Percy would be about Thomas AA^arde's own age (forty-six). ' I do not, however, think that Mounteagle knew for certain who was the revealing conspirator ; and his lordship would not want to know either. Besides, I hold that AVarde would be too good a diplomatist and too faithful a servant to suffer his master to know, even if he had wanted. "Say 'little' is a bonnie word," would be a portion of the diplomatic vi'isdom that AVarde would carry Avith him up to the great metropolis from bis " native heather " of Yorkshire. / ; 96. — Ben .Tonson was "reconciled"' to the Church of Eome either in 1593 or 1594. After, and probably on account of, the Plot he left the Church, wliose "exacting claims" he had "on trust" accepted. Possibly it was under the influence of Jonsons example that Mounteagle wrote the letter to the King, given in the Rev. John Gerard's " What was the Gun- powder Plot?''' p. 25G. Mounteagle, however, died in the Church of Eome, and the Article in the " National Dictionary of Bior/raphy " says that he had a daughter a nun. Belike, she was a member of the Institute of " The Eufrlish A'irgins," for the name " Parker *' is mentioned in Chambers" " Life of Mary Ward." ^ There has been recently (1900) published a smaller " Life of Mary Ward,'' by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Gates), with a Preface by Bishop Iledley, O.S.B., which should be read by those not desirous of possessing the more costly work by Mary Catharine Elizabeth Chambers, in 2 vols. (Burns & Gates), with a Preface by the late Henry James Coleridge, S.J. (brother to the late Lord Coleridge). May I express 1 Whilst it is possible that the " Parker " mentioned in the " Life of Mary Ward " was one of Lord Mounteagle's daughters, I find, from a statement in Foley's- "■Records,'" vol. v. (by a contemporary hand, I think), that "Lord Morley and Mounteagle," as he is styled, had a daughter who was " crooked," and who was an Augustinian nun. Her name was Sister Frances Parker. Her father is said to have given his consent to this daughter becoming a nun " after much ado." Lady Morley and Mounteagle, a strict papist, brought up the children Roman Catholics. — See Foley's " Records,'" vol. v., p. 973. — The same writer is of opinion that Mounteagle was not a Roman Catholic. Evidently he was a very lax one, and between the Plot and the time of his death he probably conformed to the Establishment. 374 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. the hope that these two learned authoresses will cause the Ward Papers, at Nyraphenburg, near Munich, in Germany (that are extant), to be carefully examined afresh to see if thev contain aiivthing about Thomas Warde, Mary's uncle, and anything further about her connection, through tbe Throckmortons and Nevilles, the Lord Mounteagle ? By so doing, they will cause to be obliged to them all serious students of the Gunpowder Plot, which is of perennial interest and value to human beings, whether governors or governed, by reason of the intellectual, moral, and political lessons that with tbe truest eloquence — the eloquence of Fact — it teaches mankind for all time. 97. — Born Lord Thomas Howard, brother to Lord William Howard, of IVaworth, near Carlisle. — For an interesting account of the Tudor Howards, see Burke's '■'■Tudor Portraits" (Hodges); also Lodge's '■'■Portraits" and " Memorials of the House of Howard^ 98. — Did Mounteagle likewise behold Fawkes ? If so, his self-command apparently was extraordinary; for, almost certainly, Mounteagle must have met Fawkes at White Webbs, if not at the Lord Montague's and elsewhere. Fawkes was so strict and regular in his habits and deportment that he was thought to be a priest or a Jesuit (I suppose, a Jesuit lay-brother). That Tesimond should think that part of the " Kings Booh " fabulous which describes this " perusing of the vault " and finding of Fawkes, is just what I should expect Tesimond, erroneously, would think ; inasmuch as this particular Jesuit would naturally enough consider it to be simply incredible that Mounteagle should not have displayed some outward token, however slight, of recognising Fawkes, who would be sure to carry with him his characteristic air of calm and high distinction, even amid " the wood and coale " of his " master " Thomas Percy. But Tesimond did not know Avhat a perfect tutoring Mounteagle had received from his mentor to qualify him to ])lay so well his part in life at this supreme juncture. Thomas AVard was evidently a consummate diplomatist. If he had been trained under AValsingham he would certainly " know a thing or two." 99. — It is to be remembered that, for the first time, the powder was found by Knevet and his men about midnight of Monday, the 4th of November. Previous to, possibly, late in the day of the 4th of November, I do not think that Salisbury and Suffolk knew any more about the existence of this powder than " the man in the moon." Such ignorance on their part redounded to their great discredit, and would be, doubtless, THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 375 ■duly noted by the small and timid, yet sharp, mind of James. Ijiit the Country's confidence in the Government had to be maintained at all costs ; hence the comical, side-glance, slantingdicular, ninny-pinny way in which the " King's Bool-" for the most part, is drawn up. A re-publication of the " Kimjs Boole,"' and of " The Fawlceses, of Yovlc^' by K. Davies, some- time Town Clerk of York (Nichols, 1850), are desiderata to the historical student of the Gunpowder Plot. I readily allow that it is difficult to believe that neither Salisbury, nor Suffolk, nor an3'body (not even a bird-like-eyed Dame Quickly of busy-bodying propensities residing in the neighbourhood) knew of this powder, which had been (at least some of it) in Percy's house and an out-house adjoining tlie Parliament House. Still, even if they did know (whether statesmen or housewife) of the Gunpowder, it does not follow, either in fact or in logic, that they knew of the Gunpowder Plot. For they might reasonably enough conclude that the ammunition was to carry out " the practice for some stir " which Salisbury admits that he knew the recusants had in hand at that Parliament. — See " Winwood^s Memorials" Ed. 1725, vol. ii., p. 72. — ^ Moreover, for such a purpose, in the natural order of things, I take it, the powder would be brought in first, then the shot, muskets, armour, swords, daggers, pikes, crossbows, arrows, and other ordnance. {The barrels, empty or nearly so, ivould he carried in Jtrst.) Sir Thomas Knevet, of Norfolk, was created Baron Knevett, of Escrick, near York, in 1607. He died without male issue. He went to the Parliament House on the night of November 4th, 1605, as a Justice of the Peace for AVestminster. — See Nichols' " Progresses of James /.," vol. i., p. 582. — ^Escrick is now the seat of the Lord Wenlock. 100.— '' Hatfield 318.," 110, 30. Quoted in the Rev. J. H. Pollen's S.J., thoughtful and learned booklet, entitled " FatJier Garnet and the ■Gunpowder Plot *' (Catholic Truth Society's publication, London). 101.— See Jardine's Letter to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., E.E.S., Eeb., 1841, in " Archceologia," vol. xxix., p. 100. This letter should be carefully read by every serious student of the Plot. 102. — Sir William Stanley, of Hooton (in that strip of Cheshire between the Mersey and the Dee), was not seen by Eawkes between Easter and the end of August, 1605, when Eawkes went over to Elanders for the last time in his career so adventurous and so pathetic. Sir 376 THE GUN^O^YDER PLOT. AVilliam knew nothing of I lie Gunpowder Plot, It was said that lie surrendered Deventer in pursuance of the counsel of Captain Roland Torke, who to the Spaniards had himself surrendered Zutphen Sconce. These surrenders to the Spaniards on the part of two English gentlemen were strange pieces of husiness, and one \\ould like the whole question to be thorough!}' and severely searched into again. As to lluland Yorke, see Camden's " Queen Elizabeth.'' Cai)tain liolund Yorke, like his patron Sir William Stanley, was an able soldier. lie held a position of command in the Battle of Zutphen, in which the Bayard of English chivalry, Sir Philip Sidney, received his death wound. — See the '■'Earl of Leicester's Correspondence" (Camden Soc). — Sidney's widow (the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham) afterwards married Bobert second Earl of Essex. She became a Boman Catholic, like her kinsman, the gifted and engaging Father Walsingham, S.J. Frances AValsingham, the only child of Sir Francis Walsingham, became a Catholic, I think, through her third niaiTiage \\\i\\ Bichard l)e Burgh fourth Earl of Claiiiicarde, afterwards Earl of St. Albans. He was also known as Bichard of Kinsale and Lord Dunkellin. lie was an intimate friend of the Earl of Essex and of Father Gerard, S.J., the friend of Mary Ward. It would be interesting if Major Hume, or some other authority on the reign of Queen Elizabeth, could ascertain A\hether or not there was a Thomas Wardc in the diplomatic service during the "Eighties" of her reign. Certainly there was a Thomas Warde in the service of the Government then. I am almost sure that the "Mr. AVarde " mentioned by AValsingham, in his letter to the Earl of Leicester, must have been this Thomas AVarde, and one and the same man with Thomas AA'^arde, of Mulwaith (or Mulwith). It is to be remembered, too, that the (uinpowder conspirator, Thomas AVinter, had served in the Queen's forces against the Spanish King for a time. The names Bowland Yorke, Thomas A^avasour, Sir Thomas lleneage, and Thomas AVinter are very suggestive of the circle in which a A\\arde, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale, would move. Besides, there was a family connection between the Parkers, Poyntzes, and lleneages. — See " Visitation of Essea\ 1612'' (Ilarleian Soc), under " Poyntz." Moreover, it must be continually borne in mind that Father Tesimond (alias Greenway), in his hitherto unprinted MS., declares that Mounteagle was related to some of the plotters. " Greenway s MS.," according to Jardine's " Narrative," \\ i*L\ also says that Thomas AVard Avas an intimate friend of several of the conspirators, and suspected to THE GUNrOWDER PLOT. 377 have been an accomplice in the treason. Tluit would imply that Ward was suspected to have had at least a Inoivledge of the treason. 103. —Mary AV'ard, tlie daughter of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula Wright, lived with her grandmother, Mi's. Ursula Wright {nee lludston, of Hayton, in Ihe East ]lidiiig of Yoi'kshire), between the years 1589-94 at Plowland (or Plewland) Hall, llolderness, Torkshire ; and between the years 1597-1600 at Harewell Hall, in the township of Dacre, Nidderdale, with her kinswoman, Mrs. Katerine Ardington [nee Tngleby). Mrs. Ardington, as well as Mrs. Ursula AVright, had suffered imprisonment for her profession of the ancient faith, AV"e have a relation by Mary Ward herself of her grandmother's incarceration, which is as follows : — Mrs. Wright " had in her younger years suffered imprisonment for the space of fourteen years together, in which time she several times made profession of her faith before the President of York (the Earl of Huntingdon) and other officers. She was once, for her speeches to the said Huntingdon, tending to the exaltation of the Catholic religion and contempt of heresy, thrust into a common prison or dungeon, amongst thieves, where she stayed not long because, being nnich spoken of, it came to the hearing of her kindred, who procured her speedy removal to the Castle prison where she was before." — See Chambers' '''■Life of Mary Ward,'^ vol. i., ]i. 13. This common prison or dungeon would be, it is all but certain, the Kidcote, the common prison for the City of York and that portion of Yorkshire between the E-ivers Wharfe and Ouse known as the Ainsty of the City of York. This dungeon was, according to Gent's " Jlistori/ of Yorl:,'' under the York City Council Chamber on Old Ouse Bridge, to the westward of St. William's Chapel. — See also J. B. Milburn's "^ 3Iarti/r of Old Tori- " (Burns & Oates). — The Old Ouse Bridge was pulled down in 1810. — See Allen's '■'■History of Yorlcshirer — After the Kidcote was demolished, the Y'ork City prison called the Gaol, likewise now demolished (1901), was built on Bishophill, near the Old Bailie Hill. The prison for the County of Yorkshire was the Castle built by AVilliam the Conqueror, the tower of which, called Clifford's Tower, on an artificial mound, is still standing. There was, moreover, in York, a third prison into which the unhappy popish recusants, as appears from Morris's " Troubles,^'' were sometimes consigned. This was the Bishop's prison, commonly called Peter Prison. The writer is told by Mr. AVilliam Camidge, a York antiquary of note, that Peter Prison stood at the corner of Precentor's Court, Petergate, near to the west front of the Minster. Mr. Camidge remembers Peter Prison being used as a Citv 378 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. lock-up prison about the year 1836, soon after which year it was pulled down. The late Mr. Richard Ilaughton, of York, showed the writer; about Easter, 1899, a sketch of this interesting old prison, a sketch which Mr. Haughton had himself made. The building was a plain square erection, the door of which was reached by a flight of stone steps. Again, we are told— " Zi/e of Mary Wurd^^ vol. i., p. 17 — that one Avenger of lilood. wore ]ii'ob:d)ly almost all men of strong THE GUNPOWDEE PLOT. 399" family affections, and certainly all ardent lovers of their country, bow often must the feelings have welled up in their heart, as from some intermittent crystalline spring, so beautifully expressed by the old Latin poet : — " Linquenda tellus, et domus, ct placens Uxor : neque harum, quas colis, arborum Te, praeter invisas cupressos, UUa brevem dominum sequetur."— //orace. ^ Alas ! Like many another wrong-doer, before and since, they thought of this too late. Well-nigh the final glimpse we get of Christopher Wright is from a letter the conspirator, Thomas Bates, wrote to a priest, which is given in Gerard's ''Narrative,'' p. 210. Christopher Wright, we are told by Bates, on the morning of the day when the powder exploded at Holbeach House, "flung to Bates, out of a window, £100, and desired him, as he was a Catholic, to give unto his wife, and bis brother's wife, ,£80, and take .£20 himself : " — Wright owing Bates some money. 157. — Does Greenway's '■'Narrative'' clearly state how many of these conspirators received from Tcsimond the sacraments ? If so, what sacraments were they ? The Government would have bad a clear case of inciting to open rebellion against Tesimond if they bad caught him, but he escaped to Elanders. He was " a very deep dog," was Master Tesimond, and no mistake. But be was Mbolly under the finger and thumb {me judlce) of Catesby, which shows what a powerful man of genius Catesby must have been. Father Henry Garnet, at bis trial, allowed that Tesimond bad acted " ill," in seeking to rouse the country to open rebellion. 158. — This lady Avas Muriel, the widow of John Littleton, who had been involved in the rebellion of Robert Devereux Earl of Essex. She was the daughter of Elizabeth's Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Bromley. — See Aiken's " Memoirs of the lievjn of James i." For a true estimate of the second Earl of Essex, see Dr. E.. W. Church's "Bacon" (Macmillan). — S(^e also Major Hume's ''Courtships of Queen Elizabeth (Fisher Unwin) and bis " Treason and Plot " (Nesbit). 1 "Land must be left, and home, and charming wife, And of these trees which you cultivate, None will follow you, their short-lived owner and lord, Save the detested cypress." 400 THE GUNrOWDER I'LOT. 159. — How well-grounded Oldcornc's suspicions of Littleton were, and how soundly he had discerned the man's spirit, is proved from the fact that after J.ittleton had been condemned to death for harbouring his cousin, the Master of Holbeach, and Robert AVinter, the Master of Huddington, Littleton sought to save his life by telling the Grovernment that Oldcorne had "answered that the [Gunpowder] action was good, and that he seemed to approve of it." Littleton also said that " since this last rebellion he heard Hall [i.e., Oldcorne] once preacli in the house of the said Mr. Abington, at which lime he seemed to confirm his hearers in the Catholic cause." — See Foley's "■Records,'' vol. iv., p. !219. 160. — On the oth of October, lUOO, 1 saw this Declaration by the courtesy of the authorities at the Eecord Office, London, and compared it with the Letter to Lord Mounteagle. Miss Emma M. Walford was present the while. — See Appendix. 161.— This luminous definition is by that great writer, Frederic Harrison. ^ 162. — It is not less dangerous to indulge in Irony. For an emphatic proof of this see the ''■Life of Lord Boiren," p. 113 (Murray), by «ir H. S. Cunningham, K.C.I.E. Cf. the great Stagyrites discountenancing the study by the in- experienced (the young in years or in character) of the fundamental grounds of those moral rules that each man must observe if he would faithfully do his duty from day to day, and "walk sure-footedly " in this life.— See " The Xicomachean Ethics of Aristotle," hook i. See also Professor jNLiirhead's '' Cluipters from the Ethics" (Murray). Hector, in " Troihis and Cressida," act ii., scene 2, speaks of ■"Young men, whom Aristotle thought unfit to liear moral philosophy." 163. — Jardine thinks that Oldcorne manifests a disposition "to hesitate and argue about the moral complexion" of the Gunpowder Treason ; and tlii^ disposition Jardine regards as exhibiting in Oldcorne, " apparently a man of humane and quiet character," a " distorted perception of right and wrong." — See " Criminal Trials," pp. 232, 2.'}3. Jkit it is evident that, for the nonce, the London ^Ligistrate's judicial temper of mind had deserted liiin, when he sniffed too closely the moral THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 401 air breathed by a Jesuit. For manifest is it that, e.g., all acts of insubordination against an established government are not treasons and rebellions when that government is hopelessly tyrannical, inhuman, and corrupt. Xor are all acts of slaughter of human beings acts of wilful murder. They may be acts of justifiable tyrannicide, as, possibly, in the case of "the man Charles Stuart, King of England;" and acts of justifiable homicide, as in the case of every just war, or of every legitimate slaying ■upon the gallows. 164. — In this connection the following words of tlie conspirator John Grant should be remembered. After the Jury had found a verdict of "guilty" against the prisoners, at Westminster Hall, on being asked ■what he could say wherefore judgment of death should not be pronounced •against him. Grant replied, " lie was guilty of a conspiracy intended, but never effected." Cf. Wordsworth's Sonnet on the Gunpowder Plot, which is very penetrating. 165. — Let it be remembered by the gentle, though unreflecting, reader who is disposed to be unnerved at the sound of the word " Casuist," as at the sound of something " uncanny,"' that Casuistry is that great science, so indispensable to statesmen, warriors, and politicians, especially in these days of democratic self-government, whereby the electing, self-governing people are told by their own authorized expert representatives so much of public affairs as it is for the common good should be kuoMu by them, hut no move. The late Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone once styled Casuistry " a great and noble science." Now, the Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., the present Prime Minister of King Edward YII., denominated Mr. Gladstone in the House of Lords, M'hen paying his tribute to the memory of that "king of men," "a great Christian statesman." And justly : for although Mr. Gladstone was himself a master in the science of Casuistry, the object that science has in view is to forge a palladium for Truth, and this at the cost of endless intellectual labour. Casuistry, properly understood, counts all mere intellectual toils as cheaply purchased, no matter at what cost, provided only that Truth herself — unsullied Truth — be saved. For, after its kind, in whatever sphere, Truth is infinitely more excellent than the diamond, neither is the T'uby so lovely ; while partial Truth, according to its degree, is not less true than the full orb of Truth. A A 402 THE GUNPOWDER TLOT. 166. — This plirase, "sacrilegious iiuirder,"* is used by Shakespeare in " Macbetli,'* and so precisely does it express the double crime of the Gun- powder plotters that. I feel certain that from this allusion — as well as from the evident allusion to the well-kuowji equivocations of Father Henry Garnet (alias Farmer) before the Privy Council— the great dramatist must have had the Gunpowder Plot in his mind the whole time he wrote this finest of his tragedies. I suggest, too, that the words " The bell invites me. Hear it not,. Duncan? for it is a luiell that summons thee to heaven or to hell"' are an allusion lo the mysterious warning bell that the plotters thought they heard whilst working in the mine. — See Jardine's " JSarrative of the Gunpowder Plot" p. 54. Compare also jNIr. H. AV. Mabie's description of the tragedy of "Macbeth'" in his very recent and valuable '"''Life of Shakesj^eare'' (Macmillan & Co.). Mr. JMabie's account sounds in one's ears like a very echo of a recital of the facts and purposes of tlie (iunpowder Plot. 167.— Now, as the conspirators were engaged in a joint-enterprise, it must be evident to every clear-minded thinker that the repentance of ani/ one of the joint -pi otters must liave shed an imputed beneficent influence over and upon all the band. For just as no man livetli only to himself, and no man dietii only to himself, so, by a parity of reasoning, no man is morally resurrected only to himself. Therefore, the moment Christopher "Wright was, in the pure eyes of Edward Oklcorne, freed from the leprosy of his sacrilegious-murderous crime — freed (1) by his owning to the same- in word; (2) by his manifesting sorrow for the same in heart; and, above and beyond all, freed (3) by his making amends for the sauie in deed, through the earnest and part performance lie had given and made of his unconquerable purpose of reversal, in assenting to the proposal of his listener to pen the revealing Letter — from that moment Christopher Wright, .1 say, and, through him (though in a secondary, subordinate, derivative sense), all the remaining twelve plotters, would rise up, as an army from- the dead : would rise up ami stand once more with head erect and in marching order — that noble j)osture and manly attitude which is ever the reward, sure and certain, of a recovered sense of justice, sincerity, truth. 168.— The Government, it is said, appointed a special Commission to try ilum]direy Littleton and some others at Worcester. The following qiujtation is taken from "tlie Eelation of Ifumphrey Littleton, made January 26th, 1605-6," written by one Sir liichard Lewkner to the Lords of the Priv}' Council. Jjcwkner was one of the Commissioners. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 403 This sentence is to be specially noted in this " Eelation " : — " The servant of the said Hall [i.e., Oldcorne] is now prisoner in Worcester Gaol, and can, as he thinks, go directly to the secret place where the said Hall lieth hid." Now, what was the name of this servant ? It certainly was not Ealph Ashley (alias George Chambers), Jesuit lay-brother, for he and Nicholas Owen, the servant of Garnet, who died in the Tower, "in their hands," whatever that may mean, were not captured at Hindlip until a few days before their masters. This treacherous servant of Oldcorne, whoever he was, was possibly the self-same person who told the Govern- ment that Ashley "had carried letters to and fro about this conspiracy." — See Gerard's '■'■Narrative" p. 271. — The man may have shrewdly suspected it from something in Ashley's deportment or from his riding up and down the country in a way that portended that something unusual was afoot. He may have been a " weak or bad Catholic " servant of Mr. Abington, whom that gentleman placed at the special disposal of Oldcorne for a class of work which coidd be done by one who was not a Jesuit lay-brother. The Govenunent had evidently got a clue to something from somebody, because I find Father Oldcorne making answer in the course of one of his examinations: — "He sayth he bought a black horse of Mr. AVynter at May next shall be three yeares, and sould him againe.*' Examination, 5th March, 1G06.— See Foley's '' Records ," vol. iv., p. 224. According to Foley's " liecords,'' Oldcorne was indicted at Worcester for— (1) Inviting Garnet, a denounced traitor, to Hindlip. (2) AV^riting to Father Robert Jones, S.J., in Herefordshire, to aid in concealing Stephen Littleton and Robert Winter, thus making himself an accomplice. (3) Of approving the Plot as a good action, though it failed of effect. Father Jones had provided a place of concealment at Coombe, in the Parish of Welch iS'ewton, on the borders of Herefordshire, which then abounded in Catholics. Stephen Littleton and Robert Winter, being captured at Hagley, in Worcestershire, were executed as traitors according to law. Hagley House is now the residence of Charles George Baron Lyttelton and Viscount Cobham. 169. — A learned Cretan Jesuit, Father L'Heureux, who was appointed by Pope Urban YllJ. Eector of the Greek College at Rome, wrote a powerful "•Apologia"' in behalf of Father Henry Garnet, which was 404 THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. published in 1610. In 1613 Dr. Kobert Abbott, :i Master of Balliol Coliej^e, Oxford, and Eegius Professor of Divinity at that University, wrote his '■'■ Antilor/ia^' as a reply to Euda^inon-Joannes' '•'■ Apolo^ / V O THt >! ?| UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY \ •^ vlNSOilWS iO .jiAiWn 3Hi i O I w^ \ e AiiSil3A)Nr) 3Hi e / \ AvtA SARBARA